SLA Information Technology Division Blog

Online Program with SF Author from Baltimore Open House

If you missed the IT division's annual Science Fiction Night in Baltimore (co-sponsored with the Sci-Tech and Engineering divisions), you still have the opportunity to hear author Bud Starhawk online:

Sunday, July 2, 2006 beginning at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 9:00 p.m. Central, 8:00 p.m. Mountain, 7:00 p.m. Pacific/Second Life Time, and 2:00 a.m. GMT:
Science Fiction Author Bud Starhawk
Bud Starhawk began writing science fiction stories in 1975. His stories have been selected for both Dozois’ and Hartwell’s Years Best anthologies. Bud was a three-time finalist in the Nebula’s Novella category in 1998, 2001, and 2005. He has frequently appeared in Analog's Readers Choice Awards lists.
Sponsored by: Alliance Library System
Location: OPAL Auditorium as well as in the open air theater on Info Island in Second Life.

And for you SF fans, yes we are in the planning stages for another Science Fiction Night in Denver!

Internet Librarian 2006

I'm guessing most of you receive this by mail like me but have you looked at the preliminary program of the next Internet Librarian conference in October? Tons of succulent stuff to see and do. And the conference is also offering a podcasting studio for the attendees. More details to come I'm sure.

New Chair-Elect for the Blogging Section

It is my pleasure to announce that Jill Hurst-Wahl, contributor to the Blogging Section blog, has become Chair-Elect of the Blogging Section. Her term as Chair will begin in January at the Leadership Summit in Reno. Congratulations to Jill and thank you to her for rising up to the challenge!

Social Networks and Knowledge Management

Wednesday morning, I attended a session entitled "Get Connected! Social Networks and Knowledge Management". I was expecting something about social software but that wasn't exactly the case. It did feature good technology so I stayed put. The speaker was Ted Graham, from marketing firm Hill & Knowlton.

Graham presented ways of discovering the hidden relationships in a work environment. We are used to the hierarchical way of viewing a network of work colleagues; software now permits to see the informal networks and see who is really central and who is on the periphery by doing cluster analysis, for example, on email exchanges and meeting scheduling in Outlook. The idea is then to use the results for strategic relationship and functional relationship building.

Also mentioned were software like TACIT ActiveNet, BranchIT, and LinkedIn to broker relationships - a bit like Friendster and MySpace but for professionals.  Hill & Knowlton are also working on a expert database using a product called Knowledge Network in Sharepoint Beta.

Finally, to create more relationships, every Friday at 3PM in the Toronto office, a beer cart makes its way through the cubicles. But that involves another technology all together :)

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New SLA website

Did you  notice? SLA changed their website, just as the conference got started. I like the new look, which is spiffier. And CEO Janice Lachance started her own blog, INFO X.

It seems though that it's not such a good change for the unit webmasters. URLs were changed as well as FTP directories. With no advance notice. Ouch!

Web Development Roundtable

Wednesday afternoon, I co-moderated the Web Development Roundtable with Susan Brown of Transylvania University as the original moderator could not make it to Baltimore.

Nine participants, from military, government, academic libraries and library school, joined us for a good conversation that spanned several subjects. Among the topics discussed: politics of creating/updating websites; RSS feeds and how to create them (FeedBurner); website usability and website design; dynamic websites and the software behind them (PHP, JavaScript, ColdFusion); federated search engines and peer-support (check out the Web4Lib list, if you haven't done so already). We have to thank the participants for the excellent back-and-forth that took place.

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Wikis in newsrooms

I also attended part of "Newsroom Wikis", with four different presenters, all news librarians.

I missed Jessica Baumgart's presentation, except to see that she had used wikis to set up games for her library users that are found around the world. She works at Harvard University.

Michael Meiners, of the St Louis Post Dispatch, explained how the News Research department has a private wiki for training and "how-to" materials for their usage. He deplored the lack of customization of their software they use, OpenWiki, but otherwise find it convivial. He suggests defining parameters for the content.

Susan Ebbs, of the Raleigh News and Observer, uses both blogs and wikis in her work. Their wiki holds dossiers on breaking and ongoing news. They are also preparing a wiki that would act as a expert database for the librarians' expertise and knowledge.

Last was Jim Hunter of the Columbus Dispatch. They did create three wikis in one year. One is titled "Dewey Answers". It contains published Dispatch articles along with the research done for them by the library. It also contains background info on recent events, people profiles, stylebooks, an almanach and welcome-wagon materials for newcomers to the department.

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RFID in libraries

This morning I attended the co-sponsored session "Are Sci-Tech Libraries ready for RFID, and is RFID ready for Sci-Tech Libraries?"

The title was a bit misleading as the presenters did not concentrate on sci-tech libraries. But they did do a good presentation about the technology how it is now and how it could be in the near future. There were about 45 persons in the room.

Max Anderson of Solinet explained the "now": the lack of recognized standards, how the technology for libraries differs from that for commerce, how the different components work together, why the technology is failing for CDs and DVDs, how it is easily compromised by people intending to steal library materials. There are advantages though: easier inventory control, less handling of delicate materials, longer life for tags and less repetitive injury problems for staff. High initial costs, proprietary tags, sensor problems and privacy issues are the downsize. It may take five to ten years before showing ROI on the technology.

Oleg Boyarsky, President/CEO of Library Automation Technologies, talked about the future of RFID. He said that once the tags (now costing $.50 to $1.50 each) will go down to $.10 around 2008, the technology will really take off. A recent study by Auto-ID Centre/Proctoc & Gamble shows that 78% of respondents have a negative perception of RFID, concerning privacy issues. "Kill codes" can now be implemented to inactivate the microchips but it may not be enough for some. The decrease cost for the chips should be accompanied by better manufacturing process that should address a lot of the problems that are happening today. Adopting the technology demands a lot of process and infrastructure change though.

The PowerPoint for this session should appear on the SLA conference site shortly after the conference.

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Bloggers Get-Together

I just came back from the Bloggers Get Together, set up by the Blogging Section. Thirteen bloggers attended under the thankfully-reappeared Baltimore sun. A list of attendees and hopefully some pictures should appear soon on the Blogging Section blog. Thanks to all who attended, who was great to see "old" faces and meet new people.

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Technorati tag: sla2006

Opening session keynote speaker

I won't reproduce it here but I posted about the keynote address by Gwen Ifill on my EngLib blog.

One thing though, before the keynote speaker, attendees had to go through 70 minutes of SLA awards presentations. Although it is important to recognize the association's winners, the presentation got quickly tedious. I heard today that plans are already under way for doing it differently next year.

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Sessions reporters requested

The Baltimore conference is now on! The IT Division had its first business meeting this afternoon.

IT's Chair, Holly Chong-Williams, requested reports of conference sessions for the next issue of b/ITe, the division's publication. They don't need to be very complicated or very long. You can report on IT's own programming or others. It's a nice and easy way to get your name out there in print - and the reports will be useful for those members that could not make it in Baltimore.

IT Board members are also encouraged to post their reports on this blog.

IT Open House-Mystery Night with Jane Kelly

For the sixth year in a row, there will be mysterious happenings at the IT Open House on Sunday night.  This year, both of our guest mystery writers have previous careers that are of interest to IT members.

Marcia Talley has an MLS from the University of Maryland and was administrative librarian for TeleSec Library Services, then Head of Technical Services for the American Bankers Association and finally Head of Library Systems Support at the US General Accounting Office before abandoning her commute to work at the US Naval Academy Library near her Annapolis home.   All this before she became an award winning mystery writer!

Donna Andrews, a graduate of the University of Virginia with a degree in English and Drama, says she developed a profound understanding of the criminal mind through her observation of interdepartmental politics at the large financial organization where she worked for two decades.  Donna writes in a genre that should appeal to all IT members:  a technocozy – a melding of the traditional mystery (think Agatha Christie) and modern technology.   

Come and meet Donna and Marcia at:
IT Division Open House -- Mystery Night with Jane Kelly
Sunday, June 11, 2006 8:00PM - 11:00PM
Location: Hyatt Regency,  Constellation Ballroom C-D

More information about each of our authors is available at their website.
www.donnaandrews.com
www.marciatalley.com