Silicon Valley Chapter | SLA

San Andreas Chapter Solo Librarians Upcoming Meetings

We are looking for topics for upcoming meetings that would be of interest to Solo Librarians. We were fortunate to have Nancy Blachman speak to us at our last meeting about her Google Guide. If you have suggestions about a topic or a speaker, please contact us.  If you have experience with a new service or technology (such as RSS feeds), and would be willing to make an informal presentation, that would be even better!
 
This is your organization and here is an opportunity for you to let us know what you would be interested in seeing in terms of networking, general meetings, vendor presentations, facility visits, sharing of experiences from national SLA meetings, etc.  Anyone with an interest in the small library environment is welcome to attend.
 
Call Eric at (408) 522-6697 or email him at [email protected].
 
Eric Kristofferson
Patricia Parsons

Online Program about Web 2.0 Technologies

Many of us have heard about and some of us are using Web 2.0 technologies in our libraries.

Learning 2.0 is an innovative online program about Web 2.0 technologies developed by Helene Blowers, Public Services Technology Director at the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. The design of this online program was completely built on Web 2.0 technologies that are freely available on the Internet. These sites include Blogger, Flickr, Odeo, YouTube, PBWiki & Bloglines.

A team from the merged libraries of SJSU King Library and San Jose Public Library adapted the Blowers model and launched the SJSU/SJPL Learning 2.0 program for employees at the joint library. Participants are learning about RSS, podcasts, YouTube, Del.icio.us, Wikis, and other technologies having an impact on our professional and personal lives. The joint library has received hits from around the world, according to a cluster map on its blog as well as a few individuals not affiliated with either library who wish to participate in the program.
 
SJSU/SJPL hopes that other libraries in California and elsewhere consider offering this program to their staff. Libraries interested in adapting the learning program are encouraged to contact Helene Blowers or visit the About Page of the PLCMC Learning 2.0 program she designed.
   
Questions or comments regarding the SJSU/SJPL Learning 2.0 program may be sent to the following email address: [email protected].

Christine Holmes
Strategic Planning & Outreach
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Library
[email protected]

Webcast: The Catalog of the Future: Learning, Teaching, and Research – Friday, March 9, 2007

This Infopeople webcast will be held from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. PST on Friday, March 9, 2007. The speaker is Karen Calhoun, Senior Associate University Librarian for Information Technology and Technical Services at Cornell University Library.

From the Infopeople website:

“The web has made sweeping changes in where and how information seekers discover and obtain what they need to learn, work, teach, do research, and create new knowledge. Today, many users routinely bypass library catalogs in favor of other discovery tools, especially popular search engines such as Google. How might library catalogs–and the collections they describe–recapture the role they have played in learning, teaching, and research?”

This webcast is free of charge. For further information on how to participate in the webcast, please visit http://www.infopeople.org/training/webcasts/webcast_data/173/index.html

Please note that Infopeople's funding limits attendance at live webcasts to anyone in the California library community. If you are outside California, please do not attend the live event. However, you are welcome to see the archived version at http://www.infopeople.org/training/webcasts/list/archived the day following the webcast.

March of the Librarians

The following video March of the Librarians is now playing on YouTube. Created and narrated by Nick Baker, it was shot on location at the ALA Midwinter Conference in Seattle. This is a wonderful spin on the movie March of the Penguins. Sourced on the CARL-IT North blog, it should provide some humor just in time for the upcoming three-day weekend.

Gary at a Great Price!

Register today for Gary Price's Research Tool Box. Via Click U Live! you’ll have a front row seat at a great price of only $15 to a presentation which is usually standing room only at conference. The one hour presentation will take place on 13 February 2007. Find out more here http://sla.learn.com/learncenter.asp?id=178409&sessionid=3-58F6E7F1-50E4-4497-BDF4-FB00F80F3764&page=199

SLA + Newsgator = Customized RSS Feeds

From Headquarters:

We want your input! Through a recent partnership with NewsGator, SLA is now offering members a customized RSS feed service. The categories of pre-selected feeds are based on subjects of interest to SLA divisions, and these feeds are a great way to keep up with recent developments in  your industry. To maximize the value of this service, we encourage you and the members of your units to submit suggestions for feeds of all  types--blogs, journals, news--that can be added to the categories, thereby  sharing them with your colleagues across SLA.

Please send along any suggestions!

What are RSS feeds? Here's about the simplest explanation there is: How to Explain RSS the Oprah Way (Oprah not included). You can subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog via the orange icon in the left sidebar. If you're more comfortable with email, you can get updates that way too.

Former speaker Alex Pang on Ms. Dewey

Last fall (Nov 2005) we had a program featuring speaker Alex Soojung-Kim Pang talking about his work at the Institute for the Future (IFTF) and the role of libraries in the end of cyberspace. You might have even been following the IFTF's blog. I also read his personal blog and thought our members might be interested in his thoughts on Ms. Dewey, Microsoft's new search site. From Alex's blog:

Does someone searching "lung cancer" or "acquaintance rape" or "pediatric oncology" need this? Giving a program "personality" might at first glance seem like a way to make it seem more human. But if you give it the wrong personality, or a personality that is appropriate in some contexts but wildly inappropriate in others, it'll seem inhumane in a calculated, as opposed to merely mechanical, way. A program that says sarcastic things when you're looking for information about personal bankruptcy or workers' comp won't seem just irritating. It'll seem cruel.

Blog entries:
Ms. Dewey: Scariest, and Dullest, Software Agent in the Universe
Second thoughts about Ms. Dewey