New Doctor Who on DVD

Sci Fi Wire reports that the 9th Doctor DVDs will be released as a boxed set on 14 February 2006.

Changes in language

Best Word Book Ever - Cover
Originally uploaded by kokogiak.

kokogiak has created a cool flicker set:

Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever, 1963 vs 1991 editions (with revisions). The 1963 edition is my own, bought for me in the late 60's when I was a toddler, and read to tatters. The 1991 edition belongs to my kids today. I was so familar with the older one that I immediately started noticing a few differences, and so have catalogued 10 of the more interesting differences here in this collection.

But will they let you run with them?

According to this Yahoo! News story, the TSA may be relaxing the rules regarding sharp objects like scissors in carry on luggage this Friday.

TSA spokeswoman says the new initiatives will be positive for both security and customer service.

Ya think?

Firefox 1.5

DNS error
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

Here's the new DNS error screen in Firefox 1.5. I'm impressed. I especially like the "Try Again" button.

WebJunction Wiki

WebJunction has a wiki.

Open WorldCat & Amazon.com

From OCLC:

Subject: Amazon.com is New Fulfillment Partner in the Open WorldCat Program

Amazon.com has joined Baker & Taylor as a fulfillment partner within the Open WorldCat program to facilitate the online purchase of books identified through WorldCat. Now, Web searchers who reach WorldCat from popular search engines or other Web resources may use a book buying link to purchase books through Amazon.com, in addition to the initial pilot partner, Baker & Taylor.

This component of the Open WorldCat program not only connects Web searchers with the materials they need; it also delivers a financial benefit to all libraries that participate in the program. Each time a Web searcher purchases a book through Open WorldCat, a portion of the proceeds supports the ongoing development of Open WorldCat for the benefit of all participating libraries.

Web searchers reach the Open WorldCat interface from search results in Web search engines or popular Web resources. Users may link directly to Amazon.com from Find in a Library for some items. When a direct link is not available, users will have the option of linking to the Amazon.com site to search for similar items.

For more information about the Open WorldCat program, visit www.oclc.org/worldcat/open/.

Firefox 1.5 Final Released

It's not yet available on the Mozilla site (at the time of this post) but you can get it from BetaNews. (Warning: Many of your extensions may not work in this new version.)

Tablet woes day 20

I chatted wit Gateway tech support this morning and they said:

According to our database, your system is currently under full system diagnosis ( final ) to make sure that the issue was fixed when you recieved the system.

They suggested I call their "service team" for an ETA on getting my laptop back. A phone call later, I was told that once it's finished ("today or tomorrow") I should receive it in "3 to 5 business days." Friday would be nice but I'm thinking next week at this point.

XHTML & CSS Essentials for Library Web Design

I just got an e-mail from Neal-Schuman informing me that the book is back from the printer. (It's out!) If you ordered one, you should be receiving it soon.

The Reference Librarians Guide to Mastering Internet Searching

I'm planning on being very open when it comes to this next book. To get started, if you're interested in seeing what sort of sites I'll be covering, check out the search tag in my del.icio.us account.

I'm also looking for a good place to start putting up my notes for the book so that folks can read and comment on them. Maybe a wiki. Maybe another blog. I'm just not sure yet. All suggestions are welcome.

As for the title, it's not final. Why? Well, the original plan was to do an update to my Using the Internet as a Reference Tool book but my head is starting to veer away from a direct update. With all of the new resources that are out there (podcasts, flickr, data visualization, video) I'm thinking that just updating the previous book isn't going to cut it.

Miles Davis to enter Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Along with Black Sabbath, Sex Pistols, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Blondie.

The chicken dance

This is what you find when you hit "random" on Google Video.

Should you have to show ID to ride a bus?

Meet Deborah Davis. She's a 50 year-old mother of four who lives and works in Denver, Colorado. Her kids are all grown-up: her middle son is a soldier fighting in Iraq. She leads an ordinary, middle class life. You probably never would have heard of Deb Davis if it weren't for her belief in the U.S. Constitution.

Will it come to this? The ID card above is satire, but how soon before it becomes reality? When honest, law-abiding citizens can't commute to work on a city bus without a demand for their "papers," something is very, very wrong.

One morning in late September 2005, Deb was riding the public bus to work. She was minding her own business, reading a book and planning for work, when a security guard got on this public bus and demanded that every passenger show their ID. Deb, having done nothing wrong, declined. The guard called in federal cops, and she was arrested and charged with federal criminal misdemeanors after refusing to show ID on demand.

On the 9th of December 2005, Deborah Davis will be arraigned in U.S. District Court in a case that will determine whether Deb and the rest of us live in a free society, or in a country where we must show "papers" whenever a cop demands them.

Some Students Find Themselves In Principal's Office Over Blogs

According to this Wall Street Journal article some students have been suspended over what they've written in their blogs & MySpace.com while not in school or on school grounds. Should this be something that educators should even be monitoring, let alone policing?

New army recruiting video

Check it out here. (Flash)
Thanks dad

Christmas lights

This video is going around the Net. As far as I can tell it's real. Does anyone know the source? (.wmv, 5mb)
Thanks L

Tablet woes day 14

I finally called Gateway back to see what's up with my laptop. I was told that they received it on the 16th (it was shipped to them via DHL on the 10th) and that they started "diagnosing the problem" on the 21st. (Considering the case is cracked, I'm not sure what they need to "diagnose".)

The Open Content Alliance

SFGate has an article on Brewster Kahle's Open Content Alliance

"While Google has alienated authors and publishers with its plan to digitize books still in copyright, Kahle has moved gingerly, forging collaborations with Google's fiercest archrivals -- Microsoft and Yahoo -- to create a kinder, gentler digital library effort called the Open Content Alliance."

I praise the idea. Any way to get more content available is a good idea. However, to the above quoted paragraph I would add "smaller, and full of books few people are actually looking for" between the words "gentler" and "digital".

What to do?

When a library closes, who gets the books?

The rights to thousands of books are at the center of a conroversy brewing in the Town of Tonawanda.

In question are about 30,000 books remaining at the now-closed Brighton Library, one of 15 libraries shutting down by year's end to cut expenses in the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library system.

A citizen group, Friends of the Brighton Library, hopes to use the Brighton Road building as a community reading room and wants all the materials left behind for public use.

The town's Library Board, meanwhile, already has planned a one-day book sale at Brighton, with the proceeds to benefit the two cash-strapped libraries staying open in Tonawanda.

Who should get the books?">Buffalo News - When a library closes, who gets the books?

Online presentations

Here's a few recent online multimedia presentations you should be listening to:

Here and Now: Google' Big Book Plan

My trading card

My trading card
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

I've contributed to the Librarian Trading Cards meme. (Create one here.)

Sober returns

I've received a large number of these today:

Dear Sir/Madam,

we have logged your IP-address on more than 30 illegal Websites.

Important:
Please answer our questions!
The list of questions are attached.

Yours faithfully,
Steven Allison

*** Federal Bureau of Investigation -FBI-
*** 935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Room 3220
*** Washington, DC 20535
*** phone: (202) 324-3000

They've all contained a copy of the Sober.CF worm. I'm assuming I'm not the only one so please check to make sure your AV software is up to date.

Doctor Who Mini-Episode

The recent Children in Need telethon in the UK included an eight minute Doctor Who episode which directly connects the recent regeneration to the Christmas Invasion. (It has not been said how long this will be available online so you'd better watch it soon.)

Mashup

Check out the Dean Gray presents American Edit mashup. My favorite is Doctor Who on Holiday. Of course, if you ask the record companies, such creativity is illegal.

Saving the Net: How to Keep the Carriers from Flushing the Net Down the Tubes

Saving the Net: How to Keep the Carriers from Flushing the Net Down the Tubes is a thought-provoking article from the keyboard of Doc Searls. It's long but worth the read. Here's my favorite excerpt:

Advocating and saving the Net is not a partisan issue. Lawmakers and regulators aren't screwing up the Net because they're "Friends of Bush" or "Friends of Hollywood" or liberals or conservatives. They're doing it because one way of framing the Net--as a transport system for content--is winning over another way of framing the Net--as a place where markets and business and culture and governance can all thrive. Otherwise helpful documents, including Ernest Partridge's "After the Internet" fail because they blame "Bush-friendly conservative corporations" and appeal only to one political constituency, in this case, progressives. Freedom, independence, the sovereignty of the individual, private rights and open frontiers are a few among many values shared by progressives and conservatives. All are better supported, in obvious ways, by the Net as a place rather than as a transport system.

Libraries in advertising

I'm not sure how I feel about this image.

Password Generator

Steve Gibson of the Security Now podcast has created a Ultra High Security Password Generator for your 64-character cryptic password needs.

Flash Memory Card Reader/Writer

For the past year I've been telling libraries that they need to have a digital card reader/writer in the building for those patrons that come in and want to e-mail their photos to the grandparrents. Well, stop making excuses and shell out just ten bucks for a Sabrent 42-in-1 USB 2.0 External Flash Memory Card Reader and Writer SBT-CRW42 at TigerDirect.com.

The EULA's worse!

Sony deserves a serious spanking at this point. The EFF decodes the end user license agreement for all those CDs I've been posting about. It seems that Sony doesn't believe in fair use. (Unless you're using a Betamax to record your TV shows of course.)

Just when it couldn't get worse...

It seems that the XCP software on Sony CDs violates the rules of opensource software.

"We can confirm that at least 5 functions in the XCP software are identical to functions in LAME," said Thomas Dullien at security software firm Saber Security in Bochum, Germany, which specializes in the analysis of complex software.

Open source software, if used, needs to be identified as such, so that it can be freely shared with others. Developers on Slashdot.org and other Internet bulletin boards could not find an open source reference in the copy-protection software.

"Tech Terms" presentation archive available

The very popular free webinar "Tech Terms: What's new, what's hot, and what you've got to know" is now availabe as a one hour recorded session. It will be available until December 31, 2005.

To access the recording, do the following:

• Run the wizard found at the following url: http://208.185.32.63/wizard/launcher.cgi?wc=qt. This will ensure that your computer is set up for viewing the slides and listening to the audio portion.
• Once you've run the wizard, follow this link: http://208.185.32.63/launcher.cgi?room=BCR_Training_2005_1118_1202_34
• Login with the following Room ID: BCR_Training The recording should start automatically once you enter the "classroom."

If you have any questions about the presentation itself and the information in it, contact me. Thanks.

Free Webcast: Firefox Search Plugins

On December 2nd, 2005 at 10am MST I will be presenting a free, one hour webcast on creating Firefox Search Plugins. This session is limited to 25 seats and BCR members are given preference but at the moment there are still 24 seats available. (Feel free to register for one seat and then have as many people in the room as you'd like.) A full description and registration instructions can be found at http://www.bcr.org/training/online/FFF-index.html.

email != domain name and other gaffes (contd.)

Jessamyn points out one problem in this press release from ALA in which they confuse the concepts of domain name and e-mail addresses.

ALA also has a new election domain name. It is now 2006election@alavote.org.

Yes, Jessamyn's points are all completely valid to which I point out another problem with the only other sentence in that paragraph:

This change to a dot.org from a dot.net will make it less likely that any ballots will be incorrectly identified as spam.

Huh?! Sorry folks, but spam filters today are hardly considering top level domains (TLDs) as the sole arbiter of whether or not an e-mail is spam. Saying that a .net address is more likely to be spam over a .org is like saying that just because there's a ~ in the URL, it must be a personal site.

First ALA fails on a technical issue, then they fail on a logic issue. Is anyone proofreading these press releases?

Real Story of the Rogue Rootkit

For those of you who read my blog and don't understand the more technical posts (mom & dad), specifically the ones about Sony CDs of late, here's a non-technical overview of the story including why everyone should care.

Dr Who Tardis Phone Flasher

Another great Christmas idea: TARDIS Phone Flasher.

The Battle Over Books (that I would have watched)

For the past 30 minutes I've been attempting to watch the webcast of The Battle Over Books discussion at NYPL. However, every time I try to access it I get asked for a password and then told I'm unauthorized. Nowhere on the site does it mention any sort of password. Was anyone able to get in?

UPDATE: According to the site the next morning: "THANK YOU FOR CHECKING OUT THE LIVE WEBCAST, WE WILL BE POSTING AN AUDIO ARCHIVE OF THE EVENT SHORTLY. AND A VIDEO ARCHIVE WILL BE POSTED AS SOON AS THE ARCHIVE HAS BEEN TRANSFERRED AND ENCODED."

Germany photos

My dad just got back from "NATO School" in Germany and has posted his photos.

Google Print renamed

It's now Google Book Search. Here's why.

Historic cookbook causes a stir

British archivists are trying to decipher a cookbook from 1742 which includes a recipie for stewed calf's head. (Images included, of the cookbook, not the ingredients...)

MSN Health & Fitness - The Flu Goes to Work

This article on MSN offers advice for dealing with the forthcoming flu season. Their last piece of advice for protecting yourself at the office: "During flu season, never let anyone lick your keyboard." (No, I'm not kidding!)
Thanks Rosario

Sony DRM Update

Copyfight has a bunch of updates to the story. However, the important bit is do not use the Web-based uninstaller.

Book Collectors

Book-collectors are divided into twelve or thirteen classes. There are also, in relation to books, certain sub-classes of human beings, who will some say be investigated and explained. These include the families or individuals who admit into their dwellings no other books except the Six Well-Bound Volumes permitted by interior decorators as the literary ration of a home. These are precisely placed on a table, between a pair of handsome "book-ends" (so called because it is an end to all normal use of books when you acquire them) and may be employed for pressing flowers, or as a place in which to conceal incriminating documents."
— Edmund Lester Pearson, Books in Black or Red, 1923

NPR on Wikipedia

Wikipedia was covered on NPR's Talk of the Nation back on November 2nd.
via Librarian in Black

Wikipedia, Open Source and the Future of the Web

A new wave of Internet sites, like Wikipedia, invite their users to interact and contribute facts and opinion and edit each other. It's a more democratic way to present information. But is it more accurate?

Guests:
Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired magazine
Jimmy Wales, founder of the Wikimedia Foundation
Nicholas Carr, freelance business and technology writer; former executive editor of The Harvard Business Review; author of the book, Does IT Matter? Information Technology and the Corrosion of Competitive Advantage

Searching fun

I love A9 as a search engine. Yes, I started using it because I get a discount on my Amazon.com purchases by using their toolbar. It uses Google's database so I figured why not. What I have come to love about it is the ability to receive search results from multiple sources on a single page. Typically I have it perform a regular text search but also an Web image search and a Flickr search at the same time. I'm not always looking for pictures but the image results I get can sometimes make me think about my search and/or just give me a laugh. Today I got a laugh out of a search for nerd tv. I was just looking for the site's URL but as the first Web image result I was presented with an image of Tom Baker as the Doctor being menaced by a Cyberman (right). Why this result appeared, I'm pretty sure I'll never figure out.

Of Google, Wikipedia, and Microwave Ovens

At the CAL conference last week I attended one session on the concept of Googlezon. During the conversation one attendee was very anti-Google and even more anti-Wikipedia. She made it clear that her students had searched Google for information on the dangers of microwave ovens and received a lot of false information. (Sites claiming that microwave ovens were dangerous despite all the scientific evidence to the contrary.) Additionally she was very skeptical of the value of Wikipedia since it could be edited by anyone. I started thinking about this some more today and tried a little experiement.

First, I searched Google for microwave danger and received the resutls shown to the right. As the woman said, nearly all of the first ten results are on the supposed dangers. (Those that aren't deal with microwaves from cell phones and "Unwise Microwave Oven Experiments".

I then performed the same search in Wikipedia (shown right). Initially I received a list of available pages since there was no page in the system titles "microwave danger". Both of the first two results sent me to the Wikipedia page titled "Microwave oven". In the table of contents for this article there is a section on "Controversial hazards: Radiation". Clicking on that link I get a brief yet, scientifically accurate disussion of the perceived dangers."

My conclusion: In this case, Wikipedia is much more reliable than Google when it comes to answering the question of the students. Yet, from the comments made during the session, there was going to be ice skating in Hell before that woman was going to point her students to Wikipedia as a reliable source.

Panel invite

I've been asked to participate in "Spotlight on Your Career" sponsored by the Colorado Association of Law Libraries and the Rocky Mountain Special Libraries Association in February 2006. I'll be on a panel "of authors and editors talking about librarians as authors". Sounds like it'll be a lot of fun. I'll post additional detais as I receive them.

Dell Now Accepting PayPal Payments

Dell said on Monday that its online store now accepts PayPal as a form of payment. The company said it was interested in giving customers more choice in how to complete their transactions, and tech-savvy users of the site are ideal prospective customers. PayPal has approximately 86.6 million accounts, and in the third quarter processed more than $6.7 billion in transactions between its users.

full article on BetaNews

Blog/RSS book update

I just got an e-mail form Information Today, Inc. which included the magic words "we are officially accepting your manuscript". This means the book's in the hands of my editor and off to the copyeditor soon. (Oh, and I get my advnace too!)

Grand Canyon to Get Glass Bridge

National Geographic is reporting that there's going to be a glass bridge extending out over the Grand Canyon. Artist's rendering included.

Sony DRM Updates

Here's a list of CDs affected by the Sony-BMG spyware and it seems that you can turn them in for non-XCP'd replacements.

Teaching teens how to publish

The Eugene Public Library is teaching a Zines 101 workshop for teens.

Sony DRM: The "other" company responds

This my last post this today, I promise...

Here's further details on the Sony DRM from the point of view of First 4 Internet, the company that actually created the software. This one's technical.

Sony DRM Timeline & an Open Letter

Corry Doctorow offers up a timeline of the Sony DRM situation and an open letter from the EFF.

Ranking the bibliobologosphere

PubSub now has "communities" which rank blogs on a particular topic based on links to those blogs. Stephen Cohen is editing The Librarian List. Rankings are updated dailybut right now I'm down at #49. Not bad in my opinion. I'm still in the top 40% and I'm tied with Stephen Abram so I'm in good company.

Another Sony Update

They're released another update (service pack 2a) which will allow you to remove the DRM completely along with a "we're not evil" statement. This version does not require ActiveX and therefore is easily downloadable by non-IE users.

The next conference: CIL2006

I've been asked to do a post-conference workshop on RSS for Computers in Libraries 2006. (Washington, DC Hilton, March 22-24) Negotiations are still in progress and any assistance with travel funds will be greatly appreciated.

More Sony DRM News

• The Ann Arbor District Library has stopped purchasing Sony/BMG CDs.
• The first class action lawsuit has been filed.

Passwords

Need a random, cryptic password? Check out Secure Password Generator from the WinGuides Network.

CAL2005: Patrica Schroeder & Me

If you've read my notes from the recent CAL conference, you mayhave noticed that I was able to ask the first question of Ms. Schroeder after her keynote address. Here's a more complete version of that event.

Ms. Schroeder finished her talk on the topic of Google Print and then opened up for questions. I'd been prepared for this and I quoted back to her the following line from a Novebmber 3, 2005 Washington Times article:

...nor has Google defined what a "snippet" is: a paragraph? A page? A chapter? A whole book?

I then informer he that all she had to do was go to the Google Print homepage and click on "About Google Print" to see that Google does, in fact, define exactly what a "snippet" is: "a few short sentences of text around your search term" and that a screenshot of such snippets is available.

Ms. Schroeder's response was pure politician. She quickly said that what was in the article wasn't what she meant at all. What she "really meant" was that "Google gets to define what a 'snippet' is and what if they decide it's something else in the future." She added that no company should have that right over materials that aren't their's in the first place. She then proceeded to thank me for "allowing [her] to clarify that."

Thanks Ms. Schroeder, you managed to completely deflect the question. Next time, get it right in the first place.

Doctor Who: Cybermen Revealed

The BBC has released the first photo (right) of the new Cybermen design. Additional details can be found on the BBC site.

XHTML/CSS book update

The latest from Neal-Schuman:
"It's at the printer; they're estimating a Dec. 1 date."

CAL2005: Handouts

Handouts from the conference are now up and available for downloading.

CAL2005: Lost & Found

These items were lost (but found!) at the CAL Conference. If anything here is yours, please email me and I'll get it back out to you as soon as possible.

• Ladies fleece jacket, size small, black with pinecones and holly berries
• Black eyeglass case
• Blue eyeglass case
• Multicolor eyeglasses
• White pad with lots of notes (I am quite impressed!)
• Ladies watch

Thanks!
Kathleen Noland
kathleen[at]cal-webs.org

Programming Language Inventor or Serial Killer?

You decide based on photos in this quiz. I got 6/10.
Thanks Amy

Sorry 'bout that

It seems that my idea to create my conference posts using OpenOffice in Linux (booting to Linux uses less battery power than booting to Windows) and then post them to blogger as MSWord files didn't work out at well as I'd hoped. Those of you using Firefox saw basically when I wanted. Those of you using IE saw some very funky code. Well, I've cleaned it all up and added the photos I had so everything should be hunky dorry now.

Infinite Flickr #183

infinite flickr
Originally uploaded by taichi_UK.

All gone... I lasted longer that I thought I would.

Infinite Flickr #182

Infinite Flickr
Originally uploaded by yoT*a.

Still there if you look at the "original" size.

Infinite Flickr #181

Infinite Flickr
Originally uploaded by Jason Davies.

Almost gone...

CAL2005: Pat Schroeder Reactor Panel

Pat Schroder, Jamie LaRue, Kim Dority, Ruth Anna

• RE: Google Print
• JL
• why would libs allow google to this
• improve access
• people are not reading books at the computer
• continues promotion of the book
• digitization can save materials (loss from Kartina) / backup copies
• copyright greediness on the part of the publishers
• DMCA
• Not benefiting the author
• why are the publishers entitled
• KD
• agrees with JL if prior to this, google had talked to the publishers and asked
• why didn't they ask to work together on this?
• “info wants to be free” but it's not free
• libraries are the end of a value chain
• Dependant on publishing companies, let's not upset them
• maybe the DMCA did go to far
• if publishers have no reason to put out content then libraries are out of business
• publishing margins are very small
• royalties are even smaller
• google is making money off of it and screwing the publishers
• it's not the library's right to give that content to google
• but, libraries can't afford to do it themselves
• clear financial trade off between google and the libraries
• good idea, but approached the wrong way
• PS
• liked KD's comments
• publishers like but the library program isn't working with the publishers
• Harvard Law lib, she's offended that they give that content to a for profit company as a former student
• libraries shouldn't be giving away their treasures for google to make money off of
• good for authors, good for publishers, but really good for google
• orphan's works debate needs to be solved
• RA
• lay person
• neither side is correct
• a middle ground needs to be found
• JL
• Why can't I hire google to make an archival copy?
• publishers don't make the content, authors don't make the content
• google has demonstrated an emerging business model
• where's the publishers using that model?
• PS
• Google print pays a percentage of the ad revenue (sharing)
• Library program is not doing this
• Audience comment:
• what are the terms of the licenses?
• UM contract is now online
• Should the bullies get that much media time / publishing materials from both far ends of the political spectrum
• RA
• problem with the lecture, we just heard one viewpoint
• wanted a point-counter point
• played to the audience
• that's not intellectual development
• reaction should have been heard from someone who likes the patriot act
• didn't increase my knowledge
• I'm not part of the religious right, it shouldn't be in the political arena
• The left has used the bully pulpit too
• we're not hearing from both sides
• libraries are the last bastion of unfiltered information
• we need to educate on both sides of the issue
• not seen that @ CAL in four years
• JL
• CAL does sponsor debates
• targeted by Focus on the Family in Douglas County
• gave the opposing views a platform
• they've said they were treated well & with respect
• FOTF hasn't invited a librarian to talk to them
• librarians have a better record on opening the debate to others
• RA
• doesn't consider FOTF the right, but radicals
• don't categorize the right as a religious right
• PS
• sorry if RA was offended
• thinks the radicals have a pulpit in the republican right
• libraries should be places that have the DNA of the culture
• CAL makes sure that librarians are beat up for having all that information
• How did we embolden people to attack libraries so much
• how do we push back
• everyone wants to stay in their clic, and that's dangerous
• RA
• in 60s and 70s it was the opposite
• the left was doing that
• doesn't think it'll succeed
• Audience comment
• i hear the opposite point of view in the media all the time
• needs to hear clear thinking and support at this conference
• so she can go back into the public and deal with the mother trying to censor
• appreciates the help from the people at the conference
• JL
• book: “What Johnny Can't Read”
• textbook industry decided to remove what's been objected to, not to show both sides
• book: “The Godless Constitution”
• KD
• question for RA: libraries are under duress from the religions right, taking out the conservative moderates, how would you make libraries change to fit your vision?
• RA
• just public libraries
• staunchest supporters are the trustees
• trustees need to listed
• they feel alienated
• bring them in to work with you
• worked against state CIPA
• but also let the trustees hear the other side says
• trustees are the front line defense and advocates
• audience comment
• RA has crystallized it
• how have they become emboldened to impose their will on us via government?
• this is the point
• what have done, are doing, aren't doing to let them get away with it
• RA
• we're not showing up at caucuses
• we're not voting
• select delegates that will represent you
• select the best candidates (from those available) are on the ballot
• don't expect a blank check
• JL
• agree with showing up to take over the caucuses
• gorilla librarianship
• “whiter the public good” (speakers from the legislators brought in)
• ask intelligent questions of the legislators
• conduct a reference interview
• PS
• what do you do about school libraries
• a lot of front-line pressure
• they don't have trustees (school board, principal, superintendent)
• The school librarians get hit the hardest
• how can we support them
• Audience
• last spring HS library got a challenge of “The Bluest Eye”
• parent complained
• opt-out policy
• inappropriate for ninth grade
• filed challenge according to policy
• if principal hadn't been new, probably wouldn't have caved
• Littleton never before banned a book from the library
• curriculum level issue this time
• went to board
• tried to compromise in moving the book to 11^th grade
• another parent read rape scene to the board out of context
• the board then pulled the book 3-2 from the curriculum and the libraries
• board didn't follow the policy
• had a read-in, kids brought their own copies
• media was there
• the kids had an impact
• district tried to keep it under wraps at first
• Now there's a new board
• the book still needs to come back up for review to resubmit
• PS
• How do we solve this problem?
• Has CAL done a workshop for the CO principals?
• Educate them on the issue
• use that as a case study
• moderator
• we need more school librarians on the intellectual freedom committee
• Audience
• good example of where public and school libraries can work together
• libraries need to be neutral, where both sides can get together
• total disconnect between school and libraries in this situation
• RA
• There are many CO organizations that can help
• support, presentations, get access to records
• Call the media, CO Bar
• if they're not following policy they are breaking the law
• get outside your safety realm to deal with these issues
• public business needs to be conducted in the public
• Audience
• Person dealing with this issue did everything right
• contacted others for help (local and national)
• you have a process because people do have the right to challenge
• make sure the process is followed
• moderator
• make sure you know who to call for support
• publics should pay attention to schools & vice versa
• CAL President
• school librarian
• should be a presentation next year on who are these organizations who can help
• put this information on the CAL Web site
• audience
• what are the counterpoints when you have a national government official trying to tell libraries what can be in the library? (Tom Tancredo and Spanish fotonovellas)
• JL
• unruly patron that needed to be ejected
• book: “The Fourth Turning”
• point of maximum fragmentation
• More lefties – that's a baby boomer observation
• anti-immigration fear he was riding
• go back tot he trustees
• we are common and neutral ground
• what is the real issue
• audience
• why CAL & ALA didn't respond to Tom's issues
• DPL director felt they could handle it on their own
• Audience
• is there a threat to CO like KS and intelligent design re: science books being pulled from libraries
• RA
• yes, there's a danger anywhere
• that issue or another
• it's up to the people who say no
• it's up to the people to elect people who say no
• get off your duff and do something
• don't believe that particular issue will happen in CO, we're too outspoken
• JL
• Where have the newspapers been on this issue
• they were in favor of filtering
• science coverage in the papers is slim
• newspapers like to point out the “one crackpot” not the scientific consensus
• the press is standing away from libraries until there's something sensational
• KD
• agrees with RA & JL
• bigger issue: the entire library profession has been pushed into a reactionary stance
• very little training on how to stop the bullies and be proactive in library schools
• we need to learn how to be an advocacy force
• look for that training in your community
• we risk becoming invisible if we don't
• we need to change fast
• moderator
• we feel trapped
• can't advocate without betraying the sense of neutrality (afraid of that)
• maybe we're looking at the issues too narrowly
• need to find a way to talk about our principles in a way at grounds us, allows us to stay neutral
• audience
• by not being neutral
• librarians should not be neutral
• library is not neutral, it's a safe place
• describing ourselves as neutral we paint ourselves into a corner
• JL
• change it a little: we need to be common and neutral ground
• we're politically isolated
• we need to become community activists
• leave the library, invite people into the library
• more directly engage the people who set the community perception
• audience
• school librarians need to be a reflection of the community in which they teach
• one of five democrats in the town
• library needed to be rebuilt
• put in teen sexuality books into the library
• all well reviewed and accepted
• parents went ballistic
• needed to write a book challenge policy
• board had to approve it
• she was not a reflection of her community
• board wasn't happy
• board chair was upset that librarian had such power to choose
• said you can monitor what your child reads, but not what my child reads
• stood up to the bullies on the board
• got policy adopted
• next librarian got rid of all those books
• moderator
• it's a difficult thing to deal with
• remain approachable at the reference desk
• Final thoughts
• KD
• teach in DU program
• send student into the profession
• proud of the work this profession does
• JL
• “engaged in a battle of ideas and libraries arm both sides”
• RA
• moving forward and fall flat on your face, you're still moving forward
• if you settle an issue without debate, you've not settled the issue
• just because I disagree doesn't mean I don't like you

CAL2005: Saturday Keynote: The Julie J. Boucher Memorial Lecture on Intellectual Freedom

Patrica Schroeder, Association of American Publishers & former Democratic representative from Colorado

• Jefferson must be looking down and wondering “are they still fighting for intellectual freedom”
• Colorado has always shown leadership on this issue
• Remembers when the police when into the Tattered Cover and the owner said no. She won that lawsuit.
• Under the Patriot act, that wouldn't work
• AAP news:
• Unveiled authorsatyourlibrary.org at ALA
• Work w/ ALA business alliance
• work w/ ALA leadership
• Supported library funding especially in NY
• Work to see how libraries and publishers can work together
• works w/ PLA leadership
• working to increase Spanish books in libraries
• Get caught reading posters
• Katrina donations w/ ALA
• The patriot act shows that we're all in this together
• what is the status of intellectual freedom in 2005
• “it's pretty bad”
• Bush thinks those that oppose the war are “deeply irresponsible”
• Why wouldn't you want people to ask those questions?
• That's very troubling
• abstinence group is fighting a vaccine against uterine cancer because it might increase promiscuity
• Challenge to American Girls dolls
• Librarians are on the front line of this issue
• people are feeling more and more empowered to say “remove that because I said so”
• What happened to the process?
• she works w/ K-12 publishers
• 14 states have moved to teaching intelligent design
• PA went one way, KS went the other
• have to put a lot of stuff in textbooks that is someone's belief, not part of the accepted scientific fact
• it's amazing how many people are banning books
• Harry Potter is the most banned book in the country yet the same people are worried that little boys aren't reading
• Also, Captain Underpants
• They're reading, quit complaining
• Book banned in Norwood, CO was on Laura Bush's top ten reads list
• We salute you all for your efforts
• Bill O'Reiley has requested that San Francisco withdraw from the union, because in the last election they banned handgun sales and said no military recruiters in their schools
• Where are the people who will push back
• it shouldn't be just the librarians
• When kids start going to Islamic school w/ vouchers there's going to the be complaints
• in your face attitude is new and bold and getting worse
• Our forefathers didn't want to live under theocrats, believed in religious freedom for all
• “congress shall make no law” how much clearer can it be?
• Yet we see people trying to interpret that law and make changes
• the people who don't like activist judges are installing activist judges
• Why do they feel empowered today?
• it goes back to 9/11, Pat Robertson & Jerry Fallwell
• they're now defining what gets us rights with god
• no real punishment for saying anything too radical
• Robertson's group was one of the first to get funding for Katrina faith-based aid
• very powerful religious constituency
• god shouldn't be used as a bettering ram in political debates
• mainstream religions need to pull that back
• their intensity is overwhelming the majority of citizens
• this country was supposed to be based on science, reason, and trust in the wisdom of others
• people should be free from the government to figure out this on their own
• democratic values are under attack by those who say they're the pious ones
• public leaders constantly yield to them
• Who are they to make those statements (Robertson, ORiley)
• They've become bullies because they keep getting away with it
• if we let these bullies keep doing this we're going to be in big trouble
• critical point on the patriot act
• passed way too fast
• dream list for law enforcement agencies
• nobody bothered to read it
• did give it a expiration date (end of this year) unless renewed
• Told the AAP needed to go after those senators
• senators kept canceling the appointments
• finally got in to express their opinion, the senate bill is better
• FBI's been sending national security letters
• gag order on person who receives the letter
• no court oversight, 60 people in FBI who can authorize these letters
• Pre patriot act, 300/year w/ court review
• Post patriot act, 30,000/year
• They have been doing this in libraries despite saying they haven't
• Doe case in CT
• Senate bill sets limits including return of irrelevant records and directly tied to terrorism
• House has twice killed the Sanders amendment
• passed but republicans kept votes open longer than usual (1^st time)
• Taken out of bill in appropriations committee (2^nd time)
• go back and look at the first gulf war
• people went into bookstores to buy books on Islam and the middle east
• probably also checking them out of the library
• university presses were doing great
• patriot act can get those records and make those people look like sympathizers
• this can have a chilling effect on what people will buy/check out
• we should trust the individual to make a good decision
• Freedom to read principle is the core of what we believe in
• you need the first amendment for an informed citizenship and therefore a good government
• Let's hope the patriot act is at least softened in the next few days
• we shouldn't constantly in code red
• Other things:
• AR school district book challenges
• Freedom to read foundation (CT Doe case)
• led amicus effort to challenge filter mandates
• we need to continue to work together
• more challenges are to come in the next three years of this administration
• We need to continue to fight back
• Google concerns:
• amazed libraries are letting google copy for free
• why a for-profit company?
• what does the library get out of it?
• Google wants all the information in the world on their servers
• What if Fox News bought google?
• I love google's search engine
• authors are concerned that people are getting it for free
• here's the content going to come from if google kills authors' willing to publish?
• creators are the peasants, google makes the profit
• privacy issues
• targeted advertising
• salute ALA in they're not taking a postion
• we need to talk about it
• worried about the depth of scholarship from this
• teaching ADD if you're not born with it
• optimistic
• people are starting to get worried over the diminishing of their liberties
• people aren't quivering as much over the administrations statements
• Movie “Good Night and Good Luck” (Murrow taking on McCarthy) should be required viewing for every American
• Maybe journalism will become professional again
• Thanks librarians for being on the front lines, you've done a great job
• I continue to support you.
• Q&A
• ME: Google snippet question
• That's not what she meant (what was written)
• Google gets to define what a snippet is
• Rick Aston: “Librarians are the enemy” in dealing with the DMCA
• Felt like a piñata when dealing with librarian on the issue
• Librarians kept telling her she was wrong and she believes that's now over as an issue
• Please comment on AAP plan to license libraries to pay a license fee for a book that's purchased
• Says they're not promoting that
• licensing has been discussed vis a vie google & yahoo etc.
• what is your opinion on blogging and wikis related to journalism
• not sure what she thinks about that
• is wikipedia accurate? not sure...
• questioner's point is that it has a big social significance
• how do they know which bloggers have the biggest audience?
• are bloggers journalists?
• Doesn't realty understand how they're proved valid and who reads them
• “Harpy effect”
• How much time in the day is there to read it all?
• Comment on the fact that someone wasn't punished enough, should he have been punished at all if congress “shall make no law”
• But the example she was using involved a government/military official forcing religion on their subordinates
• Officials should not use their position to force a religions viewpoint
• RE: Patriot Act, if we all emailed out legislators today, would it do any good
• Please do
• it's not going to go away, but supporting the senate version would help
• they need to deal with it before xmas break or it will go through as the administration wants
• Comment: Brit libraries were considering the licensing issue
• Comment: When the other side is so intense & angry, we need tools to diffuse the anger, couldn't the publishers promote books on how to diffuse anger.
• Non-fiction market has increased significantly recently
• History books (1776, John Addams, August 1965) now big
• How to break into the market of those who aren't reading
• We don't have a place to go to talk to people who don't agree with us
• Book: “Bowling Alone”
• Get it out to TV & Cable instead of reality shows
• How would you categorize censorship on the publisher side
• It's an area we deal with
• K-12, “good math books are not in the schools, these are the good ones”
• “terror problem” in the marketplace
• More in the schools than everywhere else
• intelligent design, abstinence, morality
• “the text books are wrong”
• CA & TX are so powerful in selecting textbooks, what they say is what goes

CAL2005: Thoughts on the sound system

They're holding the keynotes in the Columbine Ballroom. I like the music they're playing while we're waiting for the speakers, but its way too loud. It's difficult to hear the person sitting next to you when holding a conversation.

CAL2005: Thoughts on the trustee track

All of the trustee workshops are being held on the top floor of the Marriott in the presidential suite, ten floors above the rest of the conference. This morning I thought about this on the drive in. Why are the trustees being separated from the rest of the conference? Why are we being placed “on high”?

A conference committee member told me that three years ago, there wasn't any trustee workshops at all and that two years ago he had rented a suite to do just that. Last year was the first time that there were official trustee events and that the plan is to slowly integrate the trustee events into the rest of the conference over the next few years.

CAL2005: Thoughts on the number of sessions

To the conference committee: Today, during the 11am-noon time period, there are 16 concurrent sessions. I understand the want to offer as many different sessions as possible but this is way to many. It's hard to choose. There are four different sessions that I'm interested in attending. Also, this divides the conference attendees into way to many small groups, limiting groups to about 15-20 people. Fewer sessions would allow for larger attendance to any one session, improving group participation and discussion.

I asked someone on the conference committee about this and they said the number of workshops was to counter the past complaints that there were not enough sessions that attendees were interested in. I guess I'd just say that there's got to be balance that can be found.

CAL2005: Blog On: What's a blog and how to I create one?

Shelly Walchak, Colorado Library Consortium (CLiC)

• What is a weblog
• Components of a blog
• Comments
• regularly updated
• reverse chronological
• History of blogs
• Origins
• rise to influence
• the first controversy
• Trent Lott / Strom Thurmond comments
• Documentation
• blogging goes mainstream
• Definitions
• Blogger
• Blogosphere
• Blogstorm
• Blogrolling
• Splog
• Types
• Organizational
• Political
• Corporate
• Personal
• media blogs
• Steps
• blogger.com
• create an account
• name your blog
• choose a template
• Next steps
• Settings
• Posting
• Publishing
• Permissions
• Members
• template

CAL2005: Googleization: A Discussion

George Jaramillo & David Domenico, Colorado State University

I spoke to the presenters in advance of their session and they admitted that beyond showing the Googlezon short film as a discussion starter, they had no specific presentation planned. Hey, winging is what I do half the time so I'm never going to hold that against anyone...

• “Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible an useful.”
• Shown: Googlezon by Robin Sloan
• Audience reactions
• Plausible
• “Truth no more”
• We choose who's interpretation we listen to
• Wikipedia
• fact vs. opinion
• You still need to evaluate
• The power of the many over the power of the few
• To have computers determine what you're reading scares me
• Privacy issues are a concern
• Identity theft issues?
• We're reacting as if it's the only source
• People are selecting what they want today
• Can people evaluate?
• Kids today are forced to learn how to evaluate since there's so much more, is this true? studies disagree
• “Everything that's bad for you is good” (book)
• how much choice do we really have?
• bad information also propagates quickly
• risk of people being stuck in their own narrow view
• people don't want to dig deeper than the first 10 sites
• you've always asked your friends first, not the official resources, now it's just on a much larger scale
• who controls the algorithms
• CSU: “I found this on Google Scholar” but we're spending $$$ on databases
• Is Google a threat to libraries?
• The library community are questioning our relevance
• We talk about Google too much
• We need to be their partner
• Frustrated by the ease of Google vs. databases
• Might the technology make evaluation easier?
• More content creation & peer-review i.e. social software
• Google is an additional resource
• Is this not what we've been discs sing for years?
• learning curve on the databases we buy, they're more difficult to use
• Googlezon will probably not be a monopoly
• Privacy, privacy, privacy
• Google is responding to the demands of the public
• Maybe we as librarians need to create their own Google-like resource
• The potential of the opposite is there... maybe there will be more players than there are right now.
• “Reach them where they live” -- start the kids with what they know (Google) then move on to the library resources
• Small libraries can't afford and therefore don't have access to those subscription databases
• Should we give up the evaluation to someone else
• Maybe we (librarians) should be the ones writing the algorithms
• Business is going to drive all this
• Google is fast and easy, no struggle.
• Social networks
• make the library's homepage come up when a patron connects to the library's WiFi
• we need to be thinking about teaching our patrons about these issues
• we suck at marketing
• why are we threatened?
• let's do what we do best
• the reference interview is still important

CAL2005: Wake Up Call: What Our Customers Are Trying to Tell Us if We'd Only Listen

Gwendolyn Crenshaw, Cori Jackmore, Susan Kotarba, & Pilar Castro-Reino (Denver Public Library)

• Handout: Sources Consulted
• Handout: Denver Public Library: Focus Group Findings – Executive Summary from Corona Research)
• Top five findings (paraphrased)
• focus group participants understood the need to change library service models in response to demographic changes
• differentiated service models would have a greater appeal to infrequent non-users
• preference of branch models matched the predictions of DPL staff
• current users reported that they already drive to their preferred library and indicated they would continue to do so if the neighborhood library changed
• increased usage would occur if DPL addresses physical and customer service barriers
• Maternalistic attitude – librarians know what's best for their patrons – no good any more
• New directions why?
• changing population
• changes in customer demands and usage
• emerging styles of customer use
• opportunity to more effectively target resources to emerging needs
• Key points for the library
• Denver's two largest groups are Hispanic families and Anglos without children
• Anglos are less than 50%
• Hispanic 35%
• Blacks 10%
• 50% are single or unmarried groups
• 80% of white households have no children
• 50% of Hispanic households have children
• Hispanics are the fastest growing population in Denver and the most children in Denver are Hispanic
• Foreign born population tripled form 1990 to 2000
• 50% of children born in Denver are Hispanic
• highest concentration of children are in the poorest neighborhoods
• many people in Denver are experiencing financial challenges
• New directions (DPL trends)
• Traditional
• book & text centered collections
• children's collections and programs
• adult reference
• English language collections and services
• new demand...
• popular materials and a/v
• children's/family services
• adult learning classes
• specialized reference and hard-to-find items
• combinations of English and Spanish language collections
• Web services
• Computing (zero to 468 public computers in ten years)
• Basic/traditional/core services (at all branches)
• customer service and care
• children's services, storytime, and summer reading
• collections for all ages
• circulation and delivery of requested materials
• computer access
• referrals to all the services DPL offers
• Six Service Designs
• central library
• western history
• book collection
• business and non-profit resources
• experts
• children's library
• computing center
• cultural programs
• contemporary library
• stacks of new books & a/v
• comfortable seating
• WiFi
• express check-out
• coffee
• learning and language library
• intergenerational environment
• bilingual staff
• Spanish and English collections
• English and Spanish classes
• GED computer instruction
• after hour computer labs (option being considered)
• family library
• children's books
• popular adult titles
• family video & DVDs
• homework help
• fun family programs
• books for babies and toddlers
• storytime
• children's library
• children's materials
• self-directed children's activities
• arts and crafts
• after school programs
• community outreach
• DPL online
• Access from home, school or work
• 24/7 availability
• research and homework resources
• downloadable books and music
• Process
• Since Jan 2004
• One size fits all no longer working
• It's been “an adventure”
• Started with city demographics
• There were a lot of surprises in those numbers
• Looked long and hard at usage patterns
• “targeted audience” branches
• Which branches were which was decided by the managers (yet they still get along)
• Some branches were already perfect examples
• “orphans” didn't fit exactly one category or another
• took geography into consideration
• one of each type in each quadrant of the city (worked out pretty well)
• reach each type within a three mile drive
• Managers self-selected their own clusters
• Senior librarians (on-site supervisors) were asked to self-select
• first and second choices
• most got first choices
• Most stayed where they were
• Once everyone in place then the hard part began
• what would each cluster look like
• template used to design the ideal
• “interesting experience”
• brought them together as a design team
• “collaborative”
• “What does the cluster want to offer?”
• took the ideal and then faced reality – how well are we doing to match that?
• Gap analysis
• Some clusters have further to go than others
• implementation plans
• it's an evolution, not a revolution
• There were concerns but overall the idea was liked
• Corona research (see above)
• Final report still needs to go before the library commission
• Experiments
• IMPORTANT: Children's services are still, and will always be, offered at all libraries
• Outreach to preschools
• felt very important
• had read-a-loud program
• volunteers to preschools to read
• book giveaways
• parent workshops
• what would happen if they went into every classroom in the city
• have added 20 sites in the past year
• goal to add another ten in 2006
• now do less to upper grades
• realigned staff to implement this experiment
• Additional after-school programs
• reinvigorated existing programs
• formal programs
• build environment where children just walk in and find activities to do intuitively
• minimal staff guidance and involvement
• Additional family programming
• private money from Mervyn's
• that company is leaving the area
• avg attendance = 40 people on a Saturday
• families love it
• more bilingual staff & staff with language skills
• concurrent programming
• adult/children programming (at the same time)
• Bookstore displays
• VERY successful and popular
• failed at the newest branch – dual purpose library (public & black history)
• Lessons Learned
• Should not have put the central branch development after developing the branches
• Communication is key (include staff more)
• Talked about the new stuff, but forgot to talk about the core services
• Didn't clarify the use of demographics and geography (not everyone understood the placement at first glance)
• This is a long and intense process (The Time Lesson) – should have spread it out to a longer time period at first

CAL2005: Saturday Keynote

Introduced by Gene Hainer, Colorado State Librarian

• Where are Colorado Libraries today?
• A lot of good things going on operationally despite the budget problems
• State library lost 79% of funding in 2002
• Talking book library
• lost all the regional systems
• replaced by CLiC
• State aid to school libraries
• loss of $11 million in local funding
• homework help line now gone (grant funded)
• Request for courier support for CLiC was approved (review and consideration in governor's office)
• State Aid restoration has been requested
• Database funding has also been requested

Colorado Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff

• [M: First democrat to hold the office since 1972]
• [M: His district is East Denver and Glendale]
• [M: Teaches PoliSci at Community College of Aurora]
• Thanks for helping pass Referendum C
• What does it mean and where do we go from here?
• Librarians help enlighten Colorado
• Unfortunately enlightenment is optional in the budget
• This is not an end to our fiscal crisis
• We still need to economize
• This is a state where people do agree with each other
• Ref C was totally bipartisan
• Both the Boulder and CO Springs city councils supported it
• CO fell further and faster in job growth than any other state in the nation
• We lost a lot of high tech industries
• Drought
• forest fires
• tourism due to terrorist attacks
• We couldn't wait for the national economy to turn around
• This state can deliver on what the employers want
• low taxes
• high quality of life
• skilled workforce
• good education system
• We're 49^th in higher education support
• second highest rate of college grads
• also high rate of high school dropouts
• The businesses go where the good education is
• Governors of other states are happy we're cutting since the result is that jobs go to their states
• We've also got to compete with the educational systems in other countries
• Ref C allows us to restore services that have been cut over the last few years but we can't restore all of them
• “once you've fallen into as hole you should stop digging”
• Ref C is not a blank check or an authorized spending spree
• It was passed by a very narrow margin (52-48%)
• that should humble us
• general population growing, prison pop growing, medicaide pop growing
• Most folks don't know who their rep is, that's not good
• Bills not killed, just postponed indefinitely
• Tell the legislator what you thing we're going wrong
• We're better representatives if we stay in touch with those who we represent
• Denver Broncos are better known that the legislators and that's not the way it should be
• Current debate: What role, if any, government ought to play
• There are things we can do better together than separately. We're stronger ogether than separately
• Q&A [mostly about specific legislative items and asking for advice on better getting “our agenda” passed]

[M: This guy is funny!]

CAL2005: Tools to Help Train Trustees – Colorado State Library's Board and Trustees Handbook and Douglas County Libraries' Trustee Training Manual

Patricia Froehlich (Colorado State Library)

• Handout: Colorado Public Libraries by Size of Population
• Handout: Addresses of Colorado Public Libraries, 2005, including director name and contact information
• New Colorado Public Library Standards released in 2005
• also completely available on the Web
• Last time training handbook was updated: 1997
• State library has been revising it
• It's being put up on the Web as the information is updated
• Print version won't be complete and out until next spring
• Handout: Colorado Public Library Board & Trustees Pocket Handbook
• This on is just a prototype
• Has been reviewed by directors, advisory boards and trustees
• All done via e-mail and phone, no live meetings
• Looks to cover a variety of situations and types of library boards
• suggestion: “develop the mission of the library” be added to the section on duties of trustees
• Developed based on an example from the North Carolina State Library

James LaRue (Douglas County)

• Handout: Douglas County Libraries Trustee Orientation Manual
• Suggests this be used as a template for your library
• Structures, non-jargon, straight-forward
• Based on Massachusetts version
• Mainly developed by the board president and Jamie's assistant who was new to the organization. (She saw it as a learning experience for herself too)
• Library By-laws were developed in 1990 and hadn't changed in 15 years
• They were out of date
• went from 30-something to 360 employees in that period
• Mission Statement first
• contest for staff to see who could memorize it
• made it short, made staff learn it
• put onto pocket cards for the board
• Vision statement, time line, long range plan
• Sticky stuff in the main manual, fast changing stuff in appendices so they can be easily updated
• Org chart, board info, director, district information, stats, budget, Web site, OPAC
• Physical layout, branches
• Personnel
• The board only has one employee, the director
• everyone else works for the director, they're his/her responsibility
• Expect board members have reviews this in advance of the first meeting
• Expect members to view meeting info in advance and for the meetings to start on time
• Library environment
• ALA, PLA, State Library, CAL, ACLIN, Friends
• Library Law
• Sunshine & open meeting, investment, Tabor, Internet issues
• The purpose of policy is to make you look good
• To give you time to research
• to give you time to de-escalate the situation
• not to be publicly humiliated
• PR issues
• Douglas County has had 27 book challenges this year
• Confidentially issues
• especially with children
• Calls for being allowed access to child's records
• “Have you considered talking with your child?”
• Don't ignore young people trying for the board as their first opportunity
• strongly recommends becoming a district
• Know your legislators
• Board job descriptions
• Term limits
• Wrong question
• “Who effective are the board members”
• rotate people out before they can come back in
• Boards over seven start to get unwieldy, smaller than five can't do enough
• Vice President: “Somebody's got to be in charge of vice”
• The president is only one member & does not have the power to follow their own agenda
• Committees
• Douglas uses committees because “it works for us”
• Like the smaller groups to discuss and make recommendations
• Each board member expected to be on two committees
• appointed by the new board president each January
• Typically three people per committee
• Have invited people from outside the board to participate in committee meetings
• Arapahoe LD has not committees, they use “study sessions”
• Decorum
• If people coming into the library are treated well and smiling, you've already failed
• Services: Have you moved from VHS to DVD yet? Why are you still buying VHS if you still are?
• Is the board fulfilling the mission?
• Board evaluation and accountability
• very important!
• Rare
• Is the board only accountable to themselves?
• need to be above suspicion
• We have a good record
• Set goals for the board and follow through
• Ethics
• Don't do anything you want on the front page of the paper
• listen to your “inner mother”
• Make sure the library is well managed, not manage the library well
• Annual contracts with directors still rare in Colorado
• New patron packet also given to board
• No longer mailing board packets
• [M: Aurora has folders that can be picked up]
• They use a Web site
• Jargon & acronym glossary
• “If you're doing it in secret you shouldn't be doing it at all”

CAL2005: Friday Keynote

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper

• He was raised by a single mother who grew up during the Depression and was a life-long reader.
• They went to the local public library every week as a child.
• “My mother read trash. Mystery after mystery after mystery”
• She’d look at the card in the back of the book to see if she’d checked it out before
• Never owned a book due to her frugality from the depression
• Joyce Meskis, owner of the Tattered Cover, let him in on the first day of her new employee training course
• “The more books in people’s hands, the better the world is” – Joyce Meskis
• Libraries help fulfill that vision
• Libraries are a foundation that keep us from sinking down
• Never expected to run for mayor
• Was “goaded into it”
• Decided never to do a negative ad
• People thought he was crazy
• The quirky adds got attention
• Did a lot of “library-like” research
• Poll: jumped from 4% to 33%
• Wife: “You never told me you were going to win”
• Never imagined himself in the mayor’s office
• Hired many people who knew how to run the large bureaucracies
• Did an ad for “Referendum C” jumping out of an airplane
• Said no when it was first suggested
• Wanted to dramatize an economy in “free fall” if it didn’t pass
• Finally said yes
• Will never do it again
• Shared the story of the filming
• Shadows across his face on the first take
• Didn’t want to do it again
• Ok, finally agreed to do it again
• They’d already paid for two jumps without telling him in advance
• Ref C will benefit every library in the state and on educating our kids
• People around the country can’t believe what we’ve accomplished in Denver when it comes to agreeing on important issues.
• “Collaboration”
• “Libraries were something that I grew up with”
• He and his wife were co-chairs of the Booklovers Ball
• Hosted at the library
• On every floor
• Kudos to Rich Ashton, retiring Denver PL librarian
• First DPL librarian: the library is “the center of public happiness”
• You never really know who will use the library at any moment and what will become of that
• When he had decided to open his brewpub many years ago he used the library to find a book on how to write a business plan
• If he hadn’t had that book they would have been able to convince themselves or others to take him seriously and get to where he is today.

CAL2005: Making Complex and Ethical Decisions You and Your Library Can Live With

Mary Elizabeth Harper, Highlands Ranch Branch Manager, Douglas County Public Library District (trustee workshop)

• ALA Code of Ethics
• Highest level of service to all users
• Qualified staff
• Collection
• Hours of service
• Appropriate
• Defined at the local level
• Usefully organized
• Accessible
• Resources
• Books
• Tape/cd
• Video/dvd
• databases
• Equitable service policies
• Non-discriminatory
• Reasonable circ policies
• Equitable access
• Physical access to the building and materials
• Hours
• Accurate, unbiased responses
• Ref librarian shouldn’t give their opinion
• From a reliable source
• & courteous responses to all request
• obvious
• Code was written as a guide
• Five things decision ought to be
• Variety of options
• People are not the problem
• Problem, not opinions
• Objective criteria, not emotions
• Criteria to determine effectiveness
• What makes a decision effective?
• Evaluating Effectiveness
• From PLA
• Effectiveness can be measures by three elements, each of which has a five level scale
• Target Audience
• Result produced
• Audience response
• SWOT analysis
• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Opportunities
• Threats
• Sacred Cow
• In use by PLA since 2000
• Look at what’s “always been done this way” & see what could be changed
• Things for which you don’t know why its done that way
• Ingrained habits
• Good to do with a group of people that are working together
• Used to resolve issues
• Circulation staff (good area to use this method)
• Needs Decision Tree
• Her new favorite
• Good tool for many types of decisions
• 1^st question: how well suited is the library to meeting this need
• Go through the flowchart answering yes/no, well/not
• Helps people identify things they cannot do
• An attendee suggested maybe libraries should consider offering Internet access to homes. (Becoming an ISP in essence.) This was not well accepted by the others in the room, including myself.
• At this point the discussion seriously degenerated into discussion on what services the library should or should not be offering, not a discussion on how to make decisions.
• Start with the mission/vision statement of the library.
• What is the library’s goal?
• Does what you’re trying to decide, match that mission/vision?
• Public librarians tend to live in the past
• Patterns work, then the patterns change
• i.e. computers & the Internet
• Limited resources, how do you divvy up the resources?
• Public libraries tend to just keep adding resources without taking others away as other public entities do
• Determine what it is the community wants
• What does the staff/facility/budget have the capacity to provide
• Gather data, set priorities
• Reallocate resources as needed
• Your responsibility as a trustee is to make the best decision you can for the library/public you serve
• Handout: quotations (relevant & humorous) regarding ethical decisions

CAL2005: Nurturing the Presenter (or, Now That You’re a Presenter, Don’t Panic!)

Bett Kopit

• Lesson #1: No plan survives first contact (She set up the chairs a particular way, the attendees came in and started rearranging the chairs. I was the first as I wanted to sit by the outlet in the back of the room.)
• She welcomed others in the room to share their experiences, “as long as they’re positive and not horror stories”
• “no stress”
• It’s just us in here, the presenters
• People who never present, have no idea what the presenter is going through
• If you don’t get the reception you were expecting, it might warrant further investigation
• It’s a dance between the presenter and the people listening
• There is room at the table for everyone
• Different presenters do it different ways
• You are different, not less, not more
• What you say in the manner you say it is valuable, not necessarily valued
• Focus in on task
• Listeners are so happy that it’s happening to you, not to them
• Disruptions happen
• Believe in the generosity of the group towards you
• Adult learning theory
• People today can be rude
• They’re not aware of their affect (what their body is saying)
• The culture has changed in the past 20 years
• Sense of politeness is 1/3 of what it was 20 years ago
• Stay on task, no matter what you’re getting from the group
• Anger
• Ugliness
• Boredom
• Adults take evaluation more seriously
• They expect an “A”, not an “A-”
• Take away the fear of evaluation
• Discuss the topic openly
• Be proactive in setting up the behavioral expectation
• Will not be addressing technical concerns in this presentation
• You must resist the image of perfection you are going for, you’ll never live up to it
• It will never be the way you expect it to be, something will go wrong
• Partnership with your participants instead of thinking of them as the other
• Be authentic, genuine and real with what is going on
• It is ok to be confused
• Handout: 20 Factors for an Effective Presentation
• Arrange the space / room arrangement
• Get there early if you can so you can set the room as you need it
• Arrange your position in the room
• The presenter should face the door
• The students should have the door behind them
• Least amount of distraction for presenter and students
• When you can’t you can’t
• Protect the integrity of the space for your participants
• Honor the schedule
• Be proactive
• We’re all in this together
• Don’t forget breaks
• End on time
• Adults will do better if they believe you’re partnering with them
• Rehearse the presentation
• Blue note cards
• Absorbs light & easier to read
• No need to memorize
• Actors need to memorize, you’re not an actor
• You need to be able to make eye contact with your listeners
• Get out from behind the podium
• Don’t look at your watch
• Plan the distribution and utilization of the handouts
• All at once, or piecemeal?
• She prefers piecemeal
• Allow for spur-of-the-moment breaks
• They’re falling asleep
• You’ve lost control of the class
• After lunch is deadly
• Interesting/involving activity for after lunch
• Plan your opening remarks / beware of jokes
• Don’t begin with a joke
• Easy to offend someone
• Be humorous without telling a joke
• Give clear directions
• What’s appropriate in the group?
• Turn off cell phones, contribute ideas, ask questions, etc.
• Set the purpose for listening
• Do this very early in the presentation
• Scope & sequence
• Tell them what’s going to happen
• Suggests printed agenda as handout (as appropriate)
• Techniques for instruction
• How can your listeners use this information
• Tell them what we’re here to discuss
• Reduces straying off topic
• Leading questions
• Prepare to get the discussion going by using these
• Increases participation
• Know your role
• Partnership with your audience
• Don’t set yourself up as the guru
• If you do, people will knock you down
• If your word is gospel or bad news, present it gently
• Give as much warning as possible
• Vary your voice
• Be enthusiastic
• Provide praise
• Behavior management
• Responding to silence
• Be aware of body language
• Redirect unclear information
• Respect your audience

I had to leave this session early to attend another, overlapping, session.

CAL2005: Advance post

I'm off to the Colorado Association of Libraries (CAL) conference this afternoon. This one's here in the Denver metro area so I get to sleep in my own bed each night. I've been told there's no WiFi in the Tech Center Marriott so posts will not appear until late in the evening when I get back home. I'm mostly attending sessions for library trustees but you never know what I might end up witnessing. Also, I'll be tagging my conference photos on flickr as "cal2005" and have encouraged others to do so.

Tablet woes day 3

The box for shipping my tablet back home to Gateway arived yesterday and DHL picked it up this morning. Luckily I have an office laptop I can take to the CAL conference starting this afternoon.

Flickring conference

The folks at the CODI 2005 are using flickr tags to pool conference photos.

Tablet woes day 1

Well, I'm in for another "service repair" experience. This time it's with Gateway. My TabletPC has been slowly developing a crack around the swivel hinge connecting the CPU and the monitor. I called Gateway late last night for a repair estimate and it seems that I did purchase the three year warranty on the computer so the repair will be completely covered. I did have to pay $44 for a shipping box but that's o.k. since it'll be sure to get to Gateway no worse off than it is now. They did make me give them permission to format my hard drive but I did make it clear that if they reformat my hard drive to fix a crack in the monitor casing I'd be one upset customer. (The box is scheduled to arrive at my office by the 13th.

infinite flickr #180

infinite flickr #180 Tijuana, Mexico
Originally uploaded by tj scenes.

I can still be seen from Tijuana, Mexico.

"surveillance society"

A world in which even the cameras need to be watched...
Photo taken in Salt Lake City, UT

Welcome to Blogging 101

This is an example post for my blogging class being taught at the Utah State Library.

IL05: What I learned at IL05

• Everything cool is beta, or maybe even pre-alpha.
• WiFi is necessary at conference, it's no longer an option.
• Social software is where it's at (del.icio.us, flickr, Reader²)
• Conference wikis work in advance, not during, as everyone's too busy.
• Conference blogs may not work as bloggers want to post to their blog and non-bloggers don't care to participate.
• Tagging is fun.

WiFi at the muffler shop

WiFi at the muffler shop
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

Ok, I'm steamed! Listen. If a patron can get better Internet access at their local muffler shop than they can at their local public library, we librarians are doing something wrong!

Infinite flickr #179

Infinite flickr #179
Originally uploaded by Nathan's Story.

Still going...

librarian.net : Some IL05 thoughts

Jessamyn thinks I'm good at note-taking...

Schwarzenegger Street

It's a beautiful day in the neighorbood on Schwarzenegger Street. (Flash movie)

Squirel

Squirel
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

It seems that this squirel loves my halloween pumpkin enough to pose while eating.

Infinite Flickr #178

I'm watching them watch
Originally uploaded by eperales.

Still visible...

Death by Caffeine

Energy Fiend can tell you how much of your favorite cafeniated beverage it would take to kill you. Here's my result: I'm assuming I'd have to drink all of them in one sitting else I'd already be dead.

Putting Yourself Out There Blog Post

Putting Yourself Out There Blog Post
Originally uploaded by mstephens7.

Looks like Michael Stephens gets random video IM from LSU co-eds. Where do I sign up? ;-)

Test Your Editing Skills

Scott Adams (Dilbert) has a blog. That's not news to many. (Sorry if you missed it.) What makes this blog great is that in this post Adams shows you the original version of a strip from a few days ago and tells us why his editor insisted it be changed for publication. Now that's giving your audience a behind-the-scenes view.

IM VR: What's your opinion

From Dig_Ref:

Please share your opinions on virtual reference with us!

We are collecting information for a study on librarian opinions regarding chat and instant messenger (IM) as virtual reference delivery methods. The survey will take between 7 and 12 minutes, and will help us get a general idea of how many librarians are using, are opposed to, or have not explored IM as a virtual reference tool. We hope to publish the results in a peer-reviewed journal in 2006.

Here is the address to access the survey: http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB224Q22395K3

We will collect responses for four weeks, from November 3rd until December 1st.

You may also choose to view our informed consent form here: http://www.library.gsu.edu/download/informedconsent.htm

Thank you for your help and participation!

Sarah and Casey

~~~
Sarah King
Learning Commons Librarian
Georgia State University Library
sking33@gsu.edu
404-463-9930

Casey Long
Business Liaison Librarian
Georgia State University Library
caseylong@gsu.edu
404-463-9932

Serenity DVD

DVD Times is reporting a December 20th release of Serenity on DVD. Cover image and menu images included in article.

Tagging Amazon.com

Take a look at the Amazon.com page for Amazon.com: Books: Observing the User Experience: A Practitioner's Guide to User Research. Scroll down and you'll find a "Concordance" of the "100 most used words" in the book. It's a tag cloud! Has anyone else seen books with this feature?
via Elegant Hack

del.icio.us stats

Just finished listening to a podcast of Joshua Schachter of del.icio.us and, despite the audio quality royally sucking I did learn one interesting bit: the domains that have the most bookmarks in del.icio.us are del.icio.us, amazon.com, Microsoft, the BBC, and the Washington Post. (Go figure on that first one.)

Infinite Flickr #177 (reloaded)

#177 (reloaded)
Originally uploaded by mparthesius.

A second follow-up to my post.

Teen Content Creators and Consumers

The latest report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project contained little suprises for anyone that's witnesed a teen online in the past year. However, here are some of the items in the report that I found the most interesting.

• While boys generally dominate downloading and file-sharing activity online, the act of creating and sharing self-authored content, such as artwork, photos, stories, or videos, is one arena where older girls lead. Just 29% of boys ages 15-17 share their own creative content online, compared with 38% of girls in that age group.
• Blogging teens are more likely to have helped an adult do something online than nonblogging teens, this despite living in households with generally more tech-savvy parents. More than nine in ten, or (94%) of blogging teens report helping an adult do something online that they could not do themselves, while 79% of other teens report rendering similar assistance to an adult.
• Teens who report that they most often go online from home are also more likely to read blogs than those who favor other internet access locations. While 43% of these home users read blogs, 29% of teens who go online most often from school say that they read them.
• While public discussion has raged about whether blogs constitute legitimate journalism or are a reliable source of information, for teens, blogs are much more about the maintenance and extension of personal relationships. When teens do read blogs, they mainly read the blogs of people they know. About 62% of blog-reading teens say they only read the blogs of people they know. The remaining group (36%) reports reading the blogs of both people they know and people they have never met. A mere 2% report only reading the blogs of people they do not know.
• Out of the 622 teens in our survey who say they have tried music downloading, 75% agree with the statement that, “Music downloading and file-sharing is so easy to do, it’s unrealistic to expect people not to do it.” Just 23% disagreed with this statement.
• Bloggers generally have similar attitudes as non-bloggers toward free music downloading and file-sharing. Most feel that downloading is so easy to do that it is unreasonable to expect people not to do it. However, like most teen internet users, about half of bloggers think that it is never really okay to download or share files without paying for them or getting permission. Surprisingly, bloggers are slightly less likely to say that downloading is okay as long as people are still buying music and movies; just 59% of bloggers agree with this conditional statement compared with 68% of non-bloggers.

More cool book storage

This one has built-in seating. To find details, go to the company site, select "products" then "cave".

Pet me

adopt your own virtual pet!

Thanks L

Battlestar Galactica Gets Third Season

Read the story at TV Squad.

The Infinite Cat Project

From what I can tell, The Infinite Cat Project pre-dates Infinite Flickr.
Thanks Rosario

Infinite Flickr #177

My Isight
Originally uploaded by mparthesius.

The follow-up to my contribution.

Sony's rootkit "solution"

I've not posted anything regarding the recent discovery of Sony using RootKit technology to hide its DRM on some music CDs since it's a little out of my usual scope. However, this article from BetaNews talks about how Sony has released an "update" to the DRM software that "unhides" but doesn't remove the DRM for your computer. I followed the link to the Sony site with the update to find some more information and when I clicked on the link to the update itself I got this:

Well, it seems that only IE users have the ability to get the "solution" to a piece of software that was installed on their computer without their permission. Way to go Sony.

Infinite Flickr #176

Infinite Flickr #176
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

I've participated in the Infinite Flickr meme.
(Thanks to Michael Stephens.)

What Cheese Am I?

Cheese Test: What type of cheese are you?
This one's Laura's fault

Muppet stamps

Picked these up at the post office this morning. I almost don't want to actually use them because they're so wonderfully designed. Be sure to pick up a set just to read the back of the sheet. Each of the featured muppets have things to say about the stamps.

Meta Feed

While listening to an episode of the Web 2.0 podcast on the way home I got an idea. Using Feed Digest I've created a single page/feed that shows the last 20 items from my flickr, Reader², and del.icio.us accounts along with my main blog & the Satellite Libraries blog. This way anyone who wants to keep track of what I'm up to doesn't need to either subscribe to five individual feeds or bookmark five different pages.

Please try it out and let me know what you think.

The Open Library

Now this is a visually interesting way to present books online. The Open Library shows you the book on the screen, just as if you were reading a book in front of you, two pages at a time, allowing you to "turn" the pages.
Thanks Rosario

Who are "the Blog People?" A Survey of Librarians and their Motivations for Blogging

If "you are an MLS, in library school, or working at a library and blogging" please help Michael out by taking his survey.

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

I had to give this a try since I currently know two 8th graders.

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

IL05: Podcasts

The Shifted Librarian has posted a list of podcasts from the conference. I'm excited since I has to miss Stephen Abram's closing keynote and it's available here.

Data Viz: A dot for every second

Here's an interesting way to look at the number 86,400 which just happens to be the nubmer of seconds in a day.

New communities, physical and virtual

Meredith posts her comments on the state of the biblioblogosphere inclusing issues relating to proper citations (I'm glad to have made the list of "Michaels") and dealing with newbies.

LibrarianInBlack (vinyl)

Yowza... Is Sarah lets out her inner battiness on Halloween.

IL05 Follow-ups: 10 Things I Learned at Internet Librarian 2005

Michael Stephens' has posted his "10 Things I Learned at Internet Librarian 2005".