library+instruction+technology

It's always nice to see a member of the family present at a national conference. Char Booth from Ohio University presented on a video reference service that is currently being prototyped in Athens. Char has posted her presentation on-line. You can also listen (MP3 deep link) to an interview with her courtesy PALINET. 

The reference team installed a web camera and chat software on a computer on an upper floor of the library. The team hoped to be able to help people on the upper floors so they didn't have to make the trek down to the reference desk. Four video chat clients were tested: Trillian Pro, Windows Live Messenger, Skype, and iChat. Skype was chosen as the preferred client. Future plans include adding video IM as an option on their Ask a Librarian page and installing a walk up video IM kiosk in the newly built student center.

I think video virtual reference is a very cool idea. It may be a challenge to implement at a small academic library based on staffing levels. I do think that video IM would be a good tool for consortial work. 

technorati tag: acrl2007

Michelle Jacobs from UC Merced shared her use of a smart phone to provide service to students and faculty. She is able to search the catalog, databases, and answer questions via instant message. Her smart phone is Bluetooth enabled and she purchased an external keyboard to make typing easier. She recommended looking at CNet for smart phone reviews. 

Michelle told us about answering a reference question during the conference using the internet browsing and IM features of her smart phone. This anecdote was rehashed at the beginning of the April 20 Chronicle article (subscribers) describing the reference panel session. 

PALINET has posted an interviewer with Michelle (MP3 deep link).

I'm interested in trying this out, but may wait since EVDO has not been rolled out locally. I do think this makes a lot of sense. I could have used something like this multiple times this semester when I was working with a student in the stacks or visiting with a faculty member outside of the library (and not near a computer).   

technorati tag: acrl2007

The Pew Internet and American Life Project released a new research report today on Wikipedia's popularity (complete PDF).

You are more likely to use Wikipedia if you are male (39%), 18-29 (44%), a college graduate (50%), or make more than $75,000 a year (42%). Wikipedia has 24% share of traffic of the top 20 educational web sites. Google Scholar comes in at number 6, Google Book Search at number 7, and the National Library of Medicine (I guess PubMed) at number 9.

I don't think we're doing a good job promoting the electronic library resources available at the state level, like the Ohio Web Library. Anyone in Ohio with a public library card can get instant access to a bunch of EBSCO databases, the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and a lot more.

As easy as that is to say, we all know what the real issue is though. The reason Wikipedia gets so much use is due to the fact that it is dead simple to discover via search. The Pew report points out that Wikipedia articles have a high number of in bound links. Therefore, they display near the top of Google results thanks to the PageRank algorithm. 

Priscilla Finley from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas showed us how to leverage some cool Firefox extensions. She first showed us how to create a search plug-in that allows users to search the OPAC from Firefox's toolbar search box. It's pretty easy to do, since most OPAC predictable URLs. She next talked about Jon Udell's LibraryLookup  bookmarklet generator and using Greasemonkey and Userscripts to get catalog data to appear on web pages where ISBNs are displayed. PALINET has posted an interview with Priscilla (deep link to MP3).

I created a Sherlock search plug-in for Firefox back in October 2005. It doesn't work anymore and I've never updated it. This Zed Shed brought put it back on the to do list. I'm not sure how many of our students or faculty used the plug-in. I know most of the librarians had installed it on their computers.

technorati tag: acrl2007

Today is the last day of classes. This year went by way to fast. I just finished working on my annual report in preparation for my performance evaluation next Monday.  Here are some fun teaching facts:

• Taught a two credit hour library research method course during Fall semester.
• Taught 20 first year seminar groups (263 first year and transfer students) using a kinesthetic learning activity during the first three weeks of Fall semester.
• Taught 497 students in 32 courses using modified problem based learning scenarios.
• Provided over 430 hours of traditional reference service at our desk.
• Provided 37 hours of statewide virtual reference service.

If you are really into gaming and libraries there are two conferences you might be interested in attending this summer. I will not be attending either…no more college fundage…paying own way to ALA in DC…kitchen is the last room to be remodeled this summer…you get the idea. However, Paul is going to one or both and I'm sure he'll share.

ALA TechSource is sponsoring the first annual (read new revenue stream) Gaming, Learning, and Libraries Symposium on July 22-23 in Chicago.  Registration is open. I think the price is too high ($300), but hey you get a copy of Jenny's book and fun finger food/refreshments. James Paul Gee is one of the keynote speakers. The sessions looks interesting. There are some focused on the use of gaming for teaching information literacy concepts. However,  I don't believe that an individual library can realistically develop a full blown interactive game on their own. Paul has the fire. Someone with the deep pockets should fund him (hint hint). Then we can all reap the benefits.

During an email exchange, Paul alerted me to the third annual Games, Learning & Society conference being held in Madison on July 12-13. Registration is open and will set you back $295 if you register before May 31. James Gee is again a keynote speaker. This conference may be a bit more cerebral, but would still be of interest to librarians interested in gaming and learning.

The GLS Conference fosters substantive discussion and collaboration among academics, designers, and educators interested in how game technologies – commercial games and others – can enhance learning, culture, and education. Speakers, discussion groups, and interactive workshops will focus on game design, game culture, and games’ potential for learning.

If you go to either conference, I encourage you to share what you heard and learned. Do you know of other gaming conferences happening this summer?

Rachel Bridgewater from Washington State University shared her experience using Drupal to create a reference department intranet. Prior to the intranet, the department had maintained a 3-ring binder as a procedures manual and communication tool. The amount of content was getting unwieldy and it was difficult to keep communication flowing smoothly on paper, so an electronic alternative was sought.

Rachel decided to use an open source content management system, since there wasn't any budget for a commercial product. The Library and campus IT are a merged entity, so she had easy access to the servers. This is not the case everywhere, so a good working relationship with IT is necessary if they are a separate group.

She chose Drupal because of it's flexibility, but also suggested Joomla and Plone as alternatives.  She suggested that Joomla offered less customization while Plone required more technical skills, specifically Python. Drupal requires Apache, PHP, and MySQL to be installed on the server. Set up is pretty straight forward. Most challenging is unpacking files and configuring for you local server's environment. Drupal's look can be customized through CSS. It comes with a lot of different modules out of the box, but there are a lot more available. It also offers good access control options.

Main benefit for her department was improved communication. Everyone knows where to go to to stay informed and can keep up to date via RSS feeds (e.g. printer on the x floor not working, already reported it.)

The main challenges are staff buy-in/comfort with change, keeping the software updated when new releases come out, and developing a plan to remove old/stale content over time.

Update 4/19: I forgot that PALINET was interviewing individuals giving Cyber Zed Shed presentations. Listen (MP3) to Rachel talk about her experience. 

Library related sites using Drupal: drupalib, TechEssence, L-net, and Northwest Central. 

Rachel suggested the following articles:

McBridge, M. (October 2004) Open Source Weblog & Content Management Systems for the Information Professional. Searcher, 12(9), 24-30.

Douglass, R., Little, M., and Smith, J. (2005). Building online communities with Drupal, phpBB, and WordPress . New York: Springer-Verlag. 

technorati tag: acrl2007

I've never been to a Computers in Libraries conference and doubt I ever will. However, I like to follow the content as it appears on the web. If you're interested in what's happening right now in suburban DC, you might want to add these to your feed reader:

• Official conference blog
• Technorati
• Flickr  
• Twitter 

Susan Avery, Meg Burger, and Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign comprised the panel for this session. They shared what they are doing to make the Undergraduate Library at UIUC more relevant to the lives of Millennials. Lisa played a new video that showcases what students can do at the Undergraduate Library. The postings by Shana Fair, Laurie Bridges, Amanda Izenstark, and Amy Harris on the conference blog provide a comprehensive picture of the session's content.

I had higher expectations for this session and was a bit disappointed by the lack of implementable ideas for my own library. I think my disappointment may be related to scalability. Or, maybe my Gen X cynicism is kicking in on what is and is not possible on an anemic materials budget.

Don't get me wrong, they did share great ideas.

"Restructure your space to reflect how millennials use space. Provide more room for collaboration, consolidate service points, provide as much public space as possible, provide for media viewing needs, develop virtual library spaces using blogs, wikis, Second Life, Facebook, or MySpace where they can interact with you. Inbed access to your resources in places they actually use. Look at your collections—don’t just limit yourself to purchasing text. Add e-books, graphic novels, gaming, increase your media collection" (from Shana's post)

Our blog is read, but doesn't receive many comments. Our Library had a Facebook profile, before the purge. A Facebook group for the Library was recently created, we'll see how that goes. We don't have a MySpace profile. We already buy a lot of media (DVDs and CDs) and have access to a lot of electronic content (including streaming+downloadable digital videos) through OhioLINK. We don't collect many graphic novels, but there is potential for use by the undergraduate and graduate education programs.

I'm not sure about buying games, due to previously mentioned anemic materials budget.  Not much can be done about the physical space of our building, other than weed, weed, weed, and weed some more to create more usable space.  I still think a lot of my disappointment goes back to scalability. I can't off-load low use books to another building on campus. I can weed it and rely on OhioLINK, which I already do to some extent. I think I still need to chew on the ideas discussed during this session.

The one idea that I believe is actionable locally is consolidating service points. Our reference desk is maybe 15 feet from our circulation/reserve desk. I started socializing the idea of merging the two over the summer at a staff meeting last week. Have any other small liberal arts college implemented a single service point? Is it working for your students?  Is it working for you?

technorati tag: acrl2007