iPhone

Last week I bought an iPhone. I needed to get a new phone but was planning on getting a basic Nokia and an iPad. I spend a lot of time on the bus and thought it would be good to use the iPad as a book reader and to check e-mail. Then I saw the cost of the 3G plans and had a rethink. Anyway, I am happy with my iPhone, I have had a play and added apps etc. So, I can read books, check e-mail, listen to music and play games on the way to and from work, I don't need another internet plan and can get rid of my iPod. Cool. Can anyone recommend good apps?

Have a look at this historical timeline feature from the British Library
From the site: It includes a diverse combination of texts: those that allow glimpses of everyday life (handbills, posters, letters, diaries), remnants of political events (charters, speeches, campaign leaflets), and the writings of some of our best known historical and literary figures.

Another media library going

How sad is this story found via LISNews from the New York Observer? The ABC (US) is closing it's library and getting rid of all of it's journals and print collection, oh and library staff. Don't worry they are "developing, with an outside research consultant, a state of the art research system tailored to our particular needs". As one comment says - Wikipedia saved as a favourite maybe? The president of ABC News calls the planned replacement for the library a more cyber-focused "Digital Research Facility".

Interesting to follow this one and see how the journalists cope with the new service and whether any of the library staff do 'stay on'. I am presuming journalists would have fairly good research skills and a handle on new technologies, but then again you think lawyers would also.....

Am loving the new Firm Spy blog (especially the accompanying pics)!! I think the law and accounting firms are using the threat of recession to get rid of staff they couldn't be bothered retraining or performance managing out. A few less support staff and associates isn't going to mean the difference between the survival or death of these large firms. Maybe the resulting stress on increasingly demotivated employees and bad press will make a difference though?

Finding journals online

My last legal research refresher session was titled 'how to find journals and journal articles online'. This is not an easy task these days and in the end I wound up summarising by encouraging attendees to try a few searches and if they don't locate the journal within 5 mins, to contact the library. The issues that we face during this transition from print to online journal access is that we subscribe to journals via multiple publisher platforms and the library catalogue, as well as offering links to articles via abstracting services such as Informit and Proquest. Access to titles changes regularly as publishers offer more content online and we add titles to our various subscriptions. Patrons want one service which offers search facilities across all journals we have access to, an A-Z list of titles, sortable by subject and full text searchable. I know there are some publishers offering this but the changeable nature of journals and content ownership means that even these are unlikely to offer the perfect solution.

One of the biggest problems with training patrons in the use of subscription databases, library catalogues and other systems is that they don't use them often enough to practice and remember what they learn. We try to focus more on ad-hoc skilling by helping a client search for something as they need it (the just in time v just in case debate again). Doing it this way may mean that clients miss out on updating their research skills and learning about new functionality and search tips via training.

It is a Catch 22 situation. Due to advances in technology and the uptake of social media in libraries, we can now offer automated, targeted alerts, using RSS feeds and mashups. By integrating these tools and federated, googleesque searching my organisation has developed an online library presence to deliver many of the traditional library services. However those same advances and technologies, used by the library and by externals such as publishers mean that without the right skills and with increasing time constraints, clients are still reliant on librarians to run searches, conduct research and to filter information and provide alerting services.

I think we are still a long way from becoming redundant.

On a lighter note - more pretty library/book art from here via Librarian in Black

Donkey library in Ethiopia

I love these stories.... Libraries in developing countries, bringing books to those who need them the most. Especially when there are donkeys involved. Story from the BBC UK.

For EBCEF's project manager in Awassa, Mezrasha Kibret, books are the key to everything.

"If we are interested in changing the world," he says, "then we have to read."

Nepalese children's first encounters with computers

From the BBC Be not afraid: Nepalese children's first encounters with computers

What a great story and another example of the power of eLibraries.

Learning 2.1

Thing 24: Zamzar - where do they get these names?? File conversion, sounds very useful.....

Can't open this one from work, I'll check it out on the weekend. Good to be back blogging though!

Time for a change?

Now that we have settled in to the lovely new library, I am leaving. From 2 Jan 2008 I start in a new position, outside the library and in Melbourne. I am looking forward to the new role and the move, but am a little bit nervous about what will be expected of me. It is scary moving outside the familiarity of the library and away from being part of a library team. Anyway it'll be interesting.... I am also thinking of studying again next year - may live to regret it.

So Melbourne will be fun, I love exploring new cities and there will be lots of bands to see, shops to explore and weekend trips.

Library move

We are moving to our new library in two weeks. Very exciting, but a lot of work. We have been furiously weeding, creating floor plans and finalising the order of the collection in the new space. This includes moving Law Reports from shelf to shelf so that they are in a logical order and are spaced to allow for growth. No need for the gym this week!

We will have more shelf space but no training facilities which is what we really needed. The library is lovely and modern though so mustn't grumble!

Wiki's - Things 16 and 17

Trying hard to catch up now as I am nearing the end of 23 Things!

I have been involved in the wiki that the LIS team developed at work so have been able to add content and play around a bit with that. I would have found it difficult to know where and how to start though if I hadn't been shown! I think there is great potential in wiki's for research tasks and in ongoing and closer collaboration with clients. It is a great way of sharing info while remaining flexible and current.

I recently discovered PBWiki and started a page on arty/crafty stuff. I haven't spent much more time on it, mainly because I haven't 'created' recently. It isn't as sophisticated as the wiki software we use at work, but is still fun to play with, and free :-) Like everything else Library 2.0-related, they seem to update it regularly and add new features.

I liked some the examples of library wiki's provided by Learning 2.0 and can see the benefits for public libraries especially. We have challenges such as confidentiality and the need to train/educate clients on how and why to use a wiki within our organisation. I can see some form of collaborative software being used more in our work in the future.