You are currently browsing the monthly archive for March, 2006.
Well, it's that time of year here. I'm getting ready for my annual review. It's a great way to look back at the year, examine what was accomplished and what has yet to happen. I've managed to accomplish quite a bit this year but it's rather overwhelming when I consider the number of things I still want to accomplish.
Not only are there a number of things to actually get done, there's lots to contemplate in the ever changing world of librarianship. Top on my list of considerations:
The state of government information - There are so many issues when it comes to government publications, especially electronic gov pubs. We're creating an e-gov pubs working group to try to get a handle on some of the issues.
Library 2.0 - yes, more library 2.0. I'll definitely keep following this and consider how we can apply it here. Luckily, we've got a couple of experts in this area already.
Information Literacy - this almost goes hand-in-hand with another concern of mine, liaison work. I think it's incredibly important to reach out to both faculty and students in the form of liaison work. This year the library's trying to get more involved with student orientation and I'm playing a role in it. Hopefully our relationship with both students and faculty will become stronger over the next year.
The year ahead holds many challenges and opportunities. Bring it on!
There has been a lot of free information lately. ArchiveGrid has been discussed in a number of library blogs. This site allows free access to historical documetns from around the world.
Statistics Canada has announced that they will make all electronic publications found on their website (http://www.statcan.ca) free as of April 24th.
Exciting news from my library. We’ve hired Jeffery Trzeciak as our new UL. His presentation was Library 2.0 oriented. Can’t wait to see what we do!
Questions are being raised about the possibility of a mysterious, unknown library in Iona. We have lost so much knowledge over the ages, that the possibility of finding even a scrap of it intrigues me. This can also be accounted for my other passion, Classics, including ancient libraries and archaeology. It would be simply amazing to get funding to begin an archaeological search for the lost library in Iona. I hope someone does it. Check out the Iona story here http://heritage.scotsman.com/myths.cfm?id=313532006
A few stores in England have started using “Pay and Touch”, a system that means you don’t have to carry cards or cash around. It goes by fingerprint. Apparently, this system is in use in the States as well. Is this the future of circulation? No more library cards to weigh down your wallets? Personally, I find it all a little too big brother for me, but some like the convenience of it. Read more about it here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/oxfordshire/4784744.stm
Well, it’s been recent period of milestones. Wikipedia English just entered its millionth entry. iTunes has had 1 billion songs downloaded.
What do these milestones mean for libraries? Obviously, these are technologies that libraries should be thinking about. Our patrons use them, so what can we do with them? This is where the whole library 2.0 debate or discussion comes into play. There are some great blogs out there discussing the 2.0 issues. Be sure to check out Stephen Abram’s Stephen’s Lighthouse and Micheal Stephen’s Tame the Web among the numerous great blogs out there (links on sidebar). More on Library 2.0 to come.
