Exploring Rollyo, Del.icio.us, and Technorati

After a break from working on the 23-Things project and a vacation, I am back, determined to accomplish the "Challenge" by the October 19th deadline!

This session I explored Rollyo, Del.icio.us, and Technorati.

Number 12.
At the Rollyo website you can "roll your own" search engine. I decided to lump together a number of dictionaries and thesaui into a special search engine. After I selected its name, "Word Search", I visited a number of websites such as Your Dictionary, Urban Dictionary, Ask Oxford, Bartleby, and others. I copied their URLs and pasted them into the Rollyo customizer search. After the search was generated, I had the option to add it to my Firefox search tool. I tested the search several times and have only one complaint -- it seemed slow to me. But, whether this is due to a temporary problem with my cable provider or the tool itself, time will tell.

Number 13.
I have been a registrant at Del.icio.us since attending an InfoPeople workshop on June 15th this year. Del.icio.us is a social bookmarking tool. It includes a button tag feature on my web browser making it easy to add and tag web pages I want to save. As I bookmark websites that I want to remember, I add tag words as keys by which I can later retrieve the websites. In addition, a search option or a browsing list of popular tags on the Del.icio.us home page may be selected by any Internet user retrieving lists of websites. It is one way to share with others what websites you use, and likewise discover and explore sites others use.

Number 14.
Technorati is a dynamic website to visit when you want to find out what is happening online -- what Internet users are writing and doing with interactive web tools. Technorati's focus is on blogs, but it also is used for what the Technorati site refers to as "citizen media" covering photos, videos, voting and other forms of user-generated media. On the home page you can watch as posts are updated and scroll live onto their site. You can also search for popular topics or submit a search. I did a search on Libraries 2.0 and received results on 180 blogs. The first three were "Tame the Web", "The Shifted Librarian", and "What I Learned Today" (Web2Learning.net). People can vote for their favorites, and apparently the amount of linking to a particular website is a way of measuring its authority.

I am enjoying my journey into the world of Web 2.0; and with each new website or tool explored I am impressed with the amount of activity I see. I assume most of these web users are not retired; they go to school or have jobs, and yet are still active online. I am continually amazed at the amount of social activity online.

Three More Steps

I am continuing my journey on the InfoPeople's Web 2.0 Challenge 23Things. Today I am writing about my experiences with twitter (an online text chatter), playing with image generators, and organizing some of my personal books at Library Thing.

Number 9.
I signed up last week for a twitter account. We are asked how we could use it if linked to a library website. I did not remember to use it this week, except for the two times I specifically set aside to work on this 23Things project! So, I am afraid that I did not discover a particularly indispensable need for it! Could it be used by staff members, sharing what projects they are working on? I am wondering what the other participants have suggested, because I am finding it challenging to imagine how a link from our website to twitter would be convenient. Apparently you need to have a link to twitter available (like an icon in your browser toolbar) to access quickly to post what you are doing, and to view what others are doing or communicate with others on projects. It may be very useful, and I am opening to hearing what others say about how they have applied it in their work day.

Number 10.
Image Generators
As I began exploring image generators I recognized some types of tools I've used before, such as calendar generators and sign generators. I found an e-mail icon generator where you can enter your e-mail address for a customized mail-host graphic. I tried it with my gmail account:
This is the raw image and if I want to use it on a blog I would want to set it up to open a webmail application or text response frame.

I looked at three color palette generatorlinks; I like the one called Color Schemer Online v2 . This is a very useful tool to select a palette of colors for any project -- creating a poster or flyer, or decorating a room or selecting wardrobe combinations.

At Text2Logo I played around with a phrase, "Ask Here!" on several backgrounds. This is an example:




I found a place where you can you can make your own virtual post-it notes. Here's a reminder for me:



The Image Generators exercise was a bit frustrating because many of the widgets act in a quirky way. Sometimes I would get bumped out or find a number of pop-ups had downloaded and slowed my computer's response time.

Number 11.
At Library Thing I found it easy and fun to "catalog" four books I had lying around. You can search Amazon or the Library of Congress (or 78 other catalogs around the world!) by various options such as author, title, and ISBN. I guess it is because of the librarian in me that I chose to search using the ISBN in the LC database. I like the fact that I can add tags such as subjects or genres to later search my collection. It was so simple that I think I will use it to organize my home collection. It was a snap!

OO/Gwen

Visiting Library Websites that Use Web 2.0

I'm slowly progressing with the InfoPeople's "Our 23 Things" challenge.
Today I'll share my experiences with Items 6, 7, and 8 :

Number 6: We are asked to visit a number of library websites that employ Web 2.0 tools.

Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenberg County
This busy library site offers a variety of innovative services including Library by Mail for $5.00 per book, and it is free to homebound patrons. Registration and requests are available online. Library card registration as well as paying of fees and fines is also available online. A note about a few other features of their site: A nice "Find it Fast" drop-down menu feature allows visitors to move quickly to a number of options such as book renewal, volunteer application, suggest a purchase, view employment opportunities, search databases, and other options.
Other drop down menus are used to locate their library locations by zipcode or by name, and allow you to set a particular library as your home location. The website also lists its many programs by category and by location, and you can subscribe to an RSS feed of any of the lists.
The library is building a group of services to offer in Teen Second Life, a 3-D online virtual world.

Ann Arbor District Library
InfoPeople described this website as one that has been built around a blog. I enjoyed its attractive, clean look. It is easy to navigate with tabs across the top and down the left column of each page. In addition to their main blog-site, they also have an audio blog, books, blog and video blog. They also highlight the new or hot items in the collection by fiction, non-fiction or media type. RSS feeds are offered for each of these lists. The visual appeal is quite nice, although it could be enhanced by adding the library's full name, Ann Arbor District Library, in the header.


Denver Public Library Podcasts
From the Denver Public Library's home page, select the link on the left entitled "DPL Downloads" to view the variety of audio-visual downloads and special applications.
They describe their podcasting feature as follows: Podcasting allows a sound file, such as an MP3 file, to be played using your web browser or by using an RSS feed to subscribe to the podcast which will automatically download the sound files to a software player like iTunes. You can then hear the podcast whenever you want from your computer or move it easily to a portable media player.

Seattle Public Library
An interesting feature of the Seattle Public Library is the option to sign up online for an hour library visit and tour, or to take an online tour. This is another library offering online library card registration. It also has an extensive calendar of events and classes; you can subscribe to the calendar. You can also sign up for a newsletter by e-mail. And, under the website's "Collections" tab you can select "Podcasts" and subscribe to podcasts of author readings and other library events.

Summary: I find the Ann Arbor District Library's integrated blog/website very nice. While our library has an I/T Department that manages the website, I expect that blogs, RSS feeds and podcasts will be implemented sometime in the future.

Numbers 7 and 8:
I have a Bloglines account and some of the feeds I have subscribed to include quite a number about words and quotes: Quotes of the Day, Word of the Day, Wordsmith, and World Wide Words newsletter. I also subscribe to The Shifted Librarian, BBC News, the Guardian Unlimited, The Official Google Blog, Reuters, Slashdot, Scientific American, and Positive News Network. Washington Post Book Reviews, Dilbert, Comedy Central Videos, Wired Top Stories... among others. And no, I rarely have time to read them! Having a page of feeds, like Bloglines, is good. Having access to the feeds on your blog webpage as a blogroll (list of blog links) or by link to my Bloglines account I think would be most convenient.

OO/Gwen

The Pace Picks Up!

The Library is one busy place this summer! And we have some new faces in our workplace.
A community college student is in the midst of her internship with the library. Having started in reference two weeks ago, she is now working in the circulation department and then will spend some time working in youth services. The purpose of the internship is to provide her a variety of library work experiences and an opportunity to explore librarianship as a career.

Our new reference librarian, began this week. We are grateful to have her join us. And she arrived just in time to help us during a very busy month. One day this week we had over 1,200 visitors! And one day last week we broke 1,000 in visitor count too. The Summer Reading Program is in full swing and undoubtedly has much to do with our increased activity.

Web 2.0 Journey:
I've been so busy that I've taken a week's break from my "23-Things" education.
But now I'm ready to report regarding Steps 4 and 5:
I set up a Flickr account and explored a number of their mashups:
I went to "Retrievr" (considered one of the top five Flickr mashups)and played with the color sketch pad. Choosing different colors led to images I rather expected; but there were some surprises too. It is a relaxing new way to doodle, a fun stress reliever. I dubbed it "Retrievr, stress relievr." ("Do I have time to do this?" I ask myself.)
In the "Spell with Flickr" mashup I tried my name, as well as the word "reference" and "get help" in various ways. I had a good time with it. I found myself wondering who are these people who have time to create these applications? They must stay up late creating new Internet past-times!
"Tagnautica" is another unusual gadget. It reminds me a bit of our library catalog's Aquabrowser, but is different in that the typed word is surrounded with other words inside images. The entire "bracelet" can be toyed with. I was reminded of those "worry beads" that people sometimes use to calm themselves.
Now "Flappr," I really liked. I searched "books" and discovered that it brings forth a collection of Flickr images that are grouped under that tag. Then you can select one of the images to enlarge. I found the results satisfying. Again, I discovered myself in a playful state. One thing I will say about these Flickr mashups is that they provide stress release.
I liked using "Colr Pickr" also. And "Flickr Logo Makr." While exploring Tickr for Flickr" I followed a link to another of the owner's creations called "Slide," which is not technically a Flickr mashup (if the r-ending spelling defines a Flickr mashup). However, if I ever need to build a slide show with fancy graphics and music I may spend some time with Slide.
I joined a Flickr group named "Carnegie Libraries Then and Now" and I shared pictures I found on the Internet of the Carnegie Library building in San Luis Obispo. I was unable to determine the date or photographer of these photos; one shows the original Carnegie building after its completion, and one shows the building in contemporary times -- after its recent restoration I believe.

gk

Web 2.0 "23 Things Challenge"

Today I decided to officially begin the "23 Things" learning challenge recommended by the State Librarian. We have until October 19th to complete the tasks. (The description and list can be found at http://our23things.infopeople.org/2007/04/our_23_things.php )

Number 1.
The InfoPeople educational offerings completed:
On May 9th I watched the webcast with Helen Blowers entitled "Web 2.0: What Library Managers Need to Know."
And on June 15th I attended Joe Barker's Fresno training entitled: "Web 2.0: Searching Innovations."

Number 2.
I set up this blog a while back, and

Number 3.
Today, as step 3, I signed into the "challenge" with InfoPeople.

I've completed three requirements; and I have 20 to go!

Although I've experimented with some other tools listed in the challenge, I'd like to write about them in the order listed on the InfoPeople site. I'm supposed to progress next to Flickr.

Just a note about our reference activity today: We had a productive meeting with the people from the San Luis Obispo County Genealogical Society regarding moving a portion of their collection into the SLO City branch in the Spring of 2008.

gk

New Librarians Arriving July 17th!

SLO City's new Reference Librarian and the new Los Osos Branch Manager will begin on July 17th! We await their arrival and membership in our "family" of library employees.

The reference department is getting some timely help from the circulation staff. Two individuals have been assigned to assist us a few hours a week with filing ephemeral business/investment materials and newsletters, conducting obituary searches and preparing related correspondence, and updating our pathfinders and handouts such as the local listings of Internet cafes and Income Tax bookmarks. They will also help with the unrelenting labeling and replacement of U.S. telephone directories! And while they are in our area, they step in and assist with Internet logins when the desk is especially busy. We are very grateful to have their cheerful presence in our department, as well as their superb skills! Thank you to the circulation manager who agreed to spare them on occasion from circulation assignments.

And, our SLO City Library Manager has accepted the Assistant Library Director position for the County System. Congratulations!

Our reference department's online calendar is in a trial mode as of June 26th. [Note: The calendar has not been maintained since moving to another work location. 17 SEPT 2010]

gk

Open Positions & Hiring

Currently we are seeking to fill three librarian positions! The ideal person for one of the positions would be someone with experience in both youth services and adult reference, or at least a strong interest and talent for both. I was on the team interviewing those candidates and the process led me to reminisce about my own earlier experiences in libraries.

I recall that I purposefully chose early in my library career not to get locked into any role, and rather to work in both adult and children's services. I wanted to experience the library and its value to the community from as broad a perspective as possible. While getting my degree I worked as a reference intern in an academic undergraduate library on a university campus. This prepared me well for my first professional job working in adult reference in a metropolitan library serving a population of over 200,000. After 2 years in that position, I decided to work as a children's librarian in one of the regional branch libraries. And what a refreshing change it was! After assisting adults and students in research-focused activities at a very busy and often stressful reference desk, I felt renewed to indulge in the world of stories! It was a joy to revel in the reason we love libraries -- books! Beautiful picture books, books of sounds, colors, alphabets, folklore, legends, tall-tales, songs, and poetry. Presenting storytimes to youngsters was a stimulating change for my neglected right-brain which had fallen somewhat dormant during all the left-brain studiousness and seriousness of college followed by more of the same at the public reference desk. To read for the joy of reading, to sing and to move and dance, and explore activities -- I felt like I had gone on retreat, so rejuvenating it was. I also worked the circulation desk several hours per week, which kept me in touch with the nitty-gritty of book lending and customer service.

Those early experiences stood me well several years later when I accepted a one-year assignment as a K-6 school librarian, filling in for the librarian who was taking a year's sabbatical. During that school year I presented six class lessons a day, five days a week, the sessions ranging from grade K-2 storytimes to grades 3-6 introductory library research activities. This was a well-balanced day filled with both reading for fun and reading for study or assignments. Usually storytimes were in the mornings, and mid-grade research assignments in the afternoon. I brought in my favorite hand-puppet, a beautiful white owl, which the K-2 students loved as much as I did! (I still often think of those youngsters, now adults, and wonder where their paths have taken them.)

After that delightful year I then accepted a variety of assignments, including driving a bookmobile, and managing small branch libraries where I continued to present storytimes, including sharing songs and playing my guitar. One of the highlights of those times was reading to an audience at an opening of a new, small shopping center while Minnie Mouse pantomimed the story I read to the crowd. Mickey made a separate appearance to greet the youngsters thereafter. But Minnie and I were on the same stage. I didn't know until that day that the Disneyland celebrities, Minnie and Mickey do not speak. Everything they do is in pantomime.

Returning full circle, the positions I took in the ensuing years were again in adult reference which I still do today. And as we began interviewing for the current opening in reference/children's services I was impressed with the applicants' wide range of talent and experience, their professionalism and enthusiasm. In reviewing my own career, I contemplate and appreciate the spectrum of services libraries provide people of all ages. Moreover, I am reminded how fortunate librarians are to work in this profession and to have multiple opportunities to serve their communities in varied ways. The profession may sometimes seem rather transparent, perhaps not only to the public, but sometimes to us who work within it; but when interviewing prospective colleagues it is easy to become re-inspired!

gk

Transitions

Change is not new to us. It seems we are always in the midst of it. We are saying good-bye to the Los Osos Branch Librarian and to our Assistant Library Director.

The Arroyo Grande Branch Library is undergoing renovation and the staff at the City Library is exploring options for our own renovation. And our move to a new automation system, TLC, should move forward this fall of 2007.

Meanwhile, the County of San Luis Obispo is receiving increased revenues with a new tax rate implemented April 1st. However, the Library Department may not be included in the disbursements of those additional revenues. We still move forward with goals to increase customer service and improve the "retail" experience of our users. In addition to merchandising ideas used by the San Jose Public Library System we are studying the GASP process (Graphics, Ambience, Style, Presentation) used by the West Palm Beach Public Library to rejuvenate the user experience. If you'd like you can view a video presentation of their GASP process.

gk

The Teens' Blog is Available from Our Website!

Congratulations to the SLO Children's Department and the librarians who started the SLO Teens' Blog and made it available from our library's website! Good going everyone!

gk

Times past? Or times of the future?

A friend sent a link to this funny YouTube video. I thought it was hilarious... and it struck me as holding a double-edged message: not only is it good contemporary comedy about "help desks" and information workers and support I/T staff, but it also hints at a "back to the future" scenario when workers return (after the breakdown of technology systems for example) to using the codex form of printed text!

Introduction of the Book

gk

Changes in Libraries

The world of libraries, especially public libraries, is changing. Public libraries once were known for their broad, balanced collection of books and materials that supported literacy, as a resource for an informed citizenry, and a provider of recreational materials.

Now most public libraries, under budget restrictions, find themselves competing with the modern retail combination of bookstore/internet-cafe, and going after top sellers in multiple copies, at some detriment to the mission of a balanced, broad collection. To prove that the library has value to society, the median measured-outcomes focuses not on principles and missions, but on popular trade media.

Furthermore, the role of the Reference Librarian is fuzzy nowadays. I don't know of any other public librarian position description in such a state of flux as to definition, purpose, or value to librarianship. "Reference work" now, however, is frequently handled by all library staff. I doubt this identity crisis will be the case for Branch Librarians, Childrens' Librarians, Media Librarians, Information Technology Librarians, or Collection Development Librarians, to name a variety of positions that are still thriving.

I think individuals who are interested in entering MLS programs, with a focus in Reference work, might consider working for private business rather than a public library system. It is very likely that Reference Librarian positions will be eliminated from public libraries within the next generation; but, private industry will need them more than ever. Pick any private industry that interests you, and learn those resources -- text, database and Internet -- and how to assimilate and summarize information for reporting purposes. That is, sharpen you writing skills, and head into private librarianship for a future that is exciting and fulfilling!

gk

"Chipping" Away at our Freedom

Would you be willing to have an electronic chip embedded in your body for medical reasons? How about to track your health and financial records? Maybe keep your resume and work history? Well, maybe even your Social Security number, your driver's license, and your banking balance. Things would be so much easier; plus if you got lost in the Oregon wilderness, like poor James Kim and his family, you could be found quickly through Global Positioning Systems.

Well, all of these wonderful things are closer than you realize: like a frog sitting in a pot of water, slowly brought to boil, we won't know we are cooked until the chef prepares the serving plate: "A Generation is All They Need" by Kevin Haggarty for the Toronto Star.

gk

Open Source Voting Software

As you probably know, many people are concerned about problems with electronic voting. A new organization called the Open Voting Consortium is promoting a movement to use open source software to increase security, verifiability, accessibility and public oversight of elections.

Take a look at the Open Voting Consortium .


gk

A year has flown by!

It has been almost a year since I have posted to this blog. Blogger.com has improved its features and you may notice a different look. I'm going to declare a New Year's resolution to post at least once a month this year. [Shall I add that to my HPM goals & actions? :-)]

Connectedy.com/cat~refdesk~0 (that last character is a zero) is where the reference staff is stashing the web links we want to be able to find easily again.

This blog http://slolibrary.blogspot.com and the av blog, http://sloavclub.blogspot.com have been added to Connectedy as well!

This year two other reference librarians attended the Internet Librarian Conference and came back with new tricks of the trade. Some of you have received reports submitted by one of them; these will keep me busy for quite a while -- catching up with new sites and search skills.

Well, we are just about ready for 2007! Hold onto your hats! A new automation system, more library renovations, and indeed, more celebrations, including staff members releasing their creative works of art in publishing, music -- and who knows what else? What a group!

Joy to you and a Happy New Year too!

gk

Some state governments moving away from Microsoft?

Last year Governor Schwarzenegger looked into Open Source software for government use, that means, away from paying for commercial software packages such as Microsoft. Whether California will go that way is not yet clear. However some state governments are moving that direction. The following was found on Government Technology Magazine website:

Open Source Activity
Finally open source applications continued to make inroads into government -- a trend that sparked its own series of policy questions throughout the year.

The rap on open source is that it can't be trusted, and relying on it for important back-office functionality is premature. Several jurisdictions, however, are in the process of proving that statement wrong.

Mississippi made Linux the core of a new mobile data infrastructure, the Automated System Project (ASP), which will link police, fire and emergency medical personnel from three counties. The ASP will launch in Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties, but the hope is that it will go statewide and perhaps serve as a model for a national program.

The ASP team used open source software components running on Linux to take two formerly isolated systems -- a records management system purchased from a vendor and an in-house developed jail management system -- and got them talking to each other. The open source tools didn't come with the hefty price tag associated with commercial integration products.

Furthermore, Chicago is fine-tuning a vehicle registration system using HP servers running the Red Hat Linux operating system and an Oracle database that will replace an aging mainframe system.

The registration system issues more than 1 million vehicle stickers annually, and was ready to go into production for this year's renewal cycle, said Steve Philbrick, first deputy CIO of Chicago. Stickers went on sale in June, so the system was set to begin generating notices in late April.

"The registration system generates several million dollars in revenue," Philbrick said. "Government is real big into mission-critical when it comes to revenue generation."

Philbrick said Chicago reduced maintenance costs by replacing hardware based on proprietary UNIX software with an open source platform.

But the biggest open source story in 2005 was a year-end battle in Massachusetts. All hell broke loose in November when state CIO Peter Quinn released a policy decision that sought to phase out office productivity applications from Microsoft and other providers in favor of those based on open standards, including the recently approved OpenDocument standard.

The state first described the plan in early September, and Massachusetts agencies would have had until Jan. 1, 2007, to install applications that support the OpenDocument file formats and phase out other products.

Quinn's decision created a firestorm.

The secretary of state attacked the proposal in the press, questioning the reach of the IT Division to enact the standard and force agencies to adhere to it. Then the Legislature jumped in, and the Senate Committee on Post Audit and Oversight held hearings to determine the process that Quinn's IT Division used to formulate the new open document policy.

The state Senate then tacked a provision mandating the creation of a four-person IT task force to approve technical standards in state government onto an economic stimulus bill. If approved, the provision would hamstring the IT Division from issuing such standards.

Like many other challenges that arose in 2005, it's a policy issue destined to occupy both policymakers and IT professionals well into 2006.

OO/Gwen

Internet Library Conference Statistics

I wrote to the Internet Library Conference to inquire about statistical representation amongst libraries in terms of attendees and speakers/presenters. The reply follows:

OO/Gwen

Internet Librarian, as you know, is designed for all types of librarians. The approximate percentages of types of library attendees are as follows:

30% University
20% corporate
20% Public
10% government
10% medical
5% K-12

Obviously public library attendees, at around 20% are very well represented. As you know, at Internet Librarian 2005, we also had a full days track devoted to public libraries, called Top Tech Trends in Public Libraries.

While we do not keep a demographic of the speakers, it looks like about 20-25% were from public libraries.

To answer the subject of library vendors being involved in the presentations, we take pride in the fact that our events are among the most well-planned learning opportunities in the library field. Unlike some library association events, our very existence relies on the fact that our attendees find value in the presentations and continue to want to attend year after year. Our presenters are picked based on the value those presentations can bring to the attendee. While some vendors do speak, it is because of some ground-breaking new product or initiative of special interest to the library community. Vendors speakers might make up 5% of the total number of presenters.

We feel that Internet Librarian has become a place where librarians of all types can gather to discuss the future trends and practical applications of the Internet and technology in libraries. It is not geared towards one specific library segment, because libraries of all types face similar issues with respect to technology. Public libraries are obviously well represented in both the programming and attendance figures, and we continue to hope that more and more of your public library colleagues realize the value of this conference and decide to join us in future years.

Oceano Library

Thanks to the assistant director's invitation, I was invited to visit the new Oceano Library prior to the Grand Opening on the 22nd of October. It is a bright, inviting and colorful library. It gave me the tingles to see how attractive everything was arranged for easy access. Compliments to all who worked to bring it together -- librarians, tech services and administrative staff members. It was inspiring to see first hand what a happy space this is/will be for the community of Oceano!!

Congratulations everyone!

OO/Gwen

Internet Librarian Conference

Two other reference librarians and I had a very busy, and enjoyable time last Sunday and Monday in Monterey at the Internet Librarian Conference 2005. There are always so many practical things to take away with you when leaving the conference, my knowledge and skills as a reference librarian are enhanced each year. If I miss a year... I fear that I will not keep up or be "employable" in this field! I learned so much the first day that I have enough to practice for a whole year. Day two of the conference re-emphasized much of the same skills I am in need of gaining if I want to stay current.... and the amount of information was both exciting and overwhelming.

This year there was a lot of emphasis once again on using more than one Internet search engine. Google is great, but AskJeeves (soon to be called Ask.com) and Exelead, and SearchYahoo (great, streamlined version that looks similar to Google), A9 (an Amazon engine) and MSN Search... are some of the few additional search engines that the speakers urge librarians maintain familiarity.

Other tools stressed in most presentations included the efficacy of RSS (Rich Site Summary... or "Really Simple Syndication" :-) tools) . Also there was a lot of discussion about "social networking services." This is where the data you collect is available online for others, and theirs to you, if you choose to participate. Librarians are finding that the networking that was usually done by phone and mail and meetings, are done more and more online. Documents are exchanged, or sites and search tips are shared and compared. Some of these social networks can be joined anonymously to avoid mass mailings to your personal e-mail.

Podcasts in audio and now video are other services that many speakers stresssed. There is a way to search word by word television newscasts ... I hope I am describing it correctly. For a detailed description on one of the advanced services to to blinkz.tv and read:


More later.

OO/Ref

Internet Browsers, Evaluations

Some people prefer one web browser over another. Because so many pop-ups occur when using Internet Explorer, we at SLO reference, spent a great deal of time each morning running AD-Aware so we could quarantine and junk the stuff our computer downloaded each day.

About a year ago we tried Firefox as our Internet browser and have been using it ever since.

This Spring 2005, the University of Pennsylvania Computing Department did a comparative study and report on browsers. This is part of their report (which can be found in full at www.upenn.edu/computing/eval/2005/webbrowser/rec-sup.html)

Summary:
On the Windows platform, the team recommends Firefox and supports Internet Explorer.
On the Macintosh platform, the team recommends both Firefox and Safari; a majority of testers preferred Firefox.
Opera receives an honorable mention on both platforms.

Informational Caveats:

1. Some BEN Financials users will need to use Internet Explorer on a PC (or via Virtual PC) to perform some specific actions.

For sites requiring IE on Windows, Firefox has a Windows-only extension that allows you to "View this page in Internet Explorer" or "Always view this page in Internet Explorer." Using this extension will launch the active window (or specified link) in Internet Explorer. If you choose to "Always view this page in Internet Explorer," any time you go to open that page (or click on a link for the specified page), it'll launch it in Internet Explorer.

2. Midway through the testing process, Mozilla froze its suite development to focus on Firefox. The team decided the Mozilla Suite browser should no longer be supported or recommended in favor of Firefox.

3. For Linux users, Firefox and Opera both run on Linux.

4. The team decided that Netscape version 8.0 released too late in the evaluation to merit much testing or discussion. Given that Mozilla is developing Firefox on it's own and it has begun to gain wide acceptance, the team decided to not to evaluate Netscape 8 further.

5. Both Safari and Opera announced significant upgrades at the end of the testing process; we should keep a collective eye on the development of these two products.

Gwen/OO-Ref

More Training and Workshops

August 24th in the SLO Computer Lab, I am looking forward to additional training in using the California Library Catalog, which is a work in progress/collaboration with OCLC.

In late September, I plan to go to Cerritos Library to be trained in online ready reference resources: Free, Fast, and Factual: Online Ready Reference Sources for 2005 and Beyond.

In late October several of my colleagues and I plan to go on our days off to attend the Internet Librarian Conference... always the place to attempt to catch up the one-year falling behind we've experienced in reference and technology leaps. It's always exciting! It's always lots of work! And if you don't go... you lose! :-0

keep on paddling...
Gwen at OO-Ref

post script August 20th. I won't be going to Cerritos Library afterall. There is a possibility that this workshop may be brought to our region?