Increasing usage of Databases

A large amount of money is spent on offering electronic databases to our users. One of our goals is to increase usage of these great tools. We and other libraries consistently run into the issue of how to make sure our user (and staff) remember to find and use them. Or better yet, stumble upon the databases at the moment they need the information. With the implementation of LS2 and the redesign of our home pages we will be doing at least these 2 things to highlight these valuable tools.

A large percentage of staff have responded to my earlier request for comment and advocated better organization of the databases to make them easier to find. We will be acting on your suggestions in this area. We will be redesigning our database and categories pages so that it is easier and more intuitive to use our databases. We also will be re-sequencing the list of databases, so that the most relevant databases for each category appear at the top of the list.

We will also be creating entries in our catalog for each database. The idea is that when someone searches for "Chevrolet truck repairs" they will not only receive a list of our books but also a link to the Auto Repair Resource Center, for example. Then the patron can click to follow the link to the database or just go get the books. I think the links to the database will be helpful for those info seekers who need it when the buildings are closed. It is my thinking that since the public already uses the catalog to search for books, they should not have to learn any new techniques to find the databases. Since the catalog already acts as a search engine for our books, music, and movies, why not stick with it for our databases as well.

To make this work, we will be adding traditional subject heading to the cataloging records for our databases, but we will also be using the new tagging feature of LS2 PAC. We will create numerous tags for each subject covered by each database, then whenever someone searches for the topic, the database that is most suitable to that topic will also be revealed in the catalog.

FY10 Budgeting Goals

At their February 11, 2009 meeting the Library Board of Trustees provided budget development guidance by adopting these Goals as staff develop the FY2010 budget.

• Maintain core library services and functions.
• Preserve positions and benefits of library employees.
• Minimize disruption for access to library services and resources.
• Recognize finite resources of government funding agencies.

LS2 PAC

In anticipation of flat or falling income in the FY10 budget, we are moving toward implementing TLC's LS2 PAC product. This new pac will expand the patron's ability to tag and find library resources as well as add their own reviews and comments. It also allows us to incorporate our EbscoHost periodical subscription into the search (in a non-overwhelming way) so that users can find both books and magazine articles with a single search.

We will continue to highlight our catalog and collections by featuring the search box in the center of our web home page. The upgrade will give us an opportunity to examine, review, and make enhancements to our home web page.

We are coordinating implementation and training with the goal of going live with the new public catalog in early summer 2009. Funding for this upgrade comes from a grant , which must be sent on technology and services rather than staffing or operations.

Lead, Libraries and the CPSC

You may have noticed an article or 2 in the local paper regarding lead in books. This is a reaction to the finding of lead in toys produced in China over the last 2 years. Congress passed the law stating that all toys must be certified "lead free," the agency that wrote the regulations for the bill, Consumer Product Safety Commission interpreted toys to include books.

Hence our involvement.

Lead is a very serious public health issue, especially in children.
it can have long term health effects in minute amounts.

We are taking the matter very seriously. However the issue is much bigger than our county and even the state of Maryland.

The original deadline to certify items as "lead free" was February 12, 2009. Working with the CPSC, the ALA (American Library Association) negotiated a one year extension of the deadline for library materials.

At this time, I am/we are awaiting further guidance from state and national agencies as to the best way to respond before we take any action locally.

thanks

2053

Today, a college graduate of 21 years old who works until 65 will work until 2053. Try to predict what changes they will see in the workplace and the way they will do business.

Outliers

Outliers: the Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell seemed to me to be an extension of Freakonomics by Steven Leavitt. I admit it would be hard to find a pattern around outliers, but by finding the similarity of successful people such as their birth year, number of hours worked etc. it seems that the work could be a result of the increased use data mining. Or my conclusion may be the result of my reading of the Numerati by Stephen Baker who talks about massive amounts of data and how it wil be used to splice and dice us into our own individualized niche.

Items from Bill Gate' first annual letter

Bill Gates at the suggestion of Warren Buffet, has written his first Annual letter for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In the letter he passes on some goals, where progress has been made, and some things the Foundation has learned in the last year. Here are some things I learned and thought to pass along.

• Reducing the under 5 mortality rate actually reduces population growth. Parents chose to have enough kids to give them a high chance that several will survive to support them as they grow old. As the number of kids who survive to adulthood goes up, parents can achieve this goal without having as many children. When health improves, people have smaller families and the government has more resources per person, so improving nutrition and education becomes much easier. These investments also improve health, and the virtuous cycle begins that takes a country out of poverty.

• In many poor countries, most farmers are women.

• I like their point " Technology is only useful if it helps people improve their lives, not as an end in itself.

• Only 71% of kids graduate from high schoo lin 4 years.

• Many of the small schools where the foundation invested did not improve students' acheivement in any significant way. These tended to be schools that did not take the radical steps to change the culture, such as allowing principals to pick the team of teachers or change the curriculum. We had less success trying to change an existing school than helping to create a new school.
  

• Research shows that there is only half as much variation in student acheivement between schools as there is among classrooms in the same school. If you want your child to get the best education possible, it is actually more important to get him assigned to a great teacher than to a great school.
  

Top 10 Web 2.0 Tools for Young Learners

Resource Shelf passed this link along.

A great list of resources, many available at little or no charge. Some of them might just be useful for the older learner. (-:

Link: http://www.thejournal.com/articles/23898

WebJunction LibraryU lives on

from the WebJunctionBlog:

Have you been wondering where in the world is LibraryU?

Well, LibraryU has been given new life on WebJunction in the form of 14 refreshed and reformatted online modules on topics tailored to the needs of libraries. Begun as an Illinois cooperative grant project over five years ago, LibraryU was launched to create and deliver online learning for library staff. During that time, they registered over 11,000 users. WebJunction is proud to be able to provide an ongoing, sustainable home so these valuable courses would not end up lost in cyberspace.

Visit the LibraryU section of the course catalog to see details and to enroll in any of these courses:

• Directors ASK! (Administrator-Secret-Knowledge!): this course is offered at a 50% discount for the month of February
• Keep It Simple: Developing a Marketing Plan for Your Library
• Motivating Messages for Your Library
• Merchandising that Works
• Introduction to Cataloging for Non-Catalogers
• Shelving with Library of Congress (LC) Classification
• Shelving with Dewey
• Readers Advisory Services
• Weeding the Library Collection
• Planning Story Time for Children
• Dealing with Angry Patrons
• Basic Web-based Reference
• Accompanying the Young Reader: Helping the Read Choose Appropriate Books
• You Can Do It: A Recipe for Designing Web-based Instruction
• Master of Disaster: Developing a Disaster Plan