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Scottie Baugh | 1 Jun 21:56
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Plinkit Websites


Hi -- I am Scottie Baugh, and I do all the IT for a very small library in Dickinson, TX.

TLA has joined the Plinkit Collaborative to offer Texas Libraries a website template which is supposed to
be simple to complete and customize.  I already have a site www.dickinsonpubliclibrary.org , built in
FrontPage 2003, and hosted at the library, but my Director wants me to switch to Plinkit.

Has anyone on the list used Plinkit and been able to customize it so that it doesn't look like a cookie cutter
site?  I've visited their sites all over Texas, and other states, and they all look identical to me.  My
current site isn't much, but it is unique, and is easily updated and improved.  The big advantage, as I see
it, is that Plinkit hosts the site and I will not have to spend the bucks when my cranky webserver finally dies.

Thanks for any input.

Scottie Baugh
Library Tech
Dickinson Public Library
281-534-3812
scottiebmares@...
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Lori Bell | 2 Jun 00:00
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Second Life 101 starting Friday

Starting Friday - Second Life 101, an introduction to the basics. Please join us.
What is Second Life? Second Life (SL) is a 3D virtual world built and owned by its residents or users.
Residents include librarians, educators, businesses, entertainers, etc.
Why should I be interested in Second Life or other virtual worlds?
Among other things, Second Life serves as a platform for immersive learning where you can visit the past
(Renaissance Island) or explore futuristic realms and is a place where librarians have the opportunity
to visualize and deliver library services in different ways. LIS educators and librarians are already
teaching and working in SL.
How do I get started in SL? Go to www.secondlife.com and set up a basic account. You will create an avatar,
alternate persona, and be taken to Orientation Island, which will give you an opportunity to learn to
navigate in SL and get the feel of a virtual world.
What is Second Life 101? SL 101 is a four week course offered designed to teach you the basics of Second Life
beyond what is provided in the orientation. Your instructor, Puglet Dancer, will help you with learning
how to better navigate and design your avatar, to use the various screens and tool bars, and for fun she will
take you to visit a few interesting virtual places. The course is offered by the Graduate School of Library
and Information Science University of Illinois and the Illinois Alliance Library System.
When is it being offered?
Fridays, June 5, 12, 19, 26 from 12:00 - 2:00 pm SL (US Pacific) time
What are the technology requirements?
Participants will need a reliable Internet connection via DSL or cable in addition to the hardware and
software system requirements listed at this link http://secondlife.com/support/sysreqs.php 
IMPORTANT: Please ensure you can meet these requirements before registering for a course. Check your
system against the requirements carefully especially your graphics/video card.
For additional information on SL101 and to register, visit
http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/programs/cpd/VW/SL101.html

Lori Bell
Director of Innovation
Alliance Library System
600 High Point Lane
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Meisel, Gloria | 3 Jun 21:36

Save the Date!

Save the Date!

ACRL/NY Annual Symposium

When:
Friday, December 4, 2009

Emerging Leadership in Academic Libraries
Leaders inspire and motivate us.  Leaders create vision and purpose. But what does it take to be a leader in
today's academic library? How do we mentor and sustain leaders within our organizations? How do we take
charge of our own career paths and move into leadership roles? This symposium will address these
questions while opening up a discussion of leadership across the different stages of librarianship.

Where:
Please note the NEW location:

The William and Anita Newman Vertical Campus Conference Center
Baruch College
55 Lexington Avenue (at 24th Street) Room 14-220 (14th floor)
New York, NY

More details to come soon.  We hope to see you there.

Gloria

Gloria B. Meisel
Professor/Librarian
User Education Librarian
Harold L. Drimmer Library
Westchester Community College
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Scottie Baugh | 4 Jun 16:18
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Plinkit

Thanks for all the answers, especially the recommendations for further reading.  I'll get my hands on, and
my brain around, anything that can individualize the site.

As usual, I've gleaned great info from the list.

Scottie Baugh
Library Tech
Dickinson Public Library
281-534-3812
scottiebmares@...
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Jorge Serrano Cobos | 4 Jun 17:28
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nominees for best public library networks websites in the World

Hi, I´m looking for best practices on public library networks websites, not
simply library (alone) websites.

Which could be your nominees for the Best of the Bests...

... in the World
... in USA
... using websites 2.0 and/or next generation catalogs enhancements
... or driving users form the digital world to the physical world building a
good branding experience?

Thanks in advance,

--

-- 

Jorge Serrano-Cobos
http//www.masmedios.com
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=590138596
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Bornheimer, Elizabeth | 4 Jun 19:02
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Technology Integration Librarian - Qualcomm Inc.

Full details and application instructions at:
https://jobs.qualcomm.com/staffing/staffing.asp?page=search_detail&reqid=1833981

Requisition #   N1833981
Job Title       Technology Integration Librarian
Post Date       5/27/2009
Division        Human Resources
Job Area        Library and Information Services
Location        California - San Diego
Job Description         The Technology Integration Librarian position is
responsible for designing and developing information solutions to meet
current business needs. The role requires integrating information
content into enterprise systems and providing technical expertise to
deploy information tools and services to a global internal client
base.

Employee in this position will be responsible for managing and
maintaining library website, implementing information access systems
such as IP authentication, link resolver, and integrating selected
content from Library database systems to enterprise applications

Skills/Experience       . Experience developing information solutions using
web technologies including XML, ASP, ASP.NET and Oracle.

. Experience with electronic resource management systems and digital
library implementations.

. Experience with access methods such as IP authentication, proxy
servers, Shibboleth, and IP library address management and password
management.
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Tsakonas Giannis | 4 Jun 22:22
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ECDL 2009 - STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS

---Apologies for cross-posting---

13th European Conference on Digital Libraries (ECDL 2009): Digital
Societies
September 27 - October 2, 2009, Corfu, Greece
http://www.ecdl2009.eu

--STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS--

The Organizing Committee of ECDL 2009, with the valuable assistance of
sponsoring organizations, will provide the following scholarships:

    * Conference fees for three (3) students
    * Conference fees and travel support for two (2) students

Additional sources for support are being sought for students not covered by
any of these options. Please, note that students selected for support may
be asked to spend some fraction of their time onsite helping the Organizing
Committee as student volunteers. Priority will be given to authors of
papers in the Doctoral Consortium, the main conference or even the
Workshops.

If interested, please email Mrs. Ntina Kakali (nkakal@...), your
(1) vita with contact
details, (2) roles in the conference (e.g., author, attendee, reviewer,
etc.) and (3) a description of your financial circumstances, and in
particular, whether your department or advisor can provide partial support
(e.g., matching funds) until Sunday, June 21. The results will be announced
through this page until July 10.
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Cecily Walker | 4 Jun 23:02
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Labeling on Websites (electronic resources)

Hi All,

We've been having a bit of discussion on a a couple of the web teams
I'm on regarding labeling and terminology on library websites.
Previously, I spent all my work time in private enterprises, so coming
back to the library space has certainly been a learning experience.

What we're dealing with now is how to label electronic resources and
research guides. We want the label to be as succinct as possible, and
ideally, it would give off enough of an information scent so that the
public would be able to tell what sorts of things they might find
after clicking that link.

At present, our website navigation includes "Research Guides &
Suggestions By Topic", as well as "Newspapers, Articles, Encyclopedias
& More". There are obvious problems with any label that includes the
word "more" because it's a very vague term. Because we're a public
library, the word 'research' doesn't test all that well with our
population because they don't always consider what they're doing to be
research. We switched from "Electronic Resources" to the new terms
because we found our patrons just didn't really understand what
electronic resources were.

So I'm curious - how do you label these items on your website? I know
that this is one of those things for which there is no perfect answer,
but curiosity has gotten the better of me.

Thanks,

Cecily  Walker, MLIS
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Louise Alcorn | 5 Jun 16:49

RE: Labeling on Websites (electronic resources)

Hi Cecily.
We've really struggled with this ourselves [ http://www.wdmlibrary.org/
] We use "References/Tools" which I kinda hate to describe our lists of
subject-grouped reference links.  We also avoided the word "research",
but I'm not sure we've hit on anything that works. We have mouse-over
menus on our website, and all the meaty stuff is under "Library
Resources" which annoys me.  Unfortunately, since we were using a web
design company (I hope to take this back over in a couple of years),
much of the menu-ing had to be decided all at once, and cannot be
changed at present.  

We did a lot of "Quick Links" to obvious stuff (catalog, calendar, etc.)
to improve navigation.  It helped a bit.  We also struggled with how to
group our downloadable audiobooks and video collections from outside
vendors, and put them under "Downloadable Media"...which almost works.
I think we were more successful with our "Using the Library" and "About
the Library" sets of linkages, as these were more straightforward.

If someone has a really useful, effective term(s) for all those
wonderful pathfinders and links we all create, I'd love to hear it!

Louise E. Alcorn
Reference Technology Librarian
West Des Moines Public Library
4000 Mills Civic Pkwy
West Des Moines IA 50265
(515) 222-3573      louise.alcorn@...
http://www.wdmlibrary.org   

-----Original Message-----
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Sharon Foster | 5 Jun 17:16
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Re: Labeling on Websites (electronic resources)

We struggled with this, too. We settled on "Research Your Topic," plus
bumped it up to the second spot.

http://www.cheshirelibrary.org

Previously it was "Articles and Databases." I think the word
"research" has to be a little more familiar to the average public
library user than the word "databases." It might make an  interesting
little survey to find out.

http://web.archive.org/web/20071009045856/http://www.cheshirelibrary.org/

I have no data to prove it, but my feeling is that moving it up
increased its visibility and use more than changing the name. Likewise
for changing "Books and Reading" to "Find a Good Book," and moving it
to the first place.

Sharon M. Foster, JD, MLS
Speaker-to-Computers
http://www.vsa-software.com/mlsportfolio/

On Fri, Jun 5, 2009 at 10:49 AM, Louise
Alcorn<Louise.Alcorn@...> wrote:
> Hi Cecily.
> We've really struggled with this ourselves [ http://www.wdmlibrary.org/
> ] We use "References/Tools" which I kinda hate to describe our lists of
> subject-grouped reference links.  We also avoided the word "research",
> but I'm not sure we've hit on anything that works. We have mouse-over
> menus on our website, and all the meaty stuff is under "Library
> Resources" which annoys me.  Unfortunately, since we were using a web
(Continue reading)

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Gmane