Keeping Up Archives - Page 2 of 2 - What Does This Mean to Me, Laura?

Lifestreaming, the next social act

I currently know more about the lives and interests of many of my professional contacts than I do about some family members. This isn’t really on purpose, but it is a direct result of the choice many people I know…

Beyond the visual avatar

(Something kind of fun for a slow(er) Friday.) A couple of weeks ago I covered Weblins here, and someday, I promise, I’ll get to avatars and gravatars. Each of those examples is a visual way to represent yourself on the…

Time to talk spam

(With a lot of credit to George Lenzer, blogger at alt.think!) Here’s some facts about email’s biggest annoyance. Did you know: Spam is largely automated? There aren’t sweatshops full of people typing up those messages at lightning speed in some…

The sins of library web sites

Ah, Twitter is a wonderful thing. I asked members of the Twitterverse to catalog the problems of library web sites, and my followers (as friends on Twitter are called) did not disappoint. I got responses not only from both library…

[GUEST POST] Is your library search bar friendly?

Don Yarman is the Deputy Director of Delaware County Public Library. Probably by now, you’re using a web browser that has a search box in the upper right-hand corner. Do you use it? You should; it’s handy and it’s awesome.…

The web as social playground: Weblin

For the past several months, I have been experimenting with a little-known web application called Weblin. In effect, it allows you to have a little avatar (Weblin) that appears on any web site you visit. This avatar can then see…

[GUEST POST] Escaping the Brand Trap: Moving Beyond Big Name Software

George Lenzer is a Computer and Network Manager at Cleveland Public Library and blogs at alt.think. Do you exclusively use big name household products like toothpaste, laundry detergent and tissue paper? Not very likely, since they almost always are more…

[GUEST POST]Ultra Low-Cost PCs: Little Laptops Getting a Lot of Love

Glen Horton is the Technology Coordinator and Assistant Director of SWON Libraries. As convenient as they are, laptops can be a pain to lug around. They’re heavy, take up table space, generate heat, and need to be plugged into power…

RSS, Part II: Why your library web site needs a feed

I am assuming that, by now, you have a RSS reader/aggretator of your own and you now understand why RSS has begun to control information flow on the Web. Because of RSS, many people don’t even have to go to…

Facebook and public libraries

“Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more…

Why Flickr for libraries?

There has been an awful lot written about Flickr, one of the top online photo-sharing sites. I’m not out to re-create the wheel, so here is an excellent slideshow presentation on what Flickr is, from Michael Sauers, the Travelin’ Librarian.…

Why link collections are dead…sort of

I am hoping, nay, I’m practically praying, that your library does not have either of the following: A collection of links to external websites (often called “Links” or the “Link Library” on the library’s web site, or Bunches of sites…

Keeping Up

Tag, You’re It

You may have heard about tagging (AKA folksonomies). If you’re a cataloger, the whole concept might give you nightmares. So, before we even delve into what tagging is, let’s preface the discussion with this: tagging does not replace cataloging. It…

Keeping Up

A short lesson in Netiquette

Everyone has at least one; that person (friend, family member or coworker) who thinks they have to forward every last joke, LOLCat photo or (usually fake) virus warning to absolutely everyone in their address book. And, often they have no…

First things first: RSS

RSS (usually standing for “Really Simple Syndication”), is crucial to your career. No, really, I mean it. After all, if you’re a librarian, keeping up with information and current events is your job. Think of it like this: New stuff…