How to design a LibGuide- Part 1- Rich Text

I was planning on explaining how to use LibGuides software to make a pathfinder 2.0 but found a blog entry that does it as well as if not better than I ever could. Check out OMG Tuna is Kewl blog for an excellent overall explanation of the tools of a LibGuide. Since that has been done I will do an in depth examination of the tools of LibGuides and how I have used them.

The Rich Text/Images/Scripts option is the most valuable resource for a LibGuide and should not be ignored.

This is the tool used for the majority of a LibGuide (see the top two boxes below).

Or you can add pictures and text in the same box (be careful with images, it may be necessary to resize them or they will break the borders of the boxes containing them). This is especially nice when recommending a print resource (Amazon/newer OPACesque look).

An overlooked use for the Rich Text/Images/Scripts box are the scripts. I have added a (this is not an original idea, I first heard about it from the Ilibrarian Ellyssa Kroski) Rollyo box to the LibGuides using script. Rollyo gives the user the ability to search the recommended websites for a term much like a search engine. Google has also developed one of these but I was unable to get it to work. I have asked the webmaster at NEIU to contact Springshare about this. The main problem with Rollyo is the searcher is only able to search one website at a time. This is why I rather hope Springshare can add the Google search option so the users will have the ability to search all of the recommended websites at once.

Kenneth Liss from Boston College pointed out that we can add tag clouds from LibraryThing using this script option as well. I have not added this feature to the LibGuides I have created because the NEIU library does not use LibraryThing, and I am but a humble intern so will not be with them for much longer.

I imagine many more useful scripts can be inserted (please feel free to write ideas in the comment area and I will try them in a LibGuide and report back).

I will examine the other options of LibGuides in the future e.g. how can a del.icio.us cloud be useful, what are good RSS feeds, etc.

By the way Springshare has a free demo you can check out.

Gaming in libraries

The LIS 768 gaming night was most enjoyable. I observed Brainage, Tetris (is this the greatest video game ever, it has lasted a long time relatively unchanged), Guitar Hero, Dance Dance Revolution, and other games. I played Rune Scape and Second Life. I wish I had thought to bring board games or some cards, shouldn’t they be included in game nights?

My avatar in Second Life.

Board and card games are common to all generations (I wonder if the popularity of board and card games has decreased since the advent of screen games). I have started a chess club at my public library gig, while not widely popular it does have an OK turnout.

I am wondering if we could harness the popularity of video games to increase the turnout out at the chess club and vice versa. Somebody in class (sorry can’t remember who, let me know and I will happily credit you with the idea) said that gamers are gamers no matter the format. My personal experience as a former tournament chess player and all around gamer coincides with this thought. People who enjoy chess may very well enjoy games such as Civilization and so on.

If a gamer is a gamer is a gamer couldn’t this be used to convince library administrators fearful of video games but happy to host chess clubs that they are already having gaming nights. Perhaps we should slowly expand existing game nights such as chess to include other games (I think this may better apply to the younger crowd, adults prefer quiet chess). If you are having a guitar hero/DDR night would it not also be beneficial to have a few chess boards around and perhaps hook a few people on chess? Be subversive even, bring in a DS without asking for permission and simply have it available for chess players not in a game.

Would older library patrons be interested in trying Tetris or Wii bowling while waiting for a game of chess?

I don’t know but it would be interesting to find out.

Effing

After helping a student find a particular passage of a book using Google Books (this particular book has probably been checked out by all the English 101 students in Chicago. I found one large print edition I was about to send her after) saving her a trip to the far away Harold Washington Library I was complemented with the phrase, “You are effing awesome!”

I would never have imagined saying that to a librarian or to anybody else for that matter while I was an undergrad or even now… but it sure made me feel good. What does this say about undergrad students today? Does anybody else have stories like this?

Perhaps some of you have not been told that you are effing awesome… Well, you are all effing awesome!

Now back to writing a collection development paper.

Ning

I like Ning. I am guardedly excited about Ning.

I don’t care about creating profiles and having “friends,” but I do like the idea of having a private group. Wouldn’t this work well for an anime/manga, gaming, chess, book discussion club at a public library, especially one that meets only once a month? Or workshops, classes, staff for an academic library. It would also be pretty cool for a fantasy football league (do any libraries have these going on, too loud perhaps?).

I found the Library 2.0 Ning to be a rather barren and unused (thought I saw some tumbleweed at one point) resource excluding the CMS discussion. I am rather interested in Drupal and all the other CMSs (going to have to be in the future no matter what), and was very interested in what was being discussed by technologically superior librarians. Perhaps the LIS768 class is what is needed to get the blood flowing again. I think most of the Library 2.0 discussion is going on in the blogosphere. Wherever the Library 2.0ers are talking it is not in Ning.

LibraryThing

I use LibraryThing but mostly because I like looking at all those pretty covers. The suggested books I have received from it were mediocre at best, but I have to say the same thing about NoveList and all my fiends (not my library friends of course, all the suggestions I get from library folk are outstanding…) so this is not necessarily a condemnation of LibraryThing.

I have wondered how it can be used for libraries. I do like the suggestion of having it linked to an OPAC catalog with a tag cloud (check out the libraries already using this). This will give us one more tool for patrons to help themselves and for us to help them at the reference desk. How many times have you done some pearl growing to find that the subject heading you have just clicked on only applies to one book in the whole consortium (tell me what the point of subject heading to this degree in all of I-Share? Drives me crazy. Don’t misunderstand I love subject searching, just annoyed when it fails miserably)? Tag clouds would give us an option to do a sideways pearl growing when subject headings let us down.

I have had a few and will definitely have many more patrons not truly know what they are looking for i.g. “I need something about racism and how it affects people,”(An actual question I received recently) I think tag clouds may be an easier way of letting the patrons help themselves and narrow their questions.

I had a chance to suggest LibraryThing to a patron today. She was kvetching about bringing a book home and realizing later she had already read it. I told her the library does not keep records because of big brother, but perhaps LibraryThing is the answer. She could simply insert a book after finishing it and problem solved (could this be a problem, can the FBI access LibraryThing?).

If you look in the bottom right hand corner I was able to insert an RSS feed from LibraryThing on to WordPress. Sadly, WordPress does not allow JavaScript, therefor an RSS feed is the best that can be done.

LibGuides and my Philosophy of Pathfinders 2.0

I have been reading about LibGuides on various blogs including Michael’s Tame the Web and Ellyssa Kroski’s iLibrarian. I am also creating LibGuides for Northeastern Illinois University’s Ronald Williams Library during an internship, check them out if you have time.

I have come to the conclusion that most librarians have not taken the time to consider the implications of Pathfinders 2.0. I examined many LibGuides before beginning my own (the psychology one) and consistently found them to be in the same old pathfinder format. The use of videos, rss feeds, del.icio.us tag clouds (I have not been able to work this in to mine because we do not have a library del.icio.us account…yet), and other web 2.0 technologies are largely ignored. Librarians are simply cutting and pasting from a stagnant html document without considering the technologies that are now available. These technologies may, gasp, actually make pathfinders interesting to the patron.

Librarians are highly knowledgeable in their subject, but are we all knowing? LibGuides are an excellent manner of receiving feedback and information from patrons (students or professors) about potentially interesting resources. This is especially true in regards to the ever expanding web. Actively pursue submissions from patrons, make them co-authors of the LibGuides (especially professors). If it is possible make them comment for an in class assignment (check out the comments in the Lexicology LibGuide). It would be great if librarians would comment on each others Libguides suggesting sources or new widgets that can be inserted.

To sum up:

1. Use the technology.

2. Actively and constantly ask for feedback (polls and writing).

3. Remember a LibGuide should always be growing.

I will write on the actual making of a Libguide in the near future.

Virtual Reference via IM

I discussed Virtual Reference with Marie (not sure where she is from) through New Lenox Library’s Illinois Ask Away service. She spent about a half hour answering questions about some of the aspects of instant message (IM) reference.

I am very impressed with the thoroughness and how well written her answers are (see the chat posted below).

I am especially interesting in her textual cues. I always considered IM reference to have a serious drawback because of the lack of physical cues, but I never, naively I suppose, considered the textual cues that are embedded in each and every IM reference interview. I would be interested in reviewing IM reference interviews collected by a library and trying to figure out what the person really wanted.

I never thought of the aspect of group thinking potential in this service. I have never even considered IMing another librarian to ask for help with a reference question (I ask somebody near, I guess I really have not been asked thesis level difficult questions yet). What an incredible idea, if we could have tons of librarians in a group (would Ning work for this?) and have questions posted to that group.  I imagine those may be some of the most throughly answered questions in history.

It is like the idea behind Yahoo! Answers, the now defunct Google Answers, Wikipedia Reference Desk or Metafilter but for librarians. I know I sometimes worry that I have not gotten all the best sources for a patron, and if I had somebody helping I would at least feel more confident (I hope others have this same worry).

Could we/should we set up a reference Wiki for librarians that are having trouble with a question, but specifically for librarians (or experts in a field willing to help librarians)  at reference desks? Does this have a problem I am not seeing at this moment? Is it already out there and I don’t know about it? I am drooling at the very idea, something with and on the ALA website would be the best. Who do I need to talk to get this going?

Funny all this from an innocent IM interview.

Cheers Marie wherever you are!

Question ID: 2817482Chat Transcript: Do you have a free moment to discuss IM reference with a LIS student?

[Librarian 20:54:50]: Librarian ‘Marie (24/7 Librarian)’ has joined the session.

[Librarian 20:55:30]: I will do so as long as we don’t get crazy busy )

[Librarian 20:55:38]: My name is Marie.

[Mick 20:55:46]: Ok, I work the reference desk as well so I know how that can be

[Librarian 20:56:01]: Brittney – are you still online?

[Mick 20:56:21]: Are you talking to me>?

[Librarian 20:56:28]: See – I got mixed up already. What is is that you need to know?

[Mick 20:56:52]: I was wondering what it is like to use IM for reference

[Mick 20:57:09]: Are you a reference librarian normally? Academic or public?

[Mick 20:57:49]: How does it differ from face to face?

[Librarian 20:57:58]: What is it like….it seems to work well for many patrons who are tired of trying to dig through the internet or are multitasking at home….

[Mick 20:58:10]: Tricks to doing it well

[Mick 20:58:31]: Do you point to websites mostly or do you have database type questions?

[Librarian 20:58:38]: I have always been a reference librarian…academic 10 years, public 3 years…

[Mick 20:59:18]: Who seems to be asking the most questions?

[Librarian 20:59:39]: Do you point to websites mostly or do you have database type questions? Both and tons of circulation questions.

[Mick 21:00:03]: Ah, circ about how do you answer those?

[Librarian 21:00:14]: Who seems to be asking the most questions? Students and geneology research.

[Mick 21:00:22]: Ok

[Mick 21:01:18]: How many questions do you get usually, when you are on?

[Librarian 21:03:14]: At busy times – about 15 per hour

[Mick 21:03:26]: Wow, that is great

[Mick 21:04:05]: How is the reference interview different?

[Librarian 21:04:29]: No visual cues…must rely on textual cues…

[Mick 21:04:40]: Such as?

[Librarian 21:05:00]: Circ questions are answered using the patrons’ own library website.

[Mick 21:05:45]: Ok, you get card number and see fines due holds etc?

[Librarian 21:06:40]: Does the patron frame the question well or does it need clarification – does the patron say where they have searched, are there misspellings or misunderstood terminology being used?

[Librarian 21:07:44]: No – can’t get into the system for the patron but follow the policy information given on the website. Refere to home library via telephone or visit for account info.

[Mick 21:08:00]: Do you often get pat questions, ones obviously taken verbatim from a homework assignment?

[Librarian 21:08:55]: About 25%

[Mick 21:09:04]: How do you respond to them?

[Librarian 21:10:35]: 25 percent of the questions – respond by locating websites that will lead them to resolving the question themselves….

[Mick 21:11:13]: Ok, do you have refer the users to print sources…

[Librarian 21:12:01]: All the time – books, newspapers on microfilm, gov docs…

[Mick 21:12:05]: Sorry, let me rephrase have you referred…

[Mick 21:12:40]: Do you check catalogs and then send them to the physical library?

[Librarian 21:12:53]: Where are you an LIS student?

[Mick 21:13:20]: Dominican in River Forest, you know of it?

[Librarian 21:13:30]: Yes – send them to the stacks and give them call numbers and search particular branch locations….

[Librarian 21:13:47]: Of course…also lots of ILL questions…

[Mick 21:14:08]: I am taking a Library 2.0 class… so IM reference

[Mick 21:15:00]: What does it take to be a good IM reference librarian, in your opinion?

[Librarian 21:16:21]: The same abilities it takes to be a good f-2-f librarian but also be able to develop an online rhythm and toggle bewteen many open windows rapidly.

[Mick 21:16:32]: LOL

[Mick 21:16:54]: Anything else I should know?

[Mick 21:18:58]: If you like you can check out our class blog at http://l2course.wordpress.com/

[Librarian 21:19:36]: Contrary to what most librarians think about VR, it is a service that is constantly in demand on a global scale even if it isn’t well-used in a single library. We answer 24/7/365 and some of the questions are amazingly sophisticated and from all over the world.

[Mick 21:20:41]: How else do you use technology to get to the questions?

[Librarian 21:20:54]: Unlike f-2-f, we have ability to contact many librarians instantly for referrals.

[Librarian 21:21:24]: Eeven librarians log into our service!

[Mick 21:21:35]: Yahoo! Answers, Wikipedia Reference Desk, Metafilter?

[Mick 21:22:08]: That is great, so this is a potential source for librarians that are stuck to bring in more minds, more of a crowd answer?

[Librarian 21:22:54]: Absolutely…they can instantly consult while their patrons are right there.

[Mick 21:23:13]: With more and more under qualified people on the desks that is great

[Mick 21:23:36]: Do you see that often, reference librarians consulting for help?

[Librarian 21:23:40]: Mick – gotta go – log in again when you need more assistance. )

[Mick 21:23:50]: Ok, thanks a lot

[Librarian 21:24:01]: Sorry to cut you off but we have to kind of limit our sessions.

[Mick 21:24:10]: I understand

[Librarian 21:24:20]: Good luck in your studies.

[Librarian 21:24:24]: Librarian ended chat session.

Collection Development

I am taking a collection development class over  three weekends this semester. We were going over collection development policies online and I had a thought. Does anybody know of a library that has put together a collection development policy as a blog? I think a blog would be an excellent way of potentially generating interest for this often ignored/overlooked page (also easier to edit than an html document). Perhaps I am kidding myself, who really looks at these collection development policies besides people who work in the field, but used as another option for feedback, hmm.