Learning with Blogs

For those of you out there in the field who don't get Library Journal, I'm sharing my top 5 links from an article that appeared in the Aug/Sept 2009 issue. It's amazing how each blog uniquely presents some aspect of the library world. Fun, thought provoking and educational what more can you ask for? What are your favorite blogs?

Blue Skunk Blog by Doug Johnson
Midwestern commonsense and humor about education and libraries.

EarlyWord by Nora Rawlinson
Book world news for librarians.

Information Wants to be Free by Meredith Farkas
Current events and commentary.

Tame the Web by Stephen Abram
Always interesting, check out the Nov. 3rd video "What is Your Favorite Thing About the Lester Public Library."

LibraryBytes by Helene Blowers
Inspirational.

Online Outreach for Public Libraries

Thanks to Marsha Lloyd, Ridgecrest Branch supervisor, for the suggestion to revisit Sarah Houghton-Jan's 2006 presentation.

Reaching Patrons: Online Ourtreach for Public LIbraries.

Summer Volunteer Initiative

California Libraries' VolunteerMatch
http://californialibraries.volunteermatch.org/

Based on their huge success in mobilizing Americans to volunteer in conjunction with Martin Luther King Day on January 19, and the Inauguration the following day, the Obama Administration is launching another national service initiative during the summer of 2009.

The timeline for this initiative is very short. ALA’s Washington Office began their involvement on May 20th and then proceeded to connect with library leaders around the country.

President Obama will announce the concept the week of June 8th. The initiative will officially launch on June 22 when Michelle Obama will kick it off with a press conference or event of some kind. It will end on Sept. 11th – the National Day of Service.

Great Article in the Californian on the Library!

Thank you Louis Medina!

Libraries open world of information
Bakersfield Californian, The (CA) - Thursday, May 21, 2009, Eye Street Section, e7

And we Twitter too!

10 Technologies, 10 Ideas

From Michael Stephens:
http://tametheweb.com/talks09/TexasTenTechTenIdeas.pdf

Review of the Year 2008 and Trends Watch—Part 1

Article in Information Today on legislative issues and important trends for libraries.
http://newsbreaks.infotoday.com/nbReader.asp?ArticleId=52127

A Few Web 2.0 Definitions

RSS: "Really Simple Syndication" a clickable content delivery subscription service that sends blog posts and other web page content to the reader of your choice.

Widget: pieces of HTML and other code used to create small freestanding programs that can be easily embedded into your web page. Horoscopes, visitor counters, customized search engines, clocks and weather forecasts are common widget applications that you might use everyday.

Wiki: a collaborative web page created by user-generated content using WYSIWYG, a program that generates HTML tags for you as you type and click.