Archives for category: Public Libraries
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If the Trains Ran on Time…

February 22, 2011 //

Via @NYPLMaps (New York Public Library’s Map Division).

Conductor: www.mta.me from Alexander Chen on Vimeo.

From Chen’s site:

Conductor turns the New York subway system into an interactive string instrument. Using the MTA’s actual subway schedule, the piece begins in realtime by spawning trains which departed in the last minute, then continues accelerating through a 24 hour loop. The visuals are based on Massimo Vignelli’s 1972 diagram.

A  mesmerizing way to re-present geographic information. It also reminds me of video games (gotta love SNAFU) I played back in the Eighties.

For anyone not hip to it, the NYPL’s Map Division has been tweeting an online map of the day. Cartographophiles (a word?)  like me can dig it. But, if one new map a day isn’t enough, why not look at their digital collection and drool.

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Categories Library Bric-a-brac, Public Libraries, User experience, web tools

Libraries Under Siege! Some Fiscal Light in the Budget Tunnel

February 16, 2011 //

A reason as good as any

I’ve written about Floridian public libraries and the looming threat to their funding before. Recently, they’ve had cause to breathe a little easier.

From Jasksonville’s Florida Times-Union:

While Gov. Rick Scott axed state funding for a host of programs when penning his budget, nearly $22 million set aside for Florida libraries remained untouched.

It is still early in the process, but the budgetary tea leaves now read better for library officials than many others who rely on state funding.

“I would have to think that it is good news that the governor chose not to cut the funding,” said Barbara Gubbin, director of the Jacksonville Public Libraries. [full article]

Ummm… you think? What a quote. Another conspicuous quote is missing, though.

One reason Scott may have held library funding steady is because a decrease would have affected $9 million in federal matching dollars…

It’s unclear why Scott did not cut library funding, or what role the federal match dollars played in his decision. Scott’s office did not return calls or e-mails seeking comment.

It would have been nice if the good governor had gone out on a limb and supported the libraries he was saving . Insted, he had his office cloak it in some baroque funding shell game. I guess libraries shouldn’t hold out for uneqivocal support from politicians.  

Gubbin says at the end of the article, “We have faced cuts before, and kept it in there. We know how to work the system.” Right on! Gubbin’s attitude is great. Touchy-feely appeals to the inherent value libraries are not enough.

Help is out there, too, at SaveLibraries.org. They’re blogging, collecting resources, and otherwise tweeting the 2011 world of Libraries Under Siege.

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Categories Library News, Public Libraries

Social Media Clutter? Must We Add Four Square?

February 11, 2011 //
A lonely man on the four square field.

A random lonely man on the four square field.

The below infographic has been bumping around (It came to me via Stephen’s Lighthouse, who got it here.).

four square growing

It’s good news for Four Square. Is it good news for us? Is it yet another social media time drain we have to adopt to survive online?

At the moment, I personally don’t really get Four Square. Why would someone want to be mayor of a retail outlet, like Starbucks or wherever?

In that light, Four Square looks like a thin game layer draped over an overt marketing carrot-and-stick. Looking at the top check-ins that the infographic lists, it’s clear that Four Square wants to make sure businesses see the value.

Four Square could be a new outlet for vacuos, vain consumer culture. But, that’s what people we were saying about Twitter a couple short years ago.

As one friend noted, Egyptians are using the Internet to free their country and we’re using it to show we went to Wendy’s. That’s the point. It took a few years for people to find ways to do such impressive things with  Twitter and Facebook.

I may not start my Four Square account this weekend. I’m still not completely sold on Twitter (but it’s growing on me). There is a part of me that will try anything (at least for a while) once I have the time.

Should libraries get in on Four Square?

There are so many competing social media demands, that taking on a new platform can drain other efforts. It’s important to weigh the cost/benefits of getting involved and to develop a manageable, adaptable, and achievable strategy.

Librarians are already hatching ideas and talking about it.

 

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Categories Public Libraries, Technology, User experience, web tools

Crowd Sourcing Maps and Volunteer Geo-Information

February 8, 2011 //

Map of London

Hand-drawn map of London by Stephen Welter

The New York Public Library hosted a neat looking panel today.

Future Library: Socializing History with Maps, Hosted by The New York Public Library

Event Description:

Speakers:

  • Matt Knutzen, Geospatial Librarian at the New York Public Library
  • Alex Rainert, Head of Product at Foursquare
  • Jesse Friedman, Product Marketing Manager at Google Maps and Earth
  • Jack Eichenbaum, Queens Borough Historian[NYPL’s event listing]

It’s a shame when you hear about something interesting, and it’s too late, and it’s in another country. Where are the teleporters, already? Science, I’m looking at you

Moving on, it’s exciting to imagine maps being used like wikis.  It’s a field that has largely been dominated by businesses and advertising, but there is a lot of potential here for less commercial uses. OpenStreetMap is an open source project already doing this.

Other popular free(but not commercial free) resources, like Google Maps or Bing’s equivalent, can be an underused tools for pushing community information out to library users and visitors.

Imagine walkable or bikeable tours you could follow via smart phone, with info links, archival photos galleries, recorded personal testimonials, and other information. Online maps can be turned passing on community knowledge that is often lost or fragmented by .

Or arts walks. Or even digitally augmented literary scavenger hunts combining geo-caching and book releases.

Like most web-based tools, I’m pretty sure the most en-genius ideas haven’t been thought of yet. The opportunity is there for any locally minded persons who want to plant a few flags in the digital world.

Also, how cool would it be to be a Geospatial Librarian. I want one of those business cards!

***Addendum***

Stephen Welter’s portfolio site. Why not promote the analog approach?

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Categories Library Bric-a-brac, Public Libraries, Services, Technology, User experience, web tools

Boston PL’s Flickr Stream

February 3, 2011 //

Palestine Line

The Boston Public Library has been developing a pretty amazing and eclectic photo gallery up on flickr, all stuff scanned from their archives and special collections.

I’m partial to the Travel Poster collection. There’s also impressive Match Cover and Stereograph sets.

SterographIt’s a pretty extensive (almost 17 000 items)  example of a library using popular social media software to push out parts of collections normally inaccessible to the average library visitor.

Also, it’s just plain neat.

Houdini scrapbook

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Categories Library Bric-a-brac, Public Libraries, Technology, web tools

Beware the Long Arm of the Library

February 1, 2011 //
Return your books

Return Your Books, Son.

Apparently, the Chapin Memorial Library in Myrtle Beach has been flexing its legal muscle:

Some people in Myrtle Beach owe money to Chapin Memorial Library, the city’s only library. In some instances it has reached to a point where police have to serve warrants.

The warrants are referred to as courtesy warrants according to the City of Myrtle Beach Police department but the problem deals, in great part, to a lack of courtesy.

Police said people check out books and videos and despite written requests from the library to return them, the patron ignore those requests.

“If they are not returned then it’s considered a larceny by South Carolina law and it is treated as such,” said library director Briget Livingston, “It’s not for someone who owes us a dollar, this is for someone who as not returned many many materials at least $50 worth.”[full article]

Courtesy warrant? It’s probably a courtesy they send the cops and not this guy.

I wonder if this is good press for libraries where many are struggling to justify themselves in increasingly stringent times? Are issuing warrants like this an unnecessarily visible action? Could this pressure on delinquent users be done better, so that it stays off the oddball news sections.

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Categories Public Libraries, User experience

Libraries Under Siege! Pictures Worth Cash… Hopefully

January 24, 2011 //

save out library please

Faced with hard cuts from state funding, Floridian public libraries are making a dramatic effort to prove their worth to their communities.

The libraries are taking part in a statewide event, Snapshot: A Day in the Life of Florida Libraries, coordinated by the Florida Library Association. Other states have conducted similar programs but this is the first one in Florida, said Faye Roberts, the FLA’s executive director.
Libraries will gather statistics on customer usage, take photos of activities and collect comments from patrons. Roberts said her organization will use the results to remind elected officials of the importance of adequate funding for libraries.[Full article here]

This is a great. It has got every piece necessary to give a human side to what’s at risk when cuts to libraries are made.

And, if the most hard-hearted budgetary wonk’s heart won’t melt, they’ve got some numbers to help them:

Faye Roberts cited a recent study that found that libraries have an economic impact of $8.30 in public services for every $1 invested in them.

Is this enough?

When so many demands on state/provincial, municipal, and federal funding compete, public libraries need to show system-wide thinking to find ways to prove their worth. It’s a frustrating cause in the US, where state and municipal budgets are bound by law to not run a deficit.

The outcome is all too often lose-lose… which sucks.

Efforts like the Florida Library Association’s are what’s called for.But, libraries should not wait for Mr. Big Cuts to come knocking. I think most libraries should have something like this ongoing and in their back pockets. Now’s the time. Rally the staff! Rally the users!

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Categories Public Libraries, Services, User experience

Library Fine$: How $hould we pay to play?

January 20, 2011 //

Have you returned your library books

Yesterday, I paid my overdue fines. I’ll be honest. It was a lot. It was enough to warrant the kindness of the staffer who graciously did not say aloud what I owed.

It’s not that the Ottawa Public Library’s fines are too high. They are, from what I can tell, on average. Some libraries, like the Chicago PL charge less. That’s not the point.

I don’t want to do away with fines, as some people would argue. But, is there another way? Read the rest of this entry »

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Categories Public Libraries, User experience

UK Library Siege! Lame Comments from Semi-Important Bureaucrats.

January 17, 2011 //

Under Siege!
With all the the excitement around eReaders, eBooks, social media, and all the other innovations libraries are taking on, it’s easy to forget that public libraries are very much under siege.

From the Guardian UK:

Labour politicians and campaigners have condemned the head of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council for suggesting that public libraries are primarily used by the white middle classes.
The controversial comments were made by Roy Clare, the council’s chief executive, who argued that the service should not be preserved in “aspic“… [full article here]

In the UK (and the US, too… and, well, lots of places), where austerity measures are gutting public spending. Public libraries and their patrons have to put up the good fight to keep branches open. Ridiculous, wrong-headed comments from government ministers do no good.

Read the rest of this entry »

Categories Public Libraries, Services, User experience

Judging by the Cover – We All Do It

January 16, 2011 //

Book Cover ArchiveI will not say the old adage is moot, but cover design has become pretty central to the book experience. This is especially the case when it comes to browsing shelves for your next read.

The Book Cover Archive shows off how book makers try to catch readers attention. The site is a huge, searchable database that celebrates the best and brightest of cover design industry right now.

As a design-freak, I love sites like this. It makes my eyes greedy and my soul a little jealous (Wouldn’t it be fun to make art like that all the time?).

book cover archive screen shot In a perfect world, libraries would be able to constantly update book covers to keep up with design trends. Realistically, it’d be impossible.

Online, though, it’s different. Online catalogue records could reflect newer designs for covers of older books. This can help breathe new life into editions passed over by browsers as dated. It’s an easy way to capitalize on marketing trends and cash in on the cues readers expect from book covers.

In the graphic designer part of my life, I’ve had some practical experience in the book cover field.Pretty nice, right? The poetry inside is good, too.

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Categories Book News, Library Bric-a-brac, Public Libraries, User experience
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