CoFHE Website

I have started really ploughing in to this project, after an eventful chritmas it’s good to get focused finally.  Although planning is nearly always harder then implementing, I hope that the CMS is not too inflexible that we grind to an undignified hault, many members want dynamic content with pictures and a more inviting interface, and there is a feeling that the navigation is somewhat clumsy as well.
My main fear is that people are disappointed when they see the finished result, I know it might be an irrational fear but there is always a feeling of ‘what if?’

I have just started to apply for the position of Information Coordinator for the SW Regional Development Agency, I seem to be halfway through the application at the moment and already I want to go back and start it again.  Such is life when you are a perfectionist.

If I decide not to go for the position, I know that my experience web editing will be a good development booster for the future.

Nearly home time…

Training tomorrow – CMS CoFHE

Well I am off to London tomorrow to see the wonderful wizard of Oz, not really.  As the Arch Web Editor for CoFHE I have to become trained in the art of using the CILIP Content Management System.  This is, for those unsure, a system that allows multiple users to create, edit and upload web pages autonomously and independent from the Webmaster of the CILIP website.  Tomorrow, I will be set up with an account and I will get S and C set up too so that they can use the system proficiently for us to start updating the website.

This kind of leads me on to another subject that causes me much pain.  Library websites.

The modern librarian is a multi skilled engineer of information organisation and display.  The modern libraian really should be an ‘i-brarian’ rather then a ‘librarian’ as the core of the job seems to focus deeply on using IT in the forms of OPAC’s at the very basic level.  The evolution of the job means that librarians have to be cunning with IT and web based services such as social networking and collaboration tools if needs be. (and that doesn’t just mean Library Management Software/Systems).

So with this in mind, I am going to develop my skills as a web editor and start planning.  Proposal by the 22nd January for the national committee that is meeting in Birmingham.

Non Google Day

Here is a suggestion for something that I reckon, would prove a hit in any academic library.  A ‘Non Google Day’.

Google is now a verb in itself, to ‘Google‘ something is the act of looking up information on the internet, “What’s a multi faceted information architecture?” ”I don’t know, why don’t you google it!“ etc.

So here is the challenge.  Make every student that you comes to you with an information query look for the information through another web based search engine other then Google, or even in a book/journal/magazine.  This excersise should prove to students that there are other resources other then Google such as www.ask.co.uk, infotrac/other online journal database, hard copy journals, the list is endless.

Pros: Increases and promotes greater information literacy, fun to do, will help lecturers who find students increasingly rely on Google for information.

Cons: Needs promotion, needs understanding and support from lecturers, not enforcable without blocking Google from whole institution (through firewall).

Although we haven’t actually done this yet at our library, it would be interesting to see if anyone has done anything similiar and the results from that excersise! 

Pressure on Public Libraries from migrant workers and Weeding, the academics worst nightmare.

Two interesting stories have appeared in my local rag, the first one is a report from the Local Government Association stating that migrant workers are ‘hogging’ the public access PC’s in local libraries, and the second one was an article about students protesting against Exeter University weeding some books in the main Streatham Campus library.
So first off, Public access PC’s.
I felt like banging my head against a wall when I read this.  I am not going to start becoming political about this, because this is not the arena for it, but the answer to this is for local government to increase spending in local libraries and to increase the number of public access PC’s. 
Migrant workers seem to be an ongoing issue here in the UK, and generally the handling of Polish immigrants has been atrocious.  I have been shocked and saddened at the xenophobia of the media and this country in general and it shows how much of an island nation we are.  If migrant workers are putting pressure on public resources then the logical answer is to increase spending to accomodate greater use.  This is not going to happen as the government has pretty much forgotten that public libraries exist, at least the funding that they give would be indicitive of the general opinion that this government seems to follow.

Second. Weeding.
Anyone reading this who works in an academic library will feel for Exeter University librarians. We have just undergone a similiar period of much upheaval and much of our book stock has been pulped but one of the most important functions of a library is the rotation and replenishment of stock, ensuring that stock is up to date and current and most importantly, relevant to the curriculums of the departments that use the collection.  Some staff cannot see why a library would need to do this, but space is at a premium in many institutions so this is another important factor as well.
Book stock has to be weeded and communication between staff and students is very important.  Publication of the criteria that staff must follow is important, so people know why  some books have been chosen and others have been kept.  It is a divisive and emotional issue for some staff, especially those still believe that libraries must contain books and nothing else. 
I do not sympathise with students as they are shooting themselves in the foot, yes they can keep their books but there will be no space for new and uptodate ones.

Recruitment of Librarians – Best practice

Google Translate – Awesome resource

Well, I think Mightysearch was more then I could chew, the very nature of the beast would mean  me dedicating more time then I humanly have.

I introduce Google Translate a fantastic resource like Babelfish, but with more functionality.  If you commonly translate between two languages then you can even add a button on your toolbar which will take you quickly to the right box.

Positive news…

For once I have positive career news.  I volunteered for a position of Web Editor for COFHE and it looks like I have got the job.  No extra money and extra responsibility, and even two other volunteers to boss about.  It looks like I am on my own with this one, as the responsibility is quite high (it is a job that will mean that any cock ups that I make will be viewed nationally).  I am so glad I have this oppurtunity, I hope to God I won’t make a hash of it.

Ebooks, my two cents/pence

I would love to stand here on my pedastal and say that ebooks are going to be the future of LIS and that paper will be admonished to the recycling bins in a few years time, but that is simply not going to happen.  Like the Internet, CDROMs and other formats that have come and stayed or come and gone they merely enhance the present format and by adding additional facets.
Internet enthusiasts keep making noises about the paperless society and the ‘information age’, which kind of makes me laugh as we are still wading through mountains of paper books and forms and alsorts of other archaic paper based systems but at the same time we are filling things out online, doing our banking online and just generally living our cyberlives online.
Ebooks are somewhat of a ‘mini-disc’ in terms of formats, they have been around for a long time but never really boomed in the same sort of populartiy as glue bound paperbacks or hardbacks.  But JISC have been doing a lot with ebooks recently and one of their new projects is the Jisc ebooks project which allows 36 titles to be downloaded by students through MyLibrary for their own use.
So with a project like this one, it only seems fitting for us to keep an eye on it and see what the results are as this very well may herald in the future of ebooks as a format that is taken seriously, unlike mini-discs which are the premise of those who just want to be ‘different’.

Mightysearch.org.uk

I want to introduce a project that I am working on called Mightysearch.  The idea is simple, it has already been done before, but as far as I know not in a forum environment.  Using a free hosting service that uses phpBB forums (imho the most adaptable and easy to use) I have created a site organised by dewey which we can list websites and comment on them.  Digg and Stumbleupon operate this in principal, but the comments are not much use and the websites are normally just pages rather then actual websites.
I want to get as many people on board who can go through their favourites and see if there are really good websites that they use and think it’d be useful for other people.
It is organised by Dewey but I am keeping the system as broad as possible to make it easy for people to catalogue, so I guess you could call it Soft Dewey, no decimal points.
I will see how it goes as it might be a total disaster or it might be successful? Who knows.

Probing the hidden web with Complete Planet

What an invaluable tool.  Bright Planet featured in an article on SearchEngineWatch about the Hidden Web/Deep Web/ Invisible Web, and years ago introduced me to one of my favourite search engines.
Complete Planet searches web pages and sites that are stored away in databases or ‘hidden’ from the realms of Google and more traditional search engines.  It led me to discover one http://www.executivelibrary.com which is pretentiously entitled the Wall Street Executive Library, albeit a comprehensive well organised directory of American information with good international sections.
I see CompletePlanet as a second wave in my arsenal of search tools, as a librarian and a facilitator of information literacy, I try to recommend this as much as is appropriate.