Bed built into an "igloo of books"

[info courtesy: Cory Doctorow]@ Boing Boing - A directory of wonderful things

Blog Search Contestants 1 and 2

Blog Search Revisited - Google vs Technorati vs Techmeme Andy Beard (Feb

Compared blog search at Google and Technorati, and explained why he starts at Techmeme.

Identifies some of the ranking factors at Google: title, order of words in title, keyword occurence in the text, site authority metrics.

He found Technorati fresher and with less spam. Ranking is really according to relevance, rather than the giving the user the ability to define an "authority threshold". continue reading [info posted by Gwen @ Internet News]

Digital Bookplates: A Creative Visualization

Info courtesy: New Jack Librarian

Demystifying the Technician/Librarian Relationship in Academic Libraries

Session # 605 OLA's Super Conference 2008,

Tanis Fink, Chief Librarian, Seneca College;
Mark Bryant, Reference and Information Literacy Librarian, Humber College;
Laurie Morrison, Librarian for Modern Languages and Visual Arts, Brock University;
Autumn Piette, Reference Technician, King Library, Seneca College.

Explore the nature of the relationship between librarians and library technicians. What is your perspective on these two similar and yet different groups that share common goals and values? How do we foster teamwork and relationship building? Can we uncover ways to improve and promote a healthy working and collaborative environment? A diverse panel of librarians and technicians will explore their personal experience. Come prepared to participate and share your thoughts.

Convenor: Jennifer Peters-Lise, Seneca College

This Week's Roundup for Library Technician Jobs: 02/09/2008

@ University of Toronto's FIS.

Library Technician (Part-time) Peterborough Law Association, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada; Posted: Friday, 08 February 2008
Deadline:February 20, 2008


Systems Library Technician, competition number 08-SSLT-RAF (Full-time) The Law Society of Saskatchewan Libraries, Regina, SK, Canada; Posted: Friday, 08 February 2008, Deadline:February 25, 2008


Information Services Technician (Part-time)Library @ Mohawk College of Applied Arts & Technology, Hamilton, ON, Canada; Posted: Wednesday, 06 February 2008, Deadline:February 13, 2008

@ The Partnership National Library Jobsite of Canada

• LIBRARY TECHNICIAN Lambton College of Applied Arts & Technology, Sarnia, ON, 2/1/2008, Deadline: 2/15/2008

@ http://www.fla.org/jobline.html

• Library Technician - Calgary Catholic School District - Calgary, AB CLOSING DATE: Until a suitable applicant is found

@ Saskatchewan Association of Library Technicians. None this week.

PS. Click here for previous job postings!

Disclaimer: The positions are as described on the above Website(s). This blogmaster does not accept responsibility for accuracy, reliability, etc. All clarifications / communications about a position should be directed to the respective source.

Library 2.0: Based and Debased

It is heartening to see that Library world is adapting the word: Library 2.0--adapting the word sounds more apropriate because adapting the technology & / or technique of Web 2.0 is not so much obvious. The Word-base is growing, at least if the following is any trend in a Web directory:

Home : Libraries : Library and Information Science : Weblogs : Directories Links:
BlogBib: Select
Librarian/Library Blogs - Annotated list.
BloggingLibraries - Lists by library type, from blogwithoutalibrary.net.
Library Weblogs - Directory categorized by geographic location, compiled by Peter
Scott.
RSS(sm): Rich
Site Services - A categorized registry of library services that are
delivered or provided through RSS/XML, Atom, or other types of web feeds.
The Blog - Overview of blogging for librarians by Rachel Mathieu and Robyn
Fleming. Includes a directory of library blogs.

Also read:

• Library 2.0 Debased by John Blyberg @ blyberg.net [info courtesy: Dr. Francis J Devadason]
• How to find out the best combination of web 2.0 tools and their suitable Library applications, About This Discussion
  Started Jan 6 by: F.J.Devadason

NB. Ask for more info about my own presentation on Web 2.0: Challenges for libraries.

This Week's Roundup for Library Technician Jobs: 02/02/2008

This idea of a Weekly Roundup is based on the trend set by Heather Matheson, Reference Librarian, Carleton University Library @ inspyration: recruit : retain : reflect

None this Week @ University of Toronto's FIS.

Other Job sites: @ The Partnership National Library Jobsite of Canada

• LIBRARY TECHNICIAN Sarnia, On --CLOSING DATE: 2008/02/04
• Branch Library Technicians (2 Positions) Richmond, B.C., CLOSING DATE: 2/15/2008

@ http://www.fla.org/jobline.html

• Library Technician - McCarthy Tétrault LLP - Calgary, AB; Date posted: January 29, 2008
• Interlibrary Loan Clerk - Grande Prairie Public Library - Grande Prairie, AB, posted: Jan 28, 2008
• Deadline Extended* Libray Technician - Westbrook School - Cochrane, AB
• E-Resources Library Technician II - Library, SAIT - Calgary, AB, closing date: 22 Feb., 2008

@ Saskatchewan Association of Library Technicians. None this week.

Disclaimer: The positions are as described on the above Website(s). This blogmaster does not accept responsibility for accuracy, reliability, etc. All clarifications / communications about a position should be directed to the respective source.

Strains and Joys Color Mergers Between Libraries and Tech Units

By ANDREA L. FOSTER, The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 18, 2008

Adrift. Dysfunctional. Desperately needing a change. The adjectives sound like descriptions of a bad relationship, but about three years ago Xavier University, in Cincinnati, applied them to two of its departments.

Both Xavier's library and its information-technology unit were in terrible shape. Xavier had hired four chief information officers in five years, its technology was obsolete, its library and IT staffs didn't talk to each other, and students had to jump through hoops to do online research.

David W. Dodd, the CIO who arrived at Xavier in 2005, said students and faculty members wanted three basic things: "Provide the services I'm looking for, in the manner I want, and get out of my way." They weren't getting any of them. full article

Same Shelf and aisle of my desktop:

• Librarians and IT Professionals and
• Librarians and Techies – A NEXUS

Readings between the shelf:

• Google Print vs. The Open Library vs. Project Gutenberg

"Today we saw yet another entry from The Library of Congress, as it
received 3 million dollars to start their own project, from a most
unlikely source, Google! It was suggested at today's Geek Lunch a
motivation of Google's might be to let The Library of Congress pay
the price in non-cash value, for opening the vast intercontinental
virtual prairieland to the virtual settlers, who just happed to be
an assortment of multi-billion dollar cartels, who have felt those
slings and arrows of their misfortune a little too much." Michael Hart


• Best Practices: Trainer, Train Thyself (Part 1 of 2)
  Carole Leita’s Infoblog post earlier this week draws attention to a myth-breaking report from University College London (UCL), the British Library, and the Joint Information Systems Committee: Information Behavior of the Researcher of the Future. Her post also makes me think about the current behavior of those of us who are or have been involved in staff training and development programs.
• British Study Says "Google Generation" a Myth; Libraries Must Step Up, Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 1/28/2008 [info courtesy: Sujatha.Thadakamalla @ Aucklandcity Public Library]

Two interesting articles review this British Library Report: Society Is Dumbing Down, by Zubin Jelveh @ ODD Numbers; and We're all information gatherers now, By Jeremy Wagstaff @ AsiaMedia

SIRLS LSO Job Series: Panel Discussion

Three guest speakers share their experience and perspective on the information profession and librarianship. The speakers, in talking order, are: Jan Knight (information consultant) at 3 minutes into the clip, Ann Dutton Ewbank (K-12, University librarian) at 19 minutes into the clip, and Mary Graham (Museum librarian) about 36 minutes into the clip.