Library License Plates

With a tip to my non-librarian friend Woody, I got this in a note:

Library Support Through License Plates

So here is a link with a shout out to my friends at Louisville Public, Craig Buthod and Greg Schwartz. Craig and I go back to a Public Library Association committee on tax forms and the IRS and Greg and I share an alma mater (undergrad), and have communicated online in the days of his live conversations/podcasts [Uncontrolled Vocabularyh] on library topics.

Spring has sprung

At least in Southern Louisiana, spring is here.

Temperatures are now getting close to 70 every day. We "Northerners" have turned off the heat -- a sure sign of spring.

I have also noticed on my drive to and from work, that the trees are beginning to "leaf out." There are some trees with "redbuds" on them, and this morning, in particular, I noticed many trees with green leaves starting to show.

We have not had to go through the idiotic practice of changing clocks (I'll suppress that rant for now), but in this part of the world, it is spring and I am glad!

Links - Mid February

Here is the scariest news story I have seen lately: FBI wants records kept of Web sites visited

Almost as scary is this one about copyright of photographs in Britain. It is a long article, and I admit to not having either completely read it, or to understanding all the implications.

A friend of mine in Boston sent this link to an article praising librarians as "pioneers" in the digital age. (It even mentions Henriette Harriet Avram!) [Thanks to Sue Kamm for the first name correction! 2/26]

I found this brief article on assessment in academic libraries interesting.

This post from a doctoral student in language and literacy at the University of Georgia talks about the current rage for testing in schools and for tying the results of testing to teacher performance judgments. His/her name does not appear on the blog (even though there is a list of publications).

And now a series of "clipped" notes from my blog reader....

Michael Stephens noted in ALA TechSource that he has found a new "tribe" at Educause. I think it is important to have several different circles of friends. Talking only to the same people all the time creates the opportunity for groupthink, which will not lead to real progress.

The indomintable Dorothea Salvo has written a long-ish post about "pre-prints" and open access. (When I need to learn more about open access, it is to Dorothy to whom I turn.)

Current ALA Executive Board (EB) member Courtney Young posted some EB documents about the potential new ways of communicating within ALA.

Chad Haefele (Hidden Peanuts) has an interesting post about e-books, digital rights managment, and electronic publishing.

Sarah Houghton-Jan has a great post on using technology in your library to save money on technology.

A few years ago, I picked up on a blog dealing with technology and innovation for associations Principled Innovation. There is a great post on their blog with five important thoughts/trends for 2010.

There is a new blog in the library world, Quid est veritas? [I know who the author is, but have temporarily forgotten. However, it is in my blog reader now.] There is a great post on "Inputs and Outputs." The concepts of inputs and outputs, which is what we have traditionally measured, is very important as many organizations (like the Institute of Museum of Library Services [IMLS]) start to request outcomes as the measurement for grant services.

Amanda McNeil is a library school student in Boston. She writes a blog called Opinions of a Wolf which is a mix of thoughts on library school and the profession and book reviews. She wrote an interesting post "What public libraries should be."

Kim Leeder, of In the Library with a Lead Pipe, posted a year starting discussion of Learning Commons activities and rumination about the role of the library (in general). It is long but worth reading.

My final set of links is from Stephen Abram. With his recent change in employment, his blog Stephen's Lighthouse has moved. However there are seven posts to which I wish to point:

1. Social Media for Employees -- Rules? which indirectly follows up on some posts of mine. It consolidates some additional suggestions.
2. How many ways are there to visualize data? Visualization of data is something that Stephen pays attention to. I often get some great ideas thanks to his consolidation and re-posting.
3. Web searching skills recommendation is a longer article with comments from Stephen.
4. Florida Libraries Rock talks about the update to the Florida State Library's update of its ROI (Return on Investment) study. The new study shows that investment in libraries (i.e. tax support) returns $8.32 for every dollar invested.
5. 10 Fool-Proof Predictions for the Internet in 2020 reminds us some of the obvious trends.
6. Social Technology and Libraries includes a great chart showing the technologies, Sescription, stage of development, and impact.
7. 8 Things You Need to Know about Collaboration recaps a post on collaboration.