ConnectMidwest

Today I attended the Breezing Along with the RML session Developing and Marketing an RSS Journal Service for Your Library. Is "attended" is the correct verb? Participated? I've never used that online presentation software before and it seemed to work fairly well. We could simultaneously see the presenters, their PowerPoint presentation or internet screen, comments and questions from the participants. I couldn't read the smallest print on the presentation slides on my screen, however. Having to use the phone for the audio portion of the session seems so awkward to me.

I saw the presentation in Omaha and wanted to listen again so that I could get more details. Taking one of their ideas, I'm setting up a demonstration feed reader account to show to some of my library users. Right now I'm setting it up with the table of contents feeds from the the library's surgery journals. I'm amazed to find that the Elsevier journals do not seem to have a table of contents feed. Am I missing something here? I might just have to set up a feed from PubMed for those journals. Anyone out there have a better idea?

We asked Mary Taylor, Midwest Chapter Communications Committee member and Medical and Distance Learning Librarian at the Morris Library, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale and here is her reply!

• IM available. Our real time virtual reference is powered by instant messaging. We have embedded a Meebo me widget on our "Ask Anything" reference page, our Blackboard/WebCt login page, and our MySpace page (see the next item). Some of our liaisons have the widget on their personal/library websites so that patrons can instant message them directly.
• Face to Space. The library has a MySpace page with an imbedded Meebo me widget and a search form for our catalog. The search form code can be downloaded by users for their own web pages from the library's website. We also have a blog on the page. Some librarians have MySpace and Facebook accounts. I am a faculty advisor for a student organization that has a Facebook account. I joined Facebook at that organization's executive board's request, so they didn't have to look up my e-mail address every time they sent out a message.
• It bloggles the mind. One of our divisions, Instructional Support Services, has an internal blog. One liaison shares news with her departments via her blog. As previously mentioned, our MySpace page also has a blogs.
• Syndicated columnist. We use an RSS feed to spread the word about services and products, and plan to use it sharing our new books list.
• Let the wiki win. Two in-house committees use wikis to share documents in progress.
• Don't blink. We are using Flickr to display photos of our ongoing building renovation.



• What does MARC say about it? We are setting up a service that allows users to send records from our catalog as text messages.


• Don't touch that dial. The library has a channel on the SIUC's student Web portal, with links to our online reference services, our catalog, our course reserves page, and our distance learning pages.


• It could be cloudy. We are investigating adding user-generated subject terms (cloud tags) to our catalog.

SO...How are the librarians and staff at YOUR library using Web 2.0 tools?

Click on the Comment link below and share your experiences!

Is your library doing anything for National Library Week?

Well, have you seen these cute National Library Week videos? I LOVE the little finger puppet NLW monsters! Sometimes I just watch them over and over. My favorite is the one with the upward eyeballs...

Sorry for all the silliness! It is just too warm in the library today to be serious.

I love my Christmas present iPod, but I have yet to download any music. I subscribe to a number of podcasts and listen during my daily commute. Today, on my way to Columbus for a 2009 Midwest Chapter conference planning committee meeting, I listened to last week's SirsiDynix Institute podcast Maximizing the Power of the Web: Pew Internet & American Life Project's 2007 Findings. Lee Rainie, Director Pew Internet & American Life Project reviewed the results of a their 2007 survey on how people use the internet, libraries, and government agencies when they need help. The presentation was interesting, but the very poor technical quality of the audio made listening challenging.

Although the results pertained mostly to public library use, I found two items interesting in the results. I refer you to the presentation slides for supporting numerical details. First, young adults, ages 18-29, turn to libraries for problem solving (slide 32). In my hospital, folks in this age group are my library's most frequent users -- students, residents, younger nursing staff. They are used to using the library for school and continue to turn to the library for information assistance even after graduation. Second, people who have internet access at home still use the library (slide 25). "The internet isn't your enemy, it's your ally." (slide 40)

What do you think?

In last summer's issue, MIDLINE featured an article by Carol Perryman about the Alliance Library System's project "Providing Consumer Health Outreach and Library Programs to Virtual World Residents in Second Life." Funding for the project was provided by the NN/LM Greater Midwest Region. Yesterday, she announced the publication of the project's final report on MEDLIB-L.

The report is 46 pages with lots of illustrations. And well worth the read! A lot of real people were served (via their avatars) by the project with displays, workshops and presentations, support group meetings, and even by answering old-fashioned reference questions. I had no idea! Clearly, an important need is being served.

P.S. Did you know that the way a person's avatar looks can affect real life behavior? I picked up this All Things Considered story in my feed reader last week. And I quote: "If you want to get thin, get a virtual life." It is called vicarious reinforcement. An interesting approach to weight loss!

Wow, your intrepid blog editor has been busy lately! I'm preparing to move the hospital library to a different campus across town. It has been a great opportunity to evaluate the entire collection, moving only that which meets the current needs of the library users. You know how "stuff" kind of accumulates. I last did this kind of a radical house cleaning when the current library space was remodeled in 1997 with a wonderfully generous contribution from a local business executive and his wife. So I have over a decade of "stuff" to sort out!

Since the library will be moving to smaller digs, I have had to do some rather siginficant de-selection in the print journal backfiles. Many of the titles are now on PubMed Central or are free online. So deciding to remove those from the collection was a no-brainer. Some of the other decisions have been more difficult. One grows attached to one's collection! What to do with the no longer needed journals? A local recycler will take them. So I've moved many cubic yards of materials out of the library, across the parking lot, and into the semi sized recycling trailer. Who says librarianship is not hard work!

OK, so what does this have to do with PubMed, LinkOut, and SERHOLD? One thing that I've realized in this process is how much I rely on NLM services in providing service to my library's patrons. PubMed LinkOut is the greatest thing since sliced bread in my book. It is the easiest way to let my library patrons know which articles are available through the library, either in print or online. The library's budget cannot support a fancy ILS. Who can afford a link resolver? The library's master print serials holding list is on SERHOLD. Why mess around developing some spreadsheet or database for this? My wonderful library volunteer Shirley uses old-fashoned check-in cards to keep track of current subscription receipts. When I need to know if the library has an article in print or online, I use PubMed to check. I print out a serials list every once in a while by requesting a DOCLINE holdings report for use in an emergency only and as a print copy of the library's journal inventory. On Friday, I began the so exciting task of updating nearly every one of the library's SERHOLD title records.

So as you might guess, I've been following closely the current flurry of discussion about PubMed on MEDLIB. For my library, PubMed is mission critical. There may be search interfaces for MEDLINE, but purchasing access for my library is out of the question. Even small changes in PubMed have a significant impact on how I provide library services. I was happy to see other librarians sharing my latest PubMed pet peeve on Friday. IMHO, eliminating the blue sidebar from search results displays was a poor decision. The most useful tools for searching PubMed simply are not available when they are needed. For example, it is difficult to try a MeSH search after your newly revised automatic term mapping search gives you a poor result.