Wednesday, November 14, 2012

StackMap


StackMap


When patrons find a book in the online catalog, they have only a call number to guide them to their book. StackMap is a web-based software solution to provide patrons with a detailed map and written directions to an item with one click, without ever leaving the catalog.

All libraries, from large academic libraries with many floors of stacks to small public libraries, can help their patrons find items more easily. In simplifying the process from curiosity to holding a book, StackMap can save time for both patrons and library staff.

At CLA me and a couple other people checked out this booth of a vendor called StackMap.  The idea is that in the catalog, after a patron finds a book they can click on a link and it’ll show them a floor plan of the library and show them (roughly) where the item is.

It’s based on us giving them a floor plan and then we can designate what range of call numbers are on a particular shelf, and then the computer looks at the call number of the desired book and puts a little arrow on the map where it (mathematically) should be.

You can see what the patron experience is like here:


It costs $1000 to set up and then $2000 per year for maintenance, though this was just the rough ballpark figure that I was quoted.

They promote that it works with web enabled smart phones, but that’s because all it’s doing is creating an extra web page to appear when a patron clicks on the “view map” link.  It would work the same on anything web enabled.

It seems like a nifty idea, though now that I think about it, I think that all of our display walls and power walls would mess up the system.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

CLA Wrap-Up


Money Smart Week @ Your Library

·         April 20-27

·         Sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank & ALA

·         Idea is to have library programs based around money and personal finance

·         Possible Program Topics:

o   Money savvy kids

o   Retirement planning

o   Smart investing

o   College financing

o   Savings strategies

o   Credit & debit

o   Financial recordkeeping

o   Cooking on a budget

o   Coupon club

o   Protecting your finances in times of crisis or divorce

o   Identity theft

o   How to start your own small business or foundation

·         Suggestions for promotion were in line with our established practices

·         How libraries participate

o   Sign up at www.moneysmartweek.org

o   Provide at least one class during MSW (April 20-27)

o   Use current relationships with financial education presenters

o   Publicize events

o   Register events into online database

o   Report program attendance and survey evaluation results

·         Archived Money Smart Week Webinar: http://www.ala.org/offices/money-smart-week

o   I had previously watched this, the CLA presentation was much a reprise of that, though with more pictures and good public presenters.  Michael Dowling of the ALA has a very impressive presentation style.

The overall impression is that libraries typically outsource the instruction to community groups, with the stipulation that there can be no “selling” of services.  One of the most popular events is “shred day”, which is the same as what we do on Earth Day when we have the big shredder come.  Apparently shredding things is universally enjoyed.



50 Mobile Apps for iOS/Android and Edmodo for Teachers and Librarians

·         www.Cla50apps.weebly.com

·         Presentation can be found at http://www.slideshare.net/lerichard/50-apps-for-librarians

·         Handouts can be viewed in PDF form http://cla50apps.weebly.com/uploads/1/4/2/3/14234930/handout_cla.pdf

o   Handout has a full list of the apps addressed and has a short little description

·         General use apps such as:

o   250,000+ Recipes BigOven

o   Allrecipies

o   Overdrive

o   Kindle

o   Merriam Webster Dictionary

o   Yellowpages

o   Google Goggles

o   White Pages

o   Govt sites

o   Bible

o   Google Translate

o   SportsTap

·         Accessmylibrary allows access to gale databases

·         Reference USA has a app that allows access if the library has a subscription

The list provided in the link above is certainly worth checking out.  A lot of the apps are for both android and iOS, and most of them are free, so they might be worth trying out for a little bit and then deleting if necessary.  I would use the presentation as a perfect example, of refraining from basing ones presentation on reading the information on the slides or repeating the information provided in a handout. 



Learning Everywhere:  The Transformative Power of Hyperlinked Libraries:  Michael Stephens, Distinguished Author and Professor

·         Mobile applications are now ubiquitous

o   Even kids are using small mobile devices

·         Libraries now stand in the position where information is readily available

·         One goal for libraries is the preserve the communities heritage

M Stephens is certainly worth seeing if only for the presentation style and fluidity, unfortunately the presentation was geared for librarians seeking to make the jump into the first decade of the 21st Century.  This was essentially “Library 2.1”, the question does rise:  How do libraries, why should libraries, can libraries make the move to incorporate mobile devices and apps into their services.  At what point does utility stray into gimmick?



 

The Sky’s the Limit:  Teach Your Customers How to Soar with eBooks

·         San Diego County, Contra Costa County and San Jose public library all circulate ebooks to patrons

·         Numerous libraries found an enormous step up over other systems since migrating their ebook services to 3M’s cloud service.

·         If a library does not provide eBooks that are ADA compliant (i.e. iPad, iPod, Touch), a library can expect to get “nasty letters”



·         One library came up with a program to circulate nooks to elderly patrons

o   Failure

o   All 12 nooks are now sitting in a back office

o   Text too small

o   Hard for patrons to use touch screen

o   Text hard to read

o   Technical requirements difficult for many patrons to overcome

o   Patrons did not understand how to use the devices

It was a librarian from Sacramento who stood up and made the comment that if you don’t provide devices that are ADA compliant that you’ll get “nasty letters”.  This situation is reflected in the links provided above.  The overall vibe was that the idea of circulating ebooks is a mixed bag.  Like all technology it’s great when it works, however in this case there were numerous instances of the program/service not working.  The learning curve to get patrons familiar with certain devices was steep enough that it required a great deal of time and attention from individual librarians to teach patrons how to use the devices.  At one library it naturally evolved so that different librarians would be specialized on different devices and thereby be called on to answer patron questions.



Defying Gravity:  Into the Cloud with Chromebooks

·         Palo Alto City Library & Santa Cruz Public Library offer Google Chromebooks for checkout

o   Palo Alto has a web based presentation regarding their Chromebook lending process


·         Palo Alto has found that the devices are very Palo Alto has had 20 devices either broken or gone missing

o   Approximately $500 each

·         Cracked screens are common and can be replaced without having to replace the device as a whole

·         For true functionality users need to have a Google account in order to download and install apps, or use Google documents. 

·         I asked the rep from Google if there was any plan to make it so that Apps could automatically appear for users under the guest account, she said that it was “on their road map”

·         Currently there is no way to filter the internet from the Chromebook itself, all filtering has to be done from the internet side.

·         I asked the rep if Google planned for a method to filter the internet from the computer itself and was told no.

·         A number of libraries seemed to think that this was the wave of the future

·         The new wave of Chromebooks features a more powerful Intel processor

Monday, November 5, 2012

Summer Matters: addressing Summer and learning loss through library partnerships and programs

Saturday, November 3, 2012
Natalie Cole, CLA
Lori Easterwood, Sacramento Public Library
Nina Lindsay, Oakland Public Library
Eva Mitnick, LAPL
Valerie Recihert, San Francisco Public Library 

Four libraries gave examples of their implementation of the statewide initiative: Summer Matters: A New Vision for Summer Learning in California. These libraries formed partnerships with schools and organizations offering afterschool programs for at risk or low income kids. The Packard (?) Foundation provided the funding for a select group of public libraries to inplement the initiative. Challenges for all the libraries included - limited resources, communication difficulties and differences in organizational cultures and transportation issues which prevented children from visiting the libraries.

LAPL formed partnership with 12 LA Best sites which administered afterschool programs. 10 LAPL branches were responsible for administering kits which had a game board and SRP suggestion sheets for sites to use. When the kids finished program they received a free book. They tracked SRP statistics via the online SRP software that we looked into using last year - Evanced. Making children track their progress on Evanced didn't make sense to me because the LA Best sites lacked computers. The low Evanced statistics, lack of responsiveness from LA Best coordinators and the fact that these outreach locations lacked books or computers seemed to doom this project. It didn't make sense to me to expect these children to use Evanced since the LA Best locations didn't have computers.

The presenter, Eva Mitnick, said they ended up dropping off the free book prize at the beginning of the SRP instead of offering the book as a final prize so children had a book to read during the summer. What other resources/books could the children use then for the duration of the program if they didn't have access to books?  When I talked to Angelica about this workshop she asked if the LAPL branches offered bookmobile service and why didn't they visit the LA Best locations during the summer?  I think the presenter also said each of the 10 branches had different SRP themes so it was hard to coordinate activities. It seems very disjointed and fragmented to have different themes for all the branches.

Another interesting example of the implementation of the Summer Matters iniative was from Oakland Public Library which provided free summer lunches.  Nina Lindsay stated that 84% of children who receive free lunch during the school year did not participate in a summer lunch program. Three of their libraries partnered with the Alameda County Food Bank and provided 9 weeks of free summer lunches. Challenges were staffing and getting everyone on board to help with project. She didn't address how this tied into SRP but I figure they must have included some elements of reading or storytimes.  She also reported on a succcessful partnership with their East Asian Youth Center. They did not push for library card drives and Summer Reading because they discovered that most of the kids already had cards but parents just weren't bringing them into the library. They responded to the community's needs and provided library open houses to encourage parents to bring their children to the library and offered monthly evening programs.
SFPL initially tried outreach with 12 sites but modified to a more manageable 7. Library staff conducted regular site visits and brought SRP performers to outreach locations and opened library during closed hours for tours.

Sacramento Public Library partnered with the Sacramento City Unified School District and provided 2 site visits to 8 schools, library tours for each of the participating schools and emphasized using the positive outcomes for fundraising opportunities.

I thought it was interesting that none of the libraries disclosed how much funding they received from the Packard (?) Foundation to implement their project. I was surprised that a summer free lunch program would be funded with money which supports library programs - crossing the line into social services.



Jason and I left the City of San Jose at 4 p.m. on Sunday.  We stopped for gas at a Love's Gas Station north of Bakersfield.  The scenic drive was unevenful and we arrived at the City Yard at 11 p.m.   Staff will unload the PALs on Monday.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Better World Books Contest

During a break on booth duty, I stopped by the Better World Books exhibit to vote for our literacy poster! It looks fantastic! 





Libraries & Art: Creating Communities

Angelica and I attended this workshop to get ideas, be inspired and find out how working with the County Office of Education can help improve library services. 

This workshop is all about art with a purpose.  The Alameda County Office of Education were given the task by the governor to celebrate art.  Out of this Art is Education was born which in an initiative to have k-12 students learn through art.  Art has so many components that are key to a child's development.  Whether it be he physics of art (hand-eye coordination), color and shape recognition, etc...  OR Art for critical thinking, focusing on poetry, recycling, culture.  Art can be connected with any theme and virtually any subject. 

Strongest purpose of this collaboration between the Alameda libraries and Office of Ed. Is that it brought the community together.  City organizations, specialists such as artists, children from various schools and businesses who found value in this community wide initiative. 

One highlight of this Bringing the art together to change thr libraries into an exhibit hall.  Not being scared to let childrens' imagination recreate the look and real of your space. 

I have to leave early for booth duty but what i have taken from this workshop is that art and play are the same.  Play is fleeting and the ideas derived from play, the tangible outcome of play may not be around for long (blocks fall down, the pretend friend may fade, the exhilaration of the sliding only lasts but a few seconds) but art projects have something physical to touch, hold, admire, and display. 

I like the idea of children's art in the library and we do this everyday with crafts and other programs that we hold throughout the week.  We offer the same opportunities for creativity with the Play and Lean Islands.  The only difference is that this is on a larger scale. 


From the Lips of a Politician: a Mayor's View of the Power of Public Libraries

Mayor Dennis Donohue from the City of Salinas spoke about the importance of a library to a community. Only a few years ago the City of Salinas came very close to closing the Salinas Library completely, resulting in the City to mobilize and pass a measure to save it. Mayor Donohue was not mayor at that time. Some of the more pertinent and important messages he delivered included: - libraries and library advocates need to tell their story. This is an offensive move versus staying silent about everything we do. Good thing Margaret and Angelica are working on an organizational storytelling grant for their Eureka! project. - libraries are a strategic service that can bring communities together - libraries are places people can go to find and make something better for themselves - the best way to stop something from happening (like libraries disappearing) is to prevent them from even thinking about it in the first place - and, he ended with saying that libraries should create a culture of innovation in their organization. Thought he was very timely. Michelle