Library websites have come a long way!

Posted on May 21st, 2007 by Brenda

Ten years ago, many library websites consisted of a picture of the library, the library’s address and phone number, and not much else. Now, many library websites are truly functioning as a sort of “virtual branch” – helping local libraries connect to their communities.

We have talked about the Kansas Libraries on the Web project here on this blog before. It’s a project that was created to help small public libraries easily maintain an up-to-date, useful, and attractive web presence. We’re seeing a lot of great content and innovative ideas and thought it would be fun to highlight some examples here.

Atchison Public Library (Population of Library Service Area (LSA) 10,106)

Many libraries in Kansas have a physical Kansas room on-site, which includes local history and documentation. Atchison Public Library has gone beyond that to start creating a virtual Kansas room, too.

Also, check out the recent post, What the director is reading, which inspired some online book discussion. And also see the online storytime info – wow!!

Corning City Library (Pop. of LSA 166)

The smallest library in the NEKLS region has one of the liveliest websites! Moving images, local weather, and a “word of the day” feature add interest and content to the site.

Morrill Public Library, Hiawatha (Pop. of LSA 3,366)

The library staff spice up the clean look of the site with images. The Morrill Public Library site is regularly updated. All of the posts are categorized and can be browsed under the Library News and Views section.

Lyndon Public Library (Pop. of LSA 1,539)

The library recently encouraged contributions to a local cookbook and posted a historical photograph, creating a true feeling of local connection.

Osawatomie Public Library (Pop. of LSA 4,622)

This site is regularly updated and visually appealing, too. The library staff recently used the website to give special thanks to a local family.

Richmond Public Library (Pop. of LSA 514)

Many libraries promote upcoming events on their websites. Richmond, however, took that idea to the next level and posted photographs as a follow-up to a recent Mother’s Day event.

Mary Cotton Library, Sabetha (Pop. of LSA 2,553)

When the Mary Cotton Library staff received word that the local sales tax increase vote for the library had passed, they posted the exciting news with a big note of thanks on their website. Other recent content includes the story of a young boy’s job shadowing at the library and memorials.

Seneca Free Public Library (Pop. of LSA 2,077)

Summer Reading Program is on everyone’s mind this time of year and Seneca Free Public Library uses their website to promote this year’s events.

Tonganoxie Public Library (Pop. of LSA 3,169)

Web 2.0 is a popular topic in the library world and Tonganoxie is a small library making a big impact using some 2.0 tools. Browse their site for lots of examples. Be sure to read about the online book discussion group they are starting.

In the midst of change…

Posted on November 22nd, 2006 by Liz

You may notice that the site looks a little different… or that it looked different five minutes ago when you looked. That’s because we’re upgrading!

That’s right, we finally took the step and moved this blog on up to Wordpress 2.0.5 from (ahem) 1.5, even though we’ve been using the 2.0 series on every other blog we host for months now. Since this was our first blog, and we went a bit plugin happy, it’s a big jump so it may take some time for all of the functionality to be recreated. Don’t worry though, your friendly neighborhood library technology blog will be back and better than ever soon.

Social Skills

Posted on October 4th, 2006 by Brenda

Here’s something that I have been reading about that some of you may find relevant….
If you want to learn more about
* Blogs
* RSS
* Wikis
* Social Networking Software and SecondLife
* Flickr
* Social Bookmarking Software
* Selling Social Software @ Your Library
then consider applying for an upcoming free course, offered entirely online: Five Weeks to a Social Library. This is the first time this has been offered, but I have a feeling this is going to be a course with a lot of impact. The creators of the course are currently some of the most exciting thinkers in the world of library technology use.

The class will be limited to 40 participants and the intended audience is “those librarians who have the most to gain from learning about social software and who would not otherwise have access to conferences or continuing education.” The participant applications are due December 1st and you will find out by January 1st whether or not you have been selected to participate.

If any NEKLS library members apply and complete the course, I’d love to know, so I can hear all about it and also so I can interview you about the experience for a NEKLS newsletter article. Go for it!

Become a del.icio.us Power User

Posted on September 7th, 2006 by Liz

Become a del.icio.us Power User at David Brunelle: Geek for Life

Some awesome tips on using Del.icio.us. Even I, longtime del.icio.us user learned something.

More on Tech Day

Posted on August 28th, 2006 by Brenda

It has been 2 1/2 weeks since NEKLS Tech Day 2006, so I feel like I have had some distance and space to think about things and start to plan for next year. It has been thrilling to see the response from some of the attendees. We had eval forms and got some good feedback on those, but even more telling has been the response in the “blogosphere.”

For example, From a KC Librarian created an audioblog entry while at the gas station on his way home!
It’s all about connections! At Tech Day, A The Book of Nature was able to meet The Goblin in the Library….
Erica and others from Johnson County brainstormed possibilities and applications in their community.
We think that David liked us so much he decided to become a Kansas librarian

Thank you everyone for being there and for sharing your ideas and excitement on your blogs! If you have ideas for next year’s Tech Day, please share them with us. Liz and I will both be going to the Internet Librarian conference in October and we’ll be scouting out potential keynote speakers there.

What is the 1% rule?

Posted on July 21st, 2006 by Liz

From the article:

It’s an emerging rule of thumb that suggests that if you get a group of 100 people online then one will create content, 10 will “interact” with it (commenting or offering improvements) and the other 89 will just view it.

Good thing to know for those of you starting blogs. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get comments or interaction… just keep at it!

Guardian Unlimited Technology | Technology | What is the 1% rule?

State Librarian on Library 2.0

Posted on July 7th, 2006 by Brenda

Dayna Williams-Capone, director of the Parsons Public Library, recently interviewed Kansas state librarian Christie Brandau about Library 2.0. The interview is now available as a podcast.

Library 2.0 is a topic that is near and dear to Michael Stephen’s heart. He will be our NEKLS Tech Day 2006 speaker, so listening to Christie’s podcast will be a good warm-up for that presentation.

NEKLS Tech Day will be held Thursday, August 10th, on the Washburn University campus. Watch for more details and registration information… coming soon!

Feedin’ and Readin’

Posted on March 31st, 2006 by Brenda

I like blogs. I scan a lot of them regularly and have a few that I read religiously. Without Bloglines, I think I would be overwhelmed by trying to keep up. Bloglines is my RSS reader — I can scan a list of the blogs I like, to see which ones have been updated since I last looked at them. If you’re new to RSS feeds and readers, you may want to check out this article from TechCrunch. It overviews some of the RSS feed readers that are out there. My vote goes to Bloglines — anyone out there using something different and wonderful that you would like to recommend?