Perhaps of more interest for our School librarians, Blackboard, makers of the industry standard online courseware software, has bought out their only real commercial competitor, WebCT.
We’ll have to see how this affects open source project Moodle, a project that includes much of the same functionality as Blackboard and WebCT.
Oi. I think I qualify. 
Check it out!
This is a little older article, but one whose point is well taken: school kids use search engines too, and they need to know how to evaluate the information they find. Librarians, it’s time to step in and teach those kids how to use these tools!
Search Engine Journal ยป Hey Yahoo, Google and MSN – School Kids Use Search Engines Too
Wow! Google is not evil!
They say “Librarians and Google share a mission: to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”
Word. I’m gonna get on their list and I think you should too.
Everybody knows that for a service to catch on, people have to know that it exists. If you have wireless available for patrons in your library, we’ve come up with the following graphic for putting in your library window. It will work in Northeast Kansas (we are the Northeast Kansas Library System, after all) and you can print it out, or put it in a word document and add your library’s name… maybe a “brought to you by” type of thing.
Anyway, here it is:
If you right click the image, and select save, you can save the full resolution version to your computer. Have fun!
I love all of the images used in the Osage City Public Library’s blog – pretty and colorful! The blog promotes current events at the library, which seems like a perfect way to use a library blog.
Today is the anniversary of the release of Microsoft Windows, that operating system we love to hate.
I remember spending my 16th birthday installing Windows 95 on my 486 with 8MB of RAM. Good times, good times.
Here’s the PC World article commemorating the day:
Twenty Years of Windows
What are some of your love/hate stories about Windows on this most… auspicious(?) day?
And while we’re talking about Windows, let’s also talk about other operating systems that capitalize on that love/hate relationship we have with Windows. Anybody out there using Linux solutions for their library desktops, staff or patron use, with any sort of success? What about Apple/OS X?
WebJunction has this most interesting technology watch list for libraries, which enumerates technologies that libraries should, at the very least, watch and see if they can work in the library.
Notable inclusions: Digital Preservation, Blogs and RSS (duh) and Wireless access.
Read the article:
Webjunction — Technology Watch List
Interesting development in the world of AudioBooks… Digital audio players that you *DON’T* connect to a computer… but come pre-loaded with an audiobook. Currently only about 40 titles are available, but I can see libraries latching straight on to this.
Props to Jim for finding this development in the KC Star today.
Kansas City Star | 10/13/2005 | Digital audio books come ready to go
“Why Libraries Matter: A Story Long Overdue” is the charming tale, told in rhyming verse, of a young girl who shows her family and neighbors how important the library is to them and their community. The link below is an example of what the icon will look like on your website. It will also give you the opportunity to view, download, and e-mail the book for yourself.”
What a cool way to use eBooks!
