Text Me!

Posted on March 23rd, 2007 by Brenda

Cell phones, cell phones, everywhere you look…. People talking in cars, in bars, even while out looking at the stars. And cell phones are not just being used for phone calls anymore. People use them to take pictures, to signal appreciation for a favorite ballad at a rock concert, to surf the web, and more.

I rarely am without my cell phone, but am not a fan of actually talking on it. Instead, my preferred mode of cell phone use is “texting”. Text messaging from your cell phone is a handy way to send brief messages to people. “What are you doing for dinner?” “Do you mind if I eat this last brownie?” “Want to meet up for pizza?” (Hmm… I think 90% of my texts revolve around food.) I send over 200 text messages per month. My friend told me that he sends over 750 each month…. I’m sure there are others who send many more.

Most cell phones can do text messaging. Talk to your cell phone provider to find out what your plan includes and to see if there are extra fees. Typing on the phone is frustrating and slow when you first begin doing it, but as with most technology things, it soon becomes second nature and your thumb will fly!

The Orange County Library System in Florida is using text messaging to communicate with their patrons (thank you Shifted Librarian for sharing that link). It’s a method of communication that is very much a part of people’s lives and this seems like a great example of meeting users “where they are at.”

All about Sirsi

Posted on March 21st, 2007 by Mickey

Here is a very interesting ALA TechSource article on our NExpresss shared automation vendor, Sirsi Dynix, which recently announced it has abandoned plans to release Horizon 8.0, the much-touted makeover of Dynix’s flagship ILS product. Instead, the Unicorn platform will be the basis for a new product called ROME, which will essentially be an enhanced version of Unicorn GL3.2. Read the entire article for an excellent overview of Sirsi Dynix’s past, present and future.

2.0 continues to grow

Posted on March 14th, 2007 by Brenda

We’ve been talking about social technologies like blogs, Flickr, Meebo, YouTube, and MySpace for quite a while. A friend recently pointed me to a website that lists over 1200 different social technology sites! Trying to use all of those technologies would be overwhelming (and kind of silly). How do you decide which ones are worth your time?

I don’t think there’s an exact science to determining which to explore. A few things that would encourage me to explore a particular technology might include:

• I know that it is a technology that is really, really, really popular with the general public (MySpace would be in this category with me – I had to know, what’s all the hype?)
• It fits a need I have heard expressed by our member libraries…. (blogs, Meebo, and Flickr would fall in this category for me).
• My friends and family keep sending me things from the site (… like all of the YouTube links people have sent me — library stuff like March of the Librarians and funny stuff like the OK Go video)

Beyond those reasons, a social software can “catch me” by appearing on my radar at just the right moment (when I’m at the right place to explore something) or if I keep seeing it referred to on the different library blogs I read. In the last week, I’ve joined two social software sites for that latter reason. Twitter and the Library 2.0 network Bill Drew started on Ning. I have spent a little bit of time playing with each of them. The dollar investment was $0.00 and the time investment was small, too. I’m not sure if either of them will become a part of my regular routine, but I do think it’s important to try a new thing now and then.

What’s on your social technology radar this week?

Follow-up on the after-hours wireless “thief”

Posted on March 6th, 2007 by Mickey

Here’s a follow-up story on the Man Who Had His Laptop Confiscated (see March 2 posting)

 http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/8679625p-8574795c.html

Delete those Undeletable Viruses

Posted on March 6th, 2007 by Liz

I just found an outstanding tool and tutorial for deleting those undeletable viruses that we all come across now and then (if we use Windows… insert snarky statement about how I use a Mac here).

TechNibble Tutorial on how to delete those undeletable Viruses

Thanks TechNibble!

A fascinating story about after-hours library wireless internet access

Posted on March 2nd, 2007 by Mickey

Headline: Alaskan Library lets down Patron

By john on wifi [John Blyberg]
I’ve been watching this story (article) with a growing level of frustration. Not with the user, nor with the police (who were simply doing their job), but with the Palmer Public Library in Palmer Alaska.

First, can anyone give me a good reason why a library’s wifi service should be only available during business hours? Perhaps we ought to shut off our web servers along with the lights as well.

I’ll admit that this situation brings up some interesting issues. Obviously the Palmer Public Library usage policy forbids after-hours access. They have a plan in place to shut off access at night, though they’re waiting until they find a technician to do it: *hint* maybe your parking-lot superpatron could help you out there, guys. But that is a flawed policy, and is also nowhere to be found on their website. It’s important to remember that Internet usage policies don’t hold business hours, so no matter what time a user hops on, they are still subject to those rules of governance.

This could have been a fabulous public relations opportunity, but the Palmer Library took a big pass. Worse, it didn’t come to the defense of this user who may very well be saddled with some real criminal charges. Yes, he may be arrested for playing Risk in the parking lot of his town’s public library. But, the fact that the user in question was using the service for gaming is completely inconsequential. Since when do libraries pass judgement on our user’s activities and choice of material?

This user has been let down by his library.

So, what should the Palmer Library do if it is so inclined?

First, they should notify the police and the district attorney that a) using wifi after hours is permitted and b) the user’s laptop should be returned immediately and c) charges should not be filed against the user because there was no theft of service involved.

They should then re-evaluate their Internet usage policy and make any changes necessary to remove any ambiguity regarding hours of operation and make sure language is included that allows for after-hour usage.

Then, if it were up to me, I would see what kind of wifi coverage the parking lot was getting, and have additional access points installed if signal strength was spotty. I might even place some signage in the lot to advertise the hot spot.

Finally, I would invite that user to the library to talk about his experience as a moderator on the site, Conquor Club. I don’t know what’s going on in Palmer, Alaska, but I imagine that there might be other library users who’d be interested.

Identifying our most valuable users and taking advantage of their expertise should be ever present in our minds. So when I read a story like this where a library simply stands back, takes the easiest and safest path, I get mightily frustrated.

What a waste of a great opportunity. And what a lack of cojones.

Alaska, Internet, Library, Palmer Alaska, policy, wifi