Trivia question for you – How many tiles are there in a standard Scrabble game?
Clue: It’s the same number as the number of websites recently selected by PC Magazine as classics. Most of my favorites are there – are yours?
In other news, Tonganoxie has given their website a new look and I like it!
I was reading an email from Arla Jones, the media specialist at Lawrence High School, and was struck by the signature block at the end of her message. Like many librarians, her email signature includes her name, her contact information at the library, and a literary quote. But Arla’s signature block also includes the following sentence, ” Take a look at our cool web page! http://library.lhs.usd497.org“. Reading that inspired me to take a look at their site (and it is cool).
You may have heard that the Johnson County Library unveiled its new library website this week. Clean design, content that makes sense from a user’s perspective, and fun details, too (hmm.. what happens when I click on the word surprise???). The staff at Johnson County Library has worked hard on the site and deserves to be proud!
I know there are libraries out there who don’t feel proud of their website, but instead feel a little ashamed because it is out-of-date or incomplete or dull. In fact, I think that feeling was the norm for several years (after the advent of the web but before website creation tools had become truly friendly). I’m seeing a change though… more and more libraries are finding ways to create websites of which they are proud; sites that are up-to-date, attractive, contain good content, and are fun, too. (If you’re a NEKLS public library and want an easier way to maintain a web presence, consider becoming part of the KLOW project (contact us at NEKLS for more information).)
Maintaining a web presence of which you are proud is time-consuming, which can be a challenge. Even if the technology is easier, creating and updating content still requires a lot of time. Liz has been working on a complete revamp of our NEKLS website (watch for it soon!). The launch of that site will just be the beginning; after that we’ve got to make an ongoing commitment to adding to it and continually working to make it really useful for our members.
It’s exciting to realize that almost every library now has a virtual branch. Is yours what you want it to be?
(Do you read the Unshelved comic strip?)
Attention NEKLS Members! I am excited to invite you to participate in an upcoming workshop: “In the Driver’s Seat: A Technology Planning Workshop”.
Participants will leave this hands-on workshop with a technology plan in hand and a vision of where they would like to go with the library’s technology.
In this workshop, you will:
- Assess your current technology services and resources
- Assess the technology needs of your library and community
- Develop goals and objectives to guide you in extending and enhancing your services and resources
- Use WebJunction’s free online technology planning tool “TechAtlas”. We will have the special opportunity to ask questions and receive training from a member of the TechAtlas team.
If your library does not have a technology plan or if you feel the technology plan you have could be better (more useful and meaningful), then this workshop is for you!
What:
In the Driver’s Seat: A Technology Planning workshop
Who:
Brenda Hough (NEKLS), Kendra Morgan (WebJunction’s TechAtlas), Jeff Hixon (State Library of Kansas)
When:
Tuesday, September 11, 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Where:
@ NEKLS Headquarters in Lawrence
How Much:
$5 for NEKLS members (lunch included)
TO REGISTER: Please contact me (Brenda) if you are interested in attending this workshop. I will be emailing registered participants information prior to the class. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Phone: (785) 838-4090
Email: bhough@nekls.org
Back in June, I posted an announcement here for a class being taught by Scott Viera at the Johnson County Library, “Wikipedia: Can We Trust It?”
Diana and I attended the class last night and we’re still talking about it this morning! Scott (a reference librarian at the Johnson County Library) is fascinated by Wikipedia and has done a lot of research into its history and structure.
The class was open to the public and my favorite part was listening to people’s questions and comments. Wikipedia is a topic that inspires discussion! Before the class, some people had been unaware that it was a user-created encyclopedia. A school-librarian in the crowd talked about the challenges/opportunities of teaching students information literacy. Some people had been wary of Wikipedia before the class, but left feeling more knowledgeable and confident.
I’m guessing that most of you have searched Wikipedia, but have you explored the site lately? Having 90-minutes to do that in class last night was a treat. Scott pointed out the Help section (lots of good information there) and the community portal.
There’s some excellent stuff on Wikipedia — I’ve been checking out the portals (introductory pages for topics) lately. Have you seen the Poe Portal? … the Cuba Portal?
Where will Wikipedia go next? How will it change? Will it continue to grow (the English language Wikipedia encyclopedia is nearing the 2 million article mark — 1,949,791 articles as I publish this)? What is its place in the information world?
Brenda asked me to post the program from Tech Day 2007. From all the comments it was an exciting day and I really wish I could have been there.
OK, I realize Wii’d is probably not a word, but one of my goals in this life is to invent a word, so I keep trying. Tech Day 2007 is done and I’m exhausted, but happy. We were lucky to have Mary Madden from the Pew Internet Project serve as keynote speaker for the event, but the rest of the day was all about hearing from people who work in libraries right here in the northeastern part of Kansas. There must be something in the water because we have a lot of smart people and a lot of good things going on. I’ll write more soon (as I process all of the information and pull together the notes from the brainstorming session), but I wanted to at least get a link to the photos from the day up here for all to see. Thanks everyone for a great day!
