Quick Meebo Update

May 24, 2008 at 12:02 pm (innovation, Library 2.0, Meebo)

That took a little more care, feeding, and fussing than I thought it would!  Here’s what’s up so far:

  • When we logged in for the first live monitoring session, a few people had already left us messages!
  • One of those messages had contact info, so we could answer the question.
  • As people started using the service, it became clear we needed to make some edits to the “help” section – einetwork graciously provided these.
  • Some of the questions were goof questions – my favorite was, “If a monkey and a bear got into a fight, who would win?” – but you’ll have that.
  • There were, roughly, three legit reference questions per hour.  Will have to check in with the ready-reference team next week and see if that starts to change the longer we pilot the service.
  • On the tech front, there seems to be an odd quirk in the widget – it will sometimes indicate the librarian is offline, even when s/he is still logged in.  Not sure if that’s Meebo or the catalog page, though, so will have to investigate.

I’m open to the possibility that this service is not something our patrons will use, but I’m thrilled that we’re trying it!  If you want to put us to the test, ask us questions about the pilot, or even just say a collegial “hello,” please feel free to visit our catalog.

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In-between Days

May 20, 2008 at 4:03 pm (collection development, databases, Facebook, innovation, Learning 2.0, Library 2.0, Meebo, philosophizing, traditional library services)

Here’s what I’ve been up to, instead of library blogging:

  • Advocating for better web placement for Eleventh Stack.
  • Plowing through ABPR.
  • Joining Library Journal‘s shiny new Facebook groups.
  • Totting up April database stats
  • Informally training folks on the Meebo widget that goes live…tomorrow!

Eek.  I’m a little nervous about this, but it’s good nervous.  After all, this is the test of all the Library 2.0 theorizing that’s floating about:  if this is something our patrons want, we can build on it.  If it’s not something they want, we’ve still learned something.  I feel like I’ve definitely refined my project planning skills, and learned a bit more about the way my organization works.

That’s something I think many new librarians could use a little more experience with.  Alas, the only way to learn it is to dive in and take risks (and, sometimes, lumps).  At any rate, wish us luck.  If I get a chance tomorrow, between the breathless hand-wringing and obsessive monitoring, I’ll let you know how the first day of Meebo went! 

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Meebo: coming soon!

May 9, 2008 at 1:56 pm (Library 2.0, Meebo)

The steering committee had many good questions for us, and in the end, they decided to allow us to embed a Meebo widget in the countywide OPAC.  Huzzah!  This means I’ve spent most of today writing or revising drafts of things:  staff documentation, training docs, an FAQ, etc.   Next week we’ll get organized, hold staff trainings, meet one more time with einetwork to make sure our ducks are in a row…and then, we’re up.

It will be interesting to see if this particular Web 2.0 tool is one that our patrons will use and appreciate.  We are also testing the Qwidget for AskHere PA, which you’ll find on the Ask A Librarian page. I think the advantage of the Meebo widget, for CLP and other ACLA patrons, will be that local users who chat via Meebo are guaranteed to get a local librarian. While the benefits of nationwide service are many, patrons who use the Meebo widget will get faster and better help on a local service issue than they would with the statewide or 24/7 national service.

At least, that’s my theory. We shall see. Wish us luck!

Next week, tidbits gleaned from professional reading…and why you should make time to do your professional reading!

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Sustainability. Also, questions I ask myself.

April 11, 2008 at 11:18 am (access, blogging, fundraising, Meebo)

Remember me, your friendly neighborhood alchemist?  I know – bad library blogger!

Or am I?  I’ve just read Helene B.’s thoughts on sustainability, and couldn’t agree more. Perhaps not everything is meant to last forever? The original goal of this particular blog was to chart my learning curve in my new position; after eight months, it is probably time to change focus.

There are certainly a number of different possibilities I’d like to explore; in fact, most of my recent ponderings don’t necessarily involve Web 2.0 applications. Some of the questions I ask myself as I look around the library are:

  • Why is there no index to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette? Who would be foolhardy enough to take on such a task, and how would we pay for it? Would there be grant money for a project like that?
  • How can some of the wonderful tools the Reference Department has be made more accessible to the public?  I’m thinking, of course, of our wonderful ready-reference file cabinet, our trade catalogs, and the Pittsburgh Art and Architecture files, on which some work has already been completed.
  • What’s the best way to provide good customer service to the public while the latest journal inventory / reorganization is going on?  Can we take the inventory data and create a temporary tool, like an Access database, that would help staff find journal holdings more efficiently while we iron out the cataloging issues?  Or would that be a duplication of effort?

During my long blogging absence I’ve been attending a lot of meetings about EleventhStack. It’s been very well received, and now the team is collaborating with other departments to make sure we’re in compliance with the bigger organizational picture. It’s great to collaborate with other departments, and fascinating to see how each of us contributes strengths and perspectives to the whole.

I’ve also started weeding our LibraryThing account; intended as a temporary stopgap container until orders are placed into Millennium, the account has mushroomed to about 1200 books. What’s really great about LT is that, if an order doesn’t make it to Millennium, the tags contain all of the information necessary to track the books. Of course, this relies heavily on librarians properly tagging orders as they enter them, but with a staff of our caliber, that was hardly an issue. :)

 The Meebo project went to the steering committee at the end of March. As most of the committee was unfamiliar with Meebo, they had lots of questions and concerns. This is a great opportunity to think about the project differently, and RK and I will, hopefully, meet with einetwork again soon to see if we can give them some answers. The backup plan, if a catalog widget doesn’t pass muster, is to pilot the project somewhere on the CLP webpage. Stay tuned, and wish us luck…

 On today’s docket: a CE class about knowing which library trends to follow – will report back in a more timely fashion next week, with any gems gleaned therein.

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In-between days (and projects)

March 4, 2008 at 6:44 pm (access, blogging, databases, humor, Learning 2.0, Library 2.0, Meebo, philosophizing, website redesign)

Eleventh Stack has received just under 1,000 hits in less than one week. Even adjusting for friends and well-wishers, that’s still an impressive bit of traffic!

When not obsessively monitoring Estack stats, I’ve been helping fix remote access issues that cropped up in the website redesign. Some of them are access-related, some of them are cosmetic, and almost all of them are fixed!

And now, I’m ruminating about the next steps. It’s never good to rest on one’s laurels, of course. Meebo is still on the table, and talks are in the works. But what next? It’s back to newsreader perusal, sifting for trends, trying to envision what would make the library a better place for everybody to be.

So, an in-between period. But, as I’ve been tagged for the Six-Word Memoir meme by Don (wordsmith extraordinaire from, among other places, The Lilliput Review, I gladly comply:

Sought greater light on the daily.

That will make a fine obituary too, many, many, many years from now!  In the more immediate future, though, more library things, as I figure them out.

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Back to work. Also, gems from the newsreader.

December 27, 2007 at 6:56 pm (collection development, Library 2.0, Meebo, news, web resources)

It’s good to go away, but it’s good to get back to the lab.  On the front burners are:

  1. Collection development.  Starting the week of Jan. 6th, watch this space for posts about recent purchases.  This is part of a collaborative experiment in ordering non-fiction; my colleague from the First Floor, Bonnie M., may be posting here as well.  Our goal is to order new non-fiction in all subject areas for both our departments, without unnecessary overlap.
  2. The return of Meebo.  I’ve been asked to create a training for its use, so hopefully we’ve made progress on implementation!  More details as I learn, and can share, them.

Amidst a flurry of reference questions, I skimmed my newsreader for treasure, and was not disappointed.  Observe:

  • Are the rumors of Web 2.0′s death greatly exaggerated?  I suspect, yes.  Just in case, though, I’m ready to continue my subtle traditional library services marketing campaign.  If people do get fed up with the web, they’re going to need information guides more than ever.
  • Folks interested in medical / wellness issues might want to check out Daily Strength, a social network created and moderated by medical professionals, to help people in need get support. Highly intriguing; from an information literacy standpoint, the fact that the “about” page contains credentials, bios, and contact info for the staff is definitely encouraging.
  • A fascinating thread about 2.0 apps for education.  The comments thread contains many links to apps you can explore for your library’s needs.
  • I regret to report, however, that most of the content at Bookrags is premium content; if it had more free stuff, librarians and students alike would eat this up. But don’t throw out your databases just yet.
  • Finally, just for fun, there’s a new online game in town, and it’s set off a debate among gamers that illustrates what they want and how they think.  Anybody who wants to sign up with me and kickke it olde-schoole-duel, just let me know.  I’ll be futzing with the brand-new female avatar options.

Isn’t it wonderful how every day in library science is a new adventure?  Tune in tomorrow to see what new wonders and fresh challenges await…

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Post-presentation tidbits

December 4, 2007 at 7:00 pm (Learning 2.0, Library 2.0, Meebo, presentations, web resources)

Many thanks to everyone who attended one of the two Library 2.0 sessions yesterday!  I hope this is just the beginning of a long series of conversations and innovations throughout the CLP system.  Log in to the CLP wiki and visit the “Collaboration” section to see our presentation, with live links. If you don’t know your department or branch’s wiki log-in, check with your supervisor.

I know a lot of people still have concerns about how to integrate 2.0 initiatives into our already busy workloads; I do too, some days! But I think a lot of it boils down to having a plan and setting parameters. Click here to see my Meebo presentation, which I’ve just tweaked to answer some very good questions raised at one of yesterday’s sessions. See also, as promised, the Everday 2.0 webliography, which gives examples of library learning programs, and offers tips/tools for individual learning.

 As you can tell, I’m really invested in getting a Meebo widget somewhere on our page, preferably in our catalog, like the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library just started doing.  Visit the Meebo wiki for more information on the nuts and bolts of how it works.

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If it’s Friday, it must be Flickr. Also, reference questions.

November 2, 2007 at 4:32 pm (Flickr, Meebo, traditional library services)

The photos are up – you can see them here, and they’ll be coming soon to a sidebar near you. If you’d like to contribute photos of your staff, programming, or collections, let me know.

Today’s major project was getting my Meebo notes in order to send on for comment/approval. I used GoogleDocs again, and will link to my presentation as soon as it’s received some constructive criticism from the powers that be.

Elsewhere on the Friday docket, lots of reference questions. Today’s inquiries have included requests about:

  • literary criticism of Woolf’s To the Lighthouse
  • introductory information on Catholicism
  • English-Arabic dictionaries
  • computer and photocopier issues

I’m actually working on another inquiry right now, so I’ll close with the hopes that you all have a wonderful weekend.

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Meebo experiment update

October 14, 2007 at 1:21 pm (Library 2.0, Meebo)

After one week of data gathering, I’m starting to get the hang of Meebo.  I’ve been logging in at the beginning of the workday and staying logged in, tweaking my “away” messages as refdesk traffic and other duties dictate.  So far, there have been a lot of unique visits, which is encouraging.  I’ll keep you posted as I gather more data.

Today’s a really good day for it, too – my library is one of two in the entire system that’s open Sundays, and patrons really make the most of the four hours we currently offer them.  One of the questions I hope to answer with this research is, how feasible is it to fit IM reference in with the rest of our daily tasks?  A known busy day is a great litmus test.

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Brought to you by the letter D…

October 8, 2007 at 4:10 pm (databases, Library 2.0, Meebo, presentations, professional development, theatre, traditional library services, web resources)

What I’m up to today:

Data collection.  See that shiny new “Meebo Me” window?  I’m playtesting to see how intrusive such a widget would be in a reference setting.  Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to ding me, whether I’m in or not.  Ask me reference questions, real or faux.  Ask me how I’m doing.  Tell me what you’re doing.  We’re going for verisimilitude here, so don’t hold back…I’m keeping stats!

Database training.  Led a session for a dozen students from a nearby uni.  It seemed to go well.  What was very interesting was that it was definitely a mixed-proficiency group, so some folks were zooming ahead, and others needed coaching.  Teaching by Walking Around – you’ve got to love it!

Databases redux:  Why am I being denied access?  What’s coming up for renewal when?  Who’s our vendor contact where?  Why can I find anything in these files?  All part of the exciting world of database care and feeding.

Drama.  Namely, purchasing it.  A good liberal arts education prepares you for many, many things, including diverse collection development assignments.  Whew.

Dinging.  I love it when folks send me links – makes up for the fact that it’s hard to keep up with all the news, even with fine newsreaders like Bloglines. So, courtesy of my fine peer Gina B., check out Zotero for citation management. They even have a WordPress plug-in, if you should need it.

There’s more, but you get the drift…what’s new @ your library?

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