Brett Kochendorfer

The concept of Taking the Library Out was something that our group had to play with. During our initial group meeting I discussed my interest in using technology and tools to provide library services to those in rural areas. Other group members were interested in setting up kiosk library services, roving reference, and services for suburban Chicago commuters.

Our group consisted of Ellen, Laona, Jeff, Tracie and myself. I found this group presentation extremely enjoyable as it allowed me to explore some technological areas I was not entirely familiar with. For the project I created different digital platforms to allow our group to collaborate. On the first group meeting I created a wiki : http://ibrarytakeout.pbwiki.com and login information for each group member.This website allowed for the group to see how the project was coming along and track everyones progress. In future groups I think I would use a simple GoogleDocument. We at first thought we wouuld present the information on the Wiki as part of our outreach service, but it was simply too ugly. After everyone had uploaded their information I was able to quickly create a blog http://palatinelibraryteens.wordpress.com/ and migrate the data. If I were to change one thing about the blog situation I would have created an MU blog so that multiple users could have entered information.

Something I think many librarians & libraries ignore is design. I am rather new to graphic design and was excited to try to try my hand at this project. I designed the slides and formatted the presentation for consistancy. The slides and presentation played into the design and layout of the blog as I attempted to create an overall “feel” or “identity” for our project. On the blog in particular I focused on Web Reference. I posted the blog on twitter and Mick Jacobsen gave me a great tip. I changed the name to Online Help in the hopes of appealing to a non librarian audience. I also created a couple quick walkthroughs for the Palatine Public Library website.

Overall I found all my group members enjoyable and easy to work with. This group project was enjoyable and made easier with the use of technology.

Skokie Public Library Gaming Night

I’m not originally from the Chicago area, or even the Midwest. When I started asking all of my coworkers if they had ever been to the Skokie Public Library they often laughed at me. They wondered why I would want to know about a library so far away when I work right down the street from the Harold Washington Public Library. Regardless of their scoffing I was drawn to the Skokie Public Library, it seemed like every article or blog post I read on the bibliosphere was mentioning Skokie. For example, at the end of my monitoring assignment Toby Greenwalt (virtual services coordinator) was named a Library Journal Mover & Shaker.

I started my brand monitoring by first checking Google Reviews directly from Google Maps. I assumed that this is where many people gather information about a library, or really anything, when they are looking into visiting it for the first time. Almost all of the reviews are 5 stars with titles like “The Best Library in the whole Area” and “Wow.” The top review (the one you see bellow the name of the location in Google Maps) starts with “”I study many times at this library. It is a very good library and it is always …“

Twitter searching also revealed similar results. Many people go to the library to study and the Skokie’s twitter presence is prominently displayed. Here is a screenshot from the search query while snagged while creating this post. I think it’s important to mention that Skokie Public Library has a great bio on twitter : “Cornerstone of information, entertainment, and community on the North Shore.” Not only are they striving to provide information but so much more.

Although I can’t claim to have seen this for myself as part of brand monitoring I looked through the blogs of those library staff that I could locate. From Toby Greenwalt’s blog:

This is great, but it tends to overlook the biggest reason to have a good Twitter Search feed set up: it lets you know when people are talking about you. Much like having Google Alerts set up, you can identify and respond to all the good and bad chatter taking place out in the cloud. Right after I made that last post, I found the following conversation in the feed:

I decided to try a website out that I know is often used for scathing and snarky reviewers, Yelp.  I was hoping to find at least one bad review but everywhere I looked everything was great! Almost all 5 Star reviews from Yelp as well with reviews like ” This is my favorite library in the world. When I lived in the suburbs, this was my happiest hangout.” via

After monitoring Skokie Public Library I could plainly see that they provide great service that is truely appreciated by their community. I decided that to contact the library about possible volunteer opportunities. Last weekend I took the haul out to Skokie and got to the library a little before my meeting. I decided to grab some coffee next door and read a little. The cafe employee guessed that I was there to visit the library and we started talking. She began lamenting on how much she loves the library and how many people it draws to the downtown area. After I sat down with my bagel and coffee a librarian came in and inquired on how to place group size coffee orders! Overall, Skokie Public has created and maintained a highly appreciated brand.

Users can be out shopping, for example, at the local Walmart buying diapers for little Johnnie. Johnnie’s dad can hit Walmart’s video section, use the G1 Android phone camera to snap a picture of a DVD barcode and voila: Search results of where the flick could be pilfered for free would immediately be sent to Johnnie’s dad, who could then download the video to the web UI of uTorrent while he’s combing the aisles carrying a crying baby searching for the right pacifier and diaper-rash treatment.

Johnnie’s dad arrives home, and the free flick of his choice is ready to view.

Via

This makes me wonder why libraries don’t have a similar option. Obviously, torrenting movies is illegal but why not develop an application / mobile site so that users can take a picture of the bar code and place that item on hold.  Even better place that item on a queue just like Netflix so that the patron will automatically have the information mailed to them. The only mobile application I’ve seen for libraries is the one developed by DC public libraries.

Hurrah for alternative OPAC interfaces! I’m very pleased to let you know that the DCPL iPhone app went live last night. You can download it from the iTunes app store here. Functionality in this version includes:

• searching for library materials
• seeing an item’s cover and reading a summary
• placing a hold for pickup at the location of your choice
• finding the hours, locations and phone numbers of DC public libraries

http://www.walkingpaper.org/1100

Recently the library bibliosphere has been chattering about Druapl. Drupal is an open source content management system which many libraries are using to create their websites. One of my favorite and undoubtedly one of the most famous Drupal library websites is from Darien Public Library: http://www.darienlibrary.org/ Drupal allows for a high level of customization on a website, blogging, commenting, and tagging.

I decided to configure and set up my own Drupal website just to see what the back end of the service looked like. This was a rather exciting and simple process. I’d like to use this post to explain how to set up a Drupal testing environment so that you can test Drupal yourself.

1. I am running Mac OS X, so I installed the MAMP stack : http://www.mamp.info/ Mamp stands for (Macintosh, Apache, MySql, and PhpAdmin if you are using Windows it would be called WAMP)

2. Download Drupal : http://drupal.org/ (Do not unzip/install yet)

3. From here it gets a little tricker but hopefully I can explain it. Run the MAMP stack, when it opens it should look like this you want to click on “Open start page”

4. This will load the MAMP stack admin page. Drupal runs through a database, so we have to create a database for Drupal to run in. Select “phpAdmin” from the top bar.

5. Click Databases.

6. Enter a name for your database under “Create New Database” and make sure to select “utf8_general_ci”

7. Click Create

8. Next you want to create a User ID & Password with admin access within your database. Click on phpMyAdmin again and select click “Privileges”

9. Click Add a new user.

10. Fill out the user information page and makse sure to switch from “Any Host” to “Local”

11. Do not change the “None”  button selected under the “Database for user” section. Do not select anything under the “Global privileges” section. Click Go in the bottom right hand corner.

12. When you arrive at the next page select “Database Specific Privileges” and make sure to select the Drupal database we selected.

13. Make sure you select ” SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, CREATE, DROP, INDEX and ALTER” and then hit Go

14. Now you want to unzip/unpack Drupal in the htdocs folder within the MAMP folder in your applications.

15. I suggest renaming the folder to just Drupal, it will make the next step easier.

16. Go to http://localhost:8888/drupal/ and follow the install instructions. Use the USER ID and Database we created. From here you should be able to play with Drupal!

Here is what it looks like from the Admin End:

Drupal Home Page:

I hope this quick tutorial will help some of you experience Drupal hands on. If you have any questions please feel free to ask and I will do my best to help!

For my paper I’d like to make the case that ecological concerns should be combined with the 2.0 philosophical approach to librarianship. I’d like to think of 2.0 as referring to an update of previous thought, all business should now be conducted as intelligently, ecologically friendly, and with the greatest results for the users. 

There are two kinds of problems facing librarians when they consider digital collections and services, these are hardware and software. The concerns with software are like those noted by McLeod and could also include virus attacks, glitches in the coding, or the software could simply be nonuser friendly. These sorts of issues are at forefront of concern and often discussed by librarians as large cons to the digitization of media An aspect of digitization that is not often discussed is the hardware or how it can affect the environment. The New Scientist recently featured an article stating that, “…with more than 1 billion computers on the planet, the global IT sector is responsible for about 2% of human carbon dioxide emissions each year – a similar figure to the global airline industry.

 The rate at which data storage is growing surpasses the growth in the airline industry: in 2006, 48% more data storage capacity was sold in the UK than in 2005, while the number of plane passengers grew by 3%.” This is extremely shocking to most people who would not intuitivelly link digitization of print media (which is stored on servers) to an affect of large amounts of carbon emissions. In addition to the actual emissions caused by servers, it is estimated that the United States alone will need more than a dozen new power plants to power all of the servers and information by the year 2011.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/10/03/technology/solar_servers.biz2/index.htm

Librarians should also be aware of options allowing to store servers /data using green / renewable resources in order to combat the increases in data and its affects on the environment. Many third party companies are available which offer third party hosting in order to store data. Although I am generally against third party hosting, I feel that this is a valuable option available to libraries who are not able to create solar / green server farms on location. 

http://www.3wstudios.com/green/hosting.php

Another interesting option which Google has recently started to explore is offshore data barges. These barges will be more energy efficient as they will be cooled by the ocean, cutting down not only on cooling cost but actually increasing the amount of data and storage space that each server is able to handle. 

http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2008/09/06/google-planning-offshore-data-barges/

Many libraries are now interested in ways in which to incorporate ecologically friendly design into their physical building. Luckily enough someone has already invented a database of libraries which are using Green technologies. This website is http://www.greenlibraries.org/ , offering not only lists of libraries who incorporate Green designs but also resources on how to use technology to green your library. These changes are not only ecological but will allow the library to save money which it can in turn use to help provide better service to its community;

“The library is 65 percent to 90 percent more energy efficient than previously constructed buildings. It is estimated that the library will save $100,000 per year in utility costs. The building includes high-performance glass that lets in light but cuts out heat; motion sensors that shut off lights if the space is unoccupied; a process that uses excess heat to warm other areas of the building; and panels that block light in the summer but allow for warming light in the winter.” http://www.uvsc.edu/library/newbuilding/index.html

In a more extreme stance Antonelli said in a Library Journal Article :

““I see the environmental and economic changes looming ahead as an opportunity for libraries to develop new and exciting ways that support their local communities,” Antonelli says. “In the future, I would like to see automobile-lending libraries and bicycle-lending libraries. I would also like to see libraries get into the business of archiving genetic material like local seeds. And while we are at it, how about turning the grounds into community gardens? I mean, why not?”

http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6475365.html