Monthly Archives: December 2009

Top Ten Customer Service Skills for Library Staff

Posted on 15 December 2009 by Rick Mason

ALA Learning’s Top Ten Customer Service Skills for Library Staff is not only a great review of those habits that can make us more effective when we interact with the public, but are also good reminders of what we can … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics, Libraries | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Baker & Taylor E-Book Technology

Posted on 9 December 2009 by Rick Mason

Baker & Taylor has the next big thing in ebooks. Really! As with all of  the “next big things” we see in digital technology, we get to “wait and see”. However, reading the post makes me marvel at the possibilities … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Cataloging, Libraries, Online Services, Software | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Baker & Taylor E-Book Technology

A Little Star Wars Political Library Geekery

Posted on 9 December 2009 by Rick Mason

The part of me that is somewhat of a Star Wars geek really finds it fascinating that, according to one of the catalogers at my place of work,  Barack Obama’s Dewey Decimal Cutter Number is… Ob1

Posted in Cataloging, Classification, Libraries | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Library Website Fails

Posted on 8 December 2009 by Rick Mason

I see these types of messages all the time on library-related websites, and I agree that it sends the message that those who manage those sites don’t have a good grasp of current web technology: Time to Update? by David … Continue reading →

Posted in ILS, Libraries, Online Services, OPAC, Web Design | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Library Website Fails

OCLC Policies Directory Preview

Posted on 3 December 2009 by Rick Mason

OCLC is previewing their new Policies Directory site, which is set to go live on December 13th.  To try it out, point your browser to: https://policies-preview.oclc.org/ Authorization:  100028264 Password:  oclc Be sure to enter your OCLC Institution Symbol to view … Continue reading →

Posted in ILL, Libraries, OCLC, Online Services | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on OCLC Policies Directory Preview

How College Students Seek Information in the Digital Age

Posted on 2 December 2009 by Rick Mason

How College Students Seek Information in the Digital Age (pdf) is a report from Project Information Literacy, maintained by the Information School at the University of Washington that contains a few surprises for libraries: Course readings were the first place … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Libraries, Online Databases, Online Services, OPAC, Search | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on How College Students Seek Information in the Digital Age

Business Models and Comments

Posted on 1 December 2009 by Rick Mason

A link to a thought-provoking article on Open Source business models was posted by Stephen Abram on his blog, Stephen’s Lighthouse.  If you follow that last link, you may note that not only does he post the link “without comment”, … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs, ILS, Libraries, Open Source, Software | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Business Models and Comments