Category Archives: Blogs

A New Era of Scientific Publishing

Posted on 13 May 2013 by Rick Mason

This. Why is Science Behind a Paywall? We are in the middle of the most dramatic and significant change in publishing since the proliferation of the printing press.  One area that has been resistant to change has been peer-reviewed scientific … Continue reading →

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“None of this works off-the-shelf…”

Posted on 12 February 2012 by Rick Mason

You may remember Michael Wesch.  He has done quite a bit of note since that project (here and here). He is, however, re-evaluating the role of technology in the classroom after receiving reliable reports that his methods don’t always work … Continue reading →

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How to Create and Run Your Website

Posted on 6 December 2010 by Rick Mason

The San Jose Public Library has launched their new website. It has a clean design, with clear indications of how to find the information being sought.  But what really got my attention was the relationship of the library staff to … Continue reading →

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Library Staff Using Online Tools

Posted on 11 August 2010 by Rick Mason

WebJunction has posted the survey results for online tool usage by library staff, and a few of the results might surprise: The online tool that has had at least some use by the highest percentage of staff is Online Courses, … Continue reading →

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InfoToday Article on Lawsuit

Posted on 2 August 2010 by Rick Mason

InfoToday has posted a very good overview of the SkyRiver/III/OCLC suit on their website, written by Edward M. Corrado, who also blogs at http://blog.ecorrado.us (I have quoted him on this blog several times, and follow his posts closely). My post … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs, Cataloging, Ethics, ILS, Libraries, Library 2.0, Licensing, News, OCLC, Online Databases, Online Services, Software | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on InfoToday Article on Lawsuit

How the Digital Revolution Changed Our World

Posted on 24 July 2010 by Rick Mason

An visual chart in the current Newsweek sums up many of the changes we have seen over the past decade: Exactly How Much Are The Times A-Changin’? The categories that are in decline speak volumes: The US Postal Service is … Continue reading →

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A Brief History of Markup

Posted on 14 July 2010 by Rick Mason

I just received my copy of the newly-published HTML5 For Web Designers by Jeremy Keith, and remembered that the first chapter is available online.  It is a quick and interesting read, no matter how involved in web design.  In fact, … Continue reading →

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Political Dictionary

Posted on 14 July 2010 by Rick Mason

Political Dictionary is one of those resources to make a note about, as it contains words and phrases unique to the political environment without being politically charged in defining them. Interesting terms include: Full Ginsberg Mugwumps Recess Appointment Vote-a-rama

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Four Years Later…

Posted on 6 July 2010 by Rick Mason

It was on July 6, 2006 that I set this blog in motion.  Originally named The LibrarySupportStaff.org Blog, this is the 881st post, and by one metric* gets an average of over 200 page views per day. I began this … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs, History, Libraries, Library 2.0 | 1 Comment

Open Source ILS Glossary

Posted on 23 June 2010 by Rick Mason

Earlier this month, Equinox Software‘s Bob Molyneux posted an Open Source ILS Glossary in Pdf format.  It is a great overview of the concepts and environment of the current open source library software environment. Today Bob posted an updated version … Continue reading →

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Upgrade

Posted on 17 June 2010 by Rick Mason

Libology has upgraded to WordPress 3.0, which is a significant jump ahead in standards and features.  One of the most interesting, for me, will be support for HTML 5. I have also switched to the Twenty-Ten theme, as it is … Continue reading →

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We are but warriors for the working-day…

Posted on 22 April 2010 by Rick Mason

Bullet Point : “We live in Shakespearean Times” is an older post on Virtual Dave… Real Blog aimed squarely at librarians, but I think it may apply even more to support staff, as we are in even less of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs, Libraries, Library 2.0 | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Convergence

Posted on 15 January 2010 by Rick Mason

2010 : The Only Year of the E-Reader is a post on Kit Eaton’s blog at Fast Company.  He argues that the days (well, years) of the e-reader are nearly through, because the multi-function tablet seems to be coming into … Continue reading →

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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 →

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Drinking from the Firehose of Metadata

Posted on 22 September 2009 by Rick Mason

Lorcan Demsey discusses a previous post about Metadata that he wrote a couple of years ago, and the implications for how we approach the creation and selection of information about information.  His four categories: Professional. Produced by staff in support … Continue reading →

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Professionalism

Posted on 6 September 2009 by Rick Mason

Circulating Zen posts about dealing with a staffing issue on a holiday weekend. She is faced with a student worker scheduled to cover several shifts (allowing other students to travel home for the holiday weekend) who has come down with … Continue reading →

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Social Your Site

Posted on 23 August 2009 by Rick Mason

Jenny Levine makes a great case on The Shifted Librarian for adding a feature to your sites that allows users to easily share your content via social networks.  Not only will this offer a way for your users to help … Continue reading →

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Perfect Storm

Posted on 16 August 2009 by Rick Mason

The Perfect Storm is a brief essay in the current issue of the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) newsletter.  G. Sayeed Choudhury, the author of the essay, states that “Universities have authentication and authorization systems to identify who … Continue reading →

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Inclusion, Relationship and Commitment

Posted on 7 July 2009 by Rick Mason

The Proverbial Lone Wolf Librarian has a short “rant” about what libraries need and don’t need, and it is very much worth reading. He urges us to “Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero – ‘seize the day and place no … Continue reading →

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Awful Library Books

Posted on 6 July 2009 by Rick Mason

You know it, even if you don’t admit it… your library has books that should have been weeded years ago, but have hung around until they become anachronistically funny.  To give you an anonymous outlet for this outlandish situation, there … Continue reading →

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