Monday, February 26, 2007

Second Life


I am going to make a serious stab at getting my avatar out of the training area in the next day of so. If you see me stumbling around, say hi. My avatar's name is Carolyne Dumont.

Wish me luck.

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MIT OpenCourseWare


MIT OpenCourseWare: "MIT's OpenCourseWare"

MIT OCW is a large-scale, Web-based electronic publishing initiative funded jointly by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation , MIT, and generous support of the Ab Initio software company.

MIT OCW's goals are to:

* Provide free, searchable, access to MIT's course materials for educators, students, and self-learners around the world.
* Extend the reach and impact of MIT OCW and the "opencourseware" concept.

MIT OCW would not be possible without the support and generosity of the MIT faculty who choose to share their research, pedagogy, and knowledge to benefit others. We expect MIT OCW to reach a steady - though never static - state by 2008. Between now and then, we will publish the materials from virtually all of MIT's undergraduate and graduate courses.

We will be continually evaluating the Access, Use, and Impact of MIT OCW. With 1,550 courses published as of November 1, 2006, we are still in a learning stage of this MIT initiative and we will benefit enormously from your feedback, as we strive to make MIT OCW as rich and useful as possible for our users.

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Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Cool conference -- any libraries sending representatives


Youth Power Canada
"Connecting and Inspiring Youth Through Effective Marketing Campaigns and Youth-Centric Strategies to Maximize Your ROI"

February 26 - 28, 2007
Renaissance Toronto Hotel Downtown, Toronto, ON


Main Session Topics:

* Social Networking for Kids: Web 2.0 Applications For The Whole Family
* The State of Today’s Tweens From Their Ever-Shifting Media Consumption Diet and the Impact of Digital Entertainment
* Melding Education and Entertainment to Deliver Your Message In & Out of School
* Knowing How to Create an Acccessible Product for Your Polyglot
* Street Marketing: The Best Way to Get the Word Out

Get ready for the number 1 event of the year that features the leading speakers and companies whose brands stand out at the forefront of the kid marketplace. These speakers are prepared to share their knowledge and experiences with you.

Learn how to maximize the potential of the brand and discuss emerging routes to the market! Kid Power Canada will feature strategies for growing your business through technique, partnerships and unique marketing methods while staying in control of your brand. Understand how to evaluate the ROI and re-define your ordinary expectations to a higher yet attainable degree. By attending this stellar conference we can guarantee that you will learn how to implement best practices in building partner relationships and reaching kids through unique mediums that take lasting forms.

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Tuesday, February 20, 2007

I switched -- and I don't think I am going back


I had problems with bloglines the other day -- posts I knew existed where not showing up, hours after they had been posted. And for almost 3 hours I had no new posts at all. This is not right since I have hundreds of blogs being tracked.

So I went to Google Reader and imported all my feeds and tried it out again -- had looked at it when it was first released and did not feel compelled to switch.
WOW

Importing was very fast. No problems.

In bloglines if i clicked on a blog or folder and then got distracted (it happens) and moved away from the page, everything was considered "read" even though I never scrolled down to it. Google Reader does not do this. The post has to scroll off the top of the page for it to be considered read. I love this.

I am also playing with the "share" feature. Added information -- you must be using the new blogger (not a problem) AND have upgraded to the layouts version (which I have not done) -- so this will have to wait for a while.

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Monday, February 19, 2007

A little scary


When Google Finance links to this blog!!

It was there Friday and shows in Google search results, but i cannot find it today (Monday).

Scary.

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Institute of Physics launches environmental science website


Institute of Physics launches environmental science website

The UK's Institute of Physics has launched a new website, http://environmentalresearchweb.org. The portal is projected to be a central source of information on issues covering the whole of environmental science.


You need subscriptions to read much of the information. I'm checking it out now.

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Thursday, February 15, 2007

OLA Superconference 2007


While this conference is not geared for special/corporate libraries, there are always a few relevant gems.

Session # 314
SURVEYMONKEY.COM: ASSESS YOUR LIBRARY'S SERVICES
| Session Presentation Sam Kalb (.pdf)

Session # 1105
WINDOWS™ OF OPPORTUNITY: FACULTY SDI IN THE 21st CENTURY
| Session Presentation Heather Matheson (.pdf)
| Bibliography (.pdf)


Session # 1408
ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES FOR LIBRARY SERVICES
| Session Presentation Julie McKenna and Isla Jordan (.ppt)


Session # 1911
VIRTUAL REFERENCE - IS IT MAKING A DIFFERENCE?
| Session Presentation Leila Wallenius (.ppt)
| Session Presentation (text) Leila Wallenius (.doc)

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Wednesday, February 14, 2007

eBay.com Item Bid History


eBay.com Item Bid History: "As the internet evolves, eBay continues to strike a balance between preserving transparency and protecting our Community of members. eBay has decided to change how bid history information is displayed so bad guys cannot target bidders with fake offers using this information. In certain cases, some bidders will no longer be able to view Bidder User IDs on the Bid History page. Your User ID will be shown only to you and the seller of the item you're bidding on. Other members will see an anonymous name, such as Bidder 1, applied consistently to the Bid History page."


So now you cannot see if it is the same person bidding against you all the time on similar items.

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Tuesday, February 13, 2007

New blog in Library field


Designing Better Libraries

I picked this up when looking for more information on the transformations at McMaster Library. Their University Librarian, Jeff Trzeciak, is one of the contributors.


From the blog intro:
"Into the already crowded landscape of library-related blogs we introduce something new. A commonality among library blogs is a tendency to point to the weaknesses and faults of our profession and how it inadequately delivers services. Customer service – it’s terrible. Competitiveness – we don’t understand the concept. Technology – we must better understand our users needs. Search – Google makes us look inferior and hopelessly complex. Libraries – the facilities need vast improvement. Innovation – there’s not enough or it’s mostly “bandwagon innovation“. To an extent, that library bloggers point out these problems is a good thing. It’s important to recognize these issues so that we can work on improving them. That’s what Designing Better Libraries is all about; adapting new ways of thinking and acting that will promote the development and implementation of ideas, strategies and services that will create a better library experience for the users."

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500 Posts


Never thought I would still be doing this when I started.

500 posts as of this morning with "Xerox and partners invest millions in Alberta R&D"

I congratulate me!!!

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Quantum2 Topic of the Month - Achieving Information Service Excellence


Quantum2 Topic of the Month - Achieving Information Service Excellence
Seeking and adopting best practices can help improve the work processes for delivery of products and services to better meet client needs. That translates into achieving efficiencies and economies that are extremely important to senior management. It also aids in building stronger relationships across the organization.

The process of identifying and implementing a best practice can be outlined in five steps:

    • Asses internal needs by looking at the business needs of the organization and how the information center should perform to meet those needs.
    • Understand current practices by capturing the current workflow that meets those business needs, and identifying gaps and points of failure in that process.
    • Examine alternative practices, including research into benchmarks in order to identify possible improvements
    • Model best practice through selection of an appropriate solution, and creating a new workflow or process for implementation.
    • Implement the new process, measuring the effectiveness and communicating the results to staff, customers and senior management.

By taking a visible role in leading this best practice project with visible results, the information center becomes associated with the value of the project, thus making its ROI self-evident.

This summary is taken from an article by Betty Jo Hibberd, s enior manager, Information Professional Development, published in the January 2007 edition of the SLA journal, Information Outlook. To read the full article, please visit scientific.thomson.com/media/newsletterpdfs/2007-01/excellence.pdf.

This topic is also the subject of a Quantum2 workshop on February 22, 2007   https://thomsonscientific.webex.com/mw0304l/mywebex/default.do?service=1&siteurl=thomsonscientific&main_url=%2Fmc0705l%2Fe.do%3Fsiteurl%3Dthomsonscientific%26AT%3DMI%26EventID%3D94877212%26Host%3Dafdfeeaeb83c3f071f5e44%26RG%3D1




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Xerox and partners invest millions in Alberta R&D


Xerox and partners invest millions in Alberta R&D

EDMONTON, Feb. 12 /CNW/ - Xerox Corporation, the Government of Alberta and the NRC National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) will announce a multi-million dollar investment in Alberta's research and development capacity at a news conference at the University of Alberta in Edmonton on Feb. 15, 2007.

Speakers will include:

-Hadi Mahabadi, vice president and director, Xerox Research Centre of Canada
-Doug Horner, minister for Advanced Education and Technology, Government of Alberta
-Richard Normandin, vice president, National Research Council of Canada
-Nils Petersen, director general, NRC National Institute for Nanotechnology

What: Multi-million dollar R&D investment by Xerox and Alberta partners

When: Thursday, Feb. 15, 2007, 3 p.m.

Where: National Institute for Nanotechnology
11421 Saskatchewan Drive, University of Alberta campus
Edmonton, Alberta

To view a map to the event site, please see:
http://files.newswire.ca/235/Xerox_Alberta_Event.doc

NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information on Xerox and for product photography, visit www.media.xerox.ca. XEROX(R) is a trademark of XEROX CORPORATION. Prices, features, specifications, capabilities, appearance and availability of Xerox products and services are subject to change without notice. All pricing is in Canadian Dollars.

For further information: Media Contacts: Lawrence Cummer, Environics
Communications for Xerox, (416) 969-2747, lcummer@environicspr.com; Shannon Jones, NRC National Institute for Nanotechnology, (780) 641-1626; Suzana Krpan, Alberta Advanced Education and Technology, (780) 427-2237

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My visit to McMaster University


I was visiting Mills library at McMaster University yesterday. I saw their information commons and spoke with their Access Services librarian about their recent Library 2.0 initiative and Endeca.

Then during lunch at the faculty club I was introduced to Jeffrey Trzeciak the University Librarian. (Sorry for interrupting your lunch Jeffrey) He is doing some very interesting and innovative things and really shaking the place up. To assist in the transformation he has posted for four new librarian positions (Digital Strategies Librarian; Systems Librarian; E-Resource Librarian; Training and Development Librarian) and has reorganized the existing staff.

The Hamilton Spectator recently had an article about these transformations.

He is documenting some of this at his blog at: http://ulatmac.wordpress.com/tag/transformation/

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Upscoop


Mdel>Ever been surprised to connect with an old friend online?

Upscoop is a fun, free service that allows you to find all your friends on all the major social networks, such as MySpace and Friendster. Three easy steps—why not give it a try?

Very simple interface. I am still awaiting the results, it will be interesting.

update Feb.19 : 6 days later I am still awaiting the results :(

update Sept 5, 2007 - have heard bad bad things here. Beware.

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Tuesday, February 6, 2007

IMified - Instant Productivity


IMified - Instant Productivity: "WHAT IS IMIFIED?

Imified is an instant messenger buddy that works accross all major IM networks and offers access to a growing number of web applications, as well as productivity tools like notes, reminders, and todo's. Imified helps you get things done faster."

First seen on LifeHack http://www.lifehack.org/

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Monday, February 5, 2007

Blogs moved from "new" to my Blogroll


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Thursday, February 1, 2007

ALA Resources on ROI


OPL Plus (not just for OPLs anymore)

RESOURCES ON ROI

By Ms. OPL

Articles and Studies Related to Library Value (Return on Investment), from ALA. http://www.ala.org/ala/ors/reports/roi.htm . Really good stuff, mostly for public libraries, but some for schools and specials. There’s even a nice group of articles from out of the USA. Some have links to the articles.




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