January 2006
Monthly Archive
Fri 27 Jan 2006
Greg contacted me via IM last week, and the conversation with him helped me to flesh out some ideas for the podcast tours. He writes that a podcast isn’t really a podcast without an RSS feed, which I happen to agree with. One of the things that were lacking on the podcast tour page was a dedicated feed to the podcasts. My initial thought was to use the podcast tour page as an index of all of the podcast tour files, and not really worry about having a feed there. In talking with Greg, I decided to link to our pocast feed from our Newsblog on the podcast tour page. I’m currently running the podcast feed through our Newsblog, as I really didn’t want to devote a whole separate blog to our podcasts. I followed the directions in the Wordpress Codex article on podcasting for making a dedicated podcast feed:
Dedicated Podcasts
To create a dedicated podcast feed:
- Create a category in the Admin > Manage > Categories panel for your audio files and call it something like “podcasts”.
- Assign every post containing an audio link to your “podcasts” category.
- If your blog is at example.com, your podcast feed will automatically be available at:
http://example.com/wordpress/?feed=rss2&category_name=podcasts
I also put some explanatory text on the podcast tour page explaining how to subscribe to the feed, and where to go for more information. Hopefully this will help to get our users listening to our podcast. I’m working on some content for future podcasts, and I’ll write about that when we’ve got more content to listen to. Thanks again to Greg for helping me flesh out some ideas to fine-tune our podcasting efforts.
Sat 14 Jan 2006
On January 5, our library launched a podcast version of the library self-guided tour. This is the first publishable draft of the podcast, and we’re continuing to get feedback that we’re incorporating into later versions. It’s a little too early to tell how successful the tour will be, but I can tell you that the mp3 file of the podcast has been downloaded almost 30 times since the 5th.
We began the project by transcribing our Self-Guided Tour (originally written by librarians) into a less jargony (and hopefully more hip) podcast script written by students. We knew that students would be the primary audience for the podcast tour, so we had some of our reference desk assistants help us with the wording of the tour. When the script was fine-tuned into a manageable form, we took the script and recorded ourselves as we walked around the library. We felt that it was important to actually walk the tour while recording in order to get the timing right. The voice in the podcast is Sherri Saines, one of my colleagues in reference. She narrated the tour while I followed her around with a laptop and a microphone. We just used Audacity and a cheap headphone microphone to record and edit the audio. Probably the most time-intensive part of the project was re-writing the tour since we requested (and received) a lot of feedback from our students and library staff. I believe that Sherri did an excellent job of harnessing all the different ideas into a very good script. Recording the tour of all seven floors of the library took only about an hour as Sherri had a good deal of practice reading the script beforehand. Editing and splicing of the audio, uploading the files to our web server, and making a blog post and web page for the podcast were all done in about four hours or less. (And that’s mostly because I didn’t quite know what I was doing at the time).
We’re currently working on a version of the tour that is led by a student, and we’ll give our users the choice of who they want to lead them. Future versions of the tour will include versions in other languages. For starters, we hope to have Chinese, Korean, Malay, Thai, and Swahili versions to help assist our international student patrons. We don’t really have a deadline for these versions yet, but I’ll let you know when they’re posted. Finally, we’ve got an iPod on order that we’ll check out to patrons to use with the tour, so users won’t have “no iPod” as an excuse to avoid taking our tour.
The tour is designed to hit the high points of the library, not to overwhelm with every little detail of the library. The tour hits all seven floors of our library and points out the collections and cool things to do throughout the building. Our basic theme of the tour is that the library can be a big and confusing place (we as library staff are very aware of that fact), but we are here to help at any time, any place, to make your visit to the library an enjoyable and rewarding experience.
Only time will tell how successful the podcast tour will be. I have high hopes, as it seems that 2 out of 3 students have an iPod. If the podcast tour is a hit, I want to use the success of the podcast tour to persuade bibliographers and other departments to start podcasting. Our Archives and Special Collections department has already expressed an interest in using podcasts to highlight various events and collections, so this might be a good start to getting others on board. Perhaps this is a little ambitious, but you sometimes have to aim high to be able to hit any sort of target at all.
Sat 14 Jan 2006
Last night, ABC’s 20/20 aired a story called Stupid in America, which looked at the failings of our public education system. I watched it out of the corner of my eye while finishing a novel, so I can’t really argue much about the points of the program. However, what I did see while turning my book’s pages was pretty interesting. The ABC webpage for the show gives a synopsis of the story, as well as some of the program’s video. Do you want to know what folks thought about the program? Then take a look at the message boards, which have received over 20,000 posts since last night’s airing of the program. Now that’s some serious feedback! There you will find comments from teachers, parents, and even students, which is another fine example of how consumers are helping to drive the content of the web.
Fri 13 Jan 2006
Posted by Chad under
WikisPost a Comment
I attended Meredith’s Wiki World presentation yesterday, and I must say that it was a good show indeed. She presented information very clearly, and I am sure that all of the 120 attendees learned a great deal about the topic. I wouldn’t be surprised if many of the attendees downloaded wiki software immediately following the presentation, or quickly ran to their systems folks shouting, “We have got to do this!” Meredith did a great job of explaining the ins and outs of wikis, and she was quite the evangelist for using wikis in a number of library settings.
For those that missed the OPAL presentation, Meredith’s notes can be found on the LibSuccess wiki, and the Playback from the presentation can be found in the OPAL archives.
Fri 13 Jan 2006
According to a study being presented at a society conference in Glasgow, librarians have a very stressful job. Some excerpts from the BBC article:
The study surveyed nearly 300 people drawn from five occupations.
They were firefighters, police officers, train operators, teachers and librarians and were intended to cover the spectrum, with the librarians first-thought to be the least stressful occupation.
Librarians are the most unhappy with their workplace, often finding their job repetitive and unchallenging, according to psychologist Saqib Saddiq.
Librarians complained about their physical environment, saying they were sick of being stuck between book shelves all day, as well as claiming their skills were not used and how little control they felt they had over the career.
They were also more likely than other professions to be absent from work.
I’d love to see the full study, and I’d also be interested in knowing where they got these librarians. I’d have to agree that I’m stressed at times, but it’s not a result of my job being “repetitive and unchallenging.” Like many librarians, I’m wearing many hats (over my tied-up in a bun hair style) and juggling dozens of flaming swords (while trying not to drop one on my comfortable brown shoes), so my job is almost never the same from day to day. And that’s what I love about being a librarian. I’m not stuck in the shelves, and working with patrons, technology, new databases, limited funds, and librarian stereotypes definitely makes my work challenging and very rewarding.
How severe is my stress as a librarian? Honestly, it’s not bad at all. I love my job, and I can leave work at work. That’s one of the best things about my job is that when I go home, my time belongs to my family. I’m not thinking about my job or worrying about the next day. However, when that next day comes, I’m excited to meet the challenges and stresses of the day.
Is stress always a bad thing? Understandably, stress gets a bad rep for causing all those heart attacks, high blood pressure, strokes, ulcers, and other health problems. However, some manageable stress, when dealt with appropriately, might actually be good for you. I’ve always been of a mindset that if you don’t have just a little bit of stress, you’re probably bored and not pushing yourself enough. I’m taking a spinning class this quarter every Friday at 6:30 a.m., and I believe the act of spinning can relate to this issue pretty well. In the spinning class, the instructor tells you to pedal your bike harder or faster, but in the end, you control the resistance. The instructor really has no idea how hard you are really working. In other words, while everyone else is really working hard, you could be coasting along. However, if you just coast, you’re not going to get the same benefits out of the bicycle that others are. You have to work hard enough to keep things interesting in the spin class (and in your job) while also keeping yourself under control (that is, don’t pedal so hard you pass out –or worse). That hard work and little bit of stress can help you grow. After this morning’s class, my legs are pretty sore, and I know they’ll still be a little tender over the weekend. However, I know that next week’s challenging class will be just a bit easier, since I pushed myself pretty hard this morning.
In terms of job satisfaction, you can make your work more challenging and more rewarding by taking on additional responsibilities. Now I don’t know the whole story nor do I know the librarians in the Glasgow study, but I imagine they could be doing more on their end to make their jobs more satisfying. I realize that we all are trying to do a lot of different duties with very little time, so folks may think I’m crazy for suggesting taking on more duties to be happier at work. If you’re bored, maybe taking on new responsibilities is the answer. If you’re overworked and stressed, perhaps changing how you perform those duties could make your daily tasks a little more satisfying. Or maybe if you do the same thing everyday, change the order in which you do things.
Legal Disclaimer: The preceding information is the opinion of Chad Boeninger, author of Library Voice. Chad is a librarian, not a doctor, psychologist, or personal trainer. Always check with your physician before starting any exercise program and check with your supervisor before taking on additional stress-inducing responsibilities 
.
Link via blogdriverswaltz
Mon 9 Jan 2006
Posted by Chad under
Wikis1 Comment
You want to know about wikis? Hear it from the Wiki Woman herself, Meredith Farkas in this OPAL event:
Thursday, January 12, 2006 beginning at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, 2:00 Central, 1:00 Mountain, noon Pacific, and 8:00 p.m. GMT:
Wiki World: An Introduction
Wikis are democratizing the World Wide Web in a way that no other Web application has. A wiki allows a group of people to collaboratively develop website with no knowledge of HTML or other markup languages. Any member of the wiki community can add to or edit anyone else’s content, which is what makes Wikis so revolutionary and so controversial. Wikis are being used by librarians as knowledge repositories, subject guides, conference planning vehicles, and Intranets, but they could be used in any situation where quick and easy online collaboration is a goal. This session will explain what wikis are, how they could be used in libraries, and what to consider before creating one of your own. Presented by Meredith Farkas, Distance Learning Librarian at the Kreitzberg Library atNorwich University in Vermont. Meredith is the author of the blog Information Wants To Be Free and the creator and administrator of the ALA Chicago 2005 Wiki and Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki. Sponsored by the Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center.
This OPAL event will be held in the Auditorium.
I got many of my ideas about the Biz Wiki by reading Meredith’s blog. She’s full of knowledge and loves to share, so if this topic is of interest to you, join the free presentation. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.
Mon 9 Jan 2006
Posted by Chad under
General1 Comment
Library Voice entered the biblioblogosphere on January 4, 2005. It has been a very fun and rewarding year. I started this blog hoping to contribute in some small way to the library world. I had been reading a number of great library blogs, and I thought that I could add something to the conversation around the biblioblogosphere. It is my wish that something I’ve written has helped a librarian or library in some way. I know that throughout this endeavor of reading and writing, I have learned a great deal about libraries, the library profession, about technology, and about myself. A few examples of the wonderful things that I’ve learned this past year are as follows:
- IM Reference Really Works!
- Wikis Make Great Subject and Research Guides
- Bloggers Love to Share
- Librarians are everywhere
- Librarians are cool
Probably the most rewarding thing about this past year of blogging is the number of great folks that I’ve met along the way. The biblioblogosphere is all about sharing, and I’ve been fortunate to have a number of opportunities to “talk shop” with colleagues around the country. I’ve learned that despite our different institutions, cultures, or work environments, we all have the same goal to serve our patrons better. Many of us are looking at the same goal in different ways, which is fantastic for generating new ideas. I’ll be the first to tell you that the ideas behind my two proud accomplishments for the year– starting an IM reference service and creating the Biz Wiki– were born in the biblioblogosphere. Great ideas can come through collaboration and sharing, and I encourage you to look for ways to share what you’re doing. If you’re not a blogger, that’s okay. You can share by posting a comment on someone else’s blog, participating in a listserv, or taking part in a discussion at a conference. If you are a blogger and have been sharing, keep up the good work. You are helping to contribute to a thriving community of collaboration. Regardless of how you share ideas, it really doesn’t matter how you communicate your ideas to the community, what matters is that you actually share them with others. You never know who is listening and what impact your ideas may have on our common goal of better serving our patrons.
Thanks for a great year with Library Voice, and I look forward to another year of sharing and learning with you.
Mon 9 Jan 2006
Posted by Chad under
RSS1 Comment
Nick Bradbury, the developer of FeedDemon, has given us a few peaks of version 2.0. I’ve been a user off and on of both Bloglines, FeedDemon, and Sharpreader. My weapon of choice for the past few months has been FeedDemon. I still have a Bloglines account, and I use it periodically, but right now, FeedDemon is the aggregator for me. FeedDemon is a desktop RSS reader with a two-or-three pane interface. It looks very similar to Outlook, Thunderbird, and about every other desktop email client. FeedDemon is full customizable, and I can change the way I view my RSS feeds by employing a different cascading style sheet. I can save blog posts that I like to News Bins, and every post that I have in my aggregator is searchable. The reall beauty of FeedDemon is its speed, which is why I went back to FeedDemon from Bloglines in the first place. I had been a loyal user of Bloglines, but it was getting too slow for me at times. I’m using RSS to get information quickly, and if my reader can’t keep up, then it’s not doing its job. FeedDemon does keep up, as it is a very fast application. Because all feeds are downloaded to my computer, I don’t have to wait for a web page to change to look at another group of feeds. Switching back and forth between my various feed folders is very quick and easy. FeedDemon runs $29.95, so it’s not free like Bloglines. However, there is a trial version available if you’d like to check it out. Unfortunately, for my Apple friends, there is not a version available for Macintosh.
