Caribbean Connector

2008-06-20T07:28:00.001-07:00

ACURIL's (Association of Caribbean University, Research and Institutional Libraries) 2008 conference held recently in Montego Bay, Jamaica included several presentations on digital libraries.

Here are links to four of the presentations I have been able to find online. E-mail me and let me know if other presentations have been posted online.

Karen Calhoun (OCLC) Digital Library Dreams, Real Progress: Creating Value for Students and Scholars in the Caribbean Region

Marilyn Ochoa and Brooke Wooldridge Usability Testing: A User-Centered Approach to Improve Electronic Resource Design

Mark Sullivan dLOC Toolkit

Mark Sullivan dLOC Technical Overview

Obama for Libraries

2008-06-04T13:04:00.000-07:00

Now that Barack Obama has been voted the Democratic party 'presumptive' nominee for the US 2008 general elections, I want to take a trip down memory lane and highlight a few points in his keynote speech at the ALA annual conference in Chicago in June 2005. I was very fortunate to be in the audience and left the conference hall thinking "hmm ... Obama supports libraries". Here are 6 poignant points from his speech to ponder on. The full text of the speech Bound to the Word can be read in the August 2005 issue of American Libraries

Librarians are guardians of truth and knowledge, librarians must be thanked for their role as champions of privacy, literacy, independent thinking and most of all reading.

More than a building that houses books and data, the library represents a window to a larger world, the place where we've always come to discover big ideas and profound concepts that help move the American story forward and the human story forward. That's the reason why, since ancient antiquity, whenever those who seek power would want to control the human spirit, they have gone after libraries and books.

At a time when book banning is back in vogue, libraries remind us that truth isn't about who yells the loudest, but who has the right information.

I believe that if we want to give our children the best possible chance in life, if we want to open the doors of opportunity while they're young and teach them the skills they'll need to succeed later on, then one of our greater responsibilities as citizens, as educators and as parents is to insure that every American child can read and read well. That's because literacy is the most basic currency of the knowledge economy that we're living in today.

Right now, children come home from their first doctor's appointment with an extra bottle of formula. They should come home with their first library card or their first copy of Good Night Moon.
I have memorized Good Nigh! Moon, by the way: "In the great green room there was a telephone . ..." I love that book. It sould be as easy to get a book as it is to rent a DVD or pick up McDonald's. What if instead of a toy in every Happy Meal there was a book?

I remember at different junctures in my life feeling lost, feeling adrift, and feeling that somehow walking into a library and seeing those books, seeing human knowledge collected in that fashion, accessible, ready for me, would always lift my spirits. So I am grateful to be able to acknowledge the importance of librarians and the work that you do. 1 want to work with you to ensure that libraries continue to be sanctuaries of learning, where we are free to read and consider what we please without the fear that Big Brother may be peering over our shoulders to find out what we're up to.

Future of Libraries

2008-05-30T14:19:00.000-07:00

Stephen Abram (bookmark his blog Stephen's Lighthouse) looked into his crystal ball and presented his forecast on the Future of Libraries in his recent powerpoint presentation. You can also view his presentation at the ACURIL 2008 conference (held in Montego Bay Jamaica) on Inspiring and Engaging our Communities and Users.

Library 2.0 Webinars and Tutorials

2008-05-30T13:57:00.000-07:00

If you, like me, sometimes feel overwhelmed with the 2.0 phenomenon you must read Jessica Merritt's 100 Free Library 2.0 Webinars and Tutorials. This comprehensive guide covers the following topics:

Getting Started
Usefulness
Social libraries
Communication
Data
Online Learning
Specific Tools
Collaborations and Distribution
Improving Appeal and Service
Staff
General

Taste of Trinidad

2008-05-09T07:14:00.001-07:00

In a travel feature for the New York Times, writer Sam Sifton and photographer Chris Ramirez created a "tasteful" video of some of the eating choices for visitors to Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago. As Sam describes it in his opening narrative, Port of Spain is one of the "great eating towns of the Caribbean" and Chris and I sought to "devour it all." The video presents vivid images of unique Trinidad and Tobago delicacies like roti, doubles, bake and shark, jerk pork, and sweet plantains. And for those of us who associate the Caribbean with exotic drinks there is Carib beer, and local rum (dark and light). To end it all there is a beautiful image of the white sandy beaches of Maracas Bay on the north coast.

Kudos to Sam for this unsolicited publicity of my native isle.

Link to video: Taste of Trinidad

New Book - The Successful University Library in a Developing Country.

2008-05-05T14:09:00.000-07:00

My colleague and fellow blogger The Caribbean Librarian recently wrote a book titled The Successful University Library in a Developing Country. Congratulations are in order for Jennifer Papin-Ramcharan who works at the Main Library, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. This book is a must read if you want to know about problems associated with managing university libraries in developing countries and practical solutions for solving these problems.

Here is a summary from amazon.com:
This book studies university libraries in developing countries against the backdrop of an increasingly inter-connected and interdependent world. The book suggests that finding solutions to problems of university libraries in developing countries is a matter of ensuring that 'global knowledge' is of the highest quality and is not just for altruistic reasons. It describes the many problems associated with the running of university libraries in developing countries and considers what it takes for these libraries to be successful. The book includes case studies of university libraries in several developing countries in regions including Africa, India and The Caribbean. Presenting the perspectives of practitioners and library users, solutions presented are practical and relevant.It is authored by a librarian and a member of the faculty of a university in a developing country. It gives the perspectives of both librarians and users of university libraries. It includes contributions from librarians in several developing country regions including Africa, India and The Caribbean. It addresses not only the problems of developing country university libraries but also offers practical solutions.

Download Caribbean music at trinidadtunes.com

2008-05-02T14:22:00.000-07:00

Kudos to my colleague The Caribbean Librarian for pointing out that there is now a legal source for downloading Caribbean music (specifically Trinidad and Tobago music). The site trinidadtunes.com provides access to all types of genres: calypso, christmas, chutney, gospel, hip-hop, rapso, reggae, soca, spoken word, steelband and world. You can search for your favorite song/s, by artist, song or album, add your selection to your shopping basket, pay by credit card (99 cents per song) and download, all in a matter of seconds.

There are additional features which I like: the ability to listen to snippets of the song you select, a listing of the week top albums and week top songs, biographical information about each singer. Try it!!!

ALA 2008 State of America's Libraries report available online

2008-04-15T15:33:00.000-07:00

The full text of the 2008 State of America's Libraries is available for free on the ALA website
One of the major findings of the report is that "Libraries of all kinds continue to be engines of learning, literacy, and economic development in communities nationwide".

Other findings include:

· Ebooks continued to emerge as a regular feature of libraries of all types.
· Library supporters won an important victory in 2007 when the Environmental Protection Agency was ordered to re-open many of the libraries it had closed in the past year.
· College and research libraries continue to find innovative new ways to meet the rapidly evolving needs of the academy.
· Libraries and librarians of all stripes continue to stand up for the First Amendment rights of all Americans, responding in public discourse and in court to unconstitutional snooping and aspiring book-banners. The right to read — freely and in private — remains a core value of the profession

National Library Week April 13-19

2008-04-08T08:45:00.000-07:00

At the ALA website you can find all the information you need for promoting National Library week:

-Purchase National Library Week posters, bookmarks, digital art
-Download sample media materials
-Information about National Library Week
-National Library Workers Day
-Share your National Library Week story - win a $25 gift certificate
-National Library Week Events
-What is National Library Week?
-Future National Library Week Dates

Free teleprompter to help with those important speeches

2008-03-31T12:44:00.001-07:00

CuePrompter.com - The Online Teleprompter

Try the free teleprompter service CuePrompter. East to use as your browser works like a teleprompter -no extra software needed. Free for any use (both commercial and non-commercial).

Top 25 technologies according to Stephen Abram

2008-02-01T10:20:00.000-08:00

Stephen Abram (VP of Innovation, SirsiDynix) has been described as "an inveterate library watcher and strategic technology reviewer". Here is a link to his session on the top 25 technologies that we should think about 'playing' with and finding a way to make our libraries more open to our learning communities and neighborhoods.

Grant to attend IFLA 2008

2008-01-17T07:17:00.001-08:00

IFLA 2008 wil be held in Quebec City, Canada, August 10-14. The theme is "Libraries without borders: Navigating towards global understanding". Bursaries to support conference registration fees,travel and accommodation are available for librarians from developing countries. Librarians from South America, Central America and the Caribbean are encouraged to apply. Visit the IFLA website on information on how to apply. Good luck!

ACURIL 2008

2008-01-14T07:47:00.000-08:00

ACURIL 2008, the Association of Caribbean University, Research and Institutional Libraries annual conference, will be held at the RoseHall Resort and Country Club, Montego Bay, Jamaica from June 1st to June 6th. The theme of the conference is “the e-librarian: ideas, innovation and inspiration!” if you are planning to attend you can find registration information at the Conference website http://www.nlj.org.jm/acuril/ACURIL08.htm

Bored with your first life? Try Second Life!

2007-12-04T10:48:00.000-08:00

If you, like me, sometimes get bored with your first life let me introduce you to a virtual Second Life where you can create an avatar, attend an exhibit, share your favorite dance moves with other librarians at a live online party, listen to a conference presentation, ask a reference question, or if you are adventurous you can buy Linden dollars and purchase land to build your 'dream space'. All of these activites and more are available at Second Life which has been been described as a "3D virtual digital world imagined and created by its residence".

If you are unsure of what to do when you arrive in Second life you can teleport to Orientation Island and spend some time learning to use the interface and customizing your avatar. Try it, you may be surprised at who or what you bump into in Second Life!

Would ya try a widget?

2007-11-16T08:06:00.000-08:00

Widgets (pronounced WIH-jits) are being integrated into web pages and social networking sites at such an alarming rate that 2007 has been referred to as the year of the widget in a Newsweek article (December 22 2006). Richard MacManus, in a similar article refers to widgets as the new black. Widgets, quite simply, are chucks of programming code which can be easily dragged onto a desktop or pasted into a personal web page, where they can be constantly updated with whatever information you want. These mini-applications are also known as modules, gadget, badge, module, capsule, snippet, mini, flakes and plug-ins.

Many bloggers (Blogger, WordPress) and social network users (FaceBook and MySpace) are now enhancing their blogs, or web space with these easy to use applications. They are relatively easy to download and add to your personal page, because the user does not need to know the mark up language (HTML) or programming language (JavaScript or Flash) used to develop the code. In most instances, the coding is created automatically, and all the user has to do on his/her end is to cut and paste the required information into their blog or web page. For example, widgets included on a personal blog or Facebook page would allow a visitor to listen to a song when the page is loaded; automatically listen to an audio message; view the word of the day (English or Spanish); view photos as a slideshow, check an online calendar, or view the latest weather report.

The usefulness and portability of widgets have not gone unnoticed by online content providers. Web portals like Google and Yahoo! offer customizable pages to their users. Mainstream media houses like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and ESPN have begun allowing users to design the page they see when they log on. Flickr.com, the photo-sharing site, lets its members create a “badge” that they can post on their blogs and personal home pages to let friends know when they’ve uploaded new snapshots.

Where can you find widgets?

The 2007 list of Web 2.0 Awards website names the top 3 sites for finding and downloading widgets and is a good place to start http://www.seomoz.org/web2.0#cat_78
Yahoo widgets gallery has over 3000 widgets for download http://widgets.yahoo.com/gallery/
Google Desktop widgets http://desktop.google.com/plugins/

Here are links to 2 easily downloadable widgets. To include the coding in your web page or blog, simply follow the instructions for copying and pasting the chunk of code automatically generated.

Word of the day Flash widget http://dictionary.reference.com/help/linking/wordoftheday-simple-widget.html
Worldcat.org Searchbox (Click on link Put WorldCat Search Box on Your Site for directions on generating the html code to include in your blog or website) - http://www.worldcat.org/

Have some fun would ya, try a widget!!

TLC 2.0 Experience - thoughts of a newbie (n00b) or Mission impossible (not)

2007-10-31T10:39:00.000-07:00

Whew! So I took up The Learning Challenge (TLC) 2.0 in July 2007 and attempted to complete the 23 web 2.0 things assigned by the TLC 2.0 Task Force at my library, the Alvin Sherman Library. Today, October 31, I am proud to say I did it! I completed my 23 things (and some bonus things along the way). TLC 2.0 is an off-shoot of the Learning 2.0 Program and I encourage all my colleagues to try completing the program.

Having completed the TLC 2.0 challenge, I would like to share with you 6 things I learnt along the way:

I did not have to be a 'techie' or' technologically savvy' to try the web 2.0 tools or to complete the exercises assigned

All of the web 2.0 tools I tried, can be adapted and are currently being used by me at work or at home (my blog, my wiki, my RSS feeds, my own search-engine, my second life, my social network, my photos, my widgets)

Using/playing with the web 2.0 tools was addictive. But, here is the caveat- trying TLC 2.o is all about playing with the new technology and having fun

I have been able to re-establish important ties with my Caribbean colleagues

I am now so knowledgeable about the web 2.0 tools and their use in libraries that I have given a presentation on the topic during a one day symposium hosted by the Libraries at the College of the Bahamas, and believe I can write (at length) about the phenomenon known as Web 2.0

All I need is 15 minutes a day to continue to explore and try out more new web 2.0 applications in cyberspace. My goal is to find another 23 things to play with!!!

Social Bookmarks - Facebook

2007-10-31T10:12:00.000-07:00

Have you read the news lately? Here is one bit of interesting news to librarians: in August 2007 14 million people interacted with Facebook applications. So I guess we can now add Facebook to the list of online competitors for library users time along with Google, MySpace, Second Life and other addictive web 2.0-like applications. I recently jumped on the Facebook bandwagon and created a Facebook account so that I could liaise with colleagues, family and friends. Many libraries and librarians are hopping on the same bandwagon and creating Facebook profiles. Read about one academic library experience with Facebook and also 12 ways to use Facebook professionally.

Podcasts

2007-10-31T08:50:00.000-07:00

Podcasts have become so popular that in 2005 the New Oxford American Dictionary selected podcast as the 2005 word of the year. Podcasts are downloadable audio files distributed over the Internet. Many libraries are creating podcasts in-house to distribute audio content about events, exhibits, bibliographic instructions, library collections etc. Many podcasts are available through RSS feeds and these can be played using aggregators such as Google Reader or Bloglines and using special software which can be downloaded from the Internet.

Here are some resources to help you get started finding, listening and creating your own podcasts:

Directories for finding podcasts:
Podcast alley
Podcast.net
Yahoo Podcasts
Digital Podcast

Tools for creating your own podcasts:
Audacity
Odeo

Free software available for listening to your podcasts:
There are other freely available software for listening to podcasts called podcast aggregators. Podcast alley provides links and instructions for downloading these aggregators.

2007-10-30T11:05:00.000-07:00

Here are three interesting facts about Libraries which you may not know. Libraries:

have more cardholders than Visa

have more outlets than McDonald's

move more items than FedEx

These, and other fascinating facts are revealed in the documentary Hollywood Librarian: a Look at Librarians through Film. This full length, very entertaining documentary focuses on librarians as they are portrayed in movies -bespectacled, hair piled in the inevitable bun to the top/back of the head and with the imposing 'shushing' finger.

A review of the film and where it is currently being screened is available on its homepage. The trailer is available on You tube. This video is a must have for your library!

Web 2.0 Awards

2007-10-29T12:52:00.001-07:00

What is your favorite web 2.0 tool? Check out the 2007 list of Web 2.0 Awards to see if your favorite tool made the list. Over 200 Web 2.0 sites were reviewed and the winners listed in 41 categories. Categories include blog guides, book-marking sites, business, communication, videos, widgets and wikis. My top five are:

1. Lulu can assist in publishing your own book.
2. Create your own social network with Ning.
3. Bar full of booze and no idea what to do with it? Tell the Cocktail Builder what liquor and mixers you have lying around and it will tell you what cocktails you can make!
4.Pandora is described as your "personal DJ" as it allows you to select your favorite song, or artist and plays selections based on your choice.
5.Odeo shares millions of podcasts and MP3s. Users can generate their own podcasts or simply enjoy those of others.

Create collaborative projects using web-based productivity tools

2007-10-25T10:50:00.001-07:00

Are you working on a project (document, spreadsheet, conference presentation, workshop) with several colleagues and need online work space to create, edit and complete the project? There are two web-based productivity applications which may help you work on your project: Zoho Writer and Google Docs. Both applications are web 2.0 tools which are available free of charge on the web and which eliminate the need to store documents on your local PC or library server. They are great tools for collaborative work. Zoho Writer has the added functionality of allowing you to post the document you are working on directly to a web page or your blog.

If you are interested in similar web-based productivity tools, here is a short list of tools created by my colleague at ASL: http://writer.zoho.com/public/c6J71Xb9695i0e061reK6S0C0b7V/Web-based-Appplications

Try these tools and let me know what you think.

Cheryl

Working with wikis

2007-10-19T14:48:00.000-07:00

A wiki (wiki means “quick” in Hawaiian) is a collaborative website and authoring tool that allows users to easily add, remove and edit content. Wikipedia, a collaborative online encyclopedia, is the largest and perhaps the most popular wiki.

Wikis, like other web 2.0 tools are very easy to set up and many libraries are using wikis to create subject guides, pathfinders, conference sites, procedure manuals etc.

Pbwiki and Wetpaint are software freely available for creating your own wikis.

Here is a link to my wiki and a link to other successful library wikis

Library Thing

2007-10-18T11:53:00.000-07:00

Try cataloging all the books in your personal library online using Library Thing.

Create your own search engine using Rollyo

2007-10-18T11:16:00.000-07:00

Are you interested in creating your own search engine to search your favorite online resources? Rollyo may be the tool you need, as it allows you to list the URLs of your favorite sites and create a search engine to search just the sites listed. I used Rollyo to create a search engine which will search the websites of my favorite Caribbean Libraries (see link on navigation bar).

Try Rollyo and start rolling out your own search engines!!!

rollyo

Web 2.0, Library 2.0, Librarian 2.0

2007-10-15T08:04:00.000-07:00

On October 11, I gave a keynote speech on the topic Web 2.0, Library 2.0, Librarian 2.0: Are you on board? at a one day symposium hosted by the Libraries and Instructional Media Services (LIMS) at the College of The Bahamas. Here are links to the presentation:

Main PowerPoint presentation
Handout 1 - selected slides from the main presentation
Handout 2 - list of free web 2.0 resources available on the Internet

Cheryl