April 2007
Volume 27 No. 10

Future of Libraries - Impressions of Stephen Abrams' March Workshops
BALIS/MOBAC/PLS/SVLS workshop, Future of Libraries, with Stephen Abram, was challenging, stimulating, and thought-provoking. Members' detailed notes are now posted on the System Reference Center site. The page is a work in progress. Would you like to share your notes? If so, please email them to Mary Beth Train.

Snippets

• Google can answer who, what when, and where, but librarians can answer why and how.
• There may be more visitors to your library’s web site than to any branch.
• Align library services with technology that users are using, rather than demand that our users conform to the technology we use.
• One of the largest generations in the U.S. is the Millennials. 85% of 15-25 year olds have at least one instant messaging (IM) account; only 5% of those over 30 do. Libraries must include IM in their means of delivering reference services.
• LibraryThing is the 5th largest library.
• Consider a social network OPAC that supports community preferences, possibly utilizing iTunes, Rollyo, Alexa, and Mashable, etc.

Note: Stephen Abram's latest comments in his blog, Stephen's Lighthouse are about MySpace.

This month's picks are Mary Ellen Bates' featured sites for finding information in wikis. She cautioned that some of these sites are either in the beta version or are experimental and that they may no longer exist six months from now.

Searching Wikis

• Wikiseek.com - Spiders Wikipedia and sites linked-to from Wikipedia articles. Bates compares it to Open Directory Project in her blog, Librarian of Fortune, in the entry titled "Wikiseek: a replacement for ODP?"
• Quicka.com - A search from the home page brings up articles in the many language versions of Wickipedia, which is the largest public wiki. It's based on Wikia.com, which leads you to a subject organization of smaller wikis.

Directories of Wikis

• WikiIndex.org - Still in the incipient stage. Purports to index most wikis, but most appear to be recruiting for contributors.
• Wikia.com - Hierarchical subject organization of smaller wikis.

Wikis to Watch

• Wikiversity - en.wikiversity.org - Community for the creation and use of free learning materials and activities.
• Wikibooks.org -Open content textbooks in wiki format.
• Wikisource.org - Wikifield books and articles in the public domain. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland illustrates what can be done.
• WikiNews - en.wikinews.org - "The free news source you can write!" Though there's not much in it now, it's useful for researchers to surface sources. It's also an example of a teaching tool.

Wiki Resources

• Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki - www.libsuccess.org - "This is a wiki, though the URL is misleading." Click on the topic that interests you to see what your colleagues have contributed. The wiki format us very clear.

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Questions and Answers
In answer to requests, here are the statistics on the number of second-level questions received from each system last quarter, with some numbers for comparison. Whenever you think the answer to a question can't be found, consider sending that question to the System Reference Center. Our researchers may have more time or resources, or perhaps a different strategy. Contact Mary Beth Train whenever you and your supervisor are uncertain if sending the question on would be appropriate or to learn more about sending in questions.

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The campaign is publicized in overlapping service areas in the following ways:

• Bus Tails - They are on San Francisco MUNI, AC Transit, and Tri-Valley WHEELS vehicles. The graphic is the home page of the BALIS website.
• Media Sponsors - KPIX -TV Channel 5 is a repeat partner; KBLX-FM "The Quiet Storm" is a new radio sponsor. Both air ten and thirty-second public service announcements. "What's Going On" and "Bayview" on KBLX-FM each will have an interview. KPIX airs weather remotes.
• BART Platform Posters -- For the first time, residents will see the campaign via BART platform posters at the Contra Costa County stations in Pittsburg, Pleasant Hill, and Lafayette.
• Coffee Sleeves -- Another new BALIS campaign element, BriteVision coffee sleeves, will adorn cups at numerous Contra Costa County independently owned coffee shops in April and May.

Each member library received these tools for their own publicity:

• Color Posters - The poster, like the bus tail, is the home page of the BALIS website.
• Color Bookmarks - Bookmarks with the campaign graphic and BALIS URL - www.baylibraries.org - and the member libraries and URL's.

PLS Libraries Feature To Kill a Mockingbird
Funding requested and awarded from the National Endowment for the Arts grant for THE BIG READ, plus additional funding from the Kellogg Foundation and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation resulted in month-long programing. Events are not only at libraries, but at Kepler's Bookstore, cities' council chambers, movie theaters, the renovated and restored county courthouse, and the San Mateo Performing Arts Center. At least 20 local agencies and groups are sponsoring or hosting events. The events calendar lists 29 events, with the possibility of more, including author discussions, screenings of the 1962 film, To Kill a Mockingbird, book discussions, and hands-on art sessions for children featuring rural art of the time.

In addition to bookmarks, posters, flyers for individual events, ibraries' promotional pieces include:

• Raffle baskets to be raffled off in the libraries, with themed raffle tickets. Raffle baskets contain copies of the book and the movie, a T-shirt, and Southern sweets.
• Honor paperbacks
• Stickers.
• T-Shirts, with black background and the program's yellow logo for librery staff to wear, especially on days when their library is hosting an event.

Al Escoffier, director of the Burlingame Public Library, stated, "I don't have to tell you as librarians the statistics on pleasure reading. Those who read for pleasure attend more concerts, are more philanthropic, are better educated, are a higher percentage of the voting population, and of course are library users."

Palo Alto Comes Together for National Library Week
Palo Alto City Library has a featured page for National Library Week, listing that week's events. The web page incorporates the American Library Association's "Come Together @ Your Library" graphic from ALA's National Library Week tools page in a way that is compatible with the look and feel of the library's website.

San Jose Public Library Collaborates to Meet Community's Needs
San Jose Public Library is building community and giving information at the point of need with two innovative collaborations.

Snack Smart teams the library with San Jose State University’s Nutrition and Food Science Department to teach healthy snacking habits. A departmental graduate student developed modules for the 5-week series which is held at three branch libraries. The project also received financial support from a Kaiser Permanente "Community Benefit Grant."

VietREADS, co-sponsored by the library and and the Viet-American Cultural Foundation, is part of the local California Cultural Crossroads Initiative. During the course of the "VietREADS" series residents will have more opportunities to learn about the culture of Vietnam through literature. Future presentations include readings from poetry, novels, cooking demonstrations, personal accounts of the Vietnam War experience, and discussions on the music of Vietnam.

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