The notion that you should create a separate, stripped-down version for ‘the mobile use case’ might be appropriate if such a clean mobile use case existed, but it doesn’t.
Nielsen has articulated a way of thinking I’ve seen in a number of library and university websites and which, as a user, usually frustrates me. Not only the lack of access to information or services I know are there but also the inconsistent experience where I have to learn the website all over again.
Douglas County Libraries, in Colorado, is trying something new: buying eBooks directly from publishers and hosting them on its own platform. That platform is based on the purchase of content at discount; owning—not leasing—a copy of the file; the application of industry-standard DRM on the library’s files; multiple purchases based on demand; and a “click to buy” feature.
Its new DCL Digital Branch is one outcome of this strategy. As of this writing, more than 800 publishers have signed up, and their works are seamlessly integrated into and delivered from the library catalog, rather than from third-party sites.
An interesting alternative to what we have now with at least some of the annoying barriers removed.
I’ve become increasingly convinced that screencasts are not the right fit for teaching people how to use online databases. It’s very difficult while watching a video to work with a database. It’s also difficult to scan for just what content one needs when they are actually using the database. Lori Mestre’s study on learning styles and learning objects confirmed my suspicions when she found that students using a static HTML tutorial were better able to do database searching than a group that watched a Camtasia screencast because they could go back and forth between the tutorial and the database and practice what they were learning while they were learning.
It’s hard to develop standards for the Internet because the technology is still growing and changing so frequently. The best we can do is watch and test continuously to see what actually works.
This event is a great example of how social media can be leveraged by libraries and organizations. It’s a tool for listening to your community, responding to your users, promoting relevant services that meet their needs, telling stories, and demonstrating value.
via Puppies In The Library And Social Media | Information Tyrannosaur.
This, so, so this.
An effective online presence really comes down to not putting one’s ego first. That could be the collective ego of the library as an institution, the ego of the director, the ego of the board of trustees, or the ego of that territorial librarian who controls the library’s online content with an iron fist. As soon as any person or entity’s ego overrides the need of the online patron, the library, as a whole, loses.
… publishers are not really all that interested in authors or readers; they are interested in consolidating control of distribution channels so that the only participants in culture are creators who work for little or nothing and consumers who can only play if they can pay. These corporate publishers’ actions are intended not just to protect their traditional business model but to construct a new model that puts an end to sharing, because sharing means goods can slip out of their control. Culture and knowledge, in this new publishing regime, are not common goods, they are intellectual property best controlled by corporations.
Via K.G. Schneider
It’s not just print publishers. This is the thinking behind the recent moves of the movie and music industries as well.
Pretty good description of the differences between the major networks to let you decide where to start.
Grant libraries non-commercial access to copyrighted material on a defined time horizon. Content producers could add a Library License to the terms of their publishing contracts.
via Library License.
The big publishers would be unlikely to pick it up but it would give smaller, independent content owners an option for allowing libraries to use their work. It’s still in the discussion stage so comments would be useful.
WordPress is one of, if not the most, popular pieces of software for blogging and managing websites, mostly because of the ease of installation. But customizing it can be a difficult and technical process.
Annotum is a WordPress theme built for publishing research papers. It has all of the functionality built-in for multiple authors to collaborate, edit, review, and import and export in the NLM-DTD format. It creates the correct document structure by default and has visual editors for figures, references, tables, and equations. Because it creates an Article post type, you can still use the same installation as a regular blog.
It is an available theme on WordPress.org, so you can just create a blog and choose it. If you host your own WordPress blog, you can download it from the depository and customize how it looks with a child theme.
Build your résumé and get started on your future.
Use Google Docs to build a professional-looking résumé that summarizes your experience, education and skills.
This guide was written for veterans but it would be useful for anyone.
