May 30, 2008
NOTSL Meeting
NOTSL's Spring Program was titled Technical Services: Building the Infrastructure for a Library 2.0 Experience, and the main topic of discussion was OCLC WorldCat.org.
The first presentation, by Mindy Pozenel of OCLC, was titled "This Isn't Your Grandmother's OCLC: WorldCat.org."
She discussed how library websites are competing with sites like Amazon, Google, eBay, and YouTube. She explained that users want features like reviews, ratings, and lists, and users want to be able to make a contribution themselves. She described how Worldcat.org makes it easy for users to identify and locate copies of information they want.
Then, she showed how users can set up a profile and make contributions to Worldcat.org. Since I was taking notes on my notebook computer and the room had wireless, I set up a profile with the username SaraJean Petite and made a list of exercise books I own.
After that, she showed us how one could add a Worldcat link to one’s Facebook profile. I created a Facebook profile and tried it. Unfortunately, I can’t show my facebook profile to anyone besides my facebook “friends.” (If you wish to become one of my Facebook “friends,” my profile is at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1303742345)
The second presentation, Putting a Local Face on WorldCat, was co-presented by Kathy Hughes of the State Library of Ohio and Rebekah Kilzer of OSU.
Both The State Library of Ohio and Ohio State University use WorldCat local as their library catalog. Worldcat local was described as a search interface that operates over a library's catalog. The library maintains its records locally, but at this time, the record that displays in the catalog is the one in the OCLC database. OCLC is exploring a Z39.50 version, which displays a library's local records. According to Ms. Kilzer, students liked WorldCat local because it was easier to use, but faculty and librarians' reaction was "Why change it? The old catalog works fine."
The main issue that came across when the presenters described the challenges of changing to WorldCat local was that it requires a clean database. Records need to have OCLC numbers in them, OCLC holdings need to be set, and duplicate records can cause problems. Items that are not in the OCLC database won't appear in a WorldCat local catalog.
The final presentation was "The Essentials and Non-Essentials: Just a Closer Walk with ILL". This was mostly demonstrations, and a few of the examples had glitches. The thing that impressed me most was that when the system worked, it was very simple for a patron to obtain a copy of an item he/she wanted. If the library had the item, a "request item" button would appear. If OhioLink, but not the library, had it, a button for an OhioLink request would appear. If no OhioLink library had it, a button for ILL would appear.
May 18, 2008
Cleveland Marathon 10K
For those interested in how I did at the Cleveland Marathon's 10K, here is a link to my results and photos
My finish time was 22 seconds slower than last year, but this year I drank too much tea before the race and had to make a stop during the second mile. That stop was longer than 22 seconds, so I actually ran faster than last year.
May 16, 2008
GODORT Meeting at State Library of Ohio
Keith Gilbertson of OhioLink spoke about the OhioLINK Digital Resource Commons (DRC). The DRC is a place where a library uploads its files (including associated metadata), and OhioLINK maintains the files and provides access in a site designed to look and feel like the library’s site. One can view the participating libraries’ sites at http://drc.ohiolink.edu. The PowerPoint slides for this presentation are available online.
April 30, 2008
IUG Meeting: Wednesday
This week, I am in Washington DC at the IUG meeting.
Today, I attended the following sessions:
"Now What Should We Do With Our WebPAC? Can We Make it Relevant in a Web 2.0 World?" The presenter had many ideas for making the web catalog friendlier to those accustomed to a web 2.0 experience. Some of the ideas presented were: Hide the catalog by using Innovative’s Encore product to access the OPAC’s data through a Web 2.0-type interface while treating the catalog records as a source for additional data. Enhance the catalog by enabling it to guide users to resources outside the library’s print collection. Electronic databases and other libraries’ collections were two of the "outside resources" mentioned. Some of Innovative Interfaces’ enhancements that seemed particularly interesting were: Spell-check, Patron Reviews, and RSS Catalog feeds. Link to Handouts (Password Required)
"Data Cleanup: How to Find Bad Data and How to Correct it and Why this is Important for the Health of Your System" The presenter gave many helpful hints for finding and correcting bad data in the catalog record. Some methods included searching the beginnings and ends of call number ranges, running lists of items with incorrect codes (e.g. a reference item with a status of “check shelves” instead of “library use only”), and making the fields with errors display in obnoxiously bright colors. Link to Handouts (Password Required)
April 29, 2008
IUG Meeting: Tuesday
This week, I am in Washington DC at the IUG meeting.
Today, I went to the following sessions:
Early Bird Session: Cataloging Forum I joined other catalogers at this 7:30 AM session where we learned about the new Millennium print templates, Overdrive (downloadable audio/video titles) and Millennium, and the feature where a library will be able to record the last five people who modified a bibliographic record. Attendees expressed an interest in a spell-check function and feature where users are only authorized to edit specific fields in an item record. Link to Handouts (Password Required)
"What Your Mother Never Told You About Loan Rules" The presenters discussed various loan rule elements and how they interact with each other. As a cataloger, I suspect I may have missed some of the nuances of the program, but I did get some information that might help our circulation staff to troubleshoot a bug in our loan rules. Link to Handouts (Password Required)
"What's Happening in Tech Services: Acquisitions, Serials, and Cataloging Development Update Some of the issues discussed were: Editing templates, Editing unposted invoices, Streamlined deletion of cancelled orders, and the feature where one can view the initials of the last five people to modify a bib record. The session ran longer than expected, so the audience was told to go to the online handouts for the section on TS workflow alternatives. (I am still waiting for the online handouts to be posted. When they're posted, they'll be here: Link to Handouts (Password Required))
All-Conference Lunch There was a nice selection of boxed lunches available. I had a chicken caesar salad, an apple, and a sugar cookie.
April 28, 2008
IUG Meeting: Monday
This week, I am in Washington DC at the IUG meeting.
Today, I went to the following sessions:
"Is Your System Haunted by Past Codes? It's time to be a code buster" Librarians from the University of Toledo gave this program which demonstrated how to use tables as part of a project to make major changes in codes, such as location codes. The presentation also covered planning such a project, including creating a timeline, selecting a committee, and communicating with the rest of the staff. Link to Handouts (password required)
"Why Fixed Fields Matter: Getting More from Your Records for Statistics, Data Retrieval and Collection Development" An Innovative Interfaces training consultant gave many helpful suggestions for using fixed fields to generate statistical reports (and stop using paper tally sheets)! Some of her suggestions included ways to track each individual selector's selections, ways to track cataloging by source of record, and ways to track subscription periods for serials. There were other ideas presented, but these are the ones I found most interesting. Link to Handouts (password required)
"Digital Bookplates: Using the OPAC for Stewardship in the Digital Age" This was a fascinating presentation by some librarians from Brown University. They replaced their paper bookplates with electronic bookplates accessible via their library catalog and their Bookplate Page. They have gotten so many inquries about this project that they have made a page about their Bookplate Project. Link to Handouts (password required)
"Library Service Live! Theatre -- Patron PINs: All Things Considered" This session was designed for libraries considering implementing PINs. Had Case not already implemented this feature, it would have been a very interesting presentation. As it was, the only thing I found interesting was the new "Forgot your password?" feature.
Law Librarians Lunch It was a pleasant sit-down lunch with salad, stuffed chicken breast, rice, green beans, and some sort of delicious cake on the menu.
August 05, 2007
Cleveland Triathlon
For the benefit of those colleagues who are curious about how I did at The Cleveland Triathlon on August 5, here is a link to the Cleveland Triathlon Results site. Photos are on the Action Sports International website. Video of the finish line is available on the Accenture website. A video my husband took of me as I was starting the run is on YouTube