September 30, 2008

SC State Library Ask Leo IM Service - video/article WLTX.Com

Columbia (WLTX) -- A place many people head to during tough economic times is keeping up with technology.


It's a free destination that some may think of as stuffy or outdated.

The State Library is often a leader among government organizations in the way of technological communication, and it is trying to keep up with a younger, technology-savvy generation.

When getting information from a librarian at the State Library reference desk, things have come quite a long way from card catalogs.

Director of Communications, Curtis Rogers, says the latest addition, the Meebo program, keeps the library at the head of the curve for state agencies.

"People on the other end don't need to download anything. You just go to the State Library's website and there's the chat box right there," he explains.

The new service is called AskLeo, named after the two big lion statues that stand out front of the library. The statues are named Edgar and Sol.

With a few clicks and key strokes on AskLeo, your questions are instantly shuttled to a librarian at the reference desk.

"If it's a quick and easy question that we consider a ready reference question, then it's something that we can quickly answer."

Rogers says some users can even sidle up to a reference desk from almost anywhere using AskLeo.

"If they have a web-based cell phone and they can get to their chat, they could be somewhere off campus even and just easily ask the library."

While some think technology like this could eventually do away with a library altogether, Rogers believes it's the opposite.

"A lot of people think that maybe because of Google, the library is going to go away, but it's really that there's just so much information out there that the librarian is an expert searcher."

The State Library houses everything from books that may be of interest to state employees, to newspapers from major markets, to audiovisual training materials.

Other interesting online applications that became available more recently have bene DISCUS, the South Carolina virtual library, and SchoolRooms, which is a homework help aid for students, parents and teachers.

The instant messenger chat service is available during regular hours. If you wish to ask a question during non-business hours, it will be answered when a librarian arrives during normal hours.


Visit www.statelibrary.sc.gov to use AskLeo.


Posted By: Ashleigh Walters 9/29/2008 6:38:24 AM

September 25, 2008

interesting little 8 minute storytelling video


Fifty People, One Question: Restored from Benjamin Reece on Vimeo.

Check out those arrows! Here's what South Carolina librarians do--among other things--with public computers in their libraries.


HTC T-Mobile G1 Android Released : Full Details of the Google Android HTC Dream Phone

check out how they use the NY Public Library as an example of how to call - it's nice seeing the library in the phone's address book!

Dance Dance Revolution @ Yorba Linda Library Game Night


State Library’s South Carolina Center for the Book Announces 2008-2009 Letters About Literature Competition

The Letters About Literature program, sponsored by the South Carolina
Center for the Book and the Library of Congress, in partnership with
Target Stores, is a national reading and writing promotion contest. 



More info from the South Carolina State Library

Carnegie-Whitney Grant Info

ALA | Carnegie-Whitney Grant
THE CARNEGIE-WHITNEY GRANT GUIDELINES



Purpose

The Carnegie-Whitney Grant provides an award that is based on a special fund first established by Andrew Carnegie in 1902, “the income of which is to be applied to the preparation and publication of such reading lists, indexes and other bibliographical and library aids as will be especially useful in the circulating libraries of this country.” The Carnegie Fund was subsequently enhanced by a merger with a fund established by James Lyman Whitney in 1910. The Publishing Committee, a standing committee of the American Library Association, administers the grant.



The Carnegie-Whitney Grant provides grants for the preparation and publication, either in print and/or electronically, of popular or scholarly reading lists, webliographies, indexes and other guides to library resources that will be useful to users of all types of libraries in the United States.

September 11, 2008

why marketing is important

just saw this on the marketing blog - check it out. remember, it's not what you say, it's how you say it that can mean all the difference.

September 04, 2008

Web 2.0 Collaboration


Web 2.0 Collaboration
Originally uploaded by curtis rogers
This is a wonderful example of international social networking using Flickr. This person from Korea found an image of a library in Germany that I took while on a library study tour and asked to use it for a project. It demonstrates how truly global Flickr is and affords such a wonderful level of social networking, especially in the Library world!