October 29, 2008

State Budget Cuts Read as Bad News for Libraries

Columbia (WLTX) - With Governor Sanford expected to make a decision on state budget cuts Thursday, State Library officials are preparing for what could be an 11% decrease in overall funding.  Some are reading this as a huge hit to those who would rebuild our state's economy. Full story.





Highlights from the 2008 SCLA Annual Conference

October 28, 2008

Licenses for Libraries - Google Book Search

The End of Snippet View: Google Settles Lawsuit with Book Publishers - ReadWriteWeb
Licenses for Libraries

Libraries, universities, and other organizations will also be able to purchase an institutional subscription, which will give users the ability to access the full text of all the titles in the Google Books index. This, depending on the pricing, could turn out to be a revolutionary development for libraries.

Google Books is already changing the way many of us are doing our research, and having access to even more books is only going to move this trend forward even faster.

It is important to note that this settlement only applies to U.S. copyright holders. Users outside of the U.S. will not see any changes to Google Books yet.

Article in the Greenville News

October 28, 2008

online at the Greenville News.

Librarians have redefined jobs (by Jeanne Brooks)






Almost certainly you already noticed this. They don't whisper or shush in libraries anymore.

"It's totally different now," Becky Hughes said. And "I'm glad it's different."

So
there you have it. The words direct from a librarian's mouth. Hughes is
a branch librarian for the Anderson County Library. She's got 15 years
experience and so knows how things used to be.

Hughes
was one of 310 librarians attending the South Carolina Library
Association's annual conference last week, this year at the Hyatt
Regency hotel in Greenville. The association has about 400 members.

The
conference's theme was "Going Green in Greenville." Presentations
ranged from Ben Geer Keys, author of "Natural Images of the Southern
Appalachians," who spoke about his nature photography; to David Moore,
architect and partner at Graig Gaulden Davis, whose topic was "Planning
for Green Libraries."

There
was also "Your Cheatin' Heart: Academic Integrity as a Component of
Information Literacy," as well as "Libraries in the Digital Age: Some
Implications for the Practice of Librarianship" and a variety of other
topics, some green, some not.

Keynote
speaker was, as described by the conference brochure, "nationally
recognized eco chef, author and food justice activist" Bryant Terry.

Curtis
Rogers, the library association's president, said he thought "the whole
rule about talking in the library went away when libraries became more
or less community centers."

Right there is the Catch 22 for public libraries in the current economy.

The
Anderson County Library offers among other things, for instance, story
hours, crafts demonstrations, a teen guitar hero contest, poetry open
mike events, a library scavenger hunt, classes in genealogy research,
medical research, family law and computers.

They'll be organizing a communitywide Big Read of "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers.

Faith
Line, Anderson County Library director, said circulation at her
branches and main library has gone up by double digits within the last
six months.

"During
an economic downtown people tend to use libraries more," library
association president Rogers explained. They use library computers to
look for jobs. They check out movies for free instead of renting them.
Instead of digging into their pockets to buy books in stores, they
borrow them from libraries.

Facing
state cuts, librarians worry about funding. They worry about buying new
books, CDs, DVDs and electronic databases. They worry about affording
gas for bookmobiles.

What
big issues do they quarrel over? "Librarians tend not to be
quarrelers," Rogers demurred. "They tend to just voice concerns."
Although "librarians can sternly make a point."

Rogers said he thought the profession "tends to draw individuals who just want to know about everything."

A
2005 study by the University of South Carolina's School of Library and
Information Science found "the existence of SC public libraries brings
to the state (from federal and private sources) almost $5 million each
year that it would not otherwise have" and that "the value of loans and
use of books, videos, cassettes, CDs, newspapers, magazines, etc. to
users each year is approximately $102 million."

Value
-- besides keeping money they didn't have to spend -- to the users of
those books, videos, newspapers, magazines and the like was beyond
measuring.

October 27, 2008

Do you think gamers are out of touch couch potatoes? Think again.

If your library is not offering gaming options, check this out and think again about offering some type of gaming opportunities for teens and adults.



Videogamers Not Lonely Introverts; More Valuable Consumers than Non-Gamers





Americans
who play video games are more likely than non-gamers to influence their
friends’ attitudes about pop culture and new technology purchases and
are more social than commonly thought, according to a study from IGN Entertainment and Ipsos Media CT.


Findings from the “Are You Game?” research study break long-standing
stereotypes of gamers as solitary introverts and shows gamers are more
outgoing, more active and more valuable as consumers than those who do
not play video games, IGN said.


Newspaper Websites

I hear many people mention they no longer subscribe to newspapers and that they just visit the web sites and get their news that way...  I haven't received the paper at home in years, but instead look to the web to get my local news information.  Should libraries be paying attention to this?  How can libraries help disseminate news information online?

Maybe libraries should set up local newspaper webpages that organize the local news now that there are so many choices out there.  Are any libraries doing this already?

Newspaper Website Audience Up 16% in Q3, Engagement at Record Levels







Newspaper
websites each month attracted, on average, more than 68.3 million
unique visitors (41.4% of all internet users), during the third quarter
of 2008 - a record number, and a 15.8% increase over the year-earlier
quarter, according to the Newspaper Association of America

October 24, 2008

SCLA 2008 Conference 261

The all conference reception at the Upcountry History Museum was a great event! The museum was beautiful!

SCLA 2008 Conference 241

Today's poster sessions were well attended! There were about 18 poster sessions taking place and lots of people talking and learning about what's going on in SC libraries!

October 23, 2008

SCLA 2008 Conference 157

Mary Alice Monroe was our luncheon speaker today and did a wonderful job explaining the fine points of southern literature! She is always such a pleasure to hear speak and any kind of function. for more info, visit www.maryalicemonroe.com.

SCLA 2008 Conference 022

Our first general session speaker and author Bryant Terry did a wonderful job. I really liked his idea of library yard space being used as community gardens. What a wonderful thing to suggest. You can learn more about Bryant at bryant-terry.com

SCLA 2008 Conference 105

Yes, I actually did Karaoke at the SCLA conference! I was told I was very white :-) LOL

October 21, 2008

Is your library using email marketing to reach your patrons and future users?

18-34 Year Old Responds to Email Marketing Over Social Network Marketing



Social networking is popular, but how to target consumers through
them is a mystery that has plagued marketers since social media's
inception. Now, a new study from ExactTarget is showing how tough it
can be.



The report showed that 18-34 year olds say they're more likely to
respond to marketing efforts via email or direct mail than they are
social networking campaigns.



Here are more key findings from the study:



  • 20 percent of Wired consumers have subscribed for marketing
    communications via SMS, more so than any other group, but they want to
    receive texts only for urgent customer service issues such as financial
    alerts or travel updates.
  • More than 50 percent of Young
    Homemakers use social networks and SMS during the day, but direct mail
    and e-mail are their two preferred marketing channels.
  • 81
    percent of Retired consumers have purchased online and 94 percent have
    been influenced by some form of direct marketing to make a purchase.
  • College
    Students are very spam-savvy and believe private communication channels
    such as SMS and social networks are off limits for marketers.
  • Teens
    use social networking more than any other group but are more likely to
    make a purchase from direct mail, followed by e-mail, SMS and social
    network sites.
  • Women are more likely than the men in the
    Established Professionals group to use new digital media channels such
    as IM, SMS and social networking to communicate with friends and
    family, but men and women alike shop online with 92 percent of the
    consumers in this group having made an online purchase.

October 20, 2008

Audio meets Visual


Audio meets Visual
Originally uploaded by Jack Brodus
look at these wonderful Mac pods at the Delft Public Library in the Netherlands! I really like how simple the design is. I would love to have one at my local library!

Bibliotheekweek 2008: 18 oktober - Videogametoernooi

Gaming in Libraries in Belgium! Very cool!

October 19, 2008

Fly High with a Book


Fly High with a Book
Originally uploaded by curtis rogers
Yesterday when I got to the Dubuque Iowa airport I was happy to see the public library's "Fly High with a Book" program. the Friends of the Carnegie-Stout Public Library donates old books to the airport "fly high" shelf for visitors to take with them and read. What a great project!



Are you a good Multitasker in the Library?

I've heard from many librarians that they are either really good at multitasking or really bad at multitasking... I use to think I was really good at it but evidently I was deluding myself!  Read this recent online article:  Think You're Multitasking? Think Again. by Jon Hamilton.

October 16, 2008

me and barbara

two library association presidents together :-) me and Barbara Peterson, president of the Iowa Library Assn.

Iowa Library Assn 2008 Conference

I had a great time at my presentation today! must have had about 70 or so attendees! My session was blogged at the Librarian's Rant!

http://lblog.jalcorn.net/archives/1196-ILA-Session-IM-Anyone-Lately-How-to-Get-Your-Library-Chatting.html

Thanks Louise!

October 15, 2008

me at charlotte airport

waiting at the CLT airport headed to Dubuque for the Iowa Library Association annual conference. it's nice to have free wifi here!!!

October 14, 2008

North Americans demand social media

Librarians need to pay attention to these kinds of stats! People expect libraries, information specialists, and knowledge managers to be up on this and offer social media options for users.





Americans really dig social media… but Canadians love it.



Almost 60% of Americans interact with companies on a social media
Web site, and one in four interact more than once per week. These are
among the findings of the 2008 Cone Business in Social Media Study (Cone LLC).


When asked about specific types of interactions, Americans believe:

• A company should have a presence in social media (93%)

• A company should not only be present but also interact with its consumers via social media (85%)

• American consumers feel both a stronger connection with and better
served by companies when they can interact with them in a social media
environment (56%)

• Companies should use social networks to solve my problems (43%)

http://blog.ragan.com/contentmatters/2008/09/north_americans_demand_social.html


Iowa Library Association sessions

Tomorrow I head out to Dubuque for the Iowa Library Association Annual Conference! Should be lots of fun! It looks like they have a great program planned. Here is a link to my session presentations: http://www.slideshare.net/crr29061.

My sessions are:

im ANYONE LATELY? HOW TO GET YOUR LIBRARY CHATTING
Curtis Rogers, President, South Carolina Library Association, Columbia, South Carolina
Sponsored by Iowa Small Library Association

FROM JOOMLA TO BLOGS: GIVING YOUR WEBSITE A REFRESHING NEW LOOK
Curtis Rogers, President, South Carolina Library Association, Columbia, South Carolina
Sponsored by Editorial Committee

FLICKR AND OTHER SOCIAL NETWORKING TOOLS TO CONNECT WITH PATRONS
Curtis Rogers, President, South Carolina Library Association, Columbia, South Carolina
Sponsored by Editorial Committee and Iowa Small Library Association

I'll be seeing you in Iowa real soon!

October 03, 2008

SONY’S THIRD GENERATION READER DIGITAL BOOK GIVES READERS A “FEEL” FOR LITERATURE

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 2, 2008- With the latest edition of Sony’s Reader Digital Book, announced today, readers can truly let their fingers do the walking.


An
interactive touch screen display allows for the most intuitive digital
reading experience to date. The new model, PRS-700, will join the
PRS-505 model in the Reader family to give consumers a choice of how
they would like to read electronically.

http://news.sel.sony.com/en/press_room/consumer/computer_peripheral/e_book/release/37586.html

SC Governor Proclamation

How great that the Governor has proclaimed October 19-25 as Friends of the Library Week in South Carolina!