Who Moved My Library?

So I took the summer off...

2006-09-21T15:43:00.000-05:00

From blogging anyway. I've been away for quite a while. And a lot has happened since I've been gone.

1. I graduated from Dominican University with an MLIS/MBA.
2. My supervisor was let go - now I'm in charge.
3. I enjoyed a thoroughly uneventful summer.

While I was away I did manage to keep somewhat up-to-date thanks to Bloglines.

I must say I feel like I don't have much to add to the blogosphere at the moment. However, I did want to stop by and say hi and let you know that I'll be attending Internet Librarian next month. I plan on blogging about the sessions that I attend. My husband will be going with me and we're going to spend some extra time in Monterey. I'm thoroughly looking forward to this trip.

I think that's good enough for my first post in a while. I'm going to ease back into this thing.

Semester Update

2006-04-27T07:32:00.000-05:00

Some of you may have been wondering where I've been lately. OK, so it's just my mother who's wondering. I'll give an update anyway.

This semester I caught a serious case of senioritis. I wanted to be done without having to actually do the finishing! Well I managed to fight it off long enough to complete assignments and drag my butt to school on days with bad weather. You (read my mother) will be happy to know that I'm 99.9% done! I have one more essay question to answer on my take home final and that's it.

I'm particularly proud of my performance in my Strategic Management class. We did a business simulation where we got in groups and ran a company. We made decisions such as pricing of our products (athletic footwear), celebrity endorsements, advertising budgets, capital structure and the like. I had a blast with this. It was so fun to run a company! Plus we were competing with the other groups in the class. There were seven groups total and we finished fourth. Not great (I really wanted to win) but not bad either! We ran the company for 8 quarters. When the simulation was completed we had to write an annual report for our shareholders and hold a shareholder meeting where we talked about our performance. Well I managed to put together a ROCKIN' annual report for our group using Microsoft Publisher. Our group also decided to go above and beyond and create a fake website for our fake company. NO other group went this far. I have to say we ROCKED!! You (again, my mom) can check out the 'fake' website for our 'fake' shoe company here.

Today is my last class and graduation is May 6. My goal for this blog is to write much more frequently once I've graduated. So don't worry Mom you'll have tons to read!

Elsevier Polling Special Librarians

2006-03-20T19:10:00.000-06:00

My supervisor was asked to poll Pharmaceutical librarians to find out answers to the following questions. Her presentation to Elsevier is on Wednesday. If you would like to offer your answers to the following questions I'll try to get them to her before Wednesday.

1. What keeps you awake at night as a publishing or refereeing scientist?
2. How will your requirements change over time?
3. What is your wildest dream for a product/service that could make you much more effective or efficient?
4. Do you currently, or in the near future, have needs that are likely to be unmet?
5. Name any other supplier/company who could serve, in any way, as an example for Elsevier?
6. What does Elsevier do best?
7. How can Elsevier work more effectively with you?

$5000 Scholarship from Dialog for Graduate Students

2006-03-16T10:44:00.000-06:00

Hi fellow LIS students,

FYI - Dialog is accepting applications for the 2006 Roger K. Summit Scholarship. From the application:

Each year The Dialog Corporation honors Dr. Roger K. Summit, founder of DIALOG, by sponsoring a $5,000 scholarship for graduate students in the field of library or information science. Applications for the Roger K. Summit scholarship are evaluated based upon the following criteria:
I. Academic Achievement (20 points)
II. Demonstrated interest in electronic information services
A. Course Work (10 points)
B. Research (10 points)
C. Experience (10 points)
D. Writing Sample (15 points)
III. Faculty Recommendations (15 points)
IV. Dialog Proficiency (20 points)

For those interested, applications must be submitted by April 30, 2006.

Good Luck!

What makes our Library a Library?

2006-03-03T09:09:00.000-06:00

Data Obsessed defined what makes her library a library. I thought I'd do the same.

What makes my library a library is the librarians!

I work in a pharmaceutical company library. Recently our physical space was downsized. Consequently we were forced to downsize our collections. Therefore, all we have left to build upon for the future is the value the librarians add.

I think we find ourselves in this predicament today because we failed to align the library to the strategic goals of the corporation. We never tied library success to the success of the corporation as a whole. As a result, when space started to become scarce we were a prime target.

I am hoping to turn this around. While we were not given everything we wanted to create a virtual library that would rival our old physical library, I'm still trying to add these items incrementally. Regardless of the resources we're allowed to bring in, we will still provide the best service to our customers and we will strive to be the best library we can be!

I will be taking this opportunity to create a library that is strategically aligned to the success of the company. How will I do that? I think the library needs a champion in upper management. If we get upper management buy-in, if someone with influence realizes that a superior library will create superior results for the company, then I think the library will be more successful. I've identified some target "potential champions." Now all we need to do is figure out what their hot buttons are. What are they concerned about? What issues are they dealing with? Once those have been identified, the library needs to provide solutions to those issues/problems. If our champion is concerned with ROI, we make the case that robust library services provide the best ROI for the company's employees. If our champion is concerned with understanding the competition, we make the case that no one can provide better competitive intelligence than a well funded library. You get the idea.

As you can see we have a tough road ahead of us. Sometimes it takes the rug being pulled from under your feet, literally, to make changes for the better. I just hope it's not too late.

NPR Talk of the Nation - "If a Library is Bookless, What's In It?"

2006-03-01T16:34:00.000-06:00

Instead of studying, this time for an Organizational Behavior midterm, I am once again trying to find content for blog posts.

ResourceShelf mentioned a NPR Talk of the Nation episode that covers "If a Library is Bookless, What's In It?" Guests on this episode were: Tom Frey, Executive Director of The DaVinci Institute, Jo Haight-Sarling, Director of Access and Technology Services at the Denver Public Library System, and Charles Brown, Director of the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, N.C..

Commentary

This proved to be an interesting program. I was drawn to it because the special library I currently work in is in the process of downsizing our physical collection. We are trying to create a more robust virtual library; however we are also experiencing budget woes. We will be working for a long time trying to replace the physical items we lost with virtual items. In the interim we will be the best library we can be and provide the best service we can provide!

The program gave great insights into how some public libraries are incorporating new technologies into their services. I’m intrigued by the digital media check out system the Denver Public Library has implemented. The problem I have is which of my special library materials would be best suited for such a system. Charles Brown’s (do you think he has a dog named Snoopy?) comments on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s new ImaginOn facility were especially exciting. Their combined children’s library and children’s theater facility sounds so fun! Parents and children who are able to use the facility are so lucky!

Tom Frey’s comments were especially interesting. I’m having a hard time wrapping my brain around his vision of the future search engines being able to search on smells and textures. I think he is correct that libraries are in the process of redefining themselves. As this transition takes place, growing pains will be experienced by both patrons and libraries.

The most disturbing part of the program was callers’ comments. One caller called and asked Frey about how to limit a search to only retrieve materials from the library. I was shocked by this question and Frey directed him to check out his library’s website to find options to search just the library. However, the caller clarified that he would like to retrieve results from the library’s actual collection in search results. I felt a little better after this clarification. At this point Frey commented that new technologies are making this more and more possible. He brought up a new book scanner. This new scanner allows the user to insert an entire book. The scanner then digitizes the entire book. Amazing! I was surprised there was no talk of Google Book Search. Another comment that disturbed me was a caller who suggested that libraries of the future are already upon us with the advent of the internet. He suggested a role for librarians of the future would be technicians managing the technology. However, I was pleased with Frey’s response. He reminded the caller that libraries and librarians are more than sources of information. He also reminded the caller that even though we are in an era where an entire generation of people believes that if it’s not online it doesn’t exist. That simply is not true. There are many examples of information that has not been digitized and is not online. Thank you Tom Frey for saying this so well!

While this program didn’t help me come up with more ideas for my present situation it was still valuable for understanding what others are doing and the general public’s comments about those activities. Below is a summary of the program, if you’re interested.

Program Summary

Jo Haight-Sarling discussed initiatives at the Denver Public Library to bring more technology into their libraries, evolving with the times. Denver Public Library has been using technology to provide reference services 24 hours a day 7 days a week for years. More recently, they've been experimenting with podcasting story times and providing downloadable books, audiobooks and movies for patrons. The downloaded media would be available for the patron to use for the typical check out period and when that period is over digital rights management software would "make it disappear." As Haight-Sarling mentions, "these items don't require shelf space and they're never late!" When asked by the host, if eventually some people would come to the conclusion that the library doesn't need a building Haight-Sarling responds that the lack of need for a library building might be true of some patrons who utilize the "virtual library" as another branch, however they also use technology to bring people into the library and make them aware of services that they might not have otherwise known about, such as cultural programming, cooking demonstrations, author talks, etc. For example, they will podcast an event and listeners of the podcast will realize that such programs are taking place and make a point to participate in the next program. Additionally, there is still a demand for traditional library services, even from those patrons who utilize the virtual library services.

Tom Frey commended the Denver Public library for experimenting with different technologies. Frey predicts that in the coming years we will see a dramatic change in services libraries provide. He predicts that libraries will continually have to prove their relevance as the ways we access information continues to change. Frey's take on search technology: currently its text based but Frey predicts that in the future people will be able to search on smells, tastes, etc. For example: 'I want something that smells like this loaf of bread,' or 'I want to find something that tastes like the margarita I just enjoyed,' or 'I want to find something that has this level of reflectivity,' or 'I want to find what areas in the world have this barometric pressure.' With this level of complexity being added to our search technologies he even predicts that in the future there will be people who get college degrees in search!

On the phone a caller asks if it's possible to restrict a search to retrieve only information from libraries! Frey suggests that the caller can do this with a couple of clicks on his library's site. The caller clarifies that he wants his results to also include information from a library's physical collection. At this point Frey brings up a new book scanner that you can put a book into and the scanner will digitize the entire book, thus making it searchable!

Another caller asks about the availability of high quality digital images and brings the point that those without fast connections rural patrons will experience inconveniences. Frey responds that larger bandwidth options are being made available to the public for free, but that the library's role is not to be an ISP, providing bandwidth to patrons. An email comment suggests that libraries evolve into community centers to bring in patrons. Frey comments that libraries will be transitioning from information centers to cultural centers with information as a part of the larger equation.

Charles Brown discusses his library's collaboration with a local theater. The major youth library in downtown Charlotte is a library facility with a programmatic partnership with the Children's Theater of Charlotte. The facility, named ImaginOn, houses 30,000 square feet of library materials for youths and has two stages that serve as the home of the Children's Theater of Charlotte. Instead of story time they have Story Jars where children can create their own story, with music and costumes. When the story has been created the child can swipe their library card and "deposit" it into the jar or distribute it to relatives or friends. The facility was made possible because of tremendous community support.

Back to Frey, he is asked if the certainty of the definition of the library will change as the library itself evolves? His response: in the middle ages information was so precious libraries would chain books to lecterns. Today, information doesn't have to come in book form (e.g. audiobooks). Libraries have always been about transmitting information to their patrons. What people need to realize is that today, information doesn't equal books. A caller points out the value that librarians add. Frey agrees that librarians are great resources for helping people become comfortable with the new technologies.

A caller comments that libraries of the future are already upon us with the advent of the internet. He says that it's been suggested that a database be created through a science of combination (combining architectural science, material science, medical science, etc). Searches can then be made to that database. He further comments that librarians of the "old" libraries acted as filters making decisions to acquire books in one area and not another. Librarians of the "new" libraries should be technicians. Frey comments that he would agree with that if the sole purpose of librarians were a source of information. However, librarians are much more than that. Children librarians conduct story times, libraries are a place to gather. Therefore libraries are much more than a conduit to information. Caller then questions whether librarians are truly grasping in their hearts the concept of new technologies and are they learning how to teach the public about how to use this new library. Frey reminds the caller that not all information is on computers. He states that we are at an era of an entire generation of people who believe that if it's not online it doesn’t exist. However, there are many examples of information that has not been digitized and therefore does not exist online. He also reminds the caller that 2/3 of the world are connected online, leaving 1/3 unconnected. This leaves libraries as a vital link. Libraries are trying to redefine themselves. As libraries transition there will be anxieties about what things should be included and not, what should be funded and not funded.

New Feed Address

2006-02-27T17:07:00.000-06:00

This post is for the 7 people who subscribe to my blog. That's right 7!!

I have created a feed for Who Moved My Library? through Feedburner. I read about Feedburner at 'Brary Web Diva's blog. She recommends Feedburner for seven very good reasons. After reading her post I went over to Feedburner to check it out for myself. The program sounded pretty interesting so I thought I'd give it a whirl. Of course to get the most out of Feedburner people must be subscribed to your feed. But I'm not going to let that stop me!

So for the 7 people who are reading this, if you would be so kind as to resubscribe to my feed with this link.

Thanks ever so much,
Natalie.

Make Your Own Secret Hollow Book

2006-02-27T16:38:00.000-06:00

Instead of studying for my Social Responsibility of Business midterm I've decided to catch up on some old bloglines feeds. I came across one that details how to make your own secret hollow book from the How2DoStuff blog. The librarian in me says "NO, don't destroy that book." However, the crafty part of me wants to try this, even though I don't have any contraband to put in a hollow book.

I realize that some libraries just don't have the room to keep ALL the books it ever owned. In fact the special library I currently work in is going through the downsizing process right now. What a great use for those old unwanted books! Also, a great homemade gift idea. The fun part could be finding the right title for the intended recipient. Of course, if your replete with old unwanted books you could construct a Book Bar. But that's far too much work for me!

Dominican University's 2nd Annual Follett Lecture - Ed Valauskas presents "The Googlization of Libraries"

2006-02-15T19:38:00.000-06:00

I have just returned from the Dominican University Second Annual Follett Lecture. Ed Valauskas, founder of First Monday, and the Follett Chair at Dominican University was the speaker and "Googlization of Libraries: Debunking the Internet Godzilla" was the topic. I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Ed is very entertaining.

Ed started out the lecture by forecasting the future if the doomday prognosticators are correct in assuming that growth of Google popularity will be negatively correlated with the success of libraries. Ed's dramatic portrait of 2015 included Chicago's Harold Washington Library being turned into public housing, New York's Public Library buildings being turned into either museums or Macy outlets .... you get the idea.

However, Ed pointed out that this "future" can be prevented. He also took the position that Google doesn't have to be the enemy. Google has legal and financial resources to fight the battles that libraries would like to fight in areas such as Copyright Law, and they are. Ed would like to see libraries embrace new technologies and incorporate them into library offerings. He also suggested that library schools produce librarians that are able to be work with these new technologies.

Libraries do have an uphill battle when it comes to public perception that everything is "Free" on the internet. I agree with Ed that dismissing the role that Google and other Web 2.0 offerings play in libraries is not going to make them go away. Instead librarians should find ways to add value, for themselves and their libraries, to strengthen the role of libraries instead of turning a blind eye and hoping that they just go away.

Interactive Johari Window

2006-02-14T08:42:00.000-06:00

I've recently come across a website that creates individual interactive Johari Windows. What's a Johari Window, you ask?

The Johari Window was invented by Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingram in the 1950s as a model for mapping personality awareness. By describing yourself from a fixed list of adjectives, then asking your friends and colleagues to describe you from the same list, a grid of overlap and difference can be built up. The Johari Window is supposed to be used to help an individual better understand their interpersonal communication and relationships.

It's actually pretty neat. If you'd like to get your own Johari Window go here. If you think you know me well enough to contribute to my Johari Window go here.

WSJ Article on Tagging Technology

2006-02-04T14:20:00.000-06:00

This is a little late, but in the January 24th edition of the Wall Street Journal there was an article titled: "The Next Big Thing in Searching - Yahoo! and Others Embrace 'Tagging' as a Better Way to Find and Store Information" by Jessica E. Vascellaro.

In this article tagging is described as a way to "cut through the online clutter to deliver more relevant bits of information." This article states that tagging sites are "increasingly transitioning beyond places individuals go to for retrieving their favorite Web pages to sites they visit first when they want to search the internet." This puts the tagging sites in direct competition with search engine giants Google and Yahoo!. Some statistics from this article: 17% of Internet users say they always find what they are looking for when they use a search engine; Americans conducted more than 5 billion online searches in November 2005, up 9% from the previous year.

According to this artice the benefits of tagging are: the user assigns keywords (tags) to their favorite sites making their sites easy to search and retrieve; a user's tagged pages are stored on the web and available from any computer; and the greatest benefit of tagging sites is that a user can make their list of tags and sites available to and searchable by either a closed community of friends and family or all Web surfers. Downsides to tagging sites are: effectiveness of tagging services depends on the quality and quantity of the registered users; similar tags must be used in order to capture all the relevant pages; not enough people are using the services for it to be worth while.

While Flickr, PreFound.com, del.icio.us, and Kosmix.com are all mentioned in the text of the article only 5 sites made the "Tagosphere" table (below) (C) WSJ.

By making the WSJ I think tagging is certainly gaining momentum in the mainstream. What does this mean for libraries? How about allowing users to add their own personal tags to records in the OPAC? If you're not comfortable with that, how about subscribing to some sites in the tagosphere and creating a "Library's Recommendations" list of useful sites.

Just a few thoughts. Comments?

Update

2006-01-17T06:39:00.000-06:00

I've started the Spring 2006 semester. I've completed all LIS classes so my last three classes are MBA classes: Organizational Behavior, Social Responsibility of Business and Strategic Management.

The winter break was a nice time to just relax. And now that's over.

I've been struggling over the role this blog will have. It seems that there are so many good blogs out there that keep the community informed. I hate to be a me-too blog.

What role can I fill? What will bring readers? Those are the questions I'm struggling with. I'll try to work things out and post my mission statement for this blog, in my free time. (Read Yeah, right.)

Stay tuned.

Semester Update

2005-12-09T08:19:00.000-06:00

This blog was started as part of an assignment for LIS 753 - Internet Fundamentals and Design. I thoroughly enjoyed this class and especially this assignment. I will try to maintain this blog with my experiences working in a Special Library and going to school for my MBA and MLIS. I hope that my 2 readers will continue to to tune in to read my thoughts.

The semester is over next week. I will try to put a few posts together after that hectic time.

Google adds Creative Commons support

2005-11-17T09:37:00.000-06:00

From the Google Blog: URL: Launch: Google adds Creative Commons support.
What this means: from the advanced search page you can add a filter that will only return results that are either: 1)Free to use or share, 2)Free to use or share, even commercially, 3)Free to use share or modify, or 4)Free to use share or modify, even commercially.

This feature is nice for those that pay attention to things like getting permission to use something but I doubt it will reach those that don't pay attention. They don't care anyway.

Summary of KM Chicago November Meeting

2005-11-08T19:28:00.000-06:00

I attended, through the web, the November KM Chicago meeting today. The subject was Communities of Practice and the presenters were North Suburban Library System (NSLS) employees.

This was a very informative meeting. Christina Stoll and Debbie Baaske did a great job illustrating the KM initiatives at NSLS and their success with Communities of Practice (CoP). The KM group at NSLS really did a great job of researching how to incorporate KM into their organization and then share with it's member libraries.

With NSLS's great efforts, a neat (meaning uncluttered not cool) completely usable interface was developed and after adding enhancements such as options to attach documents to a message and the incorporation of smiley faces, their CoP are utilized quite frequently.

NSLS offered several tips on the creation and maintenance of CoP: develop guidelines on creation and dismantling of CoP, market internally and externally, have a team that can develop a mission, vision, recruitment, and organization.

I must admit that I have a better understanding of the value of CoP after attending the meeting.

NSLS has made great strides with their KM initiative. I suspect they will continue this growth.

Concept Mapping Technology - Tool to create HTML pathfinders?

2005-10-26T08:15:00.000-05:00

One of the assignments for my Knowledge Management class was a knowledge map. A knowledge map is a tangible representation or catalog of the concepts and relationships of knowledge. A knowledge map is a navigational aid that enables the user to find the desired concept and then retrieve relevant knowledge sources.

The limitations of my drawing skills combined with the fact that I knew that there had to be a program that could create a map led me to search for such a beast. My hunt was fruitful with the discovery of Cmap Tools. The software is free to download and it's SUPER easy to use. I created a map illustrating the flow of knowledge in my organization.

The use for this software is limited only by your imagination. A fellow classmate also discovered Cmap and created several maps that resembled pathfinders. Each map represented a task: How to find this or do that. Within nodes she linked documents and websites in a flowchart format (I didn't get nearly that advanced, nor did I realize that the maps COULD get that advanced. Thanks Deb!). In Deb's example, if someone was looking for a resource they could follow the map (aided by embedded links) and find what they were looking for.

Cmap software also allows for exporting the map to a webpage. You can then take that map and put it up on the internet or an intranet for others to use. I think this would be a great tool for publishing easy to use and gorgeous pathfinders for public or academic libraries.

Potential uses of Cmaps:

Pathfinders of all sorts (How to search the web, How to find government information)
Map staff knowledge (Marion has extensive patent knowledge, Leo is an expert searcher of our business databases)
Map best practices for staff use (When a patron asks for ___ ask them this question, if you get this answer go to these resources, if they want more go here...)
Map capabilities of licensed software/databases (Ovid can do this and that, use OCLC for that and this)
Create Reader's Advisories for popular authors (A map for Tom Clancy could direct readers who liked one of his books or series to other great reads with actual links to the books in the OPAC)

Try them and let me know if you think of other uses to add to this list.

A little about special libraries, for those who were wondering.

2005-10-24T09:13:00.000-05:00

I work in a special library. For those that think every library is special I’ll clarify: I work in a corporate library. The nice thing about special libraries is they don’t have to deal with the general public and the trials and tribulations of public librarianship (as evidenced in the Libraries for Dummies blog). However, special libraries do have special populations that come with their own special issues. What special issues, you ask?

User groups served by special libraries have quite focused information needs. This requires a need for unique subject knowledge. Special librarians need to stay abreast of developments in the library world as well as in the organization’s area of expertise.

Libraries are cost centers. They do not typically generate revenue. In a corporate culture, where everything comes down to maximizing shareholder’s value, libraries must continually provide evidence of a return on their investments. Libraries that don’t do this successfully are doomed to extinction.

Market, market, market. Special libraries, like most other libraries, struggle with marketing. Where this gets tricky for the special library is how to market your services and to whom. Do you market to the decision makers (which could possibly influence the library’s budget and operations)? Do you market to the user groups? Do you market to all user groups the same or sub-divide them and only market to certain subgroups? Alright so marketing a special library isn’t that different from a public library.

If you want more information about special libraries you can visit SLA. There’s a wealth of information there.

RSS Feeds Part 2

2005-10-18T16:47:00.000-05:00

I feel like the kid who's starting at a new school mid-year - I'm just now catching up with the rest of the class.

I've been using feeds for blogs for a day now and have already found improvements to my strategy. I downloaded FeedReader and while I liked the software the limitations were that you could only use it on the machine that you downloaded it to. Students will agree that portability is very important (I can't be the only one doing homework on the fly).

Today I've discovered Bloglines. You can register for free and load any kind of XML feed into "My Feeds." You can set up folders for different kinds of feeds you're reading (I have "news, entertainment news, fun stuff, library things" folders, among others) to categorize your interests. You can even make your feeds public. Here's a link to my feeds.

The beauty of Bloglines is that you can login to read your feeds from ANY computer anywhere. If you're like me and reading more and more blogs lately you should try it. You'll like it!

Google Librarian Newsletter?

2005-10-17T09:24:00.000-05:00

Speaking of feeds and staying current, Google has announced a new quarterly newsletter just for librarians. You can subscribe here.

Here's a link to the post in ResourceShelf where I found this tidbit.

RSS Feeds and Blogs

2005-10-17T08:47:00.000-05:00

I have been investigating different ways to stay up-to-date with the many blogs I am now reading. One way to do this is with an RSS feeder. I think I have it figured out so I’m going to walk you through it so you can use one too.

RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication,” You can read more about RSS at How Stuff Works, Wikipedia, XML.com. Essentially you can download a program, load different “feeds” of blogs in to the program and then use the feeder software to read the newest entries on your favorite blogs.

There are many different readers available: SharpReader, NewsGator, NetNewsWire, FeedDemon, RSSbandit, Shrook, and FeedReader are a few. I downloaded FeedReader because it was said to be the easiest to use and it was free. I tried to figure out the RSS feeder that came with Mozilla’s FireFox browser but I couldn’t.

Anyway, all I have to do is locate the XML RSS Feed URL on any blog (I haven’t been able to figure out why some have one and others don’t – is that an option for the author?) and add the feed to FeedReader. The look and feel of FeedReader is similar to Outlook mail. Now I can see which blogs have new entries that I haven’t read and I can read each entry like I read email messages.

So far I’m liking it, I’m liking it a lot!

Why blogging is so difficult

2005-10-14T10:18:00.000-05:00

I've been fretting over this blogging thing and I've finally identified the source of my discomfort: low self-esteem/insecurities. If you're uncomfortable with yourself, your ideas, your viewpoints how can you POSSIBLY be confident enough to put it all out there for anyone to read?

Blogging requires a level of confidence in oneself that I struggle with. In my view, bloggers (at least good bloggers) are confident in their writing and confident in their ability to contribute something valuable to their various communities.

I need to build my confidence in order to fully embrace this blogging thing.

This entry is not an attempt to solicit compliments. I simply wanted to put it out there in case I wasn't alone.

Searching for blogs and blog entries

2005-10-10T08:40:00.000-05:00

In trying to put some posts together I've used Clusty to search. Clusty is a meta search engine that utilizes clustering technology to group like search results together which enables users to go futher and deeper into their search results. Clusty has an option to search Blogs that has been very helpful for me. Clustering really is the wave of search technology future!

Much Delayed Blogging post

2005-10-10T08:33:00.000-05:00

I have been reading ResourceShelf for several years now. However, it wasn't until recently that I discovered it was a blog. I write a monthly "tip" for our employee newsletter and so far 90% of my tips have come from information found on ResourcesShelf. Gary Price is the "compiler" and "editor." Gary is assisted by several other editors and the content is fabulously diverse appealing to many different kinds of librarians.

2005-09-25T15:00:00.000-05:00

This is my first post

2005-09-25T14:29:00.000-05:00

Hi fellow LIS753'ers. It's 2:30, on the tail-end of a LONG weekend. Is it me or did Dominican feel VERY musty today? Can the rain have that much of an effect on the building?

Over the next 6 weeks I will be posting 5 entries about libraries, the Web and technology.