February 2008

No More Kicking

by David Lee King on February 26, 2008

oclc changed goodbye to thank youRemember my post from January, Kicking Users Out the Door? Interestingly, after my post (about worldcat.org and a poor user experience I had), I was contacted by two OCLC employees!

They realized that “Goodbye” was not the message they wanted to leave with customers, and asked me where I had seen it, what I was doing, etc… and they started working on a change.

A week or so ago, a Product Specialist from OCLC told me this via email:

“…some progress has been made with respect to the messaging when a user submits a request for interlibrary loan from WorldCat.org. As you know, the previous message of “goodbye” is truly not the message we want to give our users. While investigating this issue we discovered that making a big change is truly a big development effort. While we will keep this in mind going forward, we’re unable to make big changes to it at this time. What we are able to do is change the message from “Goodbye” to “Thank you.” This change will take effect this Sunday, February 17.”

“I understand that this does not resolve the issue of users not seeing the link in the top right hand corner that allows users to return to the detailed record screen. The fact that this link is not readily apparent has also been shown in our pilots for WorldCat Local. We are working towards a more integrated screen layout which should be available soon.”

Where does that leave us? Well… changing the “Goodbye” to “thank you” is a small step in the right direction, and it sounds like they have seen the larger problem and are working on a solution. So that’s good.

More importantly – they heard my complaint, contacted me, worked on a change, and responded back… coming from a huge organization like OCLC, that’s truly saying something! thanks, OCLC! It’s nice to know they listen to their community.

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David’s Current Speaking Schedule

by David Lee King on February 22, 2008

Here’s where I’ll be speaking (and/or attending) this spring. Come say hi!

  • March 3 – April 11: Basics of Library Web Site Management (online class)
  • March 6-12: Attending SXSWi 2008! I’m pretty psyched to go…
  • March 19: participating in Library Camp Kansas
  • March 25-29: attending my first Public Library Association conference!
  • March 31: Long Island Library Resources Council.
  • April 6: CIL08 – Preconference: Podcasting and Videocasting Boot Camp with David Free
  • April 8: CIL08 – Leading Technology in Libraries: Making Time for Web 2.0 (with Gina Millsap)
  • April 10: CIL08 – Postconference: Public Library Conversations: Insights & Innovation (with a bunch of people)
  • April 22: attending a GTD seminar in St. Louis, MO.
  • May 2: Mountain Plains Library Association/Utah Library Association joint conference
  • May 7: Massachusetts Library Association
  • May 23: Canadian Association of Children’s Librarians conference
  • June 5: NASIG 2008 preconference
  • June 29: ALA 2008 – Library 2.0 and Children’s Services

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Semanal: Post One Video Per Week for all of 2008

by David Lee King on February 14, 2008

The few of you who actually follow my videoblog might have noticed I’ve been posting more video lately. There’s a reason for that… I’ve gone insane! No… seriously, it’s because I’m participating in something called Semanal. What’s that? From the Semanal website:

“Semanal is an open project where you post one video a week. You can join in the fun at anytime. We are a group of video creators who are encouraging each other, instead of stifling each other with rules. Post the video on your own blog, but link to it here. Just click on the current week and put your links in the comment fields. See how others are doing it.”

It’s a fun challenge for me – trying to come up with 52 video ideas and post one per week. And it’s a great way to hone my fledgling video-taking-and-editing skills. And it’s a good example of what I mean when I say “play.” The only way to get better at something is to do it, right?

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Cell Phone to Podcast Tools

by David Lee King on February 13, 2008

me on the iphoneI’ve been looking into mobile podcasting tools, specifically services that allow you to post podcasts to a blog from your cell phone. Here’s a list of tools I’ve found that do this:

  • Gcast – run by the people behind GarageBand (I actually have some scary bad songs somewhere on GarageBand)
  • TalkShoe – seems to do this and a whole lot more
  • Hipcast – upload files up to 250 MB in size
  • Yodio – don’t know much about this service
  • Gabcast – 200 MB per user for the free account, and 1 hour per recording
  • Jott – Not sure if Jott does quite the same thing, but I’m including them anyway. Jott allows you to record a message to voicemail, then it can email it out to whoever (and most bloggers can set up an “email to post” email account, which would work)

Anyone use any of these tools? Is there another one I should add to the list? Thanks!

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Donate to LISHost

by David Lee King on February 13, 2008

What a cool idea! Jenny and Michael have set up a cool fundraiser for LISHost (the dudes who host my blog and many other librarian blogs). Here’s what Jenny says: “So to thank him [Blake Carver, the dude behind LISHost] for all of his efforts, both on our behalf and for the profession, Michael an  I are raffling off a Nintendo Wii to help show our appreciation in the form of a fundraiser. Please note that neither LISHost nor LISNews is in financial trouble, and this is not a call t  “save” them. This is simply a way for us to acknowledge Blake’s efforts and thank him for everything he does.”

I’ll second what Jenny and Michael said – Blake runs a great website hosting service and has the best customer service I’ve ever seen in a webhost – he’s awesome!

If you want to donate, go to Jenny or Michael’s posts, click the Donate button, and fill out the form. Jenny and Michael – thanks for the great idea!

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A Better Experience Begins with Staff

by David Lee King on February 12, 2008

From the MSN Money site (via Steven M. Cohen’s Shared Items in Google): “This unique in-store education event signals the company’s focus on transforming the Starbucks Experience for both customers and partners. Starbucks hopes any customers inconvenienced by the early closures will see this as an investment that will have long term benefits. For their part, Starbucks partners will have an opportunity to connect and deepen their passion for coffee with the ultimate goal of transforming the customer experience.”

What’s going on? Every Starbucks is closing from 5:30pm-8:30pm on February 26 in order to “truly enjoy the art of espresso as Starbucks baristas demonstrate their passion to pull the perfect shot, steam milk to order, and customize their favorite beverage.”

OK – get past the silly corporate schnozz and focus on what Starbucks just said:

  1. Their goal? transforming the Starbucks Experience.
  2. Where did they start? Their employees.

Starbucks gave their in-store experience some thought, and realized the “main thing” is their expresso drinks. So … why not train staff to make the best expressos?

Now – what’s your library’s “expresso” or “main thing” that everyone needs to know about? Here’s an example: A “Big Thing” at my library is our new website (which I’ll be posting about soon!). This afternoon, our Digital Services Supervisor and myself are holding the first of many training sessions on how to post to it (much bloggy goodness) and how to write for the web.

What are the things everyone working at your library needs to know? And … what are you doing about it?

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The Web Is Not Virtual

by David Lee King on February 10, 2008

At some point in my talks, I usually mention how websites are changing from a virtual brochure with lists of services to something a bit more “real” – but it can be difficult to explain that concept! I usually show an active library blog with comments, and discuss the website as a form of digital community.

But check this out – from The Ongoing Adventures of ASBO Jesus blog. It’s a comic strip that usually focuses on “Church 2.0″ issues (think Library 2.0, but replace “patron” with “parishioner,” and you’ll get the idea).

Here’s the text of this comic strip (the graphic is much better, but the actual strip is too wide for my blog!):

“I no longer believe in ‘virtual reality’.
Real people, real opinions, real emotions,
real shopping, real relationships,
real junk mail, real joy, real sadness,
real empathy, real crime, real porn,
real info, real poetry, real art, real cruelty,
real goodness, real truth, real lies,
and so it goes on…
There is nothing ‘virtual’ about it at all.”

The web is much more than information and databases – we’re no longer traveling down an “information superhighway,” are we?

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Library Camp Kansas – our first UnConference

by David Lee King on February 8, 2008

What are us wacky Kansans up to? Check this out:

Ready to participate in a new type of conference? Think some of the most valuable and most productive sessions at conferences are the hallway and dinner conversations?

Want to get to know some of your forward-thinking Kansas library colleagues better?

Join us at Library Camp Kansas: the first Un-conference for people interested in customer-friendly libraries, library 2.0 and thinking about how we can all improve our services and organizations to meet the needs of our communities.

This is not a conference with experts behind a podium. It is an opportunity for dialogue and conversation. Sound good to you? Join us on Wednesday, March 19, at K-State’s Hale Library!

Details:
Wednesday, March 19, 2008, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Registration starts at 9 a.m.)
Hale Library, Hemisphere Room
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS

A complete agenda and links to lunch options, directions and parking information are available on the unconference wiki at:http://librarycampks.wetpaint.com/page/Unconference+Details.

Topics:
The participants of Library Camp Kansas choose the topics to be discussed the day of the conference. Potential topics can be posted ahead of time to the wiki: http://librarycampks.wetpaint.com/page/Discussion+Topics.

Registration is free. Visit the “Invitation to Participate page” to register online:
http://librarycampks.wetpaint.com/page/Invitation+to+Participate

If you need a parking permit, you must register by Friday, March 7.

Due to space limitations, overall registration is capped at 100 participants.

What’s provided:
Free wi-fi. Some laptops are available for those who can’t bring their own. Flip charts and meeting supplies will be provided as well. Snacks and drinks thanks to K-LIRT. Parking permits thanks to NEKLS.

What you should bring:
Great ideas, great questions, an interest in collaboration, laptop with wi-fi (if possible), and money for lunch.

For more information, check out the Kansas Library Camp wiki: http://librarycampks.wetpaint.com/

To see how other library camps and unconferences have worked out in other states, see http://www.blyberg.net/?s=unconference&submit=GO and http://librarycampnyc.wikispaces.com/Program.

Questions? Please contact:
Brenda Hough
Technology Consultant, NEKLS
bhough@nekls.org ~ (785) 838-4090

Hope to see you there!

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