Top Technology Trends was very well done (I had the sense someone had actually tested the technologies in advance, or at least evaluated previous sessions) and featured a suite of smart, articulate, forward-looking librarians. Recurrent themes among their trends included localization, mobile apps, user experience, augmented reality, and more.
Had a sit-down with OCLC folks to get a little better acquainted with OCLC’s member services. I knew some of the details of their cataloging/processing, ILL, and other services, I had not realized that we can ingest up to 3,000 items into ContentDM for free. In other words, I came to ALA and found not one but two free tools for electronic theses (I wrote about ebrary yesterday). If you saw our thesis cataloging backlog, you’d see why this excites me. Every time I open an unmarked door, I find more of the stuff.
Springshare and Serial Solutions are collaborating on a Libguides serials A-toZ list.This isn’t impressive until you’ve tried to do such a thing for YPOW.
My goodies so far include a mug, a thermos (won in a drawing after I answered a survey about microfilm), a tiny green teddy bear, and a small stuffed monkey.
Seeing the LibraryThing gang at OCLC’s blog salon reminded me that they developed a free Local Book iPhone app. Me Like!
Forgot to mention that ITG (Integrated Technology Group) was on my “visit list†for Saturday. We’re launching our RFID roll-out with a Chips and Dips celebration this spring. The library is all tagged, the software and hardware (acquired in 2005) are up to date—it’s a project that just needed to be hauled the last mile.  ITG has been absolutely wonderful to work with.
I stopped by the Naxos vendor to say that their products had very high marks from our music faculty but I had noticed that usage was down. He immediately offered several suggestions, including encouraging faculty to create and share playlists.
Apropos of OCLC, for MPOW I am thinking less in terms of “the book budget†and “our collections,†and more in terms of services and—to use a phrase I heard Friday morning—request fulfillment. In my head, if not my budget spreadsheet (yet), the cost of purchasing a book is no longer separate from the cost of cataloging, processing, and housing that book, and the cost of “leasing†that book through interlibrary loan is simply an alternative method for fulfilling a request.
After a whirlwind spin through the OCLC Blog Salon, I had fabulous grilled calamari at Legal Seafood’s “test kitchen†restaurant with two friends.
Posted on this day, other years:
- Conduct Unbecoming (a Library Conference) - 2014
- Midwinter parties: PUBLIB and OCLC Blog Salon - 2007
- No Councilor Left Behind - 2005
- Library-Flavored Blogroll added to FRL - 2004
