More Searching Tips

The following are some more of Mary Ellen Bates’ 30 searching tips, I was wondering if indeed there were that many that might be useful to librarians. I’m not going to rehash them all but I thought I’d like to pass on some of the goodies.

1. Use other search engines apart from Google – you don’t have to be a slave to the dark side. There are plenty of engines out there to choose from, see http://altsearchengines.com/
2. Now that people are starting to embrace web 2.0 new ways of searching the social web are emerging through tags. One such site that is proving popular is http://keotag.com/
3. Google is such a powerful search tool it’s such a shame that some of its more interesting features are tucked away. Two optional extras you’ll want to explore are Google archives http://news.google.com/archivesearch and adding view:timeline or view:info after your search term in the Google search box.
4. For people who are left-brained. i.e., into visuals, search crystal is a good option http://searchcrystal.com/home.html test this engine on your institution’s name.
5. Something I’ve come across before but had forgotten about are search engines that cluster results, one such engine that came highly recommended is http://demo.carrot2.org/demo-stable/main one good thing about this search engine is that you can add it to your Firefox browser as a plug-in.
6. If you are like me and don’t care too much for driving then this tip is for you. Go to http://maps.ask.com/maps type in your starting place and your destination – hit go and you’ll get the usual driving instructions, but look again there’s a tab for walking – very useful for Manhattan.

A Super Searcher Shares Her Tips

Mary Ellen Bates is a super searcher by profession. I was lucky to see her presentation at the Computers In Libraries 2008 conference. A lot of her tips were about “thinking out of the box” and using other search engines.

Fixing Google

If you are using Firefox and Google you can make both stronger and smarter by downloading this extension from http://www.customizegoogle.com/. This extension allows you to search results by adding extra information, e.g., Yahoo, Ask.com, MSN and removing unwanted information like ads and spam.

Teaching Point

Go to the reference desk computer, start-up Firefox. Perform a search in the Google search box and you should notice the following:

1. no ads on the right hand side
2. at the top of the page there are options to use other search engines
3. you can scroll for ever
4. results are numbered and some have favicoms

If you look under Tools and select CustomizeGoogle Options, you will find that I have selected a number of options to personalize the browser. Feel free to check and uncheck boxes to get an idea of what this extension can do.

If you would like to learn more about Mary Ellen Bates’ work see http://www.librarianoffortune.com/

The Social Library

Introduction

Last April, I attended the Computers in Libraries Conference 2008 (Arlington, VA) and one of the sessions I found interesting was Tom Ipri’s on libraries as “Learning Commons.” The following is the abstract for Tom’s session:

Despite the perception that patrons are abandoning libraries and conducting all their research online, library as place remains important for many users… In what ways can technology enhance patrons library experience? Many libraries have embraced the idea of a “Learning Commons” to keep pace with students technology expectations. This session reviews what innovative libraries are doing with gathering spaces to make the library experience more enlightening and fun, while also using technology to make the library a place of destination.

Criteria

So, what does a “Learning Commons” type of library look like? The following are some of the features you might find:

1. movable furniture
2. wifi
3. laptops
4. group workstations
5. computers that have multimedia software
6. large scale printers
7. opportunities for tutoring
8. vending machines
9. white boards
10. feeling of “de-centeredness”
11. positive emotional experience.

Furniture

It made me think about how we use our library space. Although most of our furniture is not bolted down few people move tables or chairs to different parts of the library. We have a number of carrels which can not be moved. There’s also a couch area where students can relax. The children’s library has padded seating in the shape of cylinders and cubes which are very popular with the younger set.

Wifi

Although we have wifi some students find it a bother to go to the tech department to get on the network. I am often asked “What is the password for getting onto the network?” Others are put off by the fact that you have to have anti-virus software, and once you are registered it takes a day before access is possible.

Positive Emotional Experience

We don’t have a lot of rules but the ones we do have are regularly tested. One of them is a cellphone ban, and another is the consumption of drinks and snacks, (water in a bottle with a screw lid is OK). Both activities are permitted in the lobby area of the library. Sometimes I feel it is a losing battle, and yet students tell me they often come to the library because it’s a quiet place unlike the computer labs.

Designated Use

We have one space called the “Quiet Room” which is technology-free, i.e., no laptops. I explain to students that New York is a noisy city and that we’ve had requests from our patrons to provide a quiet space where the only activities allowed are silent ones such as reading or writing. One feature of this room is large work tables where students can spread out and work on assignments.

Constraints

There are plenty of opportunities and spaces for tutoring, but not so many for groupwork. We’ve had to come up with a list of places in the college where this might be possible such as the graduate lounge, the cafetaria, and the unlikely possibility of an empty classroom, and of course our lobby. Library users quite often want to use the “Quiet Room” for collaborative activities.

I’ve quizzed students about why they prefer the library over the computer labs and the answer is usually “Well, you have all the resources (books).” The computer labs are where you’ll find multimedia software, color printers, scanners, and personnel who can help with making movies and slide shows.

As an institution we are not quite there when it comes to loaning out laptops, white boards, or having vending machines on site.

Slideshow

Here is Tom Ipri’s SlideShare PowerPoint presentation.

Princeton University Library Symposium

Introduction

Among all the internet tools out there, social networking sites are now causing the most excitement in library circles. This was obvious at the Princeton conference “Technology and Library Services: Meeting Today’s Users’ Needs” (March 2007). Used well, these sites can help solve a range of “librarian problems,” e.g., allowing users to share knowledge, promote self-help, find like-minded students, and encourage project collaboration, etc. The best social networking sites applicable to libraries seem to be:

1. Twitter: short announcements
2. facebook: creates an on-line version of already-existing social ‘clusters’
3. Second Life: allows participation in a futuristic, virtual, educational world
4. del.icio.us: permits the sharing of web-based bookmark collections

Social Networking Site (SNS)

Twitter

For those on the move Twitter is the instant messaging or mini-blogging tool of choice. It’s supposed to answer the question “What are you doing now?” Messages are short (only 140 characters). This is how Casa Grande Public Library uses Twitter. For more on Twitter read this iLibrarian post.

Facebook

At one time Facebook (FB) was only for the college set. Recently, FB has opened up to accept anyone who wants to join. Some librarians have tried to use FB as a marketing tool but this hasn’t really worked. What FB does do is cement relationships with students and staff that already exist. You have to be a member of FB to see what it does. When you convince people to become your friend then your mini-news feeds will appear on their FB page. This is how some libraries have been marketing events.

Second Life

This is a virtual world which some of the librarians at the conference were really into. Apparently it can be quite addictive (there are t-shirts around with messages like “get a Firstlife”). Here is the link for Second Life education opportunities at Teachers College.

del.icio.us

Recently I have been working on our library’s list of recommended websites. Our goal is to present a small select group of five sites – it’s a good idea, but difficult to do. This is where del.icio.us steps in. This is what Assumption College for Sisters have done with the del.icio.us bookmarking tool. Focus on the right hand “cloud column,” you definitely know what they are interested in. The bigger the word, the more focus.

Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants

Digital natives are people born after the arrival of the PC (1985); they live in a wired world and multi-task to stay connected with it. “Continuous partial attention” is how digital natives cope with life. They are not particularly skilled at anyone thing they live in a hybrid part real/part virtual world. Interesting things about digital natives are that: approximately 40% of girls blog or keep some sort of on-line diary/profile, however, boys see blogging as a “girl’s thing.” For more on this topic read Stephanie Rosenbloom’s New York Times article Sorry, Boys, This Is Our Domain (February 21, 2008), for more on this topic read Growing Up Online by PBS. Other points to note are that digital natives:

document their lives online.

believe they are publishing intimate stories to a small group of friends

are unaware that they are publishing to the world.

have very different views regarding intellectual property rights

care little about copyright.

Although most students are digital natives and most library staff are digital immigrants librarians should not assume that all young people are tech savvy. On a daily basis we see natives and immigrants who break the mold. Other terms for digital natives are Generation M (for media). It doesn’t matter which generation a user is from you will find the following subsets:

ultra-traditionals (only use TV, radio, landline phone)

neo-traditionals (light internet users – sounds like most of us)

creators (make /share digital media)

mobiles (cell phones, wifi laptops)

The important thing is that librarians need to accommodate all four groups. Click on the following link http://www.integratedmedia.org for a PowerPoint on this topic.

Google Analytics

This seemed to be quite an interesting free tool to find out how a website is performing. It can tell you which pages are popular and also if patrons are hitting one page and then leaving the site, this can be good i.e., visitors found the information they were looking for and left or it could mean that the page needs an upgrade (users give up, and don’t explore the site).

Mash-Ups

Mash-ups are small add-on programs or services (often called widgets) which are pasted into a website. The ubiquitous Google search box on many library home pages is an example. Code must be placed into a page for the widget to work – this is easy as many sites write the widget code for you. Other examples of widgets might be a flikr box, an Instant Message box e.g., Meebo, or a tag cloud see the bottom of this Teachers College page. There is also an example of a cloud box on this blog.

The content of widgets do not reside on the library’s server but are called upon when the page loads. This is why SPEED is everything. A slow computer or dial-up service would make the experience of visiting a website with a number of embedded widgets frustratingly slow. As internet speed increases services to patron will flower and bloom exponentially.