Librarian Way

Gerry Mckiernan, Science and Technology Librarian at Iowa State University Library, posted the following to lita-l@ala1.ala.org and several other lists of interest to librarians.

I’m pleased to announce the launch of Friends: Social Networking Sites for Engaged Library Services, ‘a blog devoted to application and use of online social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace for any and all types of library-related programs or services.’

Friends will include announcements, general news, as well as citations and links to significant articles, books, and other publications about online social networking in general and their use by libraries and librarians.

The Friends blog is at: onlinesocialnetworks.blogspot.com/

Their FeedBurner feed is:
feeds.feedburner.com/FriendsSocialNetworkingSitesForEngagedLibraryServices

I wouldn’t think of the travel section in my local paper as the place to read about libraries, but the new Seattle Library sounds like a good side-trip while in Seattle. According to Judith Morgan in her September 26, 2004, San Diego Union Tribune “Letter Home” column titled “Seattle library is a can’t–miss wonder,” it “glows like a plummeting chandelier from Phantom of the Opera” at night. She states that librarians with wireless devices “act as trail guides, pursuing queries from lunchtime drop-ins and long-term Ph.D candidates.” The building was designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhass. The reading rooms sound fabulous.

It almost makes me want to move to Seattle. Hmmm. I am 15 minutes walk from the beach in sunny Southern California. This is certainly a must-do travel destination.

Gary Price posted the news release about two virtual reference services, OCLC QuestionPoint and 24/7 Reference, combining their services ResourceShelf.

[Via DIG_REF listserv, 11 August 2004.]

This was interesting to me because I just finished taking Library 210, Reference and Information Services, with Scott Walter. As one of our assignments, we had to ask a question of a digital reference service and then write a critical analysis about our experience. I sampled both of the above, but with different types of questions. In some ways I preferred QuestionPoint because I was given a link that I could check for the status of my answers. The bottom line though, is that the quality of the service depends on the skills of the reference librarian at the other end. Some of the class had great experiences, others were disappointed. The same happened with the face-to-face reference assignment, so it does not have to do with digital versus face-to-face.