Exemplary uses of del.icio.us

A nice post by information architect, James Melzer, about ways that some users are getting the most mileage out of the tagging capabilities of del.icio.us.

Link.

Webcast of the "Battle of the Books" at NYPL

As predicted, the seats at the Nov. 17 debate at the New York Public Library over Google Print that will feature Allan Adler (Association of American Publishers), Chris Anderson (Wired Magazine), David Drummond (Google), Paul LeClerc & David Ferriero (The New York Public Library), Lawrence Lessig (Stanford Law School), and Nick Taylor (The Authors Guild) are all sold out. It looks like there will be a free, live webcast, though. Details on the
events page of the NYPL web site.

Wikis as "handouts"

As I noted a few days ago, I'm doing a presentation for a virtual reference special interest group that will be on how my library uses a wiki and blog to keep reference staff informed of policies and procedures for library services (this is the core of what's in the wiki) and changes to those policies (the blog). The blog is also a way to keep our staff notified of any assignments that are bringing students to the desk and any technical problems we may be having in the library (printers down, databases down, etc.). It is also a way to share tips about new or underused resources (online or print).

As part of my presentation tomorrow about the blog and wiki at my library, I'll be showing them the wiki I started on behalf of our virtual reference special interest group. By demonstrating to them how easy it is to add or revise pages in a wiki, I hope to bolster my case for the value of wikis as a tool for collaboration. To further that end, I put together a page in the wiki that details the many ways that libraries are using wikis. I've also added a page about blogs in libraries. Before the days of wikis, I would have likely had a paper handout for such a presentation. But now, I can use the wiki itself as a handout. As a bonus, the wiki itself can then become the seed for a shared resource that my colleagues and I can use for our quarterly meetings. I can think of a lot of content that our group would like to have up on the web in a shared space.

Although rights to edit or add pages to the wiki are password protected, anyone may view them at this URL: http://vrsig.pbwiki.com/. At present, there really are only two pages of note in this wiki: the one on "wikis" and the one on "blogs."

Research into the evaluation of virtual reference services

One of my two favorite professors I had while a LIS student at the Pratt Institute, Marie Radford, is featured in a Library Journal interview that highlights the work she is doing to evaluate virtual reference services. OCLC and the Rutgers University School of Communication, Information and Library Studies, where Radford is now a professor, have received a grant from IMLS to conduct focus groups of users and librarians and to analyze chat reference transcripts. Lynn Silipigni Connaway from OCLC will be the co-investigator with Radford for this project. More details on the project can be found on the OCLC press release about it.

As a former student of and a former research assistant to Marie Radford, I am excited to hear that she is working on this. I learned so much from her about interpersonal communication in reference transactions that I've tried to carry over to my chat reference work. As an introduction to her work, I highly recommend the presentation she gave with Joe Thompson at VRD in 2004, Yo Dude! Y R U Typin So Slow? Interpersonal Communication in Chat Reference Encounters (be sure to check out the handouts from the presentation).

VRD Conference Blog

Thanks go to Rikhei for tipping me off to the VRD Conference Blog, which at this second has exactly one post. Hope it proves to be a good source of info for those of us who aren't attending (but wish we could). (Link to Rikhei's post about the VRD Conference blog on Lethal Librarian.)

Map of blogging librarians

Scott Pfitzinger, the man behind BiblioTech Web, has used a new Google mash-up, Frappr!, to create a launch a collaboratively built map of blogging librarians. Read Scott's original post about the "Blogging Librarians" map and then go add yourself.

Presentation on blogs and wikis in reference

The next meeting of the Virtual Reference SIG (hosted by METRO) will feature a discussion of the use of blogs and wikis in reference work. I will initiate the discussion with a presentation on the blog that librarians at Baruch College use to learn about new policies, resources, and current questions received at the desk. I will also demonstrate the wiki (it's password-protected...sorry, no link here) we set up that serves as an easily updated reference handbook for Baruch staff. All are invited to attend.

Time: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Location: METRO, 57 E. 11th Street, 4th floor, New York, NY

Directions: http://metro.org/ab_direc.html

About the Virtual Reference SIG: http://www.metro.org/SIGs/virtual.html