Links and Thoughts for the week
This week started with a bang! We’ve been discussing the pros and cons of allowing people to use apps like CardStar to borrow our stuff. The circulation committee discussed it in their last meeting and from what I’ve heard it was a rousing discussion. I’m for it but there is some concern about making sure the card number on the phone belongs to the person using it. I hope we figure out a way to allow the use of the app. It’s much too convenient and will only grow in popularity. I may have a longer post about this soon.
I was asked to do a presentation at the monthly Library Advisory Board yesterday. They wanted me to discuss our newest digital offering to the public, Freegal. We’ve been offering it for 4 weeks and they were interested in how it worked and what it did. The presentation went pretty well. They were receptive, asked good questions and were excited about it. They fed me too…which I will never complain about.
I didn’t have a lot of time to read this week but the links below are some posts that caught my attention and have gotten me thinking. Want to take these posts with you? Download them here.
- Roy Tennant provides some good information to new librarians. It’s good for mid career librarians too…
- In a follow up to his previous post, Roy Tennant gives veteran librarian some advice.
- Standard internet speeds will be MUCH FASTER in the near future thanks to new infrastructure being built.
- Boyhun Kim asks a great question. While we are not Computer Scientists many of us are smart enough to learn basic coding. This would help us develop basic ‘hacks’ that we can use to help our libraries solve problems, customize software and create new things.
- Phil Shapiro has an interesting idea. Different libraries in a public library system develop specialties. Instead of all locations trying to offer the same service, each location could develop a core service that would distinguish it from the others. We could have libraries that focus on art, technology, literature etc. I haven’t really thought this through yet but I like the idea.
