Information isn't Reserved for Books

It's online, and today's librarians are experts at finding it. That's the title of an article in the Houston Chronicle by CAROLYN FEIBEL

Please go read this great article. Thanks to Mary Ann Heltshe-Steinhauer, our Community Relations Coordinator here for directing me to this.

In the article, Saima Kadir, a reference librarian with the Houston Public Library is quoted with this most wonderful statement: ""Being a librarian is an ancient profession. Since antiquity, we have helped people with their information needs, whether it's something on a tablet or a scroll or something in Facebook. That's how I look at it."

You really gotta read the rest to get the feel for how exciting the library profession is now. Geez, makes me want to run out and get my MLIS - RIGHT NOW! Who knows, maybe someday...

Women Who Tech

Women Who Tech is a TeleSummit for Women in Technology.

The site states:

"in the non-profit and political world will bring together the most talented and renowned women breaking new ground in technology. The telesummit aims to create a supportive network for the vibrant and thriving community of women in technology professions by giving them an open platform to share their talents, experiences and insights via virtual workshops and panel discussions."

Be sure to get on their mailing list. You can also join them on Facebook and Twitter.

WOW - Check Out the Allen County Public Library Online Tour

This is very impressive. Click here to see the online tour for the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, IN. Go check out their homepage too. This is very 2.0!

It's Library Lovers' Month

Did you know that? I didn't know that?! Happy Valentine's Day one and all. Go read what WebJunction is doing to celebrate.

Oh, The Places You Can Reach

It's amazing how many people can land on a blog once you create it. I added sitemeter to my blog a couple of months ago to see how many people are reading this blog and where they are from. As you can see from the map above, people are from all over. Most in the US, but can you believe there were hits from the Netherlands, Moscow, Iran, India, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and Australia!! So go for it, make your own blog. In fact, here's a quick little video on how to get started on Blogger or Wordpress.

Oklahoma's Siga Adelante (Moving Forward) Program

I attended a webinar on WebJunction yesterday called Oklahoma's Siga Adelante (Moving Forward) Program. I urge you to listen to the archive of this webinar here and check out all of the resources here.

The webinar was about the successful program, developed by six Oklahoma public libraries in partnership with their state library to provide free workshops on family literacy, health, and citizenship to their local Spanish-speaking communities. Pat Williams, the project coordinator, presented along with Vicki Mohr and Leslie Gelders from the Oklahoma Department of Libraries.

The resources made available are PHENOMENAL. You don't have to come up with one original idea at all, it's all laid out here. All the planning and materials are done and ready for you to use. Please take a look!

The XO Laptop as Ebook Reader

Please go over to the Librarian by Design blog and read what Robin Ashford has to say about this. Why summarize what she has already done so beautifully and she includes a video to see how this incredible laptop works. What an awesome machine!

Spanish-English Pointing Guide for Public Library Staff

If you follow this blog, you know that I am one of the trainers for the Spanish Language Outreach Workshops that are happening all across the state of PA and across the US. Because of this, I'm always trying to stay on top of resources available to assist Spanish-speaking patrons. Well, today I stumbled on a great resource from the Beaufort County Library in SC. Be sure to check out their Spanish-English Pointing Guide for Public Library Staff. The cool thing is that they decided to share this resource with Webjunction after participating in one of the workshops in SC. This is what collaboration and sharing are all about. Why should we reinvent wheels when they are already out there. This is the true benefit of social networking!

While on the subject, I hope a lot of you will register for the Spanish Outreach workshop happening locally at the Lancaster Public Library on May 21, 2008. Just click here to register. Hope to see you there!!

I Love My Librarian Campaign

From today's PALINET newsletter:

"The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) of ALA is sponsoring a national campaign on Valentine's Day. Library supporters are asked to flood their legislators with "I Love My Librarian" cards, in support of LSTA funding. To participate, click here."

Simple Explanation of RSS

I've become quite a fan of Howard Rheingold. I ran across his sites when getting my Web2.0 presentation together. He puts out a great vlog you can find here. Be sure to check out his first video and others, but today I want to focus on his second one - Introduction to RSS. He does an EXCELLENT job of describing what RSS is all about. I sure hope you will watch this and start using RSS. I truly believe any professional needs to continue their education in this manner. You will always find a Bloglines tab open in my browser. After you watch his video, you will realize this is not just about fun and play, it's about education!! Be sure to subscribe to HIS RSS feed after learning about how to do just that in the video.