General information

Praise for LITA Blog

LITA Blog got a bit of a mention in the American Libraries September issue. In Joseph Janes’ Internet Librarian column, on page 70, we are praised for doing a “stand-up job of reportage.” The reporting could not happen without a large number of volunteers who give their time to write thoughtful posts on sessions and meetings. Our volunteers are awesome. For the Spring, LITA Blog has some big plans in the works, but we are keeping them under wraps until Midwinter. Is there something you, as a reader, would like to see here? Let us know. We are open to suggestions.

2006

BIGWIG Meeting Notes from Annual 06

Over half the group has laptops upon the lap. It is quite amusing. These are just notes from our business meeting, so they are very informal. BIGWIG is the blogging, interactive media, wiki, and social software interest group of LITA. We have our program Monday at 10:30, Next Stop Blogging. (added later: which went grrreeeat!) Agenda Consider program for 2007 Hosting Publishing policy Flickr account is linked to a Yahoo ID and Yahoo does not have a great privacy policy – do we need to talk about this? Health of the blog In between meetings Standards category Officers category Wiki During the intros, Karen Schneider gets beignet powder on her laptop and there is much hilarity. Chris Strauber gets a picture, so it is out there somewhere. There is a LITA Wiki! The LITA education committee has content for the wiki and was wondering if this group would take on…

2006

LITA President's Program: We Are Here. Where Are Our Users?

We Are Here. Where Are Our Users? Cathy De Rosa OCLC VP, Marketing and Library Services John Horrigan Pew Internet & American Life Project [My comments are in brackets. I might have to change batteries halfway through the program. Just a warning.] Where are the connections and disconnections between us and our users? Cathy goes first: It is easy to miss the things that are all around us. [We are immune to them because we see them each day.] Cathy spends some time showing us some of the things that have come from the OCLC environmental scan. Only about 1% of users start on our web pages when looking for something. In 1950, a similar study of library use showed that only 1% of the people said they would ask a librarian about a topic. Not much has changed in 50 years. For real change, there has to be behavioral…

2006

The Annual Top 10 Trends Extravaganza

Top 10 Tech Trends [This is always a great session. This year, the format was a little different and allowed for more time and discussion between the panel members and the audience. I liked the new set up, but I wished the panel members would have gotten a couple more minutes each. They were limited to five and Walt Crawford, as moderator, did a good job of keeping them within their limits. My comments are in brackets.] Marshall Breeding Clifford Lynch Eric Lease Morgan Andrew Pace Karen Schneider Roy Tennant Tom Wilson Walt Crawford, moderator Andrew Pace Findability – Our OPAC doesn’t suck anymore. Reworking the catalog is not a small fix, but a small piece of a larger puzzle. How do we aggregate all the information out there? Right now the people who are aggregating data are not librarians. We need to start thinking about this. Automatic classification and…

2006

BIGWIG Meeting Moved

The BIGWIG IG meeting, for all those interested in blogs, wikis, and other social networking tools has a new place and time. We will now be meeting in room 274 (the LITA Bloggers’ room) of the Morial Convention Center at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. All are welcome. We hope to see you there.

2006

Now Accepting Volunteers for Annual in New Orleans

Be a part of the fun and blog for LITA. We have a tentative schedule up here, but feel free to volunteer for things not currently appearing on the list. If you volunteer for something not on the list, please let me know when the event is occurring. We are looking for someone to give us some local color, so if you know New Orleans and want to share, we have a venue for you! No experience required for bloggers, though we would love to see some of our experienced volunteers back again. If you would like to volunteer, please email Michelle Boule, and I will answer your questions, put you on the official schedule, or bring about world peace. You choose.

2006

OCLC Symposium – Part 4

I really saved the very best for last. Antony Brewerton from Oxford Brookes University Library, UK (not only does he have a delightful accent, but he has a great sense of humor and keeps the audience laughing) We need to change the perspective of libraries and reach people from different backgrounds at a local level. Antony spends a lot of time looking at particular comments in the OCLC study to highlight the fact that people think libraries are only about books and they may not use our other resources because of that belief. Libraries are different things to different people and we should market to them all accordingly. He then says something that seems to be the advice of the day: We should be customer oriented not product oriented. At Oxford Brookes, they have a team in the library whose primary function is marketing. Their marketing was informaed by their…

2006

OCLC Symposium – Part 3

Patricia Martin – Marketing Libraries: Defending the Brand Libraries are in the best of times. Disruptive competition drives innovation. Behold the rise of the second renaissance generation – the RenGen. They live in a knowledge economy. There is a formal delivery system for the knowledge of culture and there is also an informal system that is growing faster than libraries. The RenGen ignore the formal system on a daily basis. They have created their own information system. They are generation that does not see libraries as essential. The preference for learning is visual and narrative for the RenGen and they do not get these things from libraries. In 2003, 23% of all mall shoppers browsed compared to 37% in 2002 – PEOPLE DO NOT LIKE TO BROWSE. For some people being well informed is social currency and libraries can give this to them. Do we have something special for them?…

2006

OCLC Symposium – Part 2

Jennifer Rice is the owner of a marketing company and she focuses on the 6 major consumer trends that effect everyone. A brand is reputation, an idea formed in the minds of your constituents. What you say is marketing and what you do, reputation, is brand What can you do that people desire that is deliverable and distinctive? Convenience – too many choices and not enough time brands include 7-11, Netflix, Goole, Amazon, Southwest Airlines Libraries should be concerned about Netflix, because they are teaching people that they do not have to wait, they can keep things as long as they want, and they can get it delivered to their door. The expectation level is going up. Community – grassroots economy The most effective brands hit somewhere on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Libraries should view ourselves less as a provider and more as a host. You could offer comfortable seating,…