Building the Next Generation Public Library Website with Drupal John Blyberg, Darien Library, CT Eli Neiburger say “NY-burger”, Ann Arbor District Library, MI Grand Hyatt, Constitution D, 10:30am, Sunday June 24. Buzzing, excited crowd, almost 200. Here are the goodies: Background – Drupal (say “drooo-pull”, accented first syllable) is a fully featured open-source content management system, as opposed to a “build-it-yourself” with Frontpage, Cold Fusion. Another popular CMS for small libraries is Joomla! Plenty of libraries are experimenting with CMS in their internal communications structure, and with Drupal, Ann Arbor has taken it live in a feature-rich way for their library front end website. ILS developers take notice.
Category: 2007
PLTIG (Public Libraries Technology Interest Group)
We met Sunday morning, from 8-9:30 am at the Hyatt Capitol Hill in the Ticonderoga Room. Although we were a small group (which can probably be attributed to a combination of the hour of the day and the distance of the hotel from WCC)… but covered some good territory and shared our plan for MidWinter and Annual 2008. We welcomed Scott Reinhart and Bob Kuntz (Carroll County (Maryland) Public Library to our meeting and they gave a brief history of the their library and how they have managed to do so much with technology in their community. Clearly, one of their greatest assets is a well-funded infrastructure since the county “capitalized” their hardware and software, they receive over $225,000 per year for refresh and upgrades alone. They are also “entrepreneurial” and receive a small income stream from operating as an ISP for dial-up residents, providing server access and support to…
BIGWIG Social Software Showcase – David Free and David Lee King
As the second piece of the BIGWIG Social Software Showcase, David Free and David Lee King have put together an incredible resource on Twitter on the Showcase wiki: start with David Free, and then move to David Lee King’s to get the full twitter treatment. More Showcase information coming throughout the day. If you are in DC for Annual, please join BIGWIG today Saturday, June 23rd, from 1:30-2:30 in the Renaissance Mayflower Cabinet Room for discussion and conversation during the Social Software Showcase.
Interest Group Break Out – 6/23/07
Matt Calsada chaired the break-out session business meeting. WCC Rm 209 B, 9 – 10 a.m. Introductions … 20 attended. Discussion about renewals … it’s so important that the paperwork be completed… forms are available on the website. Also, the reports and chair(s) signatures are required. The following IGs are up for renewal: BIGWIG, Electronic Resources Mgmt, Human/Machine INterface, Internet Resources & Services, JPEG 2000 in Archives & Libraries, RFID Technology, Standards, and Topic Maps. Gail Clement fielded questions … — Do you “have” to come before PPC? You do have to “submit” a proposal and it will be reviewed by PPC. The time slots are limited, so everyone can’t appear anyway. Proposals can be mailed or faxed by first week of July to allow for new proposals after “business meetings” at Annual. However, if you do come in person, you’ll have access to the experience of PPC memberships. Forms…
LITA Committee Chairs
Saturday June 23, 2007 9:00 – 10:00 am Washington Convention Center 209 Important Resources for Committee Chairs LITA Staff LITA Table at Conferences LITA Committees web pages Committee lists and membership Reports submission form All meetings are open (except awards or personnel matters Please submit in timely manner (within a week or two of conference, please; not a week before the next conference) 🙂 Orientation Tip Sheet Calendar LITA Manual Annual Program Planning (Manual Section 10) 2008 Program Proposal Form Speaker/Panelist Release Form Committee Chairs suggested reciprocal LITA.org –> LITA wiki links for better committee flexibility. Web Committee will discuss this at the Web Committee Meeting. Also suggested adding Liaisons pages to wiki for more timely updating.
BIGWIG Social Software Showcase – Casey Bisson
As the first piece of the BIGWIG Social Software Showcase, Casey Bisson has posted, as he describes it, “an almost-manifesto masquerading as a presentation.” In addition to being thought provoking, Casey has used the Showcase as a place to announce a new project: OpenLibrary. Read up, and feel free to discuss the project here, within the Showcase Forum, or on the Showcase Wiki Discussion pages. We have lots of venues for the virtual world to participate with us here at ALA Annual, so please, join in. More Showcase information coming throughout the day. If you are in DC for Annual, please join BIGWIG today Saturday, June 23rd, from 1:30-2:30 in the Renaissance Mayflower Cabinet Room for discussion and conversation during the Social Software Showcase.
LITA Joint Committe and IG Chairs
Saturday June 23, 2007 8:00 – 9:00 am Washington Convention Center 209 1. Introductions all around President Bonnie Postelwaithe Vice President Mark Beatty (I was stuck on a long bus and missed these 1st three) Executive Director Mary Taylor LITA experiences 5% growth this year Mostly student members, we need to help our new mebers find their place in LITA National Forum in Nashville was a success, see you in Denver 4 Regional Institutes this year Mosly licensed by consortia and institutions Schuman Publishers will be publishing LITA Guides So LITA gets 10% discounts from Schumann and ALA Editions LITA publications LITA-L moved to Sympa Program Planning Chair Gail Clement Spoke about how LITA’s PPC is seen by other Division’s groups as a good model LITA PPC 1 year process is nimble, yet has a clear process to catch and fix omissions and errors LITA Web Manager David Altenhof We’ve…
LITA Blogging Room @ ALA
Just another reminder as people flood into Washington DC for Annual: if you need a place to blog, charge your computers, or just rest for a moment, the LITA sponsored blogging room is: WCC 154B Come join some of us, and blog the conference!
Taking Chances: Our Future or Our Demise?
ALA Open Space Technology Conference within the Conference Washington Convention Center room 101 8:00 am to 4:00 pm Saturday and Sunday Do you find the most useful and energizing “session” is the ad hoc discussion in the hallway or during a break? Do you yearn to expand on those conversations with colleagues who share your passion for ideas and concepts not necessarily on the formal program? ALA is making space available and a facilitator, if necessary. Drop by for a while or stay for the day. I thought I saw this on the Annual Wiki but now I don’t find it. I cribbed the stuff above from Mary Ghikas’ “What’s Happening” notes (which I was given at my request while socializing in the Renaissance Washington Lobby)
New ALA Website Mockup – Feedback requested
The ALA Web Advisory Committee would like to broaden their input-gathering process, so I’m posting it here. The link to the wireframes and survey has been added to the WebPlanning wiki, at http://wikis.ala.org/webplanning/index.php/Web_Planning Please have a look at the mockups UserWorks created for ALA as a result of the usability assessment and subsequent exercises they performed for us. Background: http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2007/june2007/ALAwebsiteredesign.htm More background: http://wikis.ala.org/webplanning The start page: http://userworks.com/ala/start.htm These wireframes will be available at the kiosks at the registration area of the Washington Convention Center. WAC will talk more about this at the WAC meeting on Monday.