I’ve recently noted a couple of new blogs by Canadian University Librarians.
The University Librarian at Simon Fraser University Library, Lynn Copeland, blogs at Distracted Truffle Pig (great name!).
The University Librarian at McMaster University Library, Jeffrey Trecziak, is blogging too. Thanks to Michael Stephens for the pointer!
Both blogs have started with interesting posts. Lynn talks about the role of academic libraries in facilitating scholarly communication, among other things. Jeffrey ponders the role of the library in building cyberinfrastructure. Definitely worth keeping an eye on, I think!
Are any Australian University Librarians blogging, or considering blogging too, I wonder? I’d love to read their insights and about their visions for the future, and perhaps even engage in conversation with them via the blogosphere!
Addendum 9:07pm: The more I think about this, the more I realise that I’d love to hear more from leaders in all sectors of (Australian) libraryland!
September 7th, 2006
Posted by
CW | Academic libraries, Blogging |
4 comments
Jessamyn’s recent post over at librarian.net about the difficulties of finding local copies with OpenWorldCat prompted me to see if it is easier to locate items with what is effectively our national public catalgoue, LibrariesAustralia. LibrariesAustralia has been available to the public since mid-2005. The National Bibliographic Database is our true union catalogue, LibrariesAustralia is a friendlier interface to it (if I’m wrong, NLA staff could correct me here!).
Let’s compare a book that seems appropriate: “The Social Life of Information“. Searching for it on LibrariesAustralia, I find three editions listed, one which has 74 holdings. Holdings appear in a long list, with a mix of government, academic and public libraries. How will I know which one I can access? If I click on the name of the library it will tell me its location and access conditions. Most are: “Details of public access: Open to the public”. It is worth bearing in mind that these details come from a separate database, Australian Libraries Gateway which is usable by the public, but contains a lot of information about ILL rates and isn’t always aimed at non-librarians.
Still, for the most part, it is fairly easy to work out where I can go to get the book. Australia obviously has far fewer libraries than the US which makes the process of going through lists easier. I also tend to use LibrariesAustralia to look up hard-to-get academic books rather than wildly popular books like Harry Potter (which are actually hard to search for, try it). I also use to identify if there are alternate holdings for ILL for researchers and postgrads.
Trying the same search on WorldCat, then selecting a location, eg New York, I get many results but when I click them I end up being taken to that local library’s catalogue search rather than finding out where the library is and whether I can access the book there. There is an additional link to “Library Information”, but that is often a link to the library’s homepage rather than being a database in WorldCat.
I do find LibrariesAustralia easier to use to find local copies than WorldCat, but that may also be partially because I am familiar with the libraries that are in my area. Still, access information is readily available to save people from going to libraries where they don’t have access, which is always a good thing.
What do you use LibrariesAustralia for?
September 4th, 2006
Posted by
Fiona | Australia, All sectors, Useful resources |
one comment
The Victorian Local Government Minister Candy Broad recently launched an Australian first innovation entitled “Library Link”.
Library Link when fully functional, will allow users to search all Victorian public library catalogues and place an inter-library loan for any given item, all through the one portal interface. This gives any Victorian resident, access to over 10 million books and other items.
The Library Link project is a statewide extension of the Murray Link project, which has been operating in the north and west of the state for some time. At present the library services of Darebin, Boroondara, Casey and Cardinia are coming on board, with Port Phillip to follow soon and the rest of the state thereafter.
More…
September 3rd, 2006
Posted by
tango | All sectors |
no comments
I’m not blogging the conference, nor am I going, unfortunately, but this item caught my attention recently … I thought I’d love to attend, to hear new ideas and celebrate our profession and the people in it.. So perhaps you will be interested, too - either to register (if registrations haven’t closed), or to conduct a similar event in your place on the planet.
‘Library stars: best of the best’, a one-day forum to be held on 19 September 2006 at the Perth Convention Exhibition Centre, will showcase achievement and innovation in public libraries. Presented by the ALIA Public Libraries Reference Group, it is sponsored by Peter Pal Library Supplier and SirsiDynix. This is a satellite event for the 2006 ALIA Biennial Conference, CLICK06. Registration is not included with your conference registration; you must register separately. Numbers are limited, so please sign up as soon as possible. For the latest program details and to register:
http://alia.org.au/governance/committees/public.libraries/stars.html
September 3rd, 2006
Posted by
Bronwyn | Click06, Australia, Public libraries, All sectors, ALIA |
no comments
I think I can safely say that the Thali are all enjoying the experience of collaborating on this blog, exploring new ideas, learning and building an online community of (mostly) Australian (mostly) librarian bloggers. I’m amazed at how quickly this blog is capturing an audience with our subscriber numbers increasing and links coming into the blog from different sorts of sites. But we don’t just want an ‘audience’ we want a community.
If you are a contributor, commenter or reader of this blog we’d like to get to know you better. You can put yourself on the librariesinteract map, wherever you are in the world and tell us a little bit about yourself.
Not sure? - think of it as a learning experience - try your hand at one of these new-fangled web 2.0 thingies.
And while we are on the topic of online communities - having mentioned Nancy White’s blog, Full Circle Online Interaction (I discovered it quite by accident), Nancy checked out librariesinteract.info and liked what she saw. Nancy is visiting Australia in October on a speaking tour. There are a number of events around the country on e-learning and online community.
- With the emergence of more individually focused tools that enable connection, how do we find the balance between the individual and the community?
- What do we mean when we talk about blogs and communities in the same breath?
- How do we introduce social practices mediated by technology to second wave adopters?
- What are the top eight competencies of online interaction?
- What are the exciting organisational impacts and benefits of communities of practice (CoPs)?
– Australian Flexible Learning Network.
Contact details and dates.
September 2nd, 2006
Posted by
Peta Hopkins | Events, About this blog, All sectors, Special projects |
no comments
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