Goodbye from Laura

Wednesday 3rd March 2010 is my last day in post in the Staff Development team.  This blog will no longer be updated, but the existing content will remain.   I’ve had over 1,500 hits in 9 months – thanks for reading!

New items in the Staff Library – January 2010

Hazel Woodward and Lorraine Estelle – Digital Information: Order or anarchy? – ZA4065.DIG

Barbara Allan – Supporting Research Students – 711.92.G73.ALL

• Discover more resources using SOLO Search tags for ’stfnew-jan10′ to find this list in a flash
• Check availability and place holds using OLIS
• Find out more about the Staff Library

Find books for your course in the Staff Library

This image shows all the Staff Library tags that are currently being used in SOLO. Tags with a date, e.g. stfnew-nov09 show new books added to the library in that month. Tags with stfsuggestion show suggested reading for different Staff Development courses. The larger the tag, the more items it represents.

When you book on an OULS Staff Development course, you are asked to quote the course code to help those who process your booking.

Course codes look like this: OULS/INF/VOI

‘OULS’ relates to OULS Staff Development on the system we use for making bookings. ‘INF’ refers to the group of course relating to information, and ‘VOI’ to a specific course (in this case, voice coaching).

It can be helpful to prepare for a course, or follow up afterwards, by finding a relevant book in the Staff Library to study.

To make this easier, I have added some tags in SOLO to give you some suggested titles for each course series:

stfsuggestion-ouls-bit Bite-size management (includes contracts, recruitment, navigating change)

stfsuggestion-ouls-com Communications

stfsuggestion-ouls-cpd Continuing professional development

stfsuggestion-ouls-hsa Health and Safety

stfsuggestion-ouls-inf Information (includes people with disabilities, mental health, harassment)

stfsuggestion-ouls-man Management (includes leading change, performance management, supervisory skills)

To find these titles, start from SOLO, click on Tags and search for the tag you’re interested in. You will then see the list of suggested titles.

New year – new learning

Happy new year 2010!

Have you made any resolutions this January? Are you planning to learn something new?

In 2 weeks’ time, on 18th January 2010, 23 Things Oxford will begin.  This is an online learning scheme which takes place over 12 weeks.  Each week, you will learn new things about Web 2.0 and how libraries are using this technology.

The aim of this programme is to introduce all library staff (whatever their role) to Web 2.0 technologies – working on the principle that exposure is the first stage in learning. Over the 12 weeks, the aim is for staff to spend a little time each week working on the project, building up their own skills as well as adding to their abilities at work. It is called 23 Things because there are 23 tasks to complete.  23 Things Oxford is based on the original 23 Things program which ran at the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County in the USA in 2006.

This programme is open to ALL staff in Oxford libraries regardless of their position and status (full and part time).  It is a self-discovery programme which encourages participants to take control of their own learning and to use their lifelong learning skills through exploration and play. Participants are encouraged to work together and share with each other their discoveries, techniques and tips both in person and through their blogs.  There will also be 3 drop-in sessions offered to support this programme.

For further information, including how to register, please see http://23thingsoxford.blogspot.com

Memes on Twitter: #librariantvshows

A meme is a cultural idea or practice which is passed on between individuals, and is becoming an key part of internet culture.  For example, when a YouTube video “goes viral”, we mean that it has spread rapidly between users, often via social networks.

This is also happening on Twitter.  As well as topics that are trending, there are many sub-trending-threshold ideas which also gain momentum and entertain or provoke thought for a limited time.  When Nick Griffin appeared on the BBC’s Question Time programme earlier this autumn, #bbcqt was a lively Twitter meme for some hours before appearing under trending topics.

Last week, #librariantvshows brightened my Friday and though it didn’t trend, it entertained many people as a bit of pre-Christmas fun.  The object was to think of a TV show (this later blended to include books and films) whose title could be adapted to make it into a TV show involving libraries or librarians.

Here are some of my favourites:

walkyouhome: Queer as Folksonomies

nikkikaram: Loan & Order

archiwicz: Star Trek: The Next Circulation

polianarchy: The ALA Team

Mitchley:  D.O.I. SOS

daveyp: Talis from the Crypt

ifbook:  Blind Data

EmmaP: shelf location, location, location

bethanar: How I Metadata’d Your Mother

orangeaurochs: Indexer Morse

ifbook: Whose Fine Is It Anyway?

libsmatter: M*A*S*H*U*P*

meimaimaggio: SFX and the City

Mitchley: The SF-X Files

chrisl1953: The Ex Libris Factor

julianbeckton: EBSCO to the country

abbybarker:  Have I got (Over)dues For You

meimaimaggio: Bookside

Mitchley: Da UKS-G Show

CriticalSteph: Bookenders

Viche: A fines romance

daveyp: Beverley Hills 902.10

Emma7114: Pimp my RFID

stuartbenjamin: Top of the OPACs

bethanar: the weeding planners

Emma7114: Open (access) All Hours

walkyouhome: Play Your Discards Right

bethanar: Blind Date Stamp

Velocity of Media Consumption: TV vs. the Web

Via Jakob Nielsen

I found this interesting.  The user experience of TV has definitely moved on in recent years, but it’s nothing like Web 2.0. Yet…

New items in the Staff Library – November 2009

Cory Doctorow – Content: Selected Essays on Technology, Creativity, Copyright and the Future of the Future – Z551.DOC

Graham P Cornish – Copyright: Interpreting the law for libraries, archives and information services – Z551.COR

Sheila Pantry and Peter Griffiths – How to Give Your Users the LIS Services they Want – Z674.4.PAN

Alan Gilchrist – Information Science in Transition – Z665.GIL

Rachel Singer Gordon (ed) – Information Tomorrow: Reflections on Technology and the Future of Public and Academic Libraries – Z678.9.GOR

Nicole C. Engard (ed) – Library Mashups: Exploring New Ways to Deliver Library Data – Z674.75.ENG

Danuta A. Nitecki and Curtis L. Kendrick – Library offsite shelving: guide for high-density facilities – Z675.S75.NIT

Christina Osborne – Managing Your Boss – HF5548.83.OSB

Kay Ann Cassell – Reference and Information Services in the 21st Century: An introduction – Z711.CAS

Lawrence Lessig – Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy – KF3020.LES

Pamela H. MacKellar – The Accidental Librarian – Z665.2.MAC

Kathy Dempsey – The Accidental Library Marketer – Z716.3.DEM

Mark Gould (ed) – The Library PR Handbook – Z716.3 GOU

Rachel Singer Gordon – What’s The Alternative? Career Options for Librarians and Info Pros – Z682.35.GOR

Ruth Kneale – You Don’t Look Like A Librarian: Shattering Stereotypes and Creating Positive New Images in the Internet Age – Z682.KNE

• Discover more resources using SOLO NEW! Search tags for ’stfnew-nov09‘ to find this list in a flash
• Check availability and place holds using OLIS
• Find out more about the Staff Library

Welcoming library visitors

From the Blue Skunk Blog:

“I walk into too many libraries with signs like this:

What might happen if we replaced our welcome signs with ones like these?”

Shelf labels in the Staff Library

The Staff Library now has shelf labels indicating some of the major Library of Congress divisions in the collection:

There is also a cross-reference by the new books to help users identify classmarks from subject headings:

I’m hoping this will make it easier for people to find what they’re looking for:

Have you visited the library and found this helpful?  Please let me know in the comments.

Poll results

Over the past week, my blog has received 43 views and 13 people participated in the poll.

9 people read the blog via RSS, 2 read it on the web and 2 said it was their first visit to the site.

Thanks for voting!