Wrapping it up

This semester I made an attempt to talk about dissemination and how it relates to information science and librarianship. I discussed some traditional approaches to dissemination: information policy, library ethics, and patron privacy. But I discussed some off-the-cuff topics such as: library blogs, library outreach. I even touched on choosing a better web browser (Choose Firefox!), dating in a library and who to call in an emergency (Ask-a-Librarian).

This was only a small look from a beginning student. There is so much more to discuss in the information science and dissemination field that a semester of studies can be dedicated to this.

I hope it has been interesting for you and that you have taken away a little something from this experience. I know I have!

Thank you for visiting!!

Traci

What....I can get a date at the library??

I am a happily married girl, so I don't have to worry about it anymore, but I remember the time it was hard to find a date. A girl could look everywhere: the grocery store, their favorite bar, church, friends, the horrible blind dates. Later, Internet personal sites became popular (admittedly, that is where I met my husband) and the dating world changed. Around that time an invention called Speed Dating became popular. Most of us know the idea, so I won't elaborate, but even libraries are jumping on the wagon with this one.

The local library, where I live, Alachua County, offers this occasionally at their library. In fact, last time I was at my local branch library, I noticed the invitation.

"Romance by the book" is a little different and asks book lovers to come to the library prepared to discuss their favorite book.

I'm not sure if any matches were successful but you can't help but admire the library's attempt at incorporating this interesting twist.

Interesting, a quick Google search of speed dating library returns over 500,000 hits...hmm, maybe they are on to something.

Citations
Library to hold 'Romance By the Book' speed dating event for book lovers. (26 April, 2007). Retrieved July 13, 2008 from website: http://www.aclib.us/index.php?site_area=about_the_library&page=news&item=00111

Who ya gonna call...

I know I'm not the only one that has trouble finding information on something important. Sometimes the Internet just doesn't help you as much as it should. Sometimes virtual sources don't get you to the exact information you are looking for. Sometimes people just don't know where to start. That's where an helpful service comes into play.

Florida has a service called "Ask a Librarian" that is operated through a joint project with the Tampa Bay Library Consortium and the College Center for Library Automation. People anywhere in Florida can find answers to their questions in minutes and can forget about navigating through a bunch of websites that probably wouldn't be helpful anyway (Ask a librarian).

Since this is a blog about dissemation, I am doing my part in "spreading the word". So, when you are really down on your luck and can't the info you need, you can always visit this website:

http://www.askalibrarian.org/aal.asp

Citations
Ask a Librarian. Retrieved July 11, 2008 from website: http://info.askalibrarian.org/index.asp

Mozilla Firefox - A librarians dream tool

A million years ago (really less than two) I was using this ancient tool called Internet Explorer as my web browser. IE and I were pretty good friends. She guided me to the right websites, let me use Google to find my desired information, basically sustained me for many years.

But one day, I awoke to this amazing invention called Mozilla Firefox. What is Mozilla...not a large animal scaling a building towards a cute blonde, but an amazing technological tool that lets you surf the Internet and personalize it to your heart's content.

I knew there would be research on Mozilla, but I didn't realize exactly how much.

Rensberger (2005) talks about his introduction to Firefox after a conversation with his editor. In January 2005, Firefox had over 20 million downloads (Rensberger, 2005). Rensberger (2005) also points out Firefox’s speed and availability in 27 languages – this was in 2005, now Firefox is available in 33 languages (my quick count on their website).

Now don’t get me wrong, Internet Explorer is fine and dandy, but it isn’t nearly as helpful or cool as Firefox.

Alright, Traci – enough gushing about this little invention. Why can this web browser help me. Francoeur (2006) explains this much better than I ever could when referencing the add-on programs available through the free-open source Mozilla Foundation “these add-on programs ...turn an elegant browser into a handy Swiss Army tool right at the reference desk” (p. 166).

Okay, so what does this have to do with dissemination. Well, a lot actually, silly. The faster and easier a library or information science professional can find the information the better for the patron, and with tools incorporated into Firefox information is readily available for the informed and experienced information professional. Now, I know it isn't easy to change, but if you haven't - you are really, really missing out!!

Citations
Francoeur, S. (2006). Firefox at the Reference Desk. Library Journal, 131(20), 166.

Rensberger, D. (2005). Firefox: An Alternative Browser to Theirs. Searcher 13(5), 17-20

Side note: I was just thinking about this old New York Times newspaper article I read tonight. I remembered that I saved it to my favorites and went to retrieve it tonight. Funny aside, it was published exactly one year ago today. A hipper crowd of shushers focuses on the new generation of librarians and their love of information. With this new generation coming in (me, one day too, I hope!) to the library and information science field, there are bound to be changes and different technology incorporations. I mentioned in a previous post about libraries and their use of blogs and podcasts, but I've yet to share some of my favorites. Firefox makes it super easy to get your favorite podcasts and RSS feeds through Sage (a Firefox add-on) - another reason why I absolutely love Firefox!

Quick note about the pictures on this blog

Unless stated otherwise and unless taken by me or of me...all the pictures on this blog were taken from Flickr. Flickr encourages photo sharing and when photos are uploaded, users give permission for others to use their photographs. Flickr actually uses "metadata" in their organization and users are asked to help in organizing information and sharing.

Spreading the word to all users

Last semester, I took Web Design for Libraries. I loved this class since it provided an important resource: web design (shocking, huh). All sarcasm, aside, I thought this course was helpful, since it explained CSS, HTML, and WYSIWYG tools. The biggest component of the course, was also designing a website. The instructor let us be very creative and pick different subjects. Some of my peers focused on designing a webpage for their place of employment, others made travel websites or wedding websites, others, like me, chose to focus on an aspect of library science.

Right before that class started, I thought about how easy it was for most of us to get our information. When we want to know something, we just visit a website. Some of us stay in contact with people through MySpace, Facebook, or our own personal blogs. We visit Wikipedia or do a quick Google search when we want to find information. Some people aren’t that lucky. The few weeks before that class started, something else clicked, I came into contact with two individuals that changed the way I thought about library access, so I chose to concentrate on web accessibility for people with disabilities. While they can visit these sites, it isn’t the same traditional way we visit them. So long story, short, I focused my website on web accessibility, as it relates to libraries.

I found out some interesting facts. Most importantly, in relation to dissemination, it is important for libraries to comply with Web Accessibility initiatives under the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) through the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) as well as the requirement under Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998 which requires “electronic and information technology developed or purchased by federal departments and agencies be accessible to people with disabilities” (Hong, Katerattanakul, & Lee, 2008, p. 27).

Many libraries already do this and many already provide important services to ensure they are reaching all of their patrons. Many libraries provide close captioned videos, sign language interpreters, screen readers at computer terminals, talking books, Braille resources, large print books, assisted listening devices or talking books. All of these tools and resources are important for libraries to provide and should be an essential addition to libraries that haven’t yet incorporated these services.

Citations
Hong, S., Katerattanakul, P., & Lee, D., (2008). Evaluating government website
Accessibility: Software tool vs human experts. Management Research News, 31, 27-40.

Academic libraries and dissemination

Academic libraries exist to perpetuate learning in an academic environment. Academic libraries can be separated by general subjects like medicine, law, social sciences, communication, etc., but can also be combined as one main university library. Academic libraries serve “community colleges, liberal arts colleges, universities” (Gorman, 2000, p. 83) and that specific university community (Gorman, 2000). With this in mind, the academic library doors are also open to members of the community as a whole. “Publicly and privately supported institutions that hold depository collections of federal and state documents are obliged by law to make these collections available to any member of the public” (Gorman, 2000, p. 83). Access to taxpayers and their families cannot be denied (Gorman, 2000). Dissemination of government documents is an essential part of an academic library.

For academic libraries, dissemination can come in the form of library instruction. Academic libraries work hard to ensure their students have access to library instruction. Library instruction helps the users and “empower them to profit from higher education” (Gorman, 2000, p. 84). Gorman (2000) provides detailed explanations for the need of library instruction in higher education: poor high school preparedness, students re-entering school after a long absence, and community college transfers (p. 84). All of these students would benefit from education in library use, especially in an academic setting, since this would be different than any previous environment. Gorman (2000) finds this incredibly useful, especially since “one could not find a better expression of the service ethic than bringing familiarity with the world of recorded knowledge to those who really need it” (Gorman, 2000, p. 84).

Academic libraries have been recognized “as a critical factor necessary to support the curriculum and research for students and faculty” (Rubin, 2004, p. 278). Brown, Weingart, Johnson & Dance (2004) examine the freshman orientation library program and the effect of this instruction on their educational success. Brown, et al. (2004) found that first-year orientation programs help “reduce possible barriers to academic achievement” (p. 394). This is especially important due to the many demands placed upon academic librarians. Having administration’s backing for student orientation and training, helps lend support for the necessity of library funding from college administrators. Brown, et al. (2004) explain “in response to ever tightening budgets, there is a new movement within universities to justify individual budgets based on positive and calculable assessment” (p. 394). The fact that librarians are able to justify their success through these programs can only further assist them.

Academic libraries also play a significant role in technological advances. Anyone that walks into an academic library will first be struck by the number of computer terminals and access to immediate technology for its users. Digital libraries and off-campus access are only two major accomplishments of the 21st Century library. Even the idea of the traditional library building has changed. Students need not even enter the campus library to access journal articles, databases, e-books, and course reserve materials. Many of us, in this program, never have to set foot in the university library and can access all our journal articles through our home computer. As Wilson (2004) points out, “the impact of technology on academic library instruction has been immense and nearly incalculable” (p. 341). Young students entering schools now have never lived in a time where the Internet wasn’t readily available to them, where they didn’t have access to PDAs, iPods and Google (Wilson, 2004, p. 341). They have almost always been exposed to “digital collections and mass digitization” (Wilson, 2004, p. 341). This is helpful for the field of technology, but often difficult for the librarian who is trying to compete first hand with remaining ahead of the trends and educating herself in the advances of technology and dissemination.

Citations

Gorman, M. (2000). Our enduring values. Chicago: American Library Association.

Rubin, R.E. (2004). Foundations of library and information science. New York: Neal-Schuman.

Brown, A. G., Weingart, S., Johnson, J. R., & Dance, B. (2004). Librarians don't bite. Reference
Services Review, 32(4), 394-403.

Wilson, L. (2004). What a difference a decade makes: Transformation in academic library
instruction. Reference Services Review, 32(4), 338-346.