Online Reference

MSB library system provides online references using Meebo as a Web 2.0 tools. This instant messaging tool was incorporated by the online librarian, and is a reference service that is helpful and convenient for students. First, it allows the students to communicate instantly with the MSB Librarian online and ask questions and have answers right away. Secondly, the students can use different messaging systems such as AIM, Yahoo, MSN, Google talk and Meebo. In addition, the talk is private, since it is only between the librarian and the student. Third, the Widget Meebo is also placed in the library home page for your convenience, so you can access it from any computer connected to the Internet. Here is the link for MSB Library http://students.msbcollege.edu/library/

Reference Services

I recently participated in the Webinar MORE Reference session training. It was a very interesting. We talked and practiced about Reference Interviews in all types of libraries. We also did a detailed study about print reference materials and Electronic Resources. In addition we discussed the future of the Reference Section in libraries. The question: Is print reference dead? was a topic to be analyzed by the participants. Of course, the library as a Virtual Reference Service, known as Online Reference was a much discussed topic within the training. In addition, we had training in Reader‘s Advisory. The interview skills in the Reader’s Advisory are similar to the reference interview, but oriented to finding out the patron's needs regarding reading.

The Print Collection in the Libraries

What do book displays mean for libraries among all these online resources and e-books? You can think about the books in the shelves at the MSB library in Rochester. Most of them are useful for research and there are several books for enjoyable reading. But the students usually go directly to the computer and most of their research is online. It is amazing the advantage of the e-books through the Net Library in the online catalog, but it also inevitable that these e-books are creating more distance between the library collection and the patrons. The libraries still have print collections that are useful for the students. The author Linda K Wallace talks about marketing the libraries. One way to promote our collection is through the books display that invites the students and faculty to know and to use the print collection. Librarians also need to create ways to promote or market the online resources and e-books.

Wallace, Linda K. Libraries, Mission & Marketing (Electronic resource)

Online catalog MSB Library.

Second Life Libraries

I visited again the Info Island in the Second Life Libraries. I invite you to watch this You Tube video.

E-Audiobooks and E-Books

As shown in the article of Alan L. Kaye , which I want to share with the readers, I read that iPod or MP3 player lovers have now a new service from the libraries besides music or movies. This new service allows the patrons to download audio books as they do music and videos. In addition, the libraries have e-books service. This innovative and flexible service allows the users to search and use the e-books from the library, from home and from any computer connected to the internet. This great experience saves time for the patrons and staff. The good thing is that it permits you to print a page and save the e-book in your favorites. But it is important to be aware that printing the entire e-book violates copyright laws.

Hubert Humphrey Exhibition

I visited the Hubert Humphrey exhibition at the University of Minnesota. I was impressed by the amount of manuscripts, books and magazines about Humphrey’s life. Including those written documents, furniture, clothing, and art work, plus some items that foreign leaders gave him as gifts, the collection was about 20,000 items. I spent some time reading about this remarkable person: Humphrey was a political leader for more than thirty years, Vice President of the United States (1965-1969) and Senator from Minnesota (1949-1964). Humphrey’s speech at the 1948 Democratic National convention expressed his position about the United States’ need to recognize human rights in the USA. While mayor of Minneapolis, he set standards for civil rights on a national level. Also I learned that he was one of the pioneers of rights for farmers. Hubert Horatio Humphrey was a very friendly and sociable person who got along well with anyone.

MSB Librarians Meeting

I went to an In Service meeting of the MSB at Globe University in Woodbury. I had the opportunity to share information from the Pals Reference User Group Workday. I talked about Library 2.0. I explained the Web tools that libraries are using to attract patrons and to provide more efficient reference services with the use of the Web 2.0 tools.
I pointed out that librarians at MSB are applying these Web tools. Some of the MSB librarians are participating in the 23 Things on a Stick

Thing 23: Final Thoughts

It is wonderful that I finished with the 23 Things on a Stick. I cannot believe that I achieved it. But the steps were so detailed and most of the time the web applications that I selected had user friendly interfaces. I really thank the organizers of this program for the big impulse that they gave me to learn Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 tools. It was such a big learning process for me and this learning was so intensive. Now I know the many web tools on the Internet. And with Library 2.0 tools I will help the patrons at the library even more. I am very sure that from now I will be in touch with what is new in the web tools and I will learn them.

Thing 22: What Did I Learn Today?

I am glad to participate in 23 Things on a Stick. I have learned so many Web 2.0 tools. This learning process has been fun for me. What a lot of new stuff for me! I feel more confident than the first day that I started. I can say that I sometimes struggled with some of these tools, but I have accomplished it.

I am sure that I will be back to check again some of these Library tools to maintain my blog. I will keep in touch with other blogs and I also will keep up with my RSS reader. Now that I know the social networks, I will be connected with library groups, and library 2.0 groups, and I will continue improving myself by attending Webinar sessions.

Thing 21: Beyond My Space: Other Social Networks

In this Thing 21 I read the documentation suggested. I joined the 23 Things on a Stick Ning. I read the postings of other members and left a comment in one of them. Then I added the Ning badge to my blog.

I checked out different social networks. The Teacher Library Ning is an interesting education site, and The Craftster is a hobby social network. I will get back to these social network resources and work with them again.

Thing 20: Library and Social Networks

I took a look at Facebook and MySpace. I prefer to work with Facebook. I set up my account and my network. Then I joined the MSB and Library 2.0 groups. I found students at MSB and librarians participating in 23 Things. Also I found participants in 23 Things from Australia. That was interesting. I found a friend from the Mayo Clinic group and I sent her a message. I will check my profile in Facebook more frequently.

This social network as a web tool for libraries is an option to be in contact with the young and teenagers. In addition, it is a way to openly post exchange of ideas between librarians and patrons. Also, librarians can be in touch with colleagues through these social networks.

Thing 19: Podcast

This Web 2.0 tool is an audio or video broadcast over the internet. I took some time to listen a local podcast: On the road with Minitex by the reference staff. This is a topic that I am interested in right now. Also I visited the directories and the one best I liked was podcast .com. I prefer this directory because it was easy and very user friendly. I searched by some subjects and a list of podcasts showed up. Then I chose the ones I wanted from the list. I subscribed podcast.com to RSS to my reader to access this link more frequently.

Thing 18: You Tube and other online videos

This is the first time that I have worked with You Tube. This is a very good resource to use in libraries as a visual support.

Thing 17: ELM Productivity Tools

The Electronic Library of Minnesota consists of library databases available online for Minnesota libraries. In this Thing 17 I did my search in Gale Database, but when I tried to set up my RSS to my reader it gave me an error message. I will try this later.

Then I tried with EBSCO database. I created my account. I did all the steps successfully; I created my personal folder in Academic Search Premier, and I sent the contents to my e-mail at work. Also I saved it to my flash drive. Next I tried the Net Library. I found the e-book, and opened its content. I made the note there. This Net Library database allows you to share it, so you can work in collaboration with other colleagues. Finally I went to Pro-Quest Newsstand Complete; I searched in this database for full text in the Washington Post. I marked my selection and from my search tab I created a web page. I e-mailed to myself the html file and I saved the text document to my flash drive too. In the Academic Library of Minnesota School of Business, we use these databases. They are a very helpful Web 2.0 productivity tool for Reference service librarians and as a research resource for students and instructors.

Thing 16: Student 2.0 Tools

Certainly, the Web 2.0 tools presented in this Thing are very helpful for students to do research. The University of Minnesota Assignment Calculator and the Research Project Calculator are now being used by academic libraries. Both calculators are a set of steps that calculate the time to accomplish assignments and projects, and they present the option for e-mail reminders.

The Assignment calculator could be useful for public libraries and media center libraries to help students with their assignments. The Research Project Calculator can be used by librarians in the elaboration of library projects.

Both the Assignment Calculator and the Research Project Calculator help to manage the time and the use of resources. Also they provide supportive materials that could be useful for libraries, such as an instructional planning guide, student planning guide, plagiarism detection and proofing assignments.

Thing 15: Online Games and Libraries

I agree that libraries should provide games for patrons, because young people and teenagers are around electronic devices, such as Xbox, Super Station, etc. They also play games over the internet with players over the world. The libraries need to attract this new generation that is growing up as technology develop. That’s why a change in the way that libraries provide services is inevitable.
In reference to the online game Puzzle Pirates, it is hard for me to be a game player; I cannot see myself playing games, but I certainly respect that someone else likes them. And I think that it would be a new option for libraries to have an electronic game section with the aim of providing a cool area for the game player lovers.
In relation to the Second Life library, after I read the links and watched some videos. I can say that they are nice and well elaborated. It is an artistic creation of the imagination, and hard work. But I don’t think that I am going to be for it right now; I know that this Second Life world is right there on the Net, and maybe I will try it later.
In summary, the virtual library or online libraries are possible because we are going in that direction. Most libraries have access to online sources of information, databases, books 24/7, e-books, e-journals. In addition, with the use of Web2.0 tools, libraries are producing more updated library services to the demanding online community that is emerging.

Thing 14: LibraryThing

In this thing 14 I created my account in the online catalog Library Thing; now I have my own record of books that I have read. I started to add the books by title. Then program finds the title and brings up the picture cover of the book and additional information. I also created my widget of random books of my library and place it in my blog. I have the option to invite friends to my library thing.
This online catalog is a very good tool to use in libraries, because librarians can inform the patrons about the new books. With the option of sharing the Library Thing, the patrons can place their comments about the listing. Exactly this is the use that the Minnesota School of Business Library is doing with the Library Thing.

Thing 13: Online Productivity Tools

In online productivity tools, first I worked to customize my home page. I decided to work with Yahoo Home Page because I already have an account. Then I took advantage of the features that My Yahoo provides me and I set up my personal assistant that includes my email, bookmarks, weather, etc. Secondly, I created my online calendar, and if I want to I can share it. Also I added a module for notes to my home page . Everything with my home page was seamless. I am going to keep this Yahoo home page as my personal home page. In addition I went to the backpack tools and I didn’t want to create a new account. I found in My Yahoo the features that are enough for me.

I realize that these online productivity tools would be nice to use in libraries as a web home page. At this moment the academic library where I am working has a very nice home page made with fabulous links and a neat presentation which are made by specific personnel. Also, I use a Microsoft Calendar at work, which was set up when I got my e-mail.

I learned with these online productivity tools how to organize my information in one place and how to use and manage it from any online computer. It’s amazing.

Thing 12: Did you Digg?

The social media sites allow the readers to select what kind of information, news or stories they are interested in. Today I have been spending a lot of time going to the sites and I have a concluded that they provide similar information services to the readers. Through these social media sites the readers can select what topics are appropriate for their use. Digg provides a lot of news, videos and images. This site allows you to leave comments and also it has the option of sharing. Mixx also shows a lot of popular photos, news, entertainment and tech stories with a link to share them and you can vote for it. I like this link because you can set it to deliver the news directly to your bookmark. These social media sites could help my productivity at my work or in my personal interests. Especially good are Reddit and Newsvine. They provide the information in a way that I can select easily the topics of my preferences. Reddit offers a link to choose by subject (such as science, entertainment, gaming etc.), and then you can select through it. And Newsvine is a more conventional window and it is a friendly site. In the tools bar you can select what kind of news you would like by subject, such as sports, politics, science, and also you can select national, international and regional news. Also, if the readers want, they can sign up for this site.

Thing 11: Tagging and Del.icio.us

I created my del.icio.us account and placed my tag in my browser. That was easy and fun and I am starting to use it, so I did a couple of the bookmarks. I tagged and described it. I believe that using this social bookmark site will be helpful to keep links of the sources in research by students and instructors. Also, the del.icio.us is a great bookmark for librarians to post a link to sites by tagging. This application lets the user organize and categorize the favorites by using specific keywords that easily direct the patrons to the topic of their interest.