The Ultimate Who-To-Follow Guide for Tweeting Librarians, Info Pros, and Educators Wondering about who you should be following on Twitter to keep up with the steady stream of updates in Libraryland? Well, here’s a list of lists! This quick guide will give you 30 great lists of librarians, instructors, and information professionals that you’ll want to follow on Twitter as well as tweeting authors’ accounts and people and publications to follow to gain tech insights. Check out each of these and start subscribing!! My lists of librarians to follow on TwitterLibrarians 483 membersLibrarians Continued 142 membersLaw Librarians 107 members Joe Murphy’s Lists: librarians 496 memberslibrarians 2 497 memberslibrarians 3 494 memberslibrarians 4 496 memberslibrarians 5 499 memberslibrarians 6 495 memberslibrarians 7 496 memberslibrarians 8 498 memberslibrarians 9 681 memberslibrarians 10 354 members Even more lists! When you’re done with those, be sure to check out these 30 Twitter accounts to follow for technology news and insightsPeople Publications
Digital Engagement Framework Alaska public libraries 2013 Recently I returned from an annual meeting of Alaskan public library directors in Girdwood (south of Anchorage). Thanks to the Alaska Library Association and state library staff, I was there to present to them about several topics (nearly 9 hours of presentation). They also allowed me to sit in on their reflections on the past year, a round robin of successes and challenges (limited to 11 minutes apiece). They were a terrific bunch of people. These are people who do what they do for love, and it shows. Below are some of the key themes from that most interesting discussion. - Infrastructure. - They also have what has to be the worst bandwidth situation in the nation. - Right now, there are lots of building projects in Alaska, significantly (but not exclusively) funded by the state. - Alaska has quite a mix of authorizing authorities: there are elected governing boards, appointed boards, advisory boards, friends boards (in various states of health), and often, no boards at all.
gov-info: NARA, NLM, & LOC Gov Resource: Digital... | Turning the Book Wheel 'Librarians vs. search engines' in UC Berkeley report Spencer A Brown UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks loves books and libraries, and now his own school's library is asking for more money. New Chancellor Nicholas Dirks should spend more money on the library at the University of California, Berkeley, as its books, services and space will be more important than ever over the next two decades. So, at least, says a report this week from a faculty committee tasked by the previous chancellor, Robert Birgeneau, with figuring out the library's place on the university campus of the future. Committee members included UC Berkeley professors from departments such as history, engineering, law, and statistics as well as the librarian from the University of Michigan, Paul Courant. After losing about 90 employees during the last few years of budget cuts, UC Berkeley's excellent research library system, led by Tom Leonard, has been doing a lot of soul searching, trying to find its place in the digital age. Steven E.F.
Dear Aspiring Librarians (On MLIS Program Placement and Salaries) Let's revisit the US News and World Report rankings for Masters of Library and Information Science programs. The rankings: How they got this information: The library and information studies specialty ratings are based solely on the nominations of program deans, program directors, and a senior faculty member at each program. They were asked to choose up to 10 programs noted for excellence in each specialty area. Those with the most votes are listed. In sum, these rankings are useless. Luckily, Library Journal has some useful data on MLIS programs. For discussion:MLIS programs are a very gendered experience. Q: "Are there any library schools whose alumni you would be reluctant to hire?" Though men are employed at a lower rate than women upon MLIS completion, their salaries tend to be higher, which both reflects and propagates a gender pay gap. These salaries are probably not enough to help you pay off your student loans. Think long and hard about whether or not you want this degree.
Categories vs. Tags for Wordpress SEO - Clever Solutions Ltd | Clever Solutions Ltd We love WordPress! One reason we love it is because it’s designed well and because the variety of themes and plugins available makes its potential endless. However, even though WordPress is relatively straightforward to use, there are still certain issues which confuse people now and then. Today we’re tackling the categories vs. tags issue which leaves many bloggers completely confused. So what’s the difference? The best way to see categories is as a grouping of posts, generically labeled to roughly indicate what the post is about. On the other hand, tags are just keywords that give an indication what the post relates to. So for example, for this particular post, I already know that the category is ‘Online Marketing’ but the tags used will include keywords like WordPress, SEO and Blogging. What are the SEO implications of all this? Well firstly, categories and tags have different URL structures: www.domain.com/tag/post and www.domain.com/category/post. Any final tips Conclusion
Why public libraries are glamming up State of the art … the Library of Birmingham opens next week. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images Europe Library campaigners, among whom I count myself, need not be too full of doom and gloom. While cuts and closures are affecting library services, it is also true that the past decade has seen a reinvention of the public library in the UK and across the world. Next week, the new Library of Birmingham opens at a cost of £186m, becoming the largest public library in Europe. It expects to attract 10,000 visitors a day. Why are libraries back on the urban agenda? The revived global enthusiasm for libraries – of which Seattle is perhaps the most ambitious – originated in north America in the 1990s. In Europe, there has been a similar disenchantment with the "Bilbao Effect", named after the singular success of Frank Gehry's design for a museum and art gallery in that city. It is almost impossible for public libraries to fail in this way.
The End of "The End of Libraries" On Sunday, October 14th, yet another "End of Libraries" piece appeared. Per usual, it was written by a white male with no use for libraries, because every single time this trope appears, that's part of the author's demographic background. Beyond that, it's a crucial part of the author's background. It is overwhelmingly affluent white men* who argue that because they do not use something, it has no value for anyone. Libraries. It’s hard for me to even remember the last time I was in a library. Every single one of these articles has a version of that paragraph in it, right down to the part where the author admits he hasn't been in a library recently and makes "guesses." As such, what follows isn't for the authors of these pieces. Andy Woodworth starts us off. Again Fully 91% of Americans ages 16 and older say public libraries are important to their communities; and 76% say libraries are important to them and their families. Also well said on the topic: this.
Open Access: Which Side Are You On 11 Mistakes Nonprofits Make On Twitter And How To Avoid Them Nonprofits who have made an investment in Twitter are likely to see increased brand awareness and website traffic. It’s an ideal platform for charities to interact directly with their constituents, in ways never before possible, especially for smaller organizations. As with all social networks, there are as many unique recipes for success as there are potential missteps. Follow these guidelines to ensure your nonprofit avoids any Twitter faux pas: 1. A good rule of thumb for all social media channels is the rule of thirds: 1/3 your content, 1/3 other people’s content, 1/3 conversion. 2. Are you pushing Facebook updates directly into your Twitter feed, or vice versa? 3. Do you have a lot of followers, but aren’t following many of them back? 4. It’s a common pitfall to use Twitter to simply broadcast information about your nonprofit, your events, your need for donations, etc. 5. How you look on Twitter is almost as important as what you say. 6. 7. 8 Worrying Too Much About Followers 9.