Toolbar on FIRE(fox)

When I created the Lansing Library Toolbar (including built-in RSS feeds) using the free tools at EffectiveBrand the one criticism I heard in the feedback was that it was not available for Firefox!

Effective Brand just announced that Firefox (beta) versions are now available.
The cool thing is that you only create 1 toolbar.
When users go to download, it detects if they're using IE or Firefox and offers the correct download version!

Carnival!

Be sure to visit the rest of the Carnival of the Infosciences #3

Thanks Joy, for hosting this week!

Did Library Journal say IL Gov supports Internet Filtering?

I'm sure most of you saw the article in Library Journal, July 28, 2005 about Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich signing a law banning the sale or rental of adult-oriented video games to minors.

Did you happen to notice the name Kathy Valente in the article?
The article states that Valente discussed the lack of state mandated internet filtering in public libraries, and the article states ...

Blagojevich said he was unaware of library policies on children's Internet access and told Valente he "would help." [LJ 7-28-05]

Video games now, internet next?

If this didn't make you gasp--maybe you need a little more background information.

If you need an introduction, Kathy Valente was the leader of Citizens for Community Values in the late 1990s-early 2000s.
The small but outspoken group succeeded in persuading the Village of Lansing, IL to pass a resolution requiring all public school and all public library computers to have filtered internet access.

Not a filter that may be shut off if an adult patron requests ... filtered no matter what. Can't access that resource you need because it's inadvertently blocked by the filter? Sorry!

ALL our terminals are filtered. We currently do not offer wi-fi, but when we do... guess what... that's nice you brought your own laptop, but (if/when we add wi-fi) when you connect to our internet connection it will be filtered.

A google search for Kathy Valente's name also brings up several articles...

Spend a little time to get familiar with her conservative views, and ask yourself...

If she's bending the Governor's ear... are the anti-censorship, diverse, liberal residents of Illinois also being heard?

Do you want to see state-mandated internet filtering in your library?

SPEAK UP NOW!


Some more links with further info:

Filtered Internet

Projects Ms. Valente's been involved in.

BGI

What's "BGI" ?
It's our OCLC code.
Since it has no relevance to our name, I hope it will come to stand for "Books Get ILL'ed"

OCLC is currently loading the records from our retrospective batch upload, many of our items are already appearing in WorldCat.

We're a member of LVIS too!

Ask your OCLC-FirstSearch-WorldCat Administrator person to add our code -- BGI -- to the holdings groups you use when borrowing items!

[special shout-out for SWAN readers: remember to look for us in WorldCat--since MLS delivery is fast & efficient!]

Identify Yourself in IM? Both Sides Heard From!

Thanks to Chad of Library Voice for his thorough discussion of my question originally posted here earlier this month.

At Chad's library, they update the Trillian photo to display the staff member currently answering the IMs.

Thanks to Sarah of Librarian In Black for her comments posted on this blog.

Sarah makes a very good point about personal safety when dealing with the public. Do academic librarians get stalked too?

Most of our staff have only their first names on their staff photoID badges.

To answer the IM question: ...if you're comfortable identifying yourself, go ahead, but it's not required.

Readers Advisory on Board

Today marked the beginning of IM Readers Advisory at LPL.
They are AskLPLread on AOL & Yahoo, asklplread@hotmail.com for anyone on MSN. This marks the 4th department we have using IM! (reference, teen & youth)

The staff went through a brief training on Trillian, then the Ref. desk kindly agreed to send them some sample questions so they could practice sending IMs.

I also stopped by the Ref. desk for a refresher on some of the features of the software, and I was surprised by some of the questions that began "I've been wondering...." Somehow, these questions weren't being asked! This refresher training gave them the opportunity to ask some of the things they had been wondering about.
I guess its a variation on the public not wanting to "bother" the staff with their questions!

So, If you get a spare minute, IM the Reader's Advisory desk & welcome them to the virtual IM sandbox!

Record Breaking IMs in July!

Well, record breaking for us.

Teen and Adult both saw increases in IM in July.

For those of you interested in how it's going:

Teen=11 Adult=4 Youth=0

The best IM was from a "kid in Wheeling" who is moving to Lansing and wanted to know more about the services the library offers and what the schools are like. I hope his chat with AskLPLteen made the idea of moving to a whole new town less stressful.

I'm impressed he was checking us out in advance!

We've had some staff changes in youth since starting IM ref, so this month I'm planning a Trillian boot camp for the staff.

I think the above anecdote will be a plus to the presentation.

I'm soliciting comments & opinions on ... should staff who share a "departmental" IM screen name identify themselves when responding to an IM? (Our phone policy is to identify ourselves, should this carry over to IM?) Thoughts, pros, cons... comment here or email me!