Post #6-Thoughts about my Website Project

I have enjoyed learning to create my first webpage. When I first found out I had to create a webpage, I fell into a panic and was nervous to read about HTML and start the project. Another part of me felt really excited and looked forward to it because this meant I would learn something new and I would be able to participate with my job’s future plans of creating a library home page.

My idea for this project was to create a library home page for the Cicero Public Library, since the library hasn’t had its own page since 1999. In the back of my mind I knew exactly what I wanted to do, I just didn’t know where to start. After practicing in class and reviewing the the in-class assignment and exercise pages numerous times, I decided to start with the library’s blue print picture which was used during the library’s renovation project between 2000-2001. I decided to use the library’s name and address as the standard header. Then I experimented and added a thin bar to separate the content following the heading.

For my table, I envisioned a simple table without the box, so I decided to use the pipe to separate my navigation links in my home page. My first tab displays the library’s general information, which consists the library’s hours, directions, services and a library application pdf. The second link connects to the SWAN catalog. I wanted this link to be accessible at the top of the page to attract the user’s attention after he/she explored the library’s general information. I then added a department and staff directory, in case the patron has questions about the library or a question about finding a book. After the contact link, I chose to keep the home page link, so that it easy for the patron to go back to the first page.

Once the patron goes back to the front page he/she has the option to view a couple of external links that connect to the Town of Cicero’s home page and Morton College’s home page. I adding these two links because they are two of the most common questions asked at the circulation and adult reference desk.

I decided to keep the website simple and neat, so that I wouldn’t get distracted with the purpose of the assignment, which was to design the page. As soon as I would add a color to the page, my mind would float and I was tempted  to continue experimenting with the art and forget about the set up of the page.

I came across several problems. At the beginning of the project, I kept forgetting to close the tags. I would open and type the content and forget to close. I quickly made myself remember this simple technique. I also had difficulty remembering to add the equal sign before inserting a link and image. I also struggled trying to find an images that matched in width and length. I managed to find a perfect image for the Morton College link, but I could not find one for the Town of Cicero’s town hall. After viewing several images, my professor helped me find one and he adjusted the size on his MAC computer.

This project has help me understand the basic skills of reading HTML. I found myself getting frustrated when I would miss typing the format. I didn’t feel comfortable copying and pasting. Even though this was a quick way of completing the page, I felt I was cheating. I have gained an interest in continuing reading more about HTML and really grasping it until it become second nature. I at least could say to myself that I managed to create one webpage.

Post #5 – Library Services and Non-English Speakers

This is my fifth posting on my personal blog, and I have to say, I have enjoyed this experience of learning and contributing my thoughts with this fascinating library course, offered at Domincan University and taught by the very talented Professor, Michael Stephens. I would like to continue this style of learning, creating and following new information on the web. Throughout these three months, I have become more confident exploring and using the new skills; understanding the current networking techniques; and an understanding of using HTML coding. This is a course that has opened a new door in my professional career. I now have new goals and ideas to apply in my current two jobs. As I learn these new skills, I think its important for me to apply these skills with the Spanish speaking patrons that visit the library.

This is a sensitive subject for some people in the library field because there are library staff members who strongly believe libraries should only offer English services; and everyone who walks into the library should speak English. In reality, many of our communities in Chicago have communities who speaking various languages. It is important for our libraries to update the technology services to help their existing communities. Libraries should be prepared to welcome new users, both fluent English speakers and non-English speakers.

Throughout my experience while working in a town where 60% percent of the patrons are now Spanish speaking patrons, has been a challenging one and it has also been very rewarding. Libraries face a big problem when they try to provide new services in other languages and they cannot find it. As we become professional librarians, we should be knowledgable on this subject and contribute with other librarians.

For example, in a recent article I found in the Library Journal-Criticas Edition; ALA and Spanish Speakers—Too Much of a Divide? By Aída Bardales — July 15, 2007. Bardales expressed a concern for the small amount of panels representing Spanish speaking librarians and services at this year’s ALA Conference in Washington, D. C. The need is out there and the tools are available, they just need to be explored. It is up to us, as information providers to express some concern and implement new ideas and support to help libraries with the needs of providing support for non-English speakers.

A year ago the manager of the interlibrary loan department I work for, asked me to translate a department brochure. The library members found it very helpful and their Spanish speaking patrons appreciated the information provided in their first language. The popularity grew and the manager has now ordered more brochures in Polish and Arabic.

This past week I attended a staff meeting and we were introduced to the new formatted SWAN catalog and a couple of staff members suggested the catalog be available in other languages. The idea was appreciated, and I was asked by the director to look over and explore other library catalogs that are translated in Spanish. I have looked at various libraries and the demand for other languages in libraries has become highly requested. Spanish is one of the many languages available in catalog and database translations. Polish, Arabic, Japanese, Chinese and French are just a few more languages to mention. Check out Skokie Public Library’s catalog, it’s translations are automated by Google.

I was fiddling around with Wikipedia in Spanish and I searched for the word blog. Since its been added to the English dictionary, I wondered if it translated in Spanish, and it did.

A week ago I helped someone who spoke Polish and she needed to verify some information she had for the United States naturalization exam.  She wanted to read it in her native language first and then practice pronouncing the words in English. It took me a couple of minutes to help her and when I found the information she needed she was very happy and grateful.  This was major help for her.  This is why I say it is very rewarding and gratifying to help someone who is new to the English language. If libraries supply the help to fullfill the needs of non-English speaking patrons, these patrons will become motivated and they will learn to speak English.

Libraries should not be divided into places where you only welcome the patrons that are avid readers and technology savvy. Libraries and librarians should welcome all users and embrace the availability of other languages and apply them to the library’s collection development, technology and networking services. Cheers! “)

Post #4 – About a blog…

 Three years ago I was introduced to blogging and RSS feeds by technology savvy librarian, Jenny Levine, the Shifted Librarian and I remember her telling the employees attending her class that blogging was going to be the new way to communicate on the Internet.  I took her class and never got a chance to sit down and practice what I learned in her class.  Look at me now,  I am using this new trend for my Internet Fundamentals and Design class and I enjoy using it.  

When I first discovered blogs, I noticed they were popular among newspapers, online journals and various organizations.  Today, blogs are spreading everywhere, and more and more librarians are creating blogs and promoting library information through their blogs.

A Blog is an entry of comments entered in a website which are kept in chronological order, keeping the most recent entry at the top.  Some blogs are simple and others are very sophisticated.  A great example of a well organized blog is one like my Professor’s blog, Michael Stevens, Tame the Web .  His blog is a very informative and fun to look at.

Blogs fit libraries well, they are instant posts of information promoting the library’s information.  I also think this trend fits librarians like a glove, because librarians are known to gather and keep information and update it frequently.

Unlike a website, which could be a little tedious to update for someone who has just started to use HTML.  Blogs could be created instantly; they are easy to maintain and most blog websites are free or inexpensive.

Over the weekend I was checking out my home library’s website and I noticed they have started the new trend of using My Space, along with blogging.  I noticed it’s still fairly new and patrons haven’t started to respond to the blog, but regardless, I am just happy to see the young adult librarian at the Foutaindale Public Library in Bolingbrook, IL, start this great new trend of communicating with the public, especially for the young adult department.  The young adults are the perfect audience to start out this experiment.  In some instances, they are the library users that are experimenting with the cyber communities.

Many libraries use pathfinder brochures; public newspaper entries; their own newsletters and their websites, why not add blogs to this list of information awareness.  Blogs are another market libraries can look into, and start experimenting with a creative trend that will appeal to their patrons.

Post #3-Exploring Flickr?

Flickr is an awesome online image sharing community website and it’s free. I was first introduced to Flickr in 2004, and I was thrilled to discover this easy and fun website used to store photographs. I am a big fan of photography and when I browse through Flickr, I am amazed of the wonderful photographs people shoot and then graciously share with the rest of the world.

Flickr was created by a Canadian online gaming company, Ludicorp, in 2002, and it was introduced to the world in 2004. It first started out as a branch to an online gaming site and it quickly took a life of its own and entered the cyber world with a big bang. For more information about Flickr and to view some of the fabulous images, simply click on the name.

Flickr is a great example of today’s new Web 2.0 sites used by many libraries. It has become very popular among Internet users, especially bloggers, because they use it as a photo repository. Its popularity has grown so fast, it has created a huge online community of talented photographers and bloggers. People throughout the world are creating enormous photo albums that preserve their fondest memories. We’ve done away with the cluttery photo albums.

Flickr allows users to organize their images in their accounts by using keywords, keyword tagging and subject. Tagging is a form of labeling or adding notes to the images. You could forget the pen smudging or adhesive labels falling off after a while. Remember this? It also groups them in categories of your choice. (For library and information services users, think of this as metadata.) Another great feature found in Flickr is that users are allowed to upload their images and make them private and provide a guest pass for others to view. So far it’s free to enroll, but if you feel you’ve become a pro-user, it would cost $24.95 per year for an upgrade.

More and more libraries are exploring Flickr and opening up accounts and uploading images of their library’s events. What a great way to invite the public into the library’s space. This is a great way to promote the library and its programs and activities. To get an idea of what libraries are doing on Flickr, type the word libraries in the search box and you will automatically connect to many libraries around the country.

Check out these Illinois libraries that have started and mastered Flickr. Homer Township Public Library, has uploaded their Cicada Project online. Fountaindale Public Libarary in Bolingbrook, uploaded their National Library Week images.

Rachel Singer Gordon, author of the article, Tech Tips for Every Librarian, this is a helpful article to read about using Flickr in libraries. She points out it is very important to educate the library staff and patrons, teach them the good and the bad of Flickr and other social sites.

Another interesting tidbit I found about Flickr in an article written by Marydee Ojala, for the journal Online. Flickr started out a new trend of storing photos and documenting events, but it has also started a new trend of dropping the letter e in cyber communication.

Bibliography

Chase, Darren. Transformative Sharing with Instant Messaging, Wikis, Interactive Maps, and Flickr. Computers in Libraries. V.27(1):January 2007. 6-8, 54-4, 56.

Flickr – Yahoo Company. About Flickr. http://www.flickr.com . Cited on July 06, 2006.

Fountaindale Public Library. Children’s Summer Reading Program 2007 http://www.flickr.com/photos/fountaindale/sets . Cited on July 20, 2007.

Gordon, Rachel Singer. Teach Tips for Every Librarian. Computers in Libraries. V.26(10):November/December 2006. p. 44-45.

Homer Township Public Library. http://homerlibrary.org . The Cicada Project. http://flickr.com/photos/thecicadaproject . Cited on June 18, 2007.

Ojala, Marydee. The Rise and Fall of the Letter E. Online. March/April 2006 p.5.

Sinclair, Mark. What is Flickr? Creative Review. V.26(6):June 2006. p. 39-41.

Stephens, Michael. http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelsphotos . Cited on July 21, 2007.

Post #2 – Achieving Online Creativity

As I read the articles for class, I become more and more attracted to the new scenery in today’s libraries.  The article by Rachel Singer Gordon and Michael Stephens, Online Cool on a Budget, really caught my attention because there are many fascinating online tools we could look into and introduce to our libraries and our patrons.  I think its great the new generation of librarians explore, write and inform us all about the great changes occuring in today’s libraries.

Between both of my jobs I get a chance to experience the fast pace changes occuring in the library field.  During the week I work at the Metropolitan Library System , in the Resource Sharing/Interlibrary Loan Dept. and on the weekend I work for the Cicero Public Library in the Adult Reference Dept.   Both of my jobs require me to be up-to-date with today’s technololgy, one more than the other.  Can you guess which one? 

MLS is the job that requires me to use a little more of the trending online tools than the library, but at MLS I don’t have to take care of library patrons.  Don’t get me wrong, the library is up-to-date, but there simply isn’t enough time and enough staff, to use every trend that there is available. 

The trends that I referring to are blogging, instant messaging, online reference chat, online maps, del.icio.us and flickr, just to name a few.  The library hasn’t applied these online tools because we don’t have enough staff and time to add at least a couple.  I do have hope that the library will eventually welcome a couple, if not all of these cool online tools.

Working a typical month for me, at the adult reference desk required me to answer numerous in person, phone and e-mail reference questions, numerous interlibrary loan requests and billing, the daily pick-list from other libraries, staff scheduling, journal reading (sometimes I end up taking the journals home), collection developement, weeding the collection, maintain the periodical collection, attend occasional department meetings or meetings with vendors, organize a program, conduct basic e-mail, Internet and database sessions, ah, can’t forget, rotate shifts and work at the south branch library, phew .  At what point could I squeeze in a chance to blog or create a Flickr account?  I know, I could find time, but everything I mentioned above came first.  There were days it felt overwhelming at the library, but between four hardworking and dedicated librarians we managed to always get by and we did a great job…still do.  The library is reconstructing its website and the questions of modernizing our reference services has become a focal point.  Will we be able to add a couple more services like IM or online reference chat?  The patrons are becoming more computer savvy and they are becoming more attracted to the library’s free services.  I’ll just have to wait and see. 

 On the other hand when I started working for MLS, within the first month I was introduced to use IM, reference online chat, create and use RSS, and explore blogging.  While I am at MLS it is easy to use the phone, check e-mail, use IM and occassionally open an online chat when necessary.  I could use these new trends at my desk because I don’t have to take care of the public.  When I am at the reference desk, the public’s questions come first and I don’t have time to set up an IM conversation or take ten minutes to create or update a blog. 

Here is another example of a cool feature the interlibrary loan department at MLS has added to their list of creativity.  The manager set up a community walk map, to keep track of the department’s lending and borrowing transactions.  Take a look at this year’s Resource Sharing Mashup.

These new trends are making reference services at all libraries change quickly.  The more people read and become familiar about their existance, the more they are going to become necessary to apply and use at the libraries.  I look forward in being a part of this new generation of librarians.

Post #1-Restricting MySpace At Public Libraries

For class, we read the article, MySpace Can Be Our Space, by Christopher Harris and he mentions this social network has been given a lot of negative attention by the TV media and many people would like to see this social network banned from schools.  He mentions great examples on how MySpace can be used effectively in school and it could be used as a teaching tool.  An art class can post and display student’s artwork and a social studies class can discuss an important topic on-line.  This is an appropriate way of using modern technology and creating intelligent dialogues between students.

A recent article posted on May 10, 2007, to the Editor of a North Carolina newspaper called the Raleigh Chronicle, http://www.raleighchronicle.com/2007051007.html, announced that all of the public libraries in Wake County North Carolina have blocked the use of MySpace on the public library’s computers.  The concerned writer, Patrick Minnock, makes a an important point about removing this privilege of using MySpace freely on the computers of public libraries, “It’s unreasonable  and it’s a massive part of many public library user’s lives and it’s a modern way of communicating.“  This is true, it’s not right to ban the library users from viewing websites of their choice.  Library users should be allowed to view and seek the information they please freely and without a control of a made up policy or filter. 

By now families have become familiar with the use of the Internet and the education should begin at home with parents informing their children about the proper usage of the web and parents should also be monitoring their children’s Internet habits.As future librarians, we should start educating and informing our public and library staffs about the benefits and concerns that occur while using today’s technology.  Today’s technology has a broad connection to valuable information and teaching experiences.  

Public libraries should compile safe and fair policies for their library users. It is a big concern to control and stop the dangers that appear on the Internet and in networks such as MySpace, but completely banning the usage to the public is unfair because not everyone has Internet available at home.  Even if they do have access to the Internet at home, everyone who comes into the public library, young or mature, should feel welcomed and comfortable accessing the information of their choice freely and without restrictions.

What is MySpace?

I was first introduced to the popular MySpace network by a young library co-worker who worked with me at our local town library.  He occasionally kept in touch with me by phone or e-mail, but out of blue, he stopped e-mailing and I figured it was because he was busy with school and his new job, and lets face it, with his friends.  He called me one day to see how I was doing and I asked him why he had not kept up with his occasional e-mail greeting and he responded with a giggle and said to me, “Dude, e-mail is so yesterday,” and I wondered, what exactly does he mean?  He explained to me he had set up a new way of communicating with his close friends and he shared with me his MySpace account.  So, I checked it out and I was totally surprised by the format and display of the website.  His page looked like an opened journal.  I browsed through his page and read his interesting postings and looked over the photographs of him and his friends, but I never opened up a page of my own or enlisted myself on his buddy-list because it is foreign to me.   I felt a little uncomfortable posting a comment for others to see.  It looks like fun, but I could see myself getting really engrossed with it and I would have to spend more time sitting in front of the computer.   Someday I’ll post a comment on his MySpace. ”) 

This has been two years, since I have known about MySpace, and I’ve noticed how quickly this social network has grown among the youth and now adults.  MySpace is mentioned on television, radio, magazines and newspapers, and not forgetting hearing it from kids and teens at the public library.  A lot of times the network is talked about in a negative way and it frightens the public because they are unfamiliar with the environment.  At the public library I work for, young children and teens, after school or early on weekends, they flock to the public library computers, connect their headphones and log on to their MySpace accounts and they enjoy themselves for the one hour they sign up for.  I observe them and notice in their faces the eagerness and freedom they express while they are chatting, reading and updating their sources.  It looks like darn fun to me, and I sometimes wish, I had a chance to explore and play with MySpace.  For now I am too busy with school and my two jobs that I am looking forward to learning and exploring the many savvy ways of communicating with our public in my LIS753-Internet Fundamentals & Design class.

Practice Post

Hola que tal! This is my first blog for LIS753 at Dominican University. The first time I was introduced to RSS and blogging was two years ago at work, and my instructor was Jenny Levine.

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