Idaho Commission for Libraries

Now that the dust has settled from the District Library trustee elections on May 27th, does your library have any changes to report?

It would help ICFL to ensure that trustees get information or any mailings that are sent out if you would let us know:

Name
Start and end date of term (month, year)
Address (at which they want their mail delivered)
Who are they replacing?

Libraries that received funding commitments for e-rate in Waves 7 and 8 are:

• Kootenai-Shoshone Area Libraries (Wave 7)
• Twin Falls (Wave 7)
• Clarkia (Wave 8)
• Clearwater District (Wave 8)
• Jerome (Wave 8)

The total funding commitment for Idaho libraries in Waves 1-8 is $98,566.80.

You may ask, what about Wave 5? No libraries received funding commitments in Wave 5, but Emmett is the lucky recipient in Wave 6.

The total amount committed to Idaho libraries in Waves 1-6 is $56,599.89.

Want to get in on this but don't know where to start? Give me a call or drop me a line!

Jan Wall
Public Library E-rate Coordinator
Idaho Commission for Libraries

It can be challenging trying to blog at a conference such as this. I had a post just about ready to publish when the network went down and I lost it. (Just the post, fortunately!)

So here goes a quick recap of some of the recurring themes and buzzwords:
Social computing and active participation: blogs, flickr, del.icio.us, tagging. Folksonomy.

Libraries need to make things easy for our patrons and not throw barriers in the way, e.g. locking down computers so that they aren’t useful, no ability to burn CDs or download utilities, no floppy or flash drives.

Create technology free spaces and an environment for contemplation.

Instant messaging - an interesting presentation during the “CyberTours” (mini-sessions). Here is a highlight: “For some, not being available via IM is like not having a telephone number.” Some teens think of email as “communicating with ‘old folks’.” Approximately 25% of I.M. is from older people at the Thomas Ford Public Library.

If libraries are interested in communicating with younger people that are plugged in, I.M. is an option, as is text messaging.

I’m seeing that the patterns of usage vary so much between generations. And if not generations, then those that are “hot” on internet usage. The opening speaker mentioned that studies show that those people who have broadband have far different patterns (and intensity of use) than those who have dial-up.

Instant messaging - an interesting presentation during the “CyberTours” (mini-sessions). Here is a highlight: “For some, not being available via IM is like not having a telephone number.” Some teens think of email as “communicating with ‘old folks’.” Approximately 25% of I.M. is from older people at the Thomas Ford Public Library.

If libraries are interested in communicating with younger people that are plugged in, I.M. is an option, as is text messaging.

I’m seeing that the patterns of usage vary so much between generations. And if not generations, then those that are “hot” on internet usage. The opening speaker mentioned that studies show that those people who have broadband have far different patterns (and intensity of use) than those who have dial-up.

The keynote speaker today spoke more about “social computing:” blogs, flickr, del.icio.us. Another term that seems to be prevalent in many sessions is “continuous partial attention.” The fact that many people now pay partial attention to things, e.g., blogging while listening to a speaker, monitoring email, text or instant messaging, makes some uncomfortable. However, it is a way of thinking/acting that will increasingly become more ubiquitous.

So what does that mean for libraries? It means that we can’t expect undivided attention. We aren’t the only stream of information that our patrons use. (We already know that, don’t we?!) But by using deli.ci.ous, we can bookmark our favorite sources of info, and become one of our patrons’ trusted sources. (LaGrange Library is already doing this.)

Here is yesterday’s blog that isn’t password protected:

I’m on a break between sessions at the Internet Librarian Conference. The last session, which focused on web technology in public libraries, ended with several “best guess” trends:

Virtual Reference, i.e. paid subscription reference, will decline. There are too many technical problems which result in session disconnects in up to 25% of the transactions. (I hope Idaho’s experience with this has a better record.)

There will be more ways to communicate with a librarian - instant messaging, text messaging, video within a few years. Libraries will increasingly allow cell phones in the library for their interactive capabilities - pushing webpages, info etc to those cell phones within the library.

To see what the mindset of our current/future users might be, look at:

http://www.beloit.edu/~pubaff/mindset/

Page down and look at item #49, which mentions libraries!

Jan

While I was standing in the checkout lane of the grocery store, I saw that Reader’s Digest has an article titled something like ” 14 new trends that will change your life.” I might have to buy it just to see what the CW (Common Wisdom) says. I haven’t checked on LiLI-D to see if it’s there. After all, what’s RD without the jokes?

Jan