Tag Archives: library

The Future of Libraries

Open Library LogoI am a HUGE fan of our library system here in Birmingham. They are great and very rarely do I feel let down. I’m betting the folks in Boston feel the same way about their library system too. Especially with the launch of their Open Library Scan-on-Demand program.

Here are the directions from their site:

…if it’s at the Boston Public Library and hasn’t been scanned yet, there will be a “Scan This Book” button… …we’ll have a librarian go and get the book from the stacks, bring it to our scanning center, and have our team of scanners digitize it page-by-page. Within 3-5 days, you should receive an email follow-up with a link to the newly-digitized copy, complete with PDF, online flip book, full text (using OCR technology) and more, all thanks to your request!

 

Open Library Screenshot

How cool is that? You can tell these people have put a ton of thought into their library system. if you go the site, you can even see which titles are in the process of being scanned. Kudos Boston!

Librarian Powered Search

librarian action figureThere is a new search engine being developed, Reference Extract. It’s a search engine that gives preference to results tagged by librarians. So where Google and others are trying to remove the human part of the search equation, the folks at Reference Extract are trying to harness the expertise of all the card carrying MLS people out there.

This trained “professional filter” is exactly why I will always watch the network news and read newspapers. There is just too much bunk out there that I want to know that some sort of professional has done the leg work and sorted it for me. But I’m not sure how successful Reference Extract will be…

Continue reading Librarian Powered Search

Check out this Reading Challenge

I have signed up for my first ever book challenge (I feel like a grown up blogger now). I’m tossing my hat in the ring for J.Kaye’s 2009 Support Your Local Library Challenge. Basically, I’m committing to borrowing and reading 25 books from my local library. I check out a LOT of books from the library, that I almost feel like I’m cheating. I even started tagging all of my borrowed books with JCLC on LibraryThing.

Continue reading Check out this Reading Challenge

Bookmobile in Birmingham

digital bookmobile

The Parnasus on Wheels of the new millinium is making a stop in Birmingham today, Thursday, October 30th. The big Digital Bookmobile truck will be open from 10am-4pm at the downtown Central branch. The 18-wheeler will have demonstration stations and computers set-up to allow browsers the chance to learn about e-books, mobile books, digital audio books, etc.

None of these products are new to the internet crowd. But the part that’s really cool is that the event is designed to highlight and introduce many of our local library’s own digital download and media services. I plan on swinging by to see what’s new!

ED: Thanks to shadowhelm for catching my scheduling snafu. The Bookmobile is in town Thursday, October 30th. Sorry for the confusion.