Thing 15

A few high points for me from "Icebergs ,"Into a New World of Librarianship" and several other resources that I explored were: Eliminate the barriers between users and the information they need by providing easy to use programs and one button commands. Everyday I get asked the same questions about the catalog by people who know how to use a computer but are unable to use our system. They can't figure out without help where material is located and if it's available. The catalog should be more user friendly to computer literate users. Eliminate the "just in case collection" which becomes outdated by the time it reaches our shelves in many cases. I also find that when helping students find information for school often the only reason that I use a book is because it is required by the teacher. We have wonderfully informative databases which also are not as accessible as they might be or used as much as they could be. We really need to work on that and the first step might be to put them in a more prominent position on our web page and in some cases use more common terms. Adding an RSS feed to alert patrons to new acquisitions, library events, exhibitions, changes in hours, etc would be a major step forward. Don't use a feed with DTD because it isn't supported by IE. I found that out when I tried to access CPL's feed. The feed can also be used to connect our users to feeds that we've subscribed to that would be of interest to them. The more I read the more excited and inspired I become. The importance of the aspect of sharing in Library 2.0, especially for those of us who are novices, cannot be overstated. I've learned so much from reading the blogs of other library staff and I've incorporated some of their ideas into my blog. PLYMC is fortunate to employ so many creative, talented and motivated people. There are so many possibilities for the future and I"m really sorry I'm nearing the end of my career and not just starting out.