Wednesday, March 05, 2008

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In this issue:
• From the Desk of Lucy Pana, CEO
• Library Q & A
• "Other People are the Killer App": Social Networking and Libraries
• TAL Profile
• Last Night a Book Changed My Life…or in this case a CD.
• Warm Welcome to...

From the Desk of Lucy Pana, CEO

Collection Analysis Symposium a success

It’s always inspiring to see people in the library community come together to share ideas and perspectives. On February 21, The Alberta Library held a Collection Analysis Symposium in Edmonton that attracted 110 people, 19 of whom came from as far away as British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick and even New Jersey.

Keynote speaker Steve Hiller, Director of Assessment and Planning at the University of Washington Libraries, was joined by vendor representatives from WorldCat Collection Analysis, Library Dynamics, Ulrich’s Serial Analysis System and Scholarly Stats.

On behalf of The Alberta Library, I would like to thank all of the speakers, vendors and everyone who attended the symposium. By the way, you can download the speaker presentations on the TAL website

I would also like to thank TAL staff members Kit Wilson, Christa Foley, Stacey Bissell and Shellon Miller for their enthusiastic hard work in coordinating the symposium.

The event was such a success that we hope to sponsor similar one-day professional development opportunities in the future. Stay tuned.

Library Q & A

Melody Kaban, Director of Smoky Lake Public Library, answers a few questions about the library.

What is your biggest current challenge?

By far our biggest challenge is budget. There isn’t enough money to do all we would like. And to go hand in hand with that, there isn’t enough time scheduled to do all that needs to get done. At 21 hours open per week, it is difficult to juggle administration necessities with patron requests (and of course, the patron needs are first on every to-do list). Trying to place a book order while packing interlibrary loan books to take to the courier has become the ultimate multi-tasking challenge. But, not enough money is in the budget to allow for additional time to get everything done.

>> Read More

"Other People are the Killer App": Social Networking and Libraries

By Christina Wilson,Emerging Technologies Librarian at The Alberta Library

The Online Computer Library Center’s (OCLC) latest newsletter, Nextspace, included an article about online social networking and libraries, based on interviews with experts in the field. The article serves as an introduction to the concept of social networking and the value of various tools for libraries that are considering implementing aspects to connect with users and improve services.

>> Read More

TAL Profile

Dean Frey, Director, Red Deer Public Library, speaks about his career.

What drew you to your profession?

My first library job was with the old Edmonton Public Library Bookmobile, in the early 1970s. My dad always said his best teaching was in his one-room-school days; this was like that, in a library context. We got to know our customers really well, and customized our traveling collection to meet their needs. By interacting directly with a wide range of people, I experienced how library service could help people out in so many ways. The bookmobile opened my eyes to what libraries can do. And this was all more or less without modern library technology!

>> Read More

Last Night a Book Changed My Life…or in this case a CD.

What treasures have you found at your library that really inspire you? We asked Sharon Nuttycombe, Technical Services & Systems Supervisor at the Strathcona County Library:

"How about a song… or rather, an entire CD? Loreena McKennitt's music has always inspired me. I often play her music while writing, or doing housework (which occurs far less frequently than the writing). Her most recent album, released in 2006 after a long wait, was "An Ancient Muse", which is available in libraries everywhere!

Loreena's music draws from many sources, including the Celtic world, Mongolia, Greece and Turkey. I enjoy her songs partially because of her beautiful voice and because of the varying ethnic blend of her songs, but mainly because they evoke other worlds and places. They're rather like fantasy novels in the form of sound instead of words. My favourite songs include Dante's Prayer, The Mummer's Dance, The Lady of Shallott, Dicken's Dublin, All Soul's Night, and Seeds of Love. All her works offer something different, and take the listener to a different place.

Oh, and did I mention she's Canadian?"

Visit TAL Online to find Loreena McKennitt’s album at a library near you!

Warm Welcome to...

Merrill Kemp joined The Alberta Library on a term position for the digitization project. She is a graduate from the School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS) and recently worked at the Provincial Archives as a digitization archivist. We look forward to working with you Merrill!

March 2008

Feedback

We welcome your feedback! Please send questions and comments to Janis Galloway.

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Edmonton, AB T5J 2V5

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