Coffee Klatch

Recently I blogged about LibraryThing on my BiblioTech Web blog, talking about how libraries could make use of this most excellent resource. (If you want to learn more about LibraryThing, read that post or the one I wrote last year about it.)

I can’t say enough good things about LibraryThing. If you haven’t checked it out, you really need to: LibraryThing.com

Getting beyond that, once you’ve entered your books in LibraryThing, you MAY want to actually assign call numbers to them, using either Library of Congress or Dewey Decimal Classification. I recommend Dewey for personal libraries, since it’s easier to use for smaller libraries. LibraryThing will show you the call numbers that other people are using, allowing you to use those for your own.

But if you’re like me, you want to do it YOUR way. For example, I USED to label my fiction books with small white labels with FIC and the first three letters of the author’s name. As I was looking at all my fiction (roughly 400 books, I think–I’m still not done entering them all), I thought that maybe I should make it the first FOUR letters of the author’s last name. But then, with using LibraryThing, I thought maybe I’d use something like FICTION ADAMS for the fiction books.

Then arose the perennial question. What about literature? Do I put Dickens under “Literature” or under “Fiction?” It’s really both. My decision: use Dewey the way it was made. Pulling fiction books out into a separate collection is what libraries often do to make it easier to access. But not all do, and there’s no reason I need to. Instead, I’ll use 813 for American Fiction and that will encompass most of my general fiction books.

Next question: If you use 813 for fiction, you need to have information after the decimal (thus the name) to differentiate between the hundreds of books. Enter the Cutter Number. Basically, a Cutter Number is used to designate an author or other information within the call number of the book. It involves using the first letter of the author’s last name, followed by several numbers representing the remaining letters. What results is a numerical representation of the author’s name. For example, A2145 = Adams, John and O5871 = O’Neill, Edward.

Using a Cutter Number means you can have separate numbers for each author, making it easier to alphabetize and track your books. But that can be a lot of work, creating numbers for each author. Wouldn’t it be easier and more useful to have some program create them for you? LibraryThing doesn’t do it (that would be TOO awesome!). So where do you turn?

OCLC is a worldwide library cooperative that is one of the biggest authorities on library-related topics. They have a tiny little program available for free (noncommercial use only) that’s called the Dewey Cutter Program. You type in (or copy & paste) the author’s name and it gives you the Cutter Number. Then you can easily copy and paste it into LibraryThing. Pretty cool, eh?

You can do the same thing for other forms of literature or for all your library. Whatever you like. After all, it is YOUR library. There are plenty of breakdowns of the Dewey Decimal Classification system online. Here are two good ones.

If what you’ve got is mostly English-language material, 813 is American Fiction, 823 is English Fiction, 811 is American Poetry, 821 is English Poetry, etc. There are other numbers for drama, essays, speeches, etc. Here’s a quick reference chart:

You probably don’t need to subdivide within these categories. A Cutter Number is probably sufficient. And if you want to look outside this area at other books (particularly nonfiction), you can view the book title in LibraryThing and click “Find in a Library,” which will search for the book in OpenWorldCat.

And there you go! Your own personal CATALOGED library! Now you can use LibraryThing to connect with other people who have similar interests (and who are also already interested in books) and to find new books or authors that you haven’t tried yet. What fun!

Current music: Rachmaninoff: Vespers

[tags]LibraryThing, libraries, books, technology, cataloging, dewey decimal, DDC[/tags]

If you’ve ever used online resources from a library, there’s a good chance that you’ve used WorldCat. Using WorldCat is like using the online catalog for your library, except that it includes materials from thousands of libraries around the world (mainly North America, but still!). It’s a great way to find what’s out there and which libraries have the things you want. It’s what most libraries use for the foundation of their InterLibrary Loan services.

Anyway, what’s really cool is that WorldCat.org is now online! Also called Open WorldCat, it’s a way for you to use WorldCat without having to find a library that’s a member. And even better is the fact that they have made it possible for you to add their search box to your website or blog. They even show you how to get results in Google and Yahoo! And there are also browser toolbars that they’ve created, so you can download a “WorldCat Edition” Yahoo!- or Google-related toolbar for Internet Explorer or a Search Extension (plugin) for Firefox!

One last cool feature is that they’ve made a way for you to create a link to the WorldCat page for a specific item. So you can use the link wherever you like and have it always go to that particular entry in WorldCat. VERY helpful!

You’ll see that I now have a WorldCat search box on my blog sidebar. Feel free to try it out.

[tags]worldcat, libraries, databases, books[/tags]

In case you never heard me say it, “I LOVE HAVING A STARBUCKS ON CAMPUS!” I absolutely LOVE it! I can walk there whenever I like. No cars necessary and just a couple of minutes away from dark-roasted, caffeinated bliss!

Today has been a LONG day. I’ve been at work for over 12 hours now and still have a couple hours to go. We had the grand opening of the “Earthquake 1906″ exhibit this morning (visit DawgBlog, our library blog, to read more about that) so I needed to be here to get everything ready. By the time the grand opening and the PhotoShop demo were over, it was after 12:00. Since I had to be here for the 5pm – 10pm shift, I figured, “Why leave?” It was good that I stayed, too, because there were things I was able to do. Plus, now I can justify taking comp time later this week.

Anyway, we’ve also been having a heat issue here in the library this week. I think something was switched in the heating/cooling system this weekend because last week was so chilly. And of course yesterday and today were back up in the mid 80′s, so we’ve had very warm days outside and no cooling going on inside. After 12 hours of the heat in the library, I was feeling both hot and tired. It only made it worse when I kept seeing students coming into the library with Frappuccinos from Starbucks.

Yes, there is a Starbucks by the bookstore in the Student Union building, which is practically the closest one to the library. So I put up the sign telling people to go to the Circulation Desk if they needed help and off I went to Starbucks. A quick walk, a short line (luckily), and a quick walk back and I was the proud owner (and consumer) of an Iced Caramel Macchiato. Perks me up while cooling me down!

Ahhhh…. Now I can bear the last couple hours.

[tags]coffee, Starbucks, libraries, caramel macchiato[/tags]

Whoever would have thought that being a librarian would involve so much physical labor? The last couple of weeks have been very hard physically, as I’ve unloaded shelves of books, moved shelving, assembled other shelving, loaded books back onto shelves, assembled new computer tables, moved computers, and rearranged all the furniture in the Reference Department.

I’m happy and relieved to say that as of 4:30 this afternoon I turned the last screw on the last computer table. My physical project is completed. Well, almost. On Monday or Tuesday we’re getting seven more computers to put on the tables in our Reference Dept. computer lab. When that’s done, we’ll have 25 computers in our “lab,” all with MS Office, full Internet access, printing capabilities, etc. Since someone ELSE will be coming and installing those computers, my physical work in this arena is basically done. I’ll try to load a couple pictures onto this blog once we’re done with everything.

In the meantime, I can get back to working on the website and my online resources for the Modern Languages Department.

[tags]libraries, reference, computers, technology[/tags]

Just when I thought things were going to stabilize in the Reference Dept. of the library because of the wiring project getting finished, another change is thrust upon us. We’d talked about rearranging all the shelving units in Reference to see if we could come up with more space (currently they’re at an angle, both sides angling toward the front and center) and I even drew up some plans for a couple different options, to see what space we would recover. In the end, it didn’t seem to be enough space to warrant all that work.

And moving bookshelves in a library IS a LOT of work!

But after seeing where the conduits and outlets were placed in that wiring project that’s allowing us to double the size of our computer lab, we took another look at it and decided to move things around. Instead of shelves angling toward the center, they’re going to be perpendicular to the back wall, coming straight out. That will allow us to see all the way down easily, in case someone’s looking lost or confused or maybe doing something they shouldn’t. It also gives us about four more feet of needed space at the front of the shelving while still allowing a wide aisle down the left side where all the windows are.

In the end, it will be really nice. In the meantime, I’ve got 10 large book carts filled, along with two tables and three 30-foot rows on the floor running along one wall. That to clear the space needed for getting started moving shelves and relocating the books.

Not only does this project require moving shelves around, but the books will also have to be in different places to keep them in order. We can’t just take books off, move a shelf, and put the books back on. So I spent my free time during my Reference Desk shift yesterday planning out the steps for the most logical process while trying to keep the work as low as possible and the most books on the shelves at a time as possible. Classes ARE in session now and people MAY need to actually USE some of these books. So “quick and organized” is my motto.

And, of course, this also means that any other projects get sidelined while trying to hurry all this through. But, then, I do get to dress down until I’m done, since I’m sweating and getting dirty.

After a year of work and meetings and reviews and design and redesign, our new library website is officially live and working. It’s a very different look and is more intuitive and up to current web design standards than the old site (which had existed for over five years).

Some of the new features are a “Library News” section on the front page that pulls an RSS feed from our library blog, a more prominent Ask-A-Librarian program presence, and the use of Butler University’s new Content Management System for maintaining the website. It should also be easier to find what you’re looking for without having to dig or hunt for it.

Upcoming features (only so much can be done before the school year gets started) are a search box in the top right corner and breadcrumbs.

Come pay us a visit: http://www.butler.edu/library

No, it’s not the 106˚ heat index in Indianapolis. And it’s only indirectly because it’s the first day of August. It’s also the day that our new library website goes live. The site has been in the redesign phase for over a year, and now the final product is live and kicking. You can see it at http://www.butler.edu/library.

It’s also the first day of employment for our newest “acquisition.” Teresa Williams has come on board as our third Reference Team Librarian, so now we’re back up to full staffing. It’s great to have her on board and I know she’ll bring a cheery, competent, and professional element to our Public Services.

Today we also had the first steps to a wiring project begun. Namely, a couple of holes drilled through our cement floor. The whole building is cement and marble types of construction, so adding any new power outlets or data ports is a nasty business. Our Reference Department is expanding its computer lab by adding 10 more computers to the 14 already in our “lab.” The computers are here, the furniture is on order, and the wiring is the biggest question mark. That’s why the electrician with his big old drill was such a welcome sight this morning. Maybe we actually will get all these projects done before classes start! It should be close, anyway.

Current music: Mozart Overtures, by the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra

Here’s a new button that I and several of my library colleagues have recently received. And below is an excerpt from the ALA (American Library Association) description of the reasons for this button’s creation and design.

Inspiration for the button’s design came from documents obtained from the FBI by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The request revealed a series of e-mails in which FBI agents complained about the “radical, militant librarians” while criticizing the reluctance of FBI management to use the secret warrants authorized under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act. The efforts of “radical militant librarians” arguing on behalf of their users’ right to read freely, without government interference or surveillance, helped to influence the Congress in its vote to extend its debate on the renewal of the USA PATRIOT Act.

It’s funny how our perceptions change based on our circumstances. This week Butler doesn’t have any classes. Thanksgiving Break is a full week. Then we’ve got two more weeks of classes before Finals.

This Italian class I’m taking is four days a week. At 9:00 am. So today it’s Monday morning, I go in to work and since I don’t have homework to check or finish, and I don’t have class at 9:00, it seems like a regular vacation. All the more so since the entire library is QUIET. Everyone’s gone this week, or so it seems. We’ve had only a handful of patrons in the three hours we’ve been open today, so it’s an opportunity for getting the work done that usually gets set aside for reference services when we’re busy.

We’re only open three days this week anyway, and only until 5:00 pm, so I don’t work Tuesday evening. And I’ve got a training seminar to go to for most of the day tomorrow, so this is going to be one weird week. Not that there’s nothing to do, but the pressure is less and the activities are less. Practically a vacation! Even now when I’m at work.

Current music: 1492: Conquest of Paradise, Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, by Vangelis

Okay, I need to share another cool technology tool that I just found out about. And no wonder, since it’s very new. They just opened on August 29 and they’ve already had over 810,000 books cataloged. Anyway, the program is called LibraryThing. A clever name for a clever technology.

LibraryThing allows you to catalog your books online. That’s cool enough for those of us who have rather large personal libraries. It allows you to search the Library of Congress and over 30 other major libraries around the world (including Amazon and its foreign language versions). Having access to all these libraries (along with the libraries listed in LibraryThing), we get more standardization of book titles and classification. (Maybe that kind of thing is only interesting to us librarians, but it IS cool!)

You can also share your list with others or keep it private if you like. They even have a “widget” that you can put in your blog to show what you’re “currently reading.” You can even rate your books from 1-5 like you do with songs on iTunes! Tags are also supported, so you can add tags to books just like you add them to pictures in Flickr or links in Del.icio.us. If you wonder what use tags would be, you can click a tag to find other books that have been given the same tag, so it helps you find new books you might not have known about.

Just for fun, you can click on the “Zeitgest” link and see list of the top 50 largest libraries in the system, the top 25 most-owned books, the top 75 authors, and lots of other lists. And of course every entry in every list is clickable!

Data can be imported and exported as you like, so you can print out a spreadsheet of your library or other versions of that list. Display is available both in list format and as a “graphical shelf,” which displays the cover images of your books. The list format for displaying your library is totally customizable with 19 different fields. One click on the column header sorts by that column. It’s VERY user friendly and very convienent. There’s even a “printable view” which only displays your content, omitting the control panel type of info on the web page.

Best of all, it’s cheap to free! You can create an account and list up to 200 books for free, and you get unlimited entry for a year for $10 or “for life” for $25! Visit http://www.librarything.com/ to check it out and get started with your own library.

Current music: A Day Without Rain, by Enya