And… The last set of best of the best tweets from Monterey Internet Librarian 2009 for today. This second half of the day didn’t seem to be as exciting as the first half. Maybe all these librarians are wearing down at the end of the day and after lunch? But overall, I’ve been pretty excited about all of the great ideas that are coming out for #il2009.

@lisacarlucci great idea – UHouston collaborated w prof teaching iPhone app dev; now class is building apps for the library
This is an outstanding collaboration to get the work done. But how about an Application competition?

@craftyLib Great nugget from optimizing web presence is you get more honest results by watching users test than asking what they want
People are more honest from their actions instead of their words? I think my grandmother used to say something like that! I totally agree and never thought about applying my grandmother’s wisdom this way.

@Carravagio Wants this new Worldcat app that uses barcode pictures to find nearby libraries that own the item
This is going to be awesome at Borders or Barnes and Noble! If only the Worldcat search results page was even mildly intuitive or easy to use.

@grrb Promotional badges for library products and services on your webpage look like banner ads, and’ll be ignored like banner ads.

@Carravagio Why haven’t I heard of this before? http://www.boopsie.com/home/ Too cool!
This is an awesome way to quickly and cheaply make phone apps, but they do want you to pay for it. It looks to me like you can’t design or build them yourself like you can do with widgets on widgetbox.com

http://twitter.com/gretchenhams: ppl huddled around outlets w/their devices r like the 21st century Smokers Circle.
You crazy internet librarian addicts!

@gretchenhams Nothing against marketing but idea of using prizes as bribes to get people to sign up bothers me on a personal level

@buffyjhamilton: Here is a neat app called “Margins” http://bit.ly/2GyheA
This is a fun app, I’m getting it as soon as my phone charges. Stores info about the book that you are “writing” in while studying. Easy and fast way to reference your notes later.

@lisacarlucci “if we are only teaching keyword searches in info lit sessions, we are going to be seen as hopelessly out of date”

@shifted I love that http://www.worthingtonlibraries.org/ has “more cowbell” on the home page!
There are quite a few discussions about creating a sense of “whimsy” in libraries, or breaking down the stereotype that libraries are stuffy sophisticated places. What a great place to break that down on the homepage of the library.

@jenica26 Action verbs for website, like Visit and Research. User-focused verbs; Borrow rather than Lend. Makes “inviting” online space.

@weelibrarian: “you won’t know what your users want if you don’t know what they already use.” start here.

Due to yesterday’s larger than expected success with blogging tweets, I did it again for the first half of today’s Internet Librarian. These are the best (in my opinion) and some of the most re-tweeted tweets from this morning’s sessions. I was in the mobile library sessions and I think everyone else was in here too which explains why these were so Mobile Library heavy. The original tweets are bold and my thoughts are in regular text, if I had any.

@kristenyt Making the private and passionate experience of reading public…and then returning it to the private

@jdysart Great quotes -universe made of stories not atoms; making the experience of reading public; libs as lively places of ideas
Makes me think of coffee shops in the dark ages that played a part in spurring the renaissance

@gretchenhams Don’t just give people what they want, give them something that surprises them & better yet, yourself!
YES!! Now what… This is such a great concept, I have to figure out what to do with resources that don’t quite equal those of NYPL’s.

@AspenWalker C203: we use phones for so much. Why aren’t our library websites optimized for mobile viewing too?
Of course.. Very self-explanatory very much makes me think… what were we thinking by not optimizing our websites for mobile web

@john_fereira Jason Clark: “Twitter makes stuff better.”
I just think this one is funny and for this conference at least, very very true.

@vkline RT @gershbec: We screwed up our regular websites, so mobile is a second chance to offer a good impression

@gretchenhams new interface, way ppl touch screen needs 2 b considered, don’t clutter, keep enough space 4 fat thumbs
This is also just good advice for any of our websites.

@Rudibrarian website users think about what they need; don’t make them think abt what to click or where to look. Allow intuitive use!
Don’t make anyone using the library think more than they already have to in order to use the library.

@buffyjhamilton Toby Greenwalt’s bookmarks for “The Shoutbomb Gateway: Mobile Service from the Ground Up” http://bit.ly/OjpBJ
Just a solid link and good info to have.

@AspenWalker @Griffey Honeywell kitchen computer circa 1969. First home computer. $10,000. Came w/ 2 week programming class. A cutting board too
LOVE IT!! I Want one

@Library_Boy Augmented reality: effectively marking up the real world. What role will libraries play. Privacy implications?
Augmenting reality is just such a fascinating concept and I hadn’t heard much about it until just now. Read up! Its totally amazing.

@lorireed “ERATE isn’t worth it” for filtering. Have to figure in other costs…staff time for research, install, maintenance
I just like this, because I’ve thought this for soooo long. What a waste of time L

@jcasabona RT @kristenyt: .@griffey on privacy concerns with geolocation- “Get over it. Privacy is dead.”
Ok librarians, these are fighting words, let’s see some blood J

@lorireed Ex. of sites blocked: WebMD, wikipedia Hustler entry, WWII history site, Natl Geo images of beavers
So many other great sites are blocked too. How can we work around this? someone smarter than me needs to be able to figure it out.

@JustinLibrarian RT @strnglibrarian: “the future is already here. Its just not evenly distributed.”
Digital Divide anyone?

Here is quick tour of Redwood Shores Library in California. This is a great and innovative library following a kind of Bookstore meets a Museum meets a Community Center model. The library is over 22,000 square feet, opened about a year ago, and two thirds of the funding was made possible by the California Library Bond Act. I should mention that I am biased about this library from the very beginning for two reasons;

1) I love to sail and the library has a nautical theme
2) The director is David Genesy who was one of my favorite professors while getting my MLIS.

As you enter the library you are confronted by a giant interactive educational display about the ecosystem of the surrounding estuary. This structure reminds me of one of those science museums in San Francisco or the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Right away it creates a sense that I’m entering a new kind of space and creates a great distinction between the outside world and the educational world of the library.

I took this picture because from this angle there are no books or computers or any other indication that there is a whole library connected to it. This is the entrance into the library from the community center area where I regrettably did not take any pictures. Also, to my right (you can’t see it) there is a little cafe that will be opening soon selling coffee, snacks, etc… with a nice eating area looking out over the estuary and the local wildlife. I didn’t take a picture of the cafe either as it was closed and I want to see what its like when it opens.

I really like these book display pieces. I would like them even more if they were on wheels so they would be easy to move when programs happen. But they do seem to work really well for showcasing materials and it seems like each side could have a different display. For example, in the kids area, one side could be trucks, the other side could be rockets, the third side could be dinosaurs, etc… In this case they are using the display to show their new children’s picture books which I think also works well. (PS… apparently, I heard a rumor, that a library in our system is getting them on wheels but not mine, oh well…)

I kinda of like this change of focus in the teen room. Away from the books and seating arranged for reading, and more integration of furniture surrounding the new technologies. While I despise television with the flaming hot passion of a thousand burning suns… The teens don’t feel that way, and they have game systems hooked up and can watch movies.

I also love these chairs. I took more pictures of the them, but somehow they were lost into the abyss of the internet from my phone. We were told that these chairs are a year old and they don’t look much past a day. Apparently, they are very strong and sturdy. They also lend themselves to being repositioned where the teens like them and they can be sat in a number of different ways and that really the kind of flexible seating/work areas that I really love.

If I had to pick one complaint about the library it would be it’s almost great lighting on the bookends or displays. But this is typical of almost all libraries I have ever been in. I’m going to write a blog post on the EXTREME importance of library display lighting and all of libraries failure to light their libraries well for marketing. But in this example, you can see there is a spotlight *almost* facing the endcap in a perfect position to light it up properly. To be fair, in other areas of the library there are quite a few well-lit book cases and overall I was very impressed with the lighting.

There are many more things I could have taken a picture of in this beautiful library such as the boat and lighthouse themed children’s programing area. But when I looked at the pictures, they really don’t do it any justice and its really something you need to stand in front of (and go inside of) to really appreciate. Also, I was really impressed with the configuration of the computers in a semi circle (like the airport signal indicator on a mac) facing a very nice aquarium and some beautiful big windows with fantastic views.

If you do want more pictures there are tons on flickr taken by far better photographers than me. Here is a link to a bunch of Redwood Shores Library photos.

I just found an iPhone application that locates all of the libraries around you. This application was designed by a mother who was frustrated with trying to find libraries near her while she was out driving with the kids.  The concept is simple, if the kids are screaming in car, she can now find a library for them to scream in!   Actually, I think this application is fun and simple and very handy for mothers who are looking for something fun, educational, cheap and close to them wherever they are.  Interestingly enough this app is called simply “library.” While I’m a little disappointed in some of the functionality of it, overall I think it’s going to be fun to use when I go to some of my conferences this year. I plan on touring a bunch of libraries when I’m in Monterey, Los Angeles, Boston and Washington DC at the conferences this year. So I’m going to try it out while I’m out there.

Because this application is only a quick way to find the libraries closest to me it will make it about 10 seconds quicker to find the libraries than if I didn’t have it. Thus saving me a total of about 5 minutes throughout the year. If I didn’t have the application I would have to go through all the trouble of opening Google maps and actually typing the word “library” into the search feature. This application saves me that trouble!

Actually, the only thing this app does is open Google maps and pin drop the libraries around me. What I wanted was an application that would find libraries in places further away from me so I could plan some road trips accordingly. For example, I could have the option of typing in a city or zipcode or something and it would locate all the libraries in that city. This app doesn’t do that. It only finds ones within a 4-5 mile radius and that is a little frustrating. I also wanted to be able to maybe link to their programs and services listings for that day, or even the catalog.  But that would require some changes on the library’s part and I can hardly blame the programmer of the application for that.  But then…. I guess… How many people plan road trips visiting libraries? Wow, I need a hobby!

Here is the Link to the “Library” Application