Databases on smart phones

This blog post on SLJ gives you a bit of a heads up on things we'll only see more of in the next few years.

Here's a demonstration:

More 2.0 Image fun!

The Blatant Bibliophile Blog has a great post up on copyrite free images, altering images and other fun word/pic meshes. Worth checking out!

Marketing in Libraries

One thing that libraries have always struggled with is marketing. WE know we're great, but somewhere in our natural introversion we have a hard time screaming from the rooftops that we will, actually, improve lives through our services.

SLJ, recognizing that libraries have a hard time promoting themselves, has created an inexplicably named blog, Bubble Room, to address marketing in libraries.

I don't know if it'll be useful, but hey, there it is, just in case.

I actually really like this post, which talks about how the Rochester Public Library has a calculator on their site that totals the amount patrons have saved by using the library rather than purchasing the books they've checked out. I've always thought that we should print their savings on the check out receipt. That's one way to achieve validation through knowledge. ;)

Morgue Files

I've just discovered Morgue Files, described as the "Public Image Reference Archive." Content is uploaded for public use - for free - and they only thing they ask is that the photographer is credited. These are usually high resolution images, something that isn't the norm on the internet - not for public use that I've found.

Seems like a useful site to know about. Goes along with the awesome Smithsonian Images and the Library of Congress' Flickr photostream (though not all of the last two are in the public domain).

(photo by Zach Carter)

Creating a YA blog.

Creating a YA blog from Alternative Teen Services

Recently my library system decided to start a YA blog. Previously we did not have much of an online presence for our teens and this will hopefully mark a change in the right direction...

I would love to find a way to incorporate a blog for teen patrons into the Sno-Isle website. This article gives some good things to think about up front. What do you think?