Library Gazette

The familiar hype cycle report from Gartner has been released for 2009. The NY times published a nice summary article that highlights some of the findings (including where Gartner stands on Twitter).

Of interest to the library techies may be the report on cloud computing. Cloud technologies on the rise include Cloud-based email and enterprise wide use of cloud computing while both virtualization (running multiple ‘computers’ on a singe set of hardware) and Software as a Service (Saas) are both rising on the ‘Slope of Enlightment’ according to Gartner. A great example of SaaS is our Serialssolutions subscription.

Another interesting report focuses on trends in higher education. Items rising on the list include digital preservation of research data, use of open source software, and mobile learning while Cloud email is just emerging from the ‘Trough of Disillusionment.’

There are reports on all sorts of information issues and topical areas so head on over to the full report & enjoy. To get into the above links, first visit the Gartner login page. After that each of the above links will take you directly to your resource.

Serendipity was my tried and true method of research as an undergrad. It was a perfect method - lacking structure, motivation, and purposeful direction I used what information fell into my lap to write research papers :). This morning, the NYT published a short piece on the role of serendipity in online information seeking this morning that I thought might be of interest.

The article discusses how Twitter has re-designed its site to encourage more searching & serendipitous discovery. There is an interesting connection here to what Tim Westergren discussed during his talk at ZSR last year about the difference between crowd-generated opinion and expert created metadata and the role that those two sources of information play in unexpected discovery of new information.

I do not think that the Pandora model and the twitter model are entirely in sync with each other but it is curious to see how central a role the idea of serendipity plays in discovery systems.

As one of the newer employees at ZSR I understand it’s my turn to make a “Did you know…” entry so here goes.

Did you know…

I first started working in a library in junior high school because I was bored in study hall and the library was looking for volunteers.

I met my husband at my high school lunch table in my senior year. Several years later when he worked for Piedmont Airlines, he proposed with, “If you marry me you get free flight benefits.” We’ve been married for 23 years.

We have 2 sons.Jimmy is on his way to Appalachian State as a freshman this fall.Danny attends Forbush HS.They will both be in the marching band for their respective schools.My husband is the president of the Forbush Music Boosters and our spare time is spent following our sons to band and choir events.

I love to travel and have been in 46 states. I intend to get to all 50 ASAP. I have lived in 7 states but have been in NC the longest.

I first worked for WFU in 1987 and except for taking 8 years off to start my family, I’ve worked here since then. I spent 13 ½ years at the WFU law school, 10 of those in the library.

As the black plastic and noise indicate, the construction to convert the ITC into the IS Service Desk is well under way! The new door to the multimedia lab has been cut and framed allowing the lab to reopen (and offering a great view through the lab windows of the ongoing construction in the rest of the ITC!) Here are a few photos from my iPhone. Better photos (taken by Charles Bombeld, Susan Smith, and others) throughout the building process will be on the ZSR Library Flickr page in the coming weeks!

On Sunday, July 12th, the 34 new student athletes who began classes on the previous Tuesday came to the ZSR Library in small groups of 6-10 students each. They were participating in a program called “Deacon Discovery”, a scavenger hunt around campus to introduce these news students to the various services available at WFU! In the 10-20 minutes I had with each group in Reference, we talked about the services the Library has to offer. We also checked out the Library’s home page and learned how to contact a librarian, find the Library catalog, databases and research guides. After each group was done, they took a picture of me and group in Reference as their scavenger hunt item! It was a fun, fast way to introduce them to ZSR and the services we have to offer!

I’m told it’s my turn …

Did you know . . .

I have 6 brothers & 5 sisters, and somewhere around 60 nieces & nephews.

My bachelor’s degree is in music, but I started college as a math major, and studied Spanish translation for a time.

My favorite dessert is ice cream; I also like cake, but prefer it without frosting.

I like Kakuro, but not Sudoku.

Although I don’t have time to read as much as I used to, I love a good mystery or adventure, and some of my favorite series are Constable Evans (by Rhys Bowen), Amelia Peabody (by Elizabeth Peters), Father Dowling (by Ralph McInerney), Sharyn McCrumb’s ballad novels, the Jason Bourne trilogy, and Jack Higgins’ World War II novels.

–D.H.

In our last Speak Out gathering Lynn mentioned that she would like to bring back the “Did You Know” feature in the Library Gazette. Did you know…

I’m an NC native and habitually proselytize about barbeque (pork, of course). Because both of my parents hail from Eastern NC and I grew up here in W-S, I have divided loyalties between Eastern and Lexington styles. I own two books about NC barbeque, both of which are in our collection (Holy Smoke and North Carolina Barbeque).

After 14 years in other southern cities, I’m back in W-S and this is my third time working at ZSR: 1st, around 1984, while taking summer classes in French (and I worked with Catherine France); 2nd, around 1993/94, starting as an intern while in library school at UNC-G, and continuing as a temporary employee until I finally landed my first full-time library position. I worked for Wanda, Leslie, Linda E., and others who are still here. They all taught me useful stuff about tech services and launched my long and successful career.

My first experience with computers involved a TRS-80 from Radio Shack with programs saved to a cassette tape.

I have the cutest little nephew…

Starbucks became even more popular than usual on Thursday as the staff with offices in the Wilson Wing of ZSR chose to relocate there due to the power outage resulting from the damaged main transformer for the Wilson WIng. Power outlets were at a premium and power strips became a hot commodity! The study rooms behind Starbucks were put to good use as well!

In addition to room 204, staff found temporary offices in Circulation and room 204 as well as other study spaces throughout the building.

Everyone made the best of the situation and made it a fun and productive day at ZSR!

Lauren Pressley and I led six workshops over three consecutive days this week on web 2.0 topics. These sessions came out of discussions with various members of the campus community who expressed an interest in learning more about everything from social networking applications to creating a podcast. The six workshops were:

1. An Introduction to Web 2.0
2. Social Networking Applications (Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, LinkedIn)
3. Google for Collaboration,
4. Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasting at ZSR
5. Using Web 2.0 Content
6. Web 2.0 and Instructional Design

Each session was 90 minutes in length, offering an opportunity to expand beyond the standard lecture format and include more active learning exercises in each session. In the Social Networking Applications workshop I led, the class was given basic instruction on the various applications, then broken into groups that explored a particular application. After exploring that application for 45 minutes the groups gave presentations to the class on that particular social networking application. This gave everyone the chance to explore the application of their choice while still learning about the other applications from the group presentations. The participants were nervous about this format at first, but adjusted quickly as the group began exploring the various applications. Lauren tried a similar model for her session on “Blogs, Wikis and Podcasting at ZSR”, allowing the participants to “play” in our sandbox environment after learning a bit about these tools. For the workshop on “Using Web 2.0 Content” we explored RSS feeds, iGoogle and the actual equipment (camcorders, audio recorders) used to create this content.

All in all it was a successful series of workshop, attended by a variety of staff and faculty. I enjoyed incorporating content from the “Teaching Teaching” workshops Lauren and Roz led in the Spring. We hope to repeat this series of workshops in the Fall semester.

In our last Speak Out gathering Lynn mentioned that she would like to bring back the “Did You Know” feature in the Library Gazette. The main reason she would like to see it brought back is the fact that several new folks have come to ZSR Library and did not get a chance to submit a Did You Know article. Therefore, I am submitting mine. Did you know…

I have been married for 8 years and have 3 daughters.

I lived in Cleveland, OH for 2 years and then in Boston, MA for 5 years before returning to NC.

I studied Hebrew, Talmud and Torah at the Cleveland College of Jewish Studies and also Kabbalah at Aish HaTorah in Cleveland, OH for 2 years.

I like mountain hiking.

I drive a black Ford Taurus nicknamed Nellie Bell.

I am a social butterfly who enjoys conversation.