Librarians in Movies

In most movies, librarians are typically stereotyped as people who are enforcing 'silence' in libraries.

It would be interesting to read a post in TCM’s Movie Blog that depicts librarians' roles in various movies.

..most librarians are portrayed as rather stuffy, repressed types, hellbent on enforcing the rules and naive about the real world..

British Library has a Flickr Group on Ramayana

A Scene from the Epic, Ramayana
Originally uploaded by Kamala Number

Libraries are choosing Flickr to post and share Photos on web. Here is an interesting example by British Library.

The British Library (see its Flickr Profile) has a group on Flickr called Ramayana. Photos / images submitted to this Flickr Group could appear in their gallery in London and on their Library's website, under the section - Ramayana: Love and Valour in India's Great Epic.

Blacklight - an open source OPAC

Blacklight is an open source OPAC. Libraries can use it to allow people to search and browse their collections online.

Creating Ticker from RSS Feeds

A librarian desired to display latest news as 'Ticker' on a large Plasma TV. The same was used to show-case the library site with recently acquired material. Adding a News Ticker could make the display screen more attention grabbing.

I suggested a simple solution based on a plug-in that can display RSS Feed as Ticker in Firefox. The solution has been described in the following slide show. A server side RSS Feed display would be a more elegant solution but would require fiddling with site code.

| View | Upload your own

Why open source software for libraries?

Simple answer, libraries have to survive much longer than the software and its providers.

Information Technology gets obsolete every year. Just see the history of computers - take just one particular operating system - DOS to VISTA. Have you realized how fast the things have changed over a short period of time - in just two decades! Do libraries change that fast? No! and there is absolutely no logic that they should also change.

What does that mean? - if a library is using a particular automated procedure - it won't change that easily because the whole library system would have to undergo changes. Not only the procedural changes are difficult to decide and manage, these are expensive too. Library procedures are not only tightly coupled with each other but also to standards and best practices. How many times AACR II has changed in last two decades? While you might have seen how different versions of softwares have come and gone? The sad part of all these versions is that their developers declare that they won't provide support for the earlier versions. If these are proprietary softwares, libraries will have to migrate to new versions or just get struck with a system for which no support is available. Well the migration strategy never provides optimum results because the technology gets obsolete before it is fully implemented. Thus libraries are put on perpetual migration route. Had a library used an open source software, chances are that library staff would had learned to use and maintain the software system. It means that it can still be managed and enhanced by the library staff - because the source code is available. Thus its long time survival is ensured to large extent.

Libraries should use open source softwares not because these are free or cost less - but as a Leader in Open Source for Libraries i.e LibLime has put it:

Use of open source not only lowers the per-library cost of running software, it also empowers libraries with a higher level of control over customization and the overall direction of software development.

And to add over here - Open source softwares are for long term. This suits the long term nature of libraries.

Semantic Web

Semantic Library - Data, meaning, content

..Semantic Web is about creating relationships between data. This gives data flexibility and strength. Open data enables raw research information, records and more to be shared and built upon by others. Because of the power of data, many not-for-profit designers and activists are putting their energy into developing mashups and visualising information..

Internet has positive impact on Libraries and Museums - a report

The IMLS National Study on the Use of Libraries, Museums and the Internet

The study concludes that “the amount of use of the Internet is positively correlated with the number of in-person visits to museums and has a positive effect on in-person visits to public libraries.”

Revisit Libraries Again in 2020

[Photograph by Leonard G., licensed per Creative Commons ShareAlike 1.0.]
via a Slate Slideshow - Burrowed Time.

Continuing with my curiosity about future libraries of 2020 and discussions at email forums around Dec 2005, I feel Libraries would be very different than we have today. Didn't we had different libraries before the Printing Press and revolution it brought in knowledge generation and distribution. Internet is another big revolution after the Printing Press. Will the libraries become extinct in the year 2019? as predicted by Trends in the Living Networks: Will libraries disappear in 2019?

Libraries to me are collective reservoir of recorded wisdom of Human race. These will have to exist in one shape or the other. That is how humans are different from other animals on the earth.

Why open source model for librarians?

Why look at open source now? - PLN

..The open source model offers librarians the capability to create the software that we’ve always wanted—-standards compliant[7], interoperable, extensible and scalable software that does what we want it to do: help customers find information quickly, conveniently, no matter where that information resides..

I will say choose open source because it gives you the freedom to use, change or distribute the way you want. Remember, Libraries are expected to stay much longer than the vendors. Vendors may not support a version which they sold you some time ago. Or they may go out of business. In that case all your work and investment goes waste. You may be forced to migrate to another version or another software. With Open Source, you know what it all contains. You may tweak it yourself or hire people to do so, but then it is always with you. You can make it to evolve for your library's evolving needs.

Also check out the following paper at E-LIS repository:

E-LIS - A Virtual Exhibition of Open Source Software for Libraries

..Open source software is quickly becoming a preferred solution, owing to the freedom to copy, modify and distribute it and the freedom from contracts, as well as for greater opportunities for interoperability with other applications..

Tools from Libraries Around the World

Thanks Dr P Vyasamoorthy for letting us know about Research Tools from Libraries Around the World - College Degree.com