October Begins a New Year-Budget wise

It's been a long time since I posted and hope to be able to devote more time to this blog about library building, computer training and of course all those snazzy new web 2.0 thingies. Currently, I'm enrolled in an on-line course on building maintenance from North Texas University at their LE@D site. This is a wonderful resource for continuing education for any librarian in the profession. The courses are very reasonably priced and they are offering all the courses needed for a Certified Public Library Administrator. By all means check out LE@D.

Multimedia

Training of senior citizens to use computers and technology is of continuing interest to me. As people grow older they often become isolated from their families and friends. I strongly believe that the use of technology and especially the Internet can help Seniors stay active, stay in touch and eliminate much of the loneliness that many older citizens face. I found this video through a search on Youtube.com and it explains the benefits senior citizens can derive from learning and using the Internet. The video is about a senior training program in Canada. (Posted on Youtube.com in June 2006 by Mediamutt)

Internet Competency-LibrisDesign

I chose Libris Design after a search on Google for databases for library design and space planning. "Libris Design "is a library facility-planning database that assists local library officials with the planning of public library buildings. it includes a website with recent information on facility planning topics, a database of recently constructed California public libraries, an area for users to communicate with each other, user help documentation and a trial version of the Libris Design database." I chose this site because it provides assistance and guidance for librarians and local officials who are planning or preparing for a building project.

Browsing Search-ERIC/EBSCO

This was the first hit:
1. Attitudes of Older Adults toward a Computer Training Program Preview . By: Segrist, Kathleen. Educational Gerontology, v30 n7 p563-571 Aug 2004. (EJ680243)
PDF Full Text
I conducted a browsing search in ERIC/EBSCO. I searched the thesaurus for Senior Citizens and found the correct subject heading as Older Adults. I searched Older Adults and received 11,821 hits.
I then narrowed my search by using Computer Training and received 15 hits. I narrowed again by using Adult Education and received 4 hits. Using ERIC I was able to look at left side panel which provided narrowing terms for me. This made the search much easier and very effective. I was interested in this search because we have been providing computer training for Senior Citizens for about 5 years and this is a topic that interest me.
I do not think this search method was very productive. I could have more easily created a building block search that would have pinpointed the information I was seeking. Searching in this manner was awkard and more time consuming than the others I attempted.

Citation Pearl Growing-LISTA

This was the first hit:
Planning, communication are key in building new libraries.Preview By: Ames, Kathryn S.; Heid, Greg. Georgia Library Quarterly, Winter2008, Vol. 44 Issue 4, p5-7, 3p; (AN 28783224)
PDF Full Text (179KB)

I located a book in the TWU catalog entited Planning for a New Generation of Public Library Buildings by Gerard B. McCabe. I then looked at the Subject headings: 10 were given, 4 were not relevate since they dealt with other countries and Electonic Books (?)
I then searched in LISTA using these subject headings, selecting the most relevant
Set 1> library buildings AND Design and construction received 241 hits
Set 2> Set 1+library architecture received 39 hits
Set 3> Public libraries and United States and Design and Construction received 95 hits
Set 4> Set 3 and Library Architecture received 6 hits all of them were relevant.

This is an excellent search strategy when you have identified a topic of interest. This method provided guidance for finding similiar items and provided more depth to the subject. LISTA is an excellent database for Library Science students and information professionals.
LISTA is an excellent database and one I have used repeatedly for research. It is lively and colorful, with bright and graphic icons for functions like printing, RSS feeds, Saving, etc. LISTA provides many resources with full text, which students naturally are seeking.

Successive Fractions-ERIC/Internet

Successive Fractions
This was the second hit:
2. FBI Attempt to Screen Archive Prompts Fears: Journalist's Family Wants to Block Search of Papers Held by University (EJ788877)

Author(s):
Carlson, Scott
Source:
Chronicle of Higher Education, v52 n34 pA1 Apr 2006
Pub Date:
2006-04-28
Pub Type(s):
Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Peer-Reviewed:
No
Descriptors:News Reporting; Crime; Academic Libraries; Archives; Information Policy; Access to Information; Federal Regulation; Resistance (Psychology); Advocacy; Censorship
Abstract:During his life and career as a muckraking journalist in Washington, Jack Anderson cultivated secret sources throughout the halls of government--sources who passed on information that allowed Anderson to investigate and write about Watergate, CIA assassination schemes, and countless scandals. His syndicated column, Washington Merry-Go-Round, earned him the enmity of the corrupt and powerful--so much so that during the Watergate years, associates of Nixon had discussed assassinating the columnist. They never went through with the plot. Anderson died in December at the age of 83. His archive, some 200 boxes now being held by George Washington University's library, could be a trove of information about state secrets, dirty dealings, political maneuverings, and old-fashioned investigative journalism, open for historians and up-and-coming reporters to see. But the government wants to see the documents before anyone else. This article reports on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's interest to examine the Anderson archive which caused outrage among members of the Anderson family and has stoked the fears of librarians and academics. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract
Full-Text Availability Options:

Set 1= librar* or public librar* or school librar* or academic librar* HITS= 58,196
Set 2 = Set 1 AND crimes or crime HITS= 186
Set 3= Set 1 AND Set 2 AND policies or policy or procedure* Hit=46

I examined the first 40 hits of the 46 and of these hits 70% dealt with crime of some type in libraries. I think this was a successful search in that it produced additional information to the building block search above. However, I have found it difficult to build a successive fractions search and in many cases it returned hits I did not anticipate.

Building Block Search in LibLit

This was my third hit:
3
Indianapolis Opens Tangled in Fiscal Woes. American Libraries v. 39 no. 3 (March 2008) p. 23-5

My begining set was
Set 1> llibrar* or public librar* or community librar* AND
Set 2> Architecture or build* or construct* AND
Set 3> trends or issues or problems
I received 564 Hits
I then modified search to limit to full-text only between 2006-2008
I received 73 hits, some of them still not relevant to my search, however of the first 5 hits 4 were right on target.
This was a good search, and it produced a large number of hits that then lead me to explore the subject and narrow my focus. It gave me enough relevant hits to guide me through the search process. I think that a building block search is an excellent way to begin research on a topic.
LibLit is an excellent resource for LS students and I have used this database many times. The building block search is always a good starting point if you are developing a topic or trying to locate a specific angle for a topic.

Competency # 4-RSS Feed

I chose this feed from the Designing Libraries website because it provides current information regarding library building and design issues, latest trends and news regarding new projects and concepts in buildings and space planning. The website also has an interesting gallery of photos of libraries. There are lots of enticing pictures that provide inspiration and ideas for any library professional considering an expansion, new building or a refurbishing project.

Competency # 5-Tagging

3-5(1) amazon(2) architecture(30) art(19) beautiful book(1) bibliophilia(4) Boeken(1) books(14) books about books(13) books and authors(1) books and reading(3) coffee table(5) France(1) hardcover(2) history(4) home(2) images(1) interior design(4) international(2) Italy(1) James H. Billington (foreward)(1) libraries(54) library(11) Library architecture(2) library buildings(3) lifestyle(1) Manchester(1) new york city(1) non-fiction(17) Nonfiction Libraries(1) own(2) Photography(20) photos(8) pictorial works(3) picture(2) read(2) reference(4) Switzerland(1) tbr(3) Test Living with books(1) ursus(1) wishlist(5) World(4)


Tags from librarything.com with the search terms "Library Architecture."
I chose the title: "The Most Beautiful Libraries in the World" by Guillaume de Laubier. I chose it because I would love to see this book, I imagine it must be luscious with images and descriptions of these incredible buildings.
A review from Amazon.com says: Speaking as a professional librarian for more than three decades -- someone who upon visiting a city for the first time usually seeks out the main library for a look around -- there are libraries and then there are libraries. Even those in major U.S. cities tend to be utilitarian first (sometimes utilitarian only). Those dating from the 1950s and `60s are generally pretty ugly, as well. For richness and beauty, you have to go overseas to find libraries constructed in an earlier time, when architecture and ornamentation was an end in itself. Except for the small collections kept by monasteries, the library is pretty much an invention of the Renaissance and the Age of Reason. The National Library of Austria, in Vienna, is gorgeously Baroque, with allegorical paintings on the ceilings and narrow staircases concealed behind hidden doors in the stacks. The ever-suspicious Vatican Library still locks its bookcases, filled with bibliographical relics of incalculable value. The Senate Library in Paris is a blend of Neoclassical and Italianate, but it's very much a working library and the old card catalogue has been replaced by computers. I was privileged many years ago to visit the breathtaking library at the Abbey of Saint Gall, home of probably the world's most important collection of surviving incunabula. The curving bookshelves of inlaid wood, the hundreds of carved portraits, arms, and both religious and secular symbols are just incredible. And there's the Bodleian Library at Oxford, the first-ever university collection. And there are more than a dozen others in this beautifully produced volume, of which only three in the United States were deemed worthy of inclusion: the Library of Congress, the New York Public, and the Boston Athenaeum. All of which are practically new buildings compared to the others, but the same principal is at work -- to house knowledge in artistically serene surroundings. Remember the overhead shot of the LC's main Reading Room in *All the President's Men*? That says it all. (Michael K. Smith, 2004)

Competency # 3-Podcast

Joshua Prince-Ramus on the Seattle Public Library:
The architect on the new Seattle Public Library discusses his design and theories. I chose this podcast, found through www.youtube.com, because I wanted to demonstrate that libraries can be designed to serve as a community gathering spot and how that is accomplished. The podcast also presents a model for how concepts are brought together with functions in a public library building.

This is an interesting and artful representation of making the functional appear fanciful and a creation of public art. A temporary wall for a construction project at the library in Cardiff, Mo. (left)

The picture on the far right is in Kansas City they decided to make it a permanent feature. This is the wall of the library parking garage.

A big thank you to the Deputy-Dog.com for these pictures. Deputydog. Deputydog: Because everyone likes stuff. 2007 [cited June 4 2008]. Available from http://deputy-dog.com/2007/11/30/can-you-spot-the-library/.

Competency # 2- A Related Blog

I found an interesting blog on the web from Nampa, IA. entitled Nampa Library Sketchbook. I found this blog with a Google search for blogs about library buildings and design. Nampa is in the process of building a new library for their community and the library is maintaining a blog on the progress of this project. As my blog focuses on library buildings I thought it would be interesting to watch their project develop and what elements they consider as most important for their community.
This was the first post I could find dating back to March 2007:
Exciting times are here!
Welcome to Library Sketchbook, the blog about the Nampa Public Library’s new building. We want to tell you what’s happening as Nampa moves closer to building a new library. I look forward to introducing building topics and moderating discussion. I’ll also relay what’s happening in this process to community groups and through updates to the media.Why a new library? The old one is in a grand, historic building, but it lacks parking, access for those with disabilities, rooms for meetings, doing homework, or enough places for computers or casual reading. Nor is there enough room for the collections of books, movies, music and other materials to serve a community this size. In fact, the 23,500-square-feet building is only one-third the size it should be, according to national standards. The Library Board and the City of Nampa have committed to a new library. There are some large private donations to help out and the community is genuinely committed to the project. Check back for updates and feel free to respond.- Dan Black, Nampa Public Library Community Relations Coordinator
Posted by NPL Staff at 4:16 PM 0 comments
Labels: Welcome


Visit their blog at:

http://nampalibrary-sketchbook.blogspot.com/

Competency # 1-Creating a blog

This blog was created as part of my Masters studies at Texas Woman's University for a course in Information Storage and Retrieval. My attention is focused on public libraries. While I'm interested in buildings, design and space planning in public libraries, my interests extend far beyond this narrow scope. Usually, we are motivated by a pressing need to learn something. In this case that is very true, since I'm in a very crowded library and the time for expansion has not yet come, financially that is! Therefore, it is in the best interest of the community for the staff and I to be creative in using the space we have and maximizing every asset, while we await the appropriate time for an expansion. A clear case of "necessity is the mother of invention." It will also be interesting to track just how this expansion unfolds, politically, financially and physically. While I've had the privilege to have lead two building projects for two different libraries, which included a new library building project and the restoration and expansion of an historical library building, this should be another vastly entertaining and interesting project.

As part of my duties as Director of a public library I teach an on-going computer class. The majority of my students are older citizens struggling to learn a new skill. A new skill that is difficult for most people-young or old to grasp. Recently, I've been faced with same frustration trying to help people with Vista which I know almost nothing about. My students also struggle with varying degrees of physical barriers brought about by the natural aging process. These include tremors, poor eye-sight, difficulty recalling or remembering information, hearing loss, deterioration of fine-motor skills and on and on. Because of my fondness for these people and past experiences with their absolute joy at any small success, this has lead me to become very interested in training or teaching to older citizens.

After having watched a very interesting web cast of Social Networking with emphasis on Second Life, curiosity lead me to sign up for an account. I'm a newbie on Second Life and don't have abundant time to spend on the site, hence I'm a pretty worthless citizen of that world right now. I'm interested in exploring this new web application and how it can benefit the library and its users, particularly if it helps the library reach out to young people.

And then again, who knows. The library world is so interesting this could lead us anywhere from book reviews to innovative ways libraries are using for delivery of services.