melindam

removing established, workhorse reference texts

2008-10-20T13:43:00.000-07:00

When you're in your 20's, you have no idea of the kinds of worries you'll have when you're (ahem) older. How could I have ever guessed that I would be losing precious sleep over Twentieth Literary Criticism and Current Biography? Life is strange. In the last month, I removed something like 250 volumes of these august reference works. They were very dusty, largely unused and they required indexes. oh my. But after you've tossed a key word into a database and seconds later receive the full-text review or biography, well, there's just no going back. I grieve those books like I grieve a way of life that's gone. The day I finally finished removing Lit Crit, I had a question ( of course) that challenged the wisdom of sending the print volumes to an unclear fate. I actually had to walk back to the quiet room and use Reader's Guide and Book Review Index to locate a review from 1982. Guess what? The review was available...the whole thing...in Academic Search Premier. So what if we lose internet or we lose funding for databases? So what if cell phone towers were destroyed. "What if" is a game for scholars. What if angels sat on pinheads" (Lion in Winter)

bloggin and rss

2008-09-25T10:24:00.000-07:00

As with the shareware sites, it's hard to decide which feed you want to go with. I think I have logins and passwords all over the place now and I'm currently subscribing to Bloglines and google feeds. Any thoughts on the advantage/disadvantage of having more than one rss reader? Online life is so confusing at times.

Develop an IT Change Management Program - wikiHow

2008-05-23T06:49:00.000-07:00

Develop an IT Change Management Program - wikiHow

Reference Collections

2008-04-22T14:18:00.000-07:00

What should circulate and what should remain in reference? As we weed reference, we're responding primarily to the changes brought about by electronic access to information found in traditional reference sources. Because we know that information that was once difficult to find is now ubiquitous, we don't have to "protect" the reference collection. Books such as eulogies, baby names, mythologies can circulate now.
There are no-brainers like encyclopedias, dictionaries, digests that are not designed for "take away". There are others that pose difficult decisions such as Current Biography and International Motion Picture Almanac.
Some questions to ask: who is using the reference print collection; can an e-resource be more efficient and up-to-date; do we need both print and e-resources for some sources; what should we always have irregardless of use; where is the information better organized and presented.

The bottom line is that we are responsible for public funds and we need to put our limited funds into resources that serve the community well.