Outreach to Teens

In following suit with other libraries in our region, we are considering investing in certain gaming products, such as the Nintendo Wii or Guitar Hero. Many libraries have their own equipment and either use them for rental or in-house use. We would like to set up a program for teens in which they could come and play for a designated time. We're not sure about the logistics of the whole project or what we would purchase, but the point is to provide something for teens that really interests them. We have book discussions and a teen advisory board, but that only draws in a few teens. We're trying to promote the library as not only a great place to come for books and computers, but a place just to hang out. We'll see how the effort goes!

Genealogy Resources

The Scott County Library deals a lot with people conducting genealogy research. We have a room with many local resources on genealogy, but we also provide a great way for people to search our databases. We subscribe to Ancestry.com which can only be accessed in the library and we also subscribe to Heritage Quest. The latter is the one used most frequently and it contains all sorts of census data, military records, and family records. It is a great resource that makes the process of genealogy a lot more convenient. Of course, many of the records that people need to complete their family trees are still in hard copy only. But it's a great start and a way to get quick results.

Overdrive

The Scott County Library deals with a lot of fiction readers, so we have invested in some convenient reading tools. Our audio books have always been popular, so we decided to subscribe to a company called Overdrive to supply us with downloadable audio books. You must be a library card holder to access this service, but it allows you to actually "check out" books into your downloadable account. It stores the books on your hard drive and allegedly deletes them after the check-out period is over. We're still not sure if that works 100% of the time! But after it's downloaded to your computer, you can transfer it to an MP3 player and listen to it that way. Interesting innovation!

Learn-A-Test

The library is taking advantage of another great service called Learn-A-Test. It is basically a database that has access to all sorts of practice tests for students. The tests include the basics such as the ACT, SAT, and GED. But the site also offers more specialized tests such as the Police Officer's Exam, Nursing School Entrance Exam, and the Citizenship Exam. These are practice tests that are exactly like the real exams. They are timed and they will give you your results. This is a great feature that we offer because it provides a service that we don't always have in book form. Our library is not large enough to update our collection with the latest versions of all of these specific tests. That is why this is a great opportunity to take advantage of this technology.

Homework Help

I'm very excited about another technology product our library is taking advantage of. We've signed up for an online tutoring program called Homework Help. It is sponsored by Tutor.com, which is a nation-wide organization. They provide professionally trained tutors to help kids from elementary to high school. The student can log-in through their library, select a grade and subject, and be connected with a tutor in that field. They talk with the tutor through an online chat system and the tutor communicates how to solve the problems, but never gives the answer to the student. They work throught it together. It is a great system that I'm glad our library is taking part in.

Another great addition to our online databases is Books & Authors. This database allows you to search in so many different genres of books with their own sub-genres. For librarians working in the public setting, this is the ideal database. We cannot possibly keep up with all the genres, let alone all the categories that they can be divided into. This database is an excellent resource for reader's advisory, and again, it's all available online. If someone were interested in historical fiction, but really only wanted to read about the Antebellum American South, this database has that precise category. Many libraries just have one list of historical fiction in their reader's advisory resources. That is why this is so unique and helpful.

New Databases

Since this blog deals with libraries and technology, I want to mention how great useful online databases have become for our small public library. We have recently obtained several databases that provide information to our patrons that we couldn't possibly provide with books. For example, we have access to the Chilton's Automotive Repair Database. This has access to almost any make and model of car within the Chilton's system. Our library couldn't financially afford all those volumes, nor physically store them. So this kind of access is a wonderful contribution of technology.

Time Saver?

While I really enjoy the new RFID system we have, I don't necessarily agree that it's a time saver. The biggest advantage is that the checking in/out of the item and activating/deactivating its security is all done at one time. With our old system we had to check out and deal with the security in two separate steps. But our system is not sensitive enough to scan multiple items. It can, but it is not always accurate, often skipping a book. So the staff and the patrons have learned to scan our items one at a time like always. It's a great system, but maybe it doesn't have the efficiency we thought it would.

RFID

Our library has just converted our entire system to self-checkout. This means RFID! I have to admit, radiofrequency identification is pretty cool because it is both the identification and security of the item. With our old system, there were separate processes for checking out and desensitizing the item. The RFID does it all at once. We still have the circulation desk where people can opt to still have a person check them out, and just one self-check station. Surprisingly, our patrons mostly prefer coming to the desk to check out, and only use the shelf-check for convenience if we’re busy. I’ve received numerous comments saying that the library is a different atmosphere than a grocery store. They still like the human contact when it comes to the library. Call me old fashioned, but I like that about our patrons!

Another Thought

Another thought on how much computers have become consumer-oriented and the incredible convenience of the graphical interface. Not only does the GUI help average people use computers every day, it is also applied in the blogging world (such as this), and in web design. People who know nothing about html code can “create” their own blog through a website like this, where the html code is already written and templates are created for the user. I can update my blog and have absolutely no idea why it works! I just think I have a deeper appreciation for the user-oriented computer world, because it allows even those with limited computer knowledge to participate.

Taking Computers for Granted?

Since this blog is for the purpose of my LIS 636 computer class, I thought I would mention how amazed I am at how swiftly the computer world embraced regular consumers. Being a person who has never known much about computers and how they work, I find that as I learn more I have completely taken for granted their complexity. After recently learning about operating systems and the number of tries it took for companies such as Apple and Microsoft to create the systems that we have today, I am impressed with how sophisticated our personal computers are. We talked about how people who have never used computers without a graphical user interface can't appreciate how wonderful that capability is. I know I certainly took that for granted. It just never ceases to amaze me at how far technology has come in just a few short years.

Customer Service

As an employee of a public library, I just have a few thoughts about customer service and where it’s headed these days. Our library has recently invested in a lot of self-service tools, such as computer sign-in, copying, and printing. The goal was to provide more convenience for the public. In order to do so, many policies had to be changed to accommodate these new machines. These policies are not as user friendly as our old ones. So my question is does technology sometimes sacrifice that good, old-fashioned customer service that our public is used to? While I appreciate a lot of the positive aspects of technology, I fear that it can do the opposite of what it’s supposed to do, which is to be convenient!

Brand-New to This

This is my first blog ever! As a student in one of the University of Kentucky's technology courses, this experience is to help me understand more about blogging. So far, I never dreamed it could be this simple. Since I work in a public library that is always looking for new ways to appeal to people, this piece of technology seems to be a great way to connect to the community. I look forward to learning more about it and hopefully to finding more ways to reach my community.