Publications

Collaborative Librarianship has published its first issue of 2013. It looks like a great issue with an editorial by our editor, Ivan Gaetz, entitled "Compelling and Necessary Momentum: A Recent Timeline in Open Access" and an articlbe about Orbis-Cascade Alliance's selection of Alma for their shared library system as just one piece of their merging services.

My column, Technology Matters, talks about the Library Communication Framework. It starts like this...

This one-day presentation and workshop was sponsored by the libraries in SE Wisconsin including Waukesha County Federated Library System and Milwaukee Public, and UW-Milwaukee. The session included a three-hour presentation that introduced RFID technology and then worked through all the issues relevant to libraries considering or using RFID in libraries.

This is my 30-minute presentation at the ALA2013 preconference co-sponsored by the Discovery to Delivery and Rethinking Resource-Sharing Interest Groups. My topic was state of the art delivery solutions and the future of delivery. 

The latest issue of Collaborative Librarianship has just been published along with my Technology Matters column entitled, Whose Job is it Anyway? Here's a little snippet:

...the people involved with ReadersFirst represent exactly the kind of library leaders we need involved in all software procurements. They are librarians committed to serving their communities and they understand that, in order to do this, they have to have a very solid understanding of the technology they are using.

Another issue of Collaborative Librarianship is out and my Technology Matters column is about radio wave technologies and where the biggest privacy concerns really are. Some people refer to RFID chips as "tiny trackers" and that certainly makes them sound creepy. But it could be that the creepiest "tracker" out there is our beloved smartphone!

Here's an excerpt:

Presentation at the RFID in Libraries Conference held in London on November 15, 2012.

Presentation about the Open Source resource-sharing product, Fulfillment, and what is happening in California with it (small pilot testing group), and how it could affect the future of resource-sharing in California.  

The short presentation was followed by an energetic discussion about resource-sharing issues in California.

Co-presented this session with Alan Kirk Gray (Darien Library), Gretchen Freeman (Salt Lake County Library) and John Callahan (Palm Beach County Library). Session was sponsored by PLA.

I provided the overview of the materials handling automation market and then each presenter talked about what they learned about how to reduce operating expenses as part of their implementation and operation of an automated materials handling system.

Our key take-aways:

Planning:

I presented a session with Jed Moffitt of KCLS on how to get going with new developers in the Evergreen environment. My part of the session focused on the protocols to follow to help ensure your developer has a warm reception from other developers and helps ensure that others know about what you have in mind.

Also included: a sample contract you might want to check out for you and your new developer.

From the Introduction: 

It’s an interesting time to be writing an issue devoted to RFID. So much has changed for libraries in the last decade. Ten years ago, it seemed like RFID was poised to take off and become a standard piece of library technology. But standards were slow to develop, and e-books were not. While libraries waited for RFID standards to develop, the iPad and Kindle emerged. As a result, libraries are struggling more with DRM, discovery interfaces, and patron authentication systems than with new technologies focused on their physical material.