Library Technology

This page:
Library Technology, generally | Librarians and the Internet

Library Technology, generally

• The Accidental Systems Librarian - A book (and lots of links) by Rachel Singer Gordon, for those of us who fell into being systems librarians
• Overcoming the Systems Librarian Impostor Syndrome - An article by Rachel Singer Gordon
• Automated Library Systems: Tips and Hints - Planning ideas
• Biblio Tech Review
• D-Lib - "Innovation and research in digital libraries"
• Integrated Library System Reports
• LibLicense: Licensing Digital Information
• Library Technology Guides - News, trends, directory of companies (Marshall Breeding, Vanderbilt U.)
• Library Technology Now - Reviews and news
• Meta LIS Vendor Web Site Listings - List of lists of vendor Web pages
• Oss4Lib - Open Source Systems for Libraries
• Top Tech Trends (LITA)
• Transforming Traditional Libraries - A new peer-reviewed e-journal
• Zen in the Art of Troubleshooting by Terry Ballard - A classic

Library Technology Blogs:

See also

• Library (and Librarian) Blogs
• Shifted Librarian - Blog on the theme of the shift from searching for information to having it come to you. (Jenny Levine)
• ALA Techsource - Tech news, forecasts, projections (American Library Association)
• ALA Techsource Blog - A collaborative blog written by some of the foremost thinkers in library tech
• Blyberg.net - John Blyberg, who does a lot of innovative stuff at Ann Arbor District Library
• Code4Lib: Code for Libraries - Includes a journal, conference, e-mail list, as well as a blog
• Librarian in Black by Sarah Houghton-Jan
• LITA Blog (Library and Information Technology Association)
• Lorcan Dempsey's Weblog - From OCLC's chief strategist and a far-sighted thinker in the field
• Tame the Web: Technology and Libraries - Michael Stephens' Blog
• What I Learned Today - Web manager Nicole Engard writes about Web 2.0, programming, blogs, RSS, wikis

Usability Issues for Library Web Sites:

See also

• Web Design / Information Architecture
• Library Terms That Users Understand by John Kupersmith, UC Berkeley
• Web Usability Testing (University of Virginia Library)



Interesting Online Public Access Catalogs (OPACs):

The following are online library catalogs with especially interesting features. If you are looking for the catalog of a specific library, see library directories

• Belmont Abbey College Library's Scholastica catalog, which uses the Visual Net technology developed by Antarctica
• North Carolina State University library catalog - Uses facets to help users refine their searches (More on this Endeca catalog)
• McMaster University Library's catalog is another that uses Endeca
• Penn Tags - The University of Pennsylvania Library has a system for users to tag items in the catalog or on the Web
• Plymouth State University library catalog - Uses Scriblio, OPAC software with faceted searching and browsing, which in turn is based on WordPress blogging software. (Note: use the search box on the left. Do not click on "Search Library Catalog.")

Librarians and the Internet

• Blogging Libraries Wiki - "Libraries doing good things with blogs" (blogwithoutalibrary.net)
• The Cyberlibrarians' Rest Stop - "Web searching, sleuthing, sifting"
• Digital Libraries - Roy Tennant's column in Library Journal
• Google Librarian Central - Featuring the Google Librarian Newsletter which tells librarians how Google can help them (and vice versa)
• Handheld Librarian - Blog on using handheld devices in libraries
• Innovative Internet Applications in Libraries (Wilton Library)
• Library and Archival Exhibitions on the Web (Smithsonian)
• Library Web Chic - Blog
• Net-mom Jean Armour Polly coined the phrase Surfing the Internet in 1992, when she was a librarian at Liverpool (N.Y.) Public Library
• The NYPL Style Guide has become a model for those who want to produce standards-compliant Web pages

• Web Manager's Resource Center - Webliography by A. Paula Wilson
• Why Librarians Should Rule the Net by Karen Coyle
• Wireless Librarian - All about libraries using wireless technology
• Writing for the Web: A Primer for Librarians (Eric H. Schnell, Ohio State University)

Evaluating Internet Sites:

Librarians have taken the lead in this area, just as we assist students and the public in the best use of printed and other resources

• Bibliography on Evaluating Web Information (Virginia Tech)
• Evaluating Internet Information - Elizabeth E. Kirk, Johns Hopkins University
• Evaluating Resource Quality (Valparaiso University Library)
• Evaluating the Quality of Information on the Internet - Recognizing technical trickery; avoiding fraud, fanaticism, and bad information (Genie Tyburski, The Virtual Chase)
• Evaluating the Quality of World Wide Web Resources - What to look for (Moellering University, Valparaiso University)
• How to Evaluate a Web Site - An annotated bibliography by LaJean Humphries (LLRX)
• Internet Detective - "Sure, you use the Internet all the time, but you need to wise up to the web when you use it for your university or college work." (Intute)
• Web Page Evaluation Checklist (UC Berkeley)

Cataloging the Internet:

• Cataloging Internet Resources: A Manual and Practical Guide (OCLC)
  See also Cataloging Electronic Resources
• Digital Libraries: Cataloguing and Indexing of Electronic Resources (IFLA)
• Journal of Internet Cataloging
• Organizing the Web: Resources for Librarians (Internet Public Library)