Category Archives: Public

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Google +1

Yesterday, Google took one more step into the social network world. On March 30th, Google launched their new Google +1 service. Google explains “The +1 button is shorthand for “this is pretty cool” or “you should check this out.” Click +1 to publicly give something your stamp of approval. Your +1’s can help friends, contacts, and others on the web find the best stuff when they search.” Industry experts indicate that Google +1 acts much like the “like” button on Facebook. Click the +1 button, to indicate you recommend or like something, and your friends who have also activated this service will see your recommendations in their Google search results  – and vice versa (assuming your +1’s aren’t private!).

Visit http://www.google.com/+1/button/ to learn more about the service direct from Google, or get InformationWeek’s take on the new Google feature here.

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/striatic/2135057566/ by striatic

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

The HarperCollins Debate

By now you’ve no doubt heard about HarperCollins’ decision to limit ebook checkouts to 26 per title. Perhaps you’ve even formed a strong opinion about the topic yourself. Now we have an opportunity to learn about some key reactions and responses from libraries that won’t stand for it! The article More Libraries Decide to Give HarperCollins the Cold Shoulder describes the actions taken by libraries and library organizations across the country. What is your library’s response (if any)?

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Congratulations Movers and Shakers!

Movers and Shakers was launched in 2002, and it spotlights librarians and others in the library field who are doing extraordinary work to serve their users and move libraries and library services forward. With the 50 members of the class of 2011, the group now exceeds 500.

Take a look at this year’s lineup at http://tinyurl.com/45dff53 and consider following them through your social networking tools too!

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Normalia available through MN Reflections website

All 93 issues of “The Normalia,” St. Cloud State’s first newspaper, are now publicly available and keyword searchable online, through the Minnesota Reflections website. They provide readers a glimpse into life on campus and in St. Cloud from April 1892 to May 1904 through historical articles, photos and local business advertisements.

This project was funded in part by a grant from the Minnesota Historical Society, through its Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund award, which came from the state’s Clean Water, Land and Legacy amendment fund. It was made possible by Learning Resources & Technology Services and the Minnesota Digital Library Coalition.

 For more information, contact:

Tom Steman

University Archivist

(320) 308-4753 or tdsteman@stcloudstate.edu

Marian Rengel

Minnesota Digital Library Coalition outreach coordinator

(320) 308-5625 or mrrengel@stcloudstate.edu

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shironekoeuro/4040697914/ by ShironekoEuro[away]

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Love the smell of books?

How’s this for quirky? A Senior Library Assistant at the Museum of Modern Art Library in New York City began her performance of “Smelling the Books” in early 2010. She started with the first LC call number in their collection, and has now been recording the call number, title, and smell of each book she picks up. So far she’s smelled around 150 books out of MoMA’s collection of 300,000. Her intention “…is to foster a discussion of the future of print media, the ways we read, methods of classification, and the way in which smell is entwined with memory”.  Check it out here http://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2011/03/07/smelling-the-books/

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/theogeo/2513621945/ by theogeo