The Idea Champions Weblog

Idea Champions is a consulting and training company dedicated to awakening and nurturing the spirit of innovation. They help individuals, teams and entire organizations tap into their innate ability to create, develop and implement ideas that make a difference.

Check out this very funny blog entry:

The Top 100 lamest excuses for not innovating

ALIA and PLVN Presidents Message to Members

A message to all ALIA members from Derek Whitehead, ALIA President and John Murrell, Public Libraries Victoria Network President reporting on the meeting held in Melbourne on 20th February 2009 to discuss bushfire and other disaster recovery initiatives can be found at:



ALIA blog

How much do "you" get out of your Public Library?

Check this out!

The Denver Public Library has a Library Value Calculator on their website. It just asks cardholders to input some simple data and it will caculate the monthly value of their free card based on the sevices they use.


Denver Public Library Calculator


It helps that the Denver newspaper wrote about it (here).


click here for article

A bit late . . .

but I'll pop it in Outlook for next year.

Using Word Hearts you can make a heart with anything you like on it, your lover's name of course, or Library Lover like I've done here.

Destress here

Overwhelmed by all the technology? Facebook, Blogger, MySpace, Google Earth, email, Twitter, websites, Second Life, wikis, mashups, Google maps, podcasts, widgets, YouTube, RSS feeds . . . They all take up soooooo much time . . . KitKat has a new website to help you calm down . . . The first world wide website where nothing happens.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.

Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Self-censorship study results

The School Library Journal (US) undertook at study late last year on self-censorship among school librarians. The anonymous survey was emailed to 5,438 of SLJ’s Extra Helping subscribers in November 2008. The results are based on 654 school libraries responding and they are broken down as follows: 53% elementary school librarians, 37% middle school librarians, 30% high school librarians, and 5% other.

The SLJ survey found that 70% of librarians say they won’t buy certain controversial titles simply because they’re terrified of how parents will respond. Other common reasons for avoiding possible troublemakers include potential backlash from the administration (29%), the community (29%), or students (25%) and a whopping 23% of librarians say they won’t purchase a book due to personal objections - now I find that very disappointing.

Some librarians bypass good books—those with literary merit or that fill a need in their collections, the reasons ranging from a book’s sexual content and gay themes to its language and violence—and it happens in more libraries (public and school) than you think. This article, A dirty little secret : self-censorship, also from the School Library Journal is just one case study on the topic. The comments also make interesting reading.

Dumpr

Like Flickr's Big Huge Labs photo mashup pages, Dumpr enables you to muck about with photos to create interesting effects.

Take a picture of a gorgeous girl like this . . .


and do this . . .

or this . . .

What fun!

But wait! There's more! You can also do Christmas tree decorations, lego, jigsaws and cartoons. There are 16 different things you can do. Check it out and have fun.

What some people won't do . . .

We've read before about harsh punishments for overdue books. Now the LA Times is giving tips on getting your library fees waived.

Again, make sure you read the comments - seems some out there in Libaryland would be very hard to persuade to waive your fees, no matter how convincing your story.

ALIA News

Here are some sites recommended recently by ALIA:

INTERNATIONAL
Taking Stock - the Future of Public Library Service
Unison and the University of Cardiff have published a report called Taking stock: the future of our public library service. The 'our' they are talking about is the UK public library service, but there are plenty of ideas to consider for Australian libraries.
The report looks a range of issues including measuring value and quality, book stock, facilities, and staffing. You can read the complete report here:

http://www.unison.org.uk/acrobat/17301.pdf
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The Future of Reference Services - Survey
A quick survey about future of reference services:
How critical is reference to the survival of libraries? Should the library profession do more to promote reference services? In less than a minute you can tell the library profession what you think about reference services by taking a "60-Second Survey."


Survey

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Great Endings Begin at the Library
Reconnect with reading! Check out the reading campaign poster used by Cuyahoga County Public Library at:

Cuyahoga County Public Library website

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Reading on the Rise
Reading on the Rise, the National Endowment for the Arts' new report documents a significant turning point in recent American cultural history. For the first time in over a quarter-century, our survey shows that literary reading has risen among adult Americans. After decades of declining trends, there has been a decisive and unambiguous increase among virtually every group measured in this comprehensive national survey.

http://www.arts.gov/research/ReadingonRise.pdf


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Libraries Responsible for a Drop in the Crime Rate
Libraries sow urban peace in Colombia

http://www.comunidadesegura.org/?q=en/node/41565


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WEB RESOURCES
The Distance Between Two Points
Do you or your customers ever need to calculate the distance between any two cities or points in the world in kilometres, miles and nautical miles, and the initial compass bearing/heading from the origin to the destination? Click on the link below to find out more.

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/distance.html

And find out current times around the world by visiting:

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/
This one is really useful - I use it all the time before calling family overseas.
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The world's 50 most powerful blogs
From Prince Harry in Afghanistan to Tom Cruise on Scientology and footage from the Burmese uprising, blogging has never been bigger. It can help elect presidents and take down attorney generals while simultaneously celebrating the minutiae of our everyday obsessions. Here are the 50 best reasons to log on:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/mar/09/blogs


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New Search Engine
It's hard to argue with results. A study by Microsoft Research reveals that presenting a screenshot in conjunction with a text result allows a user to locate desired web pages faster and easier in almost every attempt. Our brain is designed to filter, distinguish, associate, and select information first and foremost visually. middlespot.com is designed to take advantage of this strength by providing a patented interface that helps you determine the relevancy of your results with greater efficiency and accuracy.

http://middlespot.com/


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Search Engine Optimisation Tips
The SEO tips found by following the link below should assist you in forming a basic understanding of how to create human friendly web pages, which are easily understood by the most popular search engines.http://www.ezau.com/latest/articles/0147.shtml

Also check out search engine optimisation tips for libraries at:

http://www.guartic.com/search-engine-optimization-seo-tips-for-libraries


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100 Top Sites for 2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/dec/18/internet-websites


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10 librarians' blogs to read in 2009
http://lisnews.org/10_librarian_blogs_read_2009


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Europeana is back online
Within Europeana you can search through millions of digital items provided by Europe's museums and galleries, archives, libraries and audio-visual organisations.
Searching in Europeana is simple. Just ask yourself who, what, where or when you are interested in and type these words into Europeana's search box.

http://www.europeana.eu/portal/using-europeana.html

Learn Spanish

Hola! How about learning to speak Spanish? Of course I'm already fluent in one sentence - I have two sisters - but how far will that get me in Spain? Hmmmm.

The BBC has a 12 week/episode Spanish learning course called Mi Vida Loca where you can learn Spanish via an interactive programme where you'll find yourself in the midst of a fast-paced mystery drama set in Madrid.