The Top Librarian Personalities On The Web 

"The LISNews.com Top Librarian Personalities on the Web, is a list of people that, for one reason or another, have stood out in the crowded field of online librarians." [at LIS News, via Library Stuff]

See - a crowded field. We're actually everywhere, even though you're just now starting to notice us.

Surviving the Adolescent Internet, Part I: Site Design Should Reward Frequent Users (PDF file)

"A crucial survival skill in the maturing Internet environment will be the ability to design sites and services that identify and respond on an ongoing basis to customer needs in real-time. This responsiveness must be as evident to the loyal, frequent user as it is to the first-time visitor. However, as a user's experience and familiarity with a site's design increases, their needs and expectations evolve." [at Catalyst Group Design, via LucDesk]

This is a big problem for libraries, because we have so little control over our database vendors' interfaces. It's also a problem for our own sites, because we just don't have the time, staff, or resources to create customized, personalized, dynamic sites. There's great software out there to help us, but we can't afford the overwhelming majority of it. Even when we can, we don't have the hardware or technical staff necessary to install and maintain it. It's a paradox that I'm trying to bridge at SLS, but it's a rocky road.

Watch for more of these reports in the future.

I've been remiss in getting around to reading Jon Udell's article Radio UserLand 8.0 Is a Lab for Group-Forming, but Jim's message prodded me forward. I'm glad I did, because Jon makes some excellent points. Now when I describe Radio, I'll be using Peter Drayton's description, as highlighted by Jon:

"WYSIWYG Blogging+Navigator Links+RSS Syndication+Referrer Logs+FTP Upstreaming==Topic-Oriented Web of Smart People."

Jon also expresses one of the thoughts that has been bubbling in the back of my mind.

"Monitoring the flow and interconnectedness of this meta-conversation, by means of citation indexes, is central to the way science creates shared knowledge."

It's a lot like the print science citation indexes you find at academic libraries, exept it's much more immediate. What you lose though, is the subject access that is suddenly becoming so important to me as both a reader and a publisher.

This whole "group-forming activity" is going to be huge during the next few years, in addition to the impact it will have on information (eg, my new-found belief that news aggregators will change the way we view and use information). I really want to get libraries started as one of these groups.

And thanks for the link, Jon!

Proposal May Save State Library 

"The State Library, facing extinction in the state budget crunch, might be spared under a proposal gaining support in the Legislature. The new plan, which is backed by the State Library Commission, library staff and lawmakers of both parties, would transfer part of the agency to the Secretary of State's Office and other parts to the state archives office." [Library Stuff]

Let's hope this passes for Washingtons' sake, although there is concern that cutting up the Library's services and putting them in different departments still doesn't save enough money. I can't imagine living in a state with no State Library. It would cripple Illinois because the ISL is the glue that holds it all together, visions for the future, pushes and prods libraries forward, and (hello!) distributes the money. Not to mention the statewide purchase of access to FirstSearch for every Illinois resident, supporting the regional Library System online catalogs, and providing grant monies.

Non-librarians don't understand how devastating this would be, but for librarians it's somewhat analogous to what would happen if Network Solutions/VeriSign/whatever-they're-calling-themselves-these-days suddenly disappeared and there was no global whois for routing anymore. It's that drastic, except libraries are a bajillion times better than NS/VS and they exist for everybody, not just commercial interests.

I'm especially surprised that this is happening in Washington because:

• Such a high-tech state should understand the importance of libraries at all levels;
• Washington started the whole Find-It! program, although I believe it was more a project form the State Archives than the State Library;
• Paging Mr. Gates, Mr. Bill Gates.

Check out the following excerpt from the Site Information page from Access Washington:

"Wa Wiz Quiz
We would like to make a special acknowledgment to Shirley Lewis, Information Specialist and Liz Yeahquo, intern of the Washington State Library who were instrumental in the research for this project."

And that's exactly what you lose at the STATE LEVEL - information specialists. If you live in Washington, I encourage you to contact your representatives and let them know how important it is to maintain the State Library's presence.