"ActiveBuddy has added five new AIM bots, of various levels of usefulness. ELLEgirlBuddy for teen girl stuff; TattleTeller for Oscar®-related news and gossip; AgentReuters for news and stock quotes; NoBoundariesTV as a tie-in to the useless WB "reality" show that seems to focus around Ford trucks; and My eBay Buddy for, well, make a guess. Fair warning: They're all beta." [MeFi]

I'd still like to write a grant to test if something like this could be an electronic "library greeter." Or maybe it could remind users of upcoming library programs, overdue notices, and new materials. Opt-in, of course.

Cool - Library Journal has compiled its first ever list of Movers & Shakers in our field. Lots of great names doing lots of great work. Those unlucky enough to not be librarians should see yet again Why You Should Fall to Your Knees and Worship a Librarian. Other articles of interest in the current issue include:

• An LJ Round Table with the Aggregators - about "the rapidly growing popularity of aggregated article databases," a trend that ihas parallels to what is happening with personal newsl, thanks to tools such as Radio.
• Benton: Feds Retreat from Fighting the Digital Divide - "Over one half of the people who use the Internet at public libraries are under [age] 25."
• eAudio Takes Off in King County - "The system had over 1200 reserves in January" for the Audible MP3 titles on the librarys' 370 MP3 players!
• B&T Enters E-Book Market with eContent Distribution - they're looking for a summer launch of eContent Distribution (eD) operation service.
• The Digital Librarian Shortage - "It's difficult to find librarians who are conversant with technology and who also are willing to work at the salaries we offer."

Before I go any further tonight, I want to highlight the exemplary staff and service at the Phoenix Public Library. I didn't go to Phoenix for the PLA conference, but I did take the opportunity to check out the Mesquite branch near the hotel and to visit the main library downtown.

First of all, thanks to Yvonne for letting a non-resident get on one of the Internet terminals. A lot of librarians put up barriers to using the library's services, but in Phoenix I experienced a "yes" mentality several times. That's great customer service.

More thanks to Anne at the Burton Barr Library for answering all of my questions and letting me play with their intranet. Their webmaster is doing some great stuff, and Anne clued me in to it.

And final thanks to Marijo for answering my standard question with a great answer. Not only does it sound like PPL is a great place to work, but she detailed how the Acacia branch is beginning a project to use GIS to literally map oral histories from the area. Exciting stuff!

No wireless access (at least, not yet), but they've got a great Web site, remote database access, multimedia content, and a rocking Teen Central. They "get" teens, so I hope wireless access, MP3s, and reference chats are on the horizon.