"This collection of fiction and nonfiction MP3 audio books is financed with brief commercials between book chapters. Children’s books carry no advertising. Browse for desired books by author, title, and genre or use the search engine with filter settings for strong language, duration, author, and adult content. Registration required to download." [Swift Current Comprehensive High School's Educational Links]

If you want to get a free taste of what audio ebooks are like. The filters are particularly interesting because in general, we need more of these types of search parameters in our catalogs.

I've barely been able to read or accomplish anything other than cleaning and laundry tonight because I've been on pins and needles about my home library's referendum. I'm extremely sad to report that it didn't pass. It was up against a major, major tax rate increase request from the schools and the fire district, so we knew it was going to be an uphill battle, but it's still depressing. I hope the rumors were true that residents felt they had to vote for the schools and FD this year and that they'll vote for the library next year. The staff at the Homer Library are top-notch, and I hope they don't think this is a reflection on them, because it's not. They're going to be very busy this year with a grant to purchase a bookmobile, so they've got plenty to keep them busy until next year.

And congratulations to the libraries whose ballot issues did succeed, among them Flossmoor and Orland Park. Both definitely need the space, so kudos to them!

Librarians will have fun debating the 100 Best Characters in Fiction Since 1900 from Book magazine, March/April 2002. [via bOing bOing]

1. Jay Gatsby, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1925
2. Holden Caulfield, The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger, 1951
3. Humbert Humbert, Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov, 1955
4. Leopold Bloom, Ulysses, James Joyce, 1922
5. Rabbit Angstrom, Rabbit, Run, John Updike, 1960
6. Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1902
7. Atticus Finch, To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee, 1960
8. Molly Bloom, Ulysses, James Joyce, 1922
9. Stephen Dedalus, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce, 1916
10. Lily Bart, The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton, 1905

I had really wanted to attend the Sticky Web Sites pre-conference at PLA, but it didn't happen. Luckily, Carrie has posted her presentation about Sticky Sites on a Shoestring. I'm still looking for the rest of the presentations from that session, so if you know of them, please let me know!

Also, I saw Catherine on the exhibit floor and she told me about a session she went to about libraries in Singapore using cell phones in new ways. For example, she said they are sending reminders about upcoming due dates for materials via text messages to cell phones. I wish I'd been able to go to that session, too. No URLs for this presentation yet.

I plan to go through the other presentations available online at http://www.pla.org/conference/conf02/prelimindex.html.

And I see that Catherine didn't waste any time getting a search box for the SWAN catalog on the Library's main page. Good for her!

"WebCT changed its pricing options about a month ago, and it announced a newer, much costlier version of its software on Monday. Blackboard substantially revised its pricing options about six months ago, when it released an updated version of its course-management product. For some colleges, the new pricing structures mean substantially higher annual fees....

Some colleges are also complaining about WebCT's decision to drop a low-cost pricing plan called the 'standard edition.' But Ms. Gage, of WebCT, says that a similarly-priced option still exists -- with a different name -- as a low-end version of the company's 'campus edition.' " [at The Chronicle, via Serious Instructional Technology]

Increasingly, I am questioning using WebCT for LibraryU since we don't use 90% of its functionality. I'll have to investigate the Open Knowledge Initiative now, too.

Back on March 7, Dave  called the Minneapolis Public Library to generously offer to talk about donating wireless access equipment and even setting it up and configuring it. But apparently MPL isn't even considering it, let alone calling him back to thank him. That's just sad, especially because I think MPL does some good things in other areas.

I want to revive the whole wireless in public libraries debate that I inconveniently started right before going on vacation, but for the moment I want to post today's comment from Dave and publicly thank him for the link (both of them, actually).

"Still no word. Not even a peep. But some good commentary from James Lileks today."

I'm leaving the link as he submitted it intact because it goes to a really great 404 page that will give you a good laugh. You can then move on to the discouraging article itself at the correct address.

Unfortunately, the service Lilek encountered is still too prevalent to be called "rare" in public libraries. (Note to Sony Barari: this is how you get your point across with satire.) When I praised the Phoenix Public Library's customer service the other day, it was because they provided the exact opposite experience of what Lilek encountered. Sure, they were "on" for the conference, but I could tell it wasn't just for show one week out of the year.

I love circ staff, but the stubborn folks that place policy above CIRCULATING MATERIALS TO PATRONS or providing actual service should just retire now. It's difficult enough for libraries to remain relevant, important, and accessible given our lack of funding, resources, and status, but we still manage to do it. There's a lot of creativity and energy behind those efforts, and I hope library directors impart from the top down that your patrons are your most important asset. They're the whole point.

I hope Minneapolis PL wakes up to this and at least gives Dave the courtesy of a call back.

Userland has thrown yet another curve ball at this batter at the plate.

"Radio Community Server (RCS) is a software application for Radio UserLand or Frontier/Manila that makes it possible for individuals or organizations to host communities of Radio users. It offers all of the community functionality currently offered by UserLand's centralized system.

RCS is the perfect product for the development of private knowledge networks that live behind firewalls in corporate or institutional environments. It also is perfect for publications and ISPs that want to host public communities on their own systems. By offering this software for free, UserLand is saying: Let's Grow Communities Now."

Check out the full list of everything does, and now I have to wonder how do I truly integrate this into my organization. Does this mean I should consider Radio instead of Frontier? I'm still missing pieces of the puzzle, but I'm definitely going to have to explore this. What if we could use this to build the mythical online community of libraries I've recently been dreaming about?

Oh, and it's free. Unreal.