Technology has transformed libraries. There are digital libraries, electronic collections, online databases and catalogs, ebooks, downloadable books, and much more. With free technology such as social websites, newspaper collections, downloadable online calendars, clocks and sticky notes, online scheduling, online document sharing, and online…

When improving a web presence, today's libraries have a choice: using a free Web 2.0 application, opting for open source, buying a product, or building a web application. This article discusses how to make an informed decision for one's library. The authors stress that deciding whether to use a free Web 2.0 application, to choose open source, to…

Surprisingly, many tools exist on the web that can help sites become more inviting and easier to use. By now, many are probably familiar with the free tools offered by Flickr, del.icio.us, or YouTube for embedding images, tags, and videos on webpages. This article presents a comprehensive list of some perhaps lesser-known but equally useful tools…

This article presents fast, easy and helpful hints for making web sites that people will want to use over and over again. These tips include: (1) Making sure that the website's copyright statement is up-to-date; (2) Adding "last updated" code to each webpage at the site; (3) Adding photos to the site's contact information; (4) Turning boring old…

People do not want to talk about failure, and technological innovations that do not work out are especially difficult for librarians to discuss. Technological failures are expensive in terms of money and time lost, and they are often minimized by library directors in their annual reports in favor of reporting more positive outcomes. Today's…

This article describes the use of chat widgets on library websites and how it affects daily work and organizational culture. The use of chat widgets can be as simple or confusing as the website itself, but it helps to make choices that fit the web design and the organizational culture. Too often change is driven from outside, which can make…

In this article, the authors share how they turned themselves from hesitant library blog readers into dedicated bloggers. The authors share how they started their blog named infodoodads and why they started writing it. The authors also share how blogging with partners is a great way to maintain a frequent posting schedule and to keep the content…

Library blogs exchange information and ideas on everything from the everyday, such as library services, to the profound, such as values held by librarians (high-quality reliable resources, academic freedom, open access, and so on). According to medical librarians who maintain library blogs, a typical month includes two to four contributors writing…

Knowing that some students appreciate their library's value and want to contribute to its new developments, the author sought to generate discussion about her library to know how her library patrons use the internet. At first, she created a blog, but after that attracted few responses, she built a wiki instead, to invite more student interaction.…

The authors, both of whom are working at the Musselman library, relate how they are always looking for ways to improve and update their reference service. When they introduced a chat reference service to their online library services, they received only four inquiries in the entire year 2002-2003. The authors found out later that the paltry number…

When properly utilized, the Internet can transcend the limitations of physical space, supporting the freedom of imagination and information on which the library profession is founded. The software described in this article (WebCalender, Dynix, Mambo) can benefit libraries by allowing their patrons to take full advantage of today's technologies.

Those who work in libraries focus much of their energies on providing access to information, and major changes seen in the last decade have shown the need to be flexible in the ways that librarians approach content delivery. Library users span all the generations of information distribution mechanisms. Some prefer to receive information in their…

Smart librarians have always valued their relationships with users and other librarians. The creative force of those relationships is empowered via Web-based social networking, collaboration, and sharing. At Stony Brook University Health Sciences Library in New York, students, faculty, clinicians, and residents expect the latest refinements in…

From blogs to wikis to podcasts to personalized e-mail alerts, there are now more ways to reach people than ever before. However, even with these new outreach pathways, success still depends on knowing your audience and having the ability to see beyond the "buzz" of technology. Best practices for outreach should emphasize a personal touch in the…

In this article, the author, a Web development librarian at North Carolina State University (NCSU) Libraries, recounts how she initiated the implementation of a series of open source communication and collaboration applications for the Libraries' Web site and intranet, and how she gathered a number of tried and tested C&C tools that can…