Paige Lucas-Stannard Online

A Different Kind of Librarian for the 21st Century

2009-06-19T11:41:00.000-07:00

What is Library Science?

When you picture a librarian do you see a quiet, unassuming woman with her hair in a bun? Is she stamping books? Does she give you a stern look an say, "Shh!?" This traditional view of what a librarian is, could not be further from the truth. Librarianship has a long and venerable history - learn more about Ashurbanipal's library at Niniveh during the 7th century BCE. Librarians for centuries have served as the gatekeepers of information for society. Library Science is concerned with a number of areas including:

Acquisition
Dissemination of Information
Classification and Organization
Storage and Retrieval Systems
Information Use

Modern librarians reach well beyond the borders of library buildings and deep into cyberspace working with digital libraries and remote user access.

What is Information Architecture?

It is easy to think of Information Architects as Web Developers. It is true that many Information Architects are working in the World Wide Web environment. However, the science of Information Architecture goes beyond web design and administration. Information Architects are the librarians of the web. They work to build content (acquisition); organize and classify information through navigational structure, labeling, and indexing; design digital storage and retrieval systems (dissemination), and perform user analysis before, during, and after a project to determine an interface's usability (information use). Information Architects often work with teams that include: graphic designers, programmers, librarians, business professionals, and systems administrators.

What is Knowledge Management?

Knowledge Management is a business process where an organization seeks to assemble, organize, analyze and share its information amongst its members. The information often includes competitive intelligence, tacit knowledge, and best practices - types of knowledge that are often missed if they are not specifically mined as a resource. Knowledge Managers seek innovative ways to collect this information and make it easily available to the organization. Although this is often seen as an endeavor for profit and corporate intelligence, many non-profit organizations are seeing the benefit of harnessing their previously uncaptured knowledge.

Putting it all together:

I combined all three disciplines and earned both the Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) degree and the Master of Science in Information Architecture and Knowledge Management (IAKM) because I am fascinated with the study of information in all its forms. As a librarian, I have the unique ability to see information problems, be they of a design nature or a corporate intelligence nature, from a user perspective. I am able to analyze the information need, retrieve relevant results, analyze the data, and present it in a format that will maximize its usefulness to the organization.

Things to Consider Before Implementing Web 2.0

2009-06-15T15:53:00.000-07:00

Web 2.0 is Dynamic

Static (Web 1.0) pages are written to remain current for several months or even years. Web 2.0 is much more fast moving. Customers expect frequent updates and you should plan on weekly updates as a minimum. Updates can be full-blown posts/articles or simple one sentence tips, reminders, and tidbits.

Questions to ask:
Can I commit the resources to add material once or twice a week (or more)?
Do I have ideas for material?

Web 2.0 is Participatory

The major characteristic of Web 2.0 is that is it social. Sites involve mechanisms for people to join your network, share information, and ask questions. You need to determine your level of comfort with participation and how you will handle different situations. Organizations sometimes fear the lack of control in Web 2.0; however, remember that customers normally understand the difference between the authority of a post/article and a comment or message board.

Questions to ask:
Will I moderate comments on my site?
How will I handle questions asked on my site?
How will I handle misinformation on my site? Can I formulate a disclaimer for information on my site?

Web 2.0 is Integrated

One of the best things about Web 2.0 is the ability to reutilize information across several platforms/sites. This allows your to create information in one place and integrate that into all of your online presence. For example, if you want to remind customers of an upcomming event you can post a blog entry about it. From this one effort (and some nifty Web 2.0 magic) your event can be announced on Twitter, Facebook, on your website. This not only allows a time savings (one post - multiple platforms) but it also creates a consistent message across your web presence.

Questions to ask:
How can I utilize several social networks?
Do I want to integrate my social network into my website?

A local pediatric practice asked for my help in creating a web 2.0 presence. We integrated Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, and the practice's website to create a cohesive online brand and provide important information to patients and parents in their preferred web environment.

Next Generation Information Discovery

2008-10-22T18:16:00.000-07:00

Information "discovery" for engineers and scientists at NASA is generally:

serendipitous
random
self led
limited to known sources (insular)
last minute
satisficing

Our goal is to provide specific, customized information solutions that provide content they didn't know they needed and can't live without.

Custom Research Modules:

using existing RSS technology to its fullest extent

Embeded
Real-time and automated

free
low maintenance

Custom Database Search Module

(e.g. Engineering Village2) + Springwidgets.

Pros:

robust, professionally constructed searches

embeded
real-time automated delivery
branding

Cons: limited to databases that provide custom rss feeds.

Custom Federated Search

with Delicious + deliSearch + Widgetbox

Pros:

"cheap" federated searching
embeded
customized to topic

Cons: still requires search strategy to be formulated by the researcher

Example: The below widget displays librarian-chosen resources relating to microgravity and (in a separate tab) articles from Engineering Village related to microgravity (viewable inside the NASA domain only).

Combined Custom Module

with Yahoo!Pipes

Pros:

professionally constructed sources and search
highly configurable
embeded
real-time automated delivery

Cons:

Pipes requires a large learning curve
branding?

Example: The below example uses Pipes to search IEEE Xplore database for Space Applications in Nanotubes and removes the IEEE Xplore title from each prior to posting so that users see the most relevant information. See the Pipe here.

Nanotubes in Space Applications

This outline represents a presentation I gave at the 2008 IEEE Library Advisory Council's annual meeting in New York City.

Twitter Statistics with Yahoo! Pipes

2008-10-21T15:02:00.001-07:00

This service creates a scatter plot generated using a specific Twitter user’s data, gathered via Yahoo Pipes and rendered using the Google Chart API and displayed in a graphical interface.

Xefer - http://www.xefer.com/2008/05/twitter

Microgravity Resources

2008-10-21T13:47:00.001-07:00

Get this widget!

Librarianship On A Shoestring

2008-06-19T13:55:00.000-07:00

I am often asked how and why my library is using web 2.0. My reasons are a little different than some. My main reason for using web 2.0 technologies is that they enable me to do cool things for free or almost free! This series will explain how I am doing that step by step.

Today I want to talk about how we are using Del.icio.us and FeedDigest and Delicious JSON Feeds as a "content management system" for our webpage.

Background: Our website consists of 136 static webpages. We have a "eJournals" page with an alphabetical list of our subscribed journals and 12 additional pages for "eJournals by subject." This same model is used for Databases, and individual subject guides. Imagine if you will a time when we cancel a subscription. I have to manually (I use Dreamweaver) remove that link on several different pages. It is easy to make a mistake and degrade the integrity of the whole website. This is un-searchable. All these pages are static lists.

The situation would be wonderfully solved through the purchase of a nice database-driven content management system right? Ok, now picture a situation where (a) there is very, very little money and (b) staff is at a minimum - one person per "department". Costly or time consuming solutions (like a sys admin for a content management system) are not possible.

Enter web 2.0. We decided to use Del.icio.us, everyone's favorite social bookmarking site, to manage our electronic resources. Sounds too simple right? Delicious is for personal "favs," right? Well what is an electronic resource really?

An Electronic Resource consists of:

A name
A URL
A description
Dates of coverage
Publisher
Access type (subscription or open access?)
Subject coverage

There are other ways to describe an electronic resource covered in much detail in the MARC record, of course. However, no one uses the catalog. No one. Seriously. People don't want to search a catalog - and if they for some reason do...it is to look for a book. I know there are differing opinions on making the catalog The Resource Location, and some of them very good. I welcome comments below. I am personally of the opinion that if a catalog doesn't function exactly like Google - no better yet in Google - then we are wasting our breath. That argument aside, I believe that the breakdown above captures the essential description of an electronic resource from a patron perspective (of course I'm still looking for a staff-side ERMS solution that is free :) ).

So we bookmarked our electronic resources in Delicious and added tags corresponding to 4 pre-determined bundles. "Bundles" in Delicious are ways of grouping tags...for us MLISers that means they are facets that our subject terms are arranged in to increase browsability. Our bundles:

Browse_*Subject* - your average subject categorization - we loosely use the NASA Thesaurus although we aren't slaves to it since tagging allows an unlimited amount of subjects per item unlike MARC. Delicious uses a space to seperate terms, hence the '_' and we wanted Subject to be the first facet or bundle in alphabetical order so we added the '**' to force that.
Browse_Access - This is where we say if it is subscription (and thus only NASA can view it) or OpenAccess and Full-text. We originally had full-text, bibliographic, bib+abstract, etc. We decided to drop this since from a patron perspective it is either full-text or not. We can use the description (below) for more detail if necessary.
Browse_Type - This is the format of the resource: Journal, Database, ProfOrg, etc. as well as content types: Image, Map, PDF, etc.
Browse_Affiliation - This allows us to include "publisher" if important as well as other relevant affiliation information. What I mean by this is we continued to see this from a user perspective. Patrons don't get "Elsevier" this means nothing to them. At the same time, due to where we are, an affiliation like "ConstellationProj" has much relevance. It was continually difficult not to slip into using this for OUR benefit. We had to be vigilant to make this a patron-focused tagging.

Besides the facets (bundles) and tags we also had the Title and Description in Delicious to utilize. We used the Title for both the name of the resource and the coverage, if applicable, and the description for a simple "what is it" and/or access guidelines if needed. So, for example one of our Journal entries looks like this:

Science Online (1997, v.275-)
Science is a leading journal of original scientific research, global news, and commentary.
to Journal Subscription Science MultiSubject NEW ... saved by 130 other people ... 34 mins ago

We also used the dummy tag "NEW" so that each bookmark would be reviewed at a higher level before the NEW tag was removed. We haven't went live with this yet so this method worked. In the future we can use NEW for a designated period of time to sort our resources by "What's New" which will be nice for an RSS feed.

When all is said and done we can sort our list by "Journal" and see all the eJournals we subscribe to (plus some OA) on Delicious. Here is our list (in progress).

Ok, that is the basic strategy we used to organize our resources via Delicious. Now what?

Now we wanted to integrate this information into our website. (We will use Delicious as a resource in and of itself but that will take some promotion and education to our user base so we are putting that in a phase 2.) We use two methods to do this:

Delicious RSS + FeedDigest - Delicious is wonderful enough to provide an RSS feed for nearly every page of your Delicious account. So, when I visit http://del.icio.us/glennlibrary/Journal I can get an RSS feed for this at the bottom of the page. This needs some processing:

You could load this feed directly onto your page; however, it is a little limiting in layout and it will not default to alpha sort. To give us more control we use FeedDigest. FeedDigest is a great service for aggregating and publishing RSS feeds from several other fields. We have used this on our website for some time to combine feeds from several different journals in a feed and provide it as a "What's New in " feed. These customized news feeds have been hugely popular. In this case we are using FeedDigest for the control it allows. Check out FeedDigest for more information it is definitely worth its modest annual price.
FeedDigest provides several types of code - we go with javascript that looks like this :
Now each time someone visits our webpage the page will query FeedDigest which will in turn query Delicious for any changes made to our Journal entries. When a journal is canceled we need only remove it from Delicious and voila!

Delicious JSON - To handle subject sorting we use Delicious a little more apparently (the above use is completely transparent - no one would even know you are using Delicious unless you tell them). Delicious has JSON feeds - learn more about Delicious and JSON here.

Delicious gives you the code below for your tags. We tweaked the code to show only Journals by adding /Journal to the JSON string and to the output script. The final script is:
Embedding this code in our webpage creates a subject browse feature that takes users right to Delicious.

Here is a screenshot of our results:

Captain Kirk Should Have Been a Librarian

2008-05-07T11:56:00.001-07:00

Invisible Information

2008-03-18T05:51:00.001-07:00

This is my first attempt to blog via Diigo. I love using diigo to annotate and save webpages and wanted to try this new feature of a page that incidentally I found by Stumbling.

Harry Maugans » How to Create an Animated, Sliding, Collapsible DIV with Javascript and CSS(-) Annotated

tags: design, javascript, web

This is a good implementation of invisible divs.

- post by glennlibrary

So, expanding on the last tutorial, I’ve coded a small Javascript library that will allow that functionality. It’s not meant to be a mootools or a script.aculo.us replacement… those are far more advanced libraries. This is just a simple, quick bit of code you can apply to your websites to improve the user experience a bit.

Delicious what?

2008-01-23T05:35:00.001-08:00

When you try to explain Delicious to (non-information professional) colleagues, do you feel like Laurel and Hardy doing Who's on First?

I know that I, for one, often make people glaze over with both my explanation of how it works and my overzealousness at my perception of social bookmarking's unparalleled awesomeness. I'm a Believer, with a capital B. I've been often using Wikipedia to explain social bookmarking for the "non-believer."

"Social bookmarking is a method for Internet users to store, organize, search, and manage bookmarks of web pages on the Internet with the help of metadata."

Wow, Wikipedia sounds like it was written by a fellow Believer! :D

CommonCraft (a blog I would highly recommend) created a short video to explain Social Bookmarking in Plain English. This is a great introduction for staff, patrons, managers, and your parents when they ask, "do you shelve books all day?"

Why bother with science?

2008-01-18T04:30:00.001-08:00

Because. Humans. Explore.

CERN Large Hadron Collider @ YouTube

This is such a great example of promoting science by capturing the imagination. It doesn't have to be about economic development or spinoffs. Does poetry have spinoffs? No, we appreciate it for appreciation's sake. Because poetry is proof of something higher in our collective psyches, of something beyond the daily grind of life, it says "look what we can do!" Why is science any different? We put a man on the moon (yes we did! don't argue with me!) and yes we achieved many spinoffs that have significantly improved life on Earth but is that why we did it? I hope not.

What is Blog

2007-12-11T08:49:00.001-08:00

In the nature of The Machine is Us/ing Us...a great video to explain to the non-convert what a Blog is. Blogs in Plain English:

Clusty Clouds!

2007-12-05T08:34:00.001-08:00

One of my favorite search engines, Clusty, has a terrific feature that lets you embed a real-time, search query tag cloud into any website. Like this one below for Nanotechnology:

Loading Clusty Cloud ...

This is a wonderful way to display search results on a subject oriented page. If you apply your librarian mind to it you can create one that is really useful and time saving for patrons:

How about taking out all the noisy information about the iPod nano, and limiting it to "space applications" (instead of say, biomedical applications) and only info from nasa.gov?

Loading Clusty Cloud ...

Now you have created a sophisticated search that yields specific results and saves your patrons time. Since tag clouds use size as a frequency indicator, clicking on the largest word, communication (remember this is real-time so that may not be the largest word at reading time) yields 86 succinct results. Now type nanotechnology and communications into Google...see?

I think this would be a great addition to a subject guide created in LibGuides. I will be working on how to include the cloud and have the resulting page load inside the LibGuide. Cross your fingers.

Library v. The Gap

2007-11-21T06:37:00.001-08:00

There is an interesting group on flickr that is collecting Library Signage. (btw, we need to compile a list of often used library words that word processing programs think are spelled wrong - to get started: browsable, findability, signage...). Look through some of them and wonder if your local retail establishment would hang them. We have a tendency to TALK IN ALL CAPS, use strong words like NEVER, NOT, and UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES. We like to underline things and use red - the quintessential color of "thou shalt not."

For example, in my library we had many DO NOT RESHELVE (also considered misspelled) signs. Now here is a sign with a purpose - we want to count what was used, we want to put it back where it goes, and we don't want to burden you, our lovely patron, with the task. But, "DO NOT RESHELVE" is the best way we could find to say that??

Where are our please and thank you and this is your collection not mine. Do we sometimes act as if it is our collection and that patrons are "messing it up"? I can admit to feeling this way sometimes. What would happen if we flipped this idea on its head? The collection belongs to the patrons - we are only stewards of it and our stewardship should never restrict or encumber the use of the information.

Please allow us to reshelve your journals

Library v. The Gap

2007-11-21T06:37:00.000-08:00

LibGuides part 1: Branding

2007-11-20T07:29:00.000-08:00

My library will be implementing LibGuides over the next few months and I will chart our progress here. I will have to explain why we chose LibGuides and our goals for the guides at a later date. What I want to talk about now is branding.

LibGuides does a great job of letting a library brand their page. Of course, LibGuides is set up on this premise were they are providing libraries a service that the libraries use to serve their patrons. I think that database vendors could take a lesson from them. Often on commercial or society database products the ability to place the library brand on the page is non-existent or very small. I repeatedly hear librarians clamor for more branding. This isn't just a quest for information dominance (ok, maybe a little) but the problem of "everything is free on the Internet" is easy to propogate in this way. If a patron find an article through Google Scholar, clicks, and voila - instant article! They have no way of knowing that there is a cost associated with the product as well as hours of licensing negotiation on their behalf. Now I realize that the publishers have a brand they want to get out there too - however, the libraries are sometimes their only advocates when funding time comes, not the end-user.

Regardless, I'm impressed so far with how much I can make my LibGuides page feel like my library website. Hopefully this translates into value-added by the library. In the future as we try to be "where the patrons are" more and become ubiquitous the problem arises: how to be valuable when you are (rightfully) invisible.

A Rose by any other name would be...a Database?

2007-11-19T07:22:00.001-08:00

Have you ever had the "database" argument with a fellow library co-worker? You know the one where you want to put Science Direct on the database links and they say "but that is a collection of ejournals, not a database!"?

I was heartened to find I'm not the only one beating my head against this brick wall from time to time Library 2.0: An Academic's perspective had a wonderful story about her fight to put Google Scholar on the proxy list at her school. One of the arguments here was that Google Scholar was a "search engine" and not a database.

Really??

So what is a database? Google (gasp! she used Google!) has a varied list of definitions for the word database. I like the simplicity of WordNet's definition: An organized body of information. Simple. All encompassing. By this definition my bookshelf is a database. hmmm.

Ok, let's try again. Alt web's definition is : A computerized collection of information. Ok, so my bookshelf is not a database. But my email inbox is?

Ok, one more time. The Wildlife Society remote sensing working group defines a database as: Relational data structure used to store, query, and retrieve information. Ah, much more technical. A computer scientist would like the definition. Here we have another piece of the equation - store? query? retrieve? Suddenly this organized body of information has meaning.

I guess my working definition of a database would be: a computerized collection of information that is organized in a way that bring meaning to the collection and is able to be manipulated for use.

Working in different libraries I have seen many unsaid definitions of database in action:

A database is something subscribed not free
A database has vocabulary control
A database has bibliographic records
etc.

All of these seem to me to be attempts for libraries to control the data and information. To put reins on it and keep it in check. Are we afraid if we "let" them use a "non-librarian approved" database that they won't respect us in the morning?

I guess it comes down to what a library feels its mission is. Is your mission to teach and proscribe that information must come from these sources? Only your sources are accurate and right and we will snub our noses at those unwashed masses of other sources. Or, is your mission to help people find and use information. period. People - in all their messy preferences and quirks. Information - in all its messy and unorganized and uncontrolled beauty. And bring the two together - wherever, whenever.

If our patrons want to use google scholar or science direct or whatever - what do we gain by scolding them? Obsolescence.

I think we fear obsolescence and that in our fear we are realizing just that. If they use google scholar - what will our jobs be? I say, don't worry! They don't use google scholar well, trust me. They need help and guidance and alternatives at their fingertips when they grow tired of trudging through. And a librarian will be there to pick up the pieces.

Google: The Lunch Box

2007-11-13T08:36:00.000-08:00

Does anyone remember the movie Spaceballs? How about the gratuitous use of product placement? Spaceballs: The Toilet Paper; Spaceballs: The Doll; etc. This is how I'm beginning to feel about Google (beginning? that ship has sailed!)

Interactive Collage of Web 2.0 Logos

2007-11-11T23:09:00.000-08:00

LOGO2.0 part I and II
Originally uploaded by Stabilo Boss

Beauty and the Geek: 3rd Party Content on Library Websites

2007-10-30T08:19:00.000-07:00

I was recently at a meeting where a discussion of inclusion of 3rd party content in an information resource arose as a topic. The specific topic centered around 3rd party content hosted along side search results in a research database but this brings up and interesting disconnect that I have encountered here at my Library. That is: what responsibility do librarians have to the validity of 3rd party content?

One camp sits firmly in the "if it isn't properly vetted it doesn't belong anywhere near authoritative sources." I recently ran into this on a news feed I include on my library's webpage (homepage no less). I have an aggregator troll the web for news about my organization and use Feedigest to display the results. And, by web, I mean that whole, huge, messy thing called the World Wide Web. This content is hardly vetted! The concerns came when we recently had a news item involving the TV reality show Beauty and the Geek. Panic! There is non-technical, markedly non-relevant material right on the LIBRARY HOMEPAGE! *faint* This camp believes in information beauty - and beautiful information is authoritative, relevant, and (usually) paid for.

The other camp (of which I tend to spend a night or two) believes that information only has value when assessed by the reader and it can not be held back by the strictures of "relevance" or "authority." After all, one person's irrelevant is another person's eureka! moment. Information must be free! "You can't stop the signal!" ($5 if you can name that movie!). This camp is the Geek camp - maybe including, but not limited to, "millennials" that have grown up downloading free music and getting their news from blogs.

I think there is an important middle ground with valuable opportunities for Librarians. The "Beauty" camp is missing the forest for the trees - end-users are already going elsewhere to get their information! They are going to Google and Yahoo and The Onion. They are deciding for themselves what is relevant and authoritative. Are they doing this well? Perhaps not. But they ARE doing it. Ignoring that fact and being information "purists" is counterintuitive. The "Geeks" aren't getting it right either. One of the value-added services librarians provide are filtering of information noise and some level of validation of authority. This is not a role to be taken lightly in an ever pouring deluge of information assaulting our patrons.

Wherever shall the twain meet?

I think there are two ways that librarians can utilize 3rd party content without abandoning Beauty for the Geek.

Notification of content types. There are several, evermore obvious ways to delineate your content. In my library we differentiate between subscribed and unsubscribed content and there are several ways to do this.

Post a content policy on your page. Of course, like a EULA, no one will ever read it but at least it is there.
On my library website we use a small icon to designate subscribed and non-subscribed content. This is minimally intrusive. On included RSS feeds the news service usually includes a "brought to you by..." branding.
Another method is to separate content by chunking subscribed separate from unsubscribed content on a page or even on separate pages. I do not like this method because information is information to the patron - they don't care how we acquired it.
The most intrusive method would be a middle-page that a patron hits before proceeding that informs them they are about to view a page that has not been reviewed. This method can be annoying from a usability perspective and I am not a fan of this. Ultimately it will depend on the sensitivity of the user community.

Vetting the source. This is the most obvious one to me. If I have put it on our library webpage then I have vetted it to some extent. I might not be able to screen every news item but I do generally trust Yahoo! as a news source and I have created a search string that I believe will minimize noise and maximize relevance. For example, I have an included RSS feed on my Nanotechnology subject guide that searches Yahoo! news for the following string: Yahoo! News search results for [nanotechnology OR nano-technology OR Nano* -apple -ipod]. As far as I'm concerned this is a vetted resource. Using Feedigest I can also mash this news feed with news from nanotechnology.com and nanotech-now.com to create a single consolidated source for my patrons. If I one day get a news item about a reality show because one of the contestants once bombed a nanotech firm - then cest la vie! This is still less noise than my patron typing "nano" into Google.

So is it worth it?

I think that the benefits of this type of content are worthwhile. With integration of additional content your library site can be:

Be the one-stop information source for your patrons
Save them time in sorting their own results
Provide real-time, value-added information

So, Beauties don't throw out this juicy content! Geeks don't drown us in free information! Get together - hold hands - it is a beautiful geektastic thing.

Library Thing in motion

2007-10-28T12:18:00.001-07:00

Library Thing (LT) is a social library catalog. You post your books and link to other community members who have similar interests. I have been using Library Thing for my personal reading for some time (these are of course NOT...ummm... romance novels...and if they are they are certainly not the kind that involve pirates, highlanders, etc.) and including them on another blog I host (also NOT about romance novels ~.o). I recently thought, how could I use this at my Library?

Library Thing for Libraries is where I would first point you. This seems like a terrific development that I will be keeping an eye on. Library Thing for Libraries integrates LT into the catalog and will soon feature ratings and comments - a MUST HAVE ASAP for library catalogs in my opinion. Library catalogs are lagging way behind current web 2.0 technology (with some great exceptions). Since I am part of a huge union catalog I have passed this on the people "in the know" for our catalog (SirsiDynix). I still wanted to find a way to include Library Thing in some way on our webpage NOW.

I am including the Library Thing widget on our page with 8 new entries in our LT catalog. This is an extra step for our catalogers, but not too cumbersome because the search is very easy via amazon or Library of Congres via title, author, ISBN, LC card number, etc. We have found some books that we order (being a highly technical science library) that are not able to be added to our LT catalog but our purpose was not be exhaustive so we don't mind! This is how our widget looks embeded on the page:

This adds a nice visual element to our page and is a fun way to inform patrons of new items. Contrary to popular (?) belief, books are far from dead. Our books have waiting lists. We have spruced up this widget with roll-overs of Amazon.com information using SnapShots which I'll talk about in my next post.

BOTTOM LINE

Pros: visual element; promotes new books
Cons: I would like to be able to change the 'my library' in the widget to "Recent books at [NAME OF LIBRARY] " or any other customization. This might be possible, anyone heard of ways to customize this further? Other arguments ("but we are pointing them to amazon instead of our catalog") do not bother me due to my personal library philosophy (coming soon).

Contact Me

2007-06-19T19:51:00.000-07:00

FAQ

2007-06-19T19:48:00.000-07:00

What is a Cascading Style Sheet?

A Cascading Style Sheet or CSS allows fine control over the layout of a website independent of the sites content. The actual HTML of this page is almost entirely without layout specifications. See this page without any stylesheet applied (please note this is a separate file and not part of the "cookie" options.) On this page, users can choose between 3 different layouts. A (javascript) cookie enables the user choice to be stored, allowing their preferrence to be remebered thoughout the site and on susequent visits. This site uses CSS as a fun way to look at layout, however, CSS can be used to increase accessiblity to users with disabilities by having a text only version or having a large text version. For more information see CSS at W3C.

What does the name Paige mean?

Paige originally referred to a "page," or young attendant to a Lord and was usually a young boy. It started to become popular as a girl's name in the late 20th century.

Have a question? Contact me, I'd love to hear from you!

Delicious Mashups! The New Library Webpage

2007-06-19T14:13:00.000-07:00

Using free online tools, we were able to offer real-time content to our users. This presentation outlines our implementation of Web 2.0 technologies.

Professional Leadership

2006-06-19T19:10:00.000-07:00

At NASA I serve as a member of the NASA Information Services Alliance for which I just finished a two year appointment as Chair. During my tenure we launched the NASA Digital Library (nasa only) and NASA Ask-a-Librarian (nasa only) virtual reference service including an implementation of Google for internal NASA search.
I am also a member of the NASA Agency-wide Knowledge Management Working Group and an author at the OpenNASA blog.

I have been a member of the Special Library Association (SLA) since 2001. In this group I was appointed to the Professional Development Committee where we conduct member surveys regarding continuing education and professional development and recommend courses for the organization to offer the membership. I am also a member of thePhysics Astronomy and Mathematics Division (PAM) where I maintain their physics resources webpage.

I am also a member of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIST) and the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM).

Publications and Writing Samples

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Publications:

GRC SHARE Strategic Knowledge Management Initiative, 2008
(nasa only)
Technical Information Update Aerospace America, volume 8, no. 12, December 2007
Mars Settlement and Society Working Group Report Next Generation Exploration Conference Proceedings, 2006.
History's Role in Knowledge Management NASA History Office History News and Notes article 2005 vol. 22 no. 1 pg. 14 [.pdf]
Cognitive Styles: A review of the major theories and their application to information seeking in virtual environments [.pdf] 2003
Preprints in Scholarly Communication: Lessons from High Energy Physics [.pdf]. See also, Presentation of Preprints in Scholarly Communication [.ppt]. See also, More Information About Preprints [.pdf] 2003
The Information Needs of High Energy Particle Physicists [HTML Format] 2003

Sample Book Review:

Adaptive Array Systems: Fundamentals and applications

Review by: Paige C. Lucas-Stannard, Librarian NASA Glenn Research Center

Conventional signal array systems provided an advantage over single sensor recievers by compensating for beam width limitations and directivity issues. Signal arrays are used in radar, sonar, seismic, biomedical and communications systems. However, these signal array systems are susceptible to their own range of problems presented by unstable array environments. Using statistical detection and estimation theory to automatically respond to a changing array environment is the lure of adaptive array systems discussed in Adaptive Array Systems: Fundamentals and applications.

Authors Ben Allen and Mohammed Ghavami of the Center for Telecommunications Research at King's College in London present this look at array signal processing and its applications. Ghavami has previously written Ultra Wideband Signals and Systems in Communication Engineering and both authors are involved in smart antenna technologies for wireless communications.

The first four chapters provide a thorough background into antenna array systems and array signal processing. Chapter one includes detailed mathematical concepts in electrodynamics and terminology of antenna technology. This chapter is detailed enough for a undergraduate-level newcomer to antenna technology given a background in engineering mathematics. Chapters 2-4 build upon this foundation to address issues in Narrowband Array Systems (chapter 2), Wideband Array Processing (chapter 3), and Adaptive Arrays (chapter 4). These four chapters provide a thorough study of the principles and algorithms of the topic appropriate for senior-level undergraduate, graduate students or as a reference for the researcher/practicioner.

The fifth chapter takes the science detailed in chapters 1-4 and applies them to a more real-world scenario of a mobile communications system where operating environments and components are inconsistent and introduce their own imperfections. With sections on signal processing constraints, system calibration challenges, and spatial propagation parameters this chapter provides techniques to overcome common challenges in antenna array implementation and will be valuable to students and practicing systems designers.

The final chapter discusses applications of adaptive array technology in biomedical, radar, sonar, and terrestrial and space communications systems through a series of case studies.

Each chapter ends with a set of questions and problems including both mathematical and conceptual questions. The book includes a variety of black and white charts and graphs throughout the text to demonstrate concepts. Mathematical equations and derivations are also heavily featured. A detailed table of contents and index as well as a reference section adds to the usability of the book. These features greatly enhance the text and make the topic more accessible.

There are many books available dealing with antenna technology and specifically adaptive arrays. For example, Adaptive Antenna Arrays: Trends and Applicaitons (Springer, 2004) and Introduction to Adaptive Arrays (SciTech Publishing, 2003) both provide an introduction to the topic. Other books cover specific applications of the technology such as, Adaptive Array Measurements in Communications (Artech House Publishers, 2001) and Advanced Array Systems, Applications and RF Technologies: Signal Processing and its Applications (Academic Press, 2000). Allen and Ghavami's book is unique in its inclusion of both an academic look at the fundamentals of adaptive antenna technology paired with practical applications and relevant case studies that cross different fields of applications. This makes the book valuable to a wider audience.

This book is recommended for libraries serving undergraduate and graduate students as well as research libraries and libraries serving engineering professionals working in communications, radar, sonar, and biomedical fields.

Websites

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I enjoy designing websites from both a graphical and usability standpoint. However, my primary focus is ensuring that the information available at the site is accurate, current, and usable to the intended audience. "Webliographies" generally are limited to lists of URLs having only very brief descriptions. I encourage using the power of metadata to give as much information to the user as possible so that they spend less time finding the perfect resource for their needs.

DESIGN:

High Energy Physics Portal (HEPP) (2003) : A website of annotated online resources in High Energy Physics. I used Dreamweaver MX, Fireworks MX, and JavaScript to design this site. The purpose of the site is to give librarians and HEP researchers a single place to find all the best that the Web has to offer in HEP and to give them the information necessary to utilize the resources.
High Energy Physics Thesaurus (2003)
Configuration Management Resources (2004) : This site was designed as my practicum project at NASA Glenn Research Center and is an index of resources for the Configuration Management Users Group. PLEASE NOTE: this is a dummy site most links are not live (or are behind the NASA firewall).
Special Library Association Physics Resource Page (2004) : I maintain this page for the Special Library Association.
I was also responsible for webpage design and maintenece atStow Munroe Falls Public Library Children's Department and Eckerd College Library (see the BEFORE version of the Eckerd College Library site here.)
Glenn Science and Engineering Library (nasa only)
Advanced Pediatrics Blog (2009)

INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE AND USABILITY DESIGN:

Information Architecture by PS3 Studios - This is a fictional company I made up for an Information Architecture course. This site serves two purposes; 1) it is completely CSS dependent and Accessible (as is this site) and 2) it attempts to define this amorphous field called Information Architecture.
Kent State University Libraries and Media Services: I conducted usability studies for the Libraries and Media Services Website Redesign Commitee. Along with focus groups, the usability studies steered the design of the site to maximize information retrieval for the University community. See the BEFORE version of the KSU Library Site here.
Metrology (nasa only) - I conducted focus groups and usability studies for this website and application.

Work Experience

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Technical Information Specialist
NASA Glenn Research Center Science and Engineering Library, Cleveland, OH - 2004 - present

At NASA I serve as a member of the NASA Information Services Alliance (NISA) for which I just finished a two year appointment as Chair. During my tenure we launched the NASA Digital Library (nasa only) and NASA Ask-a-Librarian (nasa only) virtual reference service including an implementation of Google for internal NASA search.
I am also a member of the NASA Agency-wide Knowledge Management Working Group and an author at the OpenNASA blog.
I was chosen to represent Glenn Research Center at the Next Generation Exploration Conference in 2006 and was Lead Editor on the Mars Settlement and Society Working Group Proceedings.
As a contract representative I oversee of Library operations and budget.
I provide digital content design including webpages and web applications for information dissemination. I also run the library blog Surf the Web Smarter Blog.
I am in charge of development and delivery of bibliographic instruction for Center researchers and staff. I have taught classes, such as Surf the Web Smarter and write an enewsletter of the same name that offers tips for maximizing online search success while reducing search time.
Print and electronic Collection Development aimed to serve current research goals and anticipate emerging science trends.

InterLibrary Loan Lending Coordinator
Kent State University Libraries, Kent, OH - 2003-2004

Conducted usability study for Library website redesign team including user analysis and focus group sessions.
Supervised student employees and work flow.
Provided reference service and training to undergraduates, graduates, and faculty.
Created and maintained database of incoming books for Reference and User Services Quarterly reviews editor.

Library Associate
Stow Munroe Falls Public Library, Stow, OH - 2003

Won grant monies for recycling and litter prevention education.
Collection Development in science, specifically hands-on manipulatives.
Developed and implemented interactive science center curricula and programs.

Circulation Supervisor
Eckerd College Library, St. Petersburg, FL - 2002

Supervised and trained circulation staff of 22.
Designed training program for library employees including an interactive online tutorial, and employee manual.

Education

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Master of Science in Information Architecture and Knowledge Management

Kent State University, Kent, OH - 2005

Information Architecture and Knowledge Management is an interdisciplinary degree combining courses in Communication Studies, Computer Science, Graduate School of Management, Journalism and Mass Communication, Library and Information Science, Visual Communication Design to equip graduates with an integrated expertise in today's information-rich workplace.

Master of Library and Information Science

Kent State University, Kent, OH - 2004

Bachelor of Science in Physical Science

The University of Akron, Akron, OH - 1998, cum laude
Concentration: Physics/Geology with minor in Mathematics

Bachelor of Arts in Education

The University of Akron, Akron, OH - 1998, cum laude
Concentration in Science Education

When I'm not working...

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I enjoy amateur astronomy, yoga, and backpacking. In 2000, I had the opportunity to backpack through Europe over the course of a month. I have also backpacked to the continental divide in Rocky Mountain National Park.

I live in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio with my new baby daughter, Aellyn, my wonderful, stay-at-home-dad husband, Pete, and our two dogs; Jaster and Sagan.

Paige Lucas-Stannard Online

A Different Kind of Librarian for the 21st Century

What is Library Science?

What is Information Architecture?

What is Knowledge Management?

Putting it all together:

Things to Consider Before Implementing Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is Dynamic

Web 2.0 is Participatory

Web 2.0 is Integrated

Next Generation Information Discovery

Custom Research Modules:

Custom Database Search Module

Custom Federated Search

Combined Custom Module

Nanotubes in Space Applications

Twitter Statistics with Yahoo! Pipes

Microgravity Resources

Librarianship On A Shoestring

Science Online (1997, v.275-)Science is a leading journal of original scientific research, global news, and commentary.to Journal Subscription Science MultiSubject NEW ... saved by 130 other people ... 34 mins ago

Captain Kirk Should Have Been a Librarian

Invisible Information

Delicious what?

Why bother with science?

What is Blog

Clusty Clouds!

Library v. The Gap

Library v. The Gap

LibGuides part 1: Branding

A Rose by any other name would be...a Database?

Google: The Lunch Box

Interactive Collage of Web 2.0 Logos

Beauty and the Geek: 3rd Party Content on Library Websites

Library Thing in motion

Contact Me

FAQ

Delicious Mashups! The New Library Webpage

Professional Leadership

Publications and Writing Samples

Websites

Work Experience

Education

Master of Science in Information Architecture and Knowledge Management

Master of Library and Information Science

Bachelor of Science in Physical Science

Bachelor of Arts in Education

When I'm not working...

Science Online (1997, v.275-)
Science is a leading journal of original scientific research, global news, and commentary.
to Journal Subscription Science MultiSubject NEW ... saved by 130 other people ... 34 mins ago