Give Your Users a Tweet: Social Media for Libraries
August 20: SWON libraries – Blue Ash, Ohio

Give Your Users a Tweet: Social Media for Libraries
August 26: Wilmington Public Library – Wilmington, Ohio

Born Digital: How Kids Live in an Online World
September 3: International Paper – Cincinnati, Ohio

Tech News You Can Use
September 10: SWON Libraries online classroom

Websites Evolved: Content Management Systems in Libraries
September 17: SWON Libraries – Germantown, Ohio

Beyond Websites: Content Management Systems for Libraries
October 1: Kentucky Library Association – Louisville, KY

Integrating Web 2.0 Tools into Your Web Site
October 22: OELMA Annual Conference – Columbus, Ohio

My small contribution to the day was a lunchtime presentation on using Linux for back office stuff like web servers, mail servers, networking, etc. It’s a very general overview of the popular projects and tools out there for Linux. It’s mainly intended as a starting place for people looking to install a new service on a Linux platform. The slides from my talk are below.

Recommended Online Drupal Resources

The Librarian in Black shares her collection of resources. It’s got some great links for people trying to wrap their heads around Drupal.

Is Dreamweaver being beaten by Drupal?

This article on oreilly.com doesn’t really answer the question posed in its title, but it does a pretty good job of contrasting static and dynamic websites. It gets a little technical, but provides a lot of food for thought.

more drupal, if you can stand it

Amanda Etches-Johnson wraps up her series on Drupal. Be sure to check out her earlier posts as well. It’s a great way to learn about what libraries can do with Drupal.

A n00b goes camping – Drupal Camp at Darien Library

DrupalCon was held in D.C. last week, but libraryland recently held its own Drupal event. Darien Library in Connecticut held a Drupal unconference. I watched a live stream on the web and it was a very cool event. Cindi Trainor attended in person and posted a very in-depth writeup over at ALA TechSource. She makes a great point that Drupal can be used for almost anything and is only limited by the expertise found in libraries.

Drupal Taxonomy Tutorial

This popped up in Cindi Trainor’s FriendFeed (FriendFeed is a great way to keep up with what others are bookmarking and sharing). Anyway, taxonomies are one of the more difficult concepts to grasp in Drupal. So it’s nice to have a tutorial like this that steps you through the process.

Service Providers For Libraries

This was posted on the Libraries Drupal Groups site. It’s a nice roundup of companies providing Drupal-related services for libraries. Providers like these make Drupal available to libraries even if they don’t have in-house support.

Software System’s Fans Gather to Talk Code

Even the NY Times has picked up on Drupal’s popularity. This article gives some good examples of companies and groups using this CMS for their websites.

Oh, if you are near Cincinnati there is a Drupal Users Group here that formed a few months ago. The group is shaping up nicely and is great for newbies and gurus. Meetings are at 6:30pm on the 1st Wednesday of each month at the Public Library’s main branch.

Most of the slides are screenshots and the URL for the tool or example site can be found at the top of each of those slides.

At MPOW, we purchased an iPod Touch to play around with.  I’m not an Apple fan in the least, but the browser on the Touch and iPhone beats anything else on a mobile device.  I’ve can effortlessly navigate and read almost every site I visit.  There’s no need to search for a “mobile-optimized” version of a site, turn off styles, or make any other alterations.

I know that not everyone has an iPhone, but we’re starting to see lots of other gadgets and software that strive to achieve the same experience that Apple provides.  The next couple of years will yield phones and media devices that put the full web experience in your pocket.  And that is why libraries have missed the mobile web.  We are moving away from the need for mobile versions of our websites, catalogs, and databases.  Most libraries have never catered to mobile users and soon there will be little need to do so.  The trend is slow now, but is accelerating.

So should you create a mobile version of your library’s website if you haven’t already done so?  I think it largely depends on your type of users.  Students are more likely to make use of the web on the go.  So school and academic libraries need to pay extra attention to mobile access.  My general recommendation, however, would be not to worry about making your entire website available to mobiles users.  Unless you have the knowledge and resources to build a site that gracefully adapts on its own for mobiles devices, just create a basic page with important links and information for mobile users and link to that page from your main website.  Put the link near the top of you home page so mobile users can find it easily.

It makes me a little sad to say that mobile websites will soon be obsolete.  I like the idea of having simplified versions of web pages.  There are fringe benefits to a mobile-optimized page as well such as speed and accessibility.  However, it’s nice that evolving gadgets are making more library resources available to users on the go.

Vertical Partitioning

Partitioning vertically is a database optimizing technique where tables with many columns are split into multiple, smaller tables.  Without partitioning, even normalized tables may be a mix of frequently and infrequently accessed columns.  This makes it difficult to keep things loaded in memory and can affect overall performance.

By splitting the table in two, you can have a table of frequently accessed columns and a table of less frequently accessed columns.  The tables can be merged together dynamically when needed, but most of the time you will just need the table with the frequently accessed data.  This approach also gives you the option of using different table types (storage engines) for each of the tables.  Of course, it’s probably easiest to implement vertical partitioning at the beginning of your project instead of coming back and making changes to the database structure later.

Horizontal Partitioning

Partitioning horizontally is a similar concept except that the table is split by rows rather than columns.  This works well when certain rows are accessed more frequently than others.  Depending on the size of the database, having a table of more frequently accessed rows can really speed things up.

The events registration system I created at MPOW can potentially benefit from this.  We have over 10,000 registrations in the system, but most of those are for past events that we rarely need to access.  Having a table of 100-200 registrations for upcoming events and a separate table for the thousands of past event registrations would probably provide a noticeable performance increase.

Query Cache

MySQL has a query cache that it uses to increase performance.  If a particular query has already been run on the database, MySQL can return the cached result instead of having to parse it, optimize it, etc.  I was already familiar with the query cache and we use it MPOW.  However, I learned a couple of new tidbits from Jay:

• “Any modification to any table involved in the SELECT invalidates the stored result.”  I guess I already knew this.  What’s cool, however, is that partitioning your tables properly can reduce this.  Making a change to a table containing upcoming event registrations would not affect the cache for the table containing past event registrations.
• Don’t use InnoDB tables when there are more than 5000 rows and you’re doing full table scans.  It’s slooooow.  Use MyISAM table types instead.
• If you are doing a SELECT on tables that change frequently, there is no point in storing the result in cache because it will soon be invalid.  Use SELECT SQL_NO_CACHE to prevent MySQL from storing highly dynamic results and filling up the cache.
• MEMORY table types are fast and good for data that can be thrown away or re-computed again.

ANSI vs. Theta Coding Style

Jay put two different versions of a SELECT statement up on the screen and asked the group which style they used.  One style used INNER JOINs (ANSI style) and the other used WHERE and AND clauses (Theta style or comma style).  I think most of the room (including me) raised our hands for the latter.  Jay made some good points about ANSI being easier to read and more portable.  I need to force myself to try ANSI and get used to it.  Theta style, however, is very natural for me and I suspect it will be hard for me to change.

The slides from Jay’s talk (including part 2) are up on his website.

Drupal is also becoming a popular choice for libraries and now the New York Public Library is joining the party.  Josh Greenberg recently posted on NYPL Labs that they are in the process of moving their site to Drupal.  It’s not only an informative post about Drupal, but also a cool look at the process that NYPL is going through to rebuild their site in a CMS.  Looks like it will be a good fit for them.

I gotta say that having a “behind the scenes” blog is an awesome idea.  It can give the public more of a connection to the library while also keeping the rest of the staff informed.

Google Doctype is basically like Wikipedia for web development. Anyone with a Google account can add content. So the site will get better as more people contribute. I’ve spent some time browsing around the resource, but of course since this is from Google you can search as well.

My only issue so far with the site is that I haven’t found any RSS feeds for different sections. It would be nice to be able to subscribe to updates and changes, but this is a beta release so maybe that will be available down the road.

[slideshare id=336883&doc=drupal-1207333458969455-9&w=425]

Frank Cervone
Director – Library, Information, and Media Studies
Chicago State University

Firefox: www.SafeCache.com (defends against cache-based tracking)

Firefox: www.SafeHistory.com (protects history privacy)

Firefox: FoxMarks (auto syncs bookmarks)

Firefox: FEBE (Firefox Environment Backup Extenstion)

• sync/backup extensions and settings between computers

meebome.com

• embed a chat window on your website

LinkBun.ch

• put multiple links into one small link

www.docsyncer.com

• automatically finds and syncs your docs to Google Docs
• Windows, Mac, and Linux?
• syncs *everything*

www.twhirl.org

• desktop client for twitter

polldaddy.com

• fast/easy way to put an opinion poll on your website

www.VisCheck.com/vischeck

• simulation of human vision
• online service or downloadable
• check for color blindess

www.Feng-GUI.com

• automatic alternative to eye-tracking
• creates heatmaps

Browsershots.com

• create screenshots in different browsers

Flickr.com/badge.gne

• create a widget of photos to put on your web page
• Libraries need to be more visual

www.photoshop.com/express

• free, online version of PhotoShop
• Tutorial on YouTube

AddThis.com

• Put bookmark buttons on your web pages
• Give you statistics

Google Gadgets

• http://urltea.com/32m0

www.altavista.com/help/free/free_searchbox_transl

Google Translate

ProcessTamer

• www.majorgeeks.com/Process_Tamer_d4651.html
• Give priority to applications running on your PC

www.mogware.com/FileHamster

• real-time backup of files on your hard drive
• automatic incremental backups

Syncback Freeware

• www.2brightsparks.com/downloads.html
• backup all files with a single click

LinkExtractor

Moving large files

• mailbigfile.com
• zUpload.com
• pando
• yousendit
• MediaFire

recaptcha.net

anaonymouse.org

• private surfing
• check if something is accessible from outside your IP range

Prism

• labs.mozilla.com/2007/10/prism/
• run web applications as if they are desktop apps

More places

• widgetbox.com
• Google Gadgets

Will be available on slideshare

lolinator.com

Tools to make incremental improvements to your website

Most of these you can do in a minute

Update your copyright statement

• PHP and JavaScript example to update it automatically

Add “last updated” code to each page

• increase trust in your information
• have 1 script that you can from all of your pages

Add photos to contacts

• evidence shows that it goes a long way to increasing trust

Turn boring old contact info into exiting hCards

• Microformats
• Dreamweaver Microformats
• hCard Creator form

Don’t use “click here”

• “scanhostile”

Firefox Extensions for Microformats

• Talis

Harness the Awesome power of the 3 question survey
1. What is the purpose of your visit to our website today?
2. Were you able to complete your task today?
3. If you were not able to complete your task today, why not?

• ask for their email

Don’t make the server think

• Add trailing slashes on all links on your website

Web 2.0-ify Your Logo

• small chunks of large-screen type
• round edges

• Web 2.0 Stylr (optional Beta tag)

Be an Icon icon

• commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Crystal_Clear

The Need for Speed

• Install Firebug + Yslow extensions in Firefox
• Tells you how quickly your page loaded

Cache cache’

• – exploit your users cache to speed up your site
• set certain file types to stay fresh (on server)
• image file types, css, js files, pdfs
• add code to the .htaccess to set expire

Combine small images into image map

• e.g. lots of photos on your navigation bar
• changes multiple image requests into one

Eliminate inline scripts (based on Yahoo research)

• Move JavaScript and CSS to external files
• Call them externally

• *Don’t do this for your homepage
• This is the first page where they will cache all this stuff

Spring Cleaning

• Use W3C validator

CLEANCSS site (compresses CSS code)

Move important information out of the blindness zone (heat map graphic)

SEO: Google Webmaster tools

• Site link > Diagnostics > Content analysis > title tag analysis

Rewrite title tags: doc title | section name | site name

Add <LABEL> tags to your forms

• accessibility and usability

Make your site social media friendly

• “Social Bookmark Creator”

Sarah began by asking some questions of the audience

• How many people in the room working at a small library? Lots
• How many work in an underfunded library? Most
• How many work in an underfunded dept.? Some

Sarah surveyed digital user Library Activity in 2006

• website visit 5-6 per capita
• database use under 1 per capita

Advocate that the e-branch is very important

• will be seen by most members of the public
• open 24/7
• not dependant on location
• minimal staffing
• materials are cheaper
• no processing of physical materials
• high-return on investment

#1: Talk with your customers

• IM
• meebo me widget – chat directly from the web
• trillian
• Text messaging – Southeastern Louisiana University
• VoIP – Ohio University using Skype
• Video chat – just starting to take off

You don’t have to do it all at once

#2: Don’t pay for images

• classroomclipart.com
• Image*After – including textures
• OpenClipArt.org
• OpenPhoto.net
• Stock.xchng
• Flickr – advanced search for CC

#3: Offer tools and mashups

• Library ELF – possible privacy issues
• Library Lookup – Find in catalog from ISBN on web page
• LibX Toolbar – create a browser toolbar with direct access to your catalog

#4: Make Dynamic Lists

• So long to the .doc book lists
• use blog or wiki
• recommended movies, music, books – AADL example
• encourage full staff participation
• use an entry template, tags, categories
• welcome custom comments

#5 Give your library a face

• Flickr
• create sets of photos
• advertise new computers
• do more
• Moo – cards
• HP – posters
• Qoop – calendars
• Zazzle – shirts

#6 Provide audio content

• podcasting
• mic + Audactiy + Blogger blog
• Everyzing (turn audio and video into text)
• TextAloud (text into audio)

• Ideas
• kids songs
• searching tutorials

#7 Provide video content

• Digital video camera ($100+)
• Avidemux editing software (free)
• Blogger blog (free)

• Ideas
• classes and lectures
• community events

YouTube

#8 Exploit the blog as a format

• Don’t call is a blog
• encourage comments
• Re use content across blogs
• Repeat important posts over time – tips, etc. (good idea)
• Tools: WordPress or Blogger

#9 Make RSS your BFF

• RSS is more than just blogs
• item and news feeds
• new teen books
• library updates
• favorite authors and subjects
• RSS Calendar service

#10 Help your catalog (it needs it)

• open source options
• Koha
• Evergreen
• Scriblio
• Libray Find
• Chan’t change your ILS?
• Aquabrowser
• LibraryThing for Libraries
• VuFind
• Example: Hennepin County
• Example: AADL (patron reviews)

#11 Be present in social networks

• Be present
• be real
• be reliable and continuously new

Hennepin County Facebook page
MySpace

#12 Use outside web hosting tools

#13 Try a wiki

• subject guides, book reviews, intranets
• Bull Run library – created by the public

#14 Use EngagedPatrons.org

free and low-cost Web 2.0 services

#15 Use design tools to look cool

• Inknoise tools

#16 Use other free tools

• Gimp
• Zamzar
• surveymonkey.com

#17 Exploit image generators

#18 Recommend Websites easily

• Del.icio.us
• FURL

#19 MicroBlog with Twitter

#20 Keeping everything current

keep up with the stuff you implement