It's posted

The library I work at is hiring a new director.

Why Feedburner Rocks.

I recently received a comment to a post:

I have a question about Feedburner. I keep hearing about it, but I don't really understand what it does, exactly. Is it like Bloglines? Can you enlighten me? Thanks!

Since there's nobody subscribed to the comment feed, (hint, hint) I thought I'd respond as a new post.

Here goes:

Feedburner isn't an aggregator, or feed reader like Bloglines, but a collection of tools to enhance your RSS feed.

I like Feedburner for a few reasons.

#1 Stats, stats and more stats. (bigger pictures)
How are people subscribing? Sure, Bloglines will tell you how many people subscribed in Bloglines to your feed, but what about all the other aggregators? (Bloglines users account for a smaller percentage of my readers)

Which posts are getting the most click-throughs?

Feedburner shows I have 48 subscribers now, but this shows 26 as "live circulation" since this number is based on when the aggregators look for new content. The number fluctuates based depending on how people have their aggregators set. Interesting to see the large jumps in subscribers after posting about the CODI conference, and the Gaming in Libraries Symposium.

#2 Feedburner makes it super easy for people to subscribe with their favorite aggregator without readers (or me) having to distinguish between atom feeds, rss versions and all that. If you are reading via an aggregator (or feedblitz), you can click here to see the options available when visitors to the blog web page click on the subscribe link.

#3 Super easy to try podcasting. Feedburner can configure your feed to handle enclosures, and also has the fields you can fill in to add the info you'll need for iTunes. It will also submit your podcast feed to Yahoo podcasts (if you want). It also gives readers info about subscribing to podcasts when they click on your feed.

#4 all the other features!
Add creative commons info, add links so readers can add one of your posts to their del.icio.us account, or email it. Tools to convert your feed to HTML (imbed your library news feed right into the website?) And lots lots more.

#5 It's free!

#6 It's easy to use & set up the features you want to use. Very customizable.

#7 They're based in Chicago!


Thanks to Jenny for telling me about Feedburner when I asked her in my early blogging days (LOL) how people gather stats, since I knew we would want to know if our library's blogs were being read!

Thanks to "veggienerd" for asking the question!

Tags:

• feedburner

New Orleans?

Just a few more days!!!

Looking for some first-hand info as you plan for ALA this summer? I'll be posting pics after I get home from Mardi Gras!

See the action live...via several webcams! or try the one from Tropical Isle.

What were the odds that I'd make reservations at a hotel that is on FOLUSA's Literary Landmarks list? (Actually, 100% this time.) We stayed there 2 years ago and had a great experience, so we're remaining loyal. Have you ever stayed in a hotel with a display case of books in the lobby? Actually, last time it was just a fluke that it was a hotel that still had rooms. It was kind of funny once we realized it. Mardi Gras reservations have to be made almost a year in advance!

If missing the 150th Mardi Gras isn't making you jealous enough... be sure to look up the weather (low 60s!) ...especially those of you in Chicagoland. :)

We'll be spending almost all of our time in the French Quarter, and based on the first hand reports from our neighbor Kevin, things weren't that bad after Katrina. He went down to help as part of the group from our area Fire Depts in South Cook County/North Will County.

Game On 2.0

I just heard about this...

Museum of Science & Industry brought back the gaming exhibit.
I can't seem to find how long it will be there.

Game On 2.0

Happy Blog-o-versary to Me!

The past year brought some big changes.

February

• I started this blog
• I started teaching computer classes at the library

March

• I started blogs on the library website

April

• Added new topics of computer classes

May

• Gaming Workshop
• Met Jenny in person (hi!)
  
• Began OCLC retrospective batch project

June

• Got inspired by a Stephen Abram presentation (brought to MLS by Zephyr)
  
• Lansing Library toolbar with built in RSS feeds released

July

• Set up feeds through Feedburner to get better stats.

August

• Firefox version of Lansing Library toolbar released
• Participated in Carnival of the Infosciences for the 1st time!

October

• Attended podcasting presentation
• experimented with podcasting & RSS 2.0 Feedburner feeds
• Joined The Gordian Knot for CODI blogging

November

• Attended CODI
• blogged at CODI
• 1st library program podcast
• podcasted CODI content

December

• Attended the Gaming, Learning & Libraries Symposium... and blogged it, met some cool bloggers there too!
  
• Added a comment feed, even though I use Blogger!

January

• Our year long anniversary celebration, Lansing Library Soars at 70! began.
• Posted some photos to Flickr of LPL from 1995.

February

• LPL hosted our first gaming event.
• I added some new topics to our computer class offerings. I have plans for more in the spring too.
• Set up del.icio.us account for LPL, and added it to our toolbar for visibility.
  

4 things meme

Rick tagged me...

Four jobs I’ve had:

1. Lansing Library (page, tech services assistant, webmaster, adult services, IT)
2. Bakery Assistant at Key Markets (had to make the doughnuts!)
3. Intern at Calhoun Press [Columbia College, Chicago], working on graphic design for Memory Effects by Roald Hoffmann (ISBN 0-932026-43-5)
4. Fire wife



Four movies I can watch over and over:

1. Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit
2. Batman: The Movie (Adam West)
3. Pretty Woman
4. Backdraft


Four Three places I’ve lived:

1. Lansing, IL
2. Urbana, IL @ Allen Hall Living/Learning Center
(you could call it 'college dorm 2.0' but it was the 90's!)
3. Sauk Village, IL


Four TV shows I love:

1. Gilmore Girls
2. ER
3. Barbecue University with Steven Raichlen
4. Cold Case



Four places I’ve vacationed:

1. Las Vegas
2. Washington, D.C.
3. Boston
4. New Orleans during Mardi Gras


Four of my favorite dishes (in no particular order):

1. Ribs from Wagner's in Porter, IN
2. Chicken Kiev, homemade
3. Pizza Pot Pie from Chicago Pizza & Oven Grinder on Clark Street
4. anything Russ cooks on the grill


Four sites I visit daily:

1. Lansing Public Library
2. Bloglines
3. Flickr
4. Google



Four places I would rather be right now:

1. on vacation, New Orleans (only 10 days away!)
2. Las Vegas
3. Ireland
4. in a hot tub!


Four books (or series) I love:
1. The te of piglet
2. Duck on a Bike
3. Curious George
4. Devil in the White City



Four video games I can play over and over:
1. DDR, and I'm getting better!
2. Video pinball
3. Yahoo's collapse
4. classic Atari/Activision "Kaboom!"


and I'm tagging:
1.Ivan at Rambling Librarian
2.Aleah Marie
3. Lukethelibrarian of lbr and The Gordian Knot
4.and you lurkers out there... you're it! Consider yourself tagged!
Post a comment linking back to your blog!

Senuti

The Feb 3rd issue of Lifehacker selected Senuti as the download of the day.

Senuti (which is named such, since it's itunes spelled backwards!) allows users to download music FROM their ipod TO their PC.

Sweet tool if you upgrade pcs, or want your tunes on your desktop PC and your laptop.
Or... as Gail mentioned...

We had heard of some libraries who allowed patrons to bring in their personal ipod, and the library would load an audiobook on it... and by virtue of the itunes and docking to a 'different' PC, would erase the patron's tunes. The patron could re-dock at home when they were done listening to the audiobook, and their tunes would reload, and erase the audiobook.

If the library used Senuti, they could temporarily copy the patrons existing tunes, and then load the audiobook files and the tunes. Patrons wouldn't be locked in to complete a book before having access to their favorite music or podcasts!

The only constraint I can think of right now would be disc space on the ipod... but with capacities increasing rapidly, it might not be much of an issue, unless its a really long audiobook!

I haven't tried it... it's Mac only. (insert your well placed envy of Aaron & Michael here!)

I'm looking forward to hearing some reviews on Senuti from you guys!



Thanks to Gail :) who told me about this, who then emailed her hubby Ruben to find out the name of the program.

Tags:

• itunes


• ipod


• hacks


• senuti

ooh-we're featured!

ooh-we're featured!
Originally uploaded by nomextra.

Not the "official" site of the village, http://www.lansing-illinois.com is run by a Lansing resident (Lance Lape) who's doing some cool things on the site. He recently added free blogs on the site, and a community calendar that any group can use to post their events!

Never has a negative of the library been so hot!

Tags:

• community

"Adult" Services

Someone posted recently to PubLib inquiring what readers call the "Adult Department."

Two female patrons in my search engines class today were 'afraid' to click on the link for the "adult news blog" until I explained it was only designating it different from teen or youth. They were seriously thinking that anything on the web labeled adult is 'naughty'. Nice ladies though! :)


I had everybody in class click on it then so they could all see that it was just the news section of our website. Brief segue into how a blog page is organized, and let them know they could subscribe to get our news.

Many of us calling it Adult Services have corresponding links on our website.
I can't imagine what they might think "Adult Programs" are about!

It made me wonder how many of our patrons are sitting at home, afraid to click!

Maybe I should rename from Adult News Blog to News Blog for Adults?

Tags:

• terminology

Illinois Income Tax Web File

I'm staying out of the whole listserv discussion on availablity (or not) of tax forms in libraries.

On a personal note, I tried Illinois' Web File option this year. This was the first year I could actually take advantage, since there had been some computer glitch a few years back that somehow deleted my social security number from the state's database. (Yet, they would still mail me a booklet, go figure!)

There are 2 options, simplified or basically fill out the paper form online. I chose the "paper" version to see how it compared. They have calculation functionality built in. (This is so hot!) I liked that since I didn't have to flip back & forth between the calculator & web page.
I filed on a Sunday. Chose direct deposit of my refund. The money was in my account on Wednesday. Yes folks, a refund in 3 days.

I'd estimate it took about 15 minutes (I had to enter 4 W2s, so it will probably be faster for you!)

Highly recommend!

Tags:

• Illinois


• taxes

Gaming at LPL

DDR crowd
Originally uploaded by nomextra.

We did it!


Here's the whole set.

We had DDR, MarioKart, board games, and computers available for online gaming.
One of the jr. high schools in town had the day off for parent teacher conferences, so we had a limited crowd, but it worked well for our first time.

Many of the staff (and 1 board member) came in at various times to see the kids in action.

Tags:

• gaming in libraries