[Web4lib] Skills for Library 2.0 Leaders

[Stevens, Julieanne H.]

Like most everyone else, I think that more advanced programming type
skills are nice, but not particularly necessary. A little Dreamweaver,
Front Page or a WYSIWYG editor and I think most of us are good to go.
(Obviously depending on how much help you get from your IT department
and what branding applies to web pages, even intranet pages)

 We're in the process of making some basic additions to start with;
we're adding pertinent RSS feeds and Blog links to subject
bibliographies. My big project this summer is linking "lessons" for each
database to the database so that students can learn on their own how to
use it. Scope notes alone  are no longer enough information.

 I'm also not seeing a "perfect world" solution to the interface of
databases and serials holdings. Serials Solutions is  awesome, with
their Journals A-Z list, even being able to incorporate bound holdings,
but   a database web page is LOT of information for 'one' page.  The
primary issue is accessibility; pop-ups, mouseovers and related
gimmicks don't work in a world where your web pages have to be
accessible. 

We want an intranet WIKI for both the library staff and a separate  one
for faculty. (In the early planning stage; we're not sure whether and
how these should be separated; faculty doesn't need to know  how to do a
task in Millennium, but both groups would do well to see our new
acquisitions.  Faculty need quick access to passwords for services they
only need occasionally ( Pacer, NYT, Wall Street Journal, etc.) and to
special announcements, services and contact information particular to
them.  

We're in the process of setting up an RSS page for just our library
professional and paraprofessional with  news/feeds. This way, all of us
can catch up on our reading from a similar starting point. I know who
else is on a routing slip for a particular journal; I don't know who
else is reading a particular blog.  With a common page, we can all
assume  the rest of the staff has read something.  We  have a yahoo
group for Library employees, for both emergency contacts and soon,
perhaps for the RSS access.


I think one of the stumbling blocks to the infamous Library 2.0  is that
it's LIFE 2.0; it's not particular to libraries, or any other
institution. As many other people have said with much more finesse, this
all is still about  what our client/patron base needs and wants.

Juju
Julieanne Hartman Stevens, MLS, JD
Electronic Services and Reference Librarian
Stetson University College of Law
1401 61st Street South
Gulfport, Florida 33707-3299
Direct Line 727-562-7304
Internal  Extension 7204
JHSteven at law.stetson.edu

If librarianship is the connecting of people to ideas - and I believe
that is the truest definition of what we do - it is crucial to remember
that we must keep and make available, not just good ideas and noble
ideas, but bad ideas, silly ideas, and yes, even dangerous or wicked
ideas."
 Graceanne A. Decandido