Most Innovative Implementation of eResource Discovery

Birmingham Public Library (AL) was recognized for using WebBridge LR (Link Resolver) to link to Amazon.com for e-resource discovery in WebPAC Pro, Innovative’s online catalog product.

Most Innovative Staff Program

Las Vegas-Clark County Library District (NV) won first-place honors for “Concierge Key with Self-Check.” This innovation allows library staff to work more efficiently with third-party self-check workstations.

The second place award was presented to West Palm Beach Public Library (FL) for developing a training Wiki that includes technology competencies for various topics including Millennium.

Most Innovative WebPAC

Mid-Hudson Library System (NY) accepted first place honors for their New Kids Catalog, which takes advantage of features and customization opportunities in the new KidsOnline product.

The Watzek Library of Lewis and Clark College (OR) tied for second place for Most Innovative WebPAC. The College was recognized for their “Easy Course Reserves Requesting,” which enables instructors find an item in the catalog and automatically generate an email to the circulation department reserving the item and indicating course number and loan period.

“Implementation of AirPAC” also earned New Zealand’s Libraries for a Greater Auckland Region (eLGAR) second-place recognition. Library staff created a Flash-driven “web tour” to promote the launch of AirPAC, Innovative’s wireless online catalog application for small-screen devices.

Most Innovative Patron Services

Ryerson University Library (Canada) won first-place honors for applications that enable users to access the library website, including WebPAC Pro, from their page on the Facebook social-networking website.

Recognized in second place, Hong Kong Baptist University Library staff used the Millennium Patron API to integrate user-specific notices from the library into iCalendar-compatible applications.

Jerry Kline, Innovative’s Chairman and CEO (center), presented the “Starfire” crystal awards to representatives of the winning libraries…

Left to right: Jim Hayes, Regional Branch Services Director, Las Vegas-Clark County Library District; Barbara Storch, Technical Services Manager, West Palm Beach Public Library (FL); Tobin Cataldo, Information Systems Manager, Birmingham Public Library (AL); Jerry Kline, Chairman and CEO, Innovative Interfaces; Hamish McDonald, Director, eLGAR (New Zealand); Graham McCarthy, Multimedia Developer, Ryerson University Library (Canada); and Laurie Shedrick, Automated Systems Manager, Mid-Hudson Library System (NY).

You can check out all the ceremony pictures on Flickr. For more on the IUG check out their website.

See you next year!

Since preservation is an obsession of librarians, Scott’s biography is interesting:

Scott is in many ways an unlikely hero of recorded sound. Born in Paris in 1817, he was a man of letters, not a scientist, who worked in the printing trade and as a LIBRARIAN (emphasis mine). He published a book on the history of shorthand, and evidently viewed sound recording as an extension of stenography. In a self-published memoir in 1878, he railed against Edison for “appropriating” his methods and misconstruing the purpose of recording technology. The goal, Scott argued, was not sound reproduction, but “writing speech, which is what the word phonograph means.”

But is it really a sound recording or a transcription of sound that was never intended to be played…?

Scott’s device had a barrel-shaped horn attached to a stylus, which etched sound waves onto sheets of paper blackened by smoke from an oil lamp. The recordings were not intended for listening; the idea of audio playback had not been conceived. Rather, Scott sought to create a paper record of human speech that could later be deciphered.

Granted, preservation of digital formats is a serious concern, but who knows if one day there will be a way to play back data that no longer has a player to play it? Or that seems damaged beyond repair. Some awfully smart people are already trying.

You know the expression, “If walls could talk?” Maybe walls will talk one day. Maybe we’ll be able to play back conversations that take place in a room by scanning the paint. Shudder to think!

Example of an ancient playing device from 1976 a.d. The Panasonic boom box prototype. It played something called “cassette tapes.” (The final product spread hip-hop around NYC… “You know I can’t live without my radio!”)

Librarian trumps Edison? Scott seems to think he did. At any rate I’m curious about what folks think about this article…I’m sure there are tons of people in the library world that know more about preservation than I.

Sarah will be at PLA 2008 at the Innovative booth (#1201) if you want to come by and see what she’s doing with program technology first-hand…

Actually there’s tons of literature on the marketing of libraries so may I be the first (probably not) to talk about smell and marketing libraries. Actually there’s a big precedent for things olfactory in marketing, and not just in foods and new cars. Singapore Airlines long-standing “Singapore Girl” ad campaign focuses on the idea of the great service, and at one time (warning politically incorrect!!) they had a special perfume that all the attendants wore. Also the smell of coffee, rather than the taste, is commonly used in TV ads as the hook.

I was reminded of the whole smell issue when Starbucks recently announced they were going to focus more on coffee, get rid of their sandwiches, and stop building stores quite so quickly. This in response to slowing growth at the company. In fact the issue was raised in an internal memo at Starbucks. The press, Wall Street analysts, and people like me all have raised the smell being “turned off” at Starbucks. In the meantime Dunkin Donuts (!) and McDonalds (!!) started getting kudos for the taste of their coffees. To coin a phrase you can’t tell “What’s Brewing” in Starbucks with your nose.

Cool Logo, Good Coffee - America Runs on Dunkin!

It’s sort of an allegory for staying focused, keeping on the scent trail, or your nose to the grindstone when it comes to business. Starbucks got too focused on rapid expansion and being all things to all customers and it hurt them.

So what’s my point? Well, smell matters. And more importantly libraries are a complete experience whether you want them to be or not. The brand association to libraries is books but the library brand, when someone comes in the door, is more than that. It’s a broad, constantly evolving image in users’ minds. And because libraries serve communities, librarians have some control over its direction.

And while I support the use of libraries by homeless folks or people that don’t smell so hot–and I am not advising lighting incense or devising a eau de library cologne–everything sensory is part of your library’s brand. People remember how you make them feel as well as the services you offer.

Dinah is the Senor Product Manager for Encore and she hits on a few of its features like facets and tag clouds. There’s also a fun search example about shoe shopping…

Dinah at ALA Annual 2007

By the way the intro music is a little loud at the beginning and goes on too long for my taste, but I kind of like the mellow, techno-BBC vibe…

As you can see from my bio, I come from Hollywood (land of glamor) so I took a stab at the glamorous profession of library science, emerging at last at Innovative in 2004, where I’ve been talking to Innovative’s brilliant techies (and librarians) and trying to translate their words into plain English, with varying levels of success. (That is if you’ve been reading our INN-Touch newsletter.) You may also have seen some of my pics on the Innovative Flickr page.

Where do we go from here? We’re just starting our blog engines and you’ll see introductory posts from contributors in software development, product management, service, and even sales (scary!) in the coming weeks. In short, you’ll be able to see “What’s Brewing” at Innovative and sit down for a cup of digital coffee with us.

What’s brewing with you…?