Storm Chasin'

I love storm chasing books, movies, and TV shows. My favorite movie is Twister. Growing up in South Dakota, I've had ample opportunity to view tornadoes and plenty of severe weather. So it should come as no surprise that one of the books I am currently reading is Into the storm by Reed Timmer of Discovery Channel's Storm Chasers. Timmer was actually in South Dakota last summer chasing storms. There is a story and photo in a late May edition of the Rapid City Journal as he made his way through town in his souped up storm chasing vehicle Dominator. He may have even been through Pierre. He was in SD in 2003 on "Tornado Tuesday" and witnessed the F4 tornado that wiped Manchester off the map.

Here is what I really wanted to share from Timmer's book, though. Discussing the days before storm chasers had mobile Internet access and laptops, he states, "And before we all had laptops? We'd hit public libraries. The libraries-no matter how modest-always had Internet access, and within a few years of becoming a storm chaser my wallet bulged with library cards from some of America's tiniest towns."

Yet another great testimony for America's libraries! And if you enjoy books about severe weather and chasing it down, read Timmer's book.

Into the Storm: Violent Tornadoes, Killer Hurricanes, and Death-defying Adventures in Extreme Weather by Reed Timmer c2010.

2011 Legislative Session

I always enjoy it when legislative session rolls around in SD. Being in Pierre makes one much more cognizant of the legislative processes that go on over at the Capitol. And working in the state government documents area also makes one realize just how much work goes on across the street in the filing of bills, committee hearings, etc.

As I work at my computer, I try to listen to the committee hearings in the mornings as they discuss the various bills. I've become more educated of the legislative process as I listen to committee hearings in the mornings, and full House or Senate sessions in the afternoon. I didn't understand until a couple of years ago that sending a bill to the 41st day effectively kills it for the current session. Often the same bill will come back the next year. Some of the opponent and proponent testimony of bills can get very emotional, and it takes a lot for a person to stand up for or against proposed legislation.

I do wonder sometimes if legislators realize how much work goes into the filing of bills. A bill was recently introduced, and even the legislator who introduced it admits that it is a stunt and he won't support it. Behind the scenes, hundreds of copies of this bill are produced and distributed, using staff resources as well as lots of paper. Oh well, it is getting plenty of national attention.

I chuckle on the days the House and Senate meet prior to heading home for the weekend, and always hope that high school government classes have not traveled far to see the legislature in action that day. What usually happens is that the group is called to order, announcements are made, and bills on the agenda are referred to the next meeting day. Then they adjourn and everyone heads home early for the weekend. It might take 20 minutes. :-)

At any rate, it is a great time to learn about the process. It is easy to read any document on how a bill becomes a law, but to actually listen to or view the process in action is much more meaningful.

Learn something new - torrenting

Ever heard of torrenting? I hadn't until I read today's Unshelved comic strip www.unshelved.com

It was obvious from the strip that the term has to do with sharing (legally or perhaps not-so) files via computer, but for a more in-depth definition, I googled the term and found nice explanations on www.ehow.com/about_5046260_torrent.html.

That's what I love about my job, learning something new every day!

21st Century Library Ideas

I attended a Webjunction webinar today that discussed Ideas for the 21st Century Library. It was presented by Kim Bolan Cullin and Rob Cullin. Here are some bullet points of their presentation, which focused on library space and library services.

Space:

• What are you currently putting money into that you shouldn't be?
• what can 'go' so you can make room for new; ie fewer and smaller physical collections
• create a space where people want to be
• move toward a mixed use facility and away from the more 'traditional' library
• no more computer training labs
• move away from computer pods where people use the internet and check out laptops instead
• self service and lots of signage so library users can navigate on their own
• no library jargon

Service:

• no more big service desks
• small service kiosks that are non-cluttered and mobile
• eliminate barriers between you and the library user
• provide drive-up service
• provide vending-type branches where you can select a book from a book vending machine
• provide uncommon collections for borrowing like hand and power tools, cake pans, jello molds, portable electricity meters, fishing equipment
• provide space for digital creativity where the library provides the tools for users to create their own audio and video projects
• don't restrict cell phone use; embrace the technology by creating mobile websites

One of the statements made during the presentation that really rings true is:

"when you walk in the library - everyone's a librarian"

Library Snapshot Day at the SD State Library

The South Dakota State Library is celebrating Library Snapshot Day on Thursday, November 4th. The week of October 31st to November 6th has been set aside for libraries in SD to gather information about what they do all day. The information gathered will be used to demonstrate the importance of libraries in South Dakota communities, school districts, and higher education.

SDSL will be hosting light snacks and coffee in the main lobby that day, and staff invites all SD state employees and Pierre citizens to stop up between 10-4. While you enjoy your refreshements, you can:

• meet your librarians
• take a tour
• get a library card
• learn more about the services available to you at your State Library

Join us on Thursday, November 4th!

Library Snapshot Day is an initiative promoted by the American Library Association and the South Dakota State Library for ALL types of libraries. Using Library Snapshot Day, we want to demonstrate the impact that each library has, on a local and statewide level.

SDLA 2010

I'm about to leave for the 2010 South Dakota Library Association conference, where I, along with a co-worker, will be doing a presentation on setting up library policies and procedures. In addition, we will be facilitating a panel discussion on building library websites. It will be a great conference this year with the Unshelved Guys www.unshelved.com, the Awful Library Books bloggers http://awfullibrarybooks.net, and Vicki Myron, author of Dewey www.deweyreadmorebooks.com.

Reference Renaissance 2010

Reference Renaissance 2010: Inventing the Future was held August 8-10 at the Denver Marriott Tech Center.

By attending RefRen 2010, I hoped to hear great speakers on an international level, and get ideas on the future of library reference work. After the first day, I was ready to implement some of what I’d learned. Keynote speaker Andrew Walsh from the UK started the conference with a prediction that the smartphone will be what the future will build around and that desktops, laptops, and handheld computers will be used less and less in favor of the smartphone. He also talked about QR Codes and how these are becoming more used as technology advances. Walsh encouraged librarians to change their signs at the door: toss the sign that basically says ‘no cell phone use’ and replace it with a sign that says ‘cell phone use allowed; please turn sound to silent’.

I learned a lot about web based reference statistics, LibGuides, library services and generational research. Did you know that those born between 1988-1994 (the youngest of the millenials) are also being referred to as the 'screenagers'? Marie L. Radford surmises that the future of reference work will include a lot of merging services, work shifting, outreach, and working from places that are not your traditional library setting. It won't be so much "go to your library", but "go to your librarian" and your librarian could be 'virtually' anywhere.

There were 318 attendees from 39 states, as well as many from Canada. Attending a national conference is so important for obtaining ideas and making contacts that one cannot do at a state conference. Reference Renaissance was a wonderful opportunity to do just that, and was worth paying my own way and taking the time to go. I am hopeful that the conference will continue to exist as BCR (the major sponsor) is closing operations. The organizers are looking for a new host, and I hope they find one, as I will plan to attend the next RefRen conference and will highly recommend it to other librarians in South Dakota.