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New discussion list started: Telecommuting Librarians

From Nexgenlib list comes this news:

Good afternoon colleagues,

I recently started a new position as a cataloging librarian for a library services and staffing company headquartered in Wilton, CT — I am located in lovely Fort Wayne, IN. One of the benefits of the position is my ability to telecommute from home. One of my first actions in my new position was to look for resources for telecommuting librarians and a place to be able to network and have discussions with other telecommuters
on a regular and ongoing basis.

Currently, there is no place for such exchanges to take place. I am pleased to announce the creation of TelecommutingLibrarians, a new electronic list that

I hope will help address this need.

PURPOSE:

This list is intended to provide a forum for discussion of ideas and issues related to telecommuting in libraries and for current or future telecommuters and the challenges faced by working in a non-traditional work environment.

We welcome subscription and participation by all. We believe that this list will be of particular interest to those already telecommuting but everyone is welcome.

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE :

If you would like to subscribe to the new list, please visit the list website:
http://groups.google.com/group/telecommutinglibrarians?hl=en
The list is unmoderated.
We hope to see you there soon!

Hope this becomes a good list for all telecommuting librarians!

Columbus Metropolitan Library named the top public library in the country

The Columbus Metropolitan Library has been rated the best library system in the nation as ranked by the Hennen’s American Public Library Rating. It is the 3rd time since 1999 that they have been ranked #1 and they have been ranked in the top 4 every year since 1999. Here’s a Tame the web

NOTE: American Libraries reported an error in the rankings this year:

American Libraries has discovered an unfortunate error that invalidates the results of Hennen’s American Public Library Ratings published in the October 2008 issue of the magazine of the American Library Association.
Thomas J. Hennen Jr., author of this independent study, discovered after the issue was mailed that the figures used in compiling the statistics were the same as those used in 2006.
The new numbers will be posted on the HAPLR website. The corrected tables will also appear in PDF format as soon as possible on the American Libraries website, as well as in the November issue of the magazine.

The Columbus Metropolitan Library has been rated the best library system in the nation as ranked by the Hennen’s American Public Library Rating. It is the 3rd time since 1999 that they have been ranked #1 and they have been ranked in the top 4 every year since 1999. Here’s a Tame the web

NOTE: American Libraries reported an error in the rankings this year:

American Libraries has discovered an unfortunate error that invalidates the results of Hennen’s American Public Library Ratings published in the October 2008 issue of the magazine of the American Library Association.
Thomas J. Hennen Jr., author of this independent study, discovered after the issue was mailed that the figures used in compiling the statistics were the same as those used in 2006.
The new numbers will be posted on the HAPLR website. The corrected tables will also appear in PDF format as soon as possible on the American Libraries website, as well as in the November issue of the magazine.
“Technology is a wonder; it can also be a horror,” said Hennen. “I referred to the wrong data set in my computer files. The result was republishing the last edition, scoring and ranking every library the same for the 2008 as for the 2006 edition. I have now redone things, and I apologize to everyone for this terrible mistake.”
“We sincerely regret this error and the confusion it will undoubtedly cause,” said Leonard Kniffel, American Libraries editor-in-chief. “The HAPLR rankings have been used by many libraries to tout their success to local media, so it is important to get the correct numbers and rankings on the record as quickly as possible.”

Librarian’s Internet Index merging with IPL

The well known Librarian’s Internet Index (LII) has merged with IPL at Drexel. As many are aware of, and as mentioned in the notice below, LII has had their funding cut by 50% the last two years. The merger with Drexel allows ILL the opportunity to continue sharing of sites.

This notice appeared in their last weekly e-mail:

LII IS NOW ADMINISTERED BY IPL
This week the editors received a press release announcing LII’s merger with the Internet Public Library (IPL). IPL is a huge and wonderful Web portal hosted by Drexel University and maintained by a consortium of colleges and universities with programs in information science. It has solid funding and a paid staff augmented by graduate students in library and information studies programs, allowing it to maintain and improve the database’s content and aesthetics with new skills and technical tools.
As you may know, in the last two years LII’s funding was cut by 50%. Consequently, we had to reduce the number of sites we add each week, halt improvements to the browsing structure, and generally do less of everything. IPL will give LII’s years of work continued life and value and we think they’ll do a terrific job. The LII editorial staff and the newsletter will continue through April 30, 2009. We will share news with you as it becomes available; for more information, please contact IPL or Linda Crowe at

This was the e-mail they sent to subscribers:

The well known Librarian’s Internet Index (LII) has merged with IPL at Drexel. As many are aware of, and as mentioned in the notice below, LII has had their funding cut by 50% the last two years. The merger with Drexel allows ILL the opportunity to continue sharing of sites.

This notice appeared in their last weekly e-mail:

LII IS NOW ADMINISTERED BY IPL
This week the editors received a press release announcing LII’s merger with the Internet Public Library (IPL). IPL is a huge and wonderful Web portal hosted by Drexel University and maintained by a consortium of colleges and universities with programs in information science. It has solid funding and a paid staff augmented by graduate students in library and information studies programs, allowing it to maintain and improve the database’s content and aesthetics with new skills and technical tools.
As you may know, in the last two years LII’s funding was cut by 50%. Consequently, we had to reduce the number of sites we add each week, halt improvements to the browsing structure, and generally do less of everything. IPL will give LII’s years of work continued life and value and we think they’ll do a terrific job. The LII editorial staff and the newsletter will continue through April 30, 2009. We will share news with you as it becomes available; for more information, please contact IPL or Linda Crowe at

This was the e-mail they sent to subscribers:

As announced in our last newsletter, Drexel University is merging LII’s database into the IPL database. We understand that this will take long enough that we’ll have to skip a newsletter, so when that email doesn’t come in, it’ll be us taking a break while technology happens. We expect to send the next newsletter out on Thursday, October 16, 2008. There may be some ups and downs while all this is going on, so please bear with us and address any questions to IPL.org or Califa.org.
Thank you,
The Editors

I’m glad that LII will continue as they share great sites each week.

1TB of free online media storage via Oosah

Need someplace to store the massive number of pictures, videos, and other media files that have accumulated on your computer? You can always use a service like Flickr or YouTube, but wouldn’t it be nice to have it all in one place? A relatively new player in the media storage game, Oosah, offers 1TB for media storage. Yes, 1TB. Here’s the limits on what you can upload:

There are some limitations. You can only upload videos that are 200MB or smaller, images that are 50MB or less, and MP3 files that are 9MB or less. And you can’t upload executable files, office documents, or other files.

Here is a word of warning from DownloadSquad though (the above limits also came from DownloadSquad):

One word of warning. When I signed up I had to check a box that said I agreed to Oosah’s privacy policy. But there was no clear link to said policy. A quick Google search turned up a list of terms and conditions which also makes mention of a separate privacy policy. But it’s nowhere to be found.

Choosing good passwords

In light of the Sarah Palin e-mail fiasco, Lifehacker put together these tips on how to choose a good password and security questions. Be sure to check out their tips and tricks on how to create questions and passwords that you can still remember.

Jimmy Wales Interview on Open Licenses

Ellyssa Kroski, who writes at iLibrarian, also teaches a class at San Jose State University on the Open Movement and Libraries (Fall of 2008). As part of the class shes has done interviews with such notable figures as Stephen Downes of the National Research Council in Canada, and Nicole Engard of LibLime. Her guest a couple weeks ago was Jimmy Wales. You can hear the full 10 minutes interview with Jimmy Wales here.

Learn a language from Busuu

There’s another new language site out on the web, called Busuu. This one with a little bit of a twist in that it incorporates a social aspect to the site.

Via Lifehacker here’s a brief bit of info about it:

Language education site Busuu emphasizes the social side of learning a language. While Busuu has standard components such as vocabulary exercises with audio and writing units to test out your composition, the most interesting aspect is its ability to connect you with both people learning your language and native speakers of your language. You’re learning Spanish and someone else is learning English.

A quick look shows it is a relatively simple service and a good way to get an introduction to a new language. By no means is it comprehensive, but with the social aspect theres a chance to connect to others and go beyond the basics.

Best of the best free tools

Via Lifehacker:
A few months back Lifehacker started a section titled “Hive Five” that answers the most frequently asked question: “What’s the best tool for the job?” The top tools are chosen by the users and here they present the best of the best from 26 different categories. Many, if not all, of the tools are free. Here is their best of the best.

Report Calls For Overhaul of Federal Student Aid

Via the “Kept up Academic Librarian” comes this posting on a report that calls for the reform of Federal Student Aid.

A group of college financial aid policy experts is calling for a sweeping overhaul of the federal student aid system, including eliminating the federal application for financial aid and helping low-income parents save for their children’s education at an early age.

Some interesting ideas mentioned.