blog.ecorrado.us

New blog location 2008 February 12

As you have no doubt realized if you are reading this on my site, my blog now has a new URL. It is at http://blog.ecorrado.us/. I never really liked that I put my blog at ecorrado.us as the home page, so when I moved my site to a new host I figured I’d have a few choices. I could either make it have its own sub-domain, or I could put it in a directory. I figured having its own sub-domain will give me the most flexibility moving forward. I also updated the version of WordPress I have, which hopefully will allow me some different options moving forward. By the way, let me know what you think of my new home page at http://ecorrado.us. I still have some changes I want to make, so it is work in progress, but any suggestions would be appreciated.

BTW: I’m now hosting my blog at Dreamhost. So far I really like it. If you are looking to change your web host, let me know and I can give you a discount code.

Defining relevancy : managing the new academic library 2008 February 1

I just received a copy of “Defining relevancy : managing the new academic library.” I am excited about this book because I wrote the second chapter – my first book chapter. Since it just showed up about 45 minutes ago, I obviously didn’t get to read the book yet but it looks nice and covers a wide range of topics by many authors of different backgrounds. I can’t wait until I get a chance to read it.. My chapter is on “Social Software, Web 2.0, and Libraries.” While I am excited to see my name in print, I am also a little saddened since I am reminded of our friend John Iliff who passed away on May 6, 2006. John, who was always passionate about new technologies in libraries, and was originally supposed to write the chapter I wrote. John, you are surely missed.

Here is the citation for my chapter:

Corrado, Edward M. (2008). Social Software, Web 2.0, and Libraries. In Hurlbert, J. M. (Ed.), Defining relevancy managing the new academic library (pp 16-31). Westport, Conn: Libraries Unlimited.

Happy New Year 2007 December 31

I’m not a huge fan of the whole New Year’s Eve celebration thing, but I hope everyone had a great 2007 and I wish everyone a wonderful 2008!

Code4Lib Journal goes live 2007 December 17

As an Editorial Committee of the Code4Lib Journal, I am happy to report that the first issue is live at http://journal.code4lib.org/.

The journal’s mission: Code4Lib Journal exists to foster community and share information among those interested in the intersection of libraries, technology, and the future. Read and enjoy!

Syndication 2007 November 5

As many of you know, after maintaining the GNUJersey planet aggregator for a couple of years, Dave Harding decided to take it down. In its place are two new aggregators, Planet Ubuntu NJ LoCo and a clone of Planet GNUJersey created by Brian Jones. My blog is aggregated at both sites and if you are interested in Free and Open Source Software in New Jersey (or in general for that matter), you might want to subscribe to them instead of individual blogs.

As always, you should also check out the Planet Code4lib aggregator (which I’m also on) if you are interested in Open Source or other software development in the library world.

Book covers 2007 October 3

I was looking to find a book to read on an upcoming trip, so I was looking at book reviews on The Square Root of 2: A Dialogue Concerning a Number and a Sequence by David Flannery. So I found a book review by Doug Ensley, a math professor, and John Ensley, his teenage son. What was interesting about this was the review discusses the cover and how they “thought it had a cool cover.” Looking at the cover image, I can understand why. The premise of this part of the review is that the cover drew the readers in to want to read the book. From the review (which is written in dialogue form to match the book:

What did you think of David Flannery’s book on the square root of two?

At first I thought, “Can there really be 250 pages of stuff to say about the square root of two?” I also thought it had a cool cover.

So you judged a book by its cover?

Yeah, I guess I did at first. I also wanted to find out how anyone could possibly write an entire book about the square root of two.

Anyway, I went to go get the book off the shelf in “unnamed library” and it didn’t have the same cover. It just had a plain cover with nothing on it (except the title on the spine). This is typical of how many libraries display their books, but it is unfortunate. By loosing the dusk jacket, I didn’t get to see the cool cover that might have intrigued me more than the book “e: The Story of a Number” that was nearby on the shelf. I also lost the information about the author, an abstract about the book, quotes from reviewers, and whatever information might have been on the dusk jacket. This is not just the way unnamed library works, but many other libraries as well. It is a shame that this information is lost. I’m sure there is a processing argument that can be made for the money and time saved by removing the jacket versus doing something to make sure it stays permanently with the book. However, that doesn’t make it any more disappointing.

This disappointment makes me wish for book covers in our library OPAC even more. The rich information that one can get from online book store or LibraryThing (as well as the dusk jacket you can read in the brick and mortar bookstore can really influence what book you wish to read.

TCNJ Library awarded a grant to investigate Open Source ILS 2007 September 27

I am happy to report that The College of New Jersey was awarded the planning grant by the the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ National Leadership Grants for Libraries program, that I helped write. The grant will allow TCNJ Library collaborate with two other academic libraries to plan for the development of a shared, open source ILS (Integrated Library System). For more information, see the announcement on the TCNJ Library Web site.

Equinox choosen to support Evergreen 2007 July 11

In a non-shocking PR announcement, it was revealed that the Georgia Public Library Service selected Equinox “to provide Evergreen ILS support, software development, system administration, training and consulting services for the agency’s PINES program, a consortium of 265 public libraries. The agreement took effect July 1.” Equinox is a company formed by the original developers of Evergreen, who at the time worked for GPLS.

Equinox has also announced that of a consortium in British Columbia choose Equinox for Evergreen support. Things are looking up for the folks at Equinox.

Changing Mazda 6 head lights and fog lights 2007 June 15

As I wrote once before, the official way to change the headlights on a 2003 Mazda 6 is to take off the front bumper. However, with skinny hands and some patience, you can get it done without going to such extreme measures. Recently, a low beam headlight on the passenger’s side and a fog light on the driver’s side went out. Having already changed the headlight once, it was pretty easy to do (you just need to move the radiator overflow tank out of the way). The fog lights, however were more confusing. However, thanks to a few Web sites, it wasn’t that bad. You still need some patience, but it can be done. The sites I looked at for hints were:

• http://www.mazda6tech.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=46&Itemid=49
• http://www.cardomain.com/ride/346706/5
• http://www.cardomain.com/ride/346706/6

I’m a digital omnivore! 2007 May 11

Jennimi recently wrote a blog post that she has an omnivore digital personality typology. I didn’t really look all that hard at the quiz put out by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, but I took it for fun and it seems that I am an omnivore too! However, unlike Jennimi, I am not trying to minimize animal consumption.