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Showing posts with label General. Show all posts
Showing posts with label General. Show all posts

Saturday, October 17, 2009

20 EASY TOOLS FOR PROFESSIONALS WITH LOW BANDWIDTH

In developing countries, one of the major challenges confronting Library and Information Professionals (LIPs) is the low bandwidth. Sometime you want to do a simple search and you just discovered that the Internet connection is vey low. I have discovered over time that some websites and search engines have portable sites specifically meant for mobile platforms. The most fascinating ones listed below.

For instance, if you want a quick Facebook page, try Facebook Lite or mobile. Seach engines like Google mobile and Clusty are examples of effective search engines on the go.
  1. Answers.com http://mobile.answers.com/ All-in-one encyclopedia, manuals and dictionaries
  2. Ask.com http://m.ask.com/
  3. Bing http://m.bing.com/
  4. Clusty.com http://m.clusty.com/ Great for viewing results in stripped down format
  5. CNET http://m.cnet.com/
  6. CNN http://m.cnn.com/
  7. Facebook Mobile http://m.facebook.com/
  8. Facebook Lite http://lite.facebook.com/
  9. Flickr http://m.flickr.com/
  10. Google Books http://books.google.com/m Read free public domain books
  11. Google News www.google.com/m/news/i Access personalized news for Ghana, India, Ireland, Italia, Kenya, México, Namibia, Nederland, New Zealand, Nigeria..
  12. Google Images http://images.google.com/m/
  13. Google Reader http://www.google.com/reader/m/view/ RSS Reader
  14. Google Web http://www.google.com/m
  15. Gmail.com http://m.gmail.com/
  16. Making of America Books http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/
  17. Netvibes http://m.netvibes.com/tabs RSS Reader
  18. Technorati http://m.technorati.com/ Search the blogs
  19. USA Today http://m.usatoday.com/
  20. Yahoo Mobile (including Yahoo Mail) http://m.yahoo.com/ Right click on the list and open in a new window. Let me know how useful you have found it.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Skills for the 21st Century Librarian - A must Read for LIPs

I read this thought provoking  article and I felt all librarians must read it. Please visit the blog "Information Wants To Be Free" @ http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/index.php/2006/07/17/skills-for-the-21st-century-librarian/

    Some Basic Tech competencies listed include:

·        Ability to embrace change

·        Comfort in the online medium

·        Ability to troubleshoot new technologies

·        Ability to easily learn new technologies

·        Ability to keep up with new ideas in technology and librarianship (enthusiasm for learning): “…Five years ago, few people were talking about blogs and IM in libraries, but now so many libraries are using these tools to provide services to patrons. We need to be able to keep up with what’s new in technology and what libraries are (or could be) doing with it. And we need to be able to keep up in the shortest time possible because we are busy. Try and take some time out of your busy schedule to keep up, whether you are reading the professional literature, browsing blogs, or attending a Webcast.”

 

Higher Level Competencies:

·        Project management skills

·        Ability to question and evaluate library services

·        Ability to evaluate the needs of all stakeholders

·        Vision to translate traditional library services into the online medium

·         Critical of technologies and ability to compare technologies:

·        Ability to sell ideas/library services

o       What library schools can do: “Library schools should definitely teach students how to sell library services and new ideas to different stakeholders.”

 

 

Tuesday, April 4, 2006

Change your world @ your library: What A befitting Caption for National Library Week

The American Library Association (ALA) chose this theme for this year's Annual National Library Week Change your world @ your library. This is a very good caption. First, it is a good appeal to the public on the powers of the libraries. Libraries indeed can change your world. However, there is a big "IF" there. Resources or access to such resources that are capable of changing their world must be there.

The following conversation answers some questions about how you can change your world through the library.

"So how can you change your world at the Livingston County Library? Besides finding a great book to read, you can use our computers to access the Internet and do anything from apply for a job to find a perfect apple pie recipe. You can check out DVDs or a book on CD for your spring break trip. You can use the Ellison die cut machine to cut out shapes or letters to enhance your scrapbook.

You can attend family storytimes every Thursday evening in April from 6 until 6:30pm. You can read local, regional or national newspapers in print, or for a wider variety, online utilizing one of the library's online databases.

You can take online practice tests or go through online tutorials to assist with GED test preparation or nurse's aid exam preparation, among other tests. This online resource is available for use at the library or for home use through the library's website.

“The staff would be happy to give you more information about any of our resources,” Westphal said. “I think one of the best things we have to offer is a friendly, knowledgeable staff. They've changed my world and I hope yours as well.” ..."
Source: http://www.chillicothenews.com/articles/2006/04/03/news/local_news/news2.txt

The question to the LIPs is this, could we boast of providing such services that can change people's world.

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

What Shoud Be The Focus of the Nigerian LIPs?

This thought came to my mind where I was thinking about where you and I can make the right impact within our establishment.
 
I believe we should focus on our strength within the organization. What can we do better? What areas can we excel?
 
In addition, a senior colleague came visiting while I was writing this and I posed the same question to her. Her response was spontaneous: we need to be ICT-compliant. We should focus heavily on how to use the ICT to provide the services we are trained to do.
 
What do you think

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