Professional Collection in Transition

Over the course of the next several weeks the books, kits, and DVDs of the Professional Collection will be transferred to Library Processing @ the East County Regional Library. The archived journals will soon follow. New materials will be received into the Professional Collection directly at Library Processing.

This blog has been a terrific way to share information and ideas with you. With the change in the Professional Collection, In the Know will now cease publication.

Thank you for your readership.

New Book

• Civic Engagement in an Older America edited by Greg O'Neill and Sarah F. Wilson (a publication of the Gerontological Society of America)

FYI: This book is not a tidy ALA how-to manual about recruiting senior volunteers or conducting multigenerational programming. This is 5 chapters of research studies reproduced to demonstrate the vitality of older adults and the effect civic involvement has on their well being to measurable standards. Very academic. The direct applicability this book has to life at LCLS may be limited. Given the population we serve, the likelihood that we would turn away vibrant, eager, capable, and eligible volunteers based upon advanced age is slim. Similarly, we would and do embrace programming for and by the older population.

Here are the chapter titles:

• Identifying the Boundaries and Horizons of the Concept of Civic Engagement for the Field of Aging


• Conceptual Foundations and Challenges: Civic Engagement in Later Life


• A Profile of Older Adults' Civic Engagement: Research Gaps


• Outcomes of Civic Engagement for Older Adults


• Seniors and Civic Engagement: Challenges and Critical Perspectives

New Book

• Designing Brand Identity by Alina Wheeler

FYI: "In a densely crowded marketplace, corporations, organizations, and even individuals look for ways to differentiate themselves. That is the job of branding. Whether your goal is to express a new brand or to revitalize an existing one, here is a proven, universal five-phase process for creating and implementing effective brand strategy, design development through application design, and identity standards through launch and governance, Design Brand Identity is an essential reference for the entire process." - from the back cover

Macgyver Tip

From lifehacker.com
March 15, 2011

Whitson Gordon — We've shared a few ways to boost your cell phone signal before, but technology weblog The Next Web shows us another way: just stick it in a glass.

We've used this trick to boost our smartphone's volume before, but TNW claims it actually works for signal as well:

So a few years ago one of the waitresses there discovered (how?) that if you put a phone in an empty glass it dramatically improves the reception. The Pasta e Basta restaurant is basically stuck in a concrete basement so reception has always been awful. But since they found out about this trick they at least have had enough reception to make and receive calls.

The waiter gave me glass, I put my iPhone in, reluctantly, and lo and behold: I got 3 bars and no 3G but some GPRS. Not perfect but a huge improvement from the ‘No signal' message I got earlier.

Of course, you probably can't make a call with your phone stuck in a glass, but you could probably manage to send a text message or two, or receive voicemails and jump outside if they're important. This is the first we've heard of this method, and a few people have noted that this does work, but we haven't tested it ourselves.

New Materials

• Customer Service at the Library: Making the Experience Meaningful & Memorable

FYI: DVD contents include ABC's of Service, The Value of Customers, Why People Stop Coming Back, Customer Needs and Wants, Cultivating Loyal Customers, Healthy and Deadly Attitudes, The Power of a Smile, Words to Use and Words to Lose, The Value of Thank You, Customer MAGIC, Telephone MAGIC, Email Etiquette - from Program Contents

• Microblogging and Lifestreaming in Libraries by Robin M. Hastings

FYI: "Microblogging and Lifestreaming in Libraries is a start-to-finish passport to using such services as Twitter, Friendfeed, and Tumblr to engage, and communicate with library patrons. Veteran microblogger Robin Hastings leads reads readers through how to use these cutting-edge social media applications to keep patrons updated, market the library, and build community. This comprehensive field guide covers everything from how to feed blog posts into Twitter, feed tweets into a Web site, and utilize Twitter for library events, to ways to incorporate these tools into your organization's marketing strategy." - from the Foreword

New Book

• Integrated Advisory Service: Breaking Through the Book Boundary to Better Serve Library Users edited by Jessica E. Moyer

FYI: "Library collections today have grown beyond books and periodicals with numerous diverse formats, ranging from audiobooks and graphic novels to film, television show recordings, and even games; but until now, little has been done to maximize the connections between these media. Integrated Advisory Service: Breaking Through the Book Boundary to Better Serve Library Users is designed to assist librarians in making connections between all the different media in library collections and advising patrons." - from the back cover

Golden Books Gown

Ryan Novelline fabricated a gown entirely out of Golden Books. The "fabric" is 22,00 square inches of illustrated pages sewn together with golden thread.

For a more detailed look at the construction process, take a look at Ryan's online portfolio page.