Virtual Shelving Practice

From the Stephens's Lighthouse Blog

Training Library Shelvers, Pages, and Clerks

Are you orienting a whole new team of pages for the new school year? Do you train shelving staff who are from the gaming generation?

I found this through LISNews who found it in a tweet via RT@shannonmmiller (Shannon Miller of the Van Meter, IA Library:

Check out Order in the Library…an online game using the Dewey Decimal system.

“There are three games you can play; the sorting game, the shelving game and the reordering game. There’s even a Spanish version. Go to it!”

I tried it and, sadly, failed and had to try again. Two slaps with a wet noodle for me. My library club shelving books days are over.

Stephen
Posted on: September 7, 2010, 7:11 am

VHS to DVD

As more of our collections become exclusively digital, the subject of this Ask the ALA Librarian article caught my eye.

VHS to DVD?
By Karen Muller
Created 08/26/2010 - 09:57

Q. With the increased use of DVD systems it has been suggested that we convert our VHS library of educational videos in VHS format to DVD. Is it a copyright violation to convert to DVD and discontinue use of the VHS tapes?

A. In most cases, yes, it would be a copyright violation. Reproducing a VHS to DVD without the prior permission of the rights-holder is an infringement of copyright. This kind of reproduction is not exempt because it is not “fair use” [2] as defined in Section 107 of the Copyright Code and it does not qualify as a lawful reproduction under Section 108 [3] of the Copyright Code.
However, in a situation where the VHS tape is lost, stolen or deteriorating or is in an obsolete format (a 3/4” tape is obsolete because the equipment is no longer being sold, but a VHS tape is not obsolete) and is not available in the DVD format in the market for a reasonable cost, the library can make a reproduction. But if the reproduction is in a digital format (DVD is digital), then that copy cannot leave the library premises.

Source URL: http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/ask-ala-librarian/vhs-dvd

Music

While I am waiting for participants to arrive for my workshops I like to take advantage of the availability of streaming music and the speakers on my computer to set a mood. Usually I log into my Pandora account and pick one of my stations, but while reading a recent American Libraries Direct, I found a new source of streaming music.

Here's the snippet from the August 11 American Libraries Direct article about Grooveshark.

Listen to free music online with Grooveshark Steven Campbell writes: “Could Grooveshark be the best service for streaming music? A lot of people have taken to online music. It’s a great way to listen to your favorite tunes on demand and save your playlists or stations. There are many services that allow you to stream music, including Pandora and Last.fm, but my personal favorite is Grooveshark.”
...MakeUseOf, Aug. 10