For the website that I had to design for my class relating to libraries, I thought about what aspects of libraries interested me. Since I like readers advisory, I thought about designing a website for a book discussion group. This website can be accessed at http://domin.dom.edu/students/nagpneen/LIS753project/mainbookdis.htm

I then thought about some of the good books that I had read, and decided to do a book discussion on the DaVinci Code since it provides a lot of material for discussion. I thought about the layout of my website and what I wanted to include in it. It is necessary for the reader to know when and where the book discussion will take place, what sort of discussion will take place, and they also need to be able to know more about the book and the author and read some reviews about it. I created a rough draft of the web pages and the information each page would contain on paper. Then I created three web HTML pages. The main page had general information about the upcoming book discussion with links to a page containing a summary of the book and some external links to other websites giving information about the book and the author. The third web page gives the dates and locations for the book discussion. Also there is a link to a PDF page which I created on Zanzar and gives the discussion questions that the group needs to read and prepare answers for discussion.

This was a great learning experience. I really enjoyed preparing and making the website. I learned how to write different codes and write material in different sizes, prepare tables, upload images, add color and external links etc. It was exciting to watch the website develop gradually to its final form. This was my first time to ever develop a website and it gave me a feeling of accomplishment. I felt that I learned something really productive and useful for my future career as a librarian.

The Acronym RSS has cropped up suddenly in the technology world. RSS has been described as Real Simple Syndication or Rich Rite Summary. The RSS feed, in the form of an XML file, is made available on the web site and a site with one or more feeds is said to be syndicated. The feed can be used to subscribe to a news source, a blog or any other site and it will provide information on a regular basis to the user’s site. RSS is very useful since it gives information from various websites of your choice at one selected site. The user can log on to one place and view all the information.

The uses of RSS in libraries is obvious. There is an interesting article at the ALA website at http://www.ala.org/ala/pla/plapubs/technotes/LibrariesandRSS.pdf

The libraries can use RSS to promote their own library blog to get views and opinions about different subjects. Also libraries can use their RSS feed to provide information about new library resources, change in hours, upcoming activities etc. Since lot of journals and book sellers are promoting their own RSS feeds, the library can either subscribe to those and patrons can view the information through the libraries RSS or the library can provide a list of useful RSS feeds for the patrons. There are various uses of RSS and the list can keep growing as new thing come up. I think libraries are definitely on the right track with RSS.

What is Copyright Law? The copyright law of 1976 is a very important law in the United States that governs the unauthorized copying of another author’s work. This law prevents the illegal copying of another person’s work during the author’s lifetime, and for certain number of years after his death. After the copyright expires, the work passes into the public domain, which means it is available to everybody without any restrictions.

I have read about the copyright issues for a lot of my MLIS classes and recently read about it again for my present class. However a new development recently in March 2007 was that the Fair Use act was passed. This act allows for six permanent exemptions that do not infringe copyright law, such as use of a work for educational purposes. The Library Copyright Alliance strongly supports the Fair Use Act, and more can be read about it at the ALA website at http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/woissues/copyrightb/copyright.cfm

Since copyright is the reason for so many legal issues, I feel that this Fair Use Act will really benefit libraries and other places of education to circumvent legal complications that might otherwise arise. The libraries have had to deal with the DMCA in addition to the Copyright Law for copyright issues related to technology.

On Saturday October 20th, Dominican University had a visit from a group of Dutch librarians who visited our class. They are from the DOK library, whose mission is to be the most modern library in the world. They think to get this status they need to have excellent communication with their patrons. Thanks to Erik, Jaap, and Geert who visited our classroom and gave us a talk on their library, complete with videos, pictures and listening to recorded music on their cell phone. They made a video of our class playing spin the bottle, where everbody had a chance to express their opinion on the future of libraries. I think their library had a great website with a great layout even though I cannot read most of it!

They made us aware of all the great things their library has to offer including books, videos, music, art, technology etc. I was impressed with the great round chairs that they have designed with speakers all around where patrons can sit and listen to recorded music. Their library even offers playstations and Wii’s, what more would anybody ask for in a library.

Their tour called the Shanachie tour will be posted on their blog at http://www.shanachietour.com/ soon. They are going to a lot of libraries in the USA to study and learn about the libraries here. Thanks again to the whole team for giving us a preview of your library!

As a librarian at the Rebecca Crown Library at Dominican University, who has been appointed to the committee on the library website, my first step was to do some research on other library web sites. The two websites that I liked and which gave me ideas for making recommendations are the Columbia College Chicago at http://www.lib.colum.edu/ and Georgia Tech at http://www.library.gatech.edu/

The Columbia College library website has been kept simple and all the pertinent information is grouped under four subject headings Research, Help, Services, and About. There is also a News Section. It is a user friendly site and easy to navigate. In each section there is a link to go into any of the other sections without having to go back to the Home page. The aesthetics have also been kept simple and there is a image of a student reading, which changes every so often to a painted background which says “Freedom”. The terminology used is library related but at the same time is easy to understand. The library catalog is also easy to navigate and links to a I-Share .

The Georgia Tech library website has made good use of color and aesthetics to make the website appealing. It is also simple and easy to navigate. The user can access any of the sections without going back to the home page. Also the fonts are a good size and the headings and subheadings are easily visible. I think this website offers interactivity and the personal touch with its blog and feedback survey. It is well organized.

To: The Director Of the Library

Recommendations for Rebecca Crown Library Web site

Keeping in mind the web sites of the other colleges, I think that the Crown Library website has a good layout and color scheme. It is well organized and the headings and categories are also suitable as is the user-friendliness. The website is also easy to navigate from one point to the other. The catalog is easy to use and links to an I-Share.

Some recommendations that I would suggest are

• The Columbia Library website has a “Welcome” next to their home page at http://www.lib.colum.edu/index.php which provides a personal touch.

• The Columbia Library”s “Ask a Librarian” feature page has a nice layout and also a provision to make an appointment with a librarian at http://vrlplus.cb.docutek.com/colum/vrl_entry.asp

• Another nice feature at Columbia is the “Quick Info” category at http://www.lib.colum.edu/help/quickinfo.php which gives quick information with statistics, encyclopedias, dictionaries etc.

• A idea that can be incorporated from the Georgia Tech website is the use of bigger fonts for the headings and subheadings at http://www.library.gatech.edu/index.php

• The Georgia Tech library web site has floor maps and call # locater which is a wonderful idea and gives a very personal touch at http://www.library.gatech.edu/about/floorplans/

• The Georgia Tech has a “Feedback” form providing interactivity at http://www.library.gatech.edu/about/contact.php

• Lastly there is also a staff directory which gives a listing of librarians by subject at Georgia Tech at http://www.library.gatech.edu/services/subject_librarians.php

I read about the history of the Internet for my first class for LIS 753. It was a brief history of the origins of the Internet going back to the 1960’s and it was interesting to note the sequences of events that lead to today’s communication system. The Internet has revolutionized the computer industry and created a communications system that is worldwide. I came across a detailed article on this topic from the Internet society at http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/brief.shtml

It is interesting that the Internet of today started with ARPANET which belonged to the army and was later released to the public sector including Corporations, Universities and the Government. The development of the packet switching theory, development of the different protocols, and the routers has all lead to a sequence of events that have created today’s Internet and the World Wide Web on which we are all so dependent for access to the latest information, E-mails, Instant messaging and the Web 2.0 with its interactive blogs and other tools.

After reading about the history of the Internet, I think it can be safely be said that the Internet will always be evolving and changing in some way. It has already given us laptops and cellular phones, who knows what it will bring in the future.

Here is my trading card that I created on flicker. It was fun to create it.