Wowbrary is Live! (Plus a fascinating map)

The new Wowbrary service began yesterday with Hutchinson Public Library's initial email newsletter, which you can view here. This is a great new tool, I think. It features all the new items that come in to the library each week. It provides a view of the end-results of what many consider to be the very core of what a library is: civilization's longest-working knowledge accumulation machine. The Hutchinson Public Library might not be as large or have the same vast resources as some, but we do the same thing here and now that all libraries great and small have done for many centuries. We collect things in one spot, now both on paper and in electronic formats, for the purpose of providing people with a handy "set" of all human knowledge. Specifically, our purpose is of course to provide for the information needs of the citizens of Hutchinson and the surrounding areas. Though that might make it seem like I have a lofty view of what our little library means in the grand scheme of things, I believe it to be true.

Grandiose, lofty ideas aside, I encourage you to sign up for Wowbrary and receive a weekly snapshot of what we are collecting.

On to the "fascinating map" portion of this post. Some people probably know that I am something of a pirate aficionado. (Don't forget Talk Like A Pirate Day, September 19th this year!) Mostly I've read about and studied the 17th and 18th century variety of pirate, but I have been following the current rise in piracy off the Horn of Africa with interest. And one of the reasons I have included the Kansas Government Information blog over there on the right is for posts like their most recent one on maritime piracy. A link they included goes to this "live" map of pirate attacks, both successful and attempted around the world. You can click on a map marker and find out the full details of each incident.

So, thank you for visiting, have fun viewing piracy from the safety of your computer screen, and please consider signing up for Wowbrary, it's useful, I promise!

New Tools!

Several posts back I wrote a bit about learning and using new technology. I have also mentioned in more than one post that HPL is trying some new things, including opening a new technology training lab. Recently, some of our staff members have experimented with what are now practically passe social networking tools, Facebook and Twitter.

These recent additions to our toolset, Wowbrary, Facebook, and Twitter have been undertaken in an attempt to better communicate with you, our patrons. On this blog, I created a group of "HPL Links" just below the subscription area at the upper right of the page to help me (and you too) keep track of these tools. You can go to these links, including the HPL website , and find all sorts of useful information about upcoming events, new items, and other news about your library.

Please help us by letting friends and relatives know about these ways of interacting with the library and try them yourself.

Technology Training Lab

As of May 12th the new lab has been officially opened!

What a great evening we had, and look at the crowd! OK, so it was a little warm, but the air conditioning problem turned out to be an easy fix and it is now cool and comfy in the new lab. Tuesday evening was our big kick-off for the new training lab space and we had 72 visitors come through. Kristine, our computer trainer, showcased the new series of classes she's designed. We all got to see the fruits of not only her labors, but the results of all the hard work put in by our great IT and maintenance departments.

I could not be happier with the results. It was a long, hard road to get to this point and many unexpected turns were taken, but we now have a facility dedicated to technology learning. What that means in practical terms is that the public computers will be open to the public all the time now - no more closings for training classes. This reduces headaches for staff and patrons alike. It means more flexibility for times when training can occur, including weekends. It offers the possibility for better hands-on training for staff as we add new tools to make the library better.

If you are interested in learning more about your computer, its software, the Internet, or free online tools check here to register for upcoming classes.

New Service - Wowbrary

The Hutchinson Public Library will offer a new service starting May 20th.  In partnership with the library service company "Wowbrary", patrons of HPL who have an email account can sign up for a weekly newsletter showing the new items added to the collection for the past week.  The Wowbrary service is provided by libraries all over the country, such as the San Antonio Public Library and the New York Public Library.  Samples of what the newsletter looks like can be found here (SAPL) and here (NYPL).

One of the best things about the service is that the newsletters directly link you to the HPL catalog.  You see something you want, click the title and you are sent to the library catalog to place a hold.  It even includes links to Amazon reviews if you want to see what other people have to say about the title.  Another great customization feature is that we will be able to provide links to upcoming library events as part of the newsletter.

If you are interested, you can read more about it here in Wowbrary's FAQ.  If you like what you see, please sign up.  I think this will be a great tool for HPL to showcase the many great new books, CDs, DVDs, etc. that we add to our collection all the time.