Contract Magazine: Excellent for library renovation planning!

If you're planning on doing some library renovation this year or next, you've probably already looked at the special issues of Library Journal and American Libraries related to library architecture and interiors. I would also recommend Contract Magazine which is available free in a very cool digital edition using the nxtbook format. The magazine focuses on commercial interior design.

New libary director at WV School of Osteopathic Medicine

A big welcome is going out to Annie Maroney Donelan, the new library director at the WV School of Osteopathic Medicine in Lewisburg, WV. Best wishes, Annie!

UPDATE: Here's the link to the school's home page: www.wvsom.edu.

Here's the link to their library's site: www.wvsom.edu/library.

WVU Charleston Research Day

Today is Research Day at WVU Charleston. This year we have faculty, residents, and students giving approximately 65 presentations of cases, original research, and posters. Fantastic! We had a few presentations last evening, too.

June 20th is West Virginia Day

I was listening to West Virginia Morning on public radio today. One of the segments focused on the blog, abetterwestvirginia.com, and the blogger Jason Keeling. He encouraged bloggers to use West Virginia Day (which is Friday) to focus on all the many positive aspects of the state.

I'm a new resident of West Virginia, and it's nice to hear there's a day that celebrates the state and its people. I like the natural and wild areas in the region. Plus, my coworkers and other people here in the Charleston area have been very nice to me. People are friendly, helpful, and generous.

Arts and Crafts Home for Sale! (Near Philadelphia)

My warm, inviting, and spacious Arts & Crafts house is for sale. It's in the heart of Havertown, Pennsylvania, close to Philadelphia. 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, stone fireplace, porch with swing, hardwoods, French doors, built-in bookcases and china cabinets, settee, cedar drawers, original unpainted interior wood trim, large basement with workshop, detached 2 car garage, private driveway, and English garden. Only $339,900. MLSID# 5358922.

Contact Anne and Jim Logue, realtors, at 484-620-0155 or http://tinyurl.com/58occ7 (you can see more pictures there, too).

I'm now at WVU in Charleston

I've started work as the library director for the Health Sciences Center of West Virginia University, Charleston Division. I'm excited about the job and am settling in!

Charles Lyons at Computers in Libraries 2008

Going Local in the Library:
Web 2.0, Library 2.0, Local 2.0
Charles Lyons, Business Librarian, University at Buffalo

Some notes from Monday, April 7th:

Google is able to show maps of local areas, as well as various commercial businesses within a particular area (such as barbers). Google can also show local libraries and local news. One can use the advanced news search to look for news using an area code, for example.

The local web is diverse: local search engines, maps, media, blogs, government data, photos, videos, blogs, and local people.

The local web is social: user-generated, participatroy, amateur, civic, grasrooots, and citizen's journalism.

The local web is localized: information about neighborhoods, communities, blocks, streets, and buildings.

The local web is the joining of the real world and the virtual world.

Locally, libraries are providing community information, genealogy information, and so on. But can they do more in using their virtual presence as a local community force like they do with their physical presence?

Yes. Among other things, libraries can:

Become expert users of local resources.
Raise awareness, and assist the community, regarding online local resources.
Broaden the scope of local data collection.
Create local online communities.

Creating local online resources does not have to cost a lot of money.