Texting in the Library

One of the things that Milne's librarians think about on a regular basis is communication with our users. It's not uncommon to see folks walking through the Library talking on their phones or furiously texting at lightning speed and this got us to wondering, "Is this something that we ought to incorporate as an option for our users?"

And so we ask you, if Milne were to offer service through mobile phone technology, would you use it? Would you find it convenient to text a quick question to our staff? Tell us!

Learning about Mobile Library Services

Several Milne Librarians interested in using mobile technology for the Library took part in this year's Handheld Librarian II Online Conference February 17th and 18th.

Topics ranged from trends and "social reference" (and how libraries fit into it) to "iPhone/Mobile Applications for Digital Library" to building a mobile site to mobile tagging, including QR codes and were included in topic tracks for Mobile Reference Service, E-readers, Mobile Apps, Marketing, Websites, and Content for Library Mobile Sites.

You can see what some other schools and organizations are doing with their mobile sites, including Duke University, Northwestern University, International Children's Digital Library (ICDL), and London's National Gallery.

Currently Milne offers very basic access through our Milne Library Mobile page. Have you used the mobile page? What was your experience like? If Milne were to offer extended mobile services, would you use them? If so, what would be the kinds of information and services you'd like to have access to through your cell phone? Tell us in the comments!

Resources on the 2008 Presidential campaign

With so much political news being generated and covered by the media, it is easy to get lost in the overwhelming amount of information. To help library users navigate through this information overload, Milne Library has selected a few handy resources which stand out and are recommended to our users.

To get the latest news reports on primary and caucus coverage, political candidate information, international response to the campaigns or speeches given by the candidates, the NewsBank Special Report: Presidential Campaign 2008 is your best source for coverage all in one place:

NewsBank's Special Reports focus on topics of current interest. They include content from sources throughout the world to provide a global perspective, current and background information, statistics, maps, images, websites, and suggested search terms. New information is added daily to featured and current reports. Coverage of the possible candidates for the 2008 presidential election is the current focus of the Special Report. Coverage will expand to include the full scope of the campaign including primaries, conventions and debates...

Another useful compilation of political news coverage is The Times Topics: Presidential Election 2008, from The New York Times newspaper. Coverage includes all political articles, opinion, graphs, polls, and multimedia from the NYT recent and archived stories.

Interested in finding out how much your neighbor contributed to a candidate’s campaign? Both Gatehouse News Service: Decision 2008-Search for Contributions and The Huffington Post blog have searchable databases where users can find contribution information by contributor name, zip code, address or occupation.

It is said that the youth are participating in record numbers for this campaign and its only primary season! Visit Youth Radio, where interested young adults are writing, blogging and covering Election 2008, using their own words and voices. Youth Radio trains youth from all over the world to contribute radio segments, blog posts, podcasts, video and to their website, thus training the young people to become media professionals in their own right.