SEMLS Reference Discussion Group

We have begun using Text-a-Librarian at the Falmouth Public Library.

Text us with your questions! The Falmouth Public Library now offers free text message reference services. (Please note that standard texting rates apply to your phone.)

Text us at 66746 and start your question with askfpl

For example: askfpl what are the library hours on Saturdays?

We will respond as soon as possible. Save us in your contacts and text us questions when you're on the go.

And right now we are having a contest!

SEMLS has a Reference Task Force which is looking at Supplemental Reference Services and what its future face should  look like. The Task Force wants to hear your thoughts. Please join us for a focus group .  There are 3 focus groups .  The first one has already happened at the Norton Public Library. Unfortunately 4 people had signed up for this focus group, but only one ended up attending. There are two more opportunities to make your voice heard in terms of the future of Regional Reference Services. The 2^nd focus group is October 7 at 10 am at the South Yarmouth Library. The last focus group will be on October 13 at 1 pm. To register use this link:   http://tinyurl.com/semlsfocus

It would be great to hear what people think the future of reference services in general might be. I in fact have been given the task to research the future of reference service in libraries. If you have read any article recently, seen a youtube video, listened to something on a podcast or the radio, that addressed what reference service might look like 5, 10, or 20 years from now I'd really like to know! You can send me an e-mail at jerickson@falmouthpubliclibrary.org

I know that we think handheld devices will become big, and so here at Falmouth we are giving Text A Librarian a try. I'll let you know how it goes!

A patron has asked me if any OCLN libraries circulate artwork. Where would I get this information?

Gayle

I would send an e-mail to Linda Beeler at OCLN. lbeeler@ocln.org

Dar All, Today I'm attending (along with as much staff as we can muster on a rainy Cape Cod day in July) a Handheld Librarian Online Conference. I'll share everything I learn. You can get a look at what's being discussed at: http://www.handheldlibrarian.org/

The Alliance Library System in Illinois has partnered with approximately 50 libraries, Altarama  and Peoplewhere  to launch a collaborative text referencing service, My Info Quest.

Do you think it's time for libraries to start offering text reference services? Is library staff ready to provide it?

Has anyone tried Bing, the new "decision" engine released by Microsoft a few weeks ago? Microsoft has never been known for developing good search engines, but I've done some side-by-side searches with Google and Bing and have been pleasantly surprised by some of my Bing results. There have been several instances where my top results in Bing were more relevant than my top results in Google.

Bing offers some links for users to refine their searches on the results page. If you do a search for a video, hover over one of the thumbnails to stream the video without ever leaving the search results page. If you do a search for a product, like digital cameras, Bing provides some nice links at the top of the page to find cameras within a certain price range or to go directly to buying guides from reputable sites.

It may not be enough to get you to move from Google for the majority of your searches, but if you have difficulty finding something in Google, you may want to give Bing a try. If you've tried Bing, what has your experience been?

Just a reminder that Falmouth has a toll-free number for any reference questions you might have, and feel free to give the number to your patrons if you think we could be of help to them in answering a reference question. The phone number is 888-439-8850. Thanks. Jill

I have been trying since January to find out what the Cape Cod Times plans to do for libraries now that they are planning to stop microfilming their newspaper. The plan is to finish out the 2007 film and then what is not known. As it is now Cape Cod Community College and the Falmouth Public Library are now providing many of the missing copies that the Cape Cod Times no longer has in their possession to actually film the microfilm. I'm wondering if other towns are experiencing this problem, and what they are doing when their local paper decides to stop microfilming. Any suggestions on how to encourage them to continue microfilming the paper? I have yet to get an answer as to what the alternative will be for public libraries and their patrons when the microfilm has stopped. As it is we now have over a years worth of papers we are hanging on to, and are quickly running out of storage. Any ideas? Jill

In case you haven't seen this yet ... The Today Show featured a story on libraries today! You can see it here http://tinyurl.com/kvg7ae (after a short advertisement). It's called "Beyond Books... Libraries Lend a Hand in Recession". We know we're really busy!

OK we're up to eleven fans on our facebook page. They call them fans rather than friends when you have a business/non-profit page. Working on getting our twitter feed to work in our facebook page. Is anyone doing this now? Jill