Marcie is clearly anxious for me to get a move on with all this redesign stuff. She is vacationing in New Zealand this month, and the only thing keeping me from dying of jealousy is the knowledge that it is winter there, and wet sheep smell very bad. When she gets back, it's my turn to vacate, but only to Maine, where there are very few sheep and it smells very nice and piney fresh. When we're both back, it's probably time to start having meetings and mocking up what this is going to look like.
One of the things we are going to need is some of John Harper's time. It would also help to have some consensus from you folks. Or at least your opinions. I'd like to have something to show the reference committee in a few months, but if you want your views reflected ahead of that, now's the time.
Julie
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I think we should consider keeping the list of recommended websites. While it is probably a good idea to repackage them or combine them with other resources so that they are more visible, they are still a valuable resource.
Yes, you may be able to find the same websites in Google, but our lists have been reviewed by a librarian and are helpful because the list of sites on a particular topic are all in one place.
Yes. Julie does very well at suggesting sites I might add, or use as replacements, or just think about for my RECOMMENDED SITES. It is true that GOOGLE brings up one of my Costume sites on the first page, for instance, but the other is not on the first page- but way useful.
We would have to (should, anyway) reference Google, but we have no control there, AND patrons using our resources in the Library would have to go to another computer, if available, to see Google.
Today I heard a radio story about England doing away with wigs for civil court. To echo someone quoted (tho he sold wigs, so not unbiased) "If it ain't broke...."
For the record, New Zealand in the winter is much nicer than Loudoun in the summer. And we did visit a sheep farm, but none of the residents were wet. The barn did smell, however. No, I didn't take a turn shearing a sheep (I have no wish to harm an innocent animal - just watching was hard enough), but my friend did feed one.
Moose don't need shearing -- in fact it would be very dangerous -- and they find their own food.
I still submit that we could try paring our lists to absolutely necessary ones. My job as a librarian over the years has become more "research explaining" and less directing people to certain sites. (With exceptions, of course. Taxes, government and job stuff, health, Yahoo Finance, Amazon, the Internet Movie Database...there are certain sites we just have to know.)
I'm not suggesting putting a link to Google on the library's website. I'm saying that we should be able to teach people how to use Google to find reputable information. Sure, there are patrons who use the recommended sites without asking us for help, but would they really be in the dark if those sites disappeared (or were drastically reduced)?
We could consider putting together an online tutorial on searching and evaluating information. I guess I would rather lead people in their own research or information needs and rely less on lists of sites, even if those sites have been reviewed. Personally, I can't necessarily say that all of the sites on my History page are the absolute best. They are just ones I have found that seem to be useful. I hardly ever refer to them in reference interviews. Instead, when it comes to searching, I explain all our resources: print material, the databases, and also Google if need be.
Hi all. This is Valarie from PUR. I am just catching up on all the dialogue about the Recommended websites after a busy summer.
I like the idea of keeping the Recommended Websites, even if some pages/topics are eliminated and the sites are integrated into another webpage on our site. Yes, Google can find these sites, but the user has to have an idea that the sites exist in the first place in order to find them. This is a good opportunity for us to show that we can add value to the web search by sifting through the mammoth amount of info available to find the best sites on topics.
I do use the Rec. Websites page with patrons when the opportunity arises--but I need to promote it more and become familiar with all the pages.
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