Monday 9 July 2007

Eldest by Christopher Paolini, on iPod!!


Eldest
Originally uploaded by shewgirl

Well I managed to get this working through Flickr. Wasn't as hard as I thought. Pretty snazzy huh? One of my projects is to try and get a blog happening for the Children's and Youth Library, especially for Young Adult reader's advisory.

When you click on the pciture of "Eldest", it takes you to a link in Flickr. Can you see the hyperlinked mouseover??

Wouldn't this be a great way to advertise new books in the library?

Thoughts, anyone???

8 comments:

lib_idol said...

Looks good. Would there be a way of embedding the image *with* the hyperlink to the OPAC, and taking away the extra step to Flickr, thus minimising the number of "clicks", or would that breach the terms of agreement for using Flickr?

Also - there are copyright issues with scanning cover artwork, so that could be an extra hurdle in getting permission from publishers.

Jill Stephens said...

Yes, I agree with Librarian Idol, I have always been reluctant to scan the cover and put on my OPAC due to copyright. But I love it, love the look, it's so seamless.
Jill S

Tania said...

Interesting point about the copyright. Many LMS's have the facility to link to a book cover via the ISBN (think only the 13 digit one?). Does this mean the vendors are offering something that will enable libraries to easily breach copyright??

Jill Stephens said...

I guess maybe the vendors have cleared the copyright. If they are providing the image, you could "presume" they have copyright clearance.

I never provide an article for my intranet unless it has copyright clearance, but I guess the rules say, they can't pass it on.

Hmmm, interesting...

Tania said...

I doubt the vendors are supplying the image, just the capability to display it. Interesting isn't it? Might be one for ALIA's copyright officer!

Sonny Jim said...

Hi Tan,

I think that is pretty neat! Using third party Web2.0 extensions is definitely the way to go for full functionality that users have come to expect particularly in the youth area.
At Melbourne Library Service we have a Myspace page we use as a marketing tool to inform people about upcoming events in the 'Acoustica' lunchtime performances.
We also have set up a mySpace 'youth' page, but the problem we have identified at this early stage is what should the purpose of using the technology be?
There is a push by various parties to set up a MySpace for this and a blog for that, but the online content committee which lead is concerned that without solid content that is produced for an indentified and specific outcome there is a potential for a lot of 'asteroids' that have our name on them but are redundant.
Also the cosistency and standardisation of branding and formatting have also been identified as potential problems hence the committee which we have named COWS - Committee for Online and Web Services lol.
We are also concerned that as we have a website already we should be making the best possible use of it by incorporating the potential third party servcies using web2.0 apps in a seamless way rather than meaning clients are taken away to a different fromat when trying to discover info.
One library we have discovered that is doing some really cool stuff is Queens Public Library http://www.queenslibrary.org/ - they use a totally integrated search through aqua browser - the site is the catalogue is the seearch engine is the blog etc.
As we are intending to go with a new ILMS soon we will certainly be trying to have the best of everything and Web2.0 apps and mash up capability will certainly be a big part of that.
We are also in a better position than most public libraries as we don't have to use the council web designers and had a third party - Smashingtime Web Design http://www.smashingtime.com.au/ - a local and very much library supportive organisation, design our site with a CMS to help us to update info effectively.
One option is for us to get them to help us incorporate Web2.0 apps in a seamless environment for our site.
Is anyone thinking along these lines?

SharonU said...

Maybe I'm a bit out of it all with the library 2.0 thing - Tania, when you say advertising new books via a blog - do you know how many of your clients/users access the library webpage or would even go to a library blog?? This has always puzzled me about library blogs - do users/clients even read them? I suppose they must in some cases, but in the library I work I know of clients that don't even know we have a webpage - let alone have access to the web to even access our online resources. I suppose I'm just wondering how one would establish if users would even use it? Would you survey before setting something up or just hope for the best?!? I mean I would read it - but I know many who wouldn't.

Jill Stephens said...

SHaron, see other post where I have commented on Stats.

Many places make their blog intertwined within their webpage and the users don't actually know they are going to a blog. That's what I do at my library, I call it "get the edge", not a blog, as it will put my users off. I tell them it's an information service that updates each day.

Many of the public libraries succesfully market their blogs to their clients, Yarra Plenty is a good example. I believe if the information on a blog is updated daily or every few days, your clients will be more inclined to come back and read it. When its not so up to date, their interest lags. So it's something that needs constant attention and marketing.

I guess these public libraries also promote web 2.0 classes, so that really helps to raise the profile of your own library blog.

It is fun ! Good luck with it.