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10/17/2009 – NYLA Conference – Niagara Falls, NY
LISHost – another Blake Carver site (He does LIS News)
Retro future blog – shows predictions from the 1950s
Top 5 things for 2009 (from Read, Write Web):
1. Structured data – XML tags define and describe the data – not OS or device dependent. Tags are created in English. Most website today are made in XHTML. Data is in XML and style is in CSS. Such things as APA and MARC records are structured data – not really a new thing to librarians. Structured data makes it that the whole web could eventually be treated as a database.
2. Real Time Web – Running a search and finding results from last 5 seconds, etc. (Check out Google flu: http://www.google.org/flutrends/).
3. Personalization – Syracuse University just made “Mybrary” (https://library.syr.edu/mybrary/). APML – take your interests and code. (Attention Profiling Markup Language http://apml.areyoupayingattention.com/).
4. Augmented Reality – GPS, Direction you are facing, picture recognition – tells you what that place is. (check out layar website: http://layar.com/) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b64_16K2e08&feature=player_embedded ) A tour guide is analog augmented reality.
5. Internet of things – Identifying image (such as a bar code) and bring back information about the thing. iPhone has an application that you can pick up a book at Barnes and Noble and take a picture of the cover and find out the different prices of the book at competitors. (Explanation of “Internet of Things”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_of_Things)
• Barnes and Noble offers training for libraries on displays and merchandising.
• 10% off coupons at Barnes and Nobles for library fund raisers
• Mount Laurel New Jersey Extreme Library Makeover – article with pictures: http://library.ucsc.edu/~machlis/feltonlibraryfriends/designarticles/bernstein.pdf
• Marketing!!!! Change displays with the news.
• How do we connect our value to the funding? Must market ourselves and our value.
• Information Literacy to promote databases. Patrons tend not to use databases. They would rather not use it over Google.
• Use the word journal instead of online databases – less intimidating – “Journal article” more used term in homework assignments.
• How do we show our value to the public? What can we do to make public aware that the “free” services are not really free? And promote the value of the time we are saving them by being trained professionals who know how to search and locate things? Perception that the library is free – need to show the value or money the patron saved by using the library.
• Devil Advocate’s Thought (not mine): Drop the Electronic databases for the public and just give access to the librarians. Would this save us money?
• We as a profession need a better definition of what we do.
• Need to do outreach – go out to other places and show what we have.
• $2.5 million spent by NYS on the NOVEL database
• No one wants to know how to find things – they just want it.
• Biggest growing customer bases in Public Libraries according to a Pew survey is 18-25 year olds.
• Do we have a link on our OPAC to DVDs? Is there anywhere that shows that we have DVDs and CDs other than the material designation? Patrons should be able to find those materials easily.
• NYLA Organizational membership
• Friends Group Organizational Membership
• Votes are won every day at the Reference and Circ desks.
• Target audience has to become not just our public but the administrators, etc.
• Education is not the magic bullet
• Must act like professionals for people to know we are professionals. Must constantly let people know that we are professionals.
• People must repeat something 7 times in order to learn things.
• With OPAC – what attracts your eye – what makes you go to a display? Make that work for the library. Gen X and Millenials have a different perception as to what design should look from Baby Boomers. Boomers want something that looks like a print copy but Gen X and Younger are used to web design. They do not like a lot of white space.
• Send out a consistent message across the board.
• There needs to be a consciousness to let people know the value of what we have just done for them. You need to be consistent in the way you put it out there. Constant repetition to your constituents.
• Look at patron expectations over the past year and a half and anticipate what will be needed in the next 6 months.
• Need to develop a pit bull mentality toward the budgets in NY.
• Part of our job as librarians is lobbying.
• Need to ask for release time to go lobby in Albany.
• Libraries getting 11% below what they are suppose to be getting. CCDA money cut by 8%.
•NYLA just contracted with NYSUT for lobbying.
Dear Library Advocate,
The Legislative Special Session ended yesterday with no agreement between the Governor and the state Legislature on futher mid-year budget cuts. NYLA’s Library Rally at the Capitol yesterday, which brought 450 library advocates to Albany, showed state policymakers in a very visible, loud and forceful (but law abiding) manner, that the library community would not stand for any further cuts in funding.
I want to thank everyone who came to the Rally and sent letters to the Governor and members of the Legislature, especially those libraries and library systems who sent busloads of advocates to the Capitol, which insured the success of our Rally.
Coverage of our Rally and other protests was quite extensive by television (see below) and pictures from the rally can be found on our website at <www.nyla.org>
<http://capitalnews9.com/content/top_stories/128304/thousands-rally-against-budget-cuts/Default.aspx>
If local media in your area also covered the Rally, please send us the link or if you took photos at the Rally, please email them to us for posting on our website. Special thanks to our new President Josh Cohen and Legislative Committee Chair Kevin Verbesey for serving as emcees of the Rally.
The Governor proposes to release his 2009-2010 Executive Budget on December 16th, which will undoubtedly call for additional cuts in Library Aid. It is also still unclear when the remaining $26 million in undistributed Library Aid from the 2008-09 State Budget will be released. NYLA will keep you informed of any developments in this ongoing budget saga.
Advocacy is not a sprint, but a marathon, and we must keep pace with events as they unfold and prepared to take action on a moments notice.
Michael J. Borges
Executive Director
New York Library Association
252 Hudson Avenue
Albany, New York 12210
(518) 432-6952, ext. 101
(518) 427-1697 Fax
Dear Library Advocate,
I want you to get really angry, I mean really fed up with the way libraries and library systems are being treated by the State of New York. The NYS Division of Budget has proposed a $20 million cut, that’s right the largest cut ever in Library Aid, a 20% reduction in funding, that no other educational institutions are being asked to bear, to resolve the state’s deficit for fiscal year 2008-09.
This cut will be devastating to library services throughout the state, no library or system will go unscathed, if this happens layoffs may occur, services will be curtailed or costs passed onto to local libraries and their patrons.
I urge you to go our website www.nyla.org immediately and click on Contact Your Elected Official button to send a letter to your state legislator opposing this proposed cut that the Legislature will consider when they return to Albany on November 18th for a special session. The letter is editable so you may include your own comments about how libraries are essential in your community, how library systems save your library money and provide vital services. Or call/visit your legislators in person if possible between now and next Tuesday.
The library community needs to act now in a strong, aggressive and united fashion in order to prevent this outrageous proposal from becoming reality.
Michael J. Borges
Executive Director
New York Library Association
252 Hudson Avenue
Albany, New York 12210
(518) 432-6952, ext. 101
(518) 427-1697 Fax
This was a talk given by Michele Brown from Cornell University and sponsored by ASLS.
Her e-mail if you have any questions about mold: Mb72@cornell.edu
Molds are fungi.
Mildew is a smaller form of mold.
For our purposes mold and mildew are the same thing.
Mold needs to absorb carbon from other substances in order to live.
Mold spores are the way that mold reproduces and spreads. This is what we are concerned with stopping. These spores land on something and grow out and forms a colony.
If moisture is taken away at this stage, the vegetative part will die, but the spores will remain. It is difficult to kill spores.
Mold spores are smaller than pollen. Mold spores are between 1 and 20 microns in size.
Good air circulation is important – if the mold spore can not land – it can not germinate.
Mold spores have their own toxins.
For activation it needs to have sufficient moisture and food. There are molds that can extract moisture out of the air. Black mold needs to land on a substrate that is constantly wet.
Mold releases toxins when it germinates. This is when you start to see the staining on the materials that have been attacked by molds. It is also digesting the product at that point.
Molds thrive in damp areas.
Mold can grow behind the walls even if it looks like the building is dry. There is an infared therma graph that can see mold in between the walls.
Mold is a little plant – it sends out little roots into whatever it is growing on.
Mold can grow on the side of houses on Latex paint.
75% of dust is composed of dead or dormant mold spores.
Mold can grow inside of us
Molds like to eat cellulose (paper, cloth).
Contact from adjacent moldy material will make it spread.
Contaminated solutions used for cleaning or mixing. Spores can live in Lysol.
Inside – most common are aspergillus and penicillium. Attracted to cloth, animal fur, and fibers.
Xerophilic can extract moisture from the air. These are the types we find in libraries.
Cloth and paper are permanently weakened and stained.
Active mold is still growing. If you rub it – it will leave a smear. Inactive mold looks like dust. Both will cause an allergic reaction.
Inactive mold – wipe the pages with 70% alcohol – will wipe up the spores. Book still looks the same after it as been cleaned. Once an item has had a mold growth – it is likely to happen again when you have a spike in humidity.
Anything that is going to kill mold spores (chemical wise) is not good for your health.
If you have a reaction to mold – it causes a weakening of your immune system. Flu like symptoms, loss of memory, tremors, hallucinations…
“Poisons of the Past” Mary Kilbourne Matossian
Infection of the rye by the ergot fungus responsible for hallucinations which were the basis of the witchcraft trials…
Keep humidity below 60% to not spread.
Dry – humid – dry – humid cycles are good for mold spores. Important to maintain a constant temperature and humidity level. Dehumidifier.
You can smell mold (mildew smell) – different than an old book smell. You can also see it.
Treat all mold as a health hazard.
Spores will start germinating within 24 hours. Colonies will develop within a few days. If there is a flood put fans and dehumidifiers in the first 24 hours will make it that the spores can not land and will start to dry out the air.
If you can not get the materials dried in 24 to 48 hours – should be frozen. Stops the mold from growing. Freeze dried – would stop mold growth and take out moisture.
68 – 72 degrees F. Keep dust out of collections. Less than 60% humidity. Unpack donated books away from your collection. If you have a box that smells suspect, put in a room with a dehumidifier.
HEPA vacuum and static duster without chemicals in it.
Have to lower the humidity to make active mold become inactive.
If you have an outbreak:
Locate source of moisture
Immediately start drying the room and the books out.
Determine size of the outbreak.
If a book is returned wet – put it on a table with a fan on it.
Use glove (nitrol gloves), masks (N95 or N100 rated), non-vented goggles, Aprons or something that you can throw away immediately after you are done. You don’t want to take the mold spores home with you.
Isolate the moldy materials to another room or drape plastic around the area. Should be a well ventilated area.
Mold must be inactive before you can remove it. Lower the humidity. Dry any wet materials and surfaces are dry (direct fans).
Try to keep a book by wiping the powdery substance off with alcohol and cheese cloth or vacuum it with a HEPA vacuum or disposable static cloth. The over the counter alcohol is better than the industrial grade alcohol.
Clean the area thoroughly. Use cleaning solution with bleach. Dry thoroughly. Make sure any carpet is completely dry before returning the books to the stacks.
Discard all the cleaning cloths and everything you wore and used and throw them away.
Keeping books packed tightly – it prevents the air and space needed for mold to grow.
Foxing – mold circles in the paper – actually molding on the metal that is contained in some paper.
Keep the book out of the collection for at least a week until you put it back in to the stacks after you clean it.
Air conditioner blowing on the books – causes mold. Cold air can hold a lot of moisture if it is humid.
Resources:
http://palimpset.stanford.edu/bytopic/mold/#general A webpage devoted to resources about mold.
http://www.nedcc.org/resources/leaflets.list.php Emergency Salvage of Moldy Books and Paper. Northeast Document Conservation Center Preservation Leaflets.
http://www.labsafety.com Lab Safety Supply
http://www.gaylord.com General Conservation Supplies
http://www.universityproducts.com General Conservation Supplies
http://www.americanfreezedry.com/ Freeze drying of wet materials
http://www.us.belfor.com/ Freeze drying of wet materials (recently did some work for Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton, NY)
http://www.documentreprocessors.com Freeze drying of wet materials.
Speaker: Isola Ajiferuke, University of Western Ontario
Sponsor: ASLS
Data mining is the process of discovering and interpreting previously unknown patterns among data.
Techniques of data mining: classification, estimation, prediction, affinity grouping, clustering, and description (Berry & Linoff, 2004)
Classification examines a newly presented object and assigning to predefined classes (present).
Classification also deals with discrete outcomes.
Estimation is the same as classification but it deals with possible or continuous outcomes (present).
Prediction – same as classification or estimation but deals with the future.
Affinity grouping – determine which things go together (retail stores do this- e.g. graham crackers, chocolate bars, and marshmallows on the same display)
Clustering – no predefined grouping but similar to classification – let the data show what groups are needed.
Description – just describing what you see.
Major applications of Data Mining:
Health care
Retail/Marketing (customer buying patterns, “reward” cards can track this)
Financial sector
online sellers (Amazon.com “Customers who bought this also bought” feature is data mining)
Related Concepts:
text mining
web mining
bibliomining
Bibliomining refers to the use if data mining techniques to examine library data records (Nicholson, 2003)
Bibliomining can be used to understand patterns of behavior among library users and staff members as well as patterns of information resource use.
Uses of Bibliomining:
Improve library services (similar to Amazon.com). Could link that kind of function to your OPAC.
Predict how many copies of a book you should buy.
Aid decision making within the library (staffing decisions and determining the circulation dates for certain patrons [eg undergrad vs. grad vs. faculty])
Assist in policy or budget justification
Steps in Bibliomining:
Identify the problem or determine the area of focus.
Identify the source of required data: Bibliographic information (OPACs), Acquisitions information, Patron information, Circulation information, Searching and navigation information, Reference Desk Interactions (both face to face and virtual), In-house use information, ILL.
Prepare data for analysis/create data warehouse. (Make a separate database w/ info from other databases).
Analyze data using appropriate software packages: Excel (Pivot tables and chart reports), SAS Enterprise miner ($$$), SPSS Clementine ($$$), Insightful Miner ($$$), WEKA (Open Source), Rapid Miner (Open Source). [The latter two are written in Java and are not quite as user friendly as the ones that you would pay for.]
Interpret Results
Privacy Concerns:
How can we protect a patron’s identifiable info?
Seek consent of the patron.
Deleting or replacing personally identifiable information during data extraction and cleaning process.
www.bibliomining.com – Bibliomining information center.
