libraries build communities, don’t you think?

Posted on by jessamyn

Ten leading library experts were posed this question in the Spring issue of [SirsiDynix’s] Upstream: "What is the best example of libraries building communities that you have come across or experienced? How will libraries in the future be empowered to play even a greater role in their communities?" One of those experts was me (1.2 MB pdf), and at least a few other people you’ll probably recognize.

While I feel a little weird acting as if this library/community thing was something we’ve all recently discovered, it’s still great to hear everyone’s take on it, and I’m always happy to be able to say nice things about my favorite libraries.

SLA talk: Doing More With Less

Posted on by jessamyn

Hi. Thanks so much to everyone who made me feel welcome and dealt with our extension cord search when they were already full of food and working on dessert at the SLA meeting this evening. I had a great time giving the talk and I hope you revisit it to follow the links we didn’t have time to click-click-click through. The talk is here: Doing More with Less, High Tech on a Shoestring. If you scroll all the way to the end of it and click on the “printable” link you can see the notes that I actually (sort of) read from.

rfid library tags unlocked, vulnerable

Posted on by jessamyn

RFID hacking in, among other places, libraries. More on RFID.

As he waves the reader over a book’s spine, ID numbers pop up on his monitor. “I can definitely overwrite these tags,” Molnar says. He finds an empty page in the RFID’s memory and types “AB.” When he scans the book again, we see the barcode with the letters “AB” next to it. (Molnar hastily erases the “AB,” saying that he despises library vandalism.) He fumes at the Oakland library’s failure to lock the writable area. “I could erase the barcodes and then lock the tags. The library would have to replace them all.”