Branding for Bannockburn

Interesting new branding done for the anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn.

Annual reports

One of the nicer, and easier to read annual reports comes from Edmondton Public Library.  Have a look at it.

Trove collection profiler

The Trove collection profiler (thanks to Tim Sherratt) is a wonderful tool for exploring collections on Trove.  It is also a great way of finding which collections are not being shared on Trove too.

Transparency reports database

The Transparency reports database brings together government requests for data about users.

Mending and makers

I follow the Tom of Holland blog which is about mending and repair, mostly of knitting.  His latest post is called Mending books and it is books about mending, and is well worth reading.  There are some lovely examples included.  I have not yet seen libraries offering mending programs.  It does not mean they are not happening, I have not seen them and would be interested if libraries are offering them - so please add a comment if you know of one.

The mending and repair would fit will with sustainability, and also seems a very neat fit for libraries.  Most public libraries will have some collection items relating to mending and repair and these collection items could be combined with library programming.  It is a nice way to promote the collection, encourage repair, and help with sustainability.  It can also be used as a way to show people how to search on Trove, and do text correction, which is a kind of mending.

There could be partnerships in the programming, like the one on upholstery running as part of the Sydney Design.  Partnerships with Mens Sheds could also be valuable, and some libraries are doing work in this area.  Or you could establish something like the Brighton Repair Cafe, or work with partners to do this.

It would also be a fit with some of the maker activities running in libraries.  It is not making something new, but it is making something older be still usable, rather than becoming discarded, and it can add new character (see this example of mending on the Tom of Holland blog).

Even if you will never mend something, read the Tom of Holland blog for enjoyment.

interesting use of Storify

I subscribe to updates from Storify which usually means I receive alerts about people I follow on twitter, and a few Storify accounts I follow like Human Rights Watch, ABC news, and National Theatre of Scotland, all really interesting accounts.  The embedded Storify came through as well, and while it is not my usual reading, it is interesting because it is an effective use of Storify.  It has the the branding of the business (Clarence House) and effective use of the text insert areas, to add to the story told through social media.  It also shows how a hashtag (even a really long one) can be socialised into use.

Stay in touch with #RBGSydney

This is an example of the way the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney is encouraging people to connect.  I like the tagline "stay in touch.  It is friendly. I also like that they are telling me able this in the botanic gardens, which I look at far more often than their website.  I also like the way they are letting me know I can connect with them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Flickr - all while in the gardens.  I wonder if they have noticed an increase in the use of their hashtag since this promotion started a few weeks ago.  I hope so.

You can see a few more examples of how they are encouraging connecting to the gardens, and to other people who enjoy them.

Smithsonian Libraries

Recently the Smithsonian Libraries had a survey on their site asking 'tell us how you find and use your digital images'. I am hoping they will be publishing the results of this survey, as it would be very interesting to know where the data is ending up, but also for giving others ideas about the possibilities.

They have a rather nice website too.

Readers advisory unconference - at Darien Library

Thee following are the tweets from a seminar held earlier this year.  There are some interesting ideas here and it shows the value of Storify

Scout

Pierce County Library has been doing some very interesting things with their summer reading over the last few years, with summer reading games.  This year they have the theme of the Hunger games. 

They have also started Scout, targeting people aged 18 and over.  They say Build a network of creative individuals who like exploring the library just as much as you do.  There are challenges, and you make and discover things.  It sounds a really interesting idea, and I will be looking forward to hearing more about it.  The tag line is "explore, create, share" which sounds a very good basis for any library service (as well as being a great description of research...and so many other things which happen in libraries).

And of course the Ann Arbor District Library has its summer game running as well.

In newsagency at Wynyard

I really liked this
 

How Your Local Library Can Help You Resist the Surveillance State

How Your Local Library Can Help You Resist the Surveillance State - this is really interesting because I found it by accident.  I have an alert set up for my name in case someone says something scary about me I should know about.  It was interesting seeing one of my photographs used this way (and with a lovely credit).

Useful article about sharing and museums

The Virtues of Promiscuity brings together some useful points about sharing, from a museum perspective, which also have relevance for libraries.  There are helpful links at the end of the article.