On a more positive note...

It's May - that's right, it's information awareness week!

One thing I love about working in public libraries is showing people how to do cool stuff that they didn't know how to do. In academic libraries, users are often clued-in on how to use online databases, but in public libraries, users often don't even know that they exist.

So when they ask for a magazine or newspaper that we don't hold anymore, or is currently on loan, it's a great opportunity to say, "Did you know that you can still look it up on our online databases?"

That's right, a huge range of popular serial titles, from Dolly and Wheels to Time and Meanjin.

So, I'll put the challenge out there to you public librarians - in Information Awareness month, increase the general awareness of your library's online information resources.

Today, I also met up with some folks over at NTL for our month's Journal Club to discuss the usage of Wikis in libraries. As a result, I'm planning on setting up a trial wiki for accessing online reference tools that staff can use, and add to as necessary. It'll be fun. Plus we got a bit sidetracked when I started discussing Second Life, and subsequently had to give the others a demonstration. But it's all educational.