Archive for December, 2005

Vein Patterns beat the Barcode

Tuesday, December 27th, 2005

A library in Tokyo is getting rid of the plastic library card in favor of a vein pattern in the library user’s hand. It appears that the biometric reader uses infrared technology to scan the vein pattern and the claim is that it is safer than other traditional biometrics. While it’s common knowledge that you can easily spoof a fingerprint scanner with play-doh or gummi bears, and only a handful of libraries in the U.S. like Naperville Public or some schools to control access to the internet, using biometrics for material checkout and other library services is probably the future despite all its pitfalls.

Is abuse really that big of a problem here, in Japan, anywhere? Are we so worried about access to “inappropriate” information that we need to create a fully searchable database that directly ties use to an individual? I think ultimately the ease of use for patrons and staff will probably outweigh any other determining factors.

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ALASC and me

Monday, December 19th, 2005

Next semester I will be taking over for Ben as ALASC co-chair AND also assuming webmaster duties from Mana. I am crazy considering my new job, but since Angie has since “culminated” / graduated, and Ben has stepped up into Chair of ALASC, I figured it was time I helped out. I’m not sure how much of a time commitment this is going to be, but since I firmly believe it is important to be active in “the process,” in this instance school and professional organizations, here’s my chance to put my time and money where my mouth is.

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Making Sense of Medicare Program

Friday, December 16th, 2005

We had about 25 attendees to the Making Sense of Medicare program at the library with speaker Bob Lyons a volunteer from the AARP . I actually learned a lot, considering that I’m not even close to retiring. It was great having someone to answer questions about the confusing process. The most important things I learned were

  • Deadline to register to recieve benefits for 2006 is May 15th
  • Open enrollment is November every year
  • You can switch programs every year during open enrollment to suit your needs
  • You have 63 days from change of status, eg moving to a new area, becoming eligible because of a birthday, to enroll or change plans regardless of the time of year
  • Veterans have good plans available to them
  • If paying out of pocket already for HMO drug coverage, it might be better to stay with it

The list goes on but there was plenty of useful information. As the deadline approaches we plan on having Bob back, probably on a Saturday in March. Thanks again to Emily for connecting us with Bob.

In other news, I met with my friend Edie from the Alzheimer’s Association and got a run down of the programs that they do. It looks like we’ll be featuring two of their programs, Maximzing your Memory, and Maintain your Brain. Both seem like they would totally complement the library. These are nationwide programs so libraries everywhere should be booking them.

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Marketing Our Databases

Thursday, December 8th, 2005

Library Display for December 7th Today/yesterday was the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. I was interested in what the headlines read on the next day so I accessed New York Times Historic Collection (1851 – 2002) online resource our library subscribes to.

As a marketing tool I did a quick (17 minutes beginning to end) display of books about the Pearl Harbor attack and World War II with the printout of the frontpage of the New York Times on December 8th, 1941 and the article about the attack itself.

See a screen print of the headline from Proquest Historic Newspapers New York Times

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Nearly Back

Thursday, December 8th, 2005

It’s been a long haul this semester and I am nearly done for this year but not quite yet.

I attended a very well organized, useful, and fun workshop titled Rethinking Library Collaboration and Partnerships in San Francisco held by InfoPeople. The workshop instructor, Joan Frye Williams, knows her stuff. The class reminded us of the strengths that the library has and really emphasized leading with our strengths when we are ready to approach folks with partnership ideas. Libraries tend to come across as beggars and not really partners. By sharing what we do have to offer puts us in a better position to negotiate collaborative partnerships. The rest of the class and the framework built on those concepts and really created an easy framework (built around a courtship metaphor) for how to find likely partners, get to know them, and start a partnership. What I really liked was that all of the exercises were not just exercises but actual processes that were part of the larger goal. This is where the modern librarian needs to be headed and I suggested that we get her to speak to a group of students and she was all over it. In all honesty, this is how all classes should be taught.

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