Explore

Wired.com posted a blog Cool Search Engines That Are Not Google.  I thought I would list a few of the ones I found interesting.  Hopefully they are new and useful to you!

ChaCha - free, text your question to 242242 (text charges through your provider will apply)

Collecta - sours the web for recent blogs, news stories, …

Trackle - keeps you notified

Voyij - travel sale search engine

Indeed.com - patron looking for a job, try this search engine

Hunch - “decision engine”

Supernaturalreceipes.com or foodblogsearch.com - food websites

Wolfman/Alpha - computational knowledge engine

Good Search - donates a penny to the charity of your choice per search

Do you have any to add to the list?

WebJunction has compiled a index of competencies for libraries of all sizes and types.  This guide will help library staff develop skills and knowledge to meet the needs of the community.

Competency Index for the Library Field

I recently read an interesting blog article on Tame the Web about a library lobby display.  Eden Prairie Library put up a display that has their library stats along with pictures.  This is such a neat idea and what a great way to show how important libraries are to the community!

If any of you have done this or plan on using this idea, let me know.  I would love to blog about it.

Do you blog for your library, twitter, or use any social media platform?  If so, your library may want to consider a social media policy.  Check out the list of 10 must haves.

If you have a policy, what is it?

found via What I Learned Today.  She also wrote a post about it here.

Today we had an E-Government workshop and I wanted to share some great links with you.  Thanks Nancy Fredericks of Pasco County Library System for a great workshop!

• E-Government Act of 2002 http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/e-gov
• Access Florida http://www.myflorida.com/accessflorida/  
• PCLS E-Government Blog http://pclsegov.blogspot.com/
• PCLS Del.icio.us Page http://del.icio.us/PCLSLibrarian
• Pasco County’s E-Government Services Policy http://pascolibraries.org/policies.shtml
• Florida State Library E-Government Workgroup Wiki http://floridae-govworkgroup.pbwiki.com
• Locating Government Sites http://www.google.com/unclesam or http://dir.yahoo.com/government

We have another E-Government workshop scheduled for July 17 at Northwest Florida State College.  Register here.

David Lee King recently wrote a post titled Be Nice to Customers - Even Online.  He discovered some tweets of librarians that were not very customer friendly.  (Check out his post to see the tweets)  The tweets can be traced and people should realize that fact.  I don’t think librarians should be putting that stuff out there.  It does not look good for the library. 

 Are you allowed to Twitter at work?    How do you feel about the tweets in David’s post?

Do you have questions about copyrights?  The Copyright Clearance Center has created a short video explaining how copyright works.  The video is free for educational purposes and can be viewed online.  If you need a downloadable file for educational viewing purposes you must fill out an online form. 

found via LibrarianinBlack

David Spinks, a college student, recently put together a list of Must-Try Social Sites for College Students that specifically cater to students.  Check out the list here at Mashable.

found via iLibrarian

The Library of Congress now has over 70 videos available on YouTube.  Check out iLibrarian for the playlist and more details.

On Zamzar, you can convert your songs, videos, images, and documents into different formats.  This is a great tool for public libraries when patrons have Word Perfect at home and your public access computers are loaded with Word.

Â