The latest blog numbers from Technorati

Ok, I should have posted this a few weeks ago but I've been busy. (Can you tell I'm link dumping today?)

According to Technorati, 175,000 new blogs are born every day. Bloggers post 18 new updates every second.

via Poynterevolution

2007 Reading Statistics

Now that 2007 is over I can post all the stats I kept regarding my reading habits of the past 365 days. In 2007 I kept more detailed records so I'm just just relating "here's the number of books I read". The stats for 2007 are:

• Number of books read: 150, of those...
• Print books: 81
• Printed pages: 25826
• eBooks: 3
• Audiobooks: 52
• Fiction: 126
• Non Fiction: 24
• Graphic Novels: 14
• Male authors: 147
• Female authors: 16

A few notes on these numbers. The total number of authors will be higher than the total number of books since some books had multiple authors. These numbers do not include magazines and non-fiction articles. Also, I consider audiobooks "reading" though they can't be included in the page count.

Lastly, I'm totally surprised at the very low number of female authors that make up my reading habits. It isn't intentional but this is the first year I've tracked author gender so I don't know if it's typical or not.

Here's to a book-filled 2008!

Update 2 Jan 2008: The nubmers have been fixed.

Last day statistics

It's my last day @ BCR and there's not much left for me to do. So, I've pulled together some numbers (thanks Stephanie) that might be on interest. Basically, the numbers say that in the past 9.5 years I've presented 686 live workshops with a attendee total of approximately 7256. That's an average of 69 workshops and 726 students per year. (Of course, this short year is throwing off the averages.) The number of online workshops and presentations is around 100 but considering that we just started doing those about three years ago, that's not too bad. (I don't have attendee numbers available for the online classes.) Add to those numbers a few dozen conference presentations at the local, state, and national level where attendance was not recorded. (I believe my reference presentation at Computers in Libraries 2000 and the Second Life presentation at IL2006 both topped 400 attendees each.) So, I've met a lot of people and unfortunately, don't remember most of your names. (Don't take it personally, I have a problem when it comes to remembering names until after several meetings.)

I'll just throw out a few other numbers just for fun. Number of BCR bosses: 3. Number of BCR directors: 2. Number of computer bags/backpacks I've been through: 6.

The first of the lasts

Today I taught my last two live workshops at the BCR offices. The last one was something like live class #650. (I'll have better statistics about my time at BCR sometime next week.) Other upcoming lasts are my last Aurora Public Library Board meeting, Friends of the Aurora Public Library Board meeting, and online presentation.

Weekly Sellers Report

Weekly Sellers Report
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

I get this weekly e-mail regarding the stats on the online listing for my house. This morning I received the latest e-mail in a new format. Now this is an impressive statistics presentation.

Library Dominos

Yes, but did they reshelve the books or leave them on the carts so the "usage" could be counted in the statistics? via Stephen's Lighthouse

ClustrMaps, redux

I've been running ClustrMaps for two days now and the statistics are starting to come in. Honestly, more people are reading all this than I expected. However, the point of this post is to point out that the mapping feature is giving a few odd results. Most specifically, shown below, it seems that someone is accessing this blog from the Pacific ocean somewhere to the west of Indonesia. Go figure...

UPDATE 29 April 2006: The folks at ClustrMaps have confirmed that I need a geography lesson. That dot happens to represent visitors from Guam. (If that's you, give a shout.)

Site Statistics 2.0

ClustrMaps keeps statistics for single Web page, not a whole site, so it's perfect for a blog's homepage. Accounts are free as long as you get fewer than 2500 hits a day and once you've signed up all you so it place a small bit of code in your template. The results show your visitors plotted out on a world map. This way you can see where your visitors are coming from without having to interpert domains and IP addresses yourself. (My map is in the right column of this page.) Stat reports (shown right) are not overly detailed but enough for my purposes. Maybe I'm stretching the definition of 2.0 a bit here since this isn't quite a mashup but it's close. (If they integrated with GoogleMaps I suppose that would make it a true mashup.)
Found via -=( In Between )=-.

A quick Word tip

As someone who has to constandly write to a certain word count, I'm constantly bringing up my document's statistics in Word so see how close I am to my limit. This morning, when starting an article I decided to look for a simpler way. Well, it turns out that Word (starting with the 2002 version) has a "Word Count toolbar". To turn it on select View|Toolbard|Word Count from the menus. (Feel free to dock this toolbar wherever you feel it's appropriate.) Unfortunately, the count doesn't update as you type (oh how I wish it would) but to get an updated word count for your document all you now need to do is click on the Recount button.

Library Thing: Initial Reactions

I've had a Library Thing account for 24 hours now and I have some initial reactions. I'm hoping that a few of my complaints are just me now knowing how to perform the actions I believe are missing from the service. If I'm in need of correction, please do so.

• The Fun statistics page is very interesting. However, why can't I click on any of these numbers to see which of my books is generating them? For example, I'd love to figure out which five titles were not in Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk and needed to be looked up in the Library of Congress.
• Speaking of the Fun statistics page why were most books looked up in "amazon.com" while the newest one, the one I entered manually instead of importing I'm assuming, was looked up in "Amazon.com". I'm sure this is just a system bug but I do find it slightly annoying.
• Speaking of the statistics, ISBNs didn't exist before the late 70s. But, according to my stats page, I've got eleven books with ISBNs published prior to 1970. This must be an error in the system as they dates are "the edition's publication date, not date of original work" so technically such a statistic is impossible.
• I imported 59 titles to test the system before purchasing my account and importing my full collection. However, the system didn't de-dupe. (I'm assuming this is by design since, theoretically, someone may want to own two copies of the exact same edition of a title.) However, I how have 59 titles that are in the system twice but I only own one copy of. I'd like a way to search for duplicates so I can delete the spare record.
• Regarding tagging: Every other service that supports tagging I've used has you enter multiple tags as space delimited. So, tot his point I've been trained to separate my tags with spaces and enter multiple-word tags with quotation marks. Library Thing does not follow this implied standard. Library Thing requires a comma delimited list of entered tags with spaces indicating a multi-word tag. Because of this I ended up with some books tagged as "sf scifi uk tv doctor who". Luckily I caught this early and was able to clean them up. I guess I just wonder why Library Thing feels they need to do things differently from everyone else.

CIL2006: Virtual Reference, IM Chat, & Beyond - Taking Refernce Services Out of the Library

Marilyn Parr, Library of Congress
Susan McGlamery, OCLC
Joe Thompson, Maryland Ask Us Now!
Laura Maldonado, Deborah Gaspar, and Sarah Palacios-Wilhelp, Gelman library, George Washington University
4:15-5:00pm LC

• LOC Web site
• Ask a Librarian link
• people want sketch of patents
• questions on photographs (American Memory)
• Thomas Jefferson's papers
• What is QuestionPoint
• developed by OCLC and LC
• supports both local and global online refernce
• local component: Web-based question submission, email, chat, local KB
• Global component: world-wide network of ref librarians sharing via best-fit routing, global KB
• LC exempt from PATRIOT Act due to being part of the legislative branch
• Use QP to:
• interact
• cooperate
• build
• manage

OCLC: Collaboration for Success

• Be there when they need you
• coverage around the clock
• expand hours of service without adding staff
• failsafe coverage
• staffed by librarian like you
• 2 cooperatives
• public
• academic
• 24/7 reference is
• > 800 libraries in US, Canada, and England
• staffing cooperatively
• contract staff for hours when no libraries are online
• Merged w/ QP in August 2004
• Who participates
• single library
• libraries w/in a region
• statewide service
• CA, DE, IL, MD, MA, MT, NJ, NC, OR, WA, WI
• countrywide service
• England
• How do they know: Answering on behalf of other libraries
• library policy pages
• scripted messages
• communication
• conference/transfer
• IM
• Follow-up/referral
• Local FAQ
• send to patron's library
• Referral networks
• 24/7 subject experts
• medical
• art
• business
• genealogy
• spanish
• next: multi-lingual cooperatives
• global reference network
• quality control
• session review
• QC staff
• training

Maryland: AskUsNow

• Service
• launched March 2003
• 27 partnet library systems
• staffed by > 250 librarians
• first state-wide participant in 24/7 cooperative
• Maryland was 25% of all 24/7 questions
• now part of QP 24/7
• LSTA funded
• 85% positive feedback
• 120k questions to date
• InfoEyes project
• launched Jan 2004
• specific for those with visual imparements
• e-mail mostly
• VoIP also available

GWU: IM reference implementation

• Introducing IM to GW
• millenials and the Pew Internet study
• IM? We already have VR!
• Research
• Training
• Pilot studies
• Next?
• IM Generation
• Teens use e-mail but prefer IM
• 75% of 12-17 year-olds send or receive instant messages
• VR vs. IM
• Has had VR for over 4 years
• only 1.5% of GW students used VR
• how do we serve students in their preferred medium of communication
• Getting started
• study phase
• software requirements
• lit search
• potential IM usage
• surveyed other universities going it
• pilot for librarians
• introduce ref ream to IM
• is IM a good fit for the library?
• training opportunity
• Fall 2005
• patron pre-pilot pilot
• offered for 10 days
• designed advertising
• designed web page for spring pilot
• tested patron experience
• standardized usage procedures
• Spring 2006 - Patron pilot
• documented student use
• logs and statistics
• preferred hours of service
• documneted APL guidelines
• reference questions
• directional questions
• "best practices"
• drafted and implemented
• continuous service assessment
• ...and beyond
• student feedback
• expanded advertising
• evening hours
• inclusion of other library staff
• evaluation of service

CIL2006: The Web 2.0 Challence to Libraries

Paul Miller, Technology Evangelist, Talis
3:15-4:00pm

• Topics
• libraries - trusted but bypassed online
• reaching out from the library
• a library 2.0 platform
• shared innovation
• The reality gap
• how do people find stuff?
• Google
• How else do people find stuff?
• Google toolbar
• Google desktop
• Google embedded in Web sites
• Some library background
• Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources (OCLC)
• Understanding the Audience (UK)
• Basic Library Statistics (CLIFA)
• Active borrowers going down since 1999
• but people visit libraries
• 96% of people asked had been to a library in some point in their life
• Visits to libraries are up
• Visits per borrower are up
• people gon online in libraries
• 21% local library for Net access, 80% at home (UK)
• but 46% know they can go to the library for Net access
• 5% perfer the library, 3% on a mobile device
• 19% would use library if they decided to go online
• "Build it an they will come" myth
• Do people trust libraries? (UK)
  
• 89% trust libraries
• 84% BBC
• So, what went wrong online?
• 27% said visited public library Web site
• Long list of databases, pick one...
• The "competition"
• Web 2.0 logo graphic
• Innovative
• relevant
• cool
• nimble
• participatice
• user centric
• responsive
• The Web 2.0 Companies
• Library 2.0 - Talis white paper in conference package
• Library 2.0
• open the library
• push the library everywhere
• engage with actual and potential user communities
• disaggregate library systems...
• ...and bring them together
• shared innovation
• "The library system should be like Lego"
• Talking With Talis podcast
• Library 2.0 Gang
• Doing it on their own...
• WPopac
• Greasemonkey - Amazon.com checking your local library (University of Huttersfield)
• www.daveyp.com/blog/
• Jacket images
  
• vielmetti.typepad.com/superpatron
• Card Catalog
• www.aadl.org/catalog
• Doing it together...
• share a platform
• nurture a community
• Introducing the Platform
• Why a platform
• most effecient use of development copabilities
• lowers barrier to entry
• offers evolutionary path
• crosses vendor divides
• exposes libraries to wider world, significantly increasing visibility
• Characteristics of the platform
• consistent exposure of data
• consistent access to data
• consistent exposure of function
• consistent access to functionality
• shared components, shared esperiences
• shared innovation
• open
• collaborative
• standards and specs
  
• functionality and data
• hides complexty
• reduced cost and risk
• Image of Talis platform (whitepapers available)
  
• Leveraging the Platform
• Amazon example showing box that shows multiple libraries that have the book, linking through to the correct catalog
• A platform of loosely coupled components
• Talis Base (example)
• Web services
• Book jackets from Amazon
• Amazon prices
• library holdings
• links to library catalogs
• A Public view?
• Whisper (proof of concept)
• research.talis.com/2005/whisper/
• library info, Google, Amazon
• Much is possible...
• RedLightGreen
• UCD Connect
• Libraries on a map a la Google maps
• My Amazon widget
• Talis Whisper widget for library holdings
• Stepping back...
• Fuzzing out congress on Google Maps
• National libraries in the world (Talis Whisper)
• Working together
• Talis: Shared Innovation
  
• Creative Commons licence
• DIscussion threads
• Documentation
• Contribute code
• Share ideas, experiences, code
• make it your own
• share innovation
• Conclustions
• the librray deservice to reach beyond its walls
• vendor- and library-initated silos just don't make sense
• current business models? ("because that's the way it's always been done")
  
• challenge all assumptions
• share innovation

Opening Keynote

Lee Rainie of the Pew Internet and American Life Project opened the conference, as he did last year, giving us a lot of statistics and annecdotes about how Americans are, and are not, using the Internet. (He mentioned that some times when he presents the screens are showing a live IRC chat about his talk, as he's giving it. Unfortunately, this was not done at this event.)

• 68% of adults & 86% of teenagers are Internet users.
• Broadband has surpassed the 50% mark at home.
• More than 2/3rds have broadband somewhere in their life (work, school, etc.)
• Cold: 1/5 of adults have never used the Internet. (Some by choice, some by circumstances.)
• Tepid: Dual-up users of today are less likely to upgrade to broadband in the future
• Hot: "Hyperconnected to the net"
• What are people doing: email, IM, news, finances, games, seeking help, interacting with their governemnt
• Chatroom use is declining due to hostile environment and other onling groups, i.e. blogs and live meetings
• Teens (12-17):
• more connected than ever
• love IM
• Nuts about cell phone, especially with text messaging and cameras
• Physicall proximity, time of day, and venue matters less and less
• Enjoy playing around with their identities (the facebook)
• Live in a world that's saturated in media
• 8 out of 10 play online games, 54% growth in four years
• 43% have bought something online. 71% growth in four years
• Health information use if growing also
• Teens are media creators themselves. (report coming out in the next few weekds)
• 19% have created their own blogs. Higher than in the adult population
• "Finatic multitaskers"
• Skeptic about advertising, yet just another input to be assessed for value
• Politics
• Internet rivals newsletters and rivals tv among younger users
• Internet is improving "social capital" i.e. social engagement & civic ties
• Using the Net for policical news makes you more likely to vote
• Concern: would people use online tools to isoloate themselves from their world/political views? Answer is no. Use of Net tools improves awareness and increases likeliness of researching opposing views
• "Major Moments"
• Crucial or important role with college searching, illnesses, financial decisions
• Also crucial when getting married or divorced
• Some companies doing "E-mail Free Fridays"
• Four trends: more people and things connected to the Internet, more people are accessing the Internet fomr mobile devices, content creation will continue to grow, increased social aspects of searching
• "The Long Tail"
• "Smart Mobs" (Howard Rheingold) suggest new social groups are emerging
• Modern life is charactized by "continuous patrial attention" (always scanning for the "one best thing")

Reading list

TIME Magazine has released their list of the All-Time 100 Novels. I've read 21 of them. Not to shabby if I do say so myself.

• Animal Farm, George Orwell
• Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, Judy Blume
• The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler
• The Blind Assassin, Margaret Atwood
• Catch-22, Joseph Heller
• A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess
• The Confessions of Nat Turner, William Styron
• I, Claudius, Robert Graves
• Invisible Man. Ralph Ellison
• The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis
• Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov
• Lord of the Flies, William Golding
• The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
• Neuromancer, William Gibson
• 1984, George Orwell
• On the Road, Jack Kerouac
• Possession, A.S. Byatt
• Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut
• Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
• The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, John le Carre
• Watchmen, Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons

A few more statistics: I've read all three SF novels, the one graphic novel on the list (which is also SF), and have met three of the authors on the list (Gibson, Stephenson, and Vonnegut.)

BlogJunction � Blog Archive � public libraries & the internet

BlogJunction has some statistics about public library Internet access:

• 99.6% of public library outlets in the United States are connected to the Internet.
• 98.9% of public library outlets with a connection to the Internet proide public access to the Internet.

This means that some libraries have Internet access but are not letting the public use it. I'm lost. Anyone have an explaination for this one?

Blogosphere Stats

Back on January 2^nd The Pew Internet & American Life Project released their report on The State of Blogging. There are some very interesting statistics in the report including the big one that blog usage was up 58% in 2004 from 2003.

IL04: “making the most of the blogosphere”

Steven Cohen did a great job as moderator despite having practically no voice. Stephen did have a request of the attendees to “blog the track”, i.e. get as many of the people attending the blogging sessions to blog about the presentations as they’re happening. I’ll be doing that but I can’t post (due to a lack of a free connection) live, but all this was written live, just posted later. The two presenters were Jenny Levine and Greg Schwartz.

Jenny did a quick intro to blogging, trying to make a live post. Unfortunately, her copy of Moveable Type didn’t want to post. Ah, the joys of live presentations. Jenny’s main point, libraries are done with blogging 1.0, it’s time for blogging 2.0. Her suggestions: more personalization, more linking back to library services, more blogging that involve authentication, treat local bloggers as “the press” (send them your events and press releases) and get them to link black to you, more moblogging (photo blogging), blog your statistics and projects, start a library-hosted community blog, demand of you ILS vendors RSS feeds out of the catalog, ultimately, “show the fun/human side of libraries.”

Greg bit focused more on how blogs can help the end-user through blog-related tools. First, why should librarians care about blogs? Three reasons: diversity of authors and topics, the rate of update (much faster than the traditional media,) and their increasing influence.) Tools he focused on were Feedster, Waypath, PubSub, Daypop, Popdex, Technorati, Blogsnow, Blogarama, Robin Good’s Best Blog Directory and Submission Sites, Kinja and blogrolls (lists of blogs read by a particular blogger). I also need to give Greg a special thank you for encouraging folks to go to my bookmarklets Cybertour.

And, the question was asked during the session’s Q&A: “What is RSS?” CIL04 Déjà vu...

Because of these three, I have a lot to add to my blogging & RSS book. Damn them! ;-)

IL04: monday keynote & the missing proceedings

I sat with Greg Schwartz for the morning keynote by Lee Rainie, the Director of the Pew Internet and American Life Project. The statistics Lee gave us were quite intriguing about who uses the Internet for what and who doesn't. It seems that there are now more women online than men. His talk will be available online in the next few days. As soon as I can find it I'll post a link to it here.

Also, the latest news on the proceedings is that the truck they were being shipped on broke down somewhere along the way. The proceedings should be available for pickup at the registration desk sometime early this afternoon.

Advice on Hurricanes

Please read the following info, as it may pertain to you!!

ADVICE ON HURRICANES

We're about to enter the peak of the hurricane season. Any day now, you're going to turn on the TV and see a weather person pointing to some radar blob out in the Gulf of Mexico and making two basic meteorological points:

(1) There is no need to panic.
(2) We could all be killed.

Yes, hurricane season is an exciting time to be in Florida. If you're new to the area, you're probably wondering what you need to do to prepare for the possibility that we'll get hit by "the big one." Based on our experiences, we recommend that you follow this simple three-step hurricane preparedness plan:

STEP 1. Buy enough food and bottled water to last your family for at least three days. STEP 2. Put these supplies into your car. STEP 3. Drive to Ohio and remain there until Halloween. Unfortunately, statistics show that most people will not follow this sensible plan.

Most people will foolishly stay here in Florida.

We'll start with one of the most important hurricane preparedness items:

HURRICANE INSURANCE: If you own a home, you must have hurricane insurance.

Fortunately, this insurance is cheap and easy to get, as long as your home meets two basic requirements: (1) It is reasonably well-built, and (2) It is located in Ohio.

Unfortunately, if your home is located in Florida, or any other area that might actually be hit by a hurricane, most insurance companies would prefer not to sell you hurricane insurance, because then they might be required to pay YOU money, and that is certainly not why they got into the insurance business in the first place. So you'll have to scrounge around for an insurance company, which will charge you an annual premium roughly equal to the replacement value of your house.

At any moment, this company can drop you like used dental floss. Since Hurricane George, I have had an estimated 27 different home-insurance companies. This week, I'm covered by the Bob and Big Stan Insurance Company, under a policy which states that, in addition to my premium, Bob and Big Stan are entitled, on demand, to my kidneys.

SHUTTERS: Your house should have hurricane shutters on all the windows, all the doors, and -- if it's a major hurricane -- all the toilets. There are several types of shutters, with advantages and disadvantages:

Plywood Shutters: The advantage is that, because you make them yourself, they're cheap. The disadvantage is that, because you make them yourself, they will fall off.

Sheet-Metal Shutters: The advantage is that these work well, once you get them all up. The disadvantage is that once you get them all up, your hands will be useless bleeding stumps, and it will be December.

Roll-Down Shutters: The advantages are that they're very easy to use, and will definitely protect your house. The disadvantage is that you will have to sell your house to pay for them.

Hurricane-Proof Windows: These are the newest wrinkle in hurricane protection. They look like ordinary windows, but they can withstand hurricane winds! You can be sure of this, because the salesman says so. He lives in Ohio.

HURRICANE PROOFING YOUR PROPERTY: As the hurricane approaches, check your yard for movable objects like barbecue grills, planters, patio furniture, visiting relatives, etc. You should, as a precaution, throw these items into your swimming pool (if you don't have a swimming pool, you should have one built immediately). Otherwise, the hurricane winds will turn these objects into deadly missiles.

EVACUATION ROUTE! : If you live in a low-lying area, you should have an evacuation route planned out. (To determine whether you live in a low-lying area, look at your driver's license; if it says "Florida," you live in a low-lying area).

The purpose of having an evacuation route is to avoid being trapped in your home when a major storm hits. Instead, you will be trapped in a gigantic traffic jam several miles from your home, along with two hundred thousand other evacuees. So, as a bonus, you will not be lonely.

HURRICANE SUPPLIES: If you don't evacuate, you will need a mess of supplies. Do not buy them now! Florida tradition requires that you wait until the last possible minute, then go to the supermarket and get into vicious fights with strangers over who gets the last can of SPAM.

In addition to food and water, you will need the following supplies: 23 flashlights and at least $167 worth of batteries that won't work or will be the wrong size for the flashlights.

Bleach. (No, I don't know what the bleach is for. NOBODY knows what the bleach is for, but it's traditional, so GET some!)

A 55-gallon drum of underarm deodorant.

A big knife that you can strap to your leg. (This will be useless in a hurricane, but it looks cool.)

A large quantity of raw chicken to placate the alligators. (Ask anybody who went through a hurricane; after the hurricane, there WILL be irate alligators.)

$35,000 in cash or diamonds so that, after the hurricane passes, you can buy a generator from a man with no discernible teeth.

Of course these are just basic precautions. As the hurricane draws near, it is vitally important that you keep abreast of the situation by turning on your television and watching TV reporters in rain slickers stand right next to the ocean and tell you over and over how vitally important it is for everybody to stay away from the ocean.

Good luck, and remember: It's great living in Paradise.

Thanks Laura!