Computers in Libraries 2007

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Earlier this week I attended this year’s Computers in Libraries conference. While I wasn’t all that enamored with the hotel location, the conference itself was excellent. I got excited about, and learned a LOT of interesting things. Below are a few highlights.

The folks at the South Carolina State Library recently redesigned their site using Joomla, the open source content management system. This was a very inspirational session for me, as I’m looking at adding a CMS to my library’s website.

Another intriguing session was Derick Willis’ talk entitled Creating Browsable Content with Django. Django is another open source CMS I want to learn more about.

Several sessions included interesting links and other cool things available on the web. Note: Links have been removed, as most were no longer working.

  • FictionFinder – Search or browse for fiction books by author, title, ISBN, subject, literary awards, fictional character, imaginary place or setting, and more.
  • OpenCongress – “Brings together official government information with news and blog coverage to give you the real story behind what’s happening in Congress.”
  • LibWorm – A tool that allows you to search the library blogosphere and other websites in the library field.
  • Zamzar – Free online file converter.
  • Missing-Auctions.com – Search for misspelled auction items and eBay typos.
  • FreeDigitalPhotos.net – Royalty free photos for websites, presentations, newsletters, etc.
  • Open Clip Art – An archive of user submitted, public domain clip art.
  • Yahoo Design Pattern Library – Optimal solutions to common web programming problems.
  • Rasterbator – Upload an image file, and this site will create a multi-page pdf file, which you can print and assemble the pages into a poster up to 20 meters in size.
  • My Google Maps – Click on “My Maps” to create custom, annotated maps that you can share with others.
  • Pipes – An interactive RSS feed aggregator and manipulator that allows you to combine and customize RSS feeds into one master feed (which creates endless possibilities for use on websites).

I also discovered even more technology and library related blogs to read.

Finally, my favorite discovery of the conference. What to do about obnoxious cell phone users: Ninja Librarian