Tag Archives: Peter Scott

Walking the walk

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In Peter Scott’s blog I read yesterday morning that the latest issue of Issues in Science & Technology Librarianship is now available. I had heard of this publication before but hadn’t really looked at it. (It is “a quarterly publication of the Science & Technology Section, Association of College & Research Libraries.”) Now that I work in a library that deals with similar issues I thought it worth exploring. The first thing I looked for was an RSS feed somewhere, anywhere. Unless I am a real dope and have overlooked it, I see none. Of course it’s far more important to have good content and I can’t judge that yet because I haven’t read many of the articles. But it struck me, as a newbie to this journal, that a journal on science and technology issues in libraries seems so Web 1.0-ish.

Staying current: a survey response

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Ann Ercelawn, a dear friend and co-moderator of the SERIALST discussion list, posted a survey on that list yesterday that asked for responses to a series of questions relating to how we keep current within the LIS field. Below is the response I sent her. It’s not as detailed or complete as it should be but I was in a hurry ;-)

1) What are the websites that you find most useful?

I find that I rarely go to a library-related website anymore, instead relying on RSS feeds. And if a library-related website doesn’t offer an RSS feed, I am highly unlikely to refer to it much again.

2) What listservs do you find indispensable?

Here, too, I am finding myself really paring down my participation in listservs. I’m still subscribed to SERIALST and I also pay attention to SFX-DISCUSS-L, LIB-STATS, LIS-E-JOURNALS, and ERIL-L. That’s about it, though.

3) What are the most important formal publications (in print or online) that you read on a regular basis?

Serials Review, LCATS, D-LIB, Library Journal. Increasingly, though, I am not reading formal publications as much, instead, as in the case of websites and listservs, relying on blogs, wikis, and RSS feeds to obtain the information about what’s going on in my areas of interest. I am much more selective about what parts of formal publications I read.

4) What are the top 5-8 blogs that you read?

Walt at Random, Thingology (LibraryThing’s ideas blog), Roy Tennant’s Digital Libraries, Peter Scott’s Library Blog, One Big Library, Lorcan Dempsey’s Weblog, LISNews.org, Information Wants to Be Free, Hectic Pace.

5) Are there podcasts that you listen to on a regular basis?

Not really, but ones I have listened to and/or recommend include Library Geeks by Dan Chudnov, and the podcasts output as part of the SirsiDynix Institute.

6) What other resources do you consult or recommend?

I am a huge fan of RSS because it saves me so much time and money. Use a free RSS reader like Google Reader or Bloglines and begin collecting library-related feeds. You won’t be sorry.