Where Have I Been?

As many of you know, this is the busiest time of year for academic librarians. I'm still here, still excited about blogging, but I had to set it aside for awhile. I'll be posting at length on a few major projects that have consumed me in the past month:

New library introductory video which replaced a PowerPoint presentation
Shot partially in Second Life and partially in the real world, this video shows why it's important to use the library. The video is fun and shows librarians around campus as friendly, approachable people. I edited the whole thing and am very proud of the result.

The Hubbub
To welcome students to campus and to the Libraries, we're having a big event at our Information Commons (the Hub). Free food, video games on projection, Second Life, Pop A Shot basketball, bellydancing are just some of the things students can enjoy. It's scheduled for Monday evening, so needless to say there is still much to be done.

Other K Week activities
The Libraries are participating in several Welcome Back activities over the next week (UK calls it K Week). A colleague and I will be presenting a session, "Get Your Google On," in which we'll share smart searching strategies. While we're focused on Google, these strategies certainly apply to library resources (which as you can imagine, we'll be sure to mention as well). We'll also be participating in the ubiquitous "Welcome Back" tables, including one for resident advisors today.

People Counters
In my spare time, I've been helping with the setup of some door counters at the entrances to the Hub. These transmit data wirelessly to a central "server" for easy statistics retrieval and analysis.

Once I get past the next 12 days (and my high school class reunion is wedged in there, too!), I'll be sure to post more about these exciting projects. With a colleague, I'm also finishing up a followup article on social networking software and libraries (see Kentucky Libraries, 2006, v70 n4 for part one). As always, lots of exciting things going on here!