My name is Kathryn.

I’ve set up an AquaBrowser Google Group to share tips and post questions. If your library uses AquaBrowser, please consider joining. This group is restricted, email me at kfrederi AT skidmore DOT edu and I’ll send you an invite. Licensed sites only, please.

Here are some examples and additional resources for my LiSUG presentation on Open Source Content Management Systems.

“Skidmore College’s Lucy Scribner Library went live with a new website built using an open source content management system in August of 2009. The site includes many new features designed to improve the user’s experience: scrolling album, dvd, and book covers that link to catalog records; new books titles feeding into appropriate subject pages via RSS; library hours that update automatically; and more. The use of an open source content management system has improved the functionality and visual appeal of our web presence, but also changed the way we create, maintain, and manage our web content. This presentation will demonstrate the front and back ends of the software used to create the site, including the customizations mentioned above, and discuss the changes in workflow that the content management site has occasioned”

General:

• Beginner’s Guide
  

Read more

Ken Fujiuchi and I presented on Designing Library Services for the Cloud Computing World at the LITA 2009 Forum in Salt Lake City.

A blog post about the presentation from AL Inside Scoop

Pictures from the trip we took after the conference

Months of preparation have paid off, and our new site is officially live: http://lib.skidmore.edu.

The presentation I gave at SUNLA 2009 in June discussed building a new library web site using Joomla.

Joomla is a powerful, flexible, open source content management system that is currently being used by Skidmore College’s Lucy Scribner Library to develop dynamic Subject Guides. The Subject Guide project’s goal is to familiarize library staff with Joomla with the intention of moving the Library’s website to the platform in the next six months. The presentation will give an overview of Joomla, suggest helpful resources for installing and using the software, describe in detail how the subject pages were created, and report on the response from librarians, staff, and students to the new service and software.

After trying repeatedly to get SubjectsPlus going on a hosting service I didn’t care for, I finally decided to change to a hosting service I have successfully used in the past. I’m not sure whether it was my familiarity with the service, or a new and improved SubjectsPlus, but it was successfully installed in an hour. Go figure. It’s still a work in progress, but it’s looking good and it has Meebo!

Check it out! (Only the first few subjects have been populated…)

In May, Ken Fujiuchi and I gave the keynote address at the Western New York/Ontario ACRL Spring Conference in Niagara Falls, NY:

The 21st Century Librarian: Identity and Creativity in a Brave New World

The modern librarian practices time-tested methods and embraces professional principles while simultaneously absorbing new technologies. Yet, the online world is full of overnight booms and busts, bubbles and blips. In this fast-paced environment, we strive to keep our libraries, our patrons, and ourselves in tune with the newest tools and trends while managing day-to-day workload. Ms. Frederick and Mr. Fujiuchi will discuss reconnecting with core professional values while exploring creative solutions to 21st Century challenges . Their presentation will demonstrate that professional identity and creative thinking are the keys to staying current and building a dynamic library presence.

Edward Corrado and I just had an article published in the Code4Lib Journal:

“This article reviews available cost-effective options libraries have for updating and maintaining pathfinders such as subject guides and course pages. The paper discusses many of the available options, from the standpoint of a mid-sized academic library which is evaluating alternatives to static-HTML subject guides. Static HTML guides, while useful, have proven difficult and time-consuming to maintain. The article includes a discussion of open source database-driven solutions (such as SubjectsPlus, LibData, Research Guide, and Library Course Builder), LibGuides, Wikis, and social tagging sites like del.icio.us. This article discusses both the functionality and the relative strengths and weaknessess of each of these options.”

Click here to check it out!