userslib.com

If you know me, you know that I LOVE CHARTS! So obviously I was pleased to learn that Google has just released an API for making charts - pie charts, bar charts, venn diagrams, scatter plots, and line charts.

Here’s a test chart I made showing the holdings of the UM library as of 2006 (note: I rounded and simplified the categories). Its fairly easy to do - you just link to an image that is called via a URL, plug your chart type and data into the URL, and the graphic will be dynamically generated for you.

So, there are no more excuses for showing tables and tables of boring stats - put it in a chart!

[Link: Google Chart API]

Who needs prehistoric attractions like pheromones when you can smell like an old book?

A new perfume called “In The Library” is described as:

English Novel taken from a Signed First Edition of one of my very favorite novels, Russian & Moroccan leather bindings, worn cloth and a hint of wood polish

[found via BB-blog]

Here you go, just in time for Black Friday - lots of gift ideas for you or the librarian in your life.

Library inspired book plates	kateblack’s Reading is Sexy badge
Library Card Journals (via Indie Fixx)	BiblioGifts (many lovely products)
AliciaBock’s “the Library”	Jillian Ditner’s “Out of Circulation” print series
Threadless T-shirt “November Was a Good Month”	Library Date Due Stamp T-Shirt
Elfrida’s Library Catalog print	Sarahkat’s Specs Moleskine Notebook

And even more by me!

Here’s a cool video of paper prototyping in action (minus the tedious bits). The device being tested is a PDA for meeting new people.

{ found via www.guuui.com }

The University of Michigan’s Human Factors and Ergonomics Society recently announced the winners of their Bad Designs on Campus Contest.

Since these folks are from the engineering department it’s no surprise that many of the submissions were for bad design on North Campus - specifically the Duderstadt Center and Pierpont Commons. I worked in the Duderstadt Center for 4 years so I can personally attest to how frustrating some of the entries really are. I don’t think I ever went to the library stacks area without having to help someone figure out how to move the compact shelving or made it to the bathroom without having the external doors open unnecessarily.

{ link to contest | found via Field Guide }

Our web team and I recently did a survey to better understand our University of Michigan library patrons – their web use, their library use, and their perceptions of the library. It was mostly successful in that now we have more information about our users than we did before. As with all usability/survey studies, the results merely provide a window into understanding our users. The things we learned in this survey can now be used in conjunction with other studies and log analysis to form a more complete picture. This is just a preliminary report… A full analysis will be put online at some point in the near future. We also plan to do a version of this survey annually - so we will also be assessing the survey itself to determine what worked or didn’t.

[Library Web Survey Fall 2007 Results & Preliminary Analysis]

Paul Courant, economics professor, former provost, and currently the University Librarian at the University of Michigan has just started a new blog Au Courant. His first post is about the UM’s relationship with Google and addresses some of the project’s recent criticisms. Welcome Paul!

All of Amazon’s Search Inside!™ books now show stats about the content of the book: the book’s 100 most frequently used words, number of words, words per sentence, “readability” (difficulty), etc.

find stats by hovering over the cover of a book that has “Search Inside!™” and choose “Concordance” or “Text Stats” | link to example

[via information aesthetics]

The UM Hatcher Graduate Library recently converted a staff space into an exhibit & class room space to take advantage of the room’s prime real estate. This is now one of the few public spaces in the building that has super comfortable chairs, lots of windows and light, and quite!

The first exhibit is about former U Michigan Coach Bo Schemblecher. Congrats to the planning committee because it looks great. I was asked to take some photos of the exhibit and they’re now available on flickr:

The podcast of last spring’s SXSW panel “The Future of the Book: Dead or Alive?” is now available online.

How will information survive? Will digital archiving keep our information and memories intact, or will we lose more bits than we save? What do books mean in the digital age? Will old time publishing survive? Who are the real bookmakers today? What does it mean today that anyone can be their own publisher?

Moderator: Peter Merholz President/Co-Founder, Adaptive Path
Brewster Kahle Internet Archive
Terri Ducay Vice President Design, Cheskin
Eileen Gittins CEO, Blurb
Peter Merholz President/Co-Founder, Adaptive Path