In a recent comment to our latest poll, Dave Jackson offered his thoughts on his favorite tools (or lack thereof) for learning:

"When it comes to new software, I always avoid the user manuals, How-To books and resources, and other such tools until after I've grabbed the software (or whatever the technology is, such as a handheld device, etc.), installed it, and fired it up.

If you haven't yet seen Louise Alcorn's wireless checklist, check it out now, and please... steal it! If you have a copy of the December issue of American Libraries magazine, it's reprinted on page 29.

And hip, hip, hooray that Louise's wise words can reach more people! Louise is a marvel, and we're always happy to share her thoughts, and pleased as punch that American Libraries thought so too. Nice work, Louise!

Louise Alcorn, librarian, author, and wireless expert extraordinare, recently responded to a blog comment worth talking about.

In the spirit of this spooky season, I wanted to address some Wireless Horror Stories – potential issues and problems with wireless. Remarkably, I’ve had a hard time finding stories of real horror. Especially in the last few years, during which time wireless has become more prevalent and therefore implements more smoothly. The usual response from libraries has been “the wireless project went just fine." So much for horror...

Use this "Quick Look" checklist to make sure you’re covering your bases when it comes to crafting a wireless policy for your library. For more information on wireless policies, check out an earlier post on the topic.

Recently I wrote a post about marketing your wireless service. It sparked a number of excellent comments, including some questions on policy. I decided they were worth answering in a longer form, including some helpful tips cribbed from my book on Wireless Networking for Libraries which I thought would be helpful.

“Yeah, we have wireless at our library…but we don’t tell anyone about it!”

When I began looking at wireless for my library, I heard this more than once from other libraries. I found this very odd. If you had a new storytime format or some new DVDs, would you keep them a secret?

I'm happy to announce that Louise Alcorn, Reference Technology Librarian at the West Des Moines (IA) Public Library and author of Wireless Networking: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians (Neal-Schuman, 2006) has graciously offered to share her know-how on this blog!

Friday night, the bookmobile will be making an appearance at the Oysters & Ale Fundraiser to benefit broadband services and free wi-fi at the Humboldt County Library. We're so excited!

We're honored to be a part of this event, and our spirits rose when we saw this banner as arrived in Arcata: