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Our service area covers over 914 miles, and we
serve approximately 195,000 patrons. |
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In 2000, we redesigned our Web site and divided
it into 6 different sites, each with its own look and feel. |
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We currently have approximately 114,000 visits
and 55,000 unique visitors each month across the Web sites. |
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Weigh several things when deciding which camera
to use. You want it to produce quality photos, but you don’t want them to
be so expensive that when a staff person drops one it is a budget cruncher. |
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A 4-megapixel camera or higher will produce
great Web results and good print results as well. |
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In addition to the camera price, you should also
factor in the cost of additional batteries (we always carry an extra set)
and a larger memory card than the one that comes with the camera. A 128 MB
card seems large enough for our needs. |
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You may also need additional card readers if
there will be more than one “download station.” |
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Try online sites like http://www.dpreview.com
and http://www.cnet.com to read reviews about cameras, but try the camera
in-person before purchasing. |
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Nikon Coolpix 990 |
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3.34 megapixels |
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Rotating lens (not available in newer models) |
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Purchased for 3 largest branches |
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Investment of about $800 per branch (camera
& accessories) |
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In 2000, we bought 3 Fuji MX – 1700s (1.5
megapixels) for staff use and 1 Nikon 950 (2+ mega pixels) for
administrative use. Although more expensive, we soon found the Nikon to be
a better product than the Fuji and
moved towards the 990 (newer model of 950) for staff use. |
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Who was trained: |
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All staff were welcome to training sessions,
but training was targeted to juvenile and
young adult librarians who would be using the cameras to capture
programming for the Web in the form of online scrapbooks. |
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Staff were trained on: |
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Camera Use |
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Picture Taking |
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Organizing Photos on the Network |
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Making Scrapbooks |
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When learning to use a digital camera be sure
you are familiar with: |
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Picture taking and playback modes |
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Quality and size settings |
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Flash settings |
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Download procedures and equipment |
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How to format the media card |
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Battery charging procedures |
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Tips our staff found helpful: |
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Framing your subject |
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When shooting for the web, it’s particularly important to carefully
frame your subject. Although images
can be cropped, it’s very hard to work with photos that try to encompass
too much. |
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Using the Flash |
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Digital cameras seem to be very sensitive to lighting. Try taking pictures in all flash modes
in different settings to see how the camera reacts. This will help avoid “blacked out”
images. |
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On an accessible place on our network we have
these folders : |
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-Branches |
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-Departments (adult, YA, JUV) |
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-Years |
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-Individual program folders |
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Naming convention is
month_day_year_program_title |
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Whatever you decide to do, keep it simple! Lots
of people have to remember how to do it. |
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Two ways we use our digital photos: |
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Scrapbooks on KidsPoint.org and TeensPoint.org |
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Capture your unique programs in tailored
scrapbooks. |
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Online exhibits on ArtsPoint.org |
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Capture your artwork and exhibits and
display them online. |
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In 2001 we decided to create a standardized way
for staff people to share online what is happening in their branch
programs, especially for the juvenile and YA staff. |
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We coded and databased a simple online scrapbook
application. |
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To date we have approximately 100 scrapbooks on
KidsPoint.org and 35 on TeensPoint.org. |
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Staff people can also print out the scrapbooks
and display them in the branch. |
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We have also built in functionality to have a
booklist display with a scrapbook, so it becomes a vehicle for presenting
content as well. |
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As most staff people have been trained on the
camera, they often take turns photographing each other’s programs or a teen
helper takes the pics. |
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The person conducting the program should NOT be
the photographer. |
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Take many more pictures than you think you need.
Only some of them will be usable. |
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At the beginning of a youth-services program, a
staff person announces that we will be taking photos for the Web site and
if someone wants to “opt out” of this to please let her know. |
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We don’t identify any child by name on
KidsPoint.org. |
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We don’t identify any teen by anything other
than first name on TeensPoint.org. |
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After the program, the pictures are moved from
the memory card to the designated individual folder on the network. |
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The staff person views each picture and selects
(usually) between 5-10 to use in her scrapbook. |
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She then writes up a brief Word document that
looks like this: |
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Title: Ice Cream Party |
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Date: August 17, 2004 |
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Photographer: Photos by Jody Lewandowski;
Program by Barbara Harris |
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Description: Congratulations to all the Summer
Reading Club kids! You did great
this summer, reading over 5500 books and sharing them with us! You deserved a big celebration with ice
cream and games and Lula the Circus Lady! |
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File Name - Annotation |
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5519 - Take a circus bow, everyone! You’re great readers! |
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5538 - Lula’s amazing! |
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5525 - Kids from the audience find out their
hidden talent. |
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5537 - Lula and her assistant set up a trick. |
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The Web developer takes the Word document and
opens each image. She resizes it (200 pixels wide is my default) and crops,
lightens, sharpens and otherwise adjusts it. |
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Then she saves it to a folder on the Web server.
Now the information needs to be databased. |
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The main program information goes into the
scrapbooks table, and the images are held in the scrapbook_images table. |
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ArtsPoint.org is unique in that online exhibits
are the backbone of this site. |
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Library Programming: |
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The Atrium Gallery |
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Arts in the Community: |
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First Friday Recap |
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Local Artist Profiles |
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The Atrium Gallery showcases monthly exhibits by
local artists at our Library Headquarters. |
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The Atrium Gallery began as a small monthly
exhibit on the library’s original Web site. When our Web site was
redesigned, it was the springboard for ArtsPoint.org. |
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The online gallery archives exhibits since
January 1998. |
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The first Friday of each month, downtown
Fredericksburg’s art galleries host opening exhibits. |
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First Friday Recaps offer a glimpse of the
latest exhibits. |
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First Friday Recaps cover gallery openings since
May 2000. |
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Local Artist Profiles are a free resource for
artists within our service region. |
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The goal of this project is to heighten
awareness of the diverse and active artists within our community. |
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The ArtsPoint database contains over 2,000
pieces of art by over 400 artists. |
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ArtsPoint.org exhibits are maintained by the
Outreach Services Coordinator and Web Developer. |
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They are responsible for: |
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Photographing Atrium exhibits |
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Attending First Fridays, providing photographs
and commentary |
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Working with local artists to create their
personalized profile |
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Capturing programming, resources and exhibits at
your library doesn’t require a separate domain or a database … |
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With a digital camera and trained staff you can
capture: |
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Library Programs |
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Craft programs & Storytimes |
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Special events, concert series, lectures |
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Library Facilities, Services and Resources |
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Spruce up your site with pictures of your
branches, bookmobile, staff & patrons, public access computers, meeting
rooms … |
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Feature special collections |
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Exhibits & Displays |
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Children’s art, quilt shows, monthly art
exhibits, showcases & displays |
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How other Virginia libraries are using photos
on the Web to showcase facilities
& library resources, programming, exhibits and special collections: |
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Alexandria Library – Alexandria, VA: Special Collections |
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http://www.alexandria.lib.va.us |
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Special Collections: Document of the month: http://www.alexandria.lib.va.us/lhsc/exhibit.html |
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The Alexandria Library offers a wonderful array
of online exhibits featuring local historical documents and photos. |
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Bedford Public Library System – Bedford,
VA: Welcome to the Library |
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http://www.library.bedford.va.us/ |
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The Bedford Public Library’s use of photos makes
you feel at home right away. Bedford provides pictures of each branch
including photos of the collection, public computers, special collections
and reference staff. You’ll also
find pictures of library programs and exhibits, like their annual quilt
show. |
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Williamsburg Regional Library – Williamsburg,
VA: Exhibits & Displays |
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http://www.wrl.org |
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A single picture can enhance programming and
exhibit information on the Web. The WRL’s Exhibits & Displays page
makes great use of a single photograph of artwork to highlight the current
exhibit at the Williamsburg Library Gallery: http://www.wrl.org/programs/exhibits.html |
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Notes
