Better Signage at the Aquarium
One of my complaints about the local aquarium is how poor the signs identifying what’s in a tank are. I’m sure it’s very difficult to keep track of all the fish and species, especially when they change frequently. As I walked up the ramp around the centerpiece–a giant ocean tank with fish, sharks, rays, and turtles–once again noticing how the few signs along the way never really match what’s swimming past the window and don’t identify most of what’s in the tank, I began wondering about the possibility of using radio-frequency identification tags to identify the animal. By adding an RFID tag to the animal, perhaps a computer system surrounding the tank could monitor which critter is where and display the appropriate identification on a screen near each window. It would also help visitors locate animals that like to hide, like the nurse shark. I wonder what kinds of privacy concerns there are for using RFID in this manner. (This is dreaming big.)
I can’t tell you how many hours of library school classes were devoted to talking about putting appropriate signage in the library.
August 15th, 2004 at 1:50 am
I’m having memories of 551. I don’t know if you had to do the same initial assignment as I did. Go to a business and observe its signage and how it used its space and compare it to a library. I observed a pet store and it could have taken a cue from the library, particularly in terms of directional signs.
August 15th, 2004 at 2:01 am
I forgot all about that assignment! I did that awesome CD shop on State Street whose name just slipped my mind, but it’s on the list of places I need to go the next time I’m back that way–if it’s still there. I’ll bet I still have that horrid hand-drawn map I did. Maybe I still have the paper somewhere, though I shed a lot of my graduate work–including my information impulse journal (did you have to do one of those?)–in my last move.
Was that when I went to the map library … or was that for another assignment?
August 15th, 2004 at 2:09 am
Are you thinking of B-Side? It’s still there.
My hand drawn map wasn’t a pretty sight either. I didn’t have to do an information impulse journal, but you’ve piqued my curiosity.
August 15th, 2004 at 10:06 pm
I don’t think it was called B-Side, but I’m drawing a blank. It was famous for its classical music section in the bottom and the man who worked there forever. He had an amazing reputation for being able to identify almost any piece of music. Someone could walk in off the street and hum something and, supposedly, he could identify it and sell the CD of it.
August 16th, 2004 at 12:34 am
This is probably one of the main reasons I turned to librarianship as my chosen career. When I can’t find an answer, it just bugs me and I become very determined to find what I’m looking for.
The store you’re thinking of is the Exclusive Company and the man who can answer any question is Charles Lunde. Here’s an article that was written about him in 1999 if you’re interested: http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=wsj:1999:03:11:186674:Daybreak
The store is stil there. Unfortunately, Charles suffered a series of strokes last summer which made him unable to return to work.
Speaking of knowledge management, how can you replace someone like that?
August 16th, 2004 at 1:35 am
“Say it with me: The Exclusive Company!”
How the heck could I forget that name when their annoying commercials pop so easily back into my head? The power of marketing …
I’m sorry to hear about Charles’ strokes.
Getting knowledge out of someone’s head and into a shareable format is very critical lots of times. I think about that a lot when I’m doing things at work and try often to log what I’m doing so it’ll make sense to someone else. (Or even to me six months down the road when I’ve forgotten what I was doing.)
August 16th, 2004 at 2:03 am
I’d forgotten about that commercial and now I have it stuck in my head…. he he.
The knowledge management course which Professor Cortez taught this summer was excellent and it did make me look at my work environment in a different way. Charles’ knowledge reminds me of Ron’s in a lot of ways, and not only because Ron has been our library’s director for over 25 years. Ron has an incredible knowledge of local history, including people, places and events and I shudder to think what the library and our parent organization will lose when he retires. For my final project on implementing knowledge management practices in newsrooms, I really tried to demonstrate through the resources I compiled the ways in which such practices could be beneficial. This future news librarian is happy to see one of her esteemed colleagues recognizing the importance of this issue.