The internet resource icon on WorldCat.org has been a hot topic of conversation for quite a while among our users and our user experience groups here working on worldcat.org. Originally when we put that icon on our search results and detailed records as a secondary icon, it was meant to indicate that "this item is also available online".

Much to our (and our users') dismay, we noticed the icon appearing on items that weren't actually available online...Turns out, this problem is a result of different interpretations among catalogers of what a 'version' of something actually is. So, we are working diligently on filtering our data to more accurately display the internet resource icon only when a true online version of the item exists. This change should be reflected on WorldCat.org in August or September!

But there are even more challenges with this darn little icon. The internet resource icon carries a lot of weight. Internet searchers are looking for items that they can find online, and to most of our searchers, this is the only or most visible indication we give on search results or detailed records that it is available online, even when the user is not actually authorized to view the item. Why is this? Because the internet resource icon was originally intended to just show that a 'version' of this item existed online - but it wasn't meant to indicate whether the user is authorized to view it.

We realize we have a usability challenge on our hands...

Users want to be able to tell up front what they can access online when they are searching. Unfortunately in most cases, WorldCat.org doesn’t know what users are authorized to access.

So our challenge is: would users rather see what they *might* be able to get online with the possibility of failed attempts? Or would users rather see what WorldCat.org absolutely knows they have access to online, with the possibility of missing out on other items that they are authorized to access?

With all the hype on the new Batman Dark Knight movie release, I took a look at what type of Batman and superhero items the library has to offer- needless to say, there are plenty to choose from!

The WorldCat detailed record page lets you know when other WorldCat users have an item on one of their public lists - if you follow the link here, you can get to other interesting comics and library items these users have saved.

Now, I haven’t seen the new movie (…yet) – but from the creepy images I have seen on TV, in all the articles and blogs posts such as this one – maybe some of the library’s more 'kid friendly' options, like this, would be a better bet for the little ones.

Today the NYT Home & Garden section profiled an architect/designer named Kelly Wearstler. Kelly has a love of out-of-print books. She frequents several high-end book stores that carry these and other hard to find design books and scours them for ideas.

I could launch into the typical why-aren't-libraries-the-cool-place-to-be refrain, but that's not the point.

I'm glad folks like Kelly point me to the $3,200 out-of-print books available in boutique shops. More than likely I can dig up the book somewhere in my state and through inter-library loan, I just might be able to get a copy for myself.

I wish Kelly and other's like her could experience what I experienced when I was a student working at The Ohio State University Main Library. Shelving books in that cavernous, 14-story building introduced me to more information and ideas than any boutique book store could hope to.

I wonder what sits next to David Douglas Duncan's Goodbye Picasso on the shelf at OSU?