A recent report of the top 10 search terms teens use, seems to reveal that many teens are more likely to search for Youtube than enter www.youtube.com into their browser. (I wish there was data about how many teens search for a website rather than enter it directly into the browser window, but that is a different issue.)

Generally a search term is something you use when you aren’t sure what or where something is located whether in the library or online. I’m intrigued to see that teens seem to use search terms in a different way. They know what they want, but instead of typing the url, they perform a search for it.

Now I’m going to make alot of assumptions here so you can start ignoring me if you want, but I think the reason they do this is because, well its easier. I know I often will search for a site I want instead of typing it into the browser field simply because I have a google toolbar installed on my browser and it means less key strokes and less mistakes. I don’t want to worry about getting the http://www and .whatever correct, especially if I’m not super familiar with the website.

Another reason I think this is true, is that the second search term is google. How many of your have a toolbar on your browser that automatically searches yahoo, msn, or another search service? Most of these come pre-installed and not everyone knows how to turn them off or change them to the search engine of their preference. Does your library have these on your public computers? What is your default search engine? Do you know how to change it?  Here is information on how to change the default to google, but you can use it to change it to anything,

Well I decided to test out google, since most teens are likely to use google to find our library rather than type in the url.  I used “Pierce County Library” as my search terms, and was very happy to see our official homepage as the first result. Google identified these subpages as the most important: Account Log-in, Library Catalog, Locations listing, Current Job Openings, Search Site, OverDrive, Employment, & E-Sources.

Interesting that jobs came up twice in the list of 8, but I think this is reflective of the economy. I do find it strange that programs or events didn’t show up. Just goes to show Google doesn’t think like I do.

I then decided to throw the term teen to my search to see if I got similar results. Sadly our teen homepage was the second result, second to our annual writing contest landing page. This seems like a big barrier to access for my teens, and I’m going to try to find a way to make our teen website more accessible through google.

In the mean time, how does your library measure up?

And in case you were curious here are the top 10 search terms reported by Symantec on Cnet

1. YouTube
2. Google
3. Facebook
4. Sex
5. MySpace
6. Porn
7. Yahoo
8. Michael Jackson
9. Fred
10. eBay

Other terms that made the top 100 included Eminem (49), the Jonas Brothers (47), iTunes (89), Playboy (also at 89), boobs (28), Wikipedia (14), Webkinz (16), games (17), and swine flu (93).

I’ve been talking to my teens today and found that most of them are using MyYearbook.com to connect with peers because their parents found their MySpace and Facebook page.

I asked them what they thought about adults being on their social networks and they responded that the library would be cool to be friends with, but they do not want their parents or teachers on the network they use with their friends. Another popular network is Gaia.

What are your teens using?

For Teen Tech Week this year I tried to do something more low key. Instead of having a big program I optioned to try and promote the different technology-related services the library offers by giving teens a list of questions to answer and tasks to complete. I tried to make them fun; the questions I used are below.

My goal was to promote library services, so I told my staff that they could hand out the questions to any patrons. I was given two $10 Borders gift certificates to give away as an incentive for the teens to complete 8 out of 10 tasks, and so far no teen has turned the sheet back in. However, this sheet has started many conversations with teens about what some of the things on the list are. Most didn’t know what Biography Resource Center was (the first technology on the list), and a few didn’t know what an audiobook was. All week reference staff and I have been explaining what the technologies on the list are, and how to use them. In that sense I think this has been a great success.

I also took the time to share the list with my local middle and high schools. Explaining that they could print it out and share with their teens as part of Teen Tech Week if they wished. I was happy to hear back from one of the librarians, who shared it with her teachers. Surprisingly she said some of the teachers only knew about one of the technologies on the list: Place a Hold.

While the program didn’t go exactly the way I intended I found it was a great conversation starter. Most of the time I don’t even think about what services the teens know about but don’t ask for. I do promote audiobooks when teens ask for books to read, but it’s harder to promote audiobooks during an Anime Club.

And now for the questions I used:

1. Look up a celebrity in Biography Resource Center.

2. Follow us on Twitter (https://twitter.com/teenPCLS). Your username_______________________________

3. Email a copy of your avatar for the Teen Area. send to my email.

4. Listen to a CD, Playaway, or Downloadable audiobook

Title _______________________________________

Did you like it? __ Yes __ No

5. Post a book review a book in our catalog or on one of the library’s booklist

Title ____________________________________

6. Place a hold on an item from another branch

7. Check out a DS

Game ___________________________________

Did you like it? __ Yes __ No

8. Talk to a Live Homework Help Tutor in any subject

Your question _____________________________

________________________________________

Was the tutor helpful? __ Yes __ No

9. Post a comment on the teen blog

Title of post ___________________________

10 Use Novelist to find a read-alike for your favorite book

Book _________________________________

Did you find a similar title that looks good? __ Yes __ No

FYI- Hulu.com now has a channel where anime fans can watch Naruto, Death Note, and Mushi-shi free, legally online.  If you see someone on the internet terminals watching these shows on YouTube or other websites you can share this legal way of watching the shows.

I’m a fan of Hulu.com. Linda Braun mentioned it previously when it was still in Beta. Over the past year Hulu has grown, as have the minds of many studio executives. Hulu has worked with studios to allow anyone to watch TV episodes and movies online for free. Some of the studios limit the license to the three most recent episodes, meaning older episodes are not always available, but over all, I’m fond of this service and what it means for the future of entertainment.

On Tuesday Hulu released episodes of Naruto, Death Note and Mushi-shi. These are the shows I see my teens watching on Youtube and other websites on our internet computers. I’ve made an effort today to let the teens who love these shows know that they are available online, legally. I don’t know how long these episodes will be up, but I hope that if more anime fans watch the episodes on Hulu, instead of one of the fan created sites, that more studios will find ways to make anime available online as an alternative to all of the sites that offer pirated copies.

I was at Target today and I saw and interesting “thing” that got me thinking about school supplies. Livescribe has created a pen that not only records audio, but if you are taking notes on the specal paper will be able to play back the lecture when you tap on your notes. There is a usb attached to the pen so you can copy your notes into your computer as a image or as a video that replays the notes you took while playing the lecture.

This sounds really cool, especially for students who stuggle to learn in traditional lectures. However the pen costs about $150, and the paper goes for $20 for 400 sheets. This seems very expensive for students to use. I would hate to loose one of these pens if I was 13. I’d love to see teachers provide classroom sets but until every student has their own personal computer I doubt smart pen will be on a school’s supply list.

My husband has been waiting for Spore for two years now. Its a game created by designer Will Wright. The same guy who made SimCity and The Sims. The focus of the game is the development of a creature through various stages of civilization. Starting at single celled organism and reaching space exploration society the player gets to control what the species looks like as well as design buildings and vehicles. Its a cute game but this post isn’t about Spore. Its about the DRM on Spore.

Sunday was release day of Spore, and many fans chose to preload the game. This means that you pay for the game before launch day, and at a specific time it automatically downloads to your computer. The version my husband bought will be saved electronically for 2 years in case we need to download it again.  What gamers that pre-ordered disc copies of this game, or bought them in a store on Sunday didn’t realize is that EA has only given you permission to install the game onto your computer from discs three times. If you need more than this you can simply call EA explain the circumstances for how you used your three installs and possibly get another. However computer enthusiasts that frequently upgrade their computers are concerned that this means EA is going to force them to buy a new copy of the game.  So about 1,000 users have taken action by informing potential buyers on Amazon of this situation by spamming the review system with 1 star reviews.

Bloggers have been buzzing about this today mentioning that reviews on other sites such as www.gamespot.com and www.gamestop.com informing future buyers that you only get three installs per disk have been deleted making the ratings for the games a crystal 5.

As if you didn’t have ample opportunity to talk about DRM as it relates to music now is another chance for you to have a discussion with your teens about DRM and games. I hope the general news will report on the various websites that are deleting reviews that talk about the DRM, because of this whole situation that may be the scariest part. I look forward to talking with my teens about this situation and ask them what they would do in EA’s shoes.

As you all  probably know there is an election this November, and this year’s election process seems to be quite different from previous years. More candidates have made an effort to create social networks and be visible online. This has made it feel like the voters are closer to the candidates than previous races, and caused many individuals of all ages to try to spread the word about the various candidates in places that aren’t the best for sharing this information.  I’ve witnessed an increase in debates recently  at work, on the radio and even on one of YALSA’s listservs.

As librarians it’s our job to provide information about all sides of all issues along with information about registering to vote.  What we sometimes forget is that since our society is a democracy, we must let everyone make decisions about a candidate on their own, which when you feel passionately about something can be hard to do. While it can be difficult, we can’t share our personal convictions with others because we have to have faith in the system and the people to make the decision that is best for them. Imagine how hard it must be for teens who do not get a chance to vote in this year’s election to keep their opinions about which candidate is best fit for a position. While we want to encourage them to be interested in the election process, we also can help them find healthy places to talk about the candidates.

While teens can’t vote there are some websites available to help them understand the election process, talk about the issues, and host their own election.

Rock the Vote is geared toward voters under 30, encouraging them to vote, read and discuss the candidates stand on issues. The teen version UrVoteCounts features more tween stars, and encourages teens to think about what they would do if they could vote

CreateDebate is a discussion board founded by a debate team in Connecticut. They are hosting a blog that teens can post about the issues and discuss topics in the comments.

Scholastic is offering teachers resources about elections, and hosting a Student Vote for President election.

PBS has developed a website, called the Vote, which uses short videos to illustrate the election process while talking about specific issues. Also on this website focusing on the general election teachers and librarians can find downloadable lesson plans about the election process.

Teen Vogue has also created a blog called Political partner to host conversations about the election.

Myspace is even getting into the election providing teens a place to talke abou the presidental candidates on Myspace Impact which focuses on many issues and Decision08 which is set up as a friendable profile.

Lastly, Campus Activism. org has developed a Facebook application that allows college students to easily register for this year’s election. This seems like a interesting idea to encourage more youth to vote.

So as we enter this presidential election, we can encourage teens to find positive ways to not only learn about the candidates, but also talk about the candidates.

Magazines are becoming a thing of the past as many article focused publications move online. However this leaves out the teens who want to come into the library to browse, it becomes time to submit our requests for next years magazines. At my library no one before me focused a lot of energy on the Teen magazine collection, which has made my job this year to diversify the topics and weed out the under used magazines.  My deadline for turning in requests is August 1st, and while I’m putting the finishing touches on my order I thought I’d share the resources I used to help me select my magazines this coming year:

1. Ask the Teens- One of the first things I did was set out a survey in the magazine area asking the teens what magazines they love, and if there were any magazines we don’t have that are must read. I also brought the survey into one of my teen programs asking the teens for their feedback about the magazines. I didn’t order everything they asked for but I chose titles that we didn’t have anything similar to including a jRock magazine my Anime lovers wanted.

2. Circulation- Our highest circulating magazines just happen to be the gaming and fashion ones. To help broaden the collection last year I added a few test titles to compare which was more popular within a topic.  In July, I looked at each magazines Year to date circulation and compared each titles six month of circulation by topic. (For example I compared the stats of Game Informer, Game Pro, and EGM to each other while  comparing Ignite Your Faith with Breakaway and Brio & Beyond)

3. In-House Use – Over the year, I keep an eye on which magazines were commonly left out on the tables by teens and didn’t put those on the chopping block.

4. VOYA- In the February 2008 and December 2007 Issues of Voya they had two excellent articles on magazines for teens that I used as a reference for balancing my collections.

5. Other libraries – Lastly I asked what the libraries around me were collecting to see if there were any titles I’d completely missed. There have been a few threads on YALSA-BK about the topic of magazines I pulled from as well.

What I found is that the teens want to have pocket size information they can’t get elsewhere. They don’t want the magazines all of their friends subscribe to, but the expensive ones that are from Japan, focus on small specialized topics, and relate directly to them. They want to know what is coming out soon not what is already out, and it showed in what they asked for as well as what they used.

I look forward to getting the new magazines in January and freshening up our magazine collection. However my job is never done, and I anticipate having to do this whole process over again next summer.

Does anyone else have useful tips for New Librarians managing a Magazine collection?

Authors are everywhere at ALA. Some are signing books, promoting an upcoming one, or speaking at programs on a variety of topics. Orson Scott Card is one of the authors here who spoke at a luncheon for the Margaret A. Edwards Award. He won this award for his lifetime contribution to young adult literature, and part of  the process is to invite the winner to a luncheon to speak.

Since that luncheon I’ve heard many people say how great a speaker he is. The one thing many have taken is a that he didn’t write Ender’s Game or any of his books for children, but that they found it on their own.

I’ve heard other authors say this as well, including Stephanie Meyers and Scott Westerfeld. What so you think it is that makes a book YA or Teen?