Presence

I've been dreaming about something like this for a while: Library Lookup. Basically, this is a tool to create bookmarklets (bookmarklets are little javascript tools that are easy to use; they look like links, but they don't take you anywhere. You drag them into your Links section of your browser, and then you can click on them. Call me for more info).

What this bookmarklet does is, let's say you're browsing Amazon.com, and come across a book. You would like to see if your local library has that book available. What I do is open up a new window, go to my library's home page, enter their search engine, type in the name or ISBN number of the book, and sort through the results (as I usually go to the Baltimore County Public Library the result is usually, "We don't have that book."). With the bookmarklet, all I do is mouse over to my Links list, click on the bookmarklet, and I am automatically taken to the results page at my local library. Very, very cool!

The one small issue is that BCPL's library catalogue software only takes POST requests, not GETs, so I can't create a bookmarklet for them (not that it really matters, as they are unlikely to have the book I'm looking for anyway). I'll have to check into BHU and Baltimore City.

A related application: I was on Abebooks.com and I did a search that came up with nothing. They presented me with a link to "Find it at my local library." I clicked through to an application provided by the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC), which prompted me for my zip code. The subsequent search returned results from lots and lots of libraries in the area, including Baltimore City, BHU and Hopkins. I set about feverishly to create a bookmarkelt for this site, but alas, their application is only available through partner's websites.

I remain in search of the perfect Library Lookup tool for my local libraries.

By the way, I've got some BookMarklets for Blogdigger. Drag these guys to your Links menu: Blogdigger Search for Highlighted Text and Blogdigger LinkSearch for Current Page