Library Change Management…08.16.09

Here is a good audio and video presentation from Dave Lankes worth the time viewing titled Change Management for Connecticut Screencast which he did forf the CLA/CLC Connecticut Leadership Institute.

TOMORROW – OPALescence: FREE Online Library Conference…08.12.09

OPALescence

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Noon Eastern Time, 11 a.m. Central, 10 Mountain, 9 Pacific, and 4 p.m. GMT:

Opening Keynote: The Future of User Experience in Libraries
Speaker: Nate Bolt
The User Experience (UX) primarily involves the experience of the library user, drawing from the successes and failures of human-to-technology interface design. Usability, aesthetics, community, collections and customer service are the key tenants of this user-centric service initiative. But you don’t have to have a huge staff or big tech budget. UX Expert, Nate Bolt shares ideas for free and easy Library UX improvements.
Location: Rialto

1 p.m. Eastern Time, noon Central, 11 a.m. Mountain, 10 Pacific, and 5 p.m. GMT:

Topic: Librarians in Virtual Environments: From Classrooms to Communities
Speaker: Alison Miller
Libraries and librarians have made great progress in engaging in virtual environments. We are often the first to try new things: technology, social media/networks, enhanced services, etc. Alison will share ideas and examples of successful engagement along with areas identified as needing improvement.
Location: Rialto

Unconference Session: Discuss the topics and trends you want!
Discussion Facilitator: Joshua Neff

Location: Strand

2 p.m. Eastern Time, 1 Central, noon Mountain, 11 a.m. Pacific and 6 p.m. GMT: One-Hour Break Time!

3 p.m. Eastern Time, 2 Central, 1 Mountain, noon Pacific, and 7 p.m. GMT:

Topic: Collaboration 2.0
Speaker: Robin Hastings
Join Robin in a discussion of the use of cloud computing tools (Google’s Apps, Blogs, Wikis & other social networking sites) as they are being used in libraries. Learn real-world uses of these tools and discover other ways that libraries could make use of free, easy-to-use cloud computing resources.
Location: Rialto

Unconference Session: Building a Learning Culture
Discussion Facilitators: Cindi Hickey, Brenda Hough, Stephanie Gerding, Betha Gutsche, Kim Priest
Location: Strand

4 p.m. Eastern Time, 3 Central, 2 Mountain, 1 Pacific, and 8 p.m. GMT:

Topic: Erin’s Hour of Awesomeness: Best Practices for Web 2.0 in Schools
Speaker: Erin Downey Howerton
Find out what Web 2.0 tools are being used by teachers around the world to pump up their lesson plans, and what learning institutions can do to help them succeed.
Location: Rialto

Unconference Session: Discuss the topics and trends you want!
Discussion Facilitator: Kaijsa Calkins
Location: Strand

Friday, August 14, 2009

Noon Eastern Time, 11 a.m. Central, 10 Mountain, 9 Pacific, and 4 p.m. GMT:

Topic: Listening to the Future of Reading: Readers’ Advisory and Audio Books
Speaker: Kaite Stover
Audiobooks have been steadily increasing in circulation for many libraries in the past five years. Patrons are beginning to demand certain titles in audio and library staff need to know how to suggest titles to avid listeners. Learn how to employ standard readers’ advisory training to promote titles to library patrons, including “how to listen to a book in fifteen minutes.”
Location: Rialto

Unconference Session: Discuss the topics and trends you want!
Discussion Facilitator: Joe Kraus
Location: Strand

1 p.m. Eastern Time, noon Central, 11 a.m. Mountain, 10 Pacific, and 5 p.m. GMT:

Topic: How American Libraries Are Using Web 2.0 Tools for Marketing
Speaker: Curtis Rogers
Location: Rialto

Unconference Session: Discuss the topics and trends you want!
Discussion Facilitator: Kendra Levine
Location: Strand

2 p.m. Eastern Time, 1 Central, noon Mountain, 11 a.m. Pacific, and 6 p.m. GMT: One-Hour Break Time!

3 p.m. Eastern Time, 2 Central, 1 Mountain, noon Pacific, and 7 p.m. GMT:

Topic: Beyond the Basics: Training for Technological Fluency
Speaker: Brenda Hough
Are you offering technology training for staff and patrons? Join this discussion to share ideas and interactive techniques to address varying skill levels, adapt to multiple learning styles, and deliver technology with greater impact. Provide opportunities for learners to develop skills that will help them adapt and succeed tomorrow as well as meet their needs today.
Location: Rialto

Unconference Session: Discuss the topics and trends you want!
Discussion Facilitator: Michelle Boule
Location: Strand

4 p.m. Eastern Time, 3 Central, 2 Mountain, 1 Pacific, and 8 p.m. GMT:

Closing Keynote: Networking Library Services: A Glimpse at the Future–Moving Library Management Services to Web-Scale
Speaker: Andrew Pace
In April, OCLC announced a strategy to create the first Web-scale, cooperative library management service, extending WorldCat Local to include delivery and circulation, print and electronic acquisitions, and license management. This highly scalable service will allow libraries to preserve the core functionality they require to manage their collections while also creating a platform on which they can better manage and evolve library workflows. Moreover, the service-oriented architecture will allow libraries to interoperate more easily with other local business process systems. Andrew Pace will give a summary of the effort, highlighting key milestones for the project and the opportunities for positive change in libraries.
Location: Rialto

Bad Leaders Stifle Dissent…08.11.09

Here is part of a great post from Ed Batista titled Bad Leader! Stifling Dissent which is worth reviewing for library leaders or potential leaders:

“…Today Bret [Simmons] has a great post on how bad leaders stifle dissent:

1) Your people never see you say no.  You never disagree or challenge the people you work for, so your people never learn from you how to do this with purpose.  You send the very clear message that “no” is not acceptable around here.

2) People that have told you no are gone.  You have systematically removed from your inner circle everyone that disagreed or challenged your policies and decisions.  But that’s ok, because everyone knows they were not team players, or were disloyal or disrespectful.  This is the rhetoric of conformity and exclusion.

I’d add a third behavior to this list: Failing to accept differences of opinion and pushing beyond a reasonable point to obtain uniform public agreement.  Your people don’t feel free to voice disagreement because you hound them until they change their mind (or at least that’s what they appear to be doing.)…”

Beyond Knowledge – A Discourse on Wisdom…08.05.09

The message of the cross of Jesus Christ is foolish to those who are headed for destruction but we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.

As the Scriptures say,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.”

So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters?

God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish.  Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.  It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.

But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.  This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.

OPALescence: A Free Online Library Conference for Everyone…07.21.09

Thursday and Friday, August 13 and 14, 2009 beginning both days at noon Eastern Time, 11:00 a.m. Central, 10:00 a.m. Mountain, 9:00 a.m. Pacific, and 4:00 p.m. GMT:

OPALescence: A Free Online Conference for EveryoneHas your travel budget dried up? Still want that conference experience of fresh ideas, lively conversations, and networking with colleagues? Participate in OPALescence, a free online conference for everyone. We’re planning a series of interesting and informative presentations and discussions spread over a two-day period.

Host: TAP Information Services

This is a free conference, but please Register:tinyURL.com/N4JMV7

OPALescence 2009 Schedule [See below]

[Please Note: More Speakers and Presentations Will be Added as We Move Closer to the Conference Dates. All presentations will be held in OPAL http://www.opal-online.org. Virtual Rooms will be assigned in August. Did you hear a great presentation this year or know of a terrific speaker? We'll invite them! Do you want to speak? Develop a panel? Share names and presentation topics you would like to see as part of OPALescence 2009.]

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Noon Eastern Time, 11 Central, 10 Mountain, and 9 Pacific:

Speaker: Nate Bolt

Topic: The Future of User Experience in Libraries

Location: TBD

1 p.m. Eastern Time, noon Central, 11 Mountain, and 10 Pacific:

Speaker: Alison Miller

Topic: Librarians in Virtual Environments: From Classrooms to Communities

Location: TBD

2 p.m. Eastern Time, 1 Central, noon Mountain, and 11 Pacific:

Speaker: Brenda Hough

Topic: Tech Training

Location: TBD

3 p.m. Eastern Time, 2 Central, 1 Mountain, and noon Pacific:

Speaker: TBD

Topic: TBD

Location: TBD

4 p.m. Eastern Time, 3 Central, 2 Mountain, and 1 Pacific:

Speaker: TBD

Topic: TBD

Location: TBD

Friday, August 14, 2009

Noon Eastern Time, 11 Central, 10 Mountain, and 9 Pacific:

Speaker: Kaite Stover

Topic: TBD

Location: TBD

1 p.m. Eastern Time, noon Central, 11 Mountain, and 10 Pacific:

Speaker: Curtis Rogers

Topic: How American libraries are using Web 2.0 tools for marketing

Location: TBD

2 p.m. Eastern Time, 1 Central, noon Mountain and 11 Pacific:

Speaker: Robin Hastings

Topic: Collaboration 2.0

Location: TBD

3 p.m. Eastern Time, 2 Central, 1 Mountain, and noon Pacific:

Speaker: TBD

Topic: TBD

Location: TBD

JISC – 2009 “Libraries of the Future”…07.20.09

Here is an important video from JISC:

Online Conference for ALL Librarians – OPALescence…07.15.09

OPAL (Online Programming for All Libraries)

OPALescence 2009

A Free Online Library Conference for Everyone

Thursday Aug. 13^th and Friday Aug. 14th

Registration is free, easy, and online: tinyurl.com/N4JMV7

Conference Wiki:
http://opalescence.wetpaint.com/

Hosted by OPAL:  Online Programs for All   (
http://www.opal-online.org
)

(Psst:  Sponsorships are available for as little as $250)

Contact Tom Peters for more info:    tpeters@tapinformation.com or  816.616.6746

“Opalescence:  The state or quality of being luminous, iridescent, and lustrous … like an opal”

ALA 2009 Conference Opinion…07.14.09

An open letter to ALA about the 2009 annual conference from the Library WebHead:

“Dear ALA,

I know that you’re decent folks and have a great social conscience. That’s wonderful. But – unless it relates to things like library’s budgets being cut, better marketing & spokespeople to help libraries publicize their value so they DON’T get cut, pushing for less restrictive copyright legislation, getting database and other vendors to make their licensing more standardized and their systems less proprietary & expensive, opposing the censorship of books/information resources, (library-specific concerns… and there are plenty of them out there) – I don’t want to hear about it at your annual conference.

If members want to be involved in getting troops out of Afghanistan or Iraq or whatever, they can feel free to do so. There’s an array of organizations designed to deal with those issues (have you heard of Moveon.org?).

For as long as ALA distracts itself with geopolitical concerns that are not related specifically to the library profession, it’s taking its eye off the ball. Since there are still such huge concerns out there to contend with as the role of libraries in the future (and even whether or not there is one, let alone what it will look like), I think ALA can’t afford to spend its time on these matters.”

I tend to agree…also what’s up with Christy Hefner as the opening speaker? As ABC news’ John Stossel says, “Give me a break!!”

2009 ALA Conference Begins…07.09.09

ALA Annual Conference was reported today in the Chicago Tribune:

“Thousands of librarians are expected to gather in Chicago starting this week for the American Library Association’s annual conference. 

ALA officials say the conference comes at a time when library use nationwide has soared. But that jump in usage also comes as many public libraries face budget cuts. 

Data compiled by the association show 41 percent of U.S. states reported declining state funding for public libraries in the 2009 fiscal year.

Other issues to be discussed at the conference include technology, literacy and issues school libraries face.

The conference starts Thursday and ends next week.”

*********************************************************************

A great opportunity has arisen.

Perhaps there has never been so much positive publicity in America about libraries and librarians — ironically at a time when libraries and librarians face their biggest challenges from within and without the profession.

Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero – “seize the day and place no trust in tomorrow“! This cannot be just a cliché, an eloquent quote from a bygone era, or an intellectual assent.

Now is the time to exhort our professional colleagues to daily excellence, continual development, proactive planning, and unified advocacy.

Our success or failure will not be determined by new programs or plans, more, bigger or better conferences, education reform , fiscal bailouts or the latest technology.

Success is dependent upon inclusion, relationship and commitment.

“Knowledge Should be Given Away to the World as a Public Good”…07.08.09

The following video discussion of Google’s book scan project on LISNews and notes that ”…James J. Duderstadt [President Emeritus, University of Michigan]…argues that academics are starting to realize that knowledge ‘should be given away to the world as a public good’…”

ALA membership down? Can it be just the economy?…07.08.09

Why can’t non-members attend the ALA 2009 Virtual Conference FREE?

(Maybe the ALA leadership, “movers and shakers”, etc. haven’t read or agree with “The Radical Price” reality of “Free” as Chris Anderson’s new book explains).

Why is ALA still so exclusive in the age of “FREE”?

Mmmmmmmmmmm…

Tradition? Nepotism? Hubris? Ignorance?

“…Those not attending Conference in-person can register for the Virtual Conference online through the ALA Web site. The cost is $215 for ALA members, $210 for division members, $120 for student members, $145 for retired members, $298 for non-members and $215 for institutional members.

Libraries or schools can also receive the following special group rates: $300 for one to three employees; $500 for four to nine employees; and $1000 for 10-plus employees.“

I wonder how much extra it would actually cost ALA to provide it FREE?

Surely, not much.

Librarians and Libraries Must “Strike While the Iron’s Hot”…07.07.09

First Lone Wolf Rant:

Are we up to the task at this pivotal time?

A great opportunity has arisen of which we have all seen. Perhaps there has never been so much positive publicity in America about libraries and librarians — ironically at a time when libraries and librarians face their biggest challenges from within and without the profession.

Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero – “seize the day and place no trust in tomorrow“! This cannot be just a cliché, an eloquent quote from a bygone era, or an intellectual assent.

Now is the time to exhort our professional colleagues to daily excellence, continual development, proactive planning, and unified advocacy. Our success or failure will not be determined by new programs, plans, conferences, education or technology.

Success is dependent upon inclusion, relationship and commitment.

Librarians Remain Filter of “Sincereity”, “Credibility” and “Trust”…07.01.09

Here is an interesting excerpt from Jon Johnson, Client Services Manager for Library Associates Companies / LAC (LibGig’s parent company), from the LibGIG post The Next Big Thing about Jason Cranford Teague‘s talk “Web 2.0 Applications and the Future”:

“…In the Web 3.0 world, websites will need ‘Sincerity’ as a key ingredient in terms of attracting visitors who come back and use the service, or to follow the traffic generated. Two other aspects that go hand-in-hand with ‘Sincerity’ are ‘Credibility’ and ‘Trust.’ The sites and services that have these three aspects will be the ones that are visited most and gain the most traffic. The drawback to this is the risk that people will tend to those sources that most speak to them, rather than becoming more exposed to different views and tones of dialogue, although I found surprising that he refuted the common misconception that people read what they can on the internet and take it as truth. He said that his research found the opposite is actually true, particularly with the younger generation of users. They tend to look at content and information much more skeptically than people realize, more so than any other generation. The most trusted source of information for the younger generation of Americans is Jon Stewart firs and Steven Colbert second — I rest my case.

Here is the crux of his talk: historically there has always been ‘Trusted Filters’— people or organizations that have the trust and credibility to present information correctly. Examples are parents, teachers, and LIBRARIANS; these are people who are trusted to provide the information requested in a way that is not colored and is more forthright and honest. Those networks have, over time, moved from the home/neighborhood to the media (print, radio, TV which is now too colored to be credible), to the computer (too much information to filter through). The next step will be to leverage applications like Twitter, Facebook, etc. to search out sources of information. Finding “Trusted Filters” is the next step in Web 3.0 evolution, networks of people sharing information that filter the news and information they receive and consider when making decisions.

Teague says there are applications/websites that are starting to move in this direction. Tiseme.com and vark.com are two such applications. They will take your IM buddy list and link through all your buddies to source out experts in certain fields who may best be able to answer a question.”

Warning to Libraries and Librarians…07.01.09

Judith A. Siess on the OPL Plus (not just for OPLs anymore) highlights an interesting and very importnat article/warning in her post Lessons for Corporate Librarins –and Others which is excerpted here:

“‘“When the Internet as a popular research tool began affecting the lives of librarians and information professionals and their clients, accountability for contributing to the mission (i.e., bottom line) of one’s parent organization—whether a for-profit or not-for-profit—became the most critical driver behind the survival of corporate libraries.’

Thus begins a great article by special library gurus Toby Pearlstein (retired from Bain & Co., Inc., Boston, Massachusetts) and James Matarazzo(retired Dean, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Simmons College, Boston). They outline the ways corporate librarians can—and, in fact, must—make their value known to the decision-makers in their organizations…

Read, understand, internalize, and implement the message in this article—before it’s too late for you!

Citation:
Pearlstein, Toby and James Matarazzo, Survival Lessons for Librarians: Corporate Libraries—A Soft Analysis and a Warning, Searcher 17(6):12-17,52, June 2009, available for US$2.95 at
http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/jun09/index.shtml
“

FREE This Friday Online – An Informal Conversation about the Future of ALA, Libraries, and Librarianship…06.16.09

This week on OPAL (Online Programming for All Libraries)

Friday, June 19, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time, noon Central, 11:00 a.m. Mountain, 10:00 a.m. Pacific, and 5:00 p.m. GMT:

ALA Connections Salon: The Future, with Special Guest Joe Janes, Assoc. Professor in the Information School at the University of WashingtonJoin us for an informal conversation about the future of ALA, libraries, and librarianship.

Host: American Library Association

Location: ALA OPAL 100 Room

Note: All OPAL public events are free of charge and open to everyone worldwide. Most OPAL online programs last about an hour.

Social Libraries and the Growing Need for Social Librarians…06.10.09

There is a good INMAGIC post - When Libraries Go Social, Role of Librarians Becomes More Important Than Ever – that articulates the current and expanding roles of librarians as our professional and technological world continues to evolve which is excerpted here:

“When we talk about the trend towards social libraries, one of the next major questions on librarians’ minds is, What’s going to happen to me? How is my role affected? The answer has a bright outlook, because with social libraries comes the need for social librarians.

It’s a role that calls upon core skills of content management, organization, and tech savvy, and asks librarians to take them to a new level, making the role more important than ever. We’ll explore it more below in our latest Social Libraries 101 course.

In a social library, librarians continue to manage diverse information provided by content publishers, including business, scientific, technical, and community information (traditional, vetted content). But patrons are allowed to add tags, comments, and ratings (social content), which increases content quality, as we discussed last week.

A librarian is needed to oversee content development, maintain structure, and manage this content community. The social librarian assumes the crucial role of information organizer and moderator, managing both vetted and social information. Social librarians monitor and modify taxonomies as patrons browse and categorize information on their own. They sit at the center of the knowledge repository, and manage the knowledge community and its assets, such as by ‘weeding and feeding.’…

Librarian – The Obsolete Man?…06.10.09

Many thanks to Library Attack for pointing out the great and in many ways powerful “The Obsolete Man“ episode of The Twilight Zone with Burgess Meredith and Fritz Weaver about a librarian “who is deemed ‘obsolete’ by a dystopian future.”

It’s extremely interesting to me that the aforementioned librarian also 1) believes in God and 2) has as his most valuable possession a Bible. [I often forget we  Americans, in 1961, including those in the theater and librarians, weren't  as "intelligent", "enlightened" and "politically correct" as they are today. ]

Regardless of your position, you can enjoy “The Obsolete Man” on several levels – even if it is from 1961.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

FREE August 13, 2009 Online Conference for ALL Librarians…06.09.09

NO FEES – NO DUES – NO TRAVEL

ALL Librarians Can Support & Participate

OPAL (Online Programming for All Libraries) is planning something special:

Thursday, August 13, 2009 beginning at noon Eastern Time, 11:00 a.m. Central, 10:00 a.m. Mountain, 9:00 a.m. Pacific, and 4:00 p.m. GMT:

OPALESCENCE: A Free Online Conference for All Librarians

Has your travel budget dried up? Still want that conference experience of fresh ideas, lively conversations, and networking with colleagues?

Participate in OPALESCENCE, a free online conference for all librarians and fellow travelers. We’re planning a series of interesting and informative presentations and discussions spread over a two-day period. Watch this space for more announcements.

Host: TAP Information Services

Schedule of Events: OPALESCENCE Conference Schedule (coming soon)

OPALESCENCE – NEW FREE Online Library Conference…05.26.09

Redux: Important NEW and FREE Online Conference OPEN TO ALL

Cool – you don’t have to join a club

NO FEES – NO DUES – NO TRAVEL —- Just Right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OPAL (Online Programming for All Libraries) is planning something special:

Thursday, August 13, 2009 beginning at noon Eastern Time, 11:00 a.m. Central, 10:00 a.m. Mountain, 9:00 a.m. Pacific, and 4:00 p.m. GMT:

OPALESCENCE: A Free Online Conference for All Librarians Has your travel budget dried up? Still want that conference experience of fresh ideas, lively conversations, and networking with colleagues? Participate in OPALESCENCE, a free online conference for all librarians and fellow travelers. We’re planning a series of interesting and informative presentations and discussions spread over a two-day period. Watch this space for more announcements.

Host: TAP Information Services Schedule of Events: OPALESCENCE Conference Schedule (coming soon)

Questioning Library Neutrality: Essays from Progressive Librarian-”The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”…05.24.09

I hate to draw attention to something as foolish as Questioning Library Neutrality: Essays from Progressive Librarian but I couldn’t refrain myself after reading the introduction on Memorial Day weekend. What a piece of drivel! –  Ok, it is “professional drivel”.

As a proponent of free speech, their right to publish and promote their “work” is unquestioned.  However, the content in a mishmash of “politically correct” nonsense.

I just hope our other professional peers aren’t afraid to stand up to this kind of “progressive” tirade against the “Library Bill of Rights” and genuine freedom under the guise of scholarship.

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”

“Social Networking Literacy Competencies for Librarians”…05.23.09

Thanks to The Resource Shelf for pointing out the recent paper Social Networking Literacy Competencies for Librarians: Exploring Considerations and Engaging Participation by Joe Murphy and Heather Moulaison from the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) 14th National Conference, Pushing the Edge: Explore, Engage, Extend at Seattle, Washington on March 14, 2009.

“From the Paper:

The social networking literate librarian possesses the skills necessary providing services in and with online social networking sites

Social networking sites are extremely popular across age groups and are central forums
for accessing and sharing information. Librarians are responding to the popularity of social
networking sites and their expanding role in the creation, use, and sharing of information by
engaging them as a central medium for interacting with library patrons and providing services to
meet their information needs.

Librarians need a new branch of skill sets specific to utilizing and leveraging social
networking sites to provide quality services and maintain their role as information experts in a Web 2.0 world.”

 

FREE Online Conference for ALL Librarians – “OPALESCENCE”…05.22.09

Cool – you don’t have to join a club

NO FEES – NO DUES – NO TRAVEL —- Just Right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OPAL (Online Programming for All Libraries) is planning something special:

Thursday, August 13, 2009 beginning at noon Eastern Time, 11:00 a.m. Central, 10:00 a.m. Mountain, 9:00 a.m. Pacific, and 4:00 p.m. GMT:

OPALESCENCE: A Free Online Conference for All Librarians Has your travel budget dried up? Still want that conference experience of fresh ideas, lively conversations, and networking with colleagues? Participate in OPALESCENCE, a free online conference for all librarians and fellow travelers. We’re planning a series of interesting and informative presentations and discussions spread over a two-day period. Watch this space for more announcements. 

Host: TAP Information Services Schedule of Events: OPALESCENCE Conference Schedule (coming soon)

FREE Webinar – “Innovation Starts with ‘I’”…05.20.09

Helene Blowers mentioned that she will be featured in the following FREE webinar Friday:

“…Project Play is a collaboration of South Central Library System, Outagamie Waupaca Library System, and Winnefox Library System in Wisconsin that encourages the on-going exploration of new technologies. The collaboration, as you might guess, started out as combined effort to support 23 Things and has successfully grown beyond the original objectives into an on-going commitment to staff development.

This Friday, I happen to be the guest speaker for one of their popular ‘play dates’ (aka webinars) and will be doing a talk about innovation. Registration is free and I’m told open all. So if you’re in the mood for a ‘play date‘, why not join us!

Innovation Starts with “I” - webinar, Friday, May 22, 11am est...”

Register Here

“The World is Flat 3.0″ Video…05.15.09

Although this is an old video, “The World is Flat 3.0”  is an excellent tool to discuss with management the scope of change facing all organizations in the 21st century.

Here is the description from Academic Earth:

“Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman speaks on the MIT campus to discuss the 2007 update to his bestseller The World is Flat. He also provides a preview of his latest book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded.”

New Journal of Collaborative Librarianship Online…05.13.09

Stephen Abram points out the new Journal of Collaborative Librarianship:

Collaborative Librarianship
Vol 1, No 1 (2009)

Collaborative Librarianship
Vol 1, No 2 (2009)

Librarianship Vision…05.08.09

Below is an excerpt from Wayne Bivens-Tatum’s post On The Vision Thing this week on a unified vision for librarianship from his Academic Librarian blog which is insightful.  I would recommend reading the entire post.

“Somehow today I stumbled upon this commentary by Carl Grant, the president of Ex Libris North America. In it, Grant expresses his disappointment over a lack of leadership or vision for librarianship. ‘As a librarian in the United States, I’m growing more and more upset and outraged about the lack of a national vision for librarianship. Where is our professional leadership in this time of economic crisis? Who is describing a vision that inspires us and that we can support?’ Given the recent ‘Darien Statements‘ and my own occasional ruminations on the subject, there is evidence that some librarians desire a large and meaningful discussion about vision and purpose, and I can certainly understand the frustration Grant feels.

What I’m not so sure about, which I also discussed concerning the ‘Darien Statements,’ is whether there can be such a ‘national vision for librarianship,’because it’s not clear that librarianship is itself a unified field. Grant discusses a Chronicle article calling for a national educational agenda that considers higher education a public good again rather than as a place for states to save money by cutting it to the bone. Grant comments: ‘There are some wonderful messages and ideas in that article that can be applied directly to libraries (frequently, with little more than a word swap).’ I tend to agree, but it’s not clear that ‘librarianship’ as a field is even as coherent as ‘higher education,’ and ‘higher education’ itself verges on incoherence these days if we included Harvard, the University of Phoenix, community college systems, and your local Bible college…

For there to be such a vision, there would have to be some agreement on what it is libraries in theory should do, but what libraries do in practice varies considerably…

The goal of the Library or the vision of Librarianship cannot be separated from larger goals of society, and the larger goals that seem to stir people the most are related to education, politics, and economics. Educational institutions are here to teach people and allow them to fulfill their potential as well as shape them into good citizens and productive workers. If there is to be a grand vision, it seems it would have to have this as the goal.

But would a vision like that guide every library and every librarian?…”

“21 Reasons Why Learning About Emerging Technologies is Part of Every Librarian’s Job”…05.06.09

Thanks to Judith Siess at OPL Plus for poining out Kathryn Greenhill’s 21 reasons why learning about emerging technologies is part of every librarian’s job… with the following list:

“..1. Performing core business better…

2. Increased productivity…

3. Gaining international perspective…

4. Finding out what other libraries are doing…

5. Understanding all formats of information…

6. Trend watching…

7. Repurposing our traditional skills…

8. Understanding technical background when dealing with vendors…

9. Being prepared for when a tool moves out of early adoption phase…

10. Understanding the redefinition of our core business…

11. Managing our tech-savvy workers…

12. No-one else knows your users as well as you do…

13. Fun….

14. Providing better service to our clients…

15. So we can tell the IT department what we want…

16. Our professional users are required to keep up…

17. Many user interfaces have become ‘pseudo-standards’…

18. Can’t predict the future–-so experimentation is insurance…

19. Crowds are fickl…

20. Collaborate better…

21. Experimenting increases skills…”

Participatory Librarianship Keynote Title and Abstract…04.21.09

This is a very important and interesting abstract and keynote title from Dave Lankes, associate professor at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies, about the “Conversants” project from his post today “Conversants Keynote Title and Abstract” that articulates “participatory librarianship”:

“…The mission of librarians is to improve society through facilitating knowledge creation in their communities. Through service, innovation, and leadership librarians facilitate conversations in schools, communities, colleges, government, businesses, and beyond. It is this act of facilitation of knowledge in partnership with communities that makes a library – not collections, blogs, catalogs, or ivy on walls. This is the central premise of participatory librarianship. This keynote will explore the new role of librarians as a passionate and powerful force focused on the social good. It will present a unifying approach to librarianship that seeks to make sense of Library 2.0 and information commons alike.”

The State of America’s Libraries Report 2oo9 Released…04.17.09

ALA this week released The State of America’s Libraries Report 2oo9.

“The importance of libraries in American life continued to grow in 2008—and accelerated dramatically as the national economy sank and people looked for sources of free, effective help in a time of crisis.

A Harris Poll released in September revealed that 68 percent of Americans have a library card, an increase of 5 percent since 2006. In-person visits increased 10 percent in the same period, and 76 percent of Americans had visited their local public library in the year preceding the survey, compared with 66 percent two years ago. Online-visit data were even more remarkable: 41 percent of library card holders visited their library websites in the year before the poll, compared with 24 percent in 2006.

Libraries, an excellent community resource in ordinary times, in extraordinary times become something of a goldmine…”

Starting Participatory Librarianship Conversations…04.16.09

Watch Virtual Dave Lankes‘ good video presentation Conversing About Conversations about beginning conversations about participatory librarianship in advance of Conversants Online Conference/Coversation.

“…Announcing ‘Conversants A Participatory Conversation,’ a new idea in professional development for challenging economic times.

We invite you to join the movement to create and share information through worldwide coordinated conversations. Library communities and organizations are uniquely poised to employ the latest collaborative resources; the conversations that result from these collaborations hold great promise for students and practitioners across the information professions. Sharing knowledge and expertise via these collaborative conversations as part of a united effort is both beneficial and necessary, so we invite you lend your voice and join us in this unique event. Become a Conversant!

This effort is spearheaded by R. David Lankes with support from the Information Institute at Syracuse University, librarians and library students.

Theme: Participatory Librarianship

Save the date: Session Proposals are Due April 16th and Ongoing Virtual Sessions will begin April 30th, 2009. A Hybrid Event will take place at ALA in Chicago…”