Archive for December, 2005

CFP: HigherEd BlogCon

Wednesday, December 28th, 2005

As you may know, I’m chairing the Library and Information Resources Track of HigherEd BlogCon, a totally online conference exploring the new technologies being used in higher education. Michelle Boule of the University of Houston is my fabulous partner-in-crime on this venture. The Call for Proposals for HigherEd BlogCon has been finalized, so I’m [...]

Edward Vielmetti: Superpatron

Wednesday, December 28th, 2005

Yesterday, Edward Vielmetti, a very committed patron at the Ann Arbor District Library e-mailed me about an amazing idea he has for improving the Library Success Wiki (stay tuned for more on that — it’s so EXCITING!). When I wrote him back, I called him the “AADL Super Patron,” which is very coincidental, since [...]

The book: progress report

Wednesday, December 28th, 2005

Writing is going well in terms of quantity. I’m nearly halfway done in terms of words written, which I can hardly believe myself. However, given my ineptitude when it comes to citing sources properly, I will definitely have a lot of post-writing work to do. I also haven’t given a thought to [...]

Elf and Privacy Issues

Wednesday, December 28th, 2005

Mary Minnow has written several posts on Library Elf and potential privacy issues. Since my library uses Voyager, I haven’t tried Library Elf out yet, but it’s supposed to create an RSS feed for you to keep track of what you have out, what’s coming due, and where you are on your holds. [...]

Delta Gorran 1990-2005

Wednesday, December 21st, 2005

My dog, Delta, died on Monday. She’d had heart problems for some time, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at her. And she certainly never knew she was sick, energetic as she was. When it came to food, she would run and jump like a puppy. I guess that’s why [...]

Folksonomies and a new librarian blogger

Saturday, December 17th, 2005

Early this week, a new librarian named Ellyssa Kroski wrote me to ask my advice on how to get started on the road to professional writing. I’d say she’s already on the right track. Check out her terrific post (though calling it a post really doesn’t do it justice; it’s really [...]

ALA, relevance, and the almighty dollar

Friday, December 16th, 2005

That Jenny Levine. Always looking for a buck. I mean, the nerve of her thinking that if she’s speaking at a conference and flying out to it on her own dime, that she shouldn’t have to pay (registration) for the pleasure of hearing herself talk. It is her sacred duty and priviledge [...]

Cool things I found this week2

Sunday, December 11th, 2005

Here are some of the great things I’ve found this week:
Roy Tennant’s brilliant What I Wish I Had Known, a reflection on the things he would have been better off knowing back when he was finishing up library school. It’s important for people to reflect on their mistakes, both to learn from them and [...]

I’m talking about wikis!

Sunday, December 11th, 2005

Well, I guess that comes as no surprise, but this time I’ll actually be talking (as opposed to writing)!
I’m so excited to be giving a live online talk about wikis for OPAL (Online Programming for All Libraries). Participation is totally totally free and all you have to do is download a tiny little [...]

A clear vision for the future of your library

Saturday, December 10th, 2005

I’ve been trying to figure out what it is about Library 2.0 that I’m not comfortable with. And again, it was thinking back to my former career that gave me my lightbulb moment. In my second job as a therapist, I was part of a large-scale grant-funded program which required that we [...]

Know a social software mover and shaker?

Sunday, December 4th, 2005

Is your library doing something exciting with social software? Do you know of a library or a librarian who is doing cool stuff with social software? The applications could either be for their patrons or for the profession.
I’m looking for the best examples out there to highlight in my book. I’d love [...]

Technology Implementation: My Brilliant Failures

Sunday, December 4th, 2005

I’m never afraid to try something and have it fail. I’d rather learn from a mistake than learn nothing because I was afraid to make a mistake. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Certainly, in the four months I’ve been at my job, I’ve learned a [...]

We’re hiring

Friday, December 2nd, 2005

Just a head’s up for those on the job hunt, though this is not a position for those who are brand-new librarians. We are hiring a Coordinator of Public Services. Here’s the description and the requirements:
Description: Norwich University’s Kreitzberg Library seeks a dynamic, team-oriented librarian for the position of Coordinator of Public Services. [...]

Cool things I found this week

Thursday, December 1st, 2005

The unsinkable Rachel Singer Gordon’s column about the role Gen-X’ers can play as a bridge between the boomers and the millennials. She’s dead-on and this is an article you should clip out and give to the boomer library administrators you know.
Heidi Dolamore’s blog, Quiddle. Her posts about her job interviews should be read [...]

Where’s my video iPod?

Thursday, December 1st, 2005

Michelle and I were talking today about how easy it can be to get penned into talking about limited subject matters in one’s blog. I know I feel funny when I think about writing about things that have nothing to do with libraries or technology, but I find Michelle’s blog’s lack of a single [...]

Web/Library 2.0 Backlash

Thursday, December 1st, 2005

It’s interesting to watch the lack of dialogue between librarians who are rah-rah Web/Library 2.0 advocates and those who think it’s all a bunch of hot air. It’s like two parallel conversations, with no intersections between the two conversations. The pro-2.0 people don’t defend the concept and the anti-2.0 people don’t seem to [...]