libraries
« Previous EntriesShades of gray
Monday, November 2nd, 2009Ever since the news of LibLime’s enterprise version of Koha and whether or not their actions consisted a fork of the code, I’ve been thinking about how black and white some of us (me included, at times) tend to see library products and library vendors. Stephen Abram’s “position paper” on open source ILSes got me [...]
Who should teach library instruction?
Thursday, October 1st, 2009Don’t worry, Walt, I won’t apologize for being away and I won’t promise that I’m going to post more often (though I have a lot of ideas for posts, something has been preventing me from getting them out of my head and onto the screen).
Wayne Bivens-Tatum recently wrote a very interesting post questioning who [...]
Roles and responsibilities for 2.0 technologies
Sunday, August 30th, 2009I get asked a lot of things via email from librarians, but very few actually make it to this blog. This question was so interesting and probably better answered by the “hive” than just by little old me. I am also curious how others would respond.
I was wondering if you had any advice or links [...]
It’s not about us (or more ramblings on possessiveness)
Friday, August 28th, 2009I know Jenica wondered if her blog post, Rambling about possessiveness, really had a point, but it was right in line with things I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. Jenica wrote about the fine line between taking ownership of a project/thing in terms of really being really invested in the success or failure of [...]
Help the Louisville Free Public Library!
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009I know a number of people in the Louisville area, so I’ve heard all about the horrible weather they’ve been having this year. But the flooding of the Louisville Free Public Library was the kicker. Check out some of fellow blogger Greg Schwartz’s pictures of the damage — it’s really bad. They’re estimating at least [...]
Day 3 in the life of a head of instructional initiatives
Friday, July 31st, 20098:00 am – Checked my email. Checked reference email accounts. Answered a few reference questions, forwarded a database error on to our Head of Digital Initiatives and a Norwich history question to our Archives.
8:30 am – Director called me into her office to let me know that she’d heard back from the office that created [...]
Great new books on my “to read” list
Monday, July 6th, 2009I must admit that the last time I read a non-baby-related book was probably last Fall. And now all these great books are coming out from the LIS presses that I’m absolutely dying to read! This is torture!
The one I’m probably most excited about is Chrystie Hill’s long-awaited Inside, Outside and Online which is all [...]
2.0 or and bust
Saturday, July 4th, 2009
Since before my brain was hijacked by baby stuff, I’ve been thinking a lot about how many third party Web 2.0 vendors libraries are dependent upon (not to mention all the ones we’re dependent on personally!). I actually wrote a column for American Libraries on the subject, but 600 words could not reflect the whole [...]
Do you link to Harvard Business Review from EBSCO?
Friday, June 26th, 2009Paul Pival wrote today and yesterday about “mafia tactics by Harvard Business School Publishing”, wherein they are trying to charge libraries to link to articles from Harvard Business Review in EBSCO for online classroom use and then are turning off PURLs to HBR articles in Business Source products if the school refuses to pay.
I’ve known [...]
Do we need library ombudsmen?
Wednesday, June 17th, 2009I recently had a not-so-fun experience with our local hospital which reminded me of how important it is to ensure one’s front-line staff are empowered to question things.
During our childbirth class – which was sponsored by the hospital where I was going to be giving birth – we were told by our childbirth educator that [...]
Didn’t know I needed to be a salesperson
Friday, April 10th, 2009Yes, I knew I’d have to teach people how to use email. And unjam printers. And help people use copiers. But I don’t think I ever understood in library school how important sales and marketing would be to the success of our profession.
Within a month of starting work as the Distance Learning Librarian at [...]
I’ve been provoked!
Thursday, April 2nd, 2009Steven Bell commented in a recent ACRLog post that there hasn’t been much reaction to the Taiga Forum Provocative Statements. I’ve seen a few reactions online and here’s mine — YAWN.
Seriously, I found a lot more to like about John Dupuis’ crititicisms of the Taiga Forum Provocative Statements than about the statements themselves. I’m just [...]
Congrats to the 2009 Movers and Shakers!
Monday, March 16th, 2009Take a look at this truly amazing group of people that Library Journal chose to recognize this year. I’ve never known more folks on the list and so many are folks I absolutely adore:
Sarah Houghton-Jan – it’s kind of amazing that she had not been recognized as a Mover and Shaker before this given the [...]
It’s not all about the tech – why 2.0 tech fails
Saturday, March 14th, 2009Yesterday, I gave a talk for the ACRL Virtual Conference entitled Can’t Get There From Here: Achieving Organization 2.0. If you’re registered for the Virtual Conference or the regular ACRL Conference, you can access the archive of the talk, and if not, my slides and links to what I discussed are provided on my presentation [...]
Want to come work for me?
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009We are sadly losing our beloved Distance Learning Librarian to her family (but good for her!), so we are again in the position of looking for a new Distance Learning Librarian. The position reports to me and I’ve had a wonderful time mentoring our current DLL and growing in my role as a manager. I [...]
Separate but not equal?
Saturday, January 10th, 2009When I read David King’s post about Ask-a-Librarian services last week, I didn’t have a strong emotional response to it. That was, until he wrote a follow up which brought my attention to some of the responses people had made to it. With email reference, it’s pretty obvious that it’s not a synchronous medium. We [...]
Technology education and the “real world”
Monday, December 15th, 2008I just love that feeling of serendipity when I find that people are thinking about the same things I am at the same time. Karin Dalziel made an impassioned case for every librarian to learn how to program. Dorothea Salo responded to it and described how she thinks technology should be taught in library school. [...]
TRLN Management Academy: Inspiring!
Thursday, December 11th, 2008I know people have been bemoaning the death of blogging in recent months. I certainly haven’t helped any with my lack of posting, but it’s certainly not from a lack of inspiration nor from my immersion with microblogging (which I’ve never quite managed to get into on a regular basis). I actually have lots of [...]
What’s new at Maintain IT
Friday, November 7th, 2008The Maintain IT project is awesome, so when equally awesome Stephanie Gerding asked me to pass on info about their new offerings, I didn’t hesitate:
The MaintainIT Project is pleased to announce the latest Cookbook! “Planning for Success, a guide for the overworked librarian” http://www.maintainitproject.org/cookbooks/planning-for-success
This free online resource brings together the most current ideas and best [...]
The Abbreviated Fall Speaking Tour
Monday, October 13th, 2008With the pregnancy, I tried to keep my speaking schedule light for Fall. However, all three of the talks I’m giving fall within a two-week period, so it’s made me a bit harried in October. Last Tuesday, I gave a webinar for METRO NYC which was very fun, but it’s always weird to give a [...]
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