I got an interesting question from a reader that I really wanted to open up to the community on my blog rather than pretending that I’m knowledgeable enough to answer this question by myself: I have been reading your blog and since you have expertise with wikis I am seeking your advice. I am applying …
I recently revamped the subject guide for our Information Assurance (basically Info Security) masters program. One thing I did was mix together several info security news feeds into one using RSS Mix and syndicated it on the Web page using Feed2JS (which we now have installed on our own server — makes it MUCH faster). …
You know, I’m really going to end up running out of titles for my wiki posts, but that’s a good sign. It is so exciting and gratifying to me to see the number of people and organizations who have adopted wikis for personal and professional uses. I honestly don’t know of an easier or better …
Since posting about social networking software almost 2 weeks ago, I have been corresponding with Oceana Wilson of the Crossett Library at Bennington College. They are the library that has been soliciting feedback from students on Facebook about what materials they’d like the library to order. Oceana and I are both curious about the policies …
I’ve been listening and quietly taking in all of the talk about social networking software and the library’s place (if any) in that software. I’ve raised a few questions on e-mail lists about whether or not we are invading our patrons’ space by building presence in MySpace and Facebook (perhaps) and whether it is at …
Before I started my job, there were no instructional materials provided to online students on how to use the library resources (there also was no distance learning librarian to create instructional materials). Not surprisingly, there were lots of students e-mailing the library every week with access problems and research questions. Students in certain programs — …
Last November, I went to a meeting of Vermont colleges where we discussed doing more consortial activities. We broke up into groups to discuss different ideas and then reported to everyone at the meeting. One of the things we discussed in our group was the idea of skill-sharing. It is often the case in smaller …
In mid-May, I’m giving an hour-long talk at the Vermont Library Association’s Annual Conference about using social software in academic libraries. The majority of the population I’ll be talking to has not used any of these tools, so I’m trying to figure out what would be most valuable to talk about. I’m torn between providing …
If you haven’t taken a look at this terrific library marketing video from LIS students at the University of Pittsburgh, what are you waiting for? These students could teach experienced library marketing experts a thing or two about selling the library to young people.
I just wanted to let you all know that today is the first day of the Library and Information Resources track of HigherEd BlogCon. We’ve got a great schedule of presentations this week that cover a wide range of topics dealing with technology in libraries. If you’d like to take part in the conference, all …
This has been a rockin’ week for reading — I wish I actually had more time to do it. Rachel Singer Gordon wrote an amazing column for Library Journal entitled “Secure Our Professional Future”. In it, she makes some very good points about the reality of the current job market and how important it is …
I’ve been doing a whole lot of thinking lately about helping patrons, marketing our services, and just generally about making libraries better. Something Steven Bell wrote recently got me thinking about the idea that there are some librarians who just don’t want to improve libraries: Is there anyone out there who doesn’t think that making …
OK, so I’m not a marketing expert by any stretch of the imagination. But I know that we need some serious marketing PR stuff to go on at my library. We have very low reference desk usage stats. I think part of it might be the population (over 50% military) but a lot of it …
This may be the longest I’ve gone without writing in my blog since I started it. Sorry ’bout that. All the craziness that went on in the comments section of my blog regarding Library 2.0 really made me want to take a break. I didn’t have the mental energy to defend myself or explain myself …
I think the presentation went really well yesterday! A crazy number of people showed up — 120 at one point. So of course with that many people, the co-browsing didn’t work and I think we may have hurt a few servers trying to all hit them at once, but I was able to talk about …
I’m not the most patient person in the world (I can just imagine my husband snickering when he reads this). Ok, I’m really impatient. I have a lot of ideas and I want them all to happen NOW. I can sometimes get discouraged by people’s negative reactions to an idea I have. It’s definitely something …
Since the fall, I’ve pretty much been processing my thoughts about Library 2.0 on this blog in real-time. If one is going for ideological consistency, it’s probably not the best way to do things, but it is the most human way. I’ve been learning and reflecting and sharing those reflections with you. Walt’s excellent piece …
In New Jersey, the Camden County Library System did just that. In November, they opened Shelf Life, a decidedly non-traditional branch of the library at the Echelon Mall in Voorhees. They managed to get the space donated by the company that manages the mall and created a hip place for patrons to visit with computers …
It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No! It’s Library 2.0! What is Library 2.0? Is it all about technology? It is new? Is it just old? If Library 2.0 were an animal, what would it be? Does any of it really matter? Why do people like to squish things into these neat little boxes as …