A little over two months ago I wrote about the issues I have with the ALA. This was in light of Jenny’s complaints about the ALA charging her registration for PLA when she was flying to Boston just to speak at the conference. For me, it was pretty much the straw that broke the camel’s …
Ok, well maybe a 15 minute Cybertour isn’t such a big deal for seasoned speakers like Michael Stephens or Alane Wilson, but this is going to be my very first time speaking at a conference. Ever. And for someone who avoided taking classes in college with fewer than 20 people because she was afraid of …
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 …
In a month where lots of people seem to be making major transitions, I am so happy to congratulate Michael Stephens for his appointment to a tenure-track teaching position at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Dominican University!!! I’m happy not only for Michael but for the students who will benefit from …
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 …
For those who don’t know, I am currently writing a book on libraries and technology. At this point, I can’t even imagine what life would be like if I didn’t spend every weekend doing research and writing. I mean, I do something book-related almost every day, so it’s completely sewn into the fabric of my …
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 …
January 31st is the deadline for submissions to HigherEd BlogCon. If you have some great ideas about how to implement social tools in libraries or are doing cool things at your library, please consider submitting a proposal. One myth I’d like to dispell is that only “BIG names” in the library blogosphere or in librarianship …
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 …
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 posting …
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. You can …
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 to speak at …
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 …
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 applet …
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 provide therapy based …