Tame The Web

Nicole writes:

This is an interesting interview:

  

A Year in the Life (via iTunes), originally uploaded by mstephens7.

When I do talks, I always try to relate changes in technology to how they can impact, enhance or chronicle people’s lives. I’ve been highlighting LastFM in The Hyperlinked Libraries and other presentations since 2006. I was pleased to discover a new site called lastgraph - which takes LastFM data and creates graphs and charts. 

Looking at the graph above, I can see major milestones in the last 12 months. It blows my mind how a “year in the life” can be represented by music tracks played, or by Flickr streams, by Facebook statuses, etc. I wonder what stories the graph will tell in ten years?

If you are so inclined to peruse my listening habits (including the huge Xanadu fixation last fall), here’s the full PDF of the graph: lastfmgraph

5 Tips to Help You Live a Well-Balanced Life:

http://www.divinecaroline.com

Tip # 2: Learn Healthy Coping Strategies
Living a balanced life means that it’s important to learn healthy coping strategies. We all get overwhelmed from time to time so we need to know how to deal with stress and issues as they arise. One way to do this is by recording stressful events, your reaction to it, and how you could have reacted in a journal.

The whole piece is straight forward and useful. This might be good for some personal reading or for sharing with your team or department.

Too much on this professor’s plate folks. I missed marking the five year anniversary of this blog on April 1st 2008. What an incredible time it’s been! These past 12 months were something and I’m so glad I’ve had the community we’ve built for support and inspiration. 

Last year at this time, I did remember and actually blogged about blogging at ALA TechSource too. Remember the Points of Unity? 

I’ll thank Blake for keeping TTW healthy and online. I’ll thank Kyle and Lee for contributing their time and viewpoints. And I’ll thank YOU -  for reading, responding and for sending me little snippets to share.

So pretend I remembered this on April 1.

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/101655312

I just updated my Upcoming Presentations Page and I’m happy to say I’ve purposefully kept the summer clear of talks and travel. Since June 2004 when I started the doctoral program at UNT, I’ve been going non-stop. I am not teaching this summer as well. I have big plans: time at the lake, a mountain of books to devour, a hammock, and a chance to reconnect with family and friends. I’ll see many folks at ALA for sure..and may pick up a couple of talks, but I am ready for a needed break.

Just three more weeks of grading…grading…grading.

Tame The Web 2000

Originally uploaded by Russ and Lori

WOW! I’d forgotten about the pre-blog days…

In honor of the new year, you may be thinking about cleaning up at work or at home. Give this post a read at ZenHabits:

http://zenhabits.net/2008/01/the-four-laws-of-simplicity-and-how-to-apply-them-to-life/ 

So I’ve boiled it down to a simple method of Four Laws of Simplicity (apologies to John Maeda) that you can use on any area of your life, and in fact on your life as a whole:
1. Collect everything in one place.
2. Choose the essential.
3. Eliminate the rest.
4. Organize the remaining stuff neatly and nicely.

We used to have spring cleaning day at SJCPL - I always called it a “pitch & throw.” These tips make the pitching and throwing even easier.

Welcome! TTW is now brought to you via Wordpress! Thanks to Mr. Blake Carver, a gentleman and a scholar, for all of the assistance porting over the content and such to the new software. I feel like I’ve died and gone to WYSIWYG heaven!

Please update your feed readers, RSS portals, aggregators, etc to these new and improved Feedburner feeds, including a comment feed:

New Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/TameTheWeb

Comment Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/CommentsForTameTheWeb

I’d also like to welcome Kyle Jones and Lee Leblanc who will be contributing content from time to time. Find out more about them here: http://tametheweb.com/ttw-contributors/ Lee authored a popular guest post during my dissertation hiatus last summer. Kyle has just come on as my new graduate assistant at Dom.

I am also opening up the opportunity for other folks to do guests posts. I think it worked very well last summer to have new voices and new views shared here at TTW. Checkout the request for guest authors here: http://tametheweb.com/ttw-guest-authors/

Also, I’m sure there are a few glitches, bugs and the like with this migration. Please let me know if anything is out of whack. I’d appreciate any and all feedback as well about the new version of TTW. I may also call upon folks out there for some advice or help - for example, is there any way to make my fixed width content area fluid?

Finally - what better time to also look back at the various incarnations of TTW. Here’s the first version in an app called iBlog that I used for my first year of blogging, April 2003-March 2004.

The the second in Movable Type:

And then the re-do of the Movable Type version that Jessamyn created:

(Click here to view on black)

A special holiday Thank You to all who helped me on this year’s journeys: the PhD, the loss of Jake and Charlie, and the travel/presentations. Without the comments, emails, cards, letters and phone calls from my colleagues and friends scattered across our cyber world, the road would have been even harder.

This season please be well…hold family and friends close..and breathe.

TTW will be back in a few days with a new look! (yes, finally, Wordpress!)

ms_005c

Originally uploaded by Dave & Bry

Thanks Dave!

Best viewed large.

Detained…questioned…irked…

Originally uploaded by mstephens7

Read the whole sordid tale here.

We really need to market LIS as a profession… especially to TSA agents!

A post that is long overdue. I want to extend public thanks to Jennifer Graham and Scott Smith for the invaluable assistance they provided me as I finished my dissertation. In a way, it’s also an acknowledgement of how powerful these informal blogging connections can be. In the space of a few months Jennifer and I both suffered losses. I could hardly breathe some days as the summer slipped away. Requests for formatting and clarification came from the University Reader at UNT when I least expected it. Jennifer and Scott were there for me — to assist and offer support that was much needed. I thank them for the help. I could not have finished without them.

This speaks to me as well about how we can help each other - how we can and should get along. It doesn’t have to be as a result of loss — remember you can reach out and share anytime. These tools — just tools — enable connections that I am still trying to understand. Is it ephemeral? Is it strong?

It’s also a reminder to reach out not only across the blogosphere but across the hall to that department that you’ve been feuding with. An offer of support, an offer to help, an attitude of “share the work” seems to me to go a lot farther than a locked door or sign on that same door that reads “Is Your Visit Business Related”?

So, thanks to Jennifer and Scott. Be well.

Photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennx/1092979431/in/set-72157594556817439

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennx/1391664469/

If you can read this, you’re seeing TTW on it’s brand new server!

Michael Stephens, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Dominican University in Illinois. He spent over fifteen years working in public libraries while developing a passion for technology. His publications include The Library Internet Trainer’s Toolkit, two ALA Library Technology Reports on Web 2.0, a monthly column with Michael Casey in Library Journal, and a host of articles. Michael also maintains the popular blog Tame the Web. He received an IMLS doctoral fellowship at the University of North Texas, was named a Library Journal “Mover and Shaker,” and recently joined the Dominican faculty. Michael speaks nationally and internationally on libraries, technology, and innovation. He recently completed a speaking tour of Australia, presenting seven talks in five cities.

Flowers from Amanda, Lyle, and the MSU Librarians

Originally uploaded by mstephens7

We received flowers from Amanda, Lyle, and the Mississippi State University Librarians for Charlie’s passing. I can’t thank you all — and everyone who has commented, emailed, IMed — for your caring and understanding at this trying time.

Thank you.

Michael Stephens, Ph.D., is currently Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois.

After receiving an MLIS from Indiana University, he spent over fifteen years working in public libraries, where he developed a passion for the practical application of technology.

He published The Library Internet Trainer’s Toolkit in 2001, and two years later, he launched his popular weblog, Tame the Web. Since then, Michael’s writing has appeared in Public Libraries, Library Journal, Computers in Libraries, and a host of other publications.

In 2004, Michael was awarded an IMLS doctoral fellowship at University of North Texas, where he conducted research on social software and blogging. Named a “Mover and Shaker” by Library Journal in 2005, Michael joined Dominican’s faculty in 2006 and completed his Ph.D. in 2007. Recently, he has produced two ALA Library Technology Reports on Web 2.0.

Michael has spoken to audiences in over 25 states and in three countries. When not traveling or teaching, he resides in Mishawaka, Indiana, and enjoys escaping to Traverse City, Michigan.

A Pink Blanket

Originally uploaded by mstephens7

I appreciate all of the kind emails, Flickr comments and notes on Facebook about Jake. Thank you.

And thanks to Karen, who found the words I couldn’t find today to describe just how meaningful and important the social Web can be:

http://freerangelibrarian.com/2007/06/18/pets-social-software-and-unconditional-love/

Wowza but time flies! Thanks to all the folks who read and comment — and inspire me!

Here’s then old OLD version: http://www.tametheweb.com/iblog/B143020931/

The very first TTW post: http://www.tametheweb.com/iblog/B143020931/C1179432239/E961783833/index.html

And I’m still hung up on blogging! Check out my post at TechSource about the Biblioblogosphere and points of unity!

Love it! And thanks to Nicole for tagging me. Allow me to add 5 blogs I read beyond the Biblioblogosphere, skipping over trashy celebrity gossip blogs I just might glance at..on occassion…sometimes…

The Copy Blogger: http://www.copyblogger.com/ Insights, tips and “how to’s” for making your blog a standout. Great stuff for librarians writing blog posts for their libraries to consider.

The Church of the Customer Blog: http://www.churchofthecustomer.com/blog/ Customer evangelists. Companies on the Cluetrain. This blog is fascinating. It was here I found out about the Kohl’s kerfuffle that I use in tech trend talks. A useful blog that can get readers thinking about how we meet our “customers.”

Weblogg-ed: http://weblogg-ed.com/ Will Richardson writes about the use and impact of the Read/Write Web in the classroom. His themes and thinking always inspire me to look at libraries differently.

43 Folders: http://www.43folders.com/ From personal productivity guru Merlin Mann is this life hacks and tips blog that just recently added a video blogging component.

Logic + Emotion: http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/ David Armano blogs about the” intersection of Marketing, Brand Engagement + Experience Design—where passive consumers become active participants.”

Addition:

Podcasts I enjoy include Grammar Girl (I suggest GG to my students all the time), Mr. Manners and Money Girl, all available at qdnow.com. I also look forward to MacBreak Weekly.

One more big post to publish and I’m on my way! Have a good week!

I heart (heh) how my Flickr friends have noted themselves… “Blame it on my wild heart!”

Best Wishes to all! See you in the New Year.

A lot of folks have been looking back at 2006. I realized today what a year it’s been: more library and librarian blogs, RSS gains even more ground, Wikis rule the school (and ALA), IM is embedded directly in pages where our users may find themselves, YouTube offers a way to share a “Ray of Light” and other library content, comments in the catalog, and innovations such as the WPopac offer a view of a bright, open future… wowza…

Who knew that 2006 would shake out to be a year of “participatory culture,” to borrow a phrase from Henry Jenkins. Who knew how quickly these 2.0 changes would come at us? Who knew that the conversations about trust, collaboration and transparency would reach as far and wide as they did?

2006 was certainly a year of constant change in Library Land. It was also a year of personal change for many folks we know here in the Biblioblogosphere. How many people did I write “Reinvention” posts for or comment on their own “I’m changing jobs” posts? Did you change jobs? Go back to school? Sign a book contract? Write a dissertation? Get your PhD? Wowza is right.

My first semester full time at Dominican GSLIS has been incredible. The students are engaged, curious and passionate about libraries. I wish I could bottle all the disscussions we had about library futures, our foundations, and the skills needed to move forward — they were thought-provoking and, frankly, I learned a lot. A big shout out to the faculty, staff and, most of all, the stufents at Dom!

I also want to say thanks to all the folks that had me in to speak this year. I met a lot of great librarians and traveled to some cool places. I appreciate the hospitality.

Last year, I collected a few of my all time favorite TTW posts as a way to look back, re-evaluate and scrutinize my writing. This year, inspired by this post at Copyblogger, I’ll offer the best of TTW for 2006 as determined by YOU. These are the posts that were the most visited, trackbacked and commented on. More importantly, I also want to point to some touchstone blog posts from the Biblioblogosphere that spoke to me, moved me and inspired me.

TTW Favorites 2006

Five Factors for User-Centered Service: Born from hearing about a librarian-centered decision in a nearby library that put up a barrier between users and the services they use.

Ten Techie Things for Librarians 2006: My favorite part: We can’t forget to take care of ourselves and each other. No ILS, RSS feed, blog, iPod or Treo is going to take care of our physical, emotional and spiritual selves. That’s up to us and those we love. Don’t miss out on that part too. Just sayin’. I still believe this and hope that you all have that spiritual, emotional center to balance your lives and work.

Selling RSS to Medical Librarians: Thanks to David Rothman for allowing me to post his detailed email he sent to TTW here. I’m glad he started his own blog! Rock On!

Ten Ways to Lose Your Techie Librarians: How about those timelines? 7. Plan project timelines that extend so long the planned service or tech innovation is out of date before it launches. Folks carried the meme forward with more posts.

Weblogs & Libraries: Notes from a SirsiDynix Webinar: One of my favorite presentations this year took place with me in my loungewear with my dogs at my feet, talking to an assembled group in a SirsiDynix Webinar. This posts wraps up and shares some data from that talk.

An IM Reference Report: Facts and numbers from looking at my former library’s IM reference stats.

Five Phrases I Hope I Never Hear in Libraries Agaoin: So, “we’ve always done it this way?” I think it’s time to red flag any utterance of that phrase in our libraries and make sure it’s not just an excuse to avoid change. It may however, be the best way to do something… so if you say it, add “and we examined other ways, and this way is still the best!” If you are hiding behind that phrase because you’ve had enough new things or just want to keep things the same, it might be time to move on.

Ten Rules for New Librarians: Listen to the seasoned librarians you encounter. They know things. Good things. Listen and they may inform your future decisions and planning. Learn from every conversation, meeting or water cooler chat. (And seasoned folk, listen to your new hires! You do the same: listen, learn and share… break down the generational divide present in some organizations…you’ll be happy you did!)

Ten Signs I hope I never See in Libraries Again: That pesky cell phone sign post! Thanks to all of the photographers who let me blog their pictures. I was amazed at the range of comments, thoughts and opiunions about this topic. Here’s the post about the table at KCPL that got this comment: “This is a great picture that goes along with a current assignment that I have in library class, “How do your libraries look to your patrons” I included a copy of this in my blog. Thanks for sharing.”

Why don’t CEOs (Library Directors) Blog? An unintended benefit? According to Darien Library Director Louise Berry: “One of the unexpected benefits of the “directors blog”: the library staff reads it!”

Ten Things I Know About Libraries:#6 Libraries will benefit from the next wave of MLIS grads. I am invigorated by my students. By their questions — and some of them ask HARD questions. I don’t know they answers to all of them, so I’m learning too. I hope I always will be. I do know - when these folks hit the door of your library to interview, be ready! Versed in our foundations, core values and, hopefully, a good dose of technology, social tools and user-centered planning, these graduates will take your library farther and into spaces that might surprise you. Let the breathe. Let them play. And encourage them. Oh, and rememeber: it’s still up to us.

TTW Biblioblog Posts of Note 2006

Karen Schneider The User is Not Broken

The user is not broken.

Most of your most passionate users will never meet you face to face.

This is a milestone. Excellent on all counts. The ripples in the Biblioblogosphere that this post created are still moving outward. I’ve used it at school and urged all the groups I’ve spoken with to take a look as well. Thanks Karen.

Helene Blowers Learning 2.0 Blog

This is more of an idea than a specific post but the launch of PLCMC’s Learning 2.0 initiative for staff — all library staff– is a huge step forward in creating an open, participatory library. Encouraging learning and the responsibility that goes with ot, a snazzy prize for those who finished, and the positive buzz surrounding this innovation is far-reaching as well. Hurrah for Helene and PLCMC and hurrah for those libraries adopting the same initiative for thier organizations.

Also: Six Trends Driving the Future of Libraries: A classic post that takes an article from the popular press and applies it to libraries. I’m fascinated by this type of thinking. I used this post and the article its based on for a trendspotting exercise just recently.

David King Making Time for Web 2.0: The classic 2.0 question when I speak: “How do we have time to do any of this new stuff?” is answered mist succinctly and with insight from David Lee King. David writes: ““We don’t have enough staff to do these new things.” When I hear this excuse (because that’s really what it is), I think back to the NEKLS Technology Day I attended. I was on a discussion panel with a librarian at a small library. She is the ONLY staff member at her library, and yet she has time for a library blog and console gaming nights. If a one-librarian library can do these things, then you can, too. Sometimes it’s not really a staffing change that’s needed; instead, a mental change, or a change in focus, is what’s needed.” Amen Mr. King!

Jessamyn West The A List (on Bibliobloggers Ethics): Rules to live and blog by:

David King Are You Blogging This?”: Watch it. It speaks volumes about our participatory culture and the tools we use.
Michael Porter on Netflix taking Libraries to School:

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Oh Netflix, why can’t you just be a library? Oh, wait…you ARE a library! Sure, you’re wrapped up in a company and a series of web services and efficient delivery, but your product really IS a library. An engaging and thorough look at the Netflix model and libraries from this summer that rings oh so true. Another reading for staff dicussion? Yes!

Michael Casey Evolutionary Technology and the Emerging Divide Casey writes: “Where does this leave an Emerging Technology Team? Clearly we need to remove the expectation that technology will always offer sensational new tools that can be inserted into library operations and result in exceptional returns. While the pace of new technology may increase again in a few years, for now it appears that both hardware and software advances will be more evolutionary in nature. We need to educate those in positions of power that this does not mean that these evolutionary tools cannot result in revolutionary outcomes.” Probably one of the most important ideas to ponder: it’s about people, not technology and it’s about buy in from up top. How many times this year did you say: “Why isn’t(aren’t) my director/board/trustees/school board, etc here for this presentation” at some Web 2.0 talk or another.

Jenny Levine Library 2.0 in the Real World: Introduced many readers to the incredible work of Casey Bisson and took the thinking about Library 2.0 to the real world. “One of Casey’s theories that resonates with me is a fundamental mistake librarians make: assuming that the OPAC has to be part of the Integrated Library System (ILS). In other words, if you buy a specific vendor’s product with which to do your cataloging, acquisitions, serials, etc., then you are stuck using that vendor’s online catalog. Unless, of course, you have one or more programmers to completely rewrite the catalog—and let’s face it, there just aren’t that many libraries with those kinds of resources.” This is a trend to watch closely. If you haven’t already, schedule a demo of the WPopac at your January staff meeting just as an FYI for your staff. Be aware. Watch what happens. It’s going to be big.

Also, following blogs outside of Libraryland was useful and thought-provoking. Take a look at edublogger David Warlick’s Information as Science & Why Libraries Are Important.

Update: Run don’t walk to Dion Hinchcliffe’s Web 2.0 2006 wrap up: http://web2.wsj2.com/the_web_20_zeitgeist_2006_edition.htm

There were so many more wonderful posts and so many wonderful bibliobloggers, it’s impossible to note them all, but please keep writing and sharing.