When I left the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Dominican University and entered the profession, the faculty members did not leave me with answers. They left me with a question, which has driven my career. That question was simply, will libraries exist in the future? At the time, the web was fairly new, and many people argued that libraries had been displaced by this technology. As I entered the profession, this question pushed me forward. Based on the needs of my library, I have followed two paths to answer the question. First, when I started teaching information […]
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THE AGE OF SCALE from Michael Edson You can tell a lot aboutsomeone’s dreams by what they choose to measure… and what they measure with. Michael Edson – Wow, just WOW….
I love highlighting cool things libraries are doing beyond the norm here on TTW. I’ve done it for years in the “Library Innovators” category. It’s easy to get stuck in our grooves…the same programs, the same services, over and over and over again. From Justin Hoenke: http://justinthelibrarian.com/2013/04/09/community-libraries-ukeleles-and-love/ All of my love, support, and thanks to Kirsten Cappy and Michael Whittaker. These people are the future of libraries. Got Uke? No? No worries, your library does. Portland, Maine library card holders can now check out ukuleles and equally hip young adult books from the Teen Room of the Portland Public Library. This is so in […]
Note from Michael: I am thrilled to have Leah writing here for TTW. Way back in 2006 when I started at Dom, I taught my very first LIS701 class. There was Leah, smiling on the front row every Monday evening. Watching her study, graduate and do incredible work has been incredibly rewarding to me as an LIS educator. Thanks, Leah! What do you think of when you hear the word extrovert? Loud, chatty, pushy? Yeah. Me too. It’s funny – the first time I ever took the Myers Briggs was in grad school. I remember my professor asking if anyone […]
love your library: building goodwill from the inside out and the outside in from char booth This is a gorgeous and brilliant presentation – take a look!
When, in the early 2000s, you were passionate about your work in libraries, full of ideas and eager to hear others’ ideas about how libraries can best serve their communities, excited about what the future holds for libraries, hungry to discuss this stuff with people who shared these interests, and NOT a librarian or enrolled in library school or headed there, there were two great free channels where you could jump into the fray and educate yourself: listservs and blogs. These tools not only flattened geographies–so librarians from far-flung areas could ideashare– they flattened hierarchies: library paraprofessionals who might never […]
I was honored to be a guest on Steve Thomas’ Circulating Ideas podcast. Steve and I discussed social media and innovation in libraries. Circulating Ideas: The Librarian Interview Podcast, Episode Twenty-Three: Troy Swanson. As I mention at the beginning of the podcast, I owe much to Michael Stephens and the Tame the Web community. I am very appreciative! Troy A. Swanson is Department Chair and Teaching & Learning Librarian at Moraine Valley Community College. He is the author of the book, Managing Social Media in Libraries. You can follow him on Twitter at @t_swanson.
I have written previously about Digital Media Labs and their ilk. I have also been a small part of helping a number of libraries starting media labs of one sort or another. An aspect of DMLs that often gets lost in the shuffle of all the shiny hardware and expensive software is a place to display art. This space can be a wall in the main lobby of the library for photos, slides, graphic design work and whatever else can be put on a poster. A LCD screen or something that can be used to show films or a movie […]
Call for Chapters: Not Just Where to Click: Teaching Students How to Think About Information Editors: Heather Jagman, Coordinator of Library Instruction, DePaul University, hjagman@depaul.edu Troy Swanson, Department Chair of Library Services, Moraine Valley Community College, swanson@morainevalley.edu Publisher: Association of College and Research Libraries The editors are seeking chapters written by librarians or faculty members focusing on theoretical approaches, projects, assessments, instructional sessions, or curricula that teach students how to think about information. This book will focus on pedagogies that challenge students to dive deeper into authority, connect to prior knowledge, and construct knowledge in a world of information abundance. This […]
In my Library Journal column “Office Hours,” I explored the concept of learning everywhere. Here’s a snip: This semester, I’m teaching a new class based on Mezirow’s concepts of transformative learning, the work of Char Booth in the arena of user instruction, and the Learning 2.0 model…. We’re working with consultant Polly-Alida Farrington, who teamed up three groups of my students with two libraries and a school library consortium in New York State. Over the course of our 15-week semester, each group is adapting, designing, and running a “mini-23 Things” for its assigned organization. It’s been a fun, chaotic, and messy experience. In our weekly group […]