Over lunch in the Dining Hall at Dominican, I read a few articles in MIT’s Technology Review. “10 Ways to Think about Innovation” by Jason Pontin really got me going! Pontin presents a top ten list for folks interested in innovating. For example: (7) Real innovators delight in giving us what we want: solutions to our difficulties and expansive alternatives to our established ways. (8) They are, it is true, sometimes perplexed by our ignorance of our own needs. “You have to solve a problem that people actually have,” says Joshua Schachter, the founder of del.icio.us (now a division of […]
Monthly Archives: September 2006
68 posts
Have something to say about social software in libraries? Submit a proposal: http://www.sociallibraries.com/course/cfp/ HOT URL too! The planning committee (Michelle Boule, Karen Coombs, Amanda Etches-Johnson, Meredith Farkas, Ellyssa Kroski, Dorothea Salo), a group of phenomenal librarians, are waiting to hear from you!
Paul Miller posts about innovation, Abram and the Cluetrain: http://blogs.talis.com/panlibus/archives/2006/09/usercentric_inn.php I trust that our fellow vendors must (by now!) just about be sufficiently Participation Age-aware to read at least one of Panlibus or Stephen’s Lighthouse. Here’s hoping, for the sake of their customers, that they find Patty’s post via one of those routes, have a read, and get re-imagining their business and its interaction with the world around it. Oh, and while I’ve got their attention… have you finished Cluetrain yet? A few months ago,I asked III to read the Cluetrain as well. Maybe it’s time for ILS customers to […]
Via David Warlick at http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/2006/09/18/listening-to-student-voices/: Ian Jukes, just sent me a link to a study that was published last year by Education|Evolving, a joint venture between the Center for Policy Studies and Hamline University in Minnesota. The report, Listening to Student Voices — on Technology (pdf), describes 15 findings, culled from various literature. The findings are mostly not surprising, but worth noting again: Computer and internet use is growing Students are sophisticated users Technology is important to students in education Technology is not an extra In-school access to technology is limited Home use dominates In-school use is not integrated Computers […]
Are you wrestling with Flickr at your library? Did recent scare tactics by anonymous emailers put your admin into a tizzy? Save or print this..and pass it on! From NEKLS Tech Day August 10, 2006, by Mickey Coalwell (mcoalwell (at) nekls.org) who gave me permission to post it here. He and Joshua Neff did a great program on Flickr education for a standing room only crowd. This would be a great thing to do at your next staff meeting or staff lunch time learning session. Thanks Mickey. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 16 Ways To Use flickr @ Your Library 1. Publicize EVENTS at […]
Via the OPLS Blog: “12 Really Necessary Things to Learn” I’ll share this with my LIS701 Class tonight. http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/08/ten_things_to_l.html From Guy Kawasaki: 1. How to talk to your boss. 2. How to survive a meeting that’s poorly run. 3. How to run a meeting. 4. How to figure out anything on your own. 5. How to negotiate. 6. How to have a conversation. 7. How to explain something in thirty seconds. 8. How to write a one-page report. 9. How to write a five-sentence email. 10. How to get along with co-workers. 11. How to use PowerPoint. 12. How to […]
As I posted a few days ago, I am eagerly awaiting Jenny Levine’s Library Technology Report on Gaming in Libraries. Until then, read her insightful post “How Do we Measure gaming…”: Or do we somehow try to measure participation, like we do for the summer reading program or the teen advisory committee? Is there a way to equate the literacy of the number of books a kid reads in the reading program versus the literacy a kid needs to advance playing a video game? We don’t measure the actual literacy of the kids participating in the summer reading program, just […]
Great post at “What I Learned Today” about a recent SirsiDynix Webinar on Library Conflict Management. How many of us have these folks working closeby? Stopped Learning You all know where I stand on this one – never stop learning!! This is the kind of person who exempts themselves from classes and has no new goals. The cure? Update their job description to include required education and make them accountable for their actions. Loss of Respect This person has developed a “benign contempt” for the people they work with, they no longer respect their colleagues or supervisors. They will make […]
New ways of thinking about work. New priorities. New additions to the family. How does your library’s adminstration repsond to NextGen employees? In Priorities & Professionalism in the new LJ, Sophie Brookover ponders how libraries might encourage and embrace the work-life balance of employees: Ask your employees what they need. Work with them to make the changes that work best for the organization as a whole. You probably can’t give your employees everything they want, but the mere act of asking them what they need is important. A staff that is empowered to share its needs is a happy staff, […]
http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/2006/09/16/teaching-responsibility-use-of-social-technology/ Via David Warlick: First of all, this gets my vote for the best education acronym of the decade — TRUST. The guys at EdTechTalk have created a web site/community site designed to give us a play to offer alternatives to the DOPA law. Here’s a quote from the About Us page. Social Technology (or social networking) is changing many aspects of society and has tremendous potential in education, both inside and outside of the classroom. This site is designed as a resource for educators interested in using social technology, but concerned about how to do so appropriately and address […]