Daily Archives: November 17, 2008

I have a new post up at ALA TechSource: http://www.alatechsource.org/blog/2008/11/a-commons-experience.html The Commons puts students at the center. The idea of student-centered innovation was a theme woven throughout the commons field trips. The commons did not make it any easier for the librarians or to enforce library policies. In fact, Stacy Greenwell of the University was happy to tell me that they made it easier for students to use their cell phones in “the Hub.” “Yes, that’s right—at the Hub we actually installed infrastructure to make it easier for students to use cell phones. We actually encourage cell phone use. Truly the Hub is […]

Via Jessamyn and a slew of emails this weekend from TTW Readers: http://wiki.code4lib.org/index.php/OCLC_Policy_Change I need to catch up on all of these posts. Jessamyn suggested this one as  http://www.betaversion.org/~stefano/linotype/news/220/ So, OCLC decides to update its data licensing policy after 21 years because, quote: “The Guidelineshave also been frequently faulted for their ambiguity about WorldCat data sharing rights and conditions.” Having had to deal with such ambiguity myself when discussing about releasing the Barton Library data from the MIT Libraries, I have to say that I very much welcomed any sort of update in clarification and a more modern and up-to-date licensing agreement between OCLC and […]

We recently presented a workshop in London at Internet Librarian International, based on our writings here, and realized that throughout the columns we’ve identified a set of mile markers for the journey toward transparency. Give everyone an avenue to talk.  Play nice and be constructive.  Grow and develop your support community.  Be willing to accept anonymity.  Tell the truth. Lies don’t work.  Focus on user-driven policy, not driving users away.  Read the whole column here.