I’m still decompressing after an incredible week in the great state of Arizona. Thanks to the good folks at the Maricopa County Library Council Continuing Education Committee, the Arizona State Library, and everyone from all of the libraries in the state who attended my presentations of “The Hyperlinked Library.” I learned a lot talking with various library folks over meals, breaks and at the Hermit’s Rest on the Grand Canyon trail. 🙂 Special thanks to Mark Floor, Glendale Community College, for all of his planning to get me out to Arizona during the Dominican spring break. Download the presentation slides here.
Yearly Archives: 2009
294 posts
We’ve written about ideas for improving customer service, boosting staff morale, fostering change, and building a management and communication style that is win-win for both staff and administration. Almost everything we’ve discussed has, as its only cost, time–necessary to plan, implement, and review. There are no expensive technologies to purchase, no cutting-edge software to struggle with, and no $500-an-hour consultants. Our suggestions involve listening, dialog, and transparent actions. Trust is the underlying concept. Communication is its foundation. Read the whole column here.
No, it’s not the secret service of the Soviet Union – it is, however, the commercialized reference desk. KGB, or the knowledge generation bureau as they sometimes call themselves, provides a two-way text reference service straight to mobile devices. Anywhere. Anytime. Which begs these questions: What about the reference desk? Why not ask a librarian? You’ll never hear me say or read that I think the reference desk is dead – because it’s not. But I will say that we can see in the KBG that there is a niche for text message information resources and they are filling it. […]
I was glad to meet Liz Danforth at my afternoon session of “The Hyperlinked Library” in Phoenix last week. The group was buzzing about her new blog and column about gaming at Library Journal: http://www.libraryjournal.com/blog/1130000713/post/500041650.html A bit of her introductory post: Most of my time freelancing I’ve also worked in libraries as a part-time paraprofessional. I love freelancing but it’s lonely. I like being around people and I truly love libraries: literate and curious people, engaging co-workers, and a genuinely meaningful mission to make a difference in one’s community. I finally broke down and went to library school, completing my […]
Directions by circ desk, originally uploaded by Lost Dutchman. I am thoroughly enjoying “Lost Dutchman’s” Flickr set of a tour of seattle Public Library. I met Joe, the photographer, at my Phoenix presentations. Take a look at the set here.
By Michael Casey & Michael Stephens We’ve written about ideas for improving customer service, boosting staff morale, fostering change, and building a management and communication style that is win-win for both staff and administration. Almost everything we’ve discussed has, as its only cost, time–necessary to plan, implement, and review. There are no expensive technologies to purchase, no cutting-edge software to struggle with, and no $500-an-hour consultants. Our suggestions involve listening, dialog, and transparent actions. Trust is the underlying concept. Communication is its foundation. Economics hit morale On April 1, 2007, when we began writing The Transparent Library column, the nation’s […]
The Importance of the Non-Techie or How I Learned to Stop Pulling Out My Hair and Love my Luddite by: Mick Jacobsen My wife mocks Twitter thoroughly, “You don’t even know these people,” she repeats. She thinks Facebook/MySpace is weird. She considers online gaming to be silly. She wasn’t sure about this whole “Blog Thing” and renamed my Google Reader an RSS aggravator (which I still find hilarious). She doesn’t want her images on Flickr. I think it is safe to say she pretty much dislikes any 2.0 technology on contact. Last week she started a LibraryThing account and loves […]
John Taube writes: I am a Library Director in Western Maryland and am pushing our system to more library 2.0 stuff such as patron tagging of records and using the library as a communication hub of the community. I have hit a snag in that due to our rural location, I cannot find local programmers or IT folk to help me out. Can you point me in the right direction? Any prospects or interested people should still feel free to contact me at jtaube@allconet.org. Thanks Any TTW readers have thoughts? Send John an email!
Two Days at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel, Phoenix Arizona, originally uploaded by mstephens7. We’re leaving tomorrow for eight days in Arizona, starting with 3 days at the Grand Canyon. Next week, we’ll be in Phoenix for my presentations on Tuesday and Wednesday. If you’re attending “The Hyperlinked Library” on Tuesday or the databases discussion on Wednesday, please say hi. March 10, 2009. The Hyperlinked Library: Trends, Tools, Transparency. Maricopa County Library Council Continuing Education Committee Program, Phoenix, Arizona March 11, 2009: “Managing Electronic Information Resources in a 2.0 World” Workshop for the Arizona State Library. I can’t believe it’s spring break […]
Do not miss this intriguing discussion that really speaks to the sea change were in. Star here, with this post from Bob McKee, Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP): (emphasis in bold mine) http://communities.cilip.org.uk/blogs/cesdesk/archive/2009/02/18/all-of-a-twitter.aspx There’s some twittering at present about whether CILIP has (or should have) any “official” presence on various lists or micro blog sites. The simple answer, of course, is no. In terms of “official” activity, cyber life is just like real like – if it happens in a CILIP-sanctioned space, it’s official; if it happens down the pub or in someone else’s […]