As self-service and 24-hour access become new paradigms in information consumption, libraries are constantly looking for ways to extend their services to meet their patrons’ needs and desires. One very interesting new technology is the MediaBank. Gail Borden Public Library in Elgin recently opened its first branch, the Rakow Branch, on the west side of town. The new branch is home to a MediaBank unit–an external DVD and video game dispenser which operates automatically and is open 24 hours a day. According to the library’s website, the unit is one of the first of its kind in a North American […]
Yearly Archives: 2010
226 posts
A brief post based on my notes for a short speech this week at Dominican GSLIS New Student Orientation and some reflection on the 55 students who graduated from our program last Saturday: Ranganathan said “the Library is a growing organism.” That evolution continues and you all are starting your graduate library school journey at a perfect time. I was recently in South Carolina, where I found myself in the hotel bar after a speech for the library school. The bartender was fired up about his brand new iPod Touch. He was running the bar’s music of of it via […]
Me and my letter…, originally uploaded by Russ and Lori. Lori Reed writes : “Included among these options is the identification of positions that may be eliminated. I regret that your position is among these.” If the 50% budget reduction goes through, Lori and others at Charlotte Mecklenburg will lose their jobs. I commented on the photo: “This breaks my heart.”
In January of this year, I began an Independent Study under the guidance of Michael Stephens. On February 14, 2010, I posted that: “The purpose of this study is to create readers’ advisory tools that utilize Web 2.0 technology.” During the past four months I have spent time: reviewing literature that is relevant to the topic; studying public library websites to ascertain what RA services are currently available and to determine what types of RA 2.0 other public libraries are providing for their patrons; and surveying library patrons to learn what services they believe would benefit them. While working on […]
New Slide: Techno-hesitation, originally uploaded by mstephens7. From my VAPLD talk: If we keep saying “Let’s not adopt technology X because it will soon be out of date,” we’re missing the opportunity for ongoing learning and innovation in a more experimentally-based organization. If we wait for the next big thing continually, stagnation follows.
New Slide: Techno-banality, originally uploaded by mstephens7. From my VAPLD talk: We do not need to dumb down our services or our technology! I’ve heard Stephen Abram say this many times: “No dumb computers!” The same can be said for any technology or technology-based service we offer in libraries. Fully loaded. Fully equipped. A full service experience is what can separate us from other providers of information and “third place” locales.
Thanks Vernon Area Public Library, originally uploaded by mstephens7. Friday I spent the morning presenting “The Hyperlinked Community Library” to the staff of the Vernon Area Public Library District. I had no idea they were the ones who had partnered with a local high school to create these ultra cool “Save Illinois Libraries” shirts. I had a picture of the shirt in my slides – and at break, Library Director Cindy Fuerst presented with my very own! Thanks to all the staff who participated. I had a great day! The slides are here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/239835/VernonLibraryStaffDay.pdf (Slideshare – how about a 200MB […]
Benjamin Wheal writes: To celebrate the demise of the video collection and the now unchallenged reign of the DVD, staff felt that the remaining videos must go out with a bang. One weekend staff came in on their own time to film the final stand of the video in a giant domino train throughout the library space as a fitting homage to their service. May the videos now rest in peace. Long live the VHS! The video was filmed earlier this year in Tea Tree Gully, South Australia, and in the Library here we’re all very proud of our effort […]
I have a new post up at ALA Techsource – an interview with the National Library of Australia’s Paul Hagon: http://www.alatechsource.org/blog/2010/05/mash-ups-mobiles-a-conversation-with-paul-hagon.html Paul discusses his take on making library collections available in some very unique ways: It’s been less than 2 years since the iPhone (via the appstore) became a viable interface. We now have the iPad. Internet enabled TV’s are just starting to appear. We are interacting with these using gestures rather than through a textual interface. Imagine if your TV had gesture recognition & you interacted with it by waving your arms about, smiling for yes and frowning for […]
Yesterday I gave two talks at the 2010 Reaching Forward conference, a meeting for staff from all sorts of Illinois libraries. Here are the slides: Reaching Forward 2010: Technology Planning View more presentations from Michael Stephens. Reaching Forward 2010: Hyperlinked Services for Young People View more presentations from Michael Stephens. Thanks to everyone who attended!