Don’t miss Ken Haycock’s new blog focusing on all aspects of library leadership: http://www.kenhaycock.com/kens-blog.html Here’s a bit of a recent post on “Building A Better Manager:” How do you determine what makes a great branch manager? The results would be fairly obvious, I suspect… along the lines of have a clear vision and strategy for your team, help staff with career development, be productive and results-oriented… All standard stuff. Well, Google found the same results but they took a more methodical approach. How many of us stop to actually analyze those performance reviews, feedback surveys, and nominations for manager awards? […]
Monthly Archives: May 2011
19 posts
Kyle Jones interviewed Kenley Neufeld and me for the new Library technology report from ALA TechSource: “Using WordPress as a Library Content Management System” by Kyle M. L. Jones and Polly-Alida Farrington. Here’s a snippet: KJ: You both work at institutions where you have some kind of formal learning management system. Why did you make the decision to not use the resources you had? You could have made your lives extremely easier going with the norm and instead you chose to roll your own. You put a lot of struggles on yourself to do so. MS: I can’t have my students spend […]
I’ll be spending a week in Canada starting this Wednesday. First, I’ll be at the ABQLA Conference in Montreal on Thursday. My talk is the morning keynote: The Hyperlinked Library – Trends, Tools, and Transparency What emerging trends are changing library services? What does a connected world of “continuous computing” mean for 21st Century libraries? How do we create services when the world of information is accessible through a mobile device and ubiquitous wifi. This presentation provides a roadmap toward becoming the Hyperlinked Library: mobile, transparent, participatory, playful, user-centered and human, while still grounded in our foundations and values. I’m excited that […]
http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/ljinprintcurrentissue/889573-403/revamping_reference__the_user.html.csp Aaron Schmidt writes: Reference desks don’t have to be antagonistic. Boomerang-shaped desks with a computer monitor and an easily shared keyboard between two chairs set the stage for a collaborative interaction. Folding patrons into the research process acknowledges their contribution. This respectful gesture—and the other ways to consciously consider your reference setup—can ameliorate library anxiety and foster an engaging experience. With the easy-to-use mobile computing options now available, roving reference makes more sense than ever. I spoke with Katherine Penner (Univ. of Manitoba’s Dafoe Lib.) and Martha Flotten (Multnomah Cty. Lib. [MCL]) about how they’ve experimented with Apple iPhones […]
Via nwi.com: I’ve actually done research on students who are learning game design and about games,” said Jose Zagal, a game development professor at DePaul. “And it is quite often the case that they’ll have a very narrow view of games.” Jim Galbraith, associate director of collections at DePaul’s library, hopes the collection will draw the wider student body while supplementing what’s taught in game design and computer science classes. You can read the rest of the article here. Is your library doing something like this? As a big advocate for video gaming in libraries, I’m happy to see […]
Hey LIS students & recent grads: how would you rate transparency of your school & program? Were you involved in decisions? Always informed? I writing a bit for my next “Office Hours” and I am interested in thoughts from the student side. Also, professors and administrators – how have you fostered transparency?
I’ve been working in public libraries for five years now and recently decided to go back and look at the things I’ve done. Part of it was curiosity and the other part was to make sure that I’ve been doing my job and making interesting things happen for my community. Also, sometimes there’s a program or idea that you’ve had in the past that you’ve totally forgot about. Going back through my personal archives has helped me rediscover some ideas that I can now see through to completion. The Library Idea Share is my attempt to get these ideas and tools […]
Tomorrow night, I’m presenting the President’s program at the New Jersey Library Association Conference. It’s a very interesting and troublesome time for New Jersey librarians. The State Library recently informed NJ libraries that they are ending the QandA NJ program. Peter Bromberg explains it well: http://blog.peterbromberg.com/2011/04/qandanj-my-three-and-half-cents.html On April 4, 2011 the New Jersey State Librarian announced thatQandANJ.org, New Jersey’s ground-breaking, award-winning 24/7 virtual reference service, would cease. I think this is a terrible decision for New Jersey libraries — “a huge step backward” is the phrase I keep hearing from others — and it would be a huge loss for the […]
I’m presenting one of the lightning keynotes tomorrow afternoon at the National Library Unconference Day. Although I won’t be broadcasting these slides, I made them for my own use and to share. Hopefully I can do a version of this talk with the slides someday. Download the slides here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/239835/HeartUnconferenceStephens.pdf