My new column is up at the LJ site: http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/03/opinion/michael-stephens/lost-control-not-a-problem-office-hours/ In a discussion after a recent presentation, an educator stood to make a counterpoint to my take on participatory teaching. “I’m paid to have control,” she said. More than one person in the room gasped. I should have directed her to the new Horizon Report. Among the key trends identified as those impacting teaching and learning for 2013 is an emphasis on “open.” The report states, “Open is a key trend in future education and publication, specifically in terms of open content, open educational resources, massively open online courses, and open access.” Open […]
Monthly Archives: March 2013
17 posts
http://www.coloradolibrariesjournal.org/articles/failing-forward-risk-and-reward-conference-interview-conference-organizers What prompted the need for a Risk and Reward Conference? Shelley and Stacie can provide the back-story about how this initially came about. Shelley Walchak (SW): Libraries across the country have been deeply concerned about their future since the beginning of the recession, and yet, one Colorado library district – Anythink Libraries (Rangeview Library District in Adams County) seemed to be resistant to the downturn. In fact, within the last 5 years they have built or remodeled seven libraries and won ALA’s National Medal as well as the John Cotton Dana Marketing Award. SW: Colorado libraries were curious as to how […]
I for got to post last month’s LJ column here at TTW: http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/02/opinion/michael-stephens/essential-soft-skills/ I would add other soft skills such as intuition, political awareness, and a willingness to make and learn from our mistakes. Transparency is evolving into an even more clearly defined “full frontal” strategy for some corporations—putting it all out there. We should follow suit. Library schools should teach case studies of failed library systems and initiatives. We must study our failures as much as we study our successes. There seems to be an ongoing unwillingness to do this. But in fact some libraries make bad decisions, and […]
Advancing the User Experience from Monica Harris
Note from Michael: I am very excited about this project! We’ll be offering a professional development opportunity for FREE to a global audience AND I’ll be co-teaching with Kyle Jones! Thanks to SJSU SLIS for the incredible support and encouragement for this endeavor! http://ischool.sjsu.edu/about/news/detail/free-online-course-extends-learning-individuals-across-globe Take a look!
Please don’t miss: http://thecorkboard.org/stephens-and-jones-to-co-teach-a-mooc-version-of-the-hyperlinked-library/ A snippet: There are a number of reasons this project excites me, and I think it should excite you as a potential student: The Hyperlinked Library model takes a humanist approach to user services and their intersection with ICTs: this is not a technology course, but it is a critical examination of the dual shaping of LIS professionals and technologies as they work in tandem to serve library users; Both Michael and I believe in a constructionist approach to learning: this is not a consumption course where the lecture is a vade mecum to hold onto […]
We just finished an intensive session of my Hyperlinked Library class – a full semester taught in seven weeks. the students were GREAT and really took on the hard work. One of the students created wordclouds of all of the class blogs to celebrate the end of our journey. He called it a word cloud party. Take a look: http://thehyperlinkedlibrary.org/hyperlib-i/ceobk/2013/03/14/wordcloud-party/ Here’s a very public shout out to the students of #hyperlib-i! Great work!
“Imagine a world where everyone was constantly learning, a world where what you wondered was more interesting than what you knew, and curiosity counted for more than certain knowledge. Imagine a world where what you gave away was more valuable than what you held back, where joy was not a dirty word, where play was not forbidden after your eleventh birthday.” Levine, Locke, Searls & Weinberger. (2001). The Cluetrain manifesto: The end of business as usual.
Are you struggling with an unfriendly or dated library Website? Not have the staff or big budget to do a lengthy overhaul? Look no further than PREFAB. Do not miss this incredible offering from Aaron Schmidt and Amanada Etches, aka INFLUX: http://weareinflux.com/prefab PREFAB THE LIBRARY WEBSITE SERVICE Prefab is a ready-to-launch website designed for libraries. Based on years of library user research, our template gives you everything you need to create a fantastic library website. With Prefab, you won’t even need to worry about hosting. We’ve designed an amazing library website so you don’t have to. THIS IS PREFAB and it […]