Thanks to the Alaska Library Association for the invitation and warm welcome to Juneau last week. I was honored to keynote the conference and spend time with the incredibly dedicated Alaskan librarians. I was also able to break away for the afternoon and hike around the Mendenhall Glacier. It was stunning! Download the Slides
Contributors Michael Stephens
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On encouraging the heart…. This is important as we move into a more emotionally rich, experience-based world. Our networks enable us to extend the heart across cyberspace. User-centered planning, engaging and exciting creativity-focused spaces, and opportunities to follow one’s curiosity wherever it may lead are all part of the heart of libraries. The library should encourage the heart. The Hyperlinked Library word cloud by Fall 2014 #hyperlib student Sandy Chauvin.
I am back from three great days in Toronto. Thanks to all at the Ontario Library Conference for such a wonderful conference experience. It was nice to see friends and colleagues and talk with the librarians from all over Ontario. My slides are from the two presentations are here: January 29: Hyperlinked Learning Experiences at Libraries: MOOCs & Beyond: Download the Slides January 30: MOOCs for Librarians: Key Takeaways from Two Large Scale Professional Development Courses: Download the Slides
Dynamic disruption: transforming the library Submissions deadline 15 April 2015 Val Skelton Programme Director Katherine Allen Conference Director Information Today invites you to submit your presentation ideas for this year’s Internet Librarian International (ILI) – the fast-growing innovation and technology conference that attracts hundreds of global library and information professionals each year. We are seeking innovative case studies and discussions on the ideas, strategies and practical implementations that are helping you make a difference to your organisations, clients and communities. ILI is all about the exchange of ideas, knowledge and experience and this year we will also be exploring the ‘big questions’ […]
January 29: Hyperlinked Learning Experiences at Libraries: MOOCs & Beyond. Ontario Library Association, Toronto, Ontario. January 30: MOOCs for Librarians: Key Takeaways from Two Large Scale Professional Development Courses, Ontario Library Association, Toronto, Ontario. February 27, 2015: Keynote – Learning Everywhere: Transformative Power of Hyperlinked Libraries, Alaska Library Association Conference, Juneau, Alaska.
Don’t miss this new venture from Ellyssa Kroski and a great group of writers. It’s a great way to explore some of the ways libraries are reaching out to fan communities of all kinds. http://ccgclibraries.com Welcome to Cosplay, Comics, and Geek Culture in Libraries! This is an exciting time for geeks of all kinds to be involved with libraries as today’s savvy libraries have begun to embrace new ways to engage library patrons such as fandom events, comic book and graphic novel collections, comic cons, cosplay events, and more. The intersection of these interests with libraries is a perfect match […]
And my last column of 2014 – for got to post! http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2014/11/opinion/michael-stephens/its-about-time-office-hours/ Have you said this in a meeting or a discussion with a colleague? Has this rolled off the tongue when confronted with an unexpected change, a new technology, or another initiative? Many of us are stretched to our limits. I applaud the folks I meet who have absorbed more and more duties as staffing patterns have changed. Just recently, at a meeting of the Council of State Library Agencies in the Northeast in Cape May, NJ, I dined with librarians who were wearing many hats in their evolving […]
My new column is up at Library Journal: http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2015/01/opinion/michael-stephens/actions-and-answers-office-hours/ The attitudes or reflective action, highlighted in an article by Grant and Zeichner (2001), includes open-mindedness, responsibility, and wholeheartedness. All are important and resonate deeply with me and my philosophy of what librarianship should be about. Approaching something with a sense of wholeheartedness means we are all in all the time, not just when it’s convenient. It means bucking the status quo to do the right thing at the right moment. It means owning our actions as professionals. I am most excited about this evolution of who we are and what we do […]
Don’t miss Michael Casey’s piece at LJ: http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2015/01/shows-events/inside-the-harwood-institutes-innovators-lab-for-libraries/ The idea of asking people about their aspirations (“what kind of community do you want to live in?”) consumed much of the first day of training. Students participated in exercises designed to help them better understand the powerful responses that result from simply asking somebody about their dreams for the community. These conversations help the library focus outward and better understand the rhythms of the local community, gaining a wealth of public knowledge for the library. In one of the first exercises, students broke off into small groups to examine the “stages […]
As 2014 comes to a close, I’m reflecting on my experiences this year speaking and traveling to work with librarians and information professionals all over the world. A heartfelt THANK YOU to the folks who invited me to speak or attended my talks, to the good people who chatted at receptions and after presentations, and to all who taught me so much about what’s happening in our world. I’m thrilled to have visited these places this year: Philadelphia, Santa Barbara, Indianapolis, San Antonio, Denver. Chatham-Kent, Vancouver, Tampa, Los Angeles, Limerick, Ireland, Lyon, France, West Virginia, Virginia and New York. I […]