Contributors Michael Stephens

4147 posts

On Signs in Libraries (Updated)

Don’t miss: http://blogaboutlibraries.com/2006/08/signs_17.html and Michael Sauers’ Library Signage group at Flickr! I’m glad to see so much discussion about signs and the stories they tell — and the excellent examples of good signs showing up at Flickr! Take a look at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/curtisrogers/223146313/ as well! Update: Don’t miss Steve lawson’s “Shiny Happy Signs!”

Just Say No — to too many projects

http://queequegs.blogspot.com/2006/08/comment-about-culture-of-no.html Erica Reynolds posts about my talk at Northeast Kansas Library System Tech day a couple of weeks ago and the “culture of No:” Many of my colleagues were at NEKLS Tech Day, and they were probably all snickering each time Michael Stephens talked about how important it is to battle the so-called culture of no, because lately, I’ve totally been on the “no” train at work. I’ve had “no” plastered on my laptop, my office door, etc…Because I’ve had to launch a campaign to limit our new projects until we entirely rebuild out Web world from the ground up. […]

Greetings from Tilburg University

The programme is in full swing! Last night, at the Welcome Dinner I got to meet many of the participants as well as the lecturers for the conference. One fellow I got to meet was Guus Van Den Brekel, who blogs at digicmb.blogspot.com and does some most cool work with Second Life and his library’s toolbar. Today, Jenny and I are prepping our presentations and exercises as well as heading out for a blogger’s dinner tonight, arranged by Rob Coers! We’ll have pictures for sure!

Upcoming Presentations

Wednesday, August 23, 2006. Digital Libraries Ala Carte: Hands-on: Hands-on: Library 2.0 Technologies to Reach out to the Customer: IM in Libraries. http://www.ticer.nl/06carte/program/4.htm Tilburg University, the Netherlands. (Speaker Bios here) Wednesday, September 13, 2006. South Carolina Public Library Technology Institute with Jenny Levine and Stephen Abram. Carolina Conference Center, Columbia, SC. Wednesday September 27, 2006. Preconference: Blogging Workshop. Kentucky Library Association, Louisville, KY. Thursday September 28, 2006. Session: Toward Library 2.0. Kentucky Library Association, Louisville, KY. Friday October 6, 2006. Keynote, “Surveying the Library Technology Landscape” Polaris Users Group Conference, Syracuse, NY. Monday, October 9, 2006 Library & Information Association […]

Off to the Netherlands

Greetings from O’Hare and my Sidekick 3. Jenny Levine and I leave in just a few hours for the Netherlands to present at the University of Tilburg TICER Library 2.0 event. Armed with iPod, digicam and a travel guide, I am sans MacBook Pro, so I’ll return top blogging and email in 8 days! Have a good week!

Your Attention Please (Update 2)

DSC01755 Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian. What do you think? I understand the thinking about funding but if I came in on vacation to use the internet I’d turn and flee for sure! Hopefully, there’s an internet cafe nearby. Update: Michael Sauers posts about the picture he took at the Marshall Public Library in Pocatello, ID! Take a look. He shares some great points. Thanks Michael! Read the comments here as well… they are fascinating. Update 2: The director comments at Michael’s blog: http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5543214&postID=115561108774412256 The policy was put in place because the Marshall Public Library was being used by tourists to […]

USB Friendly!

Darien Library, one of my favorite L2 examples and site of a recent Roadshow stop, is circulating USB drives! http://www.darienlibrary.org/connections/info-tech/archives/2006/08/extra_usb_drives_to_the_rescue.html We recently purchased five additional high-capacity USB or “flash” drives, making for a total of 10 drives in circulation that may be borrowed free of charge. (These are in addition to the floppy disks, CDs, and DVDs we already have available for sale.) The SanDisk Cruzer drives can each hold up to 512 MB of data, and they come in a sturdy titanium shell that protects your files during transit from the Library to your home or workplace. We invite […]

Visualizing the Tipping Point

Via Deborah Hotchkiss, SC State Library: http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2006/07/visualizing_the.html The Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen help fuel the growth of the Social Media Network (shown behind). Each type of individual possesses a complimentary quality that when combined, creates an infectious momentum which spreads rapidly. From wikipedia: * Connectors: Those with wide social circles. They are the “hubs” of the human social network and responsible for the small world phenomenon. * Mavens are knowledgeable people. While most consumers wouldn’t know if a product were priced above the market rate by, say, 10 percent, mavens would. Bloggers who detect false claims in the media could […]