This quote spoke to me. Beyond the techiness — strip that away — you get a good message we could apply to the development of many library initiatives. The harder we tighten things down, the less room there is for a creative, emergent solution. Whether it’s locking down requirements before they are well understood or prematurely optimizing code, or inventing complex navigation and workflow scenarios before letting end users play with the system, the result is the same: an overly complicated, stupid system instead of a clean, elegant system that harnesses emergence. Keep it small. Keep it simple. Let it […]
Contributors Michael Stephens
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Kate the Hoosier Librarian writes: A friend of mine is going to do a speed dating program at her library in North Carolina in a couple weeks, and we’re trying to figure out if she is the first in the U.S. to do this. Have you heard of any other U.S. libraries doing this? I searched a couple of library literature databases and only found mentions of the program in Leuven. http://www.cumberland.lib.nc.us/ The program is listed on their June 2006 Calendar of Events. Kate Hmmm..speed dating at the library! Could be fun and the library could offer folks that make […]
Via Superpatron: http://jocolibrary.blogspot.com/2006/05/meet-library-staff-marge-vallazza.html Marge Vallazza started working as a Circulation Clerk at the Antioch Library in January 2001. Before coming to work at the Antioch Library she had been a “superpatron” both when Antioch was the main library and after when it was a branch. A superpatron is library slang for someone who tarries at the library and checks out a lot of books—in other words, just the kind of patron the library wants. While a superpatron Marge teased the Antioch staff about coming to work for the library following retirement. And in 2001, she did just that. Since then […]
http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/jun06/Gordon_Stephens.shtml This month, Rachel rolls out some of the HOT social tools! And ITI puts the whole article online!! You don’t have to jump into implementing every one of these ideas and services, but do think outside the basic library Web site box and about meeting your users where they are. Most of these options are in some way “social” in that they are designed to bring people together and to create community online. We talk so often about libraries building community, as being at the center of the community—it’s essential for us to participate in these online spaces that […]
From Leslie Burger, our incoming president of ALA, comes this request. If you have images or a story to tell, please submit via the e-mail noted in the letter. I would like to enlist your help for a very exciting and interactive project that will help transform libraries! Libraries Transform Communities is the theme I have chosen for my presidential initiative. We know that when libraries are transformed either by new service programs, renovations, or new buildings that the communities they serve are in turn transformed. Part of the initiative is to create a Transformation Tool Kit, which will have […]
Libraryman ponders how we might define MySpace to folks that aren’t that versed in social software. Take a look:http://www.libraryman.com/blog/archives/000221.html …Many libraries have recently began creating MySpace accounts as well, in order to show their (often times) younger users that they are a readily available resource to them not just as a physical institution, but as an engaged member of their “electronic community”. These outreach efforts have generally been very successful and well received. As people seek more and more information via electronic means, it important for us to consider how best to meet our users in an effective manner. While […]
http://www.davidleeking.com/2006/05/31/thinking-about-myspace-and-other-free-third-party-services/ David writes: Am I saying that free things like MySpace, Flickr, Blogs, Wikis, etc are bad? No way! But I am saying that these new services need to fit into your library’s plan… don’t just set one up to “see what happens” or “just for kicks.” Think through a few things first: What does your library plan to offer using this new service? What are the library’s goals for establishing this new service? Can the advertising be minimized by paying a fee or by choosing certain categories? Does the service meet the library’s strategic goals? Who’s going to maintain […]
Hennepin MySpace Catalog Search Box Originally uploaded by mstephens7. Nice added element at HCPL MySpace page. http://www.myspace.com/hennepincountylibrary
http://digitalreshift.org: Chris Harris’s new Website, with links to his presentations. http://www.selco.info/blog/2006/05/library-fines-or-not.html: Barbara Missely ponders library fines and links to a CSM poll. http://techessence.info/node/49: Andrew Pace asks: “Have you ever sat down with a programmer?”
IM to other store Originally uploaded by jessamyn. File this under “Why Libraries should have IM activated at each department/branch!”