Contributors Michael Stephens
3974 posts
“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 […]
Don’t miss this by Brian Kenney: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/libraries/article/56190-giving-them-what-they-should-want.html That strategy seems to represent a new chapter in a debate public librarians in America have had for 150 years: should we be providing our readers with the material they want, or should we be providing books we think they should read? Because, however noble DCL’s motivation is for its model, when it comes to e-books, the system is pushing its patrons to read something other than what they want to read. It’s back to the 19th century, Kindle in hand. Of course, in DCL’s defense, much of this is out of its […]
This quote from Seth Godin, shared on the super cool R-Squared Risk takers group on Facebook by Jodi Grifasi Brown is golden: “Traditional corporations, particularly large-scale service and manufacturing businesses are organized for efficiency. Or consistency. But not joy. Joy comes from surprise and connection and humanity and transparency and new…If you fear special requests, if you staff with cogs, if you have to put it all in a manual, then the chances of amazing someone are really quite low. These organizations have people who will try to patch problems over after the fact, instead of motivated people eager to delight on […]
Don’t miss this great article by Toby Greenwalt: http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2013/02/embracing/ The Idea Box7 is a nine-by-thirteen-foot space located in the opening vestibule of OPPL’s main library building. Originally designed as a coffee shop, the space is now a constantly changing interactive environment for art and conversation. Unlike a digital media lab or a makerspace, however, the Idea Box is focused on single-serving experiences. One month might have patrons rearranging small LED lights to create constellations on the walls. Another month might have a visitor posing for a green-screen photo with an oversized library card, and choosing their favorite exotic location to have […]
Are museums a dial that only goes to 5? from Michael Edson Please take a few moments to explore this incredible presentation from the Smithsonian’s Michael Edson. It’s here the work of libraries and museums converge and Michael identifies some very useful ways of thinking about this shift. To me, it’s brilliant.
http://www.cbc.ca/hamilton/news/story/2013/03/04/hamilton-librarian-lawsuits-dropped.html The filing claimed that McMaster is liable for allowing Askey “to continue the publications” and for refusing to force him to take the posting down. The lawsuits inspired scholars from around North America to rally behind Askey. Created by Martha Reineke, a professor of religion at the University of Northern Iowa, a petition demanding EMP to drop its lawsuits had garnered more than 3,100 names as of Monday morning. EMP told CBC Hamilton on Monday that it “has discontinued the court case against McMaster University and Dale Askey.” In a statement, the company added: “financial pressure of the social […]
From the Chronicle of Higher Education: http://chronicle.com/article/Librarians-Rally-Behind/137329/ Librarians Rally Behind Blogger Sued by Publisher Over Critical Comments Support for Mr. Askey isn’t limited to Canada. On Twitter, academics around the world are tweeting about the case using the hashtag #FreeDaleAskey, and Martha J. Reineke, a professor of religion at the University of Northern Iowa, created an online petition seeking an end to the lawsuit. It has drawn nearly 1,900 signatures since Friday from Britain, Canada, and the United States. “Signing is going well 24 hours a day, thanks to persons in Europe who sign while the North Americans sleep,” Ms. Reineke said. […]
AMAZING. Something about this seems so wrong. Dale Askey wrote a guest post for TTW after I met him at the Future of Academic Libraries Symposium. Take a look at this LJ piece for the details and follow the links: http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/02/litigation/press-sues-librarian-over-negative-evaluation/ In 2010, Dale Askey was a tenured associate professor at Kansas State University (K-State) when he made a blog post about Edwin Mellen Press. Since removed from the blog, but available via the Internet Archive, the post called Mellen a “dubious publisher,” saying that the press occasionally publishes a worthy title and is not technically a vanity publisher, but that “much of what […]