After long hours of travel from Traverse City, I arrived late last night in Helsinki. I am looking forward to the networking events, caucus and my presentation. I will also be at the SJSU SLIS exhibit booth (#A109) Sunday afternoon and Wednesday morning for those who would like to say hello. Here are the details on my session: The influence of new developments of information technology on professional development in libraries Information Technology with Education and Training 14 August 2012 16:00 – 18:00 | Room: Session Room 4 Librarians’ attitudes towards mobile services NOA AHARONY (Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, […]
Contributors Michael Stephens
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Donna Saxby Michael Stephens Rurik Thomas Greenall The Internet Librarian International Conference Chairs for 2012,Donna Saxby, Michael Stephens and Rurik Thomas Greenall, look forward to welcoming you to the most international, inspiring and varied conference of the year. The conference for library innovation and creativity, where ideas and experiences from a multitude of sectors and from all over the world are shared. From an airport librarian to a video journal, from gaming to Google, from mobile services to teaching and learning. If you’re interested in connecting with users and developers, in the creation of content or dancing with data , there is a huge range […]
Open!, a photo by mstephens7 on Flickr. Little Free Library #2099 – Library Steward: Michael Stephens The Little Free Library Balsam Circle at Spider Lake in Traverse City, Michigan is a neighborhood project spearheaded by Michael Stephens and Erin Henshaw. The library itself was built by Erin Henshaw and Steven Hoggatt and was built to match Stephens’ cottage across the street. It was dedicated for use by our lake community of Balsam Circle and Lakeview Trail on July 21, 2012. In the weeks since its dedication, the library has seen a lot of traffic and impromptu story times have occurred […]
Ten Rules for New Librarians – How do they look 6 years later? Ask questions in your interviews. Hard questions, like “How many projects are on the library’s list right now?” or “What is the technology planning process like here?” Read this and remember! Pay attention to the answers and what the librarians interviewing you say about their users. Are they dismissive, bothered by them and their presence in the library? Run away! Read far and wide and immerse yourself in culture, pop and otherwise. It will help you know what your users are doing and into! Understand copyright and the Creative Commons very well […]
Ancient Library Signage, a photo by JenWaller on Flickr. 🙂
Aaron Schmidt and I have combined our columns this month for a double length examination of the site visit assignment in LIS schools: The most responsive libraries would aim to make a change based on the suggestion of the student. The reports and other data would be shared with the staff and the recommendations for improvements evaluated and implemented. The findings might also be shared externally or with the library’s governing body to promote not only transparency but the positive aspects of the library partnering with a library school. These partnerships should be encouraged and leveraged as much as possible. […]
Ned Potter has put together a new book on marketing libraries. TTW’s own Justin Hoenke helped him out on the chapter on marketing to teens using technology in libraries. Super cool! For a list of contributors and more: http://www.librarymarketingtoolkit.com/p/about-contributors.html The Library Marketing Toolkit will be published in July 2012, by Facet Publishing. This website acts as a companion to the book, as well as a stand-alone marketing resource. To quote the blurb, the book is: “A toolkit of ideas to inspire action. As libraries continue to fight for their survival amid growing expectations, competition from online sources and wavering public perceptions, effective […]
My new column is available at LJ’s site: http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2012/06/opinion/michael-stephens/our-common-purpose-office-hours/ “Get a blog, launch texting, create a Facebook page” has been the rallying cry—from me, too—for some time, but the reasons for doing these things should be clear. They’re an extension of what we have always done, the foundational purpose of libraries. Service. Access. Context. Many LIS programs include “how-to” technology classes. These are useful for providing the skills new grads need to be marketable. Along with those skill-based courses, however, we must give students opportunities to learn how to engage actively with people, facilitate people’s interests and conversation, and promote […]
Thanks to Warren Cheetham for sharing this via Twitter.