Kyle Jones interviewed Kenley Neufeld and me for the new Library technology report from ALA TechSource: “Using WordPress as a Library Content Management System” by Kyle M. L. Jones and Polly-Alida Farrington. Here’s a snippet: KJ: You both work at institutions where you have some kind of formal learning management system. Why did you make the decision to not use the resources you had? You could have made your lives extremely easier going with the norm and instead you chose to roll your own. You put a lot of struggles on yourself to do so. MS: I can’t have my students spend […]
Contributors Michael Stephens
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I’ll be spending a week in Canada starting this Wednesday. First, I’ll be at the ABQLA Conference in Montreal on Thursday. My talk is the morning keynote: The Hyperlinked Library – Trends, Tools, and Transparency What emerging trends are changing library services? What does a connected world of “continuous computing” mean for 21st Century libraries? How do we create services when the world of information is accessible through a mobile device and ubiquitous wifi. This presentation provides a roadmap toward becoming the Hyperlinked Library: mobile, transparent, participatory, playful, user-centered and human, while still grounded in our foundations and values. I’m excited that […]
http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/ljinprintcurrentissue/889573-403/revamping_reference__the_user.html.csp Aaron Schmidt writes: Reference desks don’t have to be antagonistic. Boomerang-shaped desks with a computer monitor and an easily shared keyboard between two chairs set the stage for a collaborative interaction. Folding patrons into the research process acknowledges their contribution. This respectful gesture—and the other ways to consciously consider your reference setup—can ameliorate library anxiety and foster an engaging experience. With the easy-to-use mobile computing options now available, roving reference makes more sense than ever. I spoke with Katherine Penner (Univ. of Manitoba’s Dafoe Lib.) and Martha Flotten (Multnomah Cty. Lib. [MCL]) about how they’ve experimented with Apple iPhones […]
Hey LIS students & recent grads: how would you rate transparency of your school & program? Were you involved in decisions? Always informed? I writing a bit for my next “Office Hours” and I am interested in thoughts from the student side. Also, professors and administrators – how have you fostered transparency?
Tomorrow night, I’m presenting the President’s program at the New Jersey Library Association Conference. It’s a very interesting and troublesome time for New Jersey librarians. The State Library recently informed NJ libraries that they are ending the QandA NJ program. Peter Bromberg explains it well: http://blog.peterbromberg.com/2011/04/qandanj-my-three-and-half-cents.html On April 4, 2011 the New Jersey State Librarian announced thatQandANJ.org, New Jersey’s ground-breaking, award-winning 24/7 virtual reference service, would cease. I think this is a terrible decision for New Jersey libraries — “a huge step backward” is the phrase I keep hearing from others — and it would be a huge loss for the […]
I’m presenting one of the lightning keynotes tomorrow afternoon at the National Library Unconference Day. Although I won’t be broadcasting these slides, I made them for my own use and to share. Hopefully I can do a version of this talk with the slides someday. Download the slides here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/239835/HeartUnconferenceStephens.pdf
Wow! More about Mr. Schu here. I am very interested to read the 2011 Technology Survey.
This is intriguing – comment by “B” at http://bit.ly/gYGL6k : Some of my former co-workers (who were also hiring managers) nixed applicants that responded “Because I love books” to the question “Why do you want to work in a library?” While such a black and white approach to hiring makes me a bit squeamish, I do strongly encourage job applicants to be a bit more creative in their response. Apparently “Because I like books” is such a common response (among the entry-level crowd, at least), that giving a different (thoughtful and honest) answer is a quick way to nail the […]
Just a few more talks before I have most of the summer off to work on some research projects and prepare for classes at SJSU SLIS: May 2, 2011: Library Unconference Day, Keynote Lightning Talk. May 2-4, 2011: New Jersey Library Association, President’s Program/Keynote & Tech Trends TTW Goes to Canada: May 12, 2011: Keynote, Association des bibliothécaires du Québec Library Association, Montreal, Québec. May 17, 2011: “Heretical Thoughts about LIS Education,” The Future of the Academic Library Symposium, Burlington, Ontario. (Registration is full, waitlisting is possible.) June 9, 2011: Finger Lakes Library System Technology Workshop, Ithaca, New York. June 17, 2011: […]
Thanks to Rich Allen, Technical Services Librarian at Winthrop Public Library in Massachusetts , for sending this link. The Boston Globe recently ran a story called “Checking Out the Future.” It highlights the Simmons program but also explores the increase in technology use and required skills for new grads. These lines echo some of the things I’ve written about in “Office Hours:” (emphasis mine) Library science used to be the realm of career changers. Bookish types, having put in some years in the work world, would enroll in a graduate program with dreams of one day making a living surrounded by the […]