I believe in the power of stories. I think everything we do in our libraries contributes to the story we tell – signage, customer service, the atmosphere of the building and how we interact with our users – both in person and online. At this moment in time, a library’s story is written everyday by what users find or don’t find inside, how the staff meets those users needs and what is said about the facility in line at the grocery store and online at Yelp or Google reviews. I’ve travelled a lot in the last few years, mostly for […]
Contributors Michael Stephens
3983 posts
Be sure to check out http://lisevents.com/ From the About page: About LISEvents LISEvents is a community-based site intended to aggregate listings of library-related events of all types, sizes, and locations. The site also helps speakers find gigs and event planners find speakers. The idea for the site has been kicking around in one form or another for quite a few years. Peter Murray did some work on a beta version around 2005. Community-Driven The LISEvents project leverages the entire library community. Anyone can post an event, and we encourage speakers and vendors to sign up for an accounts and build their […]
My new column is up at Library Journal: http://bit.ly/hmosLw “I like books.” This is one answer to the introductory question I ask when meeting a class for the first time: “What brings you to librarianship?” The answers vary just as LIS students do, whether they’re recent college graduates or those returning to school for a second career in libraries. The “books” answer begs the question, “Do you mean the content or the container?” Students starting graduate school who want to work in libraries with stacks filled with books may be aiming for the wrong profession. Archives and rare books collections will […]
This post from Ben Lainhart inspires me to do everything I can to make online LIS learning and engaging: (emphasis mine) One of the worst things about being an online MLIS student is the lack of meaningful interaction with professors and students. Let’s face it, Blackboard is still stuck back in 2001. Ideas do not organically flow there. How can they when you have to make two insipid posts per week – 1 original, 1 response please! I am nearing the end of my program and though I am sure I have had more than a few classes with several […]
Greetings from Istanbul! I’m giving this presentation three times over the next two days. Each will be slightly different depending on the audience. The slides are here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/239835/SocialMediaAppEduStephens.pdf
http://ischool.sjsu.edu/about/news/detail/dr-michael-stephens-joins-sjsu-slis The San José School of Library and Information Science is pleased to welcome Dr. Michael Stephens as a new full-time faculty member. Stephens is a recognized scholar and teacher in the areas of emerging technologies and library services, Learning 2.0 programs, social software, social media, digital library services, virtual communities, user-centered planning for libraries, Internet users’ information needs and behaviors online, and future roles of librarians and libraries. Stephens has been a faculty member with Dominican University’s Graduate School of Library and Information Science since 2005. Prior to joining Dominican, he spent more than 15 years working in public libraries […]
Brilliant! Please take a few minutes and watch Peter Bromberg’s video from ACPL. I was honored to take part in this series in 2008: http://www.youtube.com/user/askacpl#p/a/5C3DEAAE3B8A1DBE/0/PzBC8q_hTHY
What challenge will you seek out today? How will you continue to learn? Maybe next to my “still learning” plaque, I’ll place a Post-it as another reminder: “Find your next challenge.” Last Thursday I accepted an offer to join the full time faculty at San Jose State University School of Library & Information Science. On Monday, I resigned my appointment at Dominican GSLIS effective in August 2011. This has been an incredible few weeks of pondering, making decisions, and seeking a challenge. Yes, I wrote “Seek a Challenge” for my Office Hours column at LJ about the decision to apply […]
I’m speaking this morning at the WNYLRC’s Library Innovation: Thinking Outside the Book meeting. The slides are here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/239835/StephensWNYLRCTransparency.pdf
My new column is up at Library Journal: http://bit.ly/fAPW2s If you are on the fence about emerging technologies, take a look at the new Horizon Report (www.nmc.org/horizon). The 2011 report not only pre sents technologies to watch but offers a road map for planning and an ongoing dialog about change in education, learning, and libraries. Supported by research and evidence, it points the way to the future. This rich trove will spark your thinking, as it did mine. Here are some of my observations and ideas. Conversation-based reading Reading becomes social. While the ebook market continues to steamroll past libraries, the […]