It’s easy for any library to have a social media presence these days. Translating that into success with serving a teen population? Well, that’s another thing… Be Yourself The discussion of personal and professional profiles always comes up. I didn’t want to have two profiles (done it before, hated it) so I had to make a decision: add teens to my own accounts or hide myself far, far away. I went with what some may consider to be the unpopular route. I added them to my own accounts. I feel like it has made a world of difference. I am […]
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Note from Michael: I’m serving as a mentor for ALA Emerging Leaders Group J this year. One of the members of this outstanding group is Justin Hoenke, who’s joining the TTW family as a contributor. This is his first post. What does it mean to be an ALA Emerging Leader? I’ve heard a lot of things come out of peoples’ mouths. Some have told me that it’s just something fancy to put on my resume, others that it’s just a lot of work that will remind you of a library school project. I’m not big on negativity, so I’ve […]
I have been trying to figure out how to best describe the awesomeness that is content management systems to an audience whose technological knowledge will range from using email/Word to a little more advanced. By the way, I have less than an hour to do so. Instead of bemoaning my fate I am looking at this as an opportunity. I get to think about the “elevator speech” for content management systems. After much thought I identified the two most important aspects, content types and permission levels. These two aspects of CMSs are counter intuitive to organizations and individuals used to […]
Michael’s EDUCAUSE Learning Initiatives 2010 conference presentation where he discussed “The Hyperlinked Campus” leads nicely into a recent post I made detailing exactly how Michael and I put together his course sites from a technical standpoint. If you’re looking to break free from the constraints of your learning management systems (LMS), I highly suggest you look into using WordPress MU and BuddyPress for a custom LMS. See all the details here: http://thecorkboard.org/blog/enhancing-wordpress-as-lms/ ——- Kyle Jones, TTW Contributor @thecorkboard thecorkboard.org
I highly recommend everybody taking a look at an intriguing, impromptu, and important discussion on the future of librarianship being had at Toby Greenwalt’s theanalogdivide by some of the finest minds in the field. It all began when Seth Godin wrote a few paragraphs about what libraries/librarians should be doing to remain viable -which some librarians took exception to it on Twitter and elsewhere. Be sure to check out the comments by Kate Sheehan, Bobbi Newman, and even a response by Seth Godin himself! Mick Jacobsen – TTW Contributor
Working in a university library, as with any type of library, means a dedicated service focus which supports the goals and directions of the parent company or institution. While each individual university will have their own priorities and strategic directions, there are some themes that seem to resonate across the board. One such area is the recognition of the need for universities to internationalise. Internationalisation benefits a university’s staff, students, research, and institutional profile and competitiveness, to just skim the surface of its influences. I work at Flinders University in South Australia, which has established a number of ways to […]
I recently produced a screencast on a popular reader’s advisory tool we use at mpow. I want to bring the tool to the attention of those that do not normally follow book reviews such as Library Journal’s Booksmack because of the use of participatory technologies. I have seen it written that IT/Technology is reference, I think we need to extend this to RA. BookMatch: An RA Innovation via Screencast “In an illuminating screencast created especially for BookSmack!, popular services manager Ricki Nordmeyer and adult services librarian Mick Jacobsen explain the Skokie Public Library’s new BookMatch program. This patron pleaser takes […]
I want to point everybody to Toby Greenwalt’s (theanalogdivide on Twitter) great slideshow and even more awesome handout on starting and using Twitter. As I was looking over Toby’s handout I kept thinking, “I wish I had this when I started out.” Full disclosure: I work with Toby at the Skokie Public Library. TTW Contributor: Mick Jacobsen
In Mick Jacobsen’s post, “An Unformed Thought,” in which he discussed the possibility of libraries acting as a hub for information technology needs such as website design and hosting, he hit on a core value of librarianship – community building. As we strive to build library spaces that are usable and promote interaction and collaboration, we naturally try to enhance interpersonal connections and create conversations that connect our patrons either to us or other users. And the conversation in the past couple of years has advanced this thought into our online spaces but with a reliance on preexisting technologies like […]
A few weeks ago the director of my library asked me to design and produce a website for a small community group, the North Shore Business Development Foundation (NSBDF). I was happy to be given the opportunity (I start getting the shakes if I don’t get to design a website ever-so-ofter). I had about a week to look over their logo, handouts, mission and vision statements, previous event flyers, etc. and around 7 more days to actually build the website. Time was short because of an upcoming program which the group wanted to use to make attendees aware of the […]