And my last column of 2014 – for got to post! http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2014/11/opinion/michael-stephens/its-about-time-office-hours/ Have you said this in a meeting or a discussion with a colleague? Has this rolled off the tongue when confronted with an unexpected change, a new technology, or another initiative? Many of us are stretched to our limits. I applaud the folks I meet who have absorbed more and more duties as staffing patterns have changed. Just recently, at a meeting of the Council of State Library Agencies in the Northeast in Cape May, NJ, I dined with librarians who were wearing many hats in their evolving […]
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My new column is up at Library Journal: http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2015/01/opinion/michael-stephens/actions-and-answers-office-hours/ The attitudes or reflective action, highlighted in an article by Grant and Zeichner (2001), includes open-mindedness, responsibility, and wholeheartedness. All are important and resonate deeply with me and my philosophy of what librarianship should be about. Approaching something with a sense of wholeheartedness means we are all in all the time, not just when it’s convenient. It means bucking the status quo to do the right thing at the right moment. It means owning our actions as professionals. I am most excited about this evolution of who we are and what we do […]
The ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education Task Force has completed a final draft of the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. This draft is working its way through the infrastructure of ACRL. (I have previously posted about the Framework on this blog: The New Information Literacy Framework and James Madison, Information as a Human Right: A Missing Threshold Concept?, and Using the New IL Framework to Set a Research Agenda. I should note that I am a member of the Task Force but that I do not officially speak officially for the Task Force in this […]
Don’t miss Michael Casey’s piece at LJ: http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2015/01/shows-events/inside-the-harwood-institutes-innovators-lab-for-libraries/ The idea of asking people about their aspirations (“what kind of community do you want to live in?”) consumed much of the first day of training. Students participated in exercises designed to help them better understand the powerful responses that result from simply asking somebody about their dreams for the community. These conversations help the library focus outward and better understand the rhythms of the local community, gaining a wealth of public knowledge for the library. In one of the first exercises, students broke off into small groups to examine the “stages […]
During my recent commutes to work, I have been enjoying the audio of Jane McGonigal’s 2011 book Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World . This is one of those titles that I have always meant to read, and I am just now getting to it. McGonigal’s general thesis is that the compelling aspects of game-play (especially online gaming) can be applied to many areas of life (social problems, routine tasks, etc) in an effort to make life more engaging. While McGonigal has much to offer the library community, her discussion of collaboration […]
As 2014 comes to a close, I’m reflecting on my experiences this year speaking and traveling to work with librarians and information professionals all over the world. A heartfelt THANK YOU to the folks who invited me to speak or attended my talks, to the good people who chatted at receptions and after presentations, and to all who taught me so much about what’s happening in our world. I’m thrilled to have visited these places this year: Philadelphia, Santa Barbara, Indianapolis, San Antonio, Denver. Chatham-Kent, Vancouver, Tampa, Los Angeles, Limerick, Ireland, Lyon, France, West Virginia, Virginia and New York. I […]
Writer Jay Stringer wrote a piece on Panels.net about how comic books helped him deal with his dyslexia and increased his reading skills (see Dyslexia and Comics by Jay Stringer 10|24|14). He notes, “We all combine information in different ways, and at different speeds. Some can add story and plot together in a mathematical equation that leads to narrative. Dyslexics like myself can’t learn anything without a narrative to hold on to. Why am I being given this information? What does it do? What is it relevant to? What similar thing should I store it next to in my head?” […]
I am very impressed with the new blogging initiative launched by Traverse Area District Library: Fine Print is a curated collection of library inspired findings and fun to enrich your personal, professional, and creative endeavors. Fine Print is a production of the Traverse Area District Library, a network of community libraries serving Grand Traverse County through six facilities. Learn more about TADL. http://fineprint.tadl.org I especially like the “Reference Couch” entries: http://fineprint.tadl.org/category/refcouch/ Kudos to TADL, the fine folks that also brought us the statistics dashboard: http://www.tadl.org/stats/
The last time I posted on Tame The Web was on August 6, 2014 in a post titled Catching Up. The title of that post sort of sums up the past year and a half in my life here at the Chattanooga Public Library…lots of work for the community and not enough time to sit back, reflect, and share with everyone in the world. It’s all good. In that time, I’ve had some ideas floating around in my head and over the months and days they’ve been revised, edited, and now they’re ready to go. In my role as Manager of The 2nd […]
I am honored to have an article co-authored with Kyle Jones in the new issue of Journal of Education for Library and Information Science. Stephens, M. & Jones, K. M. L. (2014). “MOOCs as LIS Professional Development Platforms: Evaluating and Refining SJSU’s First Not-for-Credit MOOC.” Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 55,(4). Abstract: Beyond for-credit offerings, some library and information science (LIS) schools are exploring MOOCs as a means to promote lifelong learning and professional development. Using web surveys and descriptive content analysis methods, this paper empirically addresses if, in LIS programs, MOOCs can fill a role and serve […]