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Discs are so Dead – Future of Media in Our Libraries

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.04/start.html?pg=2 Nice article at WIRED that validates the thinking going on right now about CDs and DVDs. What will our Audio Visual areas look like in the next 5-7 years when we are hurtling toward streaming versions of high-def movies and episodes of “Entourage?” How will we participate in what becomes a transcation between users at home and the vast network of content and community out there? Eventually, someone will build the sophisticated business plan and technology that will make getting hi-def movies online even easier. The possibilities are myriad. Users, for example, could log onto Amazon, shop for movies, […]

Getting Things Done – David Allen (Updated)

My empty inbox this am: That David Allen is so hot right now! I guess David and his GTD tipped while I was on leave… have you read it? Listened? Thanks to David King for turning me on to Allen and his book “Getting Things Done” back in June. Here are some cool links from our new Coordinator of Information Technology at SJCPL, Nancy Korpal, who totally gets this stuff: http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,68103,00.html http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,68110,00.html Advanced Workflow PDF: http://www.davidco.com/pdfs/gtd_workflow_advanced.pdf Cool E-Mail link (A Mac site but useful for all): http://www.macworld.com/2005/04/features/tipsinbox/index.php

Rock the Shelves

Check out this set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelcasey/sets/632151/ These images say alot: library as community meeting place…library as cultural center…library as a place young people would like to be and hang out…and make some music. Well Done Gwinnett County Public Library!

On Training in Libraries….

Training should be viewed as a necessity, not a luxury; as mandatory, not voluntary; and as comprehensive, not superficial. Training should be both theoretical and practical. The consequence of poor training will be that our users will lose confidence in librarians: They will think that librarians have joined the ranks of others that have fallen under the weight of emerging technologies, and they will see libraries as another institution that is threatened with extinction as the 21st century approaches. Krissoff, A. & Konrad, L. COMPUTER TRAINING FOR STAFF AND PATRONS, Computers in Libraries, Jan1998, Vol. 18, Issue 1

Libraries that “get” games (p. 45 GOT GAME)

Survey respondents “who had grown up playing games reported sharply different attitudes about the very foundations of business: risk, achievement, the vaule of their experience, their own capabilities….Without question, the game generation is already having business impact far beyond the Internet. The effects of video games in our economic lives will soon be hard to ignore. Firms (substitute LIBRARIES here) that “get” games will unlock assets at every level of their workforces. Firms (LIBRARIES) that don’t will wonder where all their best employees (and patrons) went.” This was a big “aha” moment for me.

Abram on iPod

I am thoroughly enjoying Stephen Abram’s blog. Don’t miss it. Today, he posts about iPods in Libraries. How powerful can digital tools such as an iPod be? The Duke University report has some cool answers… Stephen writes: But what I enjoyed was seeing the uses by music students to play recordings over and over to learn; to record their own work; and to share music in context of discussion. I liked the stories about language students repeating lectures to get all the nuances of the language, to get pronunciations right and to study. There are many stories like this about […]