Nice news story about my home library: http://www.theticker.tc/story/how-traverse-city-really-uses-its-library by Lynn Geiger “I love looking at data of all kinds, but not everyone does,” says TADL Director Metta Landsdale of the system that offers data and insight into material circulation, library use and collection size. “The dashboard presents what I believe is excellent TADL performance in a way that more and more people can absorb and appreciate.” In addition to those nearly 290,000 adult books, 222,658 children’s books have been checked out in 2013, along with 205,484 movies, 109,578 albums, 17,217 magazines, 31,492 audiobooks and even 2,456 puppets. TC’s most […]
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However engaging, thought-provoking, and even polarizing the speakers were at the Future of Academic Libraries Symposium presented by McMaster University and Library Journal, they couldn’t match what five McMaster University students had to say. “Hearing from Our Users: What Students Expect,” moderated by Mike Ridley, CIO and chief librarian at the University of Guelph, offered the most striking, honest, and emotionally charged views of the entire day. It gave symposium participants a glimpse at students’ perceptions and opinions. Ridley urged the panel to “tell us what we need to hear,” and they did. While all five own a smartphone, not one said they had ever accessed library […]
Presenting at the Educause Learning Initiatives (ELI) conference last January in Austin, TX, was a seminal moment for me. I found my tribe of like-minded educators and technologists examining what it means to be teaching and creating learning environments in the 21st century. What I didn’t find was too many librarians; roughly seven to eight percent of the 500-plus attendees were librarians. (Note to readers: put this dynamic conference on your radar. We should be there to represent and participate in the conversations.) Beyond the benefits of finding like-minded thinkers, ELI forced me to articulate my personal goals as an […]
By Michael Stephens I recently had a phone chat with a valued colleague who runs a university library. He had been working hard to streamline staffing and budgets owing to a financial shortfall, while holding steady to a strategic plan anchored in creating useful information and collaboration spaces for the student body. I asked the question I always ask when I’m talking to someone who hires new librarians: “What other skills and competencies should a new librarian have?” His response? “I want risk-takers…innovators…creatives….I don’t want someone who’s afraid to make a move or make a decision without getting permission.” We […]
Margaret is my super cool research assistant. http://ischool.sjsu.edu/people/community-profile/margaret-jean-campbell Student Margaret Jean Campbell bubbles with enthusiasm when talking about how she helped develop the first massive open online course, or MOOC, at the San José State University School of Library and Information Science. The Hyperlinked Library MOOC (#hyperlibMOOC on Twitter), which started on September 3, 2013, is taught by assistant professor Michael Stephens and lecturer Kyle Jones. It parallels much of the content in Stephens’ LIBR 287: Hyperlinked Library course, offered to students enrolled in the school’s Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) program. Intended for professional development, the MOOC is offered free to the public. […]
Everyone gets naked every once in awhile. Everyone has to squat on the toilet. There’s nothing shameful, deviant or weird about either of them. But what if I decreed that from now on, every time you went to evacuate some solid waste, you’d have to do it in a glass room perched in the middle of Times Square, and you’d be buck naked? Even if you’ve got nothing wrong or weird with your body and how many of us can say that? You’d have to be pretty strange to like that idea. Most of us would run screaming. Most […]
http://metronews.ca/news/edmonton/774745/edmonton-public-library-makes-space-for-tech-friendly-creations/ CDs, DVDs and video games have been moved from what used to be the audio-visual room on the main level of the Stanley A. Milner EPL branch downtown, where renovations began Friday on the Makerspace.
One of the highlights of the summer was a visit from Little Free Library Co-founder and LFL Executive Director Todd Bol. He stopped in Traverse City on the way back from ALA Annual. We gave him a tour of some of our local LFLs, including our own here at Spider Lake. Here’s Todd and I that day at our library: I was floored when Todd left me with two LFLs that magically appeared out of his vehicle. He left me with this charge: place the LFLs in the area with stewards that will take care of them! I am […]
Just submitted my abstract for my keynote at LIANZA 2013. I am honored that my keynote presentation is sponsored by Victoria University of Wellington! 🙂 LEARNING EVERYWHERE: The Transformative Power of Hyperlinked Libraries Michael Stephens, PhD, San José State University, San José, California USA Mobile and Web technologies are creating a world of everywhere and anytime learning opportunities, and libraries can play a key role in this future. Imagine the emerging hyperlinked library as an active creation space, magnetic community space, new tools and resources space— a practical anything space. Imagine this library available everywhere and at anytime via mobile […]
September 26, 2013: “Learning Everywhere: Ten Mobile Things to Explore & Use” Presentation & Immersive Laboratory workshop, NORWELD, Bowling Green, Ohio. September 30, 2013: “Of MOOCs & Mayhem,” Roles for Libraries — MOOCs, eLearning & Gamification, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. October 10, 2013: “Learning Everywhere,” Presentation for staff, Washington University Libraries, St. Louis, MO. October 11, 2013: “The Hyperlinked Library,” Presentation for St. Louis area librarians, St. Louis, MO. October 15, 2013: “Evolving Hyperlinked Libraries,” presentation for staff of Williamson County Public Library, Tennessee, online. October 15, 2013: “23 Mobile Things: Tools for Delivering Library Services,” with Jan Holmquist, Internet Librarian International, London, England. […]