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What Pizarro and the Inca can Teach Librarians: Why Libraries Should Not Be Part of IT – A TTW Guest Post by Dr. Troy Swanson

Legend has it that In 1532, Pizarro overthrew the Inca Empire with 168 men. Librarians have much to learn from history. I have been working my way through Charles Manns’ eye opening and complex book 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus. Mann challenges us to rethink what we know about Native American culture demonstrating that pre-Columbian American culture was just as “advanced” as European culture. Mann also shows that the conquest of native society was made possible by many factors, especially the impact of disease. As you may have guessed, Pizarro did not overthrow the Inca Empire with […]

FREE ebook: School Libraries: What’s Now, What’s Next, What’s Yet to Come

Head on over to http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/96705 A crowdsourced collection of over 100 essays from around the world about trends in school libraries written by librarians, teachers, publishers, and library vendors. Edited by Kristin Fontichiaro and Buffy Hamilton. Foreword by R. David Lankes. Photographs by Diane Cordell. CONTRIBUTORS: Kelly Ahlfeld, Diane Erica Aretz-Kernahan, Emilia Askari, Kathleen Atkin, Robert Baigent, Susan D. Ballard, Angela Washington-Blair, Dan Bowen, Holli Buchter, Jennifer Branch, Len Bryan, Jennifer Colby, Diane Cordell, William Cross, Meg Donhauser, Joanne de Groot, Stacy Dillon, Andrea Dolloff, Laura Fleming, Lorna Flynn, Elizabeth Friese, Rachel Goldberg, Beth Gourley, Dorcas Hand, Alida Hanson, Violet […]

Presentation: Impact of Learning 2.0 in Australian Libraries with Warren Cheetham

I am very pleased I got to present about the CAVAL research project with Warren Cheetham at the Library 2.011 Conference this week. The hurdles of distance, time and funding for travel fell away as we presented virtually from our offices. For Warren, it was Thursday morning in Townsville, while for me it was early evening Wednesday in northern Indiana. View the recording here: RECORDING      

Considering the Implications of the Library 2.011 Conference

This week, over 6,000 people registered to attend any number of sessions in the all online Library 2.011 Conference. It’s been interesting to read responses to the conference – including this one: http://librariangal.wordpress.com/2011/11/02/library-2-0-the-new-road-to-virtual-library-conferences/ In about 90 minutes, we will see a fork in the road to Libraryland’s future. In one direction, we have the main road…the path that we’re currently on that has librarians following along with the rest. In the other direction…the path to a digitally integrated education-centered future where librarians are the leaders in using old technology in new ways. On this new path, San José State University is sponsoring Library […]

Office Hours: The Role of Mentoring

Forgive this late post, but I totally forgot to link to my September column in LJ: http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/community/libraryeducation/891738-272/the_role_of_mentoring_.html.csp   Mentors can advise new librarians on all aspects of the profession, including tips for getting along with coworkers, the ins and outs of dealing with library administrators, and the like. The online world offers a new twist. While much is gained by participating in the ubiquitous social networks, there are pitfalls as well. A professional’s expressions are now open for the world to read, hear, or view. Because anyone tweeting, blogging, or Facebooking can share their thoughts so easily and post sometimes […]

Pew: Half of Adult Cell Phone Owners Have Apps on Their Phones

The share of adult cell phone owners who have downloaded an app nearly doubled in the past two years –from 22% in September 2009 to 38% in August 2011 – according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project.  When adults whose phones came preloaded with apps are also accounted for, fully half of U.S. adult cell phone owners (50%) now have apps on their phones. In May 2010, that figure stood at 43%. The survey also finds that among the 10% of adults who currently own a tablet computer, three-quarters (75%) report downloading […]

Zukunftswerkstatt Gaming Roadshow @ the Mannheim Library

Christoph Deeg has been doing an amazing job touring libraries in Europe with the Zukunftswerkstatt Gaming Roadshow opening up discussion about gaming and libraries.  This past week, the Roadshow made a stop at the Mannheim Library and held their program and panel discussion on gaming.  If you’re interested, check out this write up of the event here. The roadshow panel discussion brought up a great question: We discussed how interactive games can be used specifically in the culture and knowledge of the role they play in society, which can help libraries, schools or other institutions to technology and how it even […]