If you are involved with managing a library website or social media, usability studies should be vitally important to you. My library has conducted several usability tests over the past decade, which provided input for major website redesigns. I thought it might be useful for those new to usability testing to post my library’s documentation for our most recent usability study, MVCC Library Usability Study Documents. If you follow this link, you will find a PDF that includes: Study Goals Procedure Outline Calendar Testing the Test Test Materials Web sites Reviewed Participant Forms Moderator Script Study Questions I always approach usability […]
Categories Library Jobs & Careers
274 posts
Phoenix Public Library seeks an experienced and effective leader to direct the operations of the Information Technology and Digital Initiatives division. This position has full responsibility to administer the operations of a major library division, and help to define and articulate the vision, strategic directions and priorities for their division and the library system. Incumbent serves as a member of Library Administration to plan, develop, and implement innovative, community-oriented library services for which Phoenix is known and works under the general direction of the City Librarian. Download the entire job document here: DeputyLibraryDirectorPHX
Note from Michael – Carlie is a WISE student taking my Hyperlinked Library course. Carlie wrote this post as part of her course blogging. I’ve been reflecting on what kind of librarian I wish to become, and in the process, I discovered the social media guidelines I developed form a beautiful basis. As a future librarian, I promise the following to members, colleagues, and to myself that I will: Be curious. My learning will never be finished. I want to learn from colleagues and members, and promise to never be afraid to say “I don’t know.” I will give others the […]
StephensCV2012 Just updated my CV for my 2nd year retention, tenure & promotion dossier. Curious about the dossier? I made a video!
Ten Rules for New Librarians – How do they look 6 years later? Ask questions in your interviews. Hard questions, like “How many projects are on the library’s list right now?” or “What is the technology planning process like here?” Read this and remember! Pay attention to the answers and what the librarians interviewing you say about their users. Are they dismissive, bothered by them and their presence in the library? Run away! Read far and wide and immerse yourself in culture, pop and otherwise. It will help you know what your users are doing and into! Understand copyright and the Creative Commons very well […]
By Michael Stephens As the school year wanes, I’ve spent the last few days grading electronic portfolios for a cadre of SLIS students. The portfolio is part of their culminating experience at San José and serves as a lexicon of learning, detailing experiences and evidence of their mastery of our competencies. It promotes a high degree of self-evaluation by articulating a statement of professional philosophy. Truth be told, both students and practitioners can benefit from careful consideration of what it means to be a professional in libraries in 2012. A crowded field In a market where one library job may […]
Don’t miss: http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2012/04/opinion/peer-to-peer-review/defining-authentic-librarianship-peer-to-peer-review/ So here’s how I propose to use the idea in this column: to me, authentic librarianship is motivated primarily by concern for those we serve as librarians, rather than by concern for our own agendas or preferences. To be more specific, “authentic” would describe professional practice that is motivated by all of the following: Concern for the success of the library’s patrons in their particular tasks Concern for the long-term intellectual welfare of the library’s patrons Desire to further the goals of the library’s sponsoring institution How can you know whether a librarian is acting in an […]
For the past year, I have had a foggy notion for a new librarian position, but I can’t quite get my mind wrapped around it. So, I am turning to you, TTW community, to help. Today, I am once again skimming through R. David Lankes’ amazing book The Atlas of New Librarianship. I am looking over page 67 at the idea of librarians as “Publisher of Community.” This may be the closest definition to what I have in mind. Lankes writes, “I foresee the day in the near future when librarians spend the majority of their time working with community […]
Clive Thompson recently gave an excellent interview on the findings tumblr as part of their “How We Will Read” series. In the interview, Thompson discusses his ideas on eBooks, social reading and the future of print. But I think that his thoughts about print on demand books are the most interesting. What you see with print on demand in the last couple of years is that there’s been explosion in the number of things printed, but they’re printed in small quantities: three, four, five copies total. They tend to be things like very specialty books; weird memoirs only three or four people […]
My new column is up at Library Journal: http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2012/03/opinion/michael-stephens/embracing-chaos-office-hours/ Part of me is tempted to argue that this is not a debate between those who want control and those who want chaos. The forward-thinking librarian understands that Shirky’s “everybody’s coming” is the future. We are now living in the chaotic world, and we do not have a choice regarding where we can position ourselves. Our choice lies in how we respond. If we continue to respond to chaos using tools from the old world of control, then we will always fail. LIS students need to understand that the world is […]