Categories Presentations

I’ve been looking forward to this session – focused on how we teach future library and museum professionals. First up, David Lankes, Professor, Director, Masters in Library and Information Science, Syracuse University, School of Information Studies, Syracuse, New York, explored  this statement: The mission of librarians is to improve society through facilitating knowledge creation in their communities. He posited that knowledge is creation through conversation. I really appreciate his idea of focusing more on the librarian not the library – fascinating! Consider this quote from Lankes: “Why showcase culture if we are not enabling conversations about that culture?” Amen. For more see: http://www.newlibrarianship.org/wordpress/ Nest […]

Noha Adly, Deputy Head, ICT Sector, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt, explored various technologies in use at her library as well as by some insights about the way people are interacting with technology and information. Key areas of importance: search beyond text, user interaction with devices and data, and new representations of data. She also called for an increase in tools that enhance and enable multilingualism for search and retrieval. A favorite quote: should we provide  an “Invitation to spoil the catalog” with user input! – love this idea. Also – library is building a digital archive of Egyptian Revolution: +230K […]

http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2011/10/21/the-challenges-and-opportunities-of-participatory-culture-for-museums-and-libraries-part-ii/   Rob Stein blogs from the Seminar three questions for consideration: 1. How can museums aid in addressing the socio-economic consequences of a widening technology gap? A number of participants spoke eloquently about the social and economic consequences that impact marginalized communities who lack the same easy-access to technology that many of us take for granted.  This lack of access means a lack of opportunity to engage with the cultural evolutions of content produced online and critical dialogs taking place on blogs, twitter and cultural websites. The prevalence of information access is contributing to a changing set of skills […]

  I’m part of the Communication & Technology plenary this morning. My slides are here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/239835/SalzburgStephens.pdf  I’m planning to talk briefly about the four areas of technology/trends and how participation from community of users can enhance information environments, library service and our interactions with each other. This post is a reflection/response to questions posed at the Salzburg Global Seminar program Libraries and Museums in an Era of Participatory Culture, exploring the challenges, solutions and potential for participatory services within libraries and museums. Join the conversation: https://tametheweb.com/2011/10/19/join-the-conversation-libraries-museums-in-an-era/ Special Thanks to the Salzburg Global Seminar  and IMLS for the invitation to participate in this event.

Highlights from case studies from around the globe during this evening’s fireside chat: Catalina Escobar, Director of Makaia, a non profit working with libraries, Medelli?n, Colombia: Implementing SMS notifications for circulation messages and general messages has been useful, but has presented some challenges. These include the perception that emails from the library are like spam and purchasing set allotments of text that sometimes run out before the end of the year. Digital heritage – gathering histories, scanning documents and more for sharing online – is an important consideration for future services. Library also did outreach and invited people to bring […]

Learning Transformed: Technology, advances in neuroscience, and research are changing our understanding of effective learning environments and experiences. The boundaries between in-school and out-of-school learning are blurring, and the importance of early and lifelong learning has been recognized. What knowledge and skills do our publics need and want, and how are museums and libraries responding to these needs? How do libraries and museums tap the knowledge and skills that their publics can bring to their institutions? The next plenary session was centered on Learning Transformed. Pablo Andrade, Studies Department Manager BiblioRedes, DIBAM, Santiago, Chile, opened the session with a presentation […]

Culture and Communities: How can libraries and museums use their many resources and strengths, including their collections, spaces, and people, to reflect cultural and demographic shifts and bridge cultural differences? How do they select the stories they tell and the services and experiences they offer? Gabriela Aidar, Coordinator of the Social Inclusion Program, Sa?o Paulo State Pinacoteca, Sa?o Paulo, Brazil, opened this discussion by sharing some thoughts about combating social inequalities – how can museums take a stand in this arena? Aidar urged museums to get involved and take action through the development of specific programs and shared a case […]

It’s good to revisit this definition in light of this week’s work: “A participatory culture is a culture with relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing one’s creations, and some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices.A participatory culture is also one in which members believe their contributions matter, and feel some degree of social con- nection with one another (at the least they care what other people think about what they have created).” From page 3 of Confronting the Challenges of […]