Categories TTW Ephemera

I am currently developing screencasts for an exciting new project mpowwill roll out in the near future. While looking at a stupidly designed, but very useful database, I thought “Why would any patron watch a tutorial on how to navigate this mess?  They want an answer to a question, not a walk through of a resource.” This idea was quickly followed by “I am going to design screencasts that answer common, representative questions.”  For example, using LegalForms by Thomas Gale (not the database I referred to as stupidly designed) I can show how to find a customizable job application in one […]

50. Today, the org chart is hyperlinked, not hierarchical. Respect for hands-on knowledge wins over respect for abstract authority. Today, bloggers from all over the world are responding to the 95 points of the Cluetrain Manifesto, which is ten years old: “Cluetrainplus10 is a project to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the manifesto. On Tuesday April 28, 95 bloggers around the world will each write a blog post on one of the 95 theses.” I chose #50, above, as one I might comment on because it speaks to the model I’ve been working on in my talks “The Hyperlinked […]

I am very happy to be speaking as part of this program: LLAMA BES:  LIBRARY 2.0 BUILDINGS:  CREATING ZONES WITH HEART Saturday, July 11, 2009; 1:30 – 3:30 PM 2009 Annual ALA Conference, Chicago, IL LLAMA – Buildings for College and University Libraries Committee Case Study 1:  Darien Library, Darien, Connecticut Alan Kirk Gray  Assistant Director – Operations, Darien Library Alan Kirk Gray is Assistant Director – Operations for Darien Library, Darien, CT, where he is responsible for the program, planning and construction of Darien Library’s new 54,000 square feet building, which has been cited for its anticipation of trends […]

http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/5-The-Mobile-Difference–Typology.aspx 8% of adults use mobile devices and broadband platforms for continual information exchange to collaborate with their social networks 7% of adults actively use mobile devices and social networking tool, yet are ambivalent about all the connectivity 8% of Americans find mobility lighting their information pathways, but have comparatively few tech assets at home 16% of adults are active conduits of content and information for 61% are anchored to stationary media; though many have broadband and cell phones, coping with access is often too much for them

Stephen Abram points to a thought-provoking article at Report 103: http://stephenslighthouse.sirsidynix.com/archives/2009/04/libraries_and_a.html “A Dozen Ingredients for a Culture of Innovation” http://www.jpb.com/report103/archive.php?issue_no=20090407 I pulled out some highlights from some of the sections that speak to me. Please read the whole piece, take it to your staff meetings and ponder how you might incorporate these ingredients in your institution. 1. Top Management Buy-In If top management do not embrace innovation, they can hardly expect their employees to do so either.  2. Trust 3. Priority of Innovation (Often Confused with Time) If you want a culture of innovation in your firm, creativity and innovation […]

During my research for my talk at BC Library Conference, I came across this wonderful video from Vancouver PL. Take a look.

Jeers to the librarian mind-set that in troubled economic times, learning, curiosity, and play must take a back seat. Now is the perfect time to find ways to extend services with free open tools. Cheers to libraries like Roselle Public Library, IL, and Lafayette Public Library, CO, for creating user-centered communities for their patrons with Ning, a free DIY social network site. Cheers to the American Library Association (ALA) for embracing Twitter and promoting the use of hash tags like #ALAMW09 that conveyed streams of Midwinter Meeting information to folks all over the world. And cheers, too, for launching ALA […]

While I was in Phoenix, I worked with the State Library facillitating a discussion about the cost and use of leased databases. Jen Maney from Pima County Public Library was there and asked me to follow up with an interview at SLJ: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6647835.html Here’s part of the back & forth: JM: In our discussion, things like content, scope, credibility, and ease and extent of access came up as some of the reasons that databases are valuable for libraries. What do you see as the strengths of subscription databases? MS: The deep content springs to mind first and the fact that […]

I was working last week on various writing projects and updating presentations when it struck me I should check in and see if my hometown library Mishawaka Penn Harris Public Library had relaxed the ban on Facebook and MySpace that I wrote about on TTW and that Michael and I covered in the our LJ column. I called the library and spoke with the public relations person. Through the course of our conversation, I mentioned that I had sent the column draft and links to all of the online discussions to the library adminstration last year just as an FYI. […]