Categories TTW Ephemera

Brian Kelly looks back at ten years of his involvement with Internet Librarian International: http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/2008/08/21/the-ili-tenth-anniversary/ I was on a panel with him in 2004, the first time I attended ILI and then again in 2005. I’ll never forget his “skeptic’s view” of tagging because he playfully used my Flickr stream as an example of bad tagging! Pulling up my most used tags in Flickr he said to the group and me: “What’s a Jake, Michael?” I am excited to be attending and speaking at ILI’s 10th this year with Michael Casey. The gathering of people from all over the world […]

Libraries—all libraries—should be fun, even in difficult times. Just scan LJ‘s recent Movers & Shakers (M&S) roster or peruse the library blogosphere to see library workers who have discovered that a sense of play and creativity, even what seems like frivolous experimentation, can result in useful services and solutions. M&S Tony Tallent, while at the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County, NC (he’s now at Boulder PL, CO), devised “Drop Everything and Learn Day,” aiming at “encouraging staff to stay curious and inspired.” But some libraries, mired in hierarchical leadership structures, closed communication systems, and restrictive policies, drain the life […]

Via Knittinmama, a former student: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/08/15/ot-knitting-080815.html A six-year-old girl says she is disappointed after her knitting group was asked to leave an eastern Ontario library due to a new ban on arts and crafts. “I really had fun in there in the library, and I’m really sad that they stopped that,” said Kingston Currie, who used to spend two hours a week with the Itch and Stitch Club at the Long Sault Library in Long Sault, Ont., about 95 kilometres southeast of Ottawa. Pamela Haley, manager of library services for the united counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, said the […]

http://themwordblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/exciting-news-dutch-guys-are-releasing.html Kathy Dempsey writes: And you will not want to miss it. It’s called ShanachieTour: A Library Road Trip Across America. It features insightful writing by Erik Boekesteijn, amazing photographs by Geert van den Boogaard, and wonderful video by Jaap van de Geer. The book is all-color throughout and the DVD movie is a full hour long. The combo takes you on a coast-to-coast trip of U.S. libraries and landmarks. As the publisher’s site explains it:  “With its infectiously upbeat outsider’s view of American libraries and the many challenges they face, this book and video set is sure to galvanize librarians of all […]

I had a wonderful time speaking at Columbus Metropolitan Library, helping to launch Learn & Play @ CML. One very cool thing is that they have outside participants following along as well as staff from all over the system. I was most impressed with the team who put the project together. I customized a version of The Hyperlinked Library for them. The slides are here. Rock on, CML!

LJ asked the Movers and Shakers to weigh in on “future proofing” libraries. One of my favorite responses comes from Char Booth: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6585850.html Social Capital The best way to future-proof libraries is not by electronically reimagining our most valuable attributes in a collective attempt to cheat obsolescence. Our insurance is going to come from a much more basic place—we have to turn inward, understand why libraries have been such fabulously lasting cultural institutions, and reflect on how best to transfer this to the modern information climate.  Libraries represent thoughtfulness, peace, and possibility, and we should strive to keep them as […]

Warren Cheetham comments on an article at Read/Write Web: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/future_of_the_desktop.php Users are going to shift from acting as librarians to acting asdaytraders. As we move into an era where content creation and distribution become almost infinitely cheap, the scarcest resources will no longer be storage or bandwidth, it will be attention…. …In order to cope with the overwhelming complexity of our digital lives, we are going to increasingly rely on tools that help us manage our attention more productively — rather than tools that simply help us manage our information. It is a shift from the mindset of being librarians […]

http://sweetwaterlibraries.com/sclsblogs/readeronthesamepage/?p=794 Congratulations to the YA Summer Reading Group who read 59,000 pages -plus- this summer and more than met their challenge. In celebration SWL librarians dressed as requested by the YA Readers! We are going to Rock and Roll all night!

Yesterday was a great day at Columbus Metropolitan Library. I did two sessions of a customized version of the Hyperlinked Library to help launch the Learn & Play program. The staff seemed very excited to begin and some had already ramped up their blogs. I talked to some good folks over the wonderful vegetarian-friendly lunch, including Nick, who shared the following from my morning talk at his blog he’ll be using for the program. I like the fact that he’s capturing ideas, actions and things to ponder further and putting it out there. http://cycholibrarian.wordpress.com/2008/08/12/cml-goes-20/ Anytime I go to one of […]

From Spider Lake, just three of the books I devoured this summer. Thanks ALA! Please make your own and put it on Flickr. I can’t wait to see everyone’s choices… Via Jenny: One of the fun projects I’ve gotten to shepherd at work is now available for you to play with – the READ Mini Poster Generator. It’s just like the generators on fd’s Flickr Toys because it was created by John Watson, Mr. fd himself. Choose from one of four templates and just click the button to upload a picture from your hard drive. (One hint – leave some room above your […]