Categories TTW Ephemera

Coming off of IL05 and reading over “Listening to You,” I must ask: Are you listening to your users? You should be.

A companion to a presentation I’m giving at Internet Librarian 2005. Download the big old 10MB file here! Ten Steps to Insure Staff Buy-In for the Technology Projects “Why are we doing this?” A few months ago the Reference staff at SJCPL trained the librarians who would be using IM at their service desks. Katie, who was doing the particular session I heard about, asked the group: “Why are we doing this training?” “IM is cool” Someone said…”IM is so hot right now,” said another (who may read my blog too much!) “Nope,” Katie said. “We are doing this because […]

http://www.tadl.org/wireless/map/ Traverse Area District Library is my library away from home! Jeff, in IT there, IMs on occasion to let me know what’s happening. This just debuted! What a great service provided by the library that reaches out into the community using some pretty nice techie tools.Not only are library hotspots listed, but other free ones as well. I asked Jeff what their goals were. He said: “We had a few goals in mind: 1. provide our patrons with an accurate list of free hotspots in the area 2. gain additional real-world experience with (buzzword alert) AJAX, XML, XSLT, the […]

Sometimes we rely too heavily on rules, protocols and procedures. The best policies and practices in libraries are those that can be bent or ignored when the situation calls for it. I admire those managers and administrators that get that and see the difference between micro-management/never break the rules and those that realize we are all in this big thing called life together and yes stuff happens. Like someone wanting to use the phone. Thanks FGL for the reminder.

http://www.techsource.ala.org/blog/blog_detail.php?blog_id=75

http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?id=15312 Hopefully, many more universities will follow with similar programs!

From the Rambling Librarian: http://ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com/2004/09/differentiating-public-service.html We should go out there and engage potential users in the forums, chatrooms etc. As I wrote in my other blog:”… the presence that librarians project can no longer be the “Thou knoweth more than you-eth” attitude. To connect with our average information-customer, we need to show them that we’re as human as they are; as fallible, and there’s nothing to be fear from us.” In providing our service, be it answering reference enquiries or Readers’ Advisory, or checking a reader’s loan record, PLS librarians can distinguish themselves by engaging in conversations with the reader. […]

When a new technology gets picked up by NPR, I’d count it as on the upward slope toward tipping into the mainstream. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4956468 Thanks to Meg in Evansville for the heads up!

I interviewed Wanda Bruchis for my technology planning article last year. I emailed shortly after Hurricane Katrina and was glad to hear she’s fine. She sent along a link to local coverage of the hurricane and her library. http://houmatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051006/NEWS/510060315/1026/ARCHIVES14

I have another post up at the ALA TechSource Blog entitled Web 2.0 for Librarians. Don’t miss Theresa’s coverage of Roy Tennant speaking at LITA as well!