Categories TTW Ephemera

For Immediate Release Thu, 05/13/2010 – 16:11 Contact: Louise M Gruenberg ITTS ALA is planning a web redevelopment in the next year.  To ensure that the changes to the website satisfy members’ needs, ALAstakeholders should tell us: Just how Web 2.0 should ALA go? When you visit the ALA website, does it meet your expectations? Would you prefer to be able to customize, personalize, share, comment, and rank? Team J of Emerging Leaders needs to know what you want out of your ALA.org experience.  We have made it our mission to survey our members to determine how and to what extent members would like to interact on ALA.org. Please […]

Over the past three months I have gained invaluable experience from my practicum at the Skokie Public Library. Interacting with patrons is one of my favorite facets of librarianship and the patrons at the Skokie Public Library are phenomenal. I was inspired with the overwhelming professionalism and excellence displayed by the staff. My practicum kicked off with the Second Annual Skokie Madden Bowl. I was impressed by patron turnout for the Madden Bowl and the measurable impact the librarians, Richard Kong & Toby Greenwalt, had on the teen community. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAXxfaUV7dI&feature=player_embedded During my internship I interacted with several patrons, including two […]

As self-service and 24-hour access become new paradigms in information consumption, libraries are constantly looking for ways to extend their services to meet their patrons’ needs and desires. One very interesting new technology is the MediaBank. Gail Borden Public Library in Elgin recently opened its first branch, the Rakow Branch, on the west side of town. The new branch is home to a MediaBank unit–an external DVD and video game dispenser which operates automatically and is open 24 hours a day. According to the library’s website, the unit is one of the first of its kind in a North American […]

In January of this year, I began an Independent Study under the guidance of Michael Stephens. On February 14, 2010, I posted that: “The purpose of this study is to create readers’ advisory tools that utilize Web 2.0 technology.” During the past four months I have spent time: reviewing literature that is relevant to the topic; studying public library websites to ascertain what RA services are currently available and to determine what types of RA 2.0 other public libraries are providing for their patrons; and surveying library patrons to learn what services they believe would benefit them. While working on […]

There’s lots of talk about where we are headed these days.  What is our future?  Will we go the way of the dinosaur and suburban mall?  Seth Godin seems to think that we’re doomed while Toby Greenwalt and an army of librarians seem to think otherwise.  I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that the future of the public library is right in front of us.  And boy, does it look wonderful. Teens at the Graphic Novel and Manga Club, Cape May County Library We need to look no further than to the teens that are using […]

Don’t miss: http://www.webaward.org/winner.asp?eid=13053 Sherri Vanyek, Director, Information Technology & Telecommunication Services at ALA wrote to WAC yesterday: I’m pleased to inform you that our website has been recognized for outstanding achievement in web development. Our site was awarded a Non-Profit Standard of Excellence WebAward.  The WebAward is issued by the Web Marketing Association, a thirteen year-old organization focused on setting a high standard for Internet marketing and development of the best websites. Award winners face substantial competition to achieve their recognition. You can find complete information about the award program at www.webaward.org .  You can see and reference the award page […]

September 18, 2009: Public Library Directors of Virginia workshop, Richmond, Virginia September-October 2009: Australia Research Project with CAVAL, ASLA & QPLA. October 2, 2009: Australian School Library Association Biennial Conference, Dr Laurel Anne Clyde Memorial Keynote Address: Engage, explore, celebrate: The Hyperlinked School Library,” Perth, Western Australia October 11, 2009: Keynote, “The Hyperlinked Public Library in Times of Change & Challenge,” Queensland Public Library Association Conference, Townsville, Queensland. November 7, 2009: Keynote, Innovation, Technology & Trends, Innovation Sessions, Charleston Conference, Charleston, South Carolina. November 19, 2009: Beta Phi Mu Event, Rutgers, Rutgers, New Jersey. December 11, 2009: Oak Park Public Library Staff Day, Oak Park, Illinois.

Culture View more presentations from Reed Hastings. Via Stephen Bero, Director of the Warren-Newport Public Library District. He writes: FYI, if you haven’t seen yet. A friend of mine sent me this today, and once I started viewing it, I dropped everything else I was doing at the time to read it through in its entirety, even to replay sections in order to really digest the ideas. Naturally my mind is going at high speed now thinking how we can apply these ideas to the public library. These ideas remind me of principles I’ve internalized from reading Jim Collins and […]

Kate Sheehan’s post on kindness has had some good comments, including this one by Tasha Saecker, Director of the Menasha Public Library: At our library, we did a code of conduct that every employee had to sign. It was about how we treat one another in the library. Our staff had gotten into the habit of being quite toxic with one another. Refusing to reply when greeted, ignoring staff who worked at lower levels in the hierarchy, making caustic remarks both to people’s face and behind their backs, etc. The code reminded everyone what was expected of them. Professionalism, kindness, respect and care. […]

What makes what I’ll call an A librarian? Most librarians—most people in any profession—are what I take to be average, or C librarians. A small percentage, around 10, are B librarians or above average. Perhaps 10 percent of those number are A librarians, though maybe such an exalted condition as I will describe is mythical. What goes into making an A librarian? These are the characteristics, in my opinion. I’ll begin by outlining the hindrances that prevent a librarian from reaching his potential (I’ll use the masculine pronoun throughout). Through the years I’ve heard, in reference to tenure, that once […]