I highly recommend everybody taking a look at an intriguing, impromptu, and important discussion on the future of librarianship being had at Toby Greenwalt’s theanalogdivide by some of the finest minds in the field. It all began when Seth Godin wrote a few paragraphs about what libraries/librarians should be doing to remain viable -which some librarians took exception to it on Twitter and elsewhere. Be sure to check out the comments by Kate Sheehan, Bobbi Newman, and even a response by Seth Godin himself! Mick Jacobsen – TTW Contributor
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I recently produced a screencast on a popular reader’s advisory tool we use at mpow. I want to bring the tool to the attention of those that do not normally follow book reviews such as Library Journal’s Booksmack because of the use of participatory technologies. I have seen it written that IT/Technology is reference, I think we need to extend this to RA. BookMatch: An RA Innovation via Screencast “In an illuminating screencast created especially for BookSmack!, popular services manager Ricki Nordmeyer and adult services librarian Mick Jacobsen explain the Skokie Public Library’s new BookMatch program. This patron pleaser takes […]
I want to point everybody to Toby Greenwalt’s (theanalogdivide on Twitter) great slideshow and even more awesome handout on starting and using Twitter. As I was looking over Toby’s handout I kept thinking, “I wish I had this when I started out.” Full disclosure: I work with Toby at the Skokie Public Library. TTW Contributor: Mick Jacobsen
In Mick Jacobsen’s post, “An Unformed Thought,” in which he discussed the possibility of libraries acting as a hub for information technology needs such as website design and hosting, he hit on a core value of librarianship – community building. As we strive to build library spaces that are usable and promote interaction and collaboration, we naturally try to enhance interpersonal connections and create conversations that connect our patrons either to us or other users. And the conversation in the past couple of years has advanced this thought into our online spaces but with a reliance on preexisting technologies like […]
A few weeks ago the director of my library asked me to design and produce a website for a small community group, the North Shore Business Development Foundation (NSBDF). I was happy to be given the opportunity (I start getting the shakes if I don’t get to design a website ever-so-ofter). I had about a week to look over their logo, handouts, mission and vision statements, previous event flyers, etc. and around 7 more days to actually build the website. Time was short because of an upcoming program which the group wanted to use to make attendees aware of the […]
Congrats to TTW Contributor Kyle Jones! http://thecorkboard.org/blog/time-for-change-im-off-to-darien-library Kyle writes: I’m very excited to announce that starting in January of 2010 I will be joining the award winning staff at Darien Library in Darien, CT as a Knowledge and Learning Services Librarian. To say that it is honor to be afforded this opportunity at this time in my career is a bit of an understatement. I look forward to getting to know the community of Darien. I just spent a full day with the folks at Darien Library, touring the new building, chatting with staff and learning all I could about […]
Elsie Martinez, Meg Edwards, Elizabeth Nelson, Marcie Shaffer, Lauren Offerman-Vice, and I were given the opportunity to consider and write a vision statement during Synergy 2009: The Illinois Library Leadership Initiative. The group consisted of special, academic, and public (adult and youth) librarians from all over the state of Illinois. After much thought, writing, discussion and debate we arrived at a vision statement we were pleased with. Please take a few minutes to view the video we designed to present the Vision Statement. Synergy Vision 2009 from Mick Jacobsen on Vimeo. TTW Contributor: Mick Jacobsen
One of the most important, if not most important, aspects of screencasting (yes, it is another screencasting post, I swear I have other interests see the Summer Reading series at LISNews) has nothing to do with designing or producing, but where it is placed. Screencasts, to be most useful, have to be at a point of need. Placing screencasts, chat widgets (thanks David Lee King), or other tutorial at the point of need seems so self-evident (a priori) that I don’t believe I need to make any arguments for it. More important are some of the techniques, hypothetical and production, […]
Beginning this Fall semester, Michael Stephens and myself (Kyle Jones) began piloting an open source learning management system (LMS) built on WordPress Multi User (WPMU) and BuddyPress. This post explains our history with WPMU, the move to BuddyPress, and some of Michael’s initial thoughts on the pilot. By TTW Contributor Kyle Jones http://thecorkboard.org @thecorkboard
For a patron to learn that our library has just the resource they were looking for, followed by a helpful tutorial by a librarian, only to realize a day later that they can’t remember exactly how to access it worries me. Many patrons quickly forget the title of a recommended resource, let alone how to find it on a library’s website. This is very true when I am on the customer side of service desks. Perhaps they will recall the name of the resource and even how to find it, but will not be able to replicate the search. Worst […]