Monica Harris, a librarian from Oak Park, Illinois, recently posted a great article to the MakerSpaces and the Participatory Library group on Facebook about 3D printing and intellectual property in which Chris Anderson declared, “we’re going to get sued.” I wryly replied with a link to a Wired article that the lawsuits had already begun. Michael Weinberg, an attorney with Public Knowledge who was interviewed for the article, characterized 3D printers as a “disruptive technology” that is raising many intellectual property issues, and Monica pointed out that 3D printers have exposed the differences between copyright and patent law. Physical objects such as figurines, models, or Lego […]
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I have been a part of this initiative as an instructor for the first two iterations and can not recommend it highly enough! Check it out if you live in one of the states involved. ILEAD USA Applications Available-“National Day of Application” November 1 The State Library continues its preparations to host ILEAD USA (Innovative Librarians Explore, Apply and Discover): The 21st Century Technology and Leadership Skills Institute for the States. This continuing education initiative will be held at the University of Illinois Springfield on March 25-28, June 17-20 and October 21-24, 2013. Our partner states in ILEAD USA are […]
For those of you who already know me, I’m profoundly deaf and wear a cochlear implant and a hearing aid. For those of you who don’t–now you know! Many don’t, particularly if I wear my hair down. I talk quite normally thanks to the cochlear implant, and I hear well enough to “pass” for hearing. However, I struggle in some situations, and people get frustrated and say, “Never mind, it wasn’t important,” or assume I’m stupid or rude. Deafness is an invisible disability. It’s easy to remember to make sure that there are ramps and elevators for people using crutches […]
The most democratic book project I know is about to relaunch – Here is an article I wrote for the German library magazine BUB as member of the Zukunftentwicklers network – With a few corrections because a lot has happened with Unglue.it since the deadline: What is crowd funding and what does it mean to unglue? To unglue a book means that you buy the rights to the book and then pass them on by giving the book to the world for free to read in any e-book format and on any device – without DRM or time restrictions under a creative commons license. […]
Zombie Prom and Face-melting metal at your local library! Enjoy Prom like you’ve never experienced it before. Bring a can of food and join us in your Zombie worst or survivor best for an epic night at the Sweetwater County Library. All donations will go to our local Food Bank. The evening will begin with our annual Zombie Walk in which we will lurch down to the main street of town to Centennial Park where we will play a game of Zombies vs Humans, flag football style. We will re-group at the library for the Zombie Prom. This year our […]
Note from Michael: Mace’s post echoes my own thoughts about the R-Squared conference. The opportunities for learning, collaboration and engagement seemed so fresh and exciting at the conference as they did while cycling. Cycling for libraries – one of infinite different ways to cooperate with colleagues A hypothesis: there are better, and more efficient ways to spend time with colleagues than to sit in an auditorium and watch powerpoints all day long. Sounds like common sense. But when you take a look at our profession, librarianship, you will quickly notice how much time, effort, money and kerosene we spend to send our best minds to […]
Have you ever found yourself inside the library echo chamber? I think we all have. You’ve got something great to share or say about libraries and you put it out there…and it’s only talked about by librarians and libraries. Some great presentations and pieces have been written about the echo chamber (some of my faves are from Ned Potter, Sally Pewhairangi, and Steven V. Kaszynski). These have got me thinking…how can we avoid the echo chamber? My thought is this…expand the conversation and try, try, try your best to include those outside of the library world. But how can we […]
Right now is our busiest time of the year. Last week was especially crazy. I hosted an author event featuring our One Book author Tony Horwitz (http://www.morianevalley.edu/confederates), I chaired a department meeting, co-chaired a cataloing meeting in prep for RDA, attended a House of Delegates meeting for our union, met with our director of assessment about our annual assessment plan, and taught a couple of classes. But, out of all of this, the coolest thing I did all week happened at the reference desk. I was doing my normal reference shift, and a student came up to the desk. He […]
On a recent break from work at my library, I walked down to the local cafe to get my daily summer iced tea and lemonade. On my walk back to the library, I noticed a couple looking at a large map of Portland, ME. They looked like they were trying to find something but couldn’t figure out where to go. I stepped in and said, “Is there something I can help you find? I live downtown and I’m also a librarian. It’s part of my job to help people find what they need.” In the end, I helped the couple […]
Today, my blood started to boil as I sat through a presentation on my campus. The speaker actually did a good job. He was detailing information about a nation-wide survey called CCSSE (the Community College Survey of Student Engagement, http://www.ccsse.org/) in which our campus has participated for many years. Engagement is much more than a buzzword within community colleges. The higher education literature is very clear that the ways that students build personal and intellectual connections with a campus (the ways they engage) have a major impact on the success of that student. (See Unmasking the Effects of Student Engagement […]