Thanks to Rich Allen, Technical Services Librarian at Winthrop Public Library in Massachusetts , for sending this link. The Boston Globe recently ran a story called “Checking Out the Future.” It highlights the Simmons program but also explores the increase in technology use and required skills for new grads. These lines echo some of the things I’ve written about in “Office Hours:” (emphasis mine) Library science used to be the realm of career changers. Bookish types, having put in some years in the work world, would enroll in a graduate program with dreams of one day making a living surrounded by the […]
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I believe in the power of stories. I think everything we do in our libraries contributes to the story we tell – signage, customer service, the atmosphere of the building and how we interact with our users – both in person and online. At this moment in time, a library’s story is written everyday by what users find or don’t find inside, how the staff meets those users needs and what is said about the facility in line at the grocery store and online at Yelp or Google reviews. I’ve travelled a lot in the last few years, mostly for […]
My new column is up at Library Journal: http://bit.ly/hmosLw “I like books.” This is one answer to the introductory question I ask when meeting a class for the first time: “What brings you to librarianship?” The answers vary just as LIS students do, whether they’re recent college graduates or those returning to school for a second career in libraries. The “books” answer begs the question, “Do you mean the content or the container?” Students starting graduate school who want to work in libraries with stacks filled with books may be aiming for the wrong profession. Archives and rare books collections will […]
This post from Ben Lainhart inspires me to do everything I can to make online LIS learning and engaging: (emphasis mine) One of the worst things about being an online MLIS student is the lack of meaningful interaction with professors and students. Let’s face it, Blackboard is still stuck back in 2001. Ideas do not organically flow there. How can they when you have to make two insipid posts per week – 1 original, 1 response please! I am nearing the end of my program and though I am sure I have had more than a few classes with several […]
My new column is up at Library Journal: http://bit.ly/fAPW2s If you are on the fence about emerging technologies, take a look at the new Horizon Report (www.nmc.org/horizon). The 2011 report not only pre sents technologies to watch but offers a road map for planning and an ongoing dialog about change in education, learning, and libraries. Supported by research and evidence, it points the way to the future. This rich trove will spark your thinking, as it did mine. Here are some of my observations and ideas. Conversation-based reading Reading becomes social. While the ebook market continues to steamroll past libraries, the […]
What’s the coolest emerging tech librarian title you’ve seen lately? “Geospatial Librarian” is rather HOT – what are some others? I’m working on a little project today, need some insights…
Don’t miss the new Horizon Report! Since 2002 the New Media Consortium and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiatives have released the yearly Horizon Report, which “introduces six emerging technologies or practices that are likely to enter mainstream use within three adoption horizons over the next five years” in the realm of learning and inquiry. The last few editions of the report have highlighted these trending technologies: social computing and personal broadcasting (2006); social networking and user generated content (2007); “grassroots video” and collaboration webs (think free and easy online tools) (2008); mobile devices and cloud computing (2009). The 2010 edition featured […]
I’m enjoying the writing at this blog: http://hacklibschool.wordpress.com/ From the About page: The Web is our Campus. This is an invitation to participate in the redefinitions of library school using the web as a collaborative space outside of any specific university or organization. Imagine standards and foundations of the profession that we will create, decided upon by us, outside of the institutional framework. Ideas like the democratization of the semantic web, crowdsourcing, and folksonomies allow projects like this to exist and we should be taking advantage of it. What will the information professions be next year if we define it […]
My new “Office Hours” column is up at LJ. It’s about challenges: http://bit.ly/f0PuQe Slackers not wanted At a recent focus group for a research project for the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiatives conference, a small group of librarians and library IT support staff shared their insights about the changing educational landscape. They all agreed that the requirements for supporting a university’s mission are changing, just as our students are changing (see “Can We Handle the Truth?” Office Hours, LJ 1/11, p. 44). One librarian noted a particular challenge: “some librarians are coasting to retirement—they’ve checked out.” Coasting, in library school and in our jobs, […]
I’ve received some wonderful and challenging emails offering feedback about my column in “Office Hours” in Library Journal. A few folks keyed in to the statement I made in the first column: If the online world is not for you, then neither may be a career in librarianship. The most prevalent LIS jobs in the next few years will probably be ones where you’re not tied to your desk and you communicate well beyond the physical walls of the building. It’s not just students who should participate in this online world. Librarians must find their niche as well. Five years […]