October 31, 2007 at 3:56 pm (databases, professional development, reviews)
Today’s scripted podcast has been pre-empted by the reality of meetings, which take much longer to plan for and hold than you might think. Kaarin V., the outgoing chair, is partnering with me to run the database committee. I plan to watch and listen well, so I can be up to a facsimile of her speed by January. The best way to learn is by doing, and it was a good meeting for that. Several databases were renewed, and a number of issues that merit further study were raised.
A recent read from the professional bookshelf: Social Software in Libraries, Meredith Farkas. I highly recommend putting yourself on the waiting list for this now, purchasing your own copy, or checking out the companion website. Farkas’s clear, helpful text contains practical information on what social software is, and what it can do for your library. A bonus is that the chapters are short, so that busy professionals can easily incorporate a reading session into a workday. I could easily see this being used as the primary text for a self-study or group-study program. Take a quick click or flip-through and see what you think.
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October 30, 2007 at 4:28 pm (Flickr, Learning 2.0, Picasa, web resources)
As scheduled, I did spend about 30 minutes today roaming the building, getting candid shots with a camera on loan from IT. Mostly I took shots of books and matierals, to document just how popular print things still are at my library.
Shooting and uploading the photos was easy; what stymied me were my choices for photo management, which are legion. I’m going back and forth between Flickr and Picasa. Both have pros and cons, but I’m leaning toward Picasa simply because I already have a Gmail account, and just don’t want to sign up for one more thing. Does that make sense? Or do you like being signed up for a variety of services?
There are embedding issues, too, or maybe it’s just me. I’ve been trying to insert a sample, and not doing so well. If there weren’t a database committee meeting tomorrow, I’d linger longer. But I must assemble my notes. So: a photo album, soon. Isn’t learning marvelous?
Tune in tomorrow for more mischief and mayhem. Because I’m a digital uniter, not a digital divider!
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October 26, 2007 at 4:43 pm (Flickr, Learning 2.0, nonfiction, religion, traditional library services, web resources)
Film and Audio also has a LibraryThing! Thanks to Amy E. for the link; its permanent home will be the “2.0 Dabblings” sidebar.
Speaking of sights, my next experiment will be Flickr. I’ve reserved a camera for Tuesday 10/30, so if you’d rather not be photographed, you might want to avoid me! It would be great to get some shots of people at their desks, though, to demonstrate how hard we work (and how much fun we have doing it).
On the Friday book tip, religious non-fiction. I’m very interested in what William James aptly called the varieties of religious experience, so I tend to read a lot of non-fiction from myriad faith traditions. This week’s selections include:
- Heart of Flesh, Joan Chittister. Argues that the Catholic church must subscribe to feminist principles, using rhetoric grounded in the gospels. Also contains multiple anecdotes from the author’s life and work as a nun deeply involved in social justice projects.
- The Tent of Abraham, Chittister et. al. Muslim, Christian, and Jewish explorations of the Abraham story, as presented in Bible, Torah, midrash, and Koran. A great deal of the text is devoted to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and argues that any solution to the problem must take into account the idea that Jews and Muslims share both geographic and scriptural roots.
- Goth Craft, Raven Digitalis. Overview of the overlap between Goth and Pagan subcultures; serves as an introduction to both, while espousing the importance of exploring life’s darker aspects in a safe, sane manner. Discusses both Wiccan and non-Wiccan Pagan traditions.
- Anger, Thich Nhat Hanh. The noted Buddhist outlines constructive strategies for dealing with anger. Arguing that the emotion should be dealt with as mindfully as any other, he explores healing both the angry person and relationships that have been damaged by anger. Many anecdotes describe events at Plum Village, Hanh’s main community.
Many people come to the library for answers to life’s larger questions, so I think it’s good to be well-versed in a variety of things. Do you get many inquiries about religion/spirituality at your workstation?
Today marks a full six weeks of work in Reference Services. I’ve learned a lot, initiated a lot of ideas/projects, collaborated with great people, and received administrative support for a number of things I’d like to try. Thanks to everyone who’s helped me so far – I’m really looking forward to what we can all accomplish together in the weeks to come.
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October 25, 2007 at 4:52 pm (Learning 2.0, Library 2.0, databases, news, professional development, web resources)
It’s great to be back! I’m still synthesizing my conference notes and thoughts, and will share soon.
Today, however, was mostly about databases. It’s renewal time for many of them; also, a number of timely to-dos came up at the EREC (countywide) database committee meeting. I didn’t realize how many of the committee members I already knew and have worked with, so this should be as much fun as the CLP database committee. Come to think of it, it’s time to schedule a meeting for that, too. Guess it’s just database season here in Pittsburgh – wonder if it’s that way elsewhere?
Catching up with news and mail has also been a priority today. Thank goodness for American Libraries Direct, which collates so many excellent links, which other sterling bloggers will then repost in multiple forums. Rather than cover the entire waterfront, I can focus on those things I found really intriguing.
Take, for example, this announcement for a new PLA award. I think this somehow needs to find its way into my 2008 goals and objectives – wouldn’t it be great to collaborate with peers and be ready, by next fall, to compete for this? A librarian can dream, right? It would also be great if we could someday have a presence on this list.
If you only have time for one link, though, it should be this one. Packed to the gills with cunning apps, Mashable’s Best Resources Online is like a J.C. Penney Catalog (remember those?) of experimental goodness. Widgets for everybody!
Time to warm up the console for virtual reference. What’s going on in your library world today, friends and colleagues?
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October 24, 2007 at 2:34 pm (conferences, philosophizing)
I closed out my conference experience with a panel on how some organizations are using blogs and wikis. Staff buy-in was raised as a concern, but nobody really had any concrete suggestions on how to foster that. Based on a lot of the theoretical material I’ve heard these last few days, however, I think I’ve got some good ideas. However, much like the lovably cranky Dr. House, I’ll need a team. This is your early recruitment heads-up (or warning, if you prefer)!
The speaker at the final plenary session talked a lot about the stewardship aspect of Web 2.0. As libraries, we are expected to be both cradles of democracy and preservers of culture. If our audience has taken to the more fluid, interactive structures of the web (and it most assuredly has), then we as good stewards must make a good faith effort to learn their values and speak their language…all the while preserving those structures that are worth retaining. That’s a tall order, but I have a lot of faith in librarians in general, and in my personal peer set in particular.
I’ll be back at my usual perch in the south wing tomorrow, assembling my notes and preparing my strategies. Feel free to stop by and say hello, if I don’t come find you first.
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October 23, 2007 at 4:00 pm (Learning 2.0, conferences, personal)
Attended an excellent panel this morning on how scientists are using 2.0 technologies like wikis and blogs to transform their field. Have jotted down many notes and pointers in hopes that we can use them to build a framework to decide where we want to go as a 2.0 organization.
Also, poster sessions, which are a great way to get an eyeball-snapshot of research trends. Was most impressed with a study on social capital building in public libraries, which found that many people are still going to the library to try to better themselves, and the range of things they need to know don’t always fall under the traditional categories of what the librarian is there to teach. More good stuff to chew on.
All work and no play makes for a very dull librarian, so I’m pleased to report that I’ve found two great indie coffeeshops and one excellent used bookstore. Also, the Central branch of MPL has one of each right inside – how cool is that? Alas, I have yet to discover good pizza here. This has inspired a haiku:
Passionate pilgrim
Ardently seeks good pizza.
Fie on thee, chain store!
And with that, off to a late panel. Tune in tomorrow for the final day of conference notes and thoughts.
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October 22, 2007 at 6:37 pm (conferences, ethics, social justice)
I attended a number of different panels today, the most interesting of which was about conceptualizing social justice in the information professions. One of the speakers nailed it neatly on the head; I paraphrase:
- Information is power
- Some people have more power than others
- Information professionals should be doing something to help people with less power get more power.
You can see why I found this provocative. Certainly collection development is an area that can facilitate social justice, by these criteria. So can programming. What else can we do? And how can we amp up what we already do to do more/better?
See you tomorrow with more panel highlights.
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October 21, 2007 at 5:33 pm (access, conferences, traditional library services)
The conference proceedings have been given to us on CD-ROM. I’m still taking notes because I’m a kinesthetic learner. However, there’s no need to scribble like mad – huzzah!
There is a need to be concise, however, because guest internet access at the Milwaukee Public Library is limited to 15 min. Unless, that is, you want to pay $2.00 for a guest card: 2 hours per day for 1 week. AND the computers automatically log out at 15 minutes to closing. Just a few things to chew on, my friends! I can’t really complain, though. Considering what my hotel’s charging for internet access, I’m grateful for what I’ve got. It’s a beautiful library, too: Check it out.
At any rate, the panel I attended this afternoon discussed the decline in public liibrary usage between 2000 and 2005. Yes, Virginia, there’s been a decline: 11% down on walk-in visits. Library website browsing is up, however. Even if we heed Mark Twain’s caveat about statistics, there’s still plenty to chew on here. You really want to see this CD-ROM.
Tonight’s panel will be on building leadership with social networking tools like Facebook. Stay tuned!
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October 19, 2007 at 5:28 pm (blogging, collection development, conferences, ethics, intellectual freedom, nonfiction, professional development, traditional library services)
I’ve really been hopping today, juggling projects so I can leave for the ASIS&T conference with a clear desk/conscience! You’ll be hearing more about that next week when I blog from the conference.
For the weekend, though, an ethical question to ponder: how many copies of Mein Kampf does a large public library system need?
Have a great weekend, everybody.
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October 18, 2007 at 5:18 pm (Library 2.0, news, philosophizing, social justice, traditional library services)
One link that’s been making the rounds at my library is John Gehner’s provocative, troubling think piece, Second Life Hype vs. Human Needs. Many thanks to Beth L. for the timely reminder; the questions Gehner raises aren’t going away anytime soon, and I’m surprised to see as little blogosphere chatter about this as I have.
Gehner ends his article thusly:
In the end, what I would really like to see is the Library 2.0 equivalent of the PlayPump.
So, of course, my first question is, how could we make that happen???.
Take just a moment to pause and reflect: if you can imagine a scenario beyond vs. and either/or, and envision a group of committed, activist librarians using emerging technologies to facilitate social justice in their offline communities, what would they be doing? What would that look like?
Thoughts:
- Load up your 43 Things account with concrete ways you can bridge the digital divide, or otherwise further social justice issues in your community. Then do them. And share them. And blog about them.
- Start a Facebook group about social justice. Find other people in your community who care about the same things you do. Go have coffee with them. Organize.
- Videotape library programming dedicated to poverty, homelessness, hunger, literacy, etc. Post those videos to YouTube. Show the world that technology is for activism and organization, not just play.
- Add local links to social justice organizations and activities to your del.icio.us account. One good Pittsburgh example would be The Thomas Merton Center. Can you think of five others? Two? One? Post them. Share them with your network.
At the end of the day, the shiny things are tools. Their ultimate merit lies in how we use them. I believe that we, as a profession, are collectively intelligent enough to use them judiciously and well, and that we are imaginative enough to create the sorts of worlds we want, both on and offline. If the medium is the message, then let’s work the medium to make a better world.
Thoughts? Criticisms? Sober reflections from my more experienced colleagues? Ideas of your own? This is, I believe, fertile territory for the committed and the creative.
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