Emerging technology redux

March 30, 2007 at 11:49 pm (Marketing, Program Ideas, Technology, Things We Should Do)

There was a post linked to off of WIRED, which is: http://www.wired.com/culture/education/news/2007/03/learning2_0/.

In it, they discuss the training for staff that North Carolina’s Charlotte & Mecklenburg County public library has done. What I found interesting is that librarians at the State Library of North Carolina and other North Carolina state agency libraries are conducting lunchtime meetings to cover the “23 Things” about Web 2.0!

There is a link to the Learning 2.0 Blog at http://plcmcl2-things.blogspot.com/. And BTW the Youtube link on the post is blocked at Central :-(

You can read more about this at http://del.icio.us/hblowers/learning2.0Libraries. This is something that I think we should look at to bring some more staff up to speed. This ETC committee has the potential to be a real change agent. It is really exciting to see more and more of the public coming in to the library, especially since all I have to offer is dead people and dusty old history <smirk>.

I often deal with college students who are amazed to see the library knows about various technologies that they take for granted since they use them every day. Not that we should chase this market specifically, but we can use various technologies to reach out to people and have them give back. I would love to have an RSS feed that says what’s new at the library and in my division. I think of how we could get the word out on our various digitizing projects. I did a presentation at the state social studies teachers conference in Rochester recently, and as soon as the teachers were shown the various digital resources I could see the wheels start to spin in their heads. Several have made appointments for tours for their teachers.

This could be a way to get the library some good press. But also our staff has to be up to speed. I know several librarians who are oblivious to what is happening and cannot even read their email! We have got to change this!

2 Comments

Best Practices Fair

March 19, 2007 at 12:48 am (Things We Should Do)

I’ve spent the weekend reading Unleashing Excellence by Dennis Snow and Teri Yanovitch in preparation for an all-day customer service training session I’m attending tomorrow. I’m representing the library on the Mayor’s Customer Service Team, whose activities are based on this book.

While reading the chapter on communication, I came across a really interesting idea called a “Best Practices Fair.” In a large organization, say MCLS for example, each department or distinct member of the organization is given the opportunity to set up a table or booth in a great big room and use that space to communicate what they do best.  Employees of the organization spend the day walking through the fair and becoming familiar with what everyone within the larger organization actually does. Now wouldn’t this be a good thing to do for all of MCLS? Think of all the ideas just waiting to be stolen! I can see Cindy Lott from Ogden doing her “Spilt Milk” storytime, or Gloria LoVecchio doing her organization routine, or Jason from Webster singing one of his songs, or Camille DelVecchio giving tips on how to run a book discussion group. The possibilities are endless….

Patty

2 Comments

The Boy Who Was Raised by Librarians

March 18, 2007 at 7:46 pm (Food for Thought, advocacy)

I received one of those friendly little alerts from Amazon.com this morning about this book so I headed over to Amazon to check it out, pre-pub. At first, I thought it was illustrated by the same guy who did one of my all-time favorite children’s books, Double Trouble in Walla Walla written by Andrew Clements & illustrated by Sal Murdocca. Alas, it’s not, but the cover art still rocks. Here’s the Amazon blurb…

This humorous tale of a curious young boy and his single-minded quest for knowledge is a heartfelt and affectionate tribute to librarians everywhere.

Every day after school Melvin goes to the library. Everything has its place in the library and Melvin likes it that way. And his favorite people–Marge, Betty, and Leola-are always in their places, behind the reference desk.

When something interests Melvin, his librarian friends help him find lots and lots of books on the subject. When he collects creepy bugs in a jar, they help him identify, classify, and catalog the insects. When he is cast as the Enormous Eggplant in the school play, Betty reads aloud from Organic Gardening to help him find his motivation.

As the years pass, Melvin can always find the answers to his questions-and a lot of fun-in the library. Then one day he goes off to college to learn new things and read new book. Will he leave the library and his friends behind forever?

Readers will enjoy Brad Sneed’s delightful illustrations that colorfully capture the fun-loving spirit of Carla Morris’s story about the contagious enthusiasm of learning.

Lucky librarians know a kid like this; luckier ones know several kids like this. There really isn’t anything more satisfying than seeing a kid who has used the library regularly –I mean really used its resources — grow up to become something special. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing several kids like that and when I’m doubting my choice of profession, thinking about these kids always brings me back around.

There’s Karl Slominski, who was part of my very first young adult book discussion group back in 1996 and who, at age 13 created a full-sized wall mural in my old library and called it “The Stuff that Dreams Are Made Of.” Karl is now a successful graphic artist who work can be see at Slomotion Art. Last I heard, he was working on storyboards for a new Edward Norton movie.

Then there’s Kaylen Lott, who was part of my young adult volunteer group back in the late 1990’s and who is now doing graduate work in immunology at Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse. I remember Kaylen telling everyone she was going to save the world, and now she’s on the way to doing just that.

What I love so much about books like The Boy Who Was Raised By Librarians is that they do such a fabulous job of explaining what we do and how much of an effect we have on children. Now the real challenge is getting some of those kids whose lives we change in the positions of power that control the money. That’s why I love George Maziarz so much. Every time I see him, he tells the story of how he grew up right next door to the Tonawanda Public Library and how he spent so much of his childhood inside that building. And today, he is one of the strongest supporters of libraries in Albany. We need more like him.

This post is also published on my book blog — It’s All About the Book.

Patty

2 Comments

The Hub is the Thing

March 17, 2007 at 4:53 am (Food for Thought, Random Observations)

Social networking was one of the hot concepts in libraries in 2006, so, like many of you, I’ve given a lot of thought to how social networking sites like MySpace and LiveJournal fit into our library model. There has been a lot of controversy over the use of these sites on library computers, so much so that it seems to me the tail is wagging the dog. Social networking has been around for years — remember FidoNet echoes anyone? I still keep in touch with some folks I met in a couple of those early chat rooms way back in the 1980s. Now, however, social networking isn’t limited to just the computer geeks who know DOS, Unix, ftp, gopher, etc. Setting up a MySpace page is easy enough for a child to do, and navigating the world of IM is as natural to middle schoolers as solving a math problem.

What’s happened, though, is a transformation in our libraries because of these social networking sites, and I think it’s something we have to hang ten on now to make sure we ride the wave to the end.

Computer access, among other things, has made our libraries hubs in our communities. There are lots of things that contribute to the library as hub — things such as appealing programs, great selections of books, films and music, welcoming ambience, friendly staff, and so on. Each one of these things is a spoke in the wheel, with the physical space of the library acting as the hub, the place, the core of the community. People come to the library for many different reasons, and if we are truthful with ourselves, we don’t always like or appreciate the reasons.

Our whole community has been forced to acknowledge this recently with the whole library porn issue. One of the solutions offered through some of the public forums on the topic has been “Get rid of all the computers! That’ll solve the problem!” And many people have asked why libraries have to provide computers and Internet access at all. I suspect that the people offering those opinions are sitting in their comfortable home in front of their 19 inch LCD monitor sipping a hot cup of coffee. These people, while probably well-intentioned, have absolutely no clue about the population that relies on the public library to provide computer access because they have nowhere else to go. The arguments run the gamut from “let ‘em buy their own” to “Internet access is a luxury” and I imagine the same arguments were made two hundred years ago when public libraries first began showing up in this country and peddling books.

How can we communicate the message that libraries are often the only access point to digital information in our community for many, many people? How can we reach those people sitting in front of their personal computers and convince them that public library Internet access really does matter? And even more importantly, how can we communicate to those same people that not every person using the Internet at the Central Library is looking at porn?

Patty, who is tired yet is still online at 7:51 pm Friday night

6 Comments

Emerging Technology

March 17, 2007 at 4:38 am (Technology)

Well, it looks like there will be an Emerging Technology Committee for MCLS and whaddya know — a few of our readers here are on it! So what things should the ETC be looking at?

Patty

5 Comments

Tech Training 2007

March 10, 2007 at 7:01 am (Food for Thought, Program Ideas, Special Events, Technology, Things We Should Do)

What say some of us get our heads together and start planning the next tech training day? October isn’t that far off, if we would be planning to bring in outsiders.

Leave a Comment