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October 30, 2006
Neat Peripherals
Here's my latest column for Information Outlook about computer periplerals, which aren't so peripheral anymore.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 12:45 PM | Comments (2)
Millennials Update
Here's an updated article on my thinking about Millennials and their behaviours in libraries and with information and learning.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 12:37 PM | Comments (0)
Worth a read
If you are worried about LIS students, have no fears about this one. An excellent paper here called, Improving Library Services: A Review of Techniques.
1. Use integrated service points
2. Cross train staff
3. Use flexible management techniques
4. Redefine the library's physical space
5. Allow users to participate in decisions
6. Focus on new models of professional development
7. Add content to library catalogs
8. Develop a comprehensive marketing strategy
9. Re-evaluate the end user's information needs
10. Re-evaluate the library signage
11. Beware of technology for technology's sake
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 12:23 PM | Comments (0)
Searching the Biblioblogosphere
Finally, a search tool that just searches library blogs. Over 500 of 'em. It's based on the new Google tool.
Check out LISZEN here.
Now when will we get a search engine that just searches public library wensites?
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 11:43 AM | Comments (0)
October 26, 2006
New 'Horizon' Report
"The 2006 Horizon Report is now available. The 2006 edition is a collaboration between The New Media Consortium and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI), an EDUCAUSE program.
The 2006 Horizon Report, just as has been the case with previous editions of the report, highlights six technologies that the underlying research suggests will become very important to higher education over the next one to five years.
A central focus of the discussion of each technology is its relevance for teaching, learning, and creative expression. Live weblinks to example applications are provided in each section, as well as to additional readings.
You can download a copy here. (32 page PDF)
What's on the 'horizon'?
1. Social Computing
2. Personal Broadcasting
3. The Phones in Their Pockets
4. Educational Gaming
5. Augmented Reality and Enhanced Visualization
6. Context-Aware Environments and Devices
Looks right on to me. And their timeline to adoption is 2-5 years -easily within your planning cycle... Don't let the future happen to you - invent it.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 4:37 PM | Comments (0)
Winnipeg: Manitoba Library Consortium
I had a wonderful day in Winnpeg talking to the Manitoba Library Consortium. Here's the PPT about "Extreme Library Makeover: Becoming Library 2.0".
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 4:33 PM | Comments (0)
Independent Schools
I had a great day with the Virginia Association of Independent Schools. Here's the PPT about "Millennials: The Kids are Alright! Millennials Information Behaviors."
It's always great fun to talk to teacher-librarians as they 'get' the next generation from deep experience.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 4:29 PM | Comments (0)
Imperial College in London UK
Here's a copy of the PPT I did for the annual staff retreat of Imperial College in London (The UK's MIT). The topic was "Becoming Academic Library 2.0: The Librarian 2.0 in Your Future."
Great team and a great Thames boat ride too!
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 4:25 PM | Comments (0)
Schools and Web 2.0
Here's the PPT presentation I did for the Prairie Land School District in Hanna Alberta. I learned a lot about school challenges in small towns from this group of educators. And the drive there was beautiful.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 4:23 PM | Comments (0)
Shout Out Learning 2.0
I've been promoting the great work about Learning 2.0 at the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenberg County. Helene Blowers did a fantastic job presenting the program at Internet Librarian - a rising star. She'll be doing a SirsiDynix Institute in 2007 too as well as coming to the SirsiDynix Executive Conference in Colorado Springs. I also had the honour of visiting Yarra Plenty Public Library in Australia and helping to launch their Learning 2.0 initiative. It's now offially a global movement!
So, for all those folks who've asked me where to find out more info, look here and here and here.
Coolest thing on the planet next to Second Life Library 2.0!
Hurray for librarians who take risks and try new things.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 4:07 PM | Comments (0)
Social Personal Library Catalogues
The Librarytwopointzero blog has a good post about social cataloguing tools. Check it out here.
Do you know these tools? Have you set up a group for your community or book club??
There are about two dozen listed in the Wikipedia entry on social cataloguing tools and applications.
LibraryThing has some competitors and imitators! See the list below for some creative names too. You can link to them through the Wikipedia entry.
Books, DVD's, etc.
Bibliophil.org
Bokhyllan.com
BooksWellRead.com
Chainreading.com
ConnectViaBooks.com
LibraryThing
Reader2.com
DVDAficionado.com
DVDSpot.com
Matchflick.com
Origons.com
Squirl
Douban.com
Douban.net
GuruLib
lib.rario.us
Listal
Mediachest
Socialogue.com
Stuffopolis
CiteULike
Bibster
AllConsuming.net
Last.fm
Rateyourmusic.com
Anyway, there is some new stuff to learn here. Have fun surfing.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 3:57 PM | Comments (1)
October 11, 2006
Personas Articles: Part 3
Here's the third part of Mary Lee Kennedy's series of articles on personas and their use in library product and service development.
Defining New and Improved Products
by Mary Lee Kennedy, TKG Consulting LLC
In this final article of a three-part series, learn how personas enable the library to look at their "products" from the outside in - and to deliver products that are useful, usable, and used.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 4:19 PM | Comments (2)
Part 2 of Waiting for Your Cat to Bark.
Here's the link to part two of three of my SirsiDynix OneSource article.
Waiting for Your Cat to Bark - Competing with Google and its Ilk
Blogging from Sydney Australia!
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 4:17 PM | Comments (3)
October 4, 2006
It is Canadian Library Month
Declaration
WHEREAS Canada’s libraries are partners in
fostering lifelong learning, they play a vital role
in helping Canadians of all ages access the
information and tools that they need to live,
learn and work;
WHEREAS Canada’s libraries help Canadians
develop the skills required to find and evaluate
information in order to adapt and succeed in a
knowledge-based economy;
WHEREAS Canadian libraries bolster economic prosperity
by providing access to essential decision-making
information for organizations and businesses;
WHEREAS libraries in Canada enhance the quality of life
for all Canadians, and help ensure that Canadian culture continues to
flourish and thrive;
THEREFORE, I hereby designate that October 2006 is Library Month
Under the theme:
Libraries: The world at your fingertips
More here.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 10:49 AM | Comments (0)
Second Life Library 2.0
This is the announcement that everyone has been waiting for! Just about the coolest innovation happening in public libraries. Really stretching the envelope.
"You're Invited! Grand Opening of Second Life Library/Info Island
By Lori
Alliance Library System and Second Life Library/Info Island Pleased to Announce Official Opening
The Alliance Library System and the Second Life Library/Info Island collaborative group of librarians are pleased to announce the grand opening and a host of activities planned for Second Life residents scheduled October 12-14, 2007. All events will be held in Second Life and are free to residents.
“We have been working on this project with partners from around the world for six months,” stated Kitty Pope, Executive Director of the Alliance Library System. “We are grateful to all the librarians and others who have put in huge amounts of time to make this happen and we are pleased with the reception the library has received in Second Life.”
Gonzo Mandelbrot, Coordinator of Grand Opening Activities said, “We have a variety of activities, events and tours that people can pick and choose from or they may attend everything. The goal is to highlight all the different aspects of the library and Info Island and all that is available there.”
A detailed schedule of events is provided below. If attendees have questions about specific locations, come to Info Island. We will have tour guides there who can show people to the event location.
Thursday, October 12 – Virtual Worlds and Education: The Cutting Edge – 4 pm sl – 6 pm sl – Speakers: Pathfinder Linden, Kitty Paul, Puglet Dancer, Professor Boliveau, Lorelei Junot and Maxito Ricardo – Puglet Dancer and Kitty Paul will cut the ribbon to begin grand opening ceremonies at Info Island open air auditorium (Info Island 143, 82, 34)
Friday, October 13 - Virtual Worlds and Alternate Realities – Where Do Libraries Fit In? – 7:30 a.m. sl – 1:30 pm. sl – A variety of wonderful speakers with keynote by Pathfinder Linden - Info Island open air auditorium(Info Island 143, 82, 34)
Friday, October 13 – 5:00-6:00 p.m. sl – Scary Movies at Second Life Pantheon Picture House (Info Island II, 98,71,24)
6:00-8:00 p.m. sl – Costume Ball at Info Island Mystery Manor – prizes for best costumes! (Info Island, 214, 163,33)
Saturday October 14 – 8:00 a.m. sl – Opening of Caledon Branch – 19th century library (Caledon Tamrannoch (211,31,22)
9:30 a.m. sl – Grand Opening of Second Life Library Medical Library – special events (Info Island 165, 204, 33) – Bioterrorism demonstration
Speakers: Moriz Gupta and Sojourner Truth
12:00 p.m. sl – Second Ribbon Cutting and special speaker – Info island Open Air Auditorium (Info Island 143, 82, 34) – Katt Kongo, editor, Metaverse Messenger
3:00 p.m. sl – Talis SciFi & Fantasy Portal Opening – special events (Info Island 29, 62, 33)
5:00 – 8:00 p.m. sl – TX950 Beach party and celebration – dancing refreshments, fun (Info Island 85, 33, 23)
Throughout the day – Tours, scavenger hunts, information kiosks – come and have fun!
For further information, please contact Gonzo Mandelbrot or Lorelei Junot."
If you haven't been following the Second Life Library 2.0 blog, subscribe.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 8:37 AM | Comments (0)
Google Gadgets
I know a few folks don't know about Google Gagdets. Google just opened it up for everyone beyond just Google products (They're Java-based so they're pretty universal except for places like MySpace that don't allow Java). There are over 1200 of these mash-ups, widgets and gadgets. They include gadgets for:
News
Tools
Communication
Fun & Games
Finance
Sports
Lifestyle
Technology
New Gadgets
These centralized widget repositories are becoming quite useful. MySpace has one coming called TheSpringBox. Another is Widgetbox.
Check it out. These are perfect for your portal strategies.
Stephen
Original Press Release:
Now You Can Have Google Gadgets on Your Webpage
Google Gadgets for your webpage can help make a site dynamic and rich with content. Google Gadgets, which have long been available for users to add to the Google homepage and Google Desktop, are now available for webpage owners to add to their own webpages.
Google Gadgets are miniature-sized objects that offer cool and dynamic content that can be placed on any page on the web. A directory of "Google Gadgets for your webpage" is now available for webpage owners everywhere to browse and select gadgets for their own pages, at http://www.google.com/ig/directory?synd=open.
"Now anyone can have a great-looking website with automatically updating content," said Adam Sah, Google Gadgets Architect. "By making Google Gadgets available for you to add to your webpage, we're working to connect developers with enthusiastic consumers and to make information universally accessible and useful to the individual user."
With almost no effort and at no cost, webpage owners can add complex, dynamically updating content to their own websites using Google Gadgets. Because there is such an enormous variety of Google Gadgets to choose from, webmasters also have a great deal of freedom to select only the gadgets that will best complement their own page. There are games, news clips, weather reports, maps, and more.
For example, let's say you are in charge of your club soccer team's website, and you want to add a current weather forecast so your fans can plan for your games or you want to include a daily brainteaser on your site without having to come up with something new everyday. Google Gadgets lets you do this easily. Just visit the directory of "Google Gadgets for your webpage" to find gadgets that you'd like to add to your own page and select your preferences for how the gadget will appear on your page. Then, copy and paste the HTML from the window into the HTML code for your own website. It's an easy way to get the content you need and want without spending hours writing code!
For developers of universal gadgets, Google's making the gadgets available to webpage owners everywhere presents an opportunity for a much larger audience than ever before. We're always looking for great new gadgets so check out http://code.google.com/apis/gadgets/ to learn more about creating them.
Posted by stephen at 6:56 AM | Comments (1)
October 3, 2006
Campus 2020 Think Pieces
Find them here.
The BC government has publihed a series of think pieces about campuses in the year 2020 (only 14 years away - everyone who will be graduating in 2025 is already alive...)
PDF's include:
Aboriginal Post-Secondary Education by Harvey McCue
E-Learning and Beyond by Gerri Sinclair, Milton McClaren and Michael J. Griffin
International Post-Secondary Education: the Education Gateway by Karel Reus
A New Model for Post-Secondary Education, the Optimized University by Carl Wieman
Post-Secondary System Design and Governance by Michael Skolnik
Savoirs, savoir-faire, savoir-être: in praise of professional wroughting and wrighting by Gilles Paquet
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 2:40 PM | Comments (1)
Librarian 2.0's Best Traits
Read this post from "Libraries and Librarians Rock" based on Michael Stephens' list of Tame the Web.
Librarian 2.0 list:
Librarians 2.0 plans for their users.
Librarian 2.0 embraces Web 2.0 tools.
Librarian 2.0 controls technolust.
Librarian 2.0 makes good, yet fast decisions.
Librarian 2.0 is a trendspotter.
Librarian 2.0 gets content.
It's a well thought out, longer post. Worth a read.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 2:34 PM | Comments (0)
Public Libraries and the Internet 2006
New: Public Libraries and the Internet 2006: Study Results and Findings (U.S.)
Gary Price at ResourceShelf has a great post about this new study.
"Public Libraries and the Internet 2006: Study Results and Findings
Get ready for some serious reading, the report is a 255 page, PDF file.
This report from the Information Use Management & Policy Institute, Florida State University was written by John Carlo Bertot, Ph. D., Charles R. McClure, Ph. D., Director and Francis Eppes Professor, Paul T. Jaeger, Ph.D. and J. D. Assistant Professor, and Joe Ryan, Senior Research Associate.
Key Findings
Libraries as Community Public Access Computing and Internet Access Points
Public libraries continue to provide important public access computing and Internet access in their communities:
• 98.9% of public library branches are connected to the Internet.
• 98.4% of connected public library branches offer public Internet access.
• 36.7% of public library branches offer wireless Internet access, up from 17.9% in 2004.
• 100% of high poverty branches—those with greater than 40% poverty in the service area—are connected to the Internet and offer public Internet access.
• Public library branches have an average of 10.7 public access computers, with rural libraries having an average of 7.1 workstations and urban libraries having an average of 17.9 workstations.
From the Future Developments Section of the Executive Summary
In the future, public libraries plan to add and/or replace workstations and make other enhancements to their public access computing and Internet access services:
• 16.6% of public library branches plan to add more workstations within two years, while
28.6% of branches are considering doing so.
• 72.8% of public library branches plan to replace some workstations within two years. Of the 72.8% of libraries, 35.3% have plans to replace a definite number of workstations, with an average replacement of 7.2 workstations.
• 23.1% plan to add wireless access within two years.
From the Challenges Section of the Exec Summary
Challenges remain as public libraries continue to improve their public access computing and Internet access services:
• Roughly 45.0% of public libraries reported a decrease (6.8%) or flat funding (36.6%) in
their overall budget as compared to the previous fiscal year. Given inflation and increased personnel and benefits costs, flat funding equates to a cut in funding. Thus, nearly half of public libraries essentially experienced reductions in funding.
• Public libraries face increased demands to supply public access computing in times of natural disasters such as the 2005 hurricanes and to support federal, state, and local egovernment services, e.g., applications for the federal prescription drug plan.
• 45.5% of public library branches indicate that their connection speeds are inadequate to meet user demands some or all of the time.
• One-quarter of public library branches have 3 or fewer workstations, two-quarters of public library branches have 6 or fewer workstations, and three-quarters of public library branches have 12 or fewer workstations.
• Only 20.7% of public library branches indicate that the number of workstations they currently have is adequate to meet patron demand.
• 45.4% of public library branches have no plans to add workstations in the next two years.
• Space (79.9%), cost factors (72.6%), and maintenance (38.8%) most commonly influence decisions to add or upgrade public access Internet workstations.
• Rural public libraries tend to have fewer public access workstations, lower bandwidth, and are less likely to offer wireless access.
Source: Information Use Management & Policy Institute, Florida State University
For: The The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and The American Library Association"
OK - I've done something I try to avoid doing - reproducing an entire post from another blog. First, subscribe to ResourceShelf, it's the best blog I know for keeping up. Second, kneel before Gary Price, the librarian's librarian. Rats, I still feel guilty. Read the report.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 2:23 PM | Comments (0)
Old Film: Working in Libraries
OK - it's a must see. I was LOL'ing and then I cried. This is one of the originnal 1950/60? ALA / Nationnal Guidance Films Inc. films about librarianship as a career.
Have we changed that much. Really?
Watch it here.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 2:17 PM | Comments (0)
Moving and Shaking
The LJ list of movers and shakers in our profession is an annual event now. It highlights innovation and passion and serves to shine a congratulatory spotlight on those whose efforts are never celebrated enough.
Who do you know that meets the criteria? Nominate them. It's important that we find, promote and celebrate those of our kind who are creating the future by building the paths and bridges.
You can use the online form here [warning: print out a copy before you submit, in case your submission fails and everything you wrote vanishes]. Or, if you prefer, print out the PDF
Now don't you forget now! (You always meant to nominate that person. This is the year to do it.)
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 2:08 PM | Comments (1)
Academic Innovation
It appears that higher ed is undergoing a renaissance of innovation and experimentation.
1. Harvard is trying out Second Life. See more here.
2. "Yale University said on Wednesday it will offer digital videos of some courses on the Internet for free, along with transcripts in several languages, in an effort to make the elite private school more accessible." via Reuters.
3. Duke University continues it's experiment with iPods in education - now into its third year.
4. Google and the University of California, Berkeley, are going to make available online considerable amounts of videotaped course
content, including lectures, speeches, special events, and, even entire courses. Mercury News, 28 September 2006
5. And, of course, MIT plans to offer many if not most of its courses on the web free. Find it here.
Cool.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 1:58 PM | Comments (0)
Information Fluency for the Net Generation
Here's a great new report:
Ensuring the Net Generation Is Net Savvy by George Lorenz and Charles Dziuban for Educause.
You can download the PDF here.
From the abstract:
"Net Gen students may know the Internet, but they are not necessarily "net savvy." Exposed to huge quantities and multiple formats of information online, they are constantly challenged to sort valid from inaccurate information. Moreover, students are creating information, not just consuming it. This paper explores the challenges students face online in effectively finding information, using technology, and thinking critically."
This was written as a white paper for the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative. They interviewed over 50 people in writing this white papera dn more are scheduled. It covers visual literacy, new media literacy, information fluency, and information competency.
Must read study if you serve anyone under 30. I don't think there's a type of library that can't benefit from this type of thinking. And remember, don't trust anyone over 30.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 1:28 PM | Comments (1)
October 2, 2006
Back to School
Looking for some back-to-school Web 2.0 applications?
Solution Watch has a cool list to play with (and, remember, that play is OK). Here's the link.
Part one covers note taking apps, to do's, organizers, gradebooks and apps for teachers learnign and research, and clubs, math, resume building, media sharing apps, and more.
Fun for all.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 1:44 PM | Comments (0)