Second Life at SLA 2009

i’m very excited to be giving my first Click U workshop at the upcoming SLA conference in Washington, DC.

Click University — Informing Avatars: Exploring the Possibilities of Virtual Worlds
Through a hands-on workshop, participants will have the opportunity to learn about the possibilities of virtual worlds, enter Second Life to create an avatar, and explore possibilities for their organizations. Discussions will revolve around the possibilities for organizations in virtual worlds, the pros and cons of developing a VW presence, and the importance of being aware of this technology.
Sunday, 14 June 2009 8:00AM – 12:00PM
Price: US $229 member / US $349 non-member / US $229 student member

it’s going to be a basic introduction to Second Life, and i expect it to be lots of fun (except for the start time – i hope there’s coffee!)

i hope to see you there!

(note: early bird registration closes April 3, 2009.)

cil2009 – an anniversary of sorts

just arrived at CiL after a pretty bumpy ride on what must have been air canada’s teeniest plane.

off to a good start as i finally got to meet the awesome Karen Schneider while waiting for our shuttle to the hyatt.

this time last year, i was still in school and decided, on one crazy afternoon, to attend CiL. everyone was tweeting about it and it just sounded like a great place to talk to real live librarians about tech in libraries.

i got a gig coordinating the quickie talks in the exhibit hall in exchange for free registration. the lovely Krista let me bunk with her despite not knowing me (at all). and all the tweeps were wonderfully welcoming to me and let me be their groupie for the entire conference. it was incredible.

one year later a lot has changed, but i am still as excited as i was last year (and i’m still bunking with Krista, and i still feel like a groupie). it’ll be different  now that i have a gig and can critically assess ideas and their usefulness at mpow (as opposed to last year when i was just taking it all in becaues i wasn’t sure where i would end up working). i’m really looking forward to stealing everyone’s ideas learning about new services and possibly implementing them chez moi.

oh, i’m also REALLY looking forward to getting my hands on a LSW Shover & Maker button!

Ada Lovelace, meet Kathryn Greenhill

it’s Ada Lovelace Day (go read about her, i’ll wait) and i (along with 1694 other folk) pledged to blog about a tech heroine. so i started doing some research. then more research. and though i did uncover a lot of awesome women who have done amazing things, none of them  were just right.

and then it occurred to me that i was thinking too hard, that there was someone – a friend even! – who i think would’ve gotten along famously with Ada – Kathryn Greenhill*.

now to be honest i’ve never actually met Kathryn in the flesh (though i will next week at CiL – w00t!) but she is still, without a doubt, my tech heroine.

she tinkers with emerging technologies to see if they might fit in her library.
she wrestles with WPMU installations.
she invited students to build the Murdoch University space in second life with her.
she won a travel scholarship to tour the u.s. for 6 weeks looking at alternative discover layers and open source software.
she encourages me when i am frustrated with libraries and technology and reminds me that sometimes, it’s best to ask for forgiveness, instead of permission.

so, for Ada Lovelace Day, i would like to say a ginormous MERCI to Kathryn.

*yes i’ve aleady blogged about how awesome Kathryn is. she just really is that great.

i love this quote

In order to be really good as a librarian, everything counts towards your work, every play you go see, every concert you hear, every trip you take, everything you read, everything you know. I don’t know of another occupation like that. The more you know, the better you’re going to be. – Allen Smith, PhD

i found this quote via a shared item from my friend Wendy Brown (who took me bowling once at this awesome place in Jamaica Plains), but it’s originally from the Bilingual Librarian blog.

i think this may be a reason i am so happy in this profession – everything matters.

shoving, making and why the LSW rocks

so the excellent folks of LSW (especially Steve & Josh) have decided that though Library Journal’s Movers & Shakers list is a great way to get the word out about awesome things folks are doing (and you know, i ain’t gonna knock it), there are even more folks out there doing things that are worthy of attention, and have created the LSW Shovers & Makers award.

i think this award is incredibly important in libraryland.

librarians need to tell people what they do. i am constantly amazed by what the intelligent people in my community think i do all day (turns out, very little). we need to tell people what we do so that people realize how we can help them, and just how important librarians are.

now i know some peeps out there are going to say that because you nominate yourself as a Shover & Maker, it means less. well, as my dad would say, malarkey! nominating yourself, putting yourself forward as someone who does good and interesting things, is exactly what many of us do daily in our libraries.

• we start new projects and revive dying ones (or we pull the plug on the ones that should’ve died with the card catalogue).
• we are enthusiastic about the future of libraries and are not afraid to change. (or stay the same – don’t reinvent the wheel/if it ain’t broke don’t fix it/[insert other old-timey saying here]!)
• we are realistic about the constraints on our resources, but channel our inner libpunk to try and provide exceptional results.

so to all the Shovers & Makers who have yet to add their profile to the site – i’m calling you out. come out of hiding and declare yourself worthy of the LSW honour! because if you think you’re worthy, then you are.

do eeeeeeeeeeeet.