heading to Monterey today to attend Internet Librarian. not only do i get to catch up with my friends, but i get to hear about all the awesome ways libraryland is taking advantage of the web to better meet the needs of library uses.
tomorrow is the first ever LibraryCamp at IL and i’m really looking forward to facilitating that with Jenica Rogers.
i’m also giving a talk on cloud computing with Kendra K Levine and Laura Harris.
finally, i am participating in BattleDecks on tuesday night with folks who are wicked fun.
this is gonna rock.
so at least two of us in the collective have recently gone live with new library websites (probably more, ’tis the time of year). as i was dealing with the fallout from this (and yes, i know, there will always be fallout – some of da peeples will never be happy, not never) i started wondering about the whole process of redesigning library websites.
what are we trying to accomplish with these redesigns? the answer is usually “to make things easier to find for our users”. but this is where it gets all kinds of sticky. libraries have _so_many_ different user groups. in my own library we have:
undergraduates
graduate students
researchers
professors
librarians (both chez nous and at other institutions)
continuing education students
students who speak neither English nor French
citizens of the city & province
and, oh ya, ANYONE WHO FINDS US THROUGH THE GOOGLEMACHINE!
what does this mean for library site design?
how many groups do we need to consult prior to making a big change?
do we then weight the opinions of certain groups more than others?
when doing the redesign, should we do it in-house, or outsource it to a company that can make it sleeker than your average web services librarian has time for?
should we be designing for the 800×600 IE6 group of folks out there, or should we use the redesign of the library site to teach them that the minimum standards have changed, and they should join us, the friendly library, in this new (upgraded) online world?
where’s the line between accessibility and ease of use? is there one? is it possible to have a site that meets accessibility standards, is mobile-ready, and isn’t nine kinds of fug?
so, who wants to take a stab at answering some of these questions?
this past tuesday Louisville Free Public Library was hit by a flash flood. the estimates on the damage are still being tallied, but let’s just say it’s going to take more than a few bake sales to recoup their losses.
the wonderful steve lawson came up with the idea to have the LSW raise 5000$ by Sept 1 to send to the LFPL. for details on how to donate, visit steve’s post. [and for the record - steve is hella trustworthy.]
following in the lovely abigail‘s steps, i’ve decided to have a giveaway too. all those that make a donation to the LSW fund, and then shoot me an email to let me know they have done so, will be put in raffle for one item of their choosing from the libpunk store.
i should also note that this is the library where greg schwartz works. if you listened to uncontrolled vocabulary (which you should have – go listen to the archives now!) then consider a donation to LFPL as your way of thanking greg for his awesomeness.
i’m in town for the SLA Centennial Conference. i love the SLA conferences – it’s always wild to meet librarians who work in “non-traditional” gigs. this year i’m on the boards of two divisions – IT and Academic – so i’ll be getting my first glimpse at the inner machinations of things.
i’m not sure how i feel about dell’s foray into lady laptops – Della.
i mean, i really like pretty things, and i am always attached to an internet-enabled device, so i am not averse to lappys that come in something other than ibm-black or apple-silver. (and yes, the Vivienne Tam HP Mini would make me giddy.)
i think what really got to me were the photos on the site.
exhibit a
who doesn’t bring their lappy to the beach? with their BFFs?
and make sure their lappy matches their sarong.
also, vacation FAIL.
exhibit b
oh puhleese, there’s no way you’re getting a wifi connection out there.
so women with laptops are all havin’ fun with their sistahs or communing with nature.
got it, i think.
wait, huh?
so despite being a librarian, i read very few books. i get most of my information from blogs, magazines, journals, podcasts, and talking to people (some of whom are writing books). some days i think this is a huge failure on my part, and i remember hearing something about multitaskers actually being unable to focus on anything for longer than 5 minutes…
<bad pun> wow, i’d really like some candy right now. </bad pun>
i own Clay Shirky‘s Here Comes Everybody – but i read maybe a few pages at a time, because they are just so dense. (i’m not the only one that feels that way. one of the Media Hacks guys – Mitch Joel maybe – faces the same issue.) and i have a copy of Seth Godin‘s Tribes (bit of a fangirl since seeing him speak at SLA last year) but again… yet to break the spine on the book.
but TED just posted Seth Godin’s most recent chat about tribes, and it rocks as much as i hoped it would. at the end he posts three questions about leading a tribe.
who are you upsetting? if you’re not upsetting anyone, you’re not changing the status quo.
who are you connecting? cuz that’s what a lot of people are in it for.
who are you leading? cuz focusing on the leading is where change comes from.
it’s getting to that time of year when MLIS students are spending more time working on their CVs and cover letters than on their coursework (note: get’er done guys). one aspect of the interview will certainly be a presentation (which can vary in length – i’ve heard of 5 minute quickies to 60 minute instructional sessions). and while some of you may wonder why a librarian would have to be good at presentations, i certainly hope that those of you coming out of LIS schools realize just how often you will have to speak, with persuasion and conviction, in your day-to-day in a library. if you’re not presenting an idea to your committee colleagues, then you are doing an introduction to library resources for new students, or helping PhD students navigate the depths of various databases.
there have recently been a number of good posts on presentation preparation and techniques, so i thought i’d share’em here.
the equally awesome Iris Jastram thinks about how active learning principles have a place in some presentation, while others will need another angle to keep the audience engaged.
the Emerging Tech Interest Group of CLA (which i co-convene with the truly awesome Amanda Etches-Johnson) is hosting a library-camp-style pre-conference at CLA in May (in the best city on earth – Montréal).
Jessamyn West (yes THE Jessamyn West of librarian.net) will kick-off our day with a keynote on emerging technologies, followed by two sessions on using these technologies in your library. The afternoon will be an “unconference”, where participants will share and learn on a variety of topics pre-determined by the group. (Note: this is not a “sage on the stage” afternoon – come armed with a curious nature and a will to participate.)
Speaker: Jessamyn West, librarian.net
Date & Location: Friday, 29 May 2009 @ Palais des congrès
Registration Fee: $100.00
Registration Includes: Two refreshments breaks and lunch
this will be at least nine kinds of fun!
register here and add your session ideas to the camp wiki.
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.
