Thursday, June 28, 2007
Take your library to where the people are - on the cheap!
I just found a neat article about a new program at the Waterville Public Library in Maine. The library created a "Book Bike" that one of their circ people cycles over to the nearby recreation area. Then they set up shop at a shady picnic table for an hour or so and "check out" books -- many of them donated paperbacks -- to kids who otherwise might not come to the library. What a great way to reach out! (Hmm. Imagine if we could get the Good Humor man to check books out along with their sno-cones. Now THAT would be a huge draw for the kids.)
¶ posted by Mary Martin @ 7:24 AM 0 comments
links to this post
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Cyber-bullies
The Pew Internet & American Life Project just published a study entitled "Mean Teens Online" that talks about cyber-bullying. Read it at http://pewresearch.org/pubs/527/cyber-bullying (don't worry, it's fairly short).
¶ posted by Mary Martin @ 11:50 PM 0 comments
links to this post
Who wants to be a curmudgeony librarian? I do! I do!
It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's the Curmudgeony Librarian Superstore! "Stylish, fun clothes & gifts for the discriminating buyer," the site sells gems such as "Stacked Librarian" t-shirts, "Shush" tank tops, "Info Wench" hoodies and more. Only librarians who rock need visit this store. Admit it-- wouldn't it be great to wear one of these saucy t-shirts under your sensible cardigan? *No one need ever know....* Thanks to Mer for showing me this site!
¶ posted by Mary Martin @ 10:11 PM 0 comments
links to this post
The modern librarian: a role worth checking out
Of interest: check out this article about the premiere of Hollywood Librarian at ALA last week:
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/arizonaliving/articles/0627librarians0627.html
No longer must we be defined as timid, myopic, shushing bookworms! No, as Ann Seidl, the creator of Hollywood Librarian was quoted as saying: "Today's librarian is less likely to be a mousy Marian than the highly trained captain of a one-stop community center, navigating everything from social services to fundraising socials - all on tightly bound budgets."
Let's give ourselves a pat on the back, people. We are librarians. Hear us roar.
Check out the trailer on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=7BF15A8EDA62ED72
It gave me goosebumps. ¶ posted by Mary Martin @ 1:13 PM 0 comments links to this post
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/arizonaliving/articles/0627librarians0627.html
No longer must we be defined as timid, myopic, shushing bookworms! No, as Ann Seidl, the creator of Hollywood Librarian was quoted as saying: "Today's librarian is less likely to be a mousy Marian than the highly trained captain of a one-stop community center, navigating everything from social services to fundraising socials - all on tightly bound budgets."
Let's give ourselves a pat on the back, people. We are librarians. Hear us roar.
Check out the trailer on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=7BF15A8EDA62ED72
It gave me goosebumps. ¶ posted by Mary Martin @ 1:13 PM 0 comments links to this post
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Librarians as CHANGE AGENTS - Fantastic!
Wow, talk about BLING.... this is fantastic!
Helene Blowers put this in on her blog and in her flickr stream and I came across it this morning - wow! She got this from the ALA conference - I'm jealous!
Li-brar-i-an. noun. A change agent: ensures knowledge and information are free and accessible to all.
You can go here and order some for yourself even! Kinda pricey but maybe for a whole organization....
Labels: amy kearns, badge, bling, change, conference, librarians
¶ posted by Amy J. Kearns, MLIS @ 8:20 AM 0 comments links to this post
Online Summer Reading Program
If you happen to feel jealous of those kids doing summer reading programs (and/or maybe jealous of their parents and/or children's librarians), here's your chance to get involved with some summer reading!
Some folks are doing an online Summer Reading Program! It's a blog, and there is a MySpace and a facebook for it - you can join and post your goals for summer reading, your books and your reviews. It's very casual and I think it looks like fun.... If you are already reading and posting books/reviews, etc., you can just keep posting there and you'll be linked on the SRP blog.... or you can send reviews to the blog.
I have joined as libraryamy (my gmail id) and created the facebook group. See the blog for blogger and MySpace info.
Some folks are doing an online Summer Reading Program! It's a blog, and there is a MySpace and a facebook for it - you can join and post your goals for summer reading, your books and your reviews. It's very casual and I think it looks like fun.... If you are already reading and posting books/reviews, etc., you can just keep posting there and you'll be linked on the SRP blog.... or you can send reviews to the blog.
I have joined as libraryamy (my gmail id) and created the facebook group. See the blog for blogger and MySpace info.
Have you/could you consider setting up something like this for your patrons!? It's pretty darn simple, quick and easy (AND FREE!) to do and requires really very little work from YOU!
Think about it ....
Happy reading!
Happy reading!
Labels: amy kearns, blogging, books, online, reading, summer reading program
¶ posted by Amy J. Kearns, MLIS @ 5:53 AM 0 comments links to this post
Friday, June 22, 2007
Paper Dolls for the Electronic Age
Apparently, Star Doll is the paper dolls of the electronic age!
Yesterday two kids, both age 9, a girl and a boy, were doing this at the library. I have seen other kids using it too.
It seems pretty harmless and kinda fun. It's free (mostly). It has male and female stars, actors and actresses, celebrities, singers, model, royals (!?) and more, that you can "dress up."
It has "New, free dolls" like Gardening (? - took me to a game of catching fruit in a basket), (some guy named) Darin (who has an icon next to him that says, "real celeb," so I guess he is"real"), and Angelina Jolie (with, uh, tattoo!?), and the "Most popular dolls," which of are of course, Rihanna, Paris Hilton (not a very good rendering in my view), and Avril Lavigne (who also has one of those "real celeb" icons next to her. Wait, aren't the others "real celebs" too!?)
It has some games. You go "shopping," with "stardollars." You get 25 "stardollars" when you sign up but if you want to BUY more you can with a credit card or PayPal (of course).
Now, you might say, as I did for a moment when I dug around in here, that the images are all of the "perfect," anorexic, skinny, and beautiful. Well, it's not like they're not seeing it anywhere else. This is what the 'stars' look like and this is a virtual world where you go shopping for them and dress them up. It can't be any worse or any better than any other star-related thing. Now, okay they ARE in their under-things when you start - but aren't all paper dolls!?
AND, what kid isn't going to want to buy more virtual clothes for their virtual dolls - rampant consumerism brought to the virtual world! They have money to spend (in a lot of cases) and I'm sure shopping online can be as much of a draw as "real" shopping (heck, I personally have been paying - yes paying - to buy and give virtual gifts on facebook)!
The kids using it yesterday were very excited and delighted to print out their creations and show them to their friends!
There is a "12 and Under" or "13 and Over" choice when you sign-up for your free account. The difference is that those not 13 or over have to get parental permission to become community members. You can make your own "MeDoll" (Choose from hundreds of hairstyles, skin tones, eye-colors, noses, mouths and more!), there's a Message Center, Diary and Guestbook.
They seem to have some "filters" and protections in place. From the FAQ's:
And from Stardoll RULES:
(Expelled!? hee hee)
There are Stardoll Safety Tips and a Parent Guide.
The Stardolls Online Safety Guide for Parents includes this:
"Encourage your child to be conscious" !? I hope so!
But, overall, not a bad way to handle that, I would say.
Now excuse me please, I have to go change Kirsten Dunst!
Yesterday two kids, both age 9, a girl and a boy, were doing this at the library. I have seen other kids using it too.
It seems pretty harmless and kinda fun. It's free (mostly). It has male and female stars, actors and actresses, celebrities, singers, model, royals (!?) and more, that you can "dress up."
It has "New, free dolls" like Gardening (? - took me to a game of catching fruit in a basket), (some guy named) Darin (who has an icon next to him that says, "real celeb," so I guess he is"real"), and Angelina Jolie (with, uh, tattoo!?), and the "Most popular dolls," which of are of course, Rihanna, Paris Hilton (not a very good rendering in my view), and Avril Lavigne (who also has one of those "real celeb" icons next to her. Wait, aren't the others "real celebs" too!?)
It has some games. You go "shopping," with "stardollars." You get 25 "stardollars" when you sign up but if you want to BUY more you can with a credit card or PayPal (of course).
Now, you might say, as I did for a moment when I dug around in here, that the images are all of the "perfect," anorexic, skinny, and beautiful. Well, it's not like they're not seeing it anywhere else. This is what the 'stars' look like and this is a virtual world where you go shopping for them and dress them up. It can't be any worse or any better than any other star-related thing. Now, okay they ARE in their under-things when you start - but aren't all paper dolls!?
AND, what kid isn't going to want to buy more virtual clothes for their virtual dolls - rampant consumerism brought to the virtual world! They have money to spend (in a lot of cases) and I'm sure shopping online can be as much of a draw as "real" shopping (heck, I personally have been paying - yes paying - to buy and give virtual gifts on facebook)!
The kids using it yesterday were very excited and delighted to print out their creations and show them to their friends!
There is a "12 and Under" or "13 and Over" choice when you sign-up for your free account. The difference is that those not 13 or over have to get parental permission to become community members. You can make your own "MeDoll" (Choose from hundreds of hairstyles, skin tones, eye-colors, noses, mouths and more!), there's a Message Center, Diary and Guestbook.
They seem to have some "filters" and protections in place. From the FAQ's:
Why do asterisks (****) appear in my text?
At Stardoll.com we expect everyone to behave well and mind their language - just as we do in real life. If someone types in a rude or dirty word, our automatic "Bad Word - Filter" will replace the word with a series of asterisks – which might be nice in real life too ;-).
And from Stardoll RULES:
When you are at Stardoll you must not:
Swear or use sexually graphic terms or be racist
Bully other Stardolls or in other ways make them feel uncomfortable
Ask other Stardolls for their (or give out your own) password, email addresses or other personal information, including photos
Type your password anywhere except in the log in box on www.stardoll.com
Break the law at Stardoll or talk others into breaking it
Claim you belong to the Stardoll Staff
Anyone that breaks the Stardoll one-stop rules will be expelled.
(Expelled!? hee hee)
There are Stardoll Safety Tips and a Parent Guide.
The Stardolls Online Safety Guide for Parents includes this:
Remember that the positive aspects of the Internet outweigh the negatives.
Internet is an excellent educational and recreational resource for children.
Encourage your child to be conscious and explore the Internet to its full
potential.(These tips are based on tips from American www.safekids.com (National Center of Exploited and Missing Children) and from European www.saftonline.org, Safety Awareness, Facts and Tools)
Kids’ rules for online safety (print out and put up close
to your computer at home) www.safekids.com/kidsrules.htm
(emphasis added mine).
"Encourage your child to be conscious" !? I hope so!
But, overall, not a bad way to handle that, I would say.
Now excuse me please, I have to go change Kirsten Dunst!
Labels: amy kearns, games, kids, online, virtual
¶ posted by Amy J. Kearns, MLIS @ 9:42 AM 0 comments links to this post
Spitting Watermelon Seeds to Achieve the Work/Life Balance
There has been a lot of talk about finding the work/life balance.... here is a good reminder on a Friday from FastCompany... Some Spitting Distance on Work/Life Balance. It has to do with a watermelon-seed-spitting contest!
Really, you try seeing how far you can spit a watermelon seed and attach
anything but fun to the outcome.
The take-away?
What other pointless activities can you devise to remind yourself that we
should not take our jobs so seriously?
Labels: amy kearns, just for fun, work/life balance
¶ posted by Amy J. Kearns, MLIS @ 9:36 AM 0 comments links to this post
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Tipmonkies!
Wow I just found this great site today, thanks to being on Twitter... on my Twitter list is this person who goes by "TechTools," and is located in DC and describes (her/him/it)self as
Well they have certainly turned me onto lots of great stuff, and today was no exception!
Tipmonkies has "Ten Great Tools to Help You Twitter Better" and that's just what I need (not)! But anyway, what a cool site: Tips for Better, Safer Computing. Hmmm.. not sure about the "safer" but I think I can definitely be "better" by checking this out....
Some of the things posted, for example:
The Dalai Lama's Top Ten
This awesome thing called JOTT
A thing about carrying NYC Subway lines on your iPod
and more!
I know I'm going to be checking it out regularly!
tracking yummy, cool, visionary tech tools to help us grow and fulfil our lives
in: art, tech, free, fun, and destiny. find your life's purpose with me.
Well they have certainly turned me onto lots of great stuff, and today was no exception!
Tipmonkies has "Ten Great Tools to Help You Twitter Better" and that's just what I need (not)! But anyway, what a cool site: Tips for Better, Safer Computing. Hmmm.. not sure about the "safer" but I think I can definitely be "better" by checking this out....
Some of the things posted, for example:
The Dalai Lama's Top Ten
This awesome thing called JOTT
A thing about carrying NYC Subway lines on your iPod
and more!
I know I'm going to be checking it out regularly!
Labels: amy kearns, blogs, cool sites, tech tools, tips, twitter
¶ posted by Amy J. Kearns, MLIS @ 6:33 PM 0 comments links to this post
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Support Emergency Legislation to Remove Municipal Libraries from the Levy Cap . . .
Go! Do it! NOW!
Support emergency legislation to remove municipal libraries from the levy cap . . . THERE IS A VOTE TOMORROW!
I just wanted to share the link to look up your legislator - it is EASY! You can look on the right side by alphabetical list, municipality, district, etc...
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/members/legsearch.asp
You get your district and you click on that to see the people and contact info.
I JUST CALLED them - I have always e-mailed in these cases but today I CALLED because I had just been in one of the webinars on WebJunction for the Spanish Language Outreach Program with some people who talked about advocating. PHONE CALLS ARE MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE than e-mails!
It only took me about 5 minutes!
The people are nice! They want these calls.
I identified myself as a librarian living and/or working in the district and asked for them to support the emergency legislation to remove municipal libraries from the levy cap. I said there is a vote tomorrow. They already knew what I was talking about! They took my name and seemed very interested to hear from me.
You either leave a message or talk to an assistant who takes the information.
REALLY - it took me less than five minute total for me to call three people!
PLEASE CALL!
Original message from Pat Tumulty:
CRITICAL UPDATE, MUNICIPAL CAP LEVY EXEMPTION.
We need your assistance right now to contact your NJ State Senators. Not tomorrow. Right now. Please ask your state senator to support emergency legislation which would allow an adjustment to levy cap calculations for local public library funding.
When the new municipal cap levy legislation was passed this year, municipal libraries were included as part of the calculation for the levy cap. This, unfortunately, created an inequity for the 245 communities which support municipal libraries. Communities which support county libraries have library expenditures excluded from the municipal levy because county libraries are funded by a dedicated tax and, therefore, outside the levy cap.
New Jersey League of Municipalities, the New Jersey Library Association and the NJ State Library have been working for a month on what we hoped would be a solution to this issue by adding language to state budget bill. Unfortunately, we were told last Friday, that this solution would not work and that we would need legislation. We must correct this inequity before July 1 because urban communities begin a new budget year on that date and would become subject to the levy cap. All other communities will be impacted with the budgets beginning on Jan. 1, 2008.
The Assembly, under the leadership of Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman, will consider emergency legislation to exempt municipal libraries from the cap legislation TOMORROW- Thursday, June 21. We have every indication that there is support for this legislation.
We are less certain of Senate approval, and we have learned that the Senate will cancel next week’s scheduled meetings and recess for the Summer. Therefore, it is imperative that this legislation pass tomorrow.
We must have this emergency legislation enacted in the Senate before the Legislature goes on summer break.
Please contact your State Senator’s legislative office today and tell them you support emergency legislation to remove municipal libraries from the levy cap and that it must be enacted before summer recess.
Pat Tumulty, Executive Director
New Jersey Library Association
ptumulty@njla.org
609-394-8032
Support emergency legislation to remove municipal libraries from the levy cap . . . THERE IS A VOTE TOMORROW!
I just wanted to share the link to look up your legislator - it is EASY! You can look on the right side by alphabetical list, municipality, district, etc...
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/members/legsearch.asp
You get your district and you click on that to see the people and contact info.
I JUST CALLED them - I have always e-mailed in these cases but today I CALLED because I had just been in one of the webinars on WebJunction for the Spanish Language Outreach Program with some people who talked about advocating. PHONE CALLS ARE MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE than e-mails!
It only took me about 5 minutes!
The people are nice! They want these calls.
I identified myself as a librarian living and/or working in the district and asked for them to support the emergency legislation to remove municipal libraries from the levy cap. I said there is a vote tomorrow. They already knew what I was talking about! They took my name and seemed very interested to hear from me.
You either leave a message or talk to an assistant who takes the information.
REALLY - it took me less than five minute total for me to call three people!
PLEASE CALL!
Original message from Pat Tumulty:
CRITICAL UPDATE, MUNICIPAL CAP LEVY EXEMPTION.
We need your assistance right now to contact your NJ State Senators. Not tomorrow. Right now. Please ask your state senator to support emergency legislation which would allow an adjustment to levy cap calculations for local public library funding.
When the new municipal cap levy legislation was passed this year, municipal libraries were included as part of the calculation for the levy cap. This, unfortunately, created an inequity for the 245 communities which support municipal libraries. Communities which support county libraries have library expenditures excluded from the municipal levy because county libraries are funded by a dedicated tax and, therefore, outside the levy cap.
New Jersey League of Municipalities, the New Jersey Library Association and the NJ State Library have been working for a month on what we hoped would be a solution to this issue by adding language to state budget bill. Unfortunately, we were told last Friday, that this solution would not work and that we would need legislation. We must correct this inequity before July 1 because urban communities begin a new budget year on that date and would become subject to the levy cap. All other communities will be impacted with the budgets beginning on Jan. 1, 2008.
The Assembly, under the leadership of Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman, will consider emergency legislation to exempt municipal libraries from the cap legislation TOMORROW- Thursday, June 21. We have every indication that there is support for this legislation.
We are less certain of Senate approval, and we have learned that the Senate will cancel next week’s scheduled meetings and recess for the Summer. Therefore, it is imperative that this legislation pass tomorrow.
We must have this emergency legislation enacted in the Senate before the Legislature goes on summer break.
Please contact your State Senator’s legislative office today and tell them you support emergency legislation to remove municipal libraries from the levy cap and that it must be enacted before summer recess.
Pat Tumulty, Executive Director
New Jersey Library Association
ptumulty@njla.org
609-394-8032
Labels: advocacy, amy kearns, funding, nj libraries, politics, vote
¶ posted by Amy J. Kearns, MLIS @ 1:28 PM 1 comments links to this post
Monday, June 18, 2007
If you doubt the power and ability of the Internet to connect us as people . . .
read this post by Karen G. Schneider in response to the passing of Michael Stephens' dear dog, Jake.
I am sitting here crying at my desk at work.
I am sitting here crying at my desk at work.
Labels: amy kearns, love, pets, social networking
¶ posted by Amy J. Kearns, MLIS @ 3:52 PM 1 comments links to this post
Friday, June 15, 2007
Not Able to Attend ALA? Here's an Alternative...
This is posted many places but I want to be sure that no one misses it! This is FREE folks - and doesn't require leaving the comfort of your own home!
Not able to attend ALA but still want to find out what's going on in cutting edge technology and social software!? Well check out the BIGWIG Social Software Showcase...
From their page:
The Social Software Showcase is an online unconference occurring around and during the time of ALA Annual 2007. On this wiki, you will find eleven wonderful presentations on cutting edge technology and social software by librarians and leaders in the field. Regardless of where you are in the world, you will have the opportunity to discuss the presentations here in this space.
We will also be having a face to face roundtable discussion with some of our presenters at ALA Annual in Washington D.C. on Saturday, June 23rd, from 1:30-2:30 in the Renaissance Mayflower Cabinet Room. If you are in D.C. please come and join us.
This wiki will be a work in progress as we iron out a few things, including the embedding of the presentations. But we'll be ready and running before ALA! [end]
This is a revolutionary way of presenting information! Please do check it out.
The presenters include the VERY excellent:
Michael Casey - Library Crunch
Michael Porter, aka Library Man! - Libraryman blog
Jessamyn West - Librarian.net blog
Karen Schneider - Free Range Librarian , her post on this
AND MORE!
You can read another excellent post on this for some more information on the Information Wants to Be Free blog here.
The Bigwig Social Software Showcase is here!
Check it out! :-)
Happy Weekend!
Not able to attend ALA but still want to find out what's going on in cutting edge technology and social software!? Well check out the BIGWIG Social Software Showcase...
From their page:
The Social Software Showcase is an online unconference occurring around and during the time of ALA Annual 2007. On this wiki, you will find eleven wonderful presentations on cutting edge technology and social software by librarians and leaders in the field. Regardless of where you are in the world, you will have the opportunity to discuss the presentations here in this space.
We will also be having a face to face roundtable discussion with some of our presenters at ALA Annual in Washington D.C. on Saturday, June 23rd, from 1:30-2:30 in the Renaissance Mayflower Cabinet Room. If you are in D.C. please come and join us.
This wiki will be a work in progress as we iron out a few things, including the embedding of the presentations. But we'll be ready and running before ALA! [end]
This is a revolutionary way of presenting information! Please do check it out.
The presenters include the VERY excellent:
Michael Casey - Library Crunch
Michael Porter, aka Library Man! - Libraryman blog
Jessamyn West - Librarian.net blog
Karen Schneider - Free Range Librarian , her post on this
AND MORE!
You can read another excellent post on this for some more information on the Information Wants to Be Free blog here.
The Bigwig Social Software Showcase is here!
Check it out! :-)
Happy Weekend!
Labels: ala, amy kearns, social software, technology, unconference, wiki
¶ posted by Amy J. Kearns, MLIS @ 7:57 AM 0 comments links to this post
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Pennsylvania study reveals that libraries give great value
I just saw this article about a statewide study on the value of libraries in PA. It was done by UNC-Chapel Hill library school and was cosponsored by the Pennsylvania Lib Assn and the State Library of PA.
Quotable fact: "If public libraries in Pennsylvania were to disappear, the study concluded, the total economic loss to users and local economies would amount to approximately $1.34 billion."
To read the full article, go here:
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,121145.shtml ¶ posted by Mary Martin @ 7:44 PM 0 comments links to this post
Quotable fact: "If public libraries in Pennsylvania were to disappear, the study concluded, the total economic loss to users and local economies would amount to approximately $1.34 billion."
To read the full article, go here:
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,121145.shtml ¶ posted by Mary Martin @ 7:44 PM 0 comments links to this post
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Danbury Public Library joins LibraryThing
How cool is this? Danbury Public Library (CT) is the first library in the country to join LibraryThing: http://www.newstimeslive.com/news/story.php?id=1056353&source=tabbox
I have heard other librarians moaning in ecstasy about how wonderful LibraryThing is, but I never made the time to check it out. You can bet that I will now.
And by the way, how did I find out about Danbury PL? I set up personalized news searches on Google for articles that contain either public library or public libraries. Then I just check my personalized GoogleNews page. It is a very cool use of technology. ¶ posted by Mary Martin @ 6:33 AM 2 comments links to this post
I have heard other librarians moaning in ecstasy about how wonderful LibraryThing is, but I never made the time to check it out. You can bet that I will now.
And by the way, how did I find out about Danbury PL? I set up personalized news searches on Google for articles that contain either public library or public libraries. Then I just check my personalized GoogleNews page. It is a very cool use of technology. ¶ posted by Mary Martin @ 6:33 AM 2 comments links to this post
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Change is stressful. Admit it, deal with it, and move on.
How are you presenting new ideas and new services to your staff? If they sense that you are not interested in a certain thing (or are apprehensive about it) they will probably feel the same way. If you are change-averse, then I can guarantee your staff is probably the same way.
I recently overheard a library director say, about a new service being provided by the state library, “Yeah, well, I showed this to my employees and got less than enthusiastic responses.” Hmm. Exactly how did she present it? I wondered. Her tone when making her comment to me made it clear that she didn't have much use for this new service, even though it was probably a service that some of her patrons would be interested in. So was she able to conceal her contempt for the service when she presented it to her staff? There’s a big difference between saying “This is an interesting new service being provided by the state library, I think we should look into it, who would be interested in doing this” and “Ugh, the state library is at it again, here’s another half-baked idea they have come up with. Does anyone feel like dealing with this? I know I don't want to.”
Here's a reality check, folks. I have met very few people who actually enjoy the process of change. It's messy and it's painful, and it makes us feel out-of-control, but it is necessary. As supervisors, we need to overcome our dread of change enough so that we can present new service possibilities to our staff and co-workers as opportunities instead of albatrosses.
Change is going to happen whether we want it to or not. Do you want to waste your time yelling about how unfair it is, how you shouldn't have to change, how libraries used to be venerated by all and didn't have to prove our value to anyone, how things were working perfectly until the world came along and ruined things for us by changing? Do you think the world really gives a damn what we think? It will move along quite happily without us, if necessary.
But: if you can take some deep breaths and calm your fears about change long enough to think straight, and if you can look at your situation (and your library's position in its community) clearly, maybe you can see one or two things that you can do to steer change instead of always feeling out of control on a roller-coaster of change that you can do nothing about. As one librarian colleague said to me yesterday, "be proactive, not reactive."
Change or die, people. You don't have to like it, but you'd better get good at dealing with it, and at helping your staff deal with it, effectively. Because if your staff knows you are uncomfortable with (or even fear) change, they're going to have no reason not to feel the same way, and then you'll be dead in the water. Got it? Good. Get to it, then. :) ¶ posted by Mary Martin @ 2:03 PM 0 comments links to this post
I recently overheard a library director say, about a new service being provided by the state library, “Yeah, well, I showed this to my employees and got less than enthusiastic responses.” Hmm. Exactly how did she present it? I wondered. Her tone when making her comment to me made it clear that she didn't have much use for this new service, even though it was probably a service that some of her patrons would be interested in. So was she able to conceal her contempt for the service when she presented it to her staff? There’s a big difference between saying “This is an interesting new service being provided by the state library, I think we should look into it, who would be interested in doing this” and “Ugh, the state library is at it again, here’s another half-baked idea they have come up with. Does anyone feel like dealing with this? I know I don't want to.”
Here's a reality check, folks. I have met very few people who actually enjoy the process of change. It's messy and it's painful, and it makes us feel out-of-control, but it is necessary. As supervisors, we need to overcome our dread of change enough so that we can present new service possibilities to our staff and co-workers as opportunities instead of albatrosses.
Change is going to happen whether we want it to or not. Do you want to waste your time yelling about how unfair it is, how you shouldn't have to change, how libraries used to be venerated by all and didn't have to prove our value to anyone, how things were working perfectly until the world came along and ruined things for us by changing? Do you think the world really gives a damn what we think? It will move along quite happily without us, if necessary.
But: if you can take some deep breaths and calm your fears about change long enough to think straight, and if you can look at your situation (and your library's position in its community) clearly, maybe you can see one or two things that you can do to steer change instead of always feeling out of control on a roller-coaster of change that you can do nothing about. As one librarian colleague said to me yesterday, "be proactive, not reactive."
Change or die, people. You don't have to like it, but you'd better get good at dealing with it, and at helping your staff deal with it, effectively. Because if your staff knows you are uncomfortable with (or even fear) change, they're going to have no reason not to feel the same way, and then you'll be dead in the water. Got it? Good. Get to it, then. :) ¶ posted by Mary Martin @ 2:03 PM 0 comments links to this post
Monday, June 04, 2007
Cell phone etiquette
Friends,
You know how we librarians are all up-in-arms about people who use their cell phone impolitely in the library? They are wandering through the stacks talking loudly on their cell phones, or sitting at a computer yakking away, completely oblivious to the fact that people around them do not really care one iota about their ingrown toenail, the sunburn they got over the weekend, or their dog Fluffy's dandruff problem. So we put signs up asking people to please turn their ringers to vibrate, and perhaps to go to designated "cell talking" zones if they must take a call in the library.
Well, library patrons are NOT the only people who need to be schooled on cell phone etiquette, let me tell you. I was in a workshop with other librarians this morning. The presenter was in the middle of her speech when someone's cell phone rang (loudly). That was bad enough, but then the person answered their phone and began having a conversation with the caller. The room fell dead silent as we all craned our necks and stared at this rude person, hoping to shame him into proper behavior. After a few sentences, when he realized we were all staring at him, he got the message and muttered "I have to go now" into his phone. The presenter waited a few beats and then said "All set now?" before continuing her presentation.
To all you kettles out there calling the pots black: Look closely at your own behavior before you criticize the behavior of your library patrons. You may think you have a very important reason to answer your cell phone in the middle of a presentation, but let me tell you-- your patrons think THEIR reasons for answering their cell phones in the middle of the library are just as important.
And for goodness sake, if you have taken the time to register for and then show up at a presentation, be there fully. People can generally get along without you just fine for a few hours, so turn the cell phone off. And if you must wait for an important call, then follow the same etiquette you prescribe for your library patrons:
1. Put the cell phone on vibrate.
2. If any parts of your body begin vibrating during the presentation, get up and go outside the room before answering the cell phone.
Thank you for your consideration!
You know how we librarians are all up-in-arms about people who use their cell phone impolitely in the library? They are wandering through the stacks talking loudly on their cell phones, or sitting at a computer yakking away, completely oblivious to the fact that people around them do not really care one iota about their ingrown toenail, the sunburn they got over the weekend, or their dog Fluffy's dandruff problem. So we put signs up asking people to please turn their ringers to vibrate, and perhaps to go to designated "cell talking" zones if they must take a call in the library.
Well, library patrons are NOT the only people who need to be schooled on cell phone etiquette, let me tell you. I was in a workshop with other librarians this morning. The presenter was in the middle of her speech when someone's cell phone rang (loudly). That was bad enough, but then the person answered their phone and began having a conversation with the caller. The room fell dead silent as we all craned our necks and stared at this rude person, hoping to shame him into proper behavior. After a few sentences, when he realized we were all staring at him, he got the message and muttered "I have to go now" into his phone. The presenter waited a few beats and then said "All set now?" before continuing her presentation.
To all you kettles out there calling the pots black: Look closely at your own behavior before you criticize the behavior of your library patrons. You may think you have a very important reason to answer your cell phone in the middle of a presentation, but let me tell you-- your patrons think THEIR reasons for answering their cell phones in the middle of the library are just as important.
And for goodness sake, if you have taken the time to register for and then show up at a presentation, be there fully. People can generally get along without you just fine for a few hours, so turn the cell phone off. And if you must wait for an important call, then follow the same etiquette you prescribe for your library patrons:
1. Put the cell phone on vibrate.
2. If any parts of your body begin vibrating during the presentation, get up and go outside the room before answering the cell phone.
Thank you for your consideration!
Labels: cell phone etiquette
¶ posted by Mary Martin @ 1:57 PM 2 comments links to this post
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Back to the Future
Tomorrow morning I will be at the follow-up meeting to the Mid-Atlantic Futures Conference at the Princeton Public Library. I'm psyched that we're having this - it will be interesting to see what happens - I'll definitely be blogging about it, here and/or over at LG.... Also, the stuff from the programs is finally available.... you can check those out here.
Also, the blog for the Futures Conference continues here.
Also, the blog for the Futures Conference continues here.
Labels: amy kearns, futures conference
¶ posted by Amy J. Kearns, MLIS @ 10:09 PM 0 comments links to this post
Friday, June 01, 2007
The Open Source ILS
Check out this interesting blog post by Andrew K. Pace (NCSU) on open-source ILS systems. I am including the first paragraph here. I have added emphasis on certain sections that I especially agree with.
Pace writes: "It's true that I am one of the skeptics. I'll state that up front. But, in truth, my skepticism toward building an open source integrated library system was born in optimism that the vendors of proprietary software would be paying close attention to the landscape. Alas, I don't think they were."
Yes! The vendors are NOT paying attention to their paying customers. They are too busy trying to entice the next "big get" with bells and whistles and add-ons, while never addressing the fact that their circulation and OPAC modules stink like three-day-old fish and need major overhauling.
Sure, I'd rather not go to a DIY mode (I have enough on my plate already, thank you), but if that's the only way we can get what is really important to those of us who are on the front lines, then we may have to go for it. We are the ones to whom it's most important to have a decent circ system and OPAC. We're the ones who have to explain to patrons "Well, ideally the system would do this, but it won't do that, so here's a workaround." (I'd like to know when was the last time a Sirsi or Dynix sales rep or programmer stood at a circ desk for 3 hours at a time and dealt with all the little individual system "quirks" and "features" that make our circ staff and patrons' lives inconvenient, if not downright hellish at times.)
I worry about us librarians, sometimes. Have we fallen into the trap of learned helplessness, so that we are so dispirited that all we can do is limply complain about how cruddy our ILS systems are? Can we not imagine a better possible future for ourselves? We are not helpless. We do have options. Yes, exploring options and thinking about the possibility of changing systems is very scary. Yes, it will take up a lot of time. But would you rather take your fate in your own hands and TRY to make things better for yourself and your staff, or would you rather be nibbled to death by ducks, slowly and painfully, while paying royal fees to ILS vendors for the privilege?
Pace writes: "It's true that I am one of the skeptics. I'll state that up front. But, in truth, my skepticism toward building an open source integrated library system was born in optimism that the vendors of proprietary software would be paying close attention to the landscape. Alas, I don't think they were."
Yes! The vendors are NOT paying attention to their paying customers. They are too busy trying to entice the next "big get" with bells and whistles and add-ons, while never addressing the fact that their circulation and OPAC modules stink like three-day-old fish and need major overhauling.
Sure, I'd rather not go to a DIY mode (I have enough on my plate already, thank you), but if that's the only way we can get what is really important to those of us who are on the front lines, then we may have to go for it. We are the ones to whom it's most important to have a decent circ system and OPAC. We're the ones who have to explain to patrons "Well, ideally the system would do this, but it won't do that, so here's a workaround." (I'd like to know when was the last time a Sirsi or Dynix sales rep or programmer stood at a circ desk for 3 hours at a time and dealt with all the little individual system "quirks" and "features" that make our circ staff and patrons' lives inconvenient, if not downright hellish at times.)
I worry about us librarians, sometimes. Have we fallen into the trap of learned helplessness, so that we are so dispirited that all we can do is limply complain about how cruddy our ILS systems are? Can we not imagine a better possible future for ourselves? We are not helpless. We do have options. Yes, exploring options and thinking about the possibility of changing systems is very scary. Yes, it will take up a lot of time. But would you rather take your fate in your own hands and TRY to make things better for yourself and your staff, or would you rather be nibbled to death by ducks, slowly and painfully, while paying royal fees to ILS vendors for the privilege?
