Friday, July 20, 2007
Long Hill Library's first Teen Game Night
I was very happy with how our first Teen Game Night went. We had about 13 kids show up, and they all took turns playing with the PlayStation 2 (Guitar Hero and Burnout: Revenge were popular) and Nintendo Wii (I have Wii Sports and Raving Rabbids for that one).
Not all the kids could play at the same time, obviously, so we had sign-up sheets. You put your name down to play, and when your turn was up, you could put your name down to play again. All the video games we played were ones that people could play against each other, meaning 2 people were playing the game at the same time. Meanwhile, we supplied games like Jenga (a stacking game), Hangman and Trans Europa (a fun railroad-building game) and some of the kids who were waiting sat in the corner and played those.
"That's all well and good," you may be thinking, "but unlike Mary, I don't actually own a PS2 or a Wii." Hey -- I think I have a way around that. Ask around -- you may find that some teens who volunteer or work at the library (or are members of your Teen Advisory Group, if you have one) may be willing to lend their game system for a night. I needed an extra Guitar Hero controller for last night, so the president of our Friends of the Library got on the horn to her contacts and located one for me in about 3 seconds.
As an aside: When you play Wii Sports, you use an avatar that's supposed to look like you (it's called a Mii). But the kids didn't want to take time to create Miis, so they were just playing with the ones I already had on my system... which is how I looked over at one point, saw some kids boxing each other on the Wii, looked at the screen and saw my dad and my friend Trisha repeatedly socking each other in the face! That was a bit disconcerting... Also, I think I pulled a muscle from too-rigorous Wii bowling... but that's another story.
¶ posted by Mary Martin @ 11:40 AM 0 comments
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I was very happy with how our first Teen Game Night went. We had about 13 kids show up, and they all took turns playing with the PlayStation 2 (Guitar Hero and Burnout: Revenge were popular) and Nintendo Wii (I have Wii Sports and Raving Rabbids for that one).Not all the kids could play at the same time, obviously, so we had sign-up sheets. You put your name down to play, and when your turn was up, you could put your name down to play again. All the video games we played were ones that people could play against each other, meaning 2 people were playing the game at the same time. Meanwhile, we supplied games like Jenga (a stacking game), Hangman and Trans Europa (a fun railroad-building game) and some of the kids who were waiting sat in the corner and played those.
"That's all well and good," you may be thinking, "but unlike Mary, I don't actually own a PS2 or a Wii." Hey -- I think I have a way around that. Ask around -- you may find that some teens who volunteer or work at the library (or are members of your Teen Advisory Group, if you have one) may be willing to lend their game system for a night. I needed an extra Guitar Hero controller for last night, so the president of our Friends of the Library got on the horn to her contacts and located one for me in about 3 seconds.
As an aside: When you play Wii Sports, you use an avatar that's supposed to look like you (it's called a Mii). But the kids didn't want to take time to create Miis, so they were just playing with the ones I already had on my system... which is how I looked over at one point, saw some kids boxing each other on the Wii, looked at the screen and saw my dad and my friend Trisha repeatedly socking each other in the face! That was a bit disconcerting... Also, I think I pulled a muscle from too-rigorous Wii bowling... but that's another story.
Friday, July 13, 2007
For those in NJ - Help Shape the Future of NJ Libraries!
From an e-mail from Peggy Cadigan, Consultant for Innovation and Communication, at the New Jersey State Library. (I'm so happy to see this come out of the futures conference that was held - my app is already in!)
Subject: Participation in NJSL Blue Ribbon Task Force on the Future - applications needed by August 15, 2007
Norma Blake, State Librarian, has instituted a "Blue Ribbon Task Force on the Future" to continue the groundbreaking work begun by the Mid-Atlantic Library Futures Conference. The State Library recognizes that it is imperative to have input from the people who are shaping the future of New Jersey's libraries.
This is an open invitation to anyone currently working in a New Jersey library who has an interest in the future of libraries to apply for a possible appointment to the Task Force. The Task Force will comprise members from different types of libraries and from different job titles. Applications will be reviewed by a panel selected by the State Librarian and appointments made following the review process. The goal of the Task Force will be to make recommendations about how libraries can respond in the future to the information received at the conference and the challenges presented. How can local libraries and the State Library respond to projected demographic changes, growing diversity, an aging population, and technological advances?
We expect that this task force will require a short-term commitment. It is expected that the task force will meet once a month for six months, beginning September 2007, culminating in a report to the State Librarian by March 2008. The report will be presented at the April 2008 NJLA Conference.
If you are interested in serving on this panel, please complete page two of the application which can be found at http://www.njstatelib.org/News/Blue%20Ribbon%20Panel.pdf and return it by August 15, 2007 to:
Peggy Cadigan
Consultant for Innovation and Communication
New Jersey State Library
185 West State Street
P.O. Box 520
Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0520
You may send the application as a word document e-mail attachment or fax it to: 609-633-3963.
Contact Peggy Cadigan with any questions. 609-278-2640, Ext. 113 or 609-292-4161, pcadigan@njstatelib.org
Subject: Participation in NJSL Blue Ribbon Task Force on the Future - applications needed by August 15, 2007
Norma Blake, State Librarian, has instituted a "Blue Ribbon Task Force on the Future" to continue the groundbreaking work begun by the Mid-Atlantic Library Futures Conference. The State Library recognizes that it is imperative to have input from the people who are shaping the future of New Jersey's libraries.
This is an open invitation to anyone currently working in a New Jersey library who has an interest in the future of libraries to apply for a possible appointment to the Task Force. The Task Force will comprise members from different types of libraries and from different job titles. Applications will be reviewed by a panel selected by the State Librarian and appointments made following the review process. The goal of the Task Force will be to make recommendations about how libraries can respond in the future to the information received at the conference and the challenges presented. How can local libraries and the State Library respond to projected demographic changes, growing diversity, an aging population, and technological advances?
We expect that this task force will require a short-term commitment. It is expected that the task force will meet once a month for six months, beginning September 2007, culminating in a report to the State Librarian by March 2008. The report will be presented at the April 2008 NJLA Conference.
If you are interested in serving on this panel, please complete page two of the application which can be found at http://www.njstatelib.org/News/Blue%20Ribbon%20Panel.pdf and return it by August 15, 2007 to:
Peggy Cadigan
Consultant for Innovation and Communication
New Jersey State Library
185 West State Street
P.O. Box 520
Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0520
You may send the application as a word document e-mail attachment or fax it to: 609-633-3963.
Contact Peggy Cadigan with any questions. 609-278-2640, Ext. 113 or 609-292-4161, pcadigan@njstatelib.org
Labels: 2.0, amy kearns, application, futures, libraries, nj libraries, njsl, task force
¶ posted by Amy J. Kearns, MLIS @ 2:19 PM 0 comments links to this post
Pimp Yourself! (It's easier than you think, and free!)
Please don't be offended or turned-off by the title.
I know there have been a few occasions where "pimp" this or that has been a problem, but just try to get past that for a moment and consider this ....
The other day I attended a wonderful workshop and one of the suggestions in that workshop was that as librarians we need to stop being so quiet and shy about ourselves and start boasting about ourselves, our libraries, our profession, etc.!
Well, I have heard this before and embrace it wholeheartedly!
However, the group attending this particular workshop seemed especially uncomfortable with this suggestion.
The specific suggestion made that really got them squirming was to "use your credentials on everything."
I personally LOVE this and started doing it as soon as I had heard it.
I put my MLIS on everything I can - in my e-mail signatures, when I sign things, on my business cards, etc.... Some may think it is even excessive, but I don't care! I paid for the MILS, I earned the MILS, I have an MLIS and it does mean something!
(I was in the first class of students who graduated from SCILS at Rutgers with the additional vowel "I" - it stands for Master of Library and INFORMATION Science - boy, do I LOVE having that extra "I"!)
Several attendees really seemed aghast about this and I was sort of surprised. I can understand that it may go "outside your comfort zone" to boast about yourself or your library, but adding a few letters to the end of your name!?
Other professions do it all the time and no one thinks anything of it! Or, they have a prefix to designate their qualifications and/or professionalism, i.e,. "Dr.", "Esq.", etc.
We as librarians need to do this as well!
Sometimes this suggestion is met with, "Well, no one knows what that stands for anyway!"
GREAT! That gives you the chance to TELL THEM what it stands for, what it means, why you have it and what it means YOU CAN DO!
C'mon, as far as "pimping things" goes, this really is one of the easier ones (and free too!)
I challenge everyone who doesn't use their credentials to make a commitment to doing so as a "first step" toward becoming more comfortable BOASTING about how awesome we are! (Cuz we are!)
I know there have been a few occasions where "pimp" this or that has been a problem, but just try to get past that for a moment and consider this ....
The other day I attended a wonderful workshop and one of the suggestions in that workshop was that as librarians we need to stop being so quiet and shy about ourselves and start boasting about ourselves, our libraries, our profession, etc.!
Well, I have heard this before and embrace it wholeheartedly!
However, the group attending this particular workshop seemed especially uncomfortable with this suggestion.
The specific suggestion made that really got them squirming was to "use your credentials on everything."
I personally LOVE this and started doing it as soon as I had heard it.
I put my MLIS on everything I can - in my e-mail signatures, when I sign things, on my business cards, etc.... Some may think it is even excessive, but I don't care! I paid for the MILS, I earned the MILS, I have an MLIS and it does mean something!
(I was in the first class of students who graduated from SCILS at Rutgers with the additional vowel "I" - it stands for Master of Library and INFORMATION Science - boy, do I LOVE having that extra "I"!)
Several attendees really seemed aghast about this and I was sort of surprised. I can understand that it may go "outside your comfort zone" to boast about yourself or your library, but adding a few letters to the end of your name!?
Other professions do it all the time and no one thinks anything of it! Or, they have a prefix to designate their qualifications and/or professionalism, i.e,. "Dr.", "Esq.", etc.
We as librarians need to do this as well!
Sometimes this suggestion is met with, "Well, no one knows what that stands for anyway!"
GREAT! That gives you the chance to TELL THEM what it stands for, what it means, why you have it and what it means YOU CAN DO!
C'mon, as far as "pimping things" goes, this really is one of the easier ones (and free too!)
I challenge everyone who doesn't use their credentials to make a commitment to doing so as a "first step" toward becoming more comfortable BOASTING about how awesome we are! (Cuz we are!)
Labels: boast, credentials, librarians, marketing
¶ posted by Amy J. Kearns, MLIS @ 9:14 AM 0 comments links to this post
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Librarians rarely make the news
Here's a pretty interesting article from the Huffington Post by a librarian who's responding to that NYT article that came out last Sunday:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicole-scherer/librarians-rarely-make-th_b_55791.html
I found it pretty interesting (especially when I found out about all the controversy the original article generated). But I especially like the last paragraph, which reads:
"Librarians are cool, not because of how we dress, what we drink, or who we associate with. Librarians are cool because our job is cool: We protect people's freedom to seek out and find the information they need: All service and no shushing. "
Yes, ma'am! Word up. I'm down with that, dawg. You go, grrl.. (oh wait, did I just use up all my nerdy middle-class, middle-aged-woman "street cred"? Dagnabbit.) ¶ posted by Mary Martin @ 7:15 AM 0 comments links to this post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicole-scherer/librarians-rarely-make-th_b_55791.html
I found it pretty interesting (especially when I found out about all the controversy the original article generated). But I especially like the last paragraph, which reads:
"Librarians are cool, not because of how we dress, what we drink, or who we associate with. Librarians are cool because our job is cool: We protect people's freedom to seek out and find the information they need: All service and no shushing. "
Yes, ma'am! Word up. I'm down with that, dawg. You go, grrl.. (oh wait, did I just use up all my nerdy middle-class, middle-aged-woman "street cred"? Dagnabbit.) ¶ posted by Mary Martin @ 7:15 AM 0 comments links to this post
Monday, July 09, 2007
Reel 'em in any way you can
I will now share with you a trick that I use to get people to use our online databases. Tell them they can access Consumer Reports product reviews online. They LOVE that -- it's a great hook, and then you can gently reel 'em in by saying that "hey, you can also use these databases to get articles for your kids' school research papers, and all sorts of cool stuff."
I put a blurb in our summer newsletter in June about how you can access Consumer Reports online. A guy actually called me today and asked me about it, so I walked him through the process. At one point he said "Oh, these databases are like Google, aren't they?"
"Sort of," I replied, "only these databases contain a lot of really good copyrighted material that Google doesn't have access to, and we pay for you to be able to access these databases."
If you're interested in seeing the PDF file that I made available on our website that walks people through how to access Consumer Reports, it's available here: http://longhill.mainlib.org/Documents/Access_Consumer_Reports_online.pdf
¶ posted by Mary Martin @ 4:51 PM 0 comments
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Saturday, July 07, 2007
Using LinkedIn?
Do you used LinkedIn? Yes, it's another "social networking" site but it is for professional networking specifically. A lot of people use this site in much more "careful" ways, i.e, they do not just "friend" anyone and everyone.... For one thing, you probably don't want to do that because people can "recommend" you and you would only want people you WANT to be recommending you...
I personally only link to people I know either personally or through the profession. I am fairly certain most people use it this way. In other words, if you sign up, don't go around adding or requesting EVERYONE and if you aren't added (or linked to) by someone, don't take it personally.
It is a good site I think for professional networking and you can also use it to post and find jobs and services.... and "market" yourself, as well as to research companies and people.
Today I found (via several different places) some tips to make LinkedIn more effective.
If you're not using it, you may want to take a look at it and try these tips.
I personally only link to people I know either personally or through the profession. I am fairly certain most people use it this way. In other words, if you sign up, don't go around adding or requesting EVERYONE and if you aren't added (or linked to) by someone, don't take it personally.
It is a good site I think for professional networking and you can also use it to post and find jobs and services.... and "market" yourself, as well as to research companies and people.
Today I found (via several different places) some tips to make LinkedIn more effective.
If you're not using it, you may want to take a look at it and try these tips.
Labels: professional networking social networks amy kearns linkedin
¶ posted by Amy J. Kearns, MLIS @ 3:00 PM 0 comments links to this post
"New" Librarians in the News
Two articles today in NY papers on "new" librarians, one in The Sun and one in The NY Times. What do you make of these takes on "us"?
Labels: amy kearns, librarians, news
¶ posted by Amy J. Kearns, MLIS @ 2:39 PM 0 comments links to this post
