A quick thanks

My thanks to Deborah Elizabeth Finn, who not only gave me kudos for some of my consulting work, but also points out the valuable possibilities for collaboration between nonprofit technology workers and librarians.

To my librarian readers - what ideas spark when I suggest offering our information organization skills to local (or not so local) nonprofits? How else can we help our communities in this way?

Howdy!

On Friday, I participated in my first T is For Training podcast/chat session and it was a hoot and half. Chatting about social media in libraries and how we can bring training to patrons wherever they may be. You won't hear my voice on the podcast, but you might next time.

So, to anyone visiting via the T is for Training page - Hallo!

As a quick update, I've recently switched positions at the BPL from Generalist/Acting Branch Manager to Web Services Librarian. I've been settling in to the new job for the past few weeks, and the nascent blog posts are starting to compose themselves in my head. Watch this space....

Also, I'll be attending and speaking at Internet Librarian in October, so if you're going to be there take a gander at my schedule and say hi!

Finally, I'm looking for good library-focused examples of social media guidelines and web-writing style guides, either as combined documents or separately. If you've got a good one to share or point at, let me know.

Ciao, and you'll be seeing more of me now.

Last of the Presentation Posts for a while

It's been a heck of a spring, with road trips and lots going on back in Boston. For now, however, the presentation season is over.

Tomorrow, I'll be running the Reaching Patrons: Online Outreach for Libraries workshop for the Boston Region. Presentation notes can be found here. Unfortunately, the slideshow is too big a file to upload to Google Docs, but I'll tweak it a little bit and post the link here soon.

On that note, given the increasing upsurge in demands on my time, I'm considering the future of this blog very carefully. Updating only once every other month is just Not Working, but there just hasn't been time for more. I haven't decided to retire Eclectic Library or put it on formal hiatus quite yet, but it's a possibility.

But now, it's very early in the morning and I've got a presentation to give in a few hours. G'night!

Taming the Infoclutter at CTLA!

Tomorrow's road trip (or, more precisely, train trip) is to fair New Haven, CT to speak at the Connecticut Library Association's annual conference. This is my first invited speaking engagement (based on my Cybertour back at Internet Librarian 2007) and though it's an old familiar topic, I'm nervous.

I'm also a vain creature who's found a natural home in the spotlight, so I'm sure I'll be fine.

All of which is to preface the notes for the presentation:

Taming the Online Infoclutter: Using RSS to Keep Current and Manage Overload

Enjoy!

Who Am I Online? Part I

Tomorrow, I'm leading a new workshop on online identities at the Boston Region. Your presentation links du jour:

Who Am I Online? Part I: Creating a Consistent Personal or Institutional Identity

(and some additional examples)

Who Am I Online? Part II: Using Personal Start Pages and Other Digital Identity Tools (first given March 25, 2009)

And now, time to make sure there's a well-rested trainer presenting tomorrow.

Infoclutter Presentation at CMRLS

A quick post to put up the link for today's "Taming the Infoclutter" workshop at the Central Mass Library Region.

Taming the Online Infoclutter: Using RSS to Keep Current and Manage Overload
November 18, 2008
CMRLS

Enjoy!

Wow...nearly six months, huh?

If you've been reading this blog since the beginning, you know that the busier my offline life is, the less likely I am to post here. Since April 2nd, I've coordinated blogging at the Massachusetts Library Association annual conference (May), put up and taken down the 2008 Allston-Brighton Art Exposition (June/July), presented another workshop for the Boston Region, Technical Directed a real-life comedy of errors for my local community theater company (April through August), traveled, hosted, and helped keep a branch operating far below optimal staffing levels running smoothly.

So, no, I haven't really had the time or energy to post here.

However, I am going to be coordinating a 10-week online program for the Boston Region -- 26.2 Things in Boston -- and I thought I should update my own blog before asking others to create theirs.

I do hope to be posting more here as a part of that effort, working my own way through the program, and my reflections on leading that program. We'll see, though. I've stopped promising more substantial posts, both elsewhere and here. Life is as it will be, you know?

For now, thank you for bearing with my absence. All is well, and life proceeds apace.

Enjoy!

IL2007 CyberTours list published

Here's the complete list of CyberTours at Internet Librarian 2007. (I'm down near the bottom, on Wednesday the 31st.) If you're at the conference, stop by and say Hi!

Whither thou goest, librarian?

Ah, productivity. I'm so glad to find it again...

And yet, no posts in a month and a half? I guess the short answer is that I did find my productivity, but it largely played out in my paying job and not in these pages. Also, there's been a post brewing that needs out, and it's finally ready.

But first, announcements: In the next two months, I have three professional speaking engagements, two local and one at a national conference!

Tuesday, October 16th: I'll be presenting a two-hour workshop on "Taming the Online Infoclutter: Using RSS to Keep Current and Manage Overload". 10a - 12noon at the Boston Public Library, Training Room. Registration is through the Boston Region.

Wednesday, October 31st: On the last day of Internet Librarian, I'm giving a 15-minute Cybertour on the same topic. 11:30-11:45am in the Exhibitor Hall. (Yes, I'm speaking at a national librarian conference. How excited am I?!?)

Tuesday, November 6th: My second workshop for the Boston Region is "You Can Be the Expert: Helping Library Users with Basic Computer Troubleshooting," a look at how to diagnose what problem your patrons are having and what, if anything, you can do about it. 10a - 12noon at the BPL Training Room. Same registration link as above.

Next up, a post sure to raise some eyebrows and make you think. Ciao!

Squidoo!

Oh, one more thing. I finally made public the Squidoo lens that I've been working on:

Reading Outside the Library Box: useful stuff for librarians
You can get to it at any time using the "I Squidoo" button over on the sidebar there. ----->

It's very much a work in progress, but I've gotten enough up there that it's worth looking at. Go, enjoy, and if you have any suggestions for more stuff let me know.