Please note that this blog has been officially retired. Please follow along with my writing at www.jenniferkoerber.com, and on Twitter at @jenniferkoerber. Thanks much, and see you in the ether!

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?

Presentations from Internet Librarian

Catching up is hard to do, it's true. Just in time for your weekend perusal, here are the presentations I gave at Internet Librarian back in October.

Managing Online Identity - IL2010

View more presentations from Jennifer Koerber.

Patron Learning Program - IL2010

View more presentations from Jennifer Koerber.

Developing Patron Personas - IL2010

View more presentations from Jennifer Koerber.

Internet Librarian, ahoy!

And, that's really about it. Check out my schedule and see where I'll be, give or take a turn down on the boardwalk.

Library Day in the Life

For at least today and tomorrow, I'll be participating in Library Day in the Life, a neat view into the working lives of information professionals of all stripes. I'll be updating via Twitter, since that's about my attention span.

Follow me at @eclecticlibrary and see what I do all day. I promise - no lunch blogging.

Or, follow the whole merry crew.

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.

Managing Online Life link list - Part I

Hi, all. I'm speaking today (in about 4 hours) at the Massachusetts Library Association's annual conference about "Managing Your Online Persona." I'll have a link to the presentation up on this blog soon. While you wait, check out a few articles on how you create and maintain your online professional presence. Enjoy!

Crafting an Online Persona by Craig Anderson (slideshare)

Who Really Owns Your Social Media Persona? by Drew McClelland

Fired for Facebook and Twitter by Phil Gerbyshak (and make sure you read through the comments for more)

The Psychology of Social Media: Can a visible brand ruin your life?" by Jennifer Leggio

How to Friend Mom, Dad and Your Boss on Facebook....Safely by Sarah Perez

Our Emotional Lives in Social Media by Aliza Sherman

A Guide to Protecting Your Information Privacy on the New Facebook by Jay Hathaway

Digital Commonwealth, here I come!

Evening, folks. Since I won't have my laptop with me at the conference tomorrow, I'm posting a link to the presentation I'm making at Digital Commonwealth's 4th Annual Conference tonight. For your pre-reading pleasure:

Reaching Patrons: Online Outreach for Libraries

Enjoy, and I hope to see many of you tomorrow at DigiComm, mid-April at Computers in Libraries or at the Massachusetts Library Association Annual Conference at the end of April. A busy spring!

End of year thoughts

In another forum, I was asked:

You have a less "books=sacred objects" view than many of the people we know in common. Would you say your view is common among librarians of tour acquaintance, or are you an outlier there (too)? Have you always felt that way about books or did you come to it along the way?

Excellent question. To be clear, I believe that individual books can be sacred objects - important/rare editions, religious texts, original manuscripts, individual inscriptions, etc. - but that the format of any physical manifestation of ideas isn't sacred in and of itself. Books are ultimately just collections of glue and paper and cloth; it's the concepts they hold or the meaning we imbue them with that can make them sacred.

In particular, I believe that everyday books are meant to be engaged with, interacted with and responded to. For someone who's a tactile and kinetic learner, this means that I have to write out my thoughts and responses for that engagement to happen; the most convenient, immediate and relevant place to do that is in the text itself. I write in books all the time, and prefer to own the books that really speak to me so I can do so without guilt. I've always worked this way, back into middle school; in college, I preferred to buy the most written-in, highlighted books I could find to continue the conversation the previous owner(s) had started. Marginalia fascinates me, and its place in history is vital. Writing in library books does have historical precedent, too, but I'm less okay with that due a strong "if it doesn't belong to you, you don't get to permanently change it" ethic.

Amongst librarians, there are far more folks in the "books are just paper" camp than you'd think. I'm certainly not an outlier there. Not everyone is as enthusiastic about it as I am, but most of us have to recognize that fact for the very practical reason that we cannot house all of the books in the world forever. Libraries are not warehouses and not all libraries are even archives or research collections. Each individual title that comes onto our shelves gets chosen for its relevance and usefulness to our patrons. Periodically, we review the evidence of that continued relevance and usefulness - number of total check-outs, most recent check-out, date of publication, wear and tear - and when it's become obvious that something's no longer useful, it needs to go, to make room for something that is. Even archivists don't keep everything (ask my friend at the Congregational Library Archive); librarians of all stripes use their best judgment to determine what stays and what goes as a collection changes over time.

When librarians choose to get rid of an item, we do try and see if it can be useful to someone else somewhere, either by relocating the item to another location or by selling it. Then, when it's falling apart beyond repair, or when mold or bugs or water or scratches have damaged it beyond use, the item gets recycled or trashed. Like any other object in our lives, books and DVDs and CDs can carry more negative weight than positive weight; when that happens, it's time for them to go in the most environmentally sound way possible.

All that said, it's occasionally fun for me to watch patrons squirm when I suggest that the paperbacks they've carefully stored in a New England fieldstone basement for the past 30 years are best off destined for the recycling box or trash barrel. Sure, some collector somewhere might want them and they might have some historical value....but they could also give everyone who touches them an upper respiratory illness or contact dermititis. People are more important than books, always. Not necessarily ideas (V for Vendetta and Farenheit 451), but always more important than the physical paper object.

----------

After writing all this, I found a deeply practical (if occasionally defensive) article on What Books You Could Live Without in the NY Times. Read through it all, and the comments below, for some specific criteria in what might stay and what might go as you weed your own collections.

Who Am I Online? Part I at CMRLS

Here's the presentation link for tomorrow's workshop at the Central Massachusetts Regional Library System: "Who Am I Online? Part I: Creating a Consistent Personal or Institutional Identity."



I was very happy to note that all of my examples had either stayed precisely the same or improved (as examples good or ill) for my purposes. I'm happy to update a presentation with current information, but these were particularly good illustrations of my points.

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.

A small moment of Awesome

As a trainer and semi-evangelist for social computing (aka, 2.0), I'm often called to justify why it's important that library staff are familiar with and understand how this "2.0 stuff" works. Here's another example for the case file.

I'm the new Acting Head of my branch, and I just got a phone call from someone at the Massachusetts Rehab Commission. Apparently, for the past few weeks, if you searched on Google for the Allston Branch of the BPL, you got our listing...with the MRC's phone number. Our number is there too, but theirs is first and they've been getting a lot of calls for us. She asked me if I was the person who 'subscribed' to Google's business listings for us. heh

I asked her to walk me through the process, and I saw where the listing had gone wrong. I also saw that magic Edit button. A little bit of conversation revealed that the MRC had done a program here recently, and they'd put out a flyer with our address and their phone number. Some helpful participant had gone back and edited the Google entry for our branch with that "new" number. heh, again

Fortunately, what was done can be re-done, and I quickly edited the results myself and removed the number. It might take some time for Google's cache to clear, but most of the immediate onslaught of calls should stop. I asked the very relieved MRC admin to call me back if the issue persisted.

If I didn't know that anyone can edit those Google information boxes, I wouldn't have known what to do.

If I wasn't familiar with the tools and tricks of Google, I wouldn't have known what to do.

Certainly, if I wasn't familiar with the concepts and processes of how the internet works nowadays, I wouldn't have known what to do.

This is why it's important for library staff of all stripes to learn about this stuff. It's why I present lectures and teach workshops and 'coach' courses on social computing. So that when these questions come up, we know how to approach the problem and actually resolve it...not just throw up our hands in frustration and hope for the best.

Computers in Libraries...Day One-ish

In the midst of a spring full of travel, here I am in Crystal City, VA at Computers In Libraries. For budget reasons, I'm only officially attending the conference tomorrow, but I did manage to catch the last panel in the Collections, Communities & Collaboration track today. No online notes, as I left the laptop back in my hotel room, but an excellent presentation on Continuing Online Community Engagement.

After a sneak attack on the Exhibitor's Hall and a signed copy of David Lee King's new User Experience book, I headed out to Harar Mesob -- "The only Ethiopian restaurant in Crystal City" -- with a group of intrepid gourmands. A extremely tasty meal, and I made an impression on the server by asking her for a preparation of ayib that she'd never heard of.

A quick side trip to a cafe/gelateria on the way back to the hotel, and I've spent the rest of the evening drinking a latte and finishing off a mint chip gelato while catching up on some much-neglected social networking.

Tomorrow I'll spend most of my day in the Social Software: 2.0 Tools, Tricks & Tales track before jetting my way back to Boston tomorrow night. Zoom zoom zoom....

Who Am I Online? Part II

A quick post with the presentation link for

Who Am I Online? Part II: Personal Start Pages and Other Digital Identity Tools

presented today at the Boston Regional Library System.

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!

Presentation Notes from Reaching Patrons

Last week, I presented the newest version of my "Reaching Patrons: Online Outreach for Libraries" talk at the Boston Region. Thank you to everyone who participated, and as promised, here are the notes and slides.

This presentation was expanded and adapted from "Online Outreach for Libraries" by Sarah Houghton-Jan, the Librarian in Black.

Theoretical Job Description for the Librarian with a Laptop

In my last post, I mentioned the idea of a "Librarian with a Laptop," who goes out to coffeeshops and other co-working facilities and brings library services directly to patrons. Here's a pie-in-the-sky job description for such a role, too much for one person to handle but an idea of what might be:

Job Description: Digital Outreach and Training Librarian
a.k.a. "Librarian with a laptop"

Basic Function: Under direction of [an appropriate manager], to provide online and in-person training and outreach to staff and the public in the use of online library services and emerging technologies.

Typical Duties and Responsibilities:
1. Initiates, develops, plans and implements the Library's online services initiatives through personal consultations, onsite and offsite workshops, online and offline outreach, and other programs as developed.

2. Offers professional development to staff at centralized locations and at staff workplaces in emerging technologies, current databases, online outreach, and other subjects as determined by recognized need and staff surveys.

3. Trains and develops staff members to realize their potentials and use that developed potential to provide the best library service.

4. Attends public meetings around the city to present information about the library and offer tailored trainings to constituent groups (e.g., schools/PTOs, business/civic associations, cultural/immigrant organizations, etc.).

5. Maintains working relationships with educational institutions, social and community groups and businesses with regard to online library services. Facilitates cooperative efforts with these organizations to provide systematic service to larger constituent groups.

6. Writes training and promotional materials for city-wide library resources for distribution within library buildings and to promote city-wide library services in local business and organizations, including both print and online formats (blogs, RSS feeds, etc). Coordinates and encourages contributions by other staff to such publications.

7. Conducts and coordinates "Librarian Is In" sessions at local coffeeshops to reach prospective business and student patrons.

8. Travels to branch locations to provide direct training programs to the public on emerging technologies, current library resources and other subjects as determined by user surveys.

9. Recommends and/or plans changes in service and new services through the library digital portal.

10. Works with the Digital Services Manager to revise and update policy and procedural provisions affecting the delivery of online library services.

11. Responsible for oral presentations and written reports on assigned activities to senior management, trustees and other stakeholders.

12. Actively participates in system-wide committees, training and other professional activities.

13. Represents the Library on city-wide and state-wide committees, and at professional conferences.

14. Peforms other realted and/or comparable duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:
1. A Bachelor's degree from a recognized college or university and an MLS from an ALA-accredited library school.

2. Five years of pertinent professional library experience.

3. Extensive knowledge of current library resources, practices and policies; substantial knowledge of library profession trends, theories and best practices; broad professional outlook.

4. Demonstrated interest in community and library work; demonstrated ability to use and teach searching via search engines and proprietary databases; demonstrated ability to work well with staff and public.

5. Demonstrated ability to assume responsibility and carry out assignments independently; proven oral and written communication skills, especially through electronic media; demonstrated knowledge of the techniques of programming and presentation; initiative, dependability, good judgment, tact and courtesy.

6. Flexibility and the willingness to learn and adapt; a commitment to professional development. Willingness to participate in professional activities and to expand on professional knowledge.

7. Proven ability to interpret and apply library policy; to analyze and solve problems; to generate new ideas; to organize and manage complex activities; and community relations.