Since all types of librarians and information professionals have been blogging about facebook lately, I figure it's ok to add to the mix.
This past weekend, my boyfriend Joe got an unusual update on his facebook news feed. Facebook wanted to let him know that someone from his graduating class had just joined facebook. Interesting enough, this user displayed his name as Joe's full name, which admittedly, is common enough. Yet as the day progressed, the news feed updated Joe that this new user now had 10 friends in common....30 friends in common...and the profile pic of Joe2 was now a picture of him (the real Joe) and me. Whoa!
At first, we thought it was someone being clever...a goofy thing to do to a friend. But the more the imposter became friends with Joe's friends, the more we both began to feel uneasy. After texting a friend or two about it, someone let me know that a second Joe had added her on myspace too! She, and everyone else, figured that Joe had simply created another account - after all, it was the right name, right face...a little scary!
We surmised that the profile picture was taken from my myspace - which I keep public for the teens at the library to look at and add me. A coworker who had added Joe2 let us look at his profile, and the imposter barely added any information...
So what was the point of this? No one claimed responsibility with a 'gotcha!', no information was sent out, no new labels were attached... but the threat of those last two remains. Joe (the real one) eventually invited everyone he had in common with Joe2 to an event - telling everyone to delete the 2nd Joe. Joe2 suddenly made his profile pic and friends private, so we can only hope that our friends listened to the event's request.
It's pretty freaky how easy someone can be mimicked online. What kind of protection can we set in motion? Making things private helps a little, but it sure isn't foolproof. Information literacy - critical thinking - this should be emphasized when dealing with interactions online. I have a feeling stuff like this will become more commonplace, and people need to get used to being skeptical about whats going on in facebook.
So just who would be great at information literacy training/ instructional technologies? Why...public and school librarians!
March 11, 2009
February 27, 2009
A Happy Little Tale
I thought I'd share a sweet story of excited patrons who visited the library yesterday. It's not every day you meet teenagers so excited about the print collection of your branch.
Three Freshmen I hadn't seen before came up to the reference desk and asked for a Blue Bloods book. We had it on the shelf, so I brought them over to our YA section and picked it out for them. I introduced myself at the Teen Librarian and told them about two upcoming programs - our craft for March (discarded book journals) and Nintendo DS day. Their eyes lit up and they almost squealed.
"Oh my god, that's so cool! I have a DS!"
"Me too! I'm definitely gonna go to the craft thing!"
"Guys, now we have a place to go after school!"
They took my flier for all of March's YA programs. I was thinking to myself, these are the coolest people ever, haha. Then I remembered I should mention RIF to them, aka Reading is Fundamental. For those not familiar, it is a program that encourages young people to read books through incentives - ours being free books, to keep. The young women were almost jumping up and down about that! Haha! Only one of the three had her library card to sign up for the program, but the others promised they'd be back today.
It's a thrill to meet patrons so enthused about reading and excited about programming. Unfortunately, this kind of thing is probably not going to happen every day. It sure beats getting ignored, having your programs called nerdy, or simply having a deserted branch!
If you feel so inclined, post a heartwarming tale of excited patrons in the comments section. Librarians, like everyone else, have to remember and cherish the positive so we can use it to lift our spirits during a day that isn't so grand.
Three Freshmen I hadn't seen before came up to the reference desk and asked for a Blue Bloods book. We had it on the shelf, so I brought them over to our YA section and picked it out for them. I introduced myself at the Teen Librarian and told them about two upcoming programs - our craft for March (discarded book journals) and Nintendo DS day. Their eyes lit up and they almost squealed.
"Oh my god, that's so cool! I have a DS!"
"Me too! I'm definitely gonna go to the craft thing!"
"Guys, now we have a place to go after school!"
They took my flier for all of March's YA programs. I was thinking to myself, these are the coolest people ever, haha. Then I remembered I should mention RIF to them, aka Reading is Fundamental. For those not familiar, it is a program that encourages young people to read books through incentives - ours being free books, to keep. The young women were almost jumping up and down about that! Haha! Only one of the three had her library card to sign up for the program, but the others promised they'd be back today.
It's a thrill to meet patrons so enthused about reading and excited about programming. Unfortunately, this kind of thing is probably not going to happen every day. It sure beats getting ignored, having your programs called nerdy, or simply having a deserted branch!
If you feel so inclined, post a heartwarming tale of excited patrons in the comments section. Librarians, like everyone else, have to remember and cherish the positive so we can use it to lift our spirits during a day that isn't so grand.
February 24, 2009
MLS programs...barriers to entry?
I attended two parties this past weekend, with two different groups of people and a lot of different ages. Interestingly, someone from both groups posed the same question: Is 'library school' really necessary? Not in the sense of securing a job, but for preparing for that job?
My friend Laura, who recently got her masters degree in Economics from UDel and whose mother is a librarian suggested that the MLS requirement seems more like a barrier to entry rather than an indespensible education for future librarians.
Web design, systems design..these things are probably best taught in a classroom setting...but does it have to be through a masters program? For collection development, young adult services, cataloging... a hands-on experience seems to me to be of infinite more value than a paper or lecture.
Thoughts? Do you strongly agree or disagree? Besides fulfilling requirements on job postings, what makes an MLS essential?
My friend Laura, who recently got her masters degree in Economics from UDel and whose mother is a librarian suggested that the MLS requirement seems more like a barrier to entry rather than an indespensible education for future librarians.
From Money Terms: Barriers to entry are anything that makes it difficult for a new entrant to break into a market. They make companies already in the market more valuable as they reduce the risk of new competition.
As we continued in the conversation, I listed some of my course topics and she argued that most of the skills I've been trained in could easily be taught through on the job training or professional development. Laura felt that the MLS is required mostly to limit the number of applicants to librarian positions... to filter all those interested down to just those who are very interested (and i should add those with the means to begin an MLS program). I had to agree somewhat. However, I do believe in the importance of librarian indoctrination that should be taking place while getting an MLS. The reiteration that libraries are to be user-centered, supplying free and easy access to all is critical.Web design, systems design..these things are probably best taught in a classroom setting...but does it have to be through a masters program? For collection development, young adult services, cataloging... a hands-on experience seems to me to be of infinite more value than a paper or lecture.
Thoughts? Do you strongly agree or disagree? Besides fulfilling requirements on job postings, what makes an MLS essential?
February 18, 2009
Libraries - the physical space
In my Medical Librarianship class, part of our ongoing porfolio project is to draw up a floorplan for the library we are creating. What an eye-opening task this is! My colleague, Nate Hill, recently blogged a post about an open forum in Philadelphia - "Rethinking the Library" that touched a bit on what I would like to deal with in this post.
If print is dead (or at least tumbling out of the spotlight), if the digital divide is widening, if our nation is welcoming more and more people whose first language is not english, if everything that Pew's Future of the Internet says come true... our roles will be changing. No doubt. What also absolutely needs to happen - our physical spaces and buildings must change as well.
From Frieda Weise's 2004 Janet Doe Lecture: "We must advocate strongly the role for the library beyond the “storage facility,” and even the “access facility,” and focus attention on the many other place-centered activities and services that the library can support"
Now of course, with the poor economic outlook, funds for revamping or rebuilding library space will not be easy to come by. But really, how can we imagine shifting the focus of our collections and succeed in meeting our changing objectives in a space designed for other purposes? Rows and rows of shelving for print materials, a small and cramped programming area (or maybe none at all?), no space for more than a handfull of computers, no high-tech classrooms for demos...the list can go on, I'm sure.
Since the floorplan for my fictional Consumer Health Information Center in Camden, NJ (that'd be the Springsteen Consumer Health Info Center) has not really been designed with a budget in mind, I took the liberty in being very creative with the space. I still based my decisions on what professors, colleagues, and the literature has been predicting about the future of libraries. Surrounded by a community garden (with a huge green house for the colder months), with a totally tech classroom, one floor of simply program space, meeting space, lounge area, ample computer space... even though the project is a dream, it's still exciting to give my fake library the space that those who visit it - and work for it - the space that they need!
I'll be sure to post the floorplan once it is complete. If this post has piqued your interest, leave a comment. Do you think new libraries are including the right spaces and innovations? Are there ways of easily and cheaply modifying old spaces? Did you just read a fab article about this? Let me know. I'm getting pretty into all this!
If print is dead (or at least tumbling out of the spotlight), if the digital divide is widening, if our nation is welcoming more and more people whose first language is not english, if everything that Pew's Future of the Internet says come true... our roles will be changing. No doubt. What also absolutely needs to happen - our physical spaces and buildings must change as well.
From Frieda Weise's 2004 Janet Doe Lecture: "We must advocate strongly the role for the library beyond the “storage facility,” and even the “access facility,” and focus attention on the many other place-centered activities and services that the library can support"
Now of course, with the poor economic outlook, funds for revamping or rebuilding library space will not be easy to come by. But really, how can we imagine shifting the focus of our collections and succeed in meeting our changing objectives in a space designed for other purposes? Rows and rows of shelving for print materials, a small and cramped programming area (or maybe none at all?), no space for more than a handfull of computers, no high-tech classrooms for demos...the list can go on, I'm sure.
Since the floorplan for my fictional Consumer Health Information Center in Camden, NJ (that'd be the Springsteen Consumer Health Info Center) has not really been designed with a budget in mind, I took the liberty in being very creative with the space. I still based my decisions on what professors, colleagues, and the literature has been predicting about the future of libraries. Surrounded by a community garden (with a huge green house for the colder months), with a totally tech classroom, one floor of simply program space, meeting space, lounge area, ample computer space... even though the project is a dream, it's still exciting to give my fake library the space that those who visit it - and work for it - the space that they need!
I'll be sure to post the floorplan once it is complete. If this post has piqued your interest, leave a comment. Do you think new libraries are including the right spaces and innovations? Are there ways of easily and cheaply modifying old spaces? Did you just read a fab article about this? Let me know. I'm getting pretty into all this!
January 27, 2009
so many ideas running through my head!
The spring semester has begun and I've gotten the chance to attend all three of my classes at least once. Monday night was Instructional Techonologies. The class spent a lot of time in a fruitful and amoebic (spread out everywhere) discussion on the massive question of how technology is changing education. One link I will share thus far - Ayiti, the cost of life - an online game funded by Microsoft Corporations US Partners in Learning designed by Global Kids and a group of high school students. If you're still not convinced that gaming can be used towards education and englightenment, give the game a try.
Tuesday night was Medical Librarianship. All semester long we will be working on one project - a porfolio of a library we've imagined. I am planning a Consumer Health Information Center in Camden County NJ, focused on nutrition. I have sooooo many ideas running around, I can't wait to put them all on paper. We're putting it together piece by piece. This week we're focusing on a mission statement, environmental assessment, and core values. I'm so pumped. We're even gonna get to floorplans and job descriptions!
Tonight is Cultural Diversity and Libraries. We read a an absolutely brilliant and comprehensive paper, Cultural Diversity: How Public Libraries Can Serve the Diversity in the Neighborhood and I'm excited to discuss it. Using examples from all over the world, the paper went piece by piece explaining what is necessary to make an impact with library service for immigrants and people of various ethnic backgrounds in the neighborhood. Perhaps the underlying theme in the paper is that even if all other work goes to plan, if there is not good leadership, a library simply cannot be successful.
So of course, an organization needing good leadership is pretty obvious. Yet it seems as if many do forget and attempt to forge ahead without support from above. Library directors and managers can make or break programs and initiatives. So many other factors need to be in place, but that I believe is the most critical. As a young librarian and likely holder of a future directorial/managerial library position in the future (I say this logically, as I will be in the field for another good 25 years) it will be my responsiblity to initate directives born from the ideals of library innovators and students... to tune into staff and support fabulous programs and innitiatives from the get-go... to push for changes that support the technologies of the time, to make sure the mission statement is consulted and updated, and to remember, "immigrant service is customer service" (Gary Strong, former director of Queens Library).
Tuesday night was Medical Librarianship. All semester long we will be working on one project - a porfolio of a library we've imagined. I am planning a Consumer Health Information Center in Camden County NJ, focused on nutrition. I have sooooo many ideas running around, I can't wait to put them all on paper. We're putting it together piece by piece. This week we're focusing on a mission statement, environmental assessment, and core values. I'm so pumped. We're even gonna get to floorplans and job descriptions!
Tonight is Cultural Diversity and Libraries. We read a an absolutely brilliant and comprehensive paper, Cultural Diversity: How Public Libraries Can Serve the Diversity in the Neighborhood and I'm excited to discuss it. Using examples from all over the world, the paper went piece by piece explaining what is necessary to make an impact with library service for immigrants and people of various ethnic backgrounds in the neighborhood. Perhaps the underlying theme in the paper is that even if all other work goes to plan, if there is not good leadership, a library simply cannot be successful.
So of course, an organization needing good leadership is pretty obvious. Yet it seems as if many do forget and attempt to forge ahead without support from above. Library directors and managers can make or break programs and initiatives. So many other factors need to be in place, but that I believe is the most critical. As a young librarian and likely holder of a future directorial/managerial library position in the future (I say this logically, as I will be in the field for another good 25 years) it will be my responsiblity to initate directives born from the ideals of library innovators and students... to tune into staff and support fabulous programs and innitiatives from the get-go... to push for changes that support the technologies of the time, to make sure the mission statement is consulted and updated, and to remember, "immigrant service is customer service" (Gary Strong, former director of Queens Library).
January 15, 2009
Teen Crafting
Last week on January 7th, the Bushwick Branch had its first monthly Teen Craft: Calendar Decorating. We normally get a good number of participants for our YA programs (Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Anime Art Contests)... but they're the same teens over and over again, and they are overwhelmingly male. Plus, man... there is only so much 'Mississippi Queen' I can take. I wanted to try out a program that might welcome some fresh blood (both male and female).
The description that ran in our monthly calendar:
Decorate and calendar for the new year with collage, markers, sitckers and more! Bring your own photos and stickers for a more personalized look.
I was lucky enough to find about 30 blank non-date specific calendars as a base in our unorganized craft room. It was more or less a regular wall-hanging sized calendar template: with the months and boxes printed up and a big empty space for art. A week after I decided on the calendar making idea, a patron brought in two large bags of a variety of magazines and asked if we could use them...hell yes! It was a perfect selection for collage. Since I used to be heavy into penpal-ing, I brought in a pretty massive collections of stickers that were crowding up my desk drawers at home. Quite easy to gather the supplies. Step one done.
I made sure to individually speak about the program with EVERY teenage girl that came into my branch (boys too, but like I said, we need more female representation) and put a flier right into their hands. I also filled in the dates of each month in my calendar for people to refer to as well as collaging a page as an example.
Fastforward to that afternoon: we had about 5 people show up initially, which I was thrilled about. Since my YA supervisor happened to be at the branch, he came down to help out. I was able to leave the program area and go back out to the floor to grab more kids... and I found a group of about 13 middle schoolers who had just been told by circulation staff (xoxo) to go to the program. Wonderful!!!
So we had a full house. About 25 teens showed up in total, and one even printed out her favorite manga characters to paste onto each month. It was great to see new faces, and I took the opportunity to go around checking out peoples work and introducing myself. I let the new kids know about our other programming and thankfully had February's craft on a flier already. About half of the new group came to this weeks Karaoke. I couldn't be more thrilled.
So what can I take from this, and reiterate with you?
-Introduce yourself and your programs to every middle and high school student that you see. And make him/her introduce his/herself! Not everyone can make it to a program, but a brief acknolwedgement of a teens present will make him/her feel a lot more comfortable approaching you.
-Make sure all the staff in your library knows what's going on with programming. That big group of students might have walked out of the branch looking for something else to do if it weren't for my lovely coworker who encouraged them to go downstairs. Communicate dude, and not just with fellow librarians.
-Try new things. Even if it was only the 5 initial teens who benefitted, it still would have been a success. Lord knows I can only take so much Guitar Hero. New programs (even 'old' ones like arts and crafts) draw in a new crowd, a different part of the neighborhood. It certaintly is wonderful to have additional patrons to serve, befriend, and collaborate with.
The description that ran in our monthly calendar:
Decorate and calendar for the new year with collage, markers, sitckers and more! Bring your own photos and stickers for a more personalized look.
I was lucky enough to find about 30 blank non-date specific calendars as a base in our unorganized craft room. It was more or less a regular wall-hanging sized calendar template: with the months and boxes printed up and a big empty space for art. A week after I decided on the calendar making idea, a patron brought in two large bags of a variety of magazines and asked if we could use them...hell yes! It was a perfect selection for collage. Since I used to be heavy into penpal-ing, I brought in a pretty massive collections of stickers that were crowding up my desk drawers at home. Quite easy to gather the supplies. Step one done.
I made sure to individually speak about the program with EVERY teenage girl that came into my branch (boys too, but like I said, we need more female representation) and put a flier right into their hands. I also filled in the dates of each month in my calendar for people to refer to as well as collaging a page as an example.
Fastforward to that afternoon: we had about 5 people show up initially, which I was thrilled about. Since my YA supervisor happened to be at the branch, he came down to help out. I was able to leave the program area and go back out to the floor to grab more kids... and I found a group of about 13 middle schoolers who had just been told by circulation staff (xoxo) to go to the program. Wonderful!!!
So we had a full house. About 25 teens showed up in total, and one even printed out her favorite manga characters to paste onto each month. It was great to see new faces, and I took the opportunity to go around checking out peoples work and introducing myself. I let the new kids know about our other programming and thankfully had February's craft on a flier already. About half of the new group came to this weeks Karaoke. I couldn't be more thrilled.
So what can I take from this, and reiterate with you?
-Introduce yourself and your programs to every middle and high school student that you see. And make him/her introduce his/herself! Not everyone can make it to a program, but a brief acknolwedgement of a teens present will make him/her feel a lot more comfortable approaching you.
-Make sure all the staff in your library knows what's going on with programming. That big group of students might have walked out of the branch looking for something else to do if it weren't for my lovely coworker who encouraged them to go downstairs. Communicate dude, and not just with fellow librarians.
-Try new things. Even if it was only the 5 initial teens who benefitted, it still would have been a success. Lord knows I can only take so much Guitar Hero. New programs (even 'old' ones like arts and crafts) draw in a new crowd, a different part of the neighborhood. It certaintly is wonderful to have additional patrons to serve, befriend, and collaborate with.
January 13, 2009
Spring 2009
Oh boy. Only one week left of break in between semesters. Being away from school a month makes me feel like I've never been there at all! I am truely excited though to start my three courses: Instructional Technologies with Jessica Hochman, Cultural Diversity and Libraries with Jason Baumann, and Medical Librarianship with Helen-Ann Brown (which only has 3 students currently registered including me!). 'Chornomore' aka this blog will hopefully be experiencing more frequent posts from discussions and readings around these classes! A round-up of the other courses I have taken thus far for the MLS:
Information Professions with John Berry
Knowledge Organization with Virgina Bartow
Information Technologies with Charles Rubenstein
Information Services and Resources with Deborah Rabina
Lit/Literacy for Young Adults with Hillias Jack Martin
Lit/Literacy for Children with Caroline Ward
Excellent! Stay tuned...
Information Professions with John Berry
Knowledge Organization with Virgina Bartow
Information Technologies with Charles Rubenstein
Information Services and Resources with Deborah Rabina
Lit/Literacy for Young Adults with Hillias Jack Martin
Lit/Literacy for Children with Caroline Ward
Excellent! Stay tuned...
January 8, 2009
Malmö City Library
Wishlist for the world's libraries:
-remain pertinent
-constantly integrate emerging technologies into service
-support seasoned and new patrons
I stumbled onto Malmö City Library's page this morning and was inspired!
interior view
It's not 'new' news, but an exciting feature here is one can 'check out' a person: engage in a 45 minute conversation with someone in an entirely different pair of shoes from you (as far as religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, nationality...)
That is awesome. A helpful and fun feature, and catchy enough to be mentioned outside of libraryland (I found an article about it in the Advocate). Innovative! Smart! Marketable!
And what about this. Suggest-a-purchase form for when patrons can't find what they are looking for in the library's catalog. These seemingly small innovations make huge differences. Let's take the time to notice these types of add-ons and services that make a library stand out and get attention...and more (and more satisfied) patrons.
-remain pertinent
-constantly integrate emerging technologies into service
-support seasoned and new patrons
I stumbled onto Malmö City Library's page this morning and was inspired!
interior view
It's not 'new' news, but an exciting feature here is one can 'check out' a person: engage in a 45 minute conversation with someone in an entirely different pair of shoes from you (as far as religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, nationality...)
That is awesome. A helpful and fun feature, and catchy enough to be mentioned outside of libraryland (I found an article about it in the Advocate). Innovative! Smart! Marketable!
And what about this. Suggest-a-purchase form for when patrons can't find what they are looking for in the library's catalog. These seemingly small innovations make huge differences. Let's take the time to notice these types of add-ons and services that make a library stand out and get attention...and more (and more satisfied) patrons.
January 2, 2009
My first published review
I'm unabashedly excited to have my first libraryland review published. From the January 1st 2009 copy of School Library Journal:
I read the book (which wasn't exactly of my favorite genre), wrote a first draft, consulted Jack, and submitted the finished project. Not sure whether or not it would be used, I was happy to at least receive a second book to review about a month later. Brent Runyon's Surface Tension will hopefully be my next SLJ review! I didn't know for sure my review would be printed until I saw it in their today. They also sent me the hardcover first edition in the mail about a week ago, which I thought was extremely generous.
SO...my advice - find some way to get involved in libraryland besides the "job". Whether its reviewing or committees or blogging or strictly social librarian gatherings, the experiences are enriching, allow for networking, and usually add a notch to your resume. Mad cool.
BRASHARES, Ann. 3 Willows: The Sisterhood Grows. 336p. Delacorte. Jan. 2009. Tr $18.99. ISBN 978-0-385-73676-3; PLB $21.99. ISBN 978-0-385-90628-9. LC number unavailable.
Gr 7–10—Incoming freshmen at the same high school that the original sisterhood attended, Ama, Jo, and Polly are learning that falling out of friendship is an unfortunate part of growing up. They're spending the summer apart—uprooted—dealing with divorce, unmet expectations, and, of course, boys. Fans of Brashares will likely be thrilled to get their hands on Willows, yet the story falls short of offering the chick-lit genre anything new. Undoubtedly, though, readers will become involved with the girls as they grow their separate ways, ultimately realizing that the roots of their friendship have never really come undone. The sweet (near sappy) novel will find a place on the to-read list of many tweens and teens.—Emily Chornomaz, Brooklyn Public Library, NY
link to the slj page
I read the book (which wasn't exactly of my favorite genre), wrote a first draft, consulted Jack, and submitted the finished project. Not sure whether or not it would be used, I was happy to at least receive a second book to review about a month later. Brent Runyon's Surface Tension will hopefully be my next SLJ review! I didn't know for sure my review would be printed until I saw it in their today. They also sent me the hardcover first edition in the mail about a week ago, which I thought was extremely generous.
SO...my advice - find some way to get involved in libraryland besides the "job". Whether its reviewing or committees or blogging or strictly social librarian gatherings, the experiences are enriching, allow for networking, and usually add a notch to your resume. Mad cool.
December 30, 2008
getting the word out
What do typical businesses and organizations normally do when they want to reach more potential customers/patrons/users in their area? ADVERTISE! On the radio, on tv, in the paper, on the web... the right size/method/pitch can be extremely effective in spreading a name and increasing users. So why was it that this weekend was the first time I have ever seen a library advertise in a local newspaper?
From the Moorestown Sun:
detail:
I am impressed! This is a beautiful half-page spread with clear, effective language. I think it was a smart idea to focus on a couple important services like popular circulating material and book discussion kits. Instead of clogging the ad with mention of every program and service, the library invites potential patrons to try to visit once a week. That appealing layout of holiday dvds and childrens books will likely pull people to take a trip to the Moorestown Library who may not have in a couple months, years, or ever! It'll be up to the staff to suggest programming and services to these patrons while helping them find things in the collection, register for a card, or check out materials. I realize that I have always been a library user, but I don't think I'm biased in saying that if I weren't and I saw this ad... I would give it a go!
From the Moorestown Sun:
detail:
I am impressed! This is a beautiful half-page spread with clear, effective language. I think it was a smart idea to focus on a couple important services like popular circulating material and book discussion kits. Instead of clogging the ad with mention of every program and service, the library invites potential patrons to try to visit once a week. That appealing layout of holiday dvds and childrens books will likely pull people to take a trip to the Moorestown Library who may not have in a couple months, years, or ever! It'll be up to the staff to suggest programming and services to these patrons while helping them find things in the collection, register for a card, or check out materials. I realize that I have always been a library user, but I don't think I'm biased in saying that if I weren't and I saw this ad... I would give it a go!
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