Attendees at WLA/PNLA last week were treated to a variety of unusual ribbons at the registration desk including: “My Ribbon Is Better Than Than Yours”, “Know It All”, “Politically Correct”, “I READ YOUR EMAIL”, “OCD”, “Been There, Done That” and “Worker Bee” among others. Too funny!
The archive of today’s WebJunction webinar with Jeff Dawson from the Lester Public Library in Two Rivers, Wisconsin and myself on Marketing Library Services with Images is live now. You can watch the archive here: http://www.webjunction.org/marketing/articles/content/94460985
Here is a shot of Jeff and I meeting for the first time at the PLA Conference in Portland, OR last week. Birds of a feather!
Also from last week’s PLA conference, here is a link to the write up in Library Journal on the Top Tech Trends Panel I was on. The room was packed and the ideas were flowing!
From that article:
“Connecting community and content
To start, Porter offered what he hopes will become the librarian’s mantra: “Libraries need a new electronic content access and distribution infrastructure.” He returned to this phrase repeatedly and tied it to his view of the fundamental mission of libraries as community intermediaries providing access to content. He contended that libraries are at serious risk of being marginalized if they cannot compete with flashier and more robust digital content distribution outlets, like the Amazon, Google, Netflix, and others.
He also made veiled mention of founding a project or a foundation to address content access concerns on behalf of libraries, perhaps even via legal or judicial means. Pressed for more detail by audience members, Porter said the process has barely begun and that he had few concrete details to offer. But, he concluded, “if we can…make libraries the hub, we would be more vibrant, relevant, and well funded than we’ve ever been, and able to achieve the things that are at the core of our mission”—namely, connecting patrons to the content they’ve come to expect to be made easily available.”
That last paragraph hints at a much larger project I have been working on and will be talking about here much more in the coming months. It is a substantial, exciting and much needed project designed to help libraries figure out how to thrive in a world filled with electronic content. Want more hints? Check this out.
As you likely know, the Public Library Association conference is just around the corner, and there are two events I wanted to help spread the word for. One you can even attend if you aren’t in Portland at the conference. The other is a party/educational event I have worked a lot on during my day job at WebJunction.
First, from the LITA list serve, here is info on the “Top Tech Trends” panel that you can attend in person in Portland, or virtually, wherever you are, on Thursday, March 25th. *note* If you are attending virtually you have to register, so be sure to do that if you want to see it. It is consistently one of the more popular and interesting sessions and I promise to do my best, to use the parlance of our times, to “bring it”. In fact, I hope to well and truly be able to say, “Oh, it’s done been broughten!” by the time we are finished. lol! Here are details for that session:
LITA is headed to the 2010 PLA National Conference in Portland, OR for a Top Tech Trends panel focused on public libraries. Panelists include David Lee King, Michael Porter, Monique Sendze, and Kate Sheehan. Program participants will come away from Top Tech Trends with a better understanding of the variety of complex technology issues currently facing public libraries.
LITA’s Top Tech Trends session will also be part of PLA’s Virtual Conference, consisting of live programming chosen from the highest rated in PLA’s session preference survey. The Virtual Conference will feature panel discussions, author interviews, interactive workshops, and chats with colleagues, all from the comfort of your computer.
*Virtual Conference registration closes March 19* http://www.placonference.org/virtual_conference.cfm
Check out the LITA web site for information on Happy Hour and Exhibit Booth hours at PLA: http://www.lita.org/ala/mgrps/divs/lita/litaevents/pla2010.cfm
The second event I wanted to get the word out about is the “Party with Competencies” event, also on Thursday, March 25th. At this event you’ll be able to learn, chat, snack, imbibe a bit and get a first look at a new competency resource we’ll be unveiling. It will be a lot of fun and good company and you will leave with practical info you can use in your training and instruction work back at the library. So if that is you bag, you should come to this event! Please note that this too is an event you need to register for! As my colleague JD would say, “check it”:
WebJunction’s Party with Competencies
6:30-8:30 pm, Doubletree Hotel Portland, OCLC suite 1455
Please register for this sessionGrab a bite and a sip and connect with the people and proven competency resources that can help your library! We’ll have plenty of fun, food, festivities, good company and practical material for you to enjoy and take back to your library to help you and your staff learn and work more effectively.
And just a note, to register for that event, you’ll use the OCLC event page. On that page, there are some sessions worth considering like the “Geek the Library” session, the “2010 Perceptions of Libraries in Changing Economic Times” event, and the “Web-scale Management Services” session (which, while to some seems oddly named, is something library folks should be aware of and informed about, and while I keep my day job separate from much of my other work, I would say regardless of where I was employed). There are others you can go to as well, so if you’ll be at PLA and haven’t gone though though sessions yet, well, “check it” 
One final note, I have some video interviews that I conducted during my recent trip to Scotland to present at the EDGE 2010 conference (which was AMAZING btw). As soon as I can get my computer to work properly (I’m currently at the “kick it three times” stage of troubleshooting;), those will go up. One is even with Martyn Wade, the National Librarian of Scotland. It is so encouraging and motivating to see how our colleagues in libraries around the world care and work hard, all for the same positive reasons! So watch for those videos, coming soon. In the meantime, I scanned in some postcards from a very surprising and effective ad campaign the National Library of Scotland is using right now…and those scans prompted a blog post from the CalPoly Library Services folks. Here’s a link. Enjoy!
I’ll be doing a free webinar March 3rd with my pal Jeff Dawson (Director of the Lester Public Library in Two Rivers, Wisconsin). You should come! “Library Images and Video: Engage, Inspire and Tell Your Story” is the title. Here is a registration link with more details.
Session description:
“In this entertaining and heartwarming presentation you will learn how two librarians teamed up to advocate more effectively (and boldly) while staying true to the personality of the communities, the libraries and the staff they serve. You and your library really can market your services and engage more effectively, and images, video and authenticity can be a key! Learn how you too can use images and video creatively and effectively to inspire Libraryland, engage the communities you serve boost staff morale and get more enjoyment from your job. The stories and lessons in this session will be presented by Jeff Dawson from the Lester Public Library in Two Rivers Wisconsin and by Michael Porter from WebJunction.”
I’ve also got a slew of presentations coming up, including two international presentations next month, which are pretty exciting!
Also, I wrote a summary post for WebJunction about ALA Midwinter, (which was an exhausting blast btw). You can find that post here.
That’s the new intro slide, this time poster style, for the two day workshop I’m leading next week in Mountlake Terrace (just barely North of Seattle) which is part of the Public Library Association’s Certified Public Library Administrator Program (CPLA). This session is co-sponsored by PLA, the Washington State Library (WLA), Sno-Isle Libraries and the Mountlake Terrace Library. Wow! Those are a lot of credits for a workshop!
If you are interested, you can still attend as there a couple open slots left. Details on the course and the CPLA program from PLA can be found here: www.lita.org/ala/mgrps/divs/pla/plaevents/cplacourses/tec…
PS- v1 of the intro slide is below. Can’t decide which is best. Or, maybe usable is a better word? 
—————-
Now playing: Library 101
Actually,
Now playing: Morrissey’s new album, Swords.
WOW WOW WOW!!! The Library 101 Project made it to Boing Boing!!! So cool! Huge thanks to Cory and to Boing Boing, and again, thanks mostly to everyone that joined in the project so far (and still will). Libraries rock!!
David and I also want to thank the other librarians who sent this in to them too. As with this entire project, it has been a massive group effort, proving what astounding collaborators modern library staff are.
PS- If you don’t know Boing Boing you might give it a shot beyong scoping out Library 101. Of all the interweb sites out there on the tubes, this is one of my personal favorites.
Have you seen it? Have you heard the song and seen the music video? Have you read any of the 23 essays from some of the greatest minds in Libraryland (and David King and I too;)? Have you looked at the carefully selected list of 101 hyperlinked resources that share critically important things to think about and know in order to ensure a vibrant future for libraries, even as technology changes the information access and community landscapes?
Well you should go check it out!
And while you are there, please notice there there are comment boxes all over the place along with easy share buttons on almost every page. Those are really important to the project’s success! We want YOU to chime in and talk about what YOU think the new Library 101 is. So…what *is* your Library 101? Check out the Library 101 Project to let the world know!
You can watch a live stream of the in-person session where the Library Project is launched today! After a fab ten minute “opening act” of sorts, David and I will be back to talk Library 101, debut the video, and then, open up the site to the world! And be sure to become a fan of the Library 101 facebook page (linked below). That page has all the streaming info you’ll need to attend.
PS- Many thanks to Information Today, Inc. for sponsoring part of this video! ITI does a LOT of good for Libraryland and we are very happy to have worked with them. Thank you ITI!
PPS- Thanks also to the Shanachies for doing so much extra to get the live stream working today. And with such great equipment!
As of today, at http://www.libraryman.com/library101, the Library 101 Project pre-launch page is live! This page is a teaser page at this point with lunch info and a link in to the Library 101 facebook page (where you can become a fan and get project updates). We’ll have a few prizes around the both the pre-launch here and next week’s full on Library 101 Project launch! Woo hoo!
fyi, Next Wednesday at 2:00pm PST, this page will have host all three of the main Library 101 Project pages, including the song, video, nearly 20 essays from Libraryland thought leaders and a resources list of things to help library staff keep up, get ahead and feel good about library work…even as technology and culture evolve in unexpected ways!
This morning/afternoon I was very grateful to be a part of Maurice Coleman’s regular “T is for Training” podcast recording. We talk about the “Library 101 Project”, training, technology, library futures, collaboration and a slew of the subjects so many of us hold near and dear. It was a fun conversation and if you would like to listen in, just follow this link. Fun stuff! Thanks again Maurice!
PS- Here’s Maurice with the Library 101 qr code he made for the Library 101 video. So cool/fun/geeky!:
