Libraries of all kinds bring up mixed emotions in people. They are wonderful sources of information, but can’t I get everything on the internet? They are changing and adapting to the digital age, but aren’t they going the way of the dinosaur? I keep reading and hearing about 3D Printers, and to my surprise, there are some public libraries that are incorporating them, as well! More and more, libraries are becoming spaces for innovation and discovery – not that they haven’t always been – just that this is how they are more obviously branding themselves. This is a move in the right direction! How is your library – public, special, school – ahead of the curve when it comes to technology?
If you haven’t heard, I heart SharePoint. I’ve been working with SharePoint since 2004 and never really understood its full potential until around 2011. Technically, I am a “Power User” or “Business User”, but my interest expands in all different directions – training, development, administration, design, etc. I love how it enables people to communicate and share and organize – all things that as an info pro I strive to help facilitate. From a change management perspective, I’m fully aware of how important it is to get users to embrace new technology or methods of communication. I was happy to see this article on Forbes.com about how Microsoft itself is embracing social as part of the enterprise software.
Just saying “SharePoint” makes some people cringe – which is really unfortunate. They either didn’t receive good/any training, don’t see the usefulness of it, or aren’t drawn to it for any reason. I think having social technology (whatever flavor that might be) as a large part of the platform is the key to winning over the masses.
What are your thoughts on making SharePoint more social? What are your favorite Independent Software Vendors (ISV’s)? Yammer, Newsgator, AgreeYA, others?
I was recently listening to a NPR Technology podcast and the question came up as to how people perceive a subscription to something vs. using an application. It’s much more hip to have use an app to subscribe to your favorite magazine, download a book, etc. than to subscribe the old fashion way. Changing the way we talk about library services, and even our information titles, changes how people understand and use our offerings. Are you an “embedded” librarian? An Information Professional? How do you use modern language to describe your job duties?
You have a library degree. What in the world are you going to do with it? Well, take a look at this list and re-think what your future might hold.
I recently went from a library job to a non-library position and can testify to the fact that librarian skills translate to many types of positions. Organization, web design and development, metadata needs, research skills, etc. are all relevant and useful for ANY job!
This is my first blog post of many, many more from our iPad. Like the iPhone, I have no idea what I did without this thing. I love everything about the iPad so far! I can do everything I can do on a regular computer, and much more! This is truly a mobile device and I am definitely hooked!
Do you have an iPad? Do you love it?
I’ve been circling around the question of how to use business cards to my advantage for a couple of years now. I have a professional card and a card for my budding photography business. I noticed the other day that the LinkedIn app has a business card function called inPerson. This is great – as long as other users nearby are using the app at the same time.
There are lots of different ways to go about creating and distributing cards, and this article that was circulated by Scott Brown of the Social Information Group today reminded me that I still haven’t figured out the best solution for myself.
Are you a virtual business card holder or do you prefer paper cards?
Create a Virtual Business Card with all your Social Profiles
Clever Business Cards
Kindle books can now be loaned from one device to another for 14 days. Not all titles are eligible, but this is pretty amazing. This makes every Kindle like a mini library. Very cool feature! What will they come up with next?! The Nook running Android apps, perhaps? A Kindle/Apple hybrid? One can only imagine!
I was listening to an episode of Science Friday the other day titled “Science Friday, 1993: The Future of the Internet“. To my pleasant surprise, the first caller on that show to comment about the future of the internet was a librarian! She talked about free internet access to students, how she thought information would be used, and information overload on the net in comparison to libraries. Another caller talked about wanting to download music and another discussed how mailing lists could be transformed. All of these points are still very relevant today. Another topic that was brought up that is far from being resolved is the issue of copyright.
18 years in the making and we are still trying to figure out how to deal with some of the most obvious problems with information and technology. It makes one wonder if we will ever have answers to some of the most pertinent questions surrounding information storage and distribution…
There is a new podcast in my line-up – The Library Radio Network. I haven’t listened to it yet, but I’ll be posting a review as soon as I get a few under my belt! Stay tuned:)
