DIY Librarian

I have returned from the frozen south (below freezing in Savannah and 16 degrees in Atlanta) to the frozen north. SLA usually does a nice job of picking warmer climates for its January meetings. They just didn’t count on my ability to bring cold weather with me wherever I go.

The locals might have complained a lot about the cold snap, but attendees at the Leadership Summit from the north seemed quite happy with sunny skies and temperatures in the 40s. The agenda at the summit was pretty full, so you had to be creative to get out in that sunshine, but you couldn’t beat the hotel location between the river and the historic district.

This was my first attempt twittering an event. It would have gone better if the hotel’s internet had been more reliable, or if I’d set up my phone to send tweets. Between three of us, though, I think we did a pretty good job keeping our Social Science Division members informed about what we were doing at the summit.  Lots of new member benefits and incentives were announced, as reported on the NJ Chapter’s blog.

I was involved in several good discussions about the future of SLA and the profession. I often get very tired of those discussions, but there seemed to be a lot of good energy at this meeting. It’s difficult to say what will come of this, but the report from the SLA alignment project was much more concrete and received a much warmer reception than last year’s report in Louisville (where it was also unseasonably cold).

I’m not a huge fan of leadership speakers in general, but I liked Stephen McGarvey, and especially his thoughts on communication. Tell people what you want them to do – not what you don’t want them to do. What’s the first thing you think when you see a “no food” sign? If you’re me, you definitely think, “I could really go for a sandwich.” How about, “Help keep your library clean and protect the collections”?

As John Dupuis said, “the Twittermonster has claimed another victim.”

I once said I’d never join Facebook. Now I pause during my day and think, “That thought would make an excellent Facebook status update.”

I said I didn’t see the point of Twitter. If Facebook is too much information, surely Twitter is way too much information.

However, I am starting to see the point of Twitter in some situations. For example, I’ve followed the conference Twitter feeds at SLA conferences and gotten lots of good information–like where to go for a quick lunch, and which speakers are really good.

So, when the chair-elect of SLA’s Social Science Division said she was going to post Twitter updates from the upcoming Leadership Summit, I decided to try creating an account for myself so I could help her put the Twitter feed up on the division’s web site.

Naturally, I announced this momentous occasion on Facebook, and promptly picked up a follower on Twitter. So, now I am twittering. And, I suppose, ascending the Twitter Life Cycle curve.

Next week I’m escaping the gloomy central Pennsylvania winter and heading to Savannah for the SLA Leadership Summit. I’m looking forward to seeing my SLA colleagues again, and to taking care of some final details in program planning for the 2009 conference.

My division (Social Science) chair-elect will be Twittering the summit, and I helped her get the Twitter posts on the division web site for our members. I may even jump in with a few posts. I’m usually too caught up in the conference itself to do much conference blogging (and at SLA there are usually many others doing it much better than I could) but maybe I can do conference Twittering.

Back in December, Walt Crawford asked the PALINET Leadership Network Challenge group what conference besides ALA offers the most value as a leader or future leader. John Dupuis, a science librarian, suggested that librarians should go to the conferences their users go to:

I hope there’s room for a dissenting idea–that we should go to the conferences where our users go and not just to library conferences. I’ve been to three non-library, science conferences this year and they were really valuable experiences because they helped me understand where my user community is coming from.

I couldn’t agree more. One of my favorite library conferences is the very small APLIC conference. It is so small, in fact, that it is a pre-conference event of the academic conference that most of our users go to (the Population Association of America), which makes it relatively easy and inexpensive to stay for the academic conference. When I attended my first PAA conference, I found myself nearly bored to tears, in part because so much of the material was beyond my understanding. The faculty and graduate students I saw seemed surprised to see me at “their” conference, which made me feel uncomfortable.

By the end of the conference, though, I’d begun to realize its value.

My users were surprised to see me there in a good way. The same way we get excited when faculty take an interest in the library, they get excited when we take an interest in their research. I got to know many of them better through the social parts of the conference, too.

While much of the conference was still over my head, I was learning–both about the subject matter and the way research works. The best part, for me, was hearing the discussion during conference sessions, because I started to understand how scholars develop their research and interact with each other. I also began to develop an understanding of the publication process and the concerns scholars face at various points in their careers.

I got to see firsthand what a poster session is like, so I can better advise graduate students when they come to me for help putting together their first poster.

I can’t afford to go to an academic conference and a library conference every year, so I try to replicate these experiences as much as I can when I’m on campus. I go to brown bag lunches and seminars. I read my users’ journal articles. I go to department social events (it helps that I work for the research center and not for the library, so I get invitations).

Even if you have no hope of getting the funding to diversify your national conference experience, there are surely local events you can go to to meet your users on their own turf.

If you’ve read this blog at all, you won’t be surprised that I’m not a big fan of PowerPoint. Yes, it is sometimes useful to have slides for your talk, but I hate that since the advent of PowerPoint slides have become almost mandatory.

I was happy to see this post on using images to help convey stories on Notes from a Corporate Life. It’s a good exercise to help you prepare a talk, and the images will help your audience remember your story better than a slide full of words (which might just put them to sleep).

I’ve done something similar with many of my talks, and many have ended up with only a handful of slides containing useful illustrations, or no slides at all. My favorite of my remaining PowerPoint files is a series of illustrations of poster design concepts. I think the illustrations help the students understand why some things work better than others on posters.

It occurs to me now that this would probably be more effective without the border and logo. At this point in the presentation, most people have probably figured out who I am and where they are. Let the further minimalization commence!

I spotted this on Walt at Random and thought I’d do it – partly to make up for not finishing SLA’s 23 Things, and partly because I want to post something fun on this last day of work before the winter break.

THE 99 THINGS MEME

Things you’ve already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven’t done and don’t want to – leave in plain font

1. Started your own blog.

2. Slept under the stars.

3. Played in a band.
Concert band, jazz band, improv band, and now (debatably) rock band.

4. Visited Hawaii.

5. Watched a meteor shower.

6. Given more than you can afford to charity.

7. Been to Disneyland/world.
I enjoyed it at the time, but have no desire to go back.

8. Climbed a mountain.

9. Held a praying mantis.

10. Sang a solo.
I was permitted to audition for a solo once. I didn’t get it, but I sang in front of about 15 people for the audition. It was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done.

11. Bungee jumped.

12. Visited Paris.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.

15. Adopted a child.

16. Had food poisoning.

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty.

18. Grown your own vegetables.
I accidentally grew two pumpkins outside my front door once.

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.

20. Slept on an overnight train.

21. Had a pillow fight.

22. Hitch hiked.

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill.

24. Built a snow fort.

25. Held a lamb.

26. Gone skinny dipping.

27. Run a marathon.

28. Ridden a gondola in Venice.

29. Seen a total eclipse.

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.

31. Hit a home run.

32. Been on a cruise.

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person.

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors.
Grandparents count as ancestors, right?
35. Seen an Amish community.

36. Taught yourself a new language.

37.Had enough money to be truly satisfied.
Money can’t buy me love.

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person.

39. Gone rock climbing.

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David in person.

41. Sung Karaoke.

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.

43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant.

44. Visited Africa.
Moroccocounts as Africa, right?

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.

46. Been transported in an ambulance.
Not an experience I’d like to repeat.

47. Had your portrait painted.

48. Gone deep sea fishing.

49. Seen the Sistine chapel in person.

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling.

52. Kissed in the rain.

53. Played in the mud.

54. Gone to a drive-in theater.

55. Been in a movie.

56. Visited the Great Wall of China.

57. Started a business.

58. Taken a martial arts class.

59. Visited Russia.

60. Served at a soup kitchen.

61. Sold Girl Scout cookies.

62. Gone whale watching.

63. Gotten flowers for no reason.
Despite my not-so-subtle hints…

64. Donated blood.

65. Gone sky diving.

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.

67. Bounced a check.

68. Flown in a helicopter.

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy.

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.

71. Eaten Caviar.

72. Pieced a quilt.

73. Stood in Times Square.

74. Toured the Everglades.

75. Been fired from a job.

76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London.

77. Broken a bone.

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.

80. Published a book.

81. Visited the Vatican.

82. Bought a brand new car.

83. Walked in Jerusalem.

84. Had your picture in the newspaper.
The first time, I think, was when my dad was a reporter and used a picture of me for a feature on blueberry picking. Now it happens once a month when my column appears.

85. Read the entire Bible.
Excluding the “begat” sections.

86. Visited the White House.

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
Unless you count the fly I killed and encouraged my dog to eat.

88. Had chickenpox.

89. Saved someone’s life.
I’m not sure whether this is entirely true or not, but it’s best not to take chances.

90. Sat on a jury.

91. Met someone famous.
Mick Foley, Joe Paterno, Jason Ringenberg, Warner Hodges.

92. Joined a book club.

93. Lost a loved one.
Until two years ago, this was only true if you counted pets as loved ones.

94. Had a baby.

95. Seen the Alamo in person.

96. Swum in the Great Salt Lake.

97. Been involved in a law suit.

98. Owned a cell phone.

99. Been stung by a bee.
On the bottom of my foot – very unpleasant. Though I guess things were worse for the bee.

See, I have done more than 23 things.

I usually make a Google map when I’m traveling, but I keep it unlisted so I don’t broadcast my travel plans to the world. For the SLA Leadership Summit in Savannah, I decided to make a public map and allow anyone to contribute to it. (The SLA Georgia Chapter wiki also links to a nice interactive map – but I made this one specific to things that would be useful during my time at the Leadership Summit.)

View Larger Map

This is a call for poster proposals from my SLA division. It’s a great way to get some practice giving a poster presentation in a relaxed setting. The poster could be about research you’re doing, a project your library is working on, or your own ideas.

The Social Science Division, Museum, Arts, & Humanities Division, and Education Division invite proposals for a poster session to be held during the divisions’ open house at SLA 2009 in Washington, DC.

A one-year SLA membership will be awarded to the first author of the best poster, as judged by attendees.

The theme for the poster session is Inspiration and Diversity – SLA Around the Globe. We welcome proposals on any topic, but proposals focused on diversity or international issues in libraries or information work will be given priority.

The poster session will be a relaxed and informal time to share ideas with your colleagues. We welcome proposals from any SLA member, new or experienced, and especially from students.

View information about our 2008 poster session on the Social Science Division 2008 conference web page.

Proposals should be submitted by March 1, 2009 via e-mail to murray@pop.psu.edu or mail to Tara Murray, Population Research Institute, Penn State, 601 Oswald Tower, University Park, PA 16802. Please include a title and description of about 250 words, and your name, institution, e-mail address, and address. Proposals will be reviewed by a committee for quality and relevance to the theme. We will notify applicants of our decision by April 1, 2009.

The Open House and Poster Session will be held on Sunday, June 14 from 8:00-10:00 p.m., during the SLA 2009 conference.

Over at Information Wants to be Free, Meredith Farkas makes a case for the benefits of every librarian acquiring some basic tech skills. With a small amount of tech savvy and a “willingness to mess around with it and break it a few times,” she says, libraries of any size and budget can take advantage of new technologies.

As an inveterate tinkerer, I couldn’t agree more. I am lucky to have great IT support for my library, but if I want to experiment with new technologies, I have to be able and willing to play with them myself. For example, we are using both Plone and WordPress. The sys admin will help me install and update the software, and we have a great webmaster who maintains our main web site, but why should they have to learn all the inner workings of the software themselves? Both Plone and WordPress have great development and user communities, and as long as I have a sandbox to play around in, I can experiment until I get the results I want.

If I had to wait for someone to do these things for me, I’d still be in a queue, great IT staff or no. The library catalog, let’s face it, is not their top priority.

I would never call myself a programmer, but my parents introduced me to programming as a kid, and I’ve always enjoyed the challenge. In college, I satisfied my lab requirement by taking every computer science class my college offered – all two of them. These days, with the support of open source communities, it is incredibly easy to play around with programming. I think the biggest challenge is seeing it as playful and fun instead of scary – and I thank my parents for giving me the right attitude.

On the latest episode of the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Tech Therapy, Scott Carlson and Warren Arbogast discuss the future of library buildings. They begin the discussion talking about Goucher College’s new library building, which will include a restaurant, art gallery, and treadmills. They talk about the library as a social place, the academic symbolism of books, and the possibility of the bookless library.

I always find it amusing that a library building that includes nourishment for the body and the spirit as well as the mind is seen as something new. I used to work in one of the original Carnegie libraries near Pittsburgh, and the building includes an athletic club and a concert hall. The athletic club includes a pool, and formerly a bowling alley too. The library opened in 1898.

Part of what has always appealed to me about libraries is their role as community spaces. It seems particularly easy to use public libraries as examples, but good corporate, academic, and other libraries play community roles as well.

The best quote from the Tech Therapy discussion, I think, was: “So long as there’s a librarian in it, it’s a library.”