In Cognitive Surplus , Clay Shirky explores three ways that society might approach incorporating and adopting emerging technologies. The scenarios include “traditionalist approval,” “negotiated transition,” and “as much chaos as we can stand.” All could easily apply to how libraries, information centers, and educational institutions might respond to emerging technologies as well.
The Age of Participation | Office Hours
By on February 17, 2012
IT’S THE MUSEUM DIRECTOR’S conundrum. She has six brief seconds to grab the visitor’s attention as they walk past each exhibit. Once they pass the exhibit, they’re gone for good. That thought went through my mind as I stood talking with a museum administrator at a stammtisch [“regular get-together”] in Berlin in March 2010. Could this brief window of opportunity be maximized by adding a social, participatory component to museum exhibitions?
Lessons from Learning 2.0 | Office Hours
By on November 15, 2011
It’s been five years since Helene Blowers and the staff at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, NC, debuted Learning 2.0—a self-directed exploration of emerging technologies shared via a Creative Commons license. The program has been touted as transformational for libraries—a method of moving libraries forward into a future of 21st-century innovation. Blowers noted on her blog, [...]
Online LIS Education—or Not | Office Hours
By on October 15, 2011
The Role of Mentoring | Office Hours
By on September 15, 2011
Having a strong mentor during your first few years as a librarian can provide a safety net of advice, encouragement, and caution for a newly minted professional. Such a relationship would be even better if it began during LIS education. This would also serve to diminish the perceived divide between practice and library schools. In [...]
Listening to Student Voices | Office Hours
By on June 15, 2011
However engaging, thought-provoking, and even polarizing the speakers were at the Future of Academic Libraries Symposium presented by McMaster University and Library Journal, they couldn’t match what five McMaster University students had to say. “Hearing from Our Users: What Students Expect,” moderated by Mike Ridley, CIO and chief librarian at the University of Guelph, offered [...]
The Transparent Library School | Office Hours
By on May 15, 2011
LIS faculty, administrators, and other stakeholders could take a lesson in transparency from their students. At the “Hack Library School” blog (bit.ly/eAeELW), students in various LIS programs around the country offer up opinions, insights, and some useful truths about their LIS education. Recent posts have compared information architecture courses across schools and addressed the divide [...]
Stuck in the Past | Office Hours
By on April 15, 2011
“I like books.” This is one answer to the introductory question I ask when meeting a class for the first time: “What brings you to librarianship?” The answers vary just as LIS students do, whether they’re recent college graduates or those returning to school for a second career in libraries. The “books” answer begs the [...]
Scanning the Horizon | Office Hours
By on March 15, 2011
If you are on the fence about emerging technologies, take a look at the new Horizon Report (www.nmc.org/horizon; see also LJ‘s summary). The 2011 report not only presents technologies to watch but offers a road map for planning and an ongoing dialog about change in education, learning, and libraries. Supported by research and evidence, it [...]
Seek a Challenge | Office Hours
By on February 15, 2011
Daniel Chudnov, librarian and programmer in the Office of Strategic Initiatives at the Library of Congress, recently blogged “Advice to a Library School Student” at One Big Library. Dan writes: The best advice anybody ever gave me when I was finishing library school and looking for a job was “look at all your options and [...]
