Beyond the Bullet Points: Blind in a Mine

So a politician, a nun, and a librarian are trapped in a collapsed mine.

After the initial shock they decide to tie themselves together and as a group to venture down the remaining shaft for some means of escape. Soon they bump into a smooth and clearly man made object. They gather around it trying to feel what it is.

The politician says “I think it is a piece of faulty mine equipment. Once I am on the surface I shall hold hearings and find those accountable.”

The nun says “I believe it a door sent by God to save us. Librarian, what do you think it feels like?”

“Let’s see a group of people without a leader groping around in the dark looking either for someone to blame or a miracle? Feels like a library committee to me.”

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Innovators wanted: No experience necessary?

Lankes, R. David (2010). Innovators wanted: No experience necessary? In Walter and Williams (Eds.), The expert library: Sustaining, staffing, and advancing the academic library in the 21st century. Association of College and Research Libraries.

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You Must Focus on Connection Management Instead of Collection Management

“You Must Focus on Connection Management Instead of Collection Management” Allegheny County Library Association, Pittsburgh, PA.

Abstract: A longer presentation of new librarianship
Slides: http://quartz.syr.edu/rdlankes/Presentations/2010/Pittsburgh.pdf
Audio: http://quartz.syr.edu/rdlankes/pod/2010/Pittsburgh.mp3

Screencast:

You Must Focus on Connection Management Instead of Collection Management from R. David Lankes on Vimeo.

Posted in 2010, New/Participatory Librarianship, Presentation | 2 Comments

Killing the User and Other Necessary Acts

“Killing the User and Other Necessary Acts” Keynote, Polaris Users Group Annual Meeting, Syracuse, NY.

Abstract: You are not a user, you are not a customer, or consumer – you are a participant in control of your world and able to shape your own learning and environment. So are those we seek to serve. Instead of looking at the members of our libraries as passive consumers we must see them as active constructors. What should our library systems look like to participants, not users?
Slides: http://quartz.syr.edu/rdlankes/Presentations/2010/PUG2010.pdf
Audio: http://quartz.syr.edu/rdlankes/pod/2010/PUG2010.mp3

Screencast:

Killing the User and Other Necessary Acts from R. David Lankes on Vimeo.

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The New Librarianship in the Age of the Ebook

“The New Librarianship in the Age of the Ebook” Closing Keynote, ebooks: Libraries at the Tipping Point, Library Journal/School Library Journal Virtual Summit.

Slides: http://quartz.syr.edu/rdlankes/Presentations/2010/eBooks.pdf
Audio: http://quartz.syr.edu/rdlankes/pod/2010/eBooks.mp3

Screencast:

The New Librarianship in the Age of the Ebook from R. David Lankes on Vimeo.

Posted in 2010, New/Participatory Librarianship, Presentation | 6 Comments

Incredible Video on Creativity

Thanks to Alison Miner in my 511 class for the pointer to this outstanding video:

Posted in Links | 1 Comment

Reference in the Crowd

“Reference in the Crowd” Trendy Topics Online Conference on Digital Reference, http://www.trendytopics.info/

This was a presentation done as part of the outstanding series of Trendy Topics Online conferences. The full archive of all the conference presenations plus past and future confernces can be found at http://www.trendytopics.info/. Special thanks to Tom Peteres and Lori Bell who put on the conferences and are doing a great service to the library community. Please support these and sign up for a future conference.

Abstract: Digital reference allowed us to escape the bounds of a building and any single collection. We have every right to be proud of transitioning reference from desks in the library to the desks of our members (and their phones). And yet much of this new digital freedom has carried over assumptions and policies developed in places and spaces. What we have built with software, cooperatives, and a mobilized cohort of reference librarians is not an end, but merely a platform for us to truly revolutionize reference. What does answering questions in an interconnected universe of expertise, members, resources, and freedom from the confines of the physical allow us to do? Can we create a whole new reference unrecognizable by our predecessors and infinitely better?
Slides: http://quartz.syr.edu/rdlankes/Presentations/2010/Trendy.pdf
Audio: http://quartz.syr.edu/rdlankes/pod/2010/Trendy.mp3

Screencast:

Reference in The Crowd from R. David Lankes on Vimeo.

Posted in 2010, Presentation | Comments Off