Facing History and Ourselves was founded in 1976 by Margot Stern Strom and William S. Parsons, public school teachers in Brookline, Massachusetts, who designed a program to teach the Holocaust in such a way that students could make personal connections between the historical event and their own lives. The organization now has 170 employees and … Continue reading Making Connections with History
“Happiness is contagious.” This missive, which is one of the many kernels of wisdom I jotted down at SXSW, stands out as I pour through my notes and reflect on the powerful, transformative experience I just had in Austin. The quote was about workplace happiness, but I saw it play out all around me and … Continue reading Librarians and Happenstance Voyagers, SXSW 2013, Day Four and Five Wrap-up
Roger Rosen, CEO of the educational house Rosen Publishing, calls himself a publishing brat. “I grew up in the business, packing books as a little boy and attending ALAconferences with my parents.” Lately, Rosen’s been making news as one of the first publishers to figure out a pricing and delivery structure for ebooks and databases, … Continue reading An Interview with Roger Rosen
Wowza! SXSW is dazzling. I got to see one my favorite authors, Douglas Rushkoff, on Saturday. Rushkoff’s advice is to treat interactions with devices and online life as periodic dips into a rushing stream, with no need to capture or cling to all that’s happening. That advice applies beautifully to South By Southwest. I’ve got … Continue reading Librarians and Happenstance Voyagers, SXSW 2013 – Day 2 and 3 Recap
This is my first time attending South by Southwest. Knowing how action-packed this conference is, I’ve settled on a philosophy for the trip: to be a voyager of happenstance, intent on enjoying the ride, whatever it may yield. Sure, I’ve selected all kinds of sessions in the SXSW app, but flexibility and an open mind … Continue reading Librarians and Happenstance Voyagers, SXSW 2013 – Day One
Librarians in all types of libraries provide training and instruction. Whether it’s for staff or patrons, the timing of the training is usually critical. Teach first-year college students about a database when they have no assignment that requires them to use it and it will likely go in one ear and out the other. Teach … Continue reading Just-for-Me Training
Sometimes you just have to stop and marvel at the incredible pace of technological change. It helps if you are sitting down, because when the scope of the change finally hits you, things might go all wobbly for a second or two. Luckily I was sitting when I had that experience this weekend. Scanning through … Continue reading Realizing the Scope of Digital Change
One of the key characteristics of digital content is that it is licensed under contract law as opposed to being purchased with first sale rights from copyright law. While being the cause of great pain for libraries and ebooks so far, this double-edged sword can swing the other way and cut through annoying license restrictions … Continue reading A Simple Digital License
Today’s hottest web and mobile technologies are offering libraries a new world of opportunities to engage patrons. Ultra-popular social media websites and apps combined with the availability of affordable cloud-based services and the evolution and adoption of mobile devices are enabling librarians to share and build communities, store and analyze large collections of data, create … Continue reading 10 Great Technology Initiatives for Your Library
In the many presentations we have given over the years, one of the most powerful and most common questions we receive deals with psychology. The topic came up most recently when we were preparing a presentation on how library staff can communicate more effectively with information technology staff members. We initially wanted to emphasize that … Continue reading Develop Your Emotional Intelligence
SoCal’s housing crisis The default rate among county homeowners increased by more than 230% from 2006 to 2008, according to InnoVest Resource Management, which posts monthly housing statistics dating back to 1991 from the San Diego County Recorder’s Office. During that same time, the number of defaults grew from almost 10,300 to more than 34,000. … Continue reading Libraries Help Homeowners Fight Foreclosure
Not everything you need to know about school librarianship is taught in graduate school. No matter how comprehensive the training for school library certification is, there are a few aspects of teaching that may still surprise you. What follows is a top 10 list of what to expect as a newbie school librarian—areas in … Continue reading Teacher Librarian Tips
