Grey House Publishing Canada now owns the titles formerly owned by Proquest (as in Micromedia Proquest). See the press release from November 2006.
Titles now owned by Grey House Publishing Canada (http://www.greyhouse.ca) include:
Associations Canada
Canadian Almanac & Directory
Financial Services Canada
Canadian Environmental Directory
Directory of Libraries in Canada
Canadian Government Directory
If you have received your 2007 edition standing order of these titles, then your account has successfully transferred over. If you haven't, you will want to contact them at (866) 433-4739
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Podcasters Across Borders - Taking Your Initiatives to the Next Level
Podcasters Across Borders
Kingston, June 24, 2007
Taking Your Initiatives to the Next Level
Terry Fallis, Kate Morgan and Ian Hull
Terry Fallis - Thornley Fallis
Kingston, June 24, 2007
Taking Your Initiatives to the Next Level
Terry Fallis, Kate Morgan and Ian Hull
Terry Fallis - Thornley Fallis
- started Inside PR podcast (Joseph Thornley was already blogging)
- doesn't script heavily; decides in advance what they want to talk about, but these are topics they have been talking about for a while
- weekly show that comes out at the same time every week
- familiar format, which they change up periodically
- has done various things to promote the podcast; recently created a Facebook page
- if you build it, people don't necessarily come. You have to promote it.
- has had 25-30 speaking engagements to speak on social media even though he has only been podcasting for a year
- no sales pitch behind why they did it
- bought into Terry's model
- one podcast for core group of lawyers who send them work - snippets they know will be helpful
- co-hosts with his partner in his firm
- other podcast for the general public for a broader audience
- before podcasts came into their world - being a good colleague, giving back - law of the Internet: if you give something for free, it will come back to you ten-fold
- did not want to add anything else to their day. They were doing it twice a week; it was becoming overwhelming. Changed to sell the idea to the other 15 lawyers in their firm, now they are all podcasting.
- they don't want to just be on a treadmill keeping the business running; they want to do something interesting
- a year ago, 14 listeners; now up around 100
- trying to showcase their passion
- getting 1200 hits on their blog in any given week; started blogging because they had to; all lawyers take turns blogging
- subjects e.g. how to do a will challenge trial
- Hull & Hull TV - new addition - public friendly area of their marketing
- but they keep going back to the initial model of the podcast and keep building on it
- now have a book - another "feed"
- newsletter - sent out 4 times a year, often referred to in their podcast - taught to them by Terry Fallis; the podcast set up by Kate Morgan
- plant the seeds: book, Tv - eventually they will get 2-3 new listeners to the podcast
- in the field: they don't share - competitors are not going to tell people to listen to their podcast
- originally sent out iPods to 150 people (no discount from Apple!) - most people gave them away - pre-loaded so that lawyers would not have to learn how to use iTunes, offered to re-load for them - some people have iTunes for personal, another for business
- started working with Hull & Hull LLP on marketing
- started from scratch learning what podcasting is
- can use it as a distribution channel to get out whatever information you want to distribute
- need to be talking about something important to you
- sharing legal knowledge, not legal advice, to other lawyers
- conveys credibility - separates them from other lawyers who are not working in this space
- leveraging this into more business, more speaking engagements
- if you meet someone in an off-line context, you are more likely to listen to their podcast
- if you are looking for legal advice, you are more likely to consult with someone you are familiar with
- it all works together
- they are looking to highlight their legal skills
- all comments they get are very personal law-related comments from the public - people are desperate for this advice - a direct path to looking for real legal advice that people are willing to pay for - people are hungry for knowledge and advice
This Blog Needs Help
With all the fabulous minds looking at this site as I blog the Podcasters Across Borders meeting...I ask you, how can I improve the look of this blog? Yeah, aside from buying my own domain which I have done but haven't moved to yet for various reasons, how can I improve the LOOK?
Currently this is a pre-canned Blogger template. It looked cool 3 years ago when I picked it, but doesn't fit the bill now. I would like a site that pulls together this blog, a CV which I can update with a listing of papers, talks, both past and upcoming. Also, something more readable and accessible. I really hate the current colours and font because they are difficult to read. I have adjusted them which has helped a little, but not enough.
If anyone has a simple solution which I can host myself, I would appreciate hearing it. Basically it comes down to a lack of good design skills. I know what I like, but I cannot create it. Once created, I can update the site...I do have some basic Dreamweaver and HTML skill.
Thanks a bunch!
Cheers,
Connie
Currently this is a pre-canned Blogger template. It looked cool 3 years ago when I picked it, but doesn't fit the bill now. I would like a site that pulls together this blog, a CV which I can update with a listing of papers, talks, both past and upcoming. Also, something more readable and accessible. I really hate the current colours and font because they are difficult to read. I have adjusted them which has helped a little, but not enough.
If anyone has a simple solution which I can host myself, I would appreciate hearing it. Basically it comes down to a lack of good design skills. I know what I like, but I cannot create it. Once created, I can update the site...I do have some basic Dreamweaver and HTML skill.
Thanks a bunch!
Cheers,
Connie
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Podcasters Across Borders: Managing Your Social Media
Podcasters Across Borders
Kingston, June 23, 2007
Managing Your Social Media
Bryan Person
blogging, podcasting, facebook, twitter, linkedin, RSS, Google tools.....
...you can't use all of these and remain effective
first thing in the morning:
There are times when you have to eliminate the distractions. If all these messages are coming at you, you cannot focus. You have to set some time to unplug from them and be productive.
Set specific time to goof off and play with the social media.
Use tags in your RSS reader to locate all of the posts on the one subject e.g. PAB2007 without visiting all of the individual sites - anything someone has tagged will come to one place.
You have to make tough decisions. You have met 50 interesting people this weekend - do you really need to subscribe to all of their feeds? Unsubscribe from it - you don't have to tell them. Limit the amount of information coming in to you every day. It is okay to skip an episode of a podcast. We feel attached when we really know someone - we want to listen to every episode, but sometimes we can't. You can always go back to listen.
Whether you use Google Reader, Bloglines, netvibes, who can you take off to make it a more manageable list for you?
Who is important to you? E.g. Mitch Joel is going to tell you everything about marketing; Chris Brogan is big into online communities and video - Chris is going to tell you about anything good
- he trusts these people, they are part of his network, and he lets them curate what he needs to know
Services for podcasters - leave yourself audio messages/record something when you think of it.
jott
K7.net - you have to check it at least every 30 days so you don't lose your access
Julien Smith says: don't check your email first. Do other things first or you will find half the day gone.
Bryan Person: In your RSS readers: "Mark all as read" is very liberating
Chris Penn: Set up filter in your Gmail so that all the messages on any topic are together.
Wayne MacPhail - I Want Sandy - like a personal assistant - Turns your telephone into a productivity tool - tag things e.g. personal, telephone messages
Mitch Joel: If you are bad at getting back to voicemail messages, leave a message telling people that the email is the quickest way to get in touch with him, that he is not good at returning.
Donna Papacosta: pad of paper and pen. Old skool solution!
Kingston, June 23, 2007
Managing Your Social Media
Bryan Person
blogging, podcasting, facebook, twitter, linkedin, RSS, Google tools.....
...you can't use all of these and remain effective
first thing in the morning:
- reads email
- reads twitter
- reads facebook
- reads RSS reader
- checks calendar for the day as to what he has to do
There are times when you have to eliminate the distractions. If all these messages are coming at you, you cannot focus. You have to set some time to unplug from them and be productive.
Set specific time to goof off and play with the social media.
Use tags in your RSS reader to locate all of the posts on the one subject e.g. PAB2007 without visiting all of the individual sites - anything someone has tagged will come to one place.
You have to make tough decisions. You have met 50 interesting people this weekend - do you really need to subscribe to all of their feeds? Unsubscribe from it - you don't have to tell them. Limit the amount of information coming in to you every day. It is okay to skip an episode of a podcast. We feel attached when we really know someone - we want to listen to every episode, but sometimes we can't. You can always go back to listen.
Whether you use Google Reader, Bloglines, netvibes, who can you take off to make it a more manageable list for you?
Who is important to you? E.g. Mitch Joel is going to tell you everything about marketing; Chris Brogan is big into online communities and video - Chris is going to tell you about anything good
- he trusts these people, they are part of his network, and he lets them curate what he needs to know
Services for podcasters - leave yourself audio messages/record something when you think of it.
jott
K7.net - you have to check it at least every 30 days so you don't lose your access
Julien Smith says: don't check your email first. Do other things first or you will find half the day gone.
Bryan Person: In your RSS readers: "Mark all as read" is very liberating
Chris Penn: Set up filter in your Gmail so that all the messages on any topic are together.
Wayne MacPhail - I Want Sandy - like a personal assistant - Turns your telephone into a productivity tool - tag things e.g. personal, telephone messages
Mitch Joel: If you are bad at getting back to voicemail messages, leave a message telling people that the email is the quickest way to get in touch with him, that he is not good at returning.
Donna Papacosta: pad of paper and pen. Old skool solution!
Podcasters Across Borders: Storytelling for Podcasts
Podcasters Across Borders
Kingston, June 23, 2007
Storytelling for Podcasts
Sonya Buyting - SassyScience.com
This is Storytelling 101
From Neil Everton school of training - came from BBC, has trained CBC, BBC, CNN producers.
When the story is not obvious and chronological, where to put your emphasis. Can be used for anything: reporting, country songs, video.
e.g. Will Gad put footage together about climbing an iceberg - he sent his footage in to Discovery channel. Producer had to put it together into a story.
1. the hook - takes you just after the peak of the first hump - you want people to pay attention to your story, to not change the channel or skip your podcast - use your strongest sound, your strongest video for the hook - don't give away the ending; make them want to watch - "Will Gad's done some crazy things, and today he is going to climb an iceberg" - put in a statement of enticement, where the character states what is ahead.
2. dips a bit - the context - too short and people won't understand the rest of the story - too long and people will lose the story - keep it short and sweet, get on with the good stuff in the story
3. story unfolding - divide into as many sections as you want to. Includes the obstacles the person is facing. Raising the drama of the story until you get to the very top.
4. climax - top of the peak - yay! our main character has triumphed!
5. wrap-up or denoument - recap of what the hook was, or forward thinking of what is coming next, or just conclude what you are saying.
All of this can be incorporated into what Tod Maffin has to say in the storytelling sessions he teaches.
Kingston, June 23, 2007
Storytelling for Podcasts
Sonya Buyting - SassyScience.com
This is Storytelling 101
From Neil Everton school of training - came from BBC, has trained CBC, BBC, CNN producers.
When the story is not obvious and chronological, where to put your emphasis. Can be used for anything: reporting, country songs, video.
e.g. Will Gad put footage together about climbing an iceberg - he sent his footage in to Discovery channel. Producer had to put it together into a story.
- Need main character - e.g. Will Gad
- figure out focus statement - one sentence - angle that will help you figure out the focus, the big picture - what is this guy's quest? - e.g. Will is climbing an iceberg because he gets off on the thrill.
- determine the forces going for and against a character - e.g. pros - he is adventurous, he is knowledgeable (wrote a book), experienced (won medals), has a good team behind him, has good equipment, is able to access structural integrity of ice just by the sound; cons - obviously a dangerous hobby, people think he is kind of crazy, icebergs are extremely unstable, temperature differential
1. the hook - takes you just after the peak of the first hump - you want people to pay attention to your story, to not change the channel or skip your podcast - use your strongest sound, your strongest video for the hook - don't give away the ending; make them want to watch - "Will Gad's done some crazy things, and today he is going to climb an iceberg" - put in a statement of enticement, where the character states what is ahead.
2. dips a bit - the context - too short and people won't understand the rest of the story - too long and people will lose the story - keep it short and sweet, get on with the good stuff in the story
3. story unfolding - divide into as many sections as you want to. Includes the obstacles the person is facing. Raising the drama of the story until you get to the very top.
4. climax - top of the peak - yay! our main character has triumphed!
5. wrap-up or denoument - recap of what the hook was, or forward thinking of what is coming next, or just conclude what you are saying.
All of this can be incorporated into what Tod Maffin has to say in the storytelling sessions he teaches.
Podcasters Across Borders: Getting Your Podcast Seen
Podcasters Across Borders
Kingston, June 23, 2007
Getting Your Podcast Seen (as well as heard)
Julien Smith
Many people who trust Google click on "I'm Feeling Lucky". You need to get your show at the top ranking on Google to find the audience who is looking for your content.
How to get Google to care about your podcast.
Whatever your podcast is, you have to be on Google because otherwise nobody cares. If you do not put yourself directly in front of people, they will pass you by. They are too busy.
1. become more than a podcaster
e.g. Grow See This - gardening podcast
Searching Google for "gardening podcast" it does not come up on the first page. Google has to see those words on the page.
Tools that will help you determine what people are searching for:
trends.google.com
Google is not the only thing to pay attention to, but it is important.
Is your site just a podcast, or is it other things? Is it also a gardening journal for example? Use trends.google.com to see how many people looking for gardening journal.
Google is one of the sites with the most trust out on the web.
Write for human beings, not for search engines. Start putting in words. For example, start typing in descriptions of the videos.
Blogs to read regularly:
SEOBook - everyone with a website should be subscribing to this blog.
Look at your statistics e.g. Google Analytics - you should have this on your site to get an idea of who is visiting, why do spikes occur, how people find your site through search engines.
Number of people who watch his show from the time he didn't care about this to the time he did care about this has increased exponentially. Easy to overlook as a podcaster. If you don't care, you will be missing out. This is an introduction for every podcaster to know, to allow you to continue to thrive and increase your audience.
Kingston, June 23, 2007
Getting Your Podcast Seen (as well as heard)
Julien Smith
Many people who trust Google click on "I'm Feeling Lucky". You need to get your show at the top ranking on Google to find the audience who is looking for your content.
How to get Google to care about your podcast.
Whatever your podcast is, you have to be on Google because otherwise nobody cares. If you do not put yourself directly in front of people, they will pass you by. They are too busy.
1. become more than a podcaster
- become a native web user
- need to go deeper into the web and realize there are people in many places
- become a web producer - communicate with people e.g. on forums
- you are in important voice in your own niche. You have a lot to say in your area of expertise, but people just don't know it yet.
e.g. Grow See This - gardening podcast
Searching Google for "gardening podcast" it does not come up on the first page. Google has to see those words on the page.
Tools that will help you determine what people are searching for:
trends.google.com
Google is not the only thing to pay attention to, but it is important.
Is your site just a podcast, or is it other things? Is it also a gardening journal for example? Use trends.google.com to see how many people looking for gardening journal.
Google is one of the sites with the most trust out on the web.
Write for human beings, not for search engines. Start putting in words. For example, start typing in descriptions of the videos.
Blogs to read regularly:
SEOBook - everyone with a website should be subscribing to this blog.
Look at your statistics e.g. Google Analytics - you should have this on your site to get an idea of who is visiting, why do spikes occur, how people find your site through search engines.
Number of people who watch his show from the time he didn't care about this to the time he did care about this has increased exponentially. Easy to overlook as a podcaster. If you don't care, you will be missing out. This is an introduction for every podcaster to know, to allow you to continue to thrive and increase your audience.
Podcasters Across Borders: Marketing Toolkit
Podcasters Across Borders
Kingston, June 23, 2007
Marketing Toolkit
Chris Penn and Mitch Joel
Companies and organizations are currently playing catch up with their websites, trying to make things current. Building communities is the “new thing”; add it in now, it will be big shortly.
Keep track of who your users are--building your audience and tracking it. Chris Brogan: “We live or die on our database.”
Google, word of mouth (if you are tapped into your community), LinkedIn, activism and presence are combined - facebook, twitter, etc.
If your content stinks, it doesn’t matter what you do to market it.
Marketing - what you do to get people to your show.
Databases:
e.g. Spider from MySpace - you can see who your friends are, and they provide you with the details
As a networker, you need to understand social networks. Start a blog. 90% of some groups in Ireland are on Beebo.
Go into MySpace, track your podcast. Try something, and see how it affects your numbers a week later. Keep going: this is creating a momentum. On MySpace you don’t have to be someone’s friend to see their content.
Each platform has its own database. Most people in the room here are on LinkedIn and on Facebook. Everyone in this room should be linking with each.
Start by getting an email address from the individual--goal is to ask people to sign up to your newsletter. People can sign up for an RSS feed, but you have no control of whether they read.
Get them into LinkedIn and your other spaces.
Joseph Thornley’s question: how would you feel if a marketing person was saying this?
Jay Moonah: he started communities for Coors; they have a huge number of people who signed up, knowing this is for a company.
Mitch Joel: Dorito’s has hundreds of groups by fans. Why are they not engaging this group?
Kingston, June 23, 2007
Marketing Toolkit
Chris Penn and Mitch Joel
Companies and organizations are currently playing catch up with their websites, trying to make things current. Building communities is the “new thing”; add it in now, it will be big shortly.
Keep track of who your users are--building your audience and tracking it. Chris Brogan: “We live or die on our database.”
Google, word of mouth (if you are tapped into your community), LinkedIn, activism and presence are combined - facebook, twitter, etc.
If your content stinks, it doesn’t matter what you do to market it.
Marketing - what you do to get people to your show.
Databases:
e.g. Spider from MySpace - you can see who your friends are, and they provide you with the details
As a networker, you need to understand social networks. Start a blog. 90% of some groups in Ireland are on Beebo.
Go into MySpace, track your podcast. Try something, and see how it affects your numbers a week later. Keep going: this is creating a momentum. On MySpace you don’t have to be someone’s friend to see their content.
Each platform has its own database. Most people in the room here are on LinkedIn and on Facebook. Everyone in this room should be linking with each.
Start by getting an email address from the individual--goal is to ask people to sign up to your newsletter. People can sign up for an RSS feed, but you have no control of whether they read.
Get them into LinkedIn and your other spaces.
Joseph Thornley’s question: how would you feel if a marketing person was saying this?
Jay Moonah: he started communities for Coors; they have a huge number of people who signed up, knowing this is for a company.
Mitch Joel: Dorito’s has hundreds of groups by fans. Why are they not engaging this group?
Podcasters Across Borders: Podcasting and Education
Podcasters Across Borders
Kingston, June 23, 2007
Beyond the Yellow Brick Road: Podcasting and Education
Moderator: Jim Milles
Panelists:
Dave Brodbeck
Charles Cadenhead
Vivan Vasquez
Andrea Ross
Dave Brodbeck does a lecturecast, and a home recorded show for kids called Why?
Charles Cadenhead - records the whole lecture, but then chops it up based on topics rather than posting the whole thing ("chunking"). He has also starting to do an audio FAQ to teach his students how to do their own recordings. He has also started a podcast for teachers.
Andrea Ross - Just One More Book - podcast to draw attention to children's books they think aren't getting enough attention. They also highlight interesting ideas in children's literature and literacy. Attract parents, teachers, librarians, book retailers. They have also found publishers listen to learn about their peers. Also used in academic settings as a resource for courses and programs. e.g. ESL program in Hong Kong. Their podcast isn't built for children, but they do get child listeners. Children send in their own book reviews.
Vivian Vasquez - CLIP Podcast - "critical literacy in podcast" - power of language, use of language - started after PAB2006 - had to imagine new ways of addressing work she was already doing. What does critical literacy look like in school settings as well as in home settings? She uses it in her own teaching as part of her required "reading" list. The show is also a space for her students to complete assignments, so they will record segments on various topics. Also used for development workshops, and in teaching parents. As an academic, she has to teach, engage teachers, and provide service.
Kingston, June 23, 2007
Beyond the Yellow Brick Road: Podcasting and Education
Moderator: Jim Milles
Panelists:
Dave Brodbeck
Charles Cadenhead
Vivan Vasquez
Andrea Ross
Dave Brodbeck does a lecturecast, and a home recorded show for kids called Why?
Charles Cadenhead - records the whole lecture, but then chops it up based on topics rather than posting the whole thing ("chunking"). He has also starting to do an audio FAQ to teach his students how to do their own recordings. He has also started a podcast for teachers.
Andrea Ross - Just One More Book - podcast to draw attention to children's books they think aren't getting enough attention. They also highlight interesting ideas in children's literature and literacy. Attract parents, teachers, librarians, book retailers. They have also found publishers listen to learn about their peers. Also used in academic settings as a resource for courses and programs. e.g. ESL program in Hong Kong. Their podcast isn't built for children, but they do get child listeners. Children send in their own book reviews.
Vivian Vasquez - CLIP Podcast - "critical literacy in podcast" - power of language, use of language - started after PAB2006 - had to imagine new ways of addressing work she was already doing. What does critical literacy look like in school settings as well as in home settings? She uses it in her own teaching as part of her required "reading" list. The show is also a space for her students to complete assignments, so they will record segments on various topics. Also used for development workshops, and in teaching parents. As an academic, she has to teach, engage teachers, and provide service.
Podcasters Across Borders: Copyright and Creative Commons
Podcasters Across Borders
Kingston, June 23, 2007
A New Mindset: Creative Commons Licensing
Andy Kaplan-Myrth and Kathi Simmons
Creative Commons Canada
***Launching the Canadian Legal Podcasting Guide today***
The Guide will be available as a PDF guide, and eventually move to a wiki format at some point. Hard copies being given out here today, and will be available from the website.
Kaplan-Myrth discussed Creative Commons and the various licensing options available. He recommends Canadians use the licensing from the Canadian website since it will be stronger in the Canadian legal system.
Simmons
- fair dealing
- publicity rights - have the right to use your own image
- copyright
- trade-marks - use with your mark/brand/logo
- other legal issues - sources
http://www.cippic.ca - public interest advocacy group - legal issues
http://www.creativecommons.ca - Creative Commons Canada
Podcasters may be in an unique position to come together to lobby regarding copyright law.
Q&A
Q: How do you deal with copyright in other countries?
A: Complicated, difficult to answer briefly; however, Canadian license is meant to be used in Canada; however, Canadian copyright law covers use in most other countries.
Q: If someone misuses my podcast, is my only recourse to hire a lawyer and sue them?
A: You could write to them asking them to remove use of your podcast. If not, you could hire a lawyer and send a "cease and desist" letter.
Kingston, June 23, 2007
A New Mindset: Creative Commons Licensing
Andy Kaplan-Myrth and Kathi Simmons
Creative Commons Canada
***Launching the Canadian Legal Podcasting Guide today***
The Guide will be available as a PDF guide, and eventually move to a wiki format at some point. Hard copies being given out here today, and will be available from the website.
Kaplan-Myrth discussed Creative Commons and the various licensing options available. He recommends Canadians use the licensing from the Canadian website since it will be stronger in the Canadian legal system.
Simmons
- fair dealing
- publicity rights - have the right to use your own image
- copyright
- trade-marks - use with your mark/brand/logo
- other legal issues - sources
http://www.cippic.ca - public interest advocacy group - legal issues
http://www.creativecommons.ca - Creative Commons Canada
Podcasters may be in an unique position to come together to lobby regarding copyright law.
Q&A
Q: How do you deal with copyright in other countries?
A: Complicated, difficult to answer briefly; however, Canadian license is meant to be used in Canada; however, Canadian copyright law covers use in most other countries.
Q: If someone misuses my podcast, is my only recourse to hire a lawyer and sue them?
A: You could write to them asking them to remove use of your podcast. If not, you could hire a lawyer and send a "cease and desist" letter.
Podcasters Across Borders: Podcasting as Community
Podcasters Across Borders
Kingston, June 23, 2007
Who Are We Anyway? Podcasting as a Community
Ted Riecken - islandpodcasting.com
“The medium is the message” - McLuhan, 1964
Identity, culture and change
“Podcasting community” - two historical comparisons
- why are we here? Shared interests, similar backgrounds
- putting a face to the voice
1. Medieval cities compared to podcasting:
George Woodcock - cities emerged to allow people who lived outside castle walls, who were on the periphery - came together to survive. People who were independent, free thinkers
libsyn - liberated syndication
libravox
“free radio”
This is a space that is open and "liberatory"
People with common interests coming together. Learning and sharing. Real people, stories, experience. You can relate to this more than “reality TV” or to highly produced movie, TV. Mostly exists in an unregulated space. Not the case for people working in mainstream media.
2. Frontier culture also characterizes podcasting
transitory, emerging, evolving
limited and alternative forms of commerce; monetizing and business don’t necessarily mesh with podcasting
emphasis on freedom, opportunity and growth; allows you to express yourself in ways you didn’t know you could before
on the edge; unregulated; operates on the periphery; issues around what you can and can’t do; undefined
easy access for all; inexpensive; you just need to work hard to develop your “settlement”
As a community, what are some of the features?
Kingston, June 23, 2007
Who Are We Anyway? Podcasting as a Community
Ted Riecken - islandpodcasting.com
“The medium is the message” - McLuhan, 1964
Identity, culture and change
“Podcasting community” - two historical comparisons
- why are we here? Shared interests, similar backgrounds
- putting a face to the voice
1. Medieval cities compared to podcasting:
George Woodcock - cities emerged to allow people who lived outside castle walls, who were on the periphery - came together to survive. People who were independent, free thinkers
libsyn - liberated syndication
libravox
“free radio”
This is a space that is open and "liberatory"
People with common interests coming together. Learning and sharing. Real people, stories, experience. You can relate to this more than “reality TV” or to highly produced movie, TV. Mostly exists in an unregulated space. Not the case for people working in mainstream media.
2. Frontier culture also characterizes podcasting
transitory, emerging, evolving
limited and alternative forms of commerce; monetizing and business don’t necessarily mesh with podcasting
emphasis on freedom, opportunity and growth; allows you to express yourself in ways you didn’t know you could before
on the edge; unregulated; operates on the periphery; issues around what you can and can’t do; undefined
easy access for all; inexpensive; you just need to work hard to develop your “settlement”
As a community, what are some of the features?
Podcasters Across Borders: Context is King
Podcasters Across Borders
Kingston, June 23, 2007
Context is King: Re-examining Conventional Wisdom for an Unconventional Media
by Arthur Masters
narrowcasting: pulling a file from a site rather than broadcasting; this is what allows for podcasting
a lot of podcasts talk about creating a podcast, so listening to podcasts primes you for creating a podcast. As soon as you have the tools to listen to it, you also have the tool to create it. This is like a meme; it is viral - the message has the information for passing on the message.
Marshall McLuhan
Noam Chomsky
Douglas Rushkov (Rushkoff?) - futurist - Media Virus (1993)
This has created a micronization of markets. Incredible diversity with no focus - not everyone are computer geeks, music experts, radio junkies. So specific that some cannot hold an audience of more than 30 listeners, but this is okay.
Wired magazine when it first started - anti-big business, cutting edge. Alvin Toffler wrote for them; not just a sports channel, but a sports channel for every sport. He seems to have been able to describe the environment we are living in now.
People are doing it out of passion, not for money. Not out of a sense of duty, but a sense of fulfilling a need in our media.
Chris Anderson - The Long Tail - democratization of distribution - living the socialist dream. Carl Marx - doing away with currency
Anderson is not a futurist, but does a good job of describing where we are right now. He is editor in chief of Wired magazine.
We have left the information age for the communication age. Linking blogger to blogger, podcaster to podcaster. Things are more word of mouth. We have entered the age of referral. Part of owning the means of production.
In the past, everyone had guitars in their garage. We have a new level of production.
We are hard-wiring ourselves for a network, almost a “neural” network. We are slowly laying a network by which we can communicate, affect the world. E.g. Oprah says she likes pashminas, and every woman between 35 and 55 has a pashmina a year later. We are participating in the collective wiring.
Timothy Leary - instead of being high on LSD, being high on the Internet [did he really say this?] - it is an expansion of consciousness.
It is “hot” in McLuhan terms.
Don’t just produce podcasts--revel in the moment! You are doing something new and really exciting. Stop and think about how far we have come.
Kingston, June 23, 2007
Context is King: Re-examining Conventional Wisdom for an Unconventional Media
by Arthur Masters
narrowcasting: pulling a file from a site rather than broadcasting; this is what allows for podcasting
a lot of podcasts talk about creating a podcast, so listening to podcasts primes you for creating a podcast. As soon as you have the tools to listen to it, you also have the tool to create it. This is like a meme; it is viral - the message has the information for passing on the message.
Marshall McLuhan
Noam Chomsky
Douglas Rushkov (Rushkoff?) - futurist - Media Virus (1993)
This has created a micronization of markets. Incredible diversity with no focus - not everyone are computer geeks, music experts, radio junkies. So specific that some cannot hold an audience of more than 30 listeners, but this is okay.
Wired magazine when it first started - anti-big business, cutting edge. Alvin Toffler wrote for them; not just a sports channel, but a sports channel for every sport. He seems to have been able to describe the environment we are living in now.
People are doing it out of passion, not for money. Not out of a sense of duty, but a sense of fulfilling a need in our media.
Chris Anderson - The Long Tail - democratization of distribution - living the socialist dream. Carl Marx - doing away with currency
Anderson is not a futurist, but does a good job of describing where we are right now. He is editor in chief of Wired magazine.
We have left the information age for the communication age. Linking blogger to blogger, podcaster to podcaster. Things are more word of mouth. We have entered the age of referral. Part of owning the means of production.
In the past, everyone had guitars in their garage. We have a new level of production.
We are hard-wiring ourselves for a network, almost a “neural” network. We are slowly laying a network by which we can communicate, affect the world. E.g. Oprah says she likes pashminas, and every woman between 35 and 55 has a pashmina a year later. We are participating in the collective wiring.
Timothy Leary - instead of being high on LSD, being high on the Internet [did he really say this?] - it is an expansion of consciousness.
It is “hot” in McLuhan terms.
Don’t just produce podcasts--revel in the moment! You are doing something new and really exciting. Stop and think about how far we have come.
Podcasters Across Borders
This weekend I am attending the international conference Podcasters Across Borders being held in Kingston, Ontario. There are about 100 participants and most are podcasters (I am in the minority as a podcaster wannebe here I think).
I have intermittent web access here in the meeting room; I am typing up notes and will post them as I have access.
I missed most of yesterday's festivities - Bob Goyetche and Mark Blevis giving a session on intro podcasting and Tod Maffin talking about how to create radio stories. Also, there was a cruise. Unfortunately I got here after the boat left because traffic was a lot worse than I even thought it would be, and it took me a good hour longer than I expected to get out of Toronto because of traffic. Fortunately I managed to catch most of the Uncle Seth show over next door from the hotel.
Thus far the message seems to be remembering the original pioneer spirit of podcasting, and to become closer as a community.
I have intermittent web access here in the meeting room; I am typing up notes and will post them as I have access.
I missed most of yesterday's festivities - Bob Goyetche and Mark Blevis giving a session on intro podcasting and Tod Maffin talking about how to create radio stories. Also, there was a cruise. Unfortunately I got here after the boat left because traffic was a lot worse than I even thought it would be, and it took me a good hour longer than I expected to get out of Toronto because of traffic. Fortunately I managed to catch most of the Uncle Seth show over next door from the hotel.
Thus far the message seems to be remembering the original pioneer spirit of podcasting, and to become closer as a community.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Canadian Bloggers Being Challenged
Posted over at Slaw earlier this evening: Canadian Bloggers Being Challenged - discussing a fantastic Mathew Ingram article from Saturday's Globe and Mail discussing some of the legalities about blogging in Canada.
Canadian bloggers should read the full article.
Hat tip to Judy Gombita for passing this along to me.
Canadian bloggers should read the full article.
Hat tip to Judy Gombita for passing this along to me.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
The History of Facebook
I've spent the past couple of weeks getting up to speed on Facebook. I thought it would be helpful to get some background on how FB got started. I could not find anything on the website itself, so have looked elsewhere. Here are some links you may find of interest if you are also interested in this popular social networking tool:
From the Mashable article:
From the Wikipedia entry:
From the MSNBC interview with Zukerberg:
Number of users is doubling every 6 months; currently they have over 25 million active users. He also states at the end of the interview that he has not yet made any money from Facebook.
- Facebook - The Complete Biography
by Sid Yadav, Mashable: Social Networking News, August 25, 2006.
written when Facebook was still exclusively the domain of students and not open to the general public. Still, this seems to be the most referred-to history. - Wikipedia entry for Facebook
would the list be complete without it? - MSNBC interview with Mark Zukerberg, creator of Facebook June 4, 2007.
- Oh Canada...
by Nico Vera, The Facebook Blog, May 17, 2007
talks about the dramatic growth of Canadian Facebook users, notably in Toronto.
From the Mashable article:
Originally called thefacebook, Facebook was founded by former-Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg (while at Harvard) who ran it as one of his hobby projects with some financial help from Eduardo Saverin. Within months, Facebook and its core idea spread across the dorm rooms of Harvard where it was very well received. Soon enough, it was extended to Stanford and Yale where, like Harvard, it was widely endorsed.
Before he knew it, Mark Zuckerberg was joined by two other fellow Harvard-students - Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes - to help him grow the site to the next level. Only months later when it was officially a national student network phenomenon, Zuckerberg and Moskovitz dropped out of Harvard to pursue their dreams and run Facebook full time. In August 2005, thefacebook was officially called Facebook and the domain facebook.com was purchased for a reported $200,000.
From the Wikipedia entry:
On September 11, 2006, Facebook became open to all users of the Internet, prompting protest from its existing user base. Two weeks later, Facebook opened registration to anyone with a valid e-mail address.
From the MSNBC interview with Zukerberg:
Number of users is doubling every 6 months; currently they have over 25 million active users. He also states at the end of the interview that he has not yet made any money from Facebook.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Hi Folks! A bit of update with links
I'm just touching base. Life is, not surprisingly, a bit hectic at the moment.
I have been playing with all those social networking tools, getting ready for the Social Networking Tools workshop I will be running at FIS PLC on August 9th. Incidentally, the course is now half full. There is very limited space, so please sign up soon to avoid disappointment!
Like half of Toronto, I finally got onto facebook and of course have spent time connecting to others I have found. I am amazed: in a week and half, I have collected almost as many contacts as I have accumulated in LinkedIn over a year and a half. Wow. The two spaces are extremely different. Notably, facebook has a more informal feel and is more focussed on groups. There is more communication between individuals on many different levels, although a lot of it is superficial communication on both systems. Very much along the lines of "continuous partial attention."
Looking on the fully engaged attention side, last night I attended my first CaseCamp. We saw the social media/marketing case presentations for Yamaha motorcycles, BMW Canada, Specialized bicycles, and blogTO. There was a definite transportation theme there, especially considering blogTO is handing out some pretty nifty maps around the city. Incidentally, blogTO is related to Beyond Robson in Vancouver and Midnight Poutine in Montreal. There were about 200 people in the room. I ran into a number of other social media types I know from other communities (it's all one community, I think), and met a few more.
Also, I received an invite into the social networking side Melcrum's Communicators' Network which is intended for marketing and communications types. It is small but international in scope and growing.
What else have I been up to? I wrote a summary of all the various social network groups I have found that law librarians in Toronto might be interested in for the TALL Newsletter. I was asked by one of the editors to contribute something since she has found some of my blog posts about these groups interesting. It was kind of fun to actually list them all out and figure the connection between the groups, since one tends to inspire another and many people tend to move between the groups.
At work I have been thinking a lot about customer service and client relations. That is reflected in a number of links I have just published to my linkblog--check it out.
I have been playing with all those social networking tools, getting ready for the Social Networking Tools workshop I will be running at FIS PLC on August 9th. Incidentally, the course is now half full. There is very limited space, so please sign up soon to avoid disappointment!
Like half of Toronto, I finally got onto facebook and of course have spent time connecting to others I have found. I am amazed: in a week and half, I have collected almost as many contacts as I have accumulated in LinkedIn over a year and a half. Wow. The two spaces are extremely different. Notably, facebook has a more informal feel and is more focussed on groups. There is more communication between individuals on many different levels, although a lot of it is superficial communication on both systems. Very much along the lines of "continuous partial attention."
Looking on the fully engaged attention side, last night I attended my first CaseCamp. We saw the social media/marketing case presentations for Yamaha motorcycles, BMW Canada, Specialized bicycles, and blogTO. There was a definite transportation theme there, especially considering blogTO is handing out some pretty nifty maps around the city. Incidentally, blogTO is related to Beyond Robson in Vancouver and Midnight Poutine in Montreal. There were about 200 people in the room. I ran into a number of other social media types I know from other communities (it's all one community, I think), and met a few more.
Also, I received an invite into the social networking side Melcrum's Communicators' Network which is intended for marketing and communications types. It is small but international in scope and growing.
What else have I been up to? I wrote a summary of all the various social network groups I have found that law librarians in Toronto might be interested in for the TALL Newsletter. I was asked by one of the editors to contribute something since she has found some of my blog posts about these groups interesting. It was kind of fun to actually list them all out and figure the connection between the groups, since one tends to inspire another and many people tend to move between the groups.
At work I have been thinking a lot about customer service and client relations. That is reflected in a number of links I have just published to my linkblog--check it out.
Friday, June 01, 2007
Unconference: The Book
A book on unconferences is being written in a collaborative way using a wiki. To learn more about this project, see my post over at SLAW.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Random Thoughts from Day 1 at Mesh Conference
I've been "singing for my supper", volunteering at Mesh Conference 2007. It has been very worthwhile: I dig in enthusiastically when needed, and can act as a delegate attending sessions when not. It is a gig high in demand, especially among the students who did not manage to get in under the discounted student rate, so I am privileged to get in under this guise. Tuesday afternoon/evening I helped stuff the conference bags. Then we had a volunteer meeting that same evening to brief us and give us our "staff" shirts. We were given our schedules and assigned to our posts when we arrived today. I have done things such as prepare rooms for speakers, trouble-shoot problems setting up laptops for the sessions (mostly by finding someone who knows more unfortunately), answer lots of directional questions from delegates, distribute a press release, move signs around, and even take some informal semi-official photographs with a rather nice camera.
Since there are only a few specific sessions I wanted to target, I have enjoyed some of my tasks, going from room to room and hearing parts of the conversation. I'm amazed how many people are attending who I recognize (and recognize me) from last year. The beginnings of a real community feel like they are starting to form.
Some quick snippets of things I have learned (most from talking to others):
Cheers!
Connie
Since there are only a few specific sessions I wanted to target, I have enjoyed some of my tasks, going from room to room and hearing parts of the conversation. I'm amazed how many people are attending who I recognize (and recognize me) from last year. The beginnings of a real community feel like they are starting to form.
Some quick snippets of things I have learned (most from talking to others):
- Women 2.0 - based on the U.S. group of the same name, a very new group of women are coming together to encourage young women to get into technology, and to support entrepreneurial women. They are the only booth at the conference, with clever marketing: a professional massage therapist giving out massages, and little promo cards of important women in geek history: Velma (from Scooby Doo), Foxy Brown, and Ms Pacman. At last count, Foxy Brown was proving only slightly more popular than Velma. If you are interested in supporting the group or getting involved, email them at women@women2.ca.
- Amazing new collaborative company based out of Sudbury with many clients: ConceptShare.
- Melcrum has just started something called Communicator's Network. It has just been launched and is not at full features yet, but you can have a sneak peak. I haven't tried it out yet, but it sounds like it may be a competitor to some currently social networking sites.
- Minding mapping ideas is a good way to start developing podcast episode ideas. During Leesa Barnes' Podcasting 101 workshop, I was fortunate to have my idea act as fodder, and I am a step closer to realizing one of my podcast ideas.
- Leesa Barnes has a podcast called Cubicle Divas.
- To help pick out a podcast title (or name title for other purposes): Pop: Stand Out in Any Crowd by Sam Horn. See also her website, blog and free first chapter of the book (PDF).
- from my surfing, I also found this tool which mindmaps subjects on Wikipedia: http://www.wikimindmap.org/
Cheers!
Connie
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Library Camp NYC - Tues. August 14, 2007
I have been watching with great envy as Library Camp in New York City grows with more participants and potential sessions. I am the one grinch on the sign-up page to state bitterly that I won't be attending and why oh why did they put it mid-week? Well, I can't complain too loudly since I manage to get to a lot of pretty great events. I am very happy they are doing something cool and exciting in NYC (I may partly be bitter because I hate to miss any opportunity to go to NYC).
So, the question is, when are we going to do a Library Camp North? I'm already well committed into October on the Northeast Regional Law Libraries Meeting but that conference will be specific to law libraries and will have a very different "look and feel" to it. I would love to see library types in these-here parts (Toronto area or thereabouts) get together to do something similar.
Would you be willing to lead the way??
So, the question is, when are we going to do a Library Camp North? I'm already well committed into October on the Northeast Regional Law Libraries Meeting but that conference will be specific to law libraries and will have a very different "look and feel" to it. I would love to see library types in these-here parts (Toronto area or thereabouts) get together to do something similar.
Would you be willing to lead the way??
New course: Social Networking Tools: Hands on Learning (Aug. 9/07)
I am very excited to announce a new continuing ed course I will be teaching at the Professional Learning Centre, Faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto:
Where: Faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto, Toronto
Register
Thanks go to Rebecca Jones who shared the original concept with me (and I just had to jump on the opportunity), and to Eva Kupidura for working with me to set this up and who keeps things running smoothly at the PLC.
This will be my very first time attempting this feat, and you won't want to miss it!! Sign up now since spaces will be limited to the number of computers in the room.
When: Thursday, August 9, 2007, 9 am - 5 pm
Social Networking Tools: Hands on Learning
Web 2.0, Facebook, Second Life - have taken the world and the library by storm! Explore these social media networking tools in this hands-on computer lab class. Set up a blog and wiki, view RSS feeds in an aggregator, try a social bookmarking site such as del.icio.us, and create a profile on professional networking site LinkedIn. Look at Flickr, LibraryThing, Ning, Facebook, MySpace and Second Life. Test out the latest apps such as Twitter and Jaiku. We will try some of these and have a "tour" of others, as well as discuss the implications for libraries.
Specific learning outcomes for students
At the end of the course, participants will:
* be able to set up a blog using Blogger or Wordpress
* be able to set up a wiki using PB Wiki
* set up some RSS feeds in a web-based aggregator such as Google Reader or Bloglines
* set up a profile on business networking site LinkedIn
* try using a web-based social bookmarking site such as del.icio.us or equivalent
* become familiar with Ning, Twitter, Jaiku, Flickr, LibraryThing , MySpace, Facebook and Second Life either through hands-on use or a live "tour" given to the class, depending upon time
* become familiar with how these are being used by libraries and library staff
Key topics covered
* who in society is using these applications?
* how are they being used by libraries and library staff?
* what are both the positive and negative aspects to these technologies?
* using social networking applications inside the firewall
* issues surrounding communication in public spaces
* what is Library 2.0 compared to Web 2.0
* how to learn more
* how to stay current in this area
Target Audience:
Library technicians, librarians, library managers and directors as well as others interested in Web 2.0.
Where: Faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto, Toronto
Register
Thanks go to Rebecca Jones who shared the original concept with me (and I just had to jump on the opportunity), and to Eva Kupidura for working with me to set this up and who keeps things running smoothly at the PLC.
This will be my very first time attempting this feat, and you won't want to miss it!! Sign up now since spaces will be limited to the number of computers in the room.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
A Quick Sketch Biography of Connie Crosby
Yesterday Chris Brogan wrote An Autobiography of Sorts which impressed me. I met Chris as a charismatic, outgoing podcaster at PodCamp Toronto earlier this year. He is a "super networker" in my books, meeting and connecting with lots of people, putting them in touch with one another. His autobiographical post filled in the blanks as to where he had come from, how he got to be what he is today. I was surprised as to all the self-development he has worked on, and the interesting path he has taken.
Today Chris has challenged his readers to write our own autobiographies. I have started reading those of others, and thought it only fair that I play along. I guess when I started this blog most people reading would have known me personally. It has gone beyond that, with many of you reading never having met me. So really I am doing this for you, dear readers. Here goes!
The thing most people know me for is…
Energy and enthusiasm for my vocation, law librarianship, and its related areas such as legal research, social networking (Web 2.0), knowledge management, and my blogging on these subject areas.
The people I associate the most with are…
Older than me. LOL! Even growing up I tended to "hang out" with the kids in the grade above me and that has translated into most of my friends being older than me. Part of that is just the nature of my profession. I was the youngest law firm manager in town at the time when I started in that role. Many in my age group in library school just did not find traditional library work during the recession times of the early 1990s. There really is a gap with not enough people in my generation now to take the place of those retiring.
That being said, outside of the profession I associate with all types of people. The one thing everyone I know has in common is that they are positive, up-beat people. Most tend to be over-achievers, either in their work life or in their personal lives. My personal inclination would probably be to sleep in and watch TV all day, but I really feed on all that energy and "can-do" attitude from others to drive me.
People who have influenced my life are…
Innumerable! I take my influences from everywhere, and from almost everyone I meet. I have had so may colleagues nudge me along in my career, or give me a big hand up, that it would be difficult to name them all. Some I have been able to thank, and for some I have probably neglected to show enough appreciation.
In my personal life, my parents had a huge influence. My mother always took the feminist stance that a woman needs a serious career and should support herself; my father taught me all about tolerance, patience, balance in life and that the ability to be proficient with computers has nothing to do with age. From other family members I have learned to make things a little better, to laugh, and what is really important in life. Friends have given me personal support and also inspired me. Others have challenged me to do more or develop myself at times when I would not have otherwise done so.
I have been truly blessed to have had many supportive, positive people in my life.
One challenge I took on and overcame was…
My intense shyness. People find it funny to learn that I could possibly be shy, since I am so forthcoming in my writing and also now do a proficient job at speaking to audiences. Throughout school, including my two university degrees in English Literature and my Masters in Library Science, I found it difficult to talk in class, talk in front of groups, and especially to talk to instructors. Earlier on it extended to being unable to talk to kids I did not already know. To this day I still turn red when I do any talking in front of people or even in meetings.
I specifically set out to challenge myself and overcome my shyness, which I felt would hinder my career. Pushing myself out of my comfort zone was key. I started by volunteering as overnight DJ on campus radio, where it was difficult to believe I even had an audience listening. Later in the working world I joined association committees and participated in meetings. Gradually I worked my way up, making myself ask one question at every presentation I attended. Getting up to a microphone in those big conference sessions was the most nerve-wracking. From there I started introducing speakers at conferences, then got involved with short little (5 minute) talks. I am now up to speaking an hour and a half in front of a small audience, or speaking for a shorter period in front of a large audience. I have also helped conduct half-day workshops.
I knew I really had overcome much of the shyness when my family asked me to give my grandfather's eulogy several years back. A roomful mostly of strangers who were upset at his passing, and I managed to crack a joke and get them laughing at his memory. He had a fantastic sense of humour and wouldn't have wanted it a completely staid affair. Today when I speak I still think back to that as the most difficult gig I'll ever have to do.
Working a room is still a challenge, but I believe it is for almost everyone. When I am in a room with no one I know, I focus on enjoying the atmosphere, watching people, and forget about worrying that I am not talking to someone. Lately I have been watching for events posted to Upcoming.org and attending those that interest me. I have met a lot of interesting, smart people in my city this way. The trick is to step right in and introduce myself, and find something in common with the people sitting around me. In particular I have written about my experience with Toronto Wiki Tuesdays.
My early years, before you probably got to know me were…
Equally serious! I was always the good, smart student. I worked as a page at the Burlington Central Public Library in Burlington, Ontario part-time after school starting when I was 15. My intentions were always to be a teacher, and I used to volunteer with special needs children during summers and on weekends. I was also the neighbourhood babysitter, and knew all the little kids on my block. When I was about 18, I realized that being a librarian included the teaching aspect that I was interested in, and that I probably wouldn't have the resilience to teach a classroom full of kids every day. The librarians at the Central library said I would "make a good librarian someday". I resisted that idea for a while, but at some point I realized maybe they were right.
I also took a lot more credits in high school than most kids. I lived in Pierrefonds, Quebec until Grade 9 and was in French immersion. Arriving in Ontario I was placed either in classes the grade above me, or in the advanced versions of classes. Everything I know about English grammar I learned in Grade 8 in Quebec, and I have been a fairly proficient proofreader since that time. I was good both in the arts and in science. In Grade 13 I also worked half my time in a chemistry co-op at the Shell Research Centre in Oakville, Ontario, (since closed) in a lab testing polypropalene (a type of plastic).
I attended the University of Guelph (also in Ontario) for many years. I started in Computer Science and even took the engineering Calculus course. I learned a lot (including programming in Pascal) but I really didn't enjoy that first year. Knowing that ultimately I wanted to go into library school and that as long as I did respectably in my undergrad degree, I switched into English Literature. There I fell in love with post modern Canadian literature including the books by authors Robert Kroetsch, Rudy Wiebe and Michael Ondaatje. I also rediscovered what I liked about computers, and by my last year in undergrad I was participating in an on-campus computer conferencing (networking) system called T-CoSy (the "teaching" version of CoSy, which stands for "Conference System", a networking system developed at the University of Guelph in 1984). This was a decade before the World Wide Web. Throughout my undergrad I worked at the McLaughlin Library at the University of Guelph, at the circulation desk and the reserves desk.
After completing my undergrad, I was invited by an English Literature professor to do a Master of Arts under him, in the area of computer applications for the humanities. I worked as a teaching assistant helping a class use T-CoSy, and later teaching a public speaking class to agriculture students. That might sound funny to some, but taking part in advocacy and public life is very important to those who work in agriculture. I was an unlikely candidate to teach that last one, but it is what English TAs did. My thesis was actually a handbook about computing for the humanities. It talked about things like using the SNOBOL programming text to analyze the language, using computers to generate music (imagine that!) and using computers to record/annotate dance choreography since choreography notation has serious limitations. Needless to say, the thesis was not a viable commercial publication since it was pretty much out of date as soon as I completed it. I learned a lot writing it, but the final product was underwhelming.
Library school was still calling, but I was anxious to work as well. I found a full-time position as library clerk in the Toronto office of a large law firm. They treated me very well and supported my attendance in library school, then the Faculty of Library and Information Science (FLIS, now FIS or Faculty of Information Studies) at the University of Toronto. I worked my way up to the technician position, and in my last year of part-time library school, I was asked to take on the role of reference librarian. This had been a dream of mine for the previous 10 years.
I thoroughly enjoyed doing reference, but I needed to re-set my goals. After soul searching, I discovered that I really wanted to be a leader in my profession, and that for me success would not necessarily be tied to the work position that I hold, but to what I could bring to my profession and my colleagues. Thus I started seriously working in the Toronto Association of Law Libraries (TALL) on committees and serving my colleagues. I also realized I wanted to be a manager. I have been very interested in management theory and am still dreaming of doing an MBA. But theory and real life are two different things, and so I moved to another law firm when the opportunity arose. I have been in my current firm for almost 10 years now, which seems incredible to me. I work with a fantastic staff. We are challenged every day, and rise up to meet those challenges.
I have also served as editor of the newsletter from TALL, on the Publisher Liaison Committee, and then on the Executive Committee as Vice President/President/Past President. It was so rewarding to follow in some big footsteps and make my mark on the association! I also gradually became involved with the Canadian Association of Law Libraries in several smaller roles. Most recently I served on the Executive Board as Member at Large. That was a fantastic experience, especially since my portfolio included the Awards and Scholarships Committee and organizing the First Timers breakfast. That was a two-year position. I would like to go back on the board some day in a larger role.
For now, though, I am kept very busy co-chairing the Northeast Regional Law Libraries Meeting ("NE2007") to be held this coming October. It is an occasional meeting (or conference) of northeast chapters of the American Association of Law Libraries and interested local Canadian Associations. TALL is hosting the meeting in Toronto. The last time it was held was in 1996, also in Toronto. We have big shoes to fill! We are expecting anywhere from 500 to 650 delegates plus numerous vendors. I have been working with Stephen Weiter in Rochester, NY (representing ALLUNY) on this for about 3 years now. We have an amazing group working on this, with whom I am very honoured to be associated.
Some of you may remember me before I started blogging in 2004. Before that time, I was a posted prolifically to listservs. Once I discovered blogs, that largely replaced that passion. I blog here on my self-named blog, Connie Crosby. I also have a "linkblog" called Connie Crosby Links for quick links to things I discover on the web and want to refer to later. I also participate in the Canadian co-operative law research and technology Slaw. I have helped start and participate in a number of other co-operative blogs for specific groups.
The blogging led to other writing engagements. Sabrina Pacifici, who I met in person at the 2005 Special Libraries Association conference in Toronto, invited me to write a column for LLRX.com. Thus "The Tao of Law Librarianship" was born (not all are posted yet on the redesigned LLRX site). It has been a lot of work to put that column out, and it hasn't been quite every month, but I am very proud of each of those columns.
The writing led to speaking which I have talked about. I have spoken at CALL conferences, Ark conferences, and have helped Sabrina put on workshops at Computers in Libraries. Recently I spoke to the Ontario Association of Library Technicians, and I have other engagements in the wings.
I met Jim Milles as well (through blogging) and he invited me to be a "Canadian correspondent" on his podcast Check This Out! That has helped build an interest in podcasting, and I have been exploring potential in that area.
At work I explore areas such as intranets, information management and knowledge management. I have been a member of the informal group Toronto KM Group (largely made up of law firm KM directors) and their related group the Toronto Intranet Coordinators Group. I love meeting with both of these groups. They are very different groups, both made up of some of the smartest people I know.
You might not know this, but …
I am currently developing a course for Rebecca Jones and Eva Kupidura at the Professional Learning Centre at the Faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto, in their continuing education program. I have long been a fan and a student of the PLC, so I am thrilled to be associated with them. The course, originally envisioned by Rebecca, will be on social networking (Web 2.0) applications. It is scheduled for August and we will be exploring fun applications such as blogs, wikis, Flickr, Ning, LinkedIn and Twitter (among many others), as well as talking about their implications for libraries and society. It should be posted soon. It is something that I hope, if it runs successfully, we will update and run periodically.
I’m passionate about…
Social networking, libraries, law librarianship, management theory (including knowledge management, change management, and information management), fiction, film, food, the environment (and our planet as a whole), personal fitness, cycling/spinning, and Pilates.
In the next year or two, I hope to…
Hold a successful NE2007 conference that others will find invaluable to their own professional development, learning, and networking. If the Social Media course at PLC goes well in August, that it will develop into a regular course. I hope to work more with Sabrina Pacifici on future workshops and presentations. Add in a podcast or two. Jim Milles and Wayne MacPhail have been encouraging me in this area, and I have two ideas currently in the works. I will also be helping Jim put on the pre-conference workshop "How (and What) to Podcast" at the American Association of Law Libraries conference this July in New Orleans. I am exploring some other possibilities, too. At work I hope to help give birth to a bouncing, beautiful baby intranet. In the meantime, we are exploring wikis as a partial interim solution.
Believe it or not, this may not be quite enough. I still dream of taking an MBA program. I actually have my eye on another similar program which is at the PhD level. It is very competitive to get into, so forgive me if I don't specifically mention it here. The less competition the better. I am a professional student at heart.
As you can see, my interests are varied and each seems to be taking on a life of its own. At times I feel like I should choose between them and focus, but really this is the short list since my interests could easily grow beyond these. I'm really a generalist and like to know a lot about a lot of different things.
People ask me how I have time to do all these things. Often it feels like I don't have enough time, to be honest. And I really do say no to things, honest. But when I see an opportunity, I do like to see where it will lead. It has been truly amazing where the blogging, for example, has led.
In terms of world view, I consider myself one of the most lucky, blessed people on this planet. Living in Canada with a roof over my head, enough food to eat, family and friends who love me, and the ability to choose how I live my life: not a lot of people on this planet can say they have all of these things. Despite talking about myself throughout this post, I really try to be as outward-facing as I can, to not be selfish and to serve others.
So much for this being "a quick sketch!". Thanks for reading this far. Now, what about *you*? Are you willing to take up Chris' autobiography challenge?
Cheers,
Connie
Today Chris has challenged his readers to write our own autobiographies. I have started reading those of others, and thought it only fair that I play along. I guess when I started this blog most people reading would have known me personally. It has gone beyond that, with many of you reading never having met me. So really I am doing this for you, dear readers. Here goes!
The thing most people know me for is…
Energy and enthusiasm for my vocation, law librarianship, and its related areas such as legal research, social networking (Web 2.0), knowledge management, and my blogging on these subject areas.
The people I associate the most with are…
Older than me. LOL! Even growing up I tended to "hang out" with the kids in the grade above me and that has translated into most of my friends being older than me. Part of that is just the nature of my profession. I was the youngest law firm manager in town at the time when I started in that role. Many in my age group in library school just did not find traditional library work during the recession times of the early 1990s. There really is a gap with not enough people in my generation now to take the place of those retiring.
That being said, outside of the profession I associate with all types of people. The one thing everyone I know has in common is that they are positive, up-beat people. Most tend to be over-achievers, either in their work life or in their personal lives. My personal inclination would probably be to sleep in and watch TV all day, but I really feed on all that energy and "can-do" attitude from others to drive me.
People who have influenced my life are…
Innumerable! I take my influences from everywhere, and from almost everyone I meet. I have had so may colleagues nudge me along in my career, or give me a big hand up, that it would be difficult to name them all. Some I have been able to thank, and for some I have probably neglected to show enough appreciation.
In my personal life, my parents had a huge influence. My mother always took the feminist stance that a woman needs a serious career and should support herself; my father taught me all about tolerance, patience, balance in life and that the ability to be proficient with computers has nothing to do with age. From other family members I have learned to make things a little better, to laugh, and what is really important in life. Friends have given me personal support and also inspired me. Others have challenged me to do more or develop myself at times when I would not have otherwise done so.
I have been truly blessed to have had many supportive, positive people in my life.
One challenge I took on and overcame was…
My intense shyness. People find it funny to learn that I could possibly be shy, since I am so forthcoming in my writing and also now do a proficient job at speaking to audiences. Throughout school, including my two university degrees in English Literature and my Masters in Library Science, I found it difficult to talk in class, talk in front of groups, and especially to talk to instructors. Earlier on it extended to being unable to talk to kids I did not already know. To this day I still turn red when I do any talking in front of people or even in meetings.
I specifically set out to challenge myself and overcome my shyness, which I felt would hinder my career. Pushing myself out of my comfort zone was key. I started by volunteering as overnight DJ on campus radio, where it was difficult to believe I even had an audience listening. Later in the working world I joined association committees and participated in meetings. Gradually I worked my way up, making myself ask one question at every presentation I attended. Getting up to a microphone in those big conference sessions was the most nerve-wracking. From there I started introducing speakers at conferences, then got involved with short little (5 minute) talks. I am now up to speaking an hour and a half in front of a small audience, or speaking for a shorter period in front of a large audience. I have also helped conduct half-day workshops.
I knew I really had overcome much of the shyness when my family asked me to give my grandfather's eulogy several years back. A roomful mostly of strangers who were upset at his passing, and I managed to crack a joke and get them laughing at his memory. He had a fantastic sense of humour and wouldn't have wanted it a completely staid affair. Today when I speak I still think back to that as the most difficult gig I'll ever have to do.
Working a room is still a challenge, but I believe it is for almost everyone. When I am in a room with no one I know, I focus on enjoying the atmosphere, watching people, and forget about worrying that I am not talking to someone. Lately I have been watching for events posted to Upcoming.org and attending those that interest me. I have met a lot of interesting, smart people in my city this way. The trick is to step right in and introduce myself, and find something in common with the people sitting around me. In particular I have written about my experience with Toronto Wiki Tuesdays.
My early years, before you probably got to know me were…
Equally serious! I was always the good, smart student. I worked as a page at the Burlington Central Public Library in Burlington, Ontario part-time after school starting when I was 15. My intentions were always to be a teacher, and I used to volunteer with special needs children during summers and on weekends. I was also the neighbourhood babysitter, and knew all the little kids on my block. When I was about 18, I realized that being a librarian included the teaching aspect that I was interested in, and that I probably wouldn't have the resilience to teach a classroom full of kids every day. The librarians at the Central library said I would "make a good librarian someday". I resisted that idea for a while, but at some point I realized maybe they were right.
I also took a lot more credits in high school than most kids. I lived in Pierrefonds, Quebec until Grade 9 and was in French immersion. Arriving in Ontario I was placed either in classes the grade above me, or in the advanced versions of classes. Everything I know about English grammar I learned in Grade 8 in Quebec, and I have been a fairly proficient proofreader since that time. I was good both in the arts and in science. In Grade 13 I also worked half my time in a chemistry co-op at the Shell Research Centre in Oakville, Ontario, (since closed) in a lab testing polypropalene (a type of plastic).
I attended the University of Guelph (also in Ontario) for many years. I started in Computer Science and even took the engineering Calculus course. I learned a lot (including programming in Pascal) but I really didn't enjoy that first year. Knowing that ultimately I wanted to go into library school and that as long as I did respectably in my undergrad degree, I switched into English Literature. There I fell in love with post modern Canadian literature including the books by authors Robert Kroetsch, Rudy Wiebe and Michael Ondaatje. I also rediscovered what I liked about computers, and by my last year in undergrad I was participating in an on-campus computer conferencing (networking) system called T-CoSy (the "teaching" version of CoSy, which stands for "Conference System", a networking system developed at the University of Guelph in 1984). This was a decade before the World Wide Web. Throughout my undergrad I worked at the McLaughlin Library at the University of Guelph, at the circulation desk and the reserves desk.
After completing my undergrad, I was invited by an English Literature professor to do a Master of Arts under him, in the area of computer applications for the humanities. I worked as a teaching assistant helping a class use T-CoSy, and later teaching a public speaking class to agriculture students. That might sound funny to some, but taking part in advocacy and public life is very important to those who work in agriculture. I was an unlikely candidate to teach that last one, but it is what English TAs did. My thesis was actually a handbook about computing for the humanities. It talked about things like using the SNOBOL programming text to analyze the language, using computers to generate music (imagine that!) and using computers to record/annotate dance choreography since choreography notation has serious limitations. Needless to say, the thesis was not a viable commercial publication since it was pretty much out of date as soon as I completed it. I learned a lot writing it, but the final product was underwhelming.
Library school was still calling, but I was anxious to work as well. I found a full-time position as library clerk in the Toronto office of a large law firm. They treated me very well and supported my attendance in library school, then the Faculty of Library and Information Science (FLIS, now FIS or Faculty of Information Studies) at the University of Toronto. I worked my way up to the technician position, and in my last year of part-time library school, I was asked to take on the role of reference librarian. This had been a dream of mine for the previous 10 years.
I thoroughly enjoyed doing reference, but I needed to re-set my goals. After soul searching, I discovered that I really wanted to be a leader in my profession, and that for me success would not necessarily be tied to the work position that I hold, but to what I could bring to my profession and my colleagues. Thus I started seriously working in the Toronto Association of Law Libraries (TALL) on committees and serving my colleagues. I also realized I wanted to be a manager. I have been very interested in management theory and am still dreaming of doing an MBA. But theory and real life are two different things, and so I moved to another law firm when the opportunity arose. I have been in my current firm for almost 10 years now, which seems incredible to me. I work with a fantastic staff. We are challenged every day, and rise up to meet those challenges.
I have also served as editor of the newsletter from TALL, on the Publisher Liaison Committee, and then on the Executive Committee as Vice President/President/Past President. It was so rewarding to follow in some big footsteps and make my mark on the association! I also gradually became involved with the Canadian Association of Law Libraries in several smaller roles. Most recently I served on the Executive Board as Member at Large. That was a fantastic experience, especially since my portfolio included the Awards and Scholarships Committee and organizing the First Timers breakfast. That was a two-year position. I would like to go back on the board some day in a larger role.
For now, though, I am kept very busy co-chairing the Northeast Regional Law Libraries Meeting ("NE2007") to be held this coming October. It is an occasional meeting (or conference) of northeast chapters of the American Association of Law Libraries and interested local Canadian Associations. TALL is hosting the meeting in Toronto. The last time it was held was in 1996, also in Toronto. We have big shoes to fill! We are expecting anywhere from 500 to 650 delegates plus numerous vendors. I have been working with Stephen Weiter in Rochester, NY (representing ALLUNY) on this for about 3 years now. We have an amazing group working on this, with whom I am very honoured to be associated.
Some of you may remember me before I started blogging in 2004. Before that time, I was a posted prolifically to listservs. Once I discovered blogs, that largely replaced that passion. I blog here on my self-named blog, Connie Crosby. I also have a "linkblog" called Connie Crosby Links for quick links to things I discover on the web and want to refer to later. I also participate in the Canadian co-operative law research and technology Slaw. I have helped start and participate in a number of other co-operative blogs for specific groups.
The blogging led to other writing engagements. Sabrina Pacifici, who I met in person at the 2005 Special Libraries Association conference in Toronto, invited me to write a column for LLRX.com. Thus "The Tao of Law Librarianship" was born (not all are posted yet on the redesigned LLRX site). It has been a lot of work to put that column out, and it hasn't been quite every month, but I am very proud of each of those columns.
The writing led to speaking which I have talked about. I have spoken at CALL conferences, Ark conferences, and have helped Sabrina put on workshops at Computers in Libraries. Recently I spoke to the Ontario Association of Library Technicians, and I have other engagements in the wings.
I met Jim Milles as well (through blogging) and he invited me to be a "Canadian correspondent" on his podcast Check This Out! That has helped build an interest in podcasting, and I have been exploring potential in that area.
At work I explore areas such as intranets, information management and knowledge management. I have been a member of the informal group Toronto KM Group (largely made up of law firm KM directors) and their related group the Toronto Intranet Coordinators Group. I love meeting with both of these groups. They are very different groups, both made up of some of the smartest people I know.
You might not know this, but …
I am currently developing a course for Rebecca Jones and Eva Kupidura at the Professional Learning Centre at the Faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto, in their continuing education program. I have long been a fan and a student of the PLC, so I am thrilled to be associated with them. The course, originally envisioned by Rebecca, will be on social networking (Web 2.0) applications. It is scheduled for August and we will be exploring fun applications such as blogs, wikis, Flickr, Ning, LinkedIn and Twitter (among many others), as well as talking about their implications for libraries and society. It should be posted soon. It is something that I hope, if it runs successfully, we will update and run periodically.
I’m passionate about…
Social networking, libraries, law librarianship, management theory (including knowledge management, change management, and information management), fiction, film, food, the environment (and our planet as a whole), personal fitness, cycling/spinning, and Pilates.
In the next year or two, I hope to…
Hold a successful NE2007 conference that others will find invaluable to their own professional development, learning, and networking. If the Social Media course at PLC goes well in August, that it will develop into a regular course. I hope to work more with Sabrina Pacifici on future workshops and presentations. Add in a podcast or two. Jim Milles and Wayne MacPhail have been encouraging me in this area, and I have two ideas currently in the works. I will also be helping Jim put on the pre-conference workshop "How (and What) to Podcast" at the American Association of Law Libraries conference this July in New Orleans. I am exploring some other possibilities, too. At work I hope to help give birth to a bouncing, beautiful baby intranet. In the meantime, we are exploring wikis as a partial interim solution.
Believe it or not, this may not be quite enough. I still dream of taking an MBA program. I actually have my eye on another similar program which is at the PhD level. It is very competitive to get into, so forgive me if I don't specifically mention it here. The less competition the better. I am a professional student at heart.
As you can see, my interests are varied and each seems to be taking on a life of its own. At times I feel like I should choose between them and focus, but really this is the short list since my interests could easily grow beyond these. I'm really a generalist and like to know a lot about a lot of different things.
People ask me how I have time to do all these things. Often it feels like I don't have enough time, to be honest. And I really do say no to things, honest. But when I see an opportunity, I do like to see where it will lead. It has been truly amazing where the blogging, for example, has led.
In terms of world view, I consider myself one of the most lucky, blessed people on this planet. Living in Canada with a roof over my head, enough food to eat, family and friends who love me, and the ability to choose how I live my life: not a lot of people on this planet can say they have all of these things. Despite talking about myself throughout this post, I really try to be as outward-facing as I can, to not be selfish and to serve others.
So much for this being "a quick sketch!". Thanks for reading this far. Now, what about *you*? Are you willing to take up Chris' autobiography challenge?
Cheers,
Connie
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