Communities of Practice, Social Networks and Knowledge Networks: Get in the Game!

I have posted notes I took during Joel Alleyne's talk to the Ark Group conference last week to the Slaw blog.

See: Communities of Practice, Social Networks and Knowledge Networks: Get in the Game!

American Library Association Joining Second Life

The American Library Association has announced it now has space in Second Life. It will have half of ALA/Arts Island. They intent to use it for disseminating ALA news and information. It will also be used to find new audiences, hold events, and interact with members and the public. The half-island was donated by an anonymous donor.

See the press release: ALA/Arts Island Set to Open in Second Life

Interview on Geek.Farm.Life

While at podcamp I was interviewed a couple times for podcasts. One of those has already been posted over at Geek.Farm.Life. Have a listen to the "B-side" podcast, Barncast 55b - Podcamp Toronto Interviews. I am just about to have a a listen to it myself.

Cheers,
Connie

Newly Re-energized!

Jim Milles and Connie Crosby Speaking at PodCamp Toronto
Originally uploaded by rhyndman.

I am completely exhausted, and yet completely re-energized at the same time. How is that possible? Last week in NYC speaking at the Ark conference, and then spending the weekend at Podcamp, I have learned so much, met so many people, and collected so many ideas! Some I have already put into place: Chris Brogan and other podcamper's network ethic to follow up with people immediately after an event to keep the contact and keep the conversation going. It is challenging when I have met at least 25 new people in 4 days. Remembering who was interested in what and how to continue that conversation is an intellectual challenge, albeit a stimulating, interesting, and enjoyable one!

I spent a good part of last night and this morning sending people LinkedIn invitations and holding follow-up discussions on our common interests. I also did some follow-up work on the podcamp toronto blog and tried to keep up with all the email! And, I was trying to get caught up on my "day job" in between.

The other thing which has really stuck with me is the idea that, if I am going to get into podcasting or videopodcasting (or what have you), I should stop being hung up on thinking it through too much, and JUST DO IT. I am so motivated, I just want to sit and start creating episodes. But, I have other nice little commitments to work on before I can do that. I need to sit and do some solid writing, workshop/presentation planning, and conference planning work. So, I am turning my energies to those things to see how what I have learned can apply to those areas. And I have a lot of great ideas on how to kick-start all of this for me. Again, I just want to roll up my sleeves and DO IT!

I think, once I get some solid sleep, it is going to be a fun month. And for February/March in Toronto, that is saying A LOT!

Cheers,
Connie

Hello from Podcamp!

Connie is at camp today. Specifically Podcamp Toronto 2007

I am currently liveblogging it over at the Podcamp Toronto blog

There is also livestreaming available from the wiki Schedule page.

Jim Milles and I presented a session first thing this morning called "What to Podcast". We had a packed room of about 40+ podcasting wannabes. We ran it as a brainstorming session with the room and used my macbook projected on the screen as a whiteboard. I recorded our ideas in the session and have also posted it as a PDF file from the wiki.

Hello from New York

Well, it has been hectic but now I get to rest for a day. I have been in NYC attending an Ark Group conference on Law Firm Library Management Best Practices, moderated by Joel Alleyne. Yesterday morning I spoke on Web 2.0 and Library 2.0. I've had great feedback from it. The challenge was trying to speak to the wide range of experience in the room.

Joel spoke today on Communities of Practice and Social Networks. I have heard him speak before on CoP (to Toronto Association of Law Libraries several years back), but things have advanced so much since then it really was quite a larger talk. I am always impressed by how much he knows when he speaks, too. He's not just a pretty face, that is for sure!

My colleague who was here with me, Shaunna, shared this with me today: I had a fantastic mention in by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell in the ABA's Law Practice Today. See the article.

Anyway, I look forward to a little sightseeing tomorrow. Well, we are in for a snowstorm apparently today. But at least I am in New York, which always gives me a thrill.

And then on to Podcamp Saturday and Sunday! Jim Milles and I are speaking on "What to Podcast" first thing Saturday morning. Jim has another talk that afternoon on grassroots podcasting in the academic setting. Can't wait!

Cheers,
Connie

Can't Wait to See Who's Who at Podcamp Toronto!

I have been anxiously awaiting PodCamp Toronto 2007 ! It takes place next weekend. Things have been really gearing up....we are up to 207 registrants and counting. Lots of people are putting on sessions--a schedule has been put up to allow us to book ourselves in to a time slot.

I'm proud to say that Jim Milles and I are putting on an intro session in the very first time slot, called "What to Podcast". It will be a brainstorming session for podcasting newbies (like me) who want to get started but are not sure what to do for content.

Anywho, some of the people I have met, but many I haven't. It will be a lot of fun to see who is who in the world of Toronto podcasting! (well, more likely greater metropolitan Toronto area and environs podcasting).

I have my fancy new blog business cards all ready to hand out. They arrived this week!

Oh yes, and Jim recorded our conversation about Podcamp for his podcast Check This Out! (Episode 60) so if you want to know more about podcamp, we talk about it at great length.

On Snow and Blogger and Valentines

Well, today is definitely a snow day! Those of us in the centre of the budding metropolis of Toronto don't have much excuse not to get into work what with subways and streetcars that pretty much continue running no matter what, so here I am at my post. Everyone else is away either working from home or taking a snow day. So, here I am smiling and eating chocolate which someone brought me (Lindt no less!). I don't usually celebrate Valentine's day, but then again I never turn away chocolate, do I? The books are shelved, the email read, the snail mail neatly tucked away for my co-worker who processes it. Very nice. It feels a bit like the calm before a storm: I just don't trust that it is going to remain this quiet. But, for now I am enjoying it since I rarely get any down time around here.

So, last week when I went to post something to this blog on my old school Blogger account, I was turned away! First it gave me this nasty notice saying my time was up, that I had better switch to the new Blogger. Then it asked me to sign in again, but this time I had to read and agree to a new terms of agreement (yikes!--not sure I agreed with everything I read). When I did all that, the system pooped out and wouldn't let me proceed. I was kind of miffed, so left it until Sunday.

Sunday I finally had time to read through all the info, figure out how to back up my blogs (almost 3 years worth of posts!) , delete some old practice blogs I no longer needed and take the plunge. BUT the system wouldn't let me do any of that. I signed on, it made me agree to those terms of agreement again, and then it threw all my blogs immediately into conversion. The system basically said to go away and do something else (even shut down the browser) while the changes were being made. That made me very nervous.

Fortunately, as far as I can tell all my posts successfully transferred over. And frustration I had in pulling up ancient posts with the old Blogger are now gone, since I can now see all past posts (and even a bunch of drafts that accidentally never got posted! Whoops.). I went in and deleted a bunch of old blogs because, well, I had wanted to clear those out anyway. Today is my first post with the new Blogger account. I see there is a place to put in labels (tags) for this post, but I don't see a way to create a defined set of authority labels (librarian mind of mine at work). So, today's post will be tagged: snow, work, valentines, Blogger, chocolate, tagging, frustration. Heh.

Man, and the snow just keeps on falling today. Wow! I can see it out of my window. Big snow-ball size flakes are coming off the buildings, too. Not too much on the ground, so I think it is just flying around between the buildings. It is supposed to be a lot worse around Hamilton.

Well, back to my regularly scheduled work. Take care, enjoy a day of chocolate and snow, and try to stay warm!

Cheers,
Connie

davidrothman.net: Library 2.0

This is from last November, but I just discovered David Rothman's blog and have been browsing around over there. Thought this was interesting: "Library 2.0" - a discussion about the term Library 2.0 and whether it is a valid term. I think this is a follow-up to the kerfuffle regarding the Wikipedia entry last year when it was slated to potentially be removed. Some interesting follow-up comments to this blog post from Jenny Levine.

Carnival of the Infosciences 64 Now Posted at Libraryola

Check out the lively tour through recent library-related blog posts over at the latest Carnival of the Infosciences from Chris over at Libraryola. For your pure amusement!

Connie Crosby's 2007 Schedule - Full Steam Ahead!

Well, 2007 is shaping up to be a hectic but memorable year! I have an exciting schedule full of speaking engagements, conference attendance, conference organizing, and writing. Here is summary of what is ahead:

Wednesday and Thursday, February 21-22, 2007
Best Practices for Legal Library & Information Service Centers
Organizers: Ark Group
Location: New York
--> I am speaking on Feb. 21st:

Discovering the Latest in Web 2.0 Developments

• What is Web 2.0 and Library 2.0
• The use of blogs, podcasting, RSS, and wikis inside and outside the law Firm
• Emerging Web 2.0 applications and trends
• Getting started and determining what will work best in your firm

Saturday and Sunday, February 24-25, 2007
Podcamp Toronto
-->will I be speaking? Check back later!

Monday, March 19, 2007
Hosting Carnival of the Infosciences here on my blog!

Thursday, April 19, 2007
Computers in Libraries 2007
Organizers: Information Today
Location: Arlington, Virginia
-->presenting two workshops with one of my heroes, Sabrina Pacifici, as follows:

Workshop 14 — Super-Charged Blogging: Delivering Innovative Enterprise and Client Services
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Workshop 20 — Mining Blogs & RSS for Research
1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Monday, April 23, 2007
Hosting Blawg Review here on my blog!
Special theme: World Book and Copyright Day

May 6-9, 2007
CALL 2007
Location: Ottawa
-->I'm not speaking but have lots of other fun things to do. See you there!!

May 10, 2007
OALT 2007
Organizers: Ontario Association of Library Technicians
Location: Toronto
--> I agreed to speak on KM yesterday. Tentative title and description:

Bringing SexyBack: How Knowledge Management has Made Our Work Sexier
What is knowledge management (KM) and what is the library's role? KM is a management theory that has been around more than a decade, so is more than a passing fad. It incorporates a number of familiar library concepts, somehow made 'sexier' when given new names.

May 30-31, 2007
Mesh Conference 2007
Location: Toronto
-->tentatively attending. I enjoyed this last year!

June 22-24, 2007
Podcasters Across Borders
Location: Kingston
-->tentatively attending. Missed it last year and regretted it!

Saturday, July 14, 2007
AALL 2007
Organizers: American Association of Law Libraries
Location: New Orleans
-->I am working with Jim Milles, Diane Murley, Lee Peoples, and Dongfa Zhou to present a full day pre-conference workshop called How (and What) to Podcast. The program hasn't been officially released, so I can't give you too many details other than that. Hope I haven't let the cat out of the bag!

~~and the big enchilada:

October 17-20, 2007
Libraries Without Borders II
4th Northeast Regional Law Libraries Meeting
Organizers: northeast law library chapters of AALL and Canadian law library associations. Hosted by Toronto Association of Law Libraries (TALL)
Location: Toronto
--> I am proud to be a co-chair of this meeting, along with Stephen Weiter of ALLUNY fame! Plans have been underway since 2004 to bring you a fantastic educational program in this fun city. Members of TALL are working to bring you a networking opportunity to remember!

So, promise to wake me up when it is all over?? I am now officially full up for the year. Well, to be honest too full. But you know me, I just love doing all of this, connecting with people I know, meeting new people, and learning new things. This year is already a whirlwind, but I wouldn't want it any other way, dontchaknow. I hope to see you out at one of these events. Please make a point of saying hi!

Cheers,
Connie

OLA Super Conference 2007

The annual Ontario Library Association Super Conference (a.k.a. "Supercon") is underway! And the blog has lots of action. Check it out--OLA Super Conference 2007. I'm not attending, but it is fun to glean some of the highlights posted here.

Connie's Method of Collection Development

A question went out recently on one of the listservs about our favourite and least favourite ways of learning about new publications. This is adapted from my response:

I prefer to see new titles as they come out from major publishers via RSS feeds. If I keep up to date this way I don't need to spend time going through catalogues later or having sales reps sit down and go through titles with me on a quarterly basis as is the traditional practice. I have therefore tried to take my name off distribution lists of catalogues or have returned them to the publishers; I prefer to refer to on-line catalogues rather than paper if I am looking for titles on specific subjects later since they often have more information and more current information with regard to pricing, etc.

I don't like receiving direct mail advertising. I receive stacks and stacks of direct mail, including several copies of everything addressed to all current and past library staff. I have tried to get off a number of these mailing lists, at times without success. Now I have the person who opens our mail discard everything outright except for one copy of mailings from small publishers and vendors. This has taken a huge burden off me. Almost equally, I don't like to receive notice about new titles via email. Either they come one at a time on a continual basis, or are gathered together in a regular newsletter and may as well be a catalogue since I'm not going to spend time going through it.

I don't know if this method (using RSS and discarding the direct mail) would work for every type of library, but it has certainly saved me a lot of time. I have little advertising to deal with, don't have to spend time meeting with sales reps unless I have the time and inclination (unfortunately I generally don't have the time). I read the feeds as I have time, not as the paper pile forces me to do so. I have been urging Canadian legal publishers to implement RSS feeds for their new titles. At some point I hope our association CALL can then merge all the feeds together into one feed from our website for everyone's use.

Adapted from a post I made to the NEXGENLIB (next generation librarian) listserv.