Gaming and Libraries

I'm a bit disappointed because I lost some of my notes. Here is the first 2/3 of Jenny's talk~

Jenny Levine

Gaming – not just Nintendo, not just teenage boys in the basement

• 90 million people up to age 35 (compared to Boomers who number 77 million)
• average age of the game is 33 years old
• largest group of online games – middle-aged women

Examples:
• Guitar Hero
• Dance Dance Revolution – very popular for women wanting exercise
• Nintendo Wii – new type of gaming; has opened up the world of gaming
o Families are playing together
o Seniors are playing e.g. bowling
o Those with physical issues can now bowl

Gamers – characteristics
• Organized
• Make decisions quickly
• Distrust of bosses (bosses are the villain they beat in the game)
• They learn a lot from games – physics, words, planning their next moves
• They expect rewards

Different types of services
• Collection development
o Mario Brothers Memorial Librarian
o Gaming Target
• Support materials for the culture of gaming
o E.g. gaming night for families @ImaginOn
o Orange Country Library System http://www.ocls.info/gaming - have a whole blog devoted just to gaming; allow kids post game reviews that get posted;
o www.myspace.com/gamerspryte (?)
o collections of older games so people can study them
• Reader Advisory
o Instead of asking what movie they like, ask what games they like
o Games have different genres
o Can determine what kind of books they will like by the type of game they will like.
• Non-video games
o E.g. hungry hungry hippos, Cranium
o Geocaching – you put something in a place and post the GPS coordinates on a website and someone finds it and puts something in its place – just a big scavenger hunts
• Open play
o Have the kids bring in their games
o Some libraries are offering tournaments after school e.g. Dance Dance Revolution
o You get interesting groupings of kids who would not normally be seen together
• Blog
o Teen blog about gaming – kids comment and interact every day
o Ann Arbor District Library
o Kids love it so much they have created their own online forum to talk about the library tournaments

Gadgets Gadgets Gadgets!

Always fun, the gadgets show with Barbara Fullerton, Sabrina Pacifici and Aaron Schmidt. My favourite so far: the retractible, reusable chopsticks. I need these!!!

Um, I didn't liveblog this because it took me a while to get connectivity. I suggest checking out David Lee King's blog since he seems to be blogging it completely from what I can see on his keyboard beside mine. ;-)

Jessamyn West - Pimp my Firefox

Liveblogging:

Pimp my Firefox
by Jessamyn West

See Jessamyn's presentation on her website here.

This is my first time watching a presentation by Jessamyn. It is a room of 300-450 people, and she is very comfortable and entertaining on the podium. This is a dynamic presentation in many ways; she is jumping to and from websites and showing us how she uses the Firefox add-ons on her machine.

When you install something on Firefox, it sometimes has to re-start. However, Firefox restarts quickly AND reopens with all the tabs you had open opened up still. Cooool.

Smart keywords - allows you to find any box to search keywords on the web. Saves you time so you can answer a question quickly.

Themes allow you to put your own esthetic onto your browser.

Greasemonkey is a javascript enabler - smiley monkey down in the right-hand corner means that Greasemonkey is working. Installs scripts that other people have written and allows you to manage them. It does work between the website and what you see on the screen.

Examples of scripts:

• "Flickr more home script" - Greasemonkey allows you to see 8 pictures instead of 4 at a time on Flickr.
  
• "Yahoo mail welcome skipper" - by-passes the advertising for you.
  
• "Facebook auto colorizer"
• "Facebook auto login"
• "Gmail signature flow" - puts your signature under your text rather than all the way at the bottom of all the messages
• "Wikipedia cleaner" - she doesn't like the sidebar; changes the style sheet and puts the sidebar at the bottom
  

Greasemonkey can be used to remove ads from webpages. Do you want to block ads in a public library? Will this block out legitimate pop-ups?

What can you do with this at your job? See the resources on this page about using Firefox in the Library. "Walk Like a Librarian" page - great for new Firefox users. Will step you through the stages.

You can add searches onto Firefox (top right corner). See the Search Engines add-on page.

"Elder Statesman" links in her handout are for making web pages easier to see for anyone having issues viewing the page, including some seniors.

Wow. I have lots to learn about Firefox. But I guess that is why I attended this session and not Meredith Farkas' session which I also would have loved to attend! :-)

Ken Roberts on Hamilton Public Library - Library 2.0

Liveblogging:

Library 2.0: Building Communities, Connections & Strategies
Ken Roberts, CEO of Hamilton Public Library

From the tab "Library Services", they access not just HPL but also other libraries in the community including Mohawk College and McMaster University.

If you are a library user and are on the city's portal, any search will also pull up library results. "Complete integration with municipal services." Using Sharepoint portal software. Compliant with accessibility codes; just because the software is compliant, it doesn't mean the documents added are compliant. Have provided training on this aspect.

26 web authors for the content, it gets put directly onto the portal without any mediation. They do extensive staff training and have a standards committee to look at changing standards. 200 people have been trained on creating content.

Risk management components: which parts may fail, what will they do if they fail? However, they didn't account for how much the events calendar would be used by the community. It was the first application that crashed.

Create collaborative space for community groups. Now have 70 online book clubs that use the collaborative space.

Designed for online transactions (maintained by the City); community organizations can use to do fundraisers, sell tickets, collect donations; has not worked well.

70-80 users per week obtain library cards that never go into a branch; they are using electronic services. Do not require them to go into a branch to pick up a card.

Find-it guides, on-line pathfinders, book clubs - if they add new titles to the catalogue, they automatically update. Dynamic, unlike a fixed PDF file that needs updating.

**If we provide fewer services but spend more money on publicity and marketing, we will find them better used. Ken Roberts was on the jumbotron at a local Tigercats football game that was nationally broadcast - becoming a "famous librarian". Had a tie-in with the Ticats; gave away Ticats tickets obtained from the team during off-season for free. Next run of library cards will have the Ticats logo on it (good organization, so good tie-in).

Partnerships in the community work well; your reputation will precede you. Nobody now starts a public partnership now without considering the Hamilton Public Library; considered a good, honest broker which will bring valuable resources to the table.

Built a fibre optic system in the community with the public schools in the mid-90s; has really paid off to allow them to put the portal into place.

Featured in an upcoming IFLA book on partnerships. Partnerships – many work, some don’t. For those organizations that don’t work well in the partnerships will have a more difficult time starting up partnerships later. Going into a partnership you need a common vision. Sometimes you need to compromise to create that common vision. You have to stay true to your organization’s goals; many times compromise works, sometimes it does not and you do not pursue the partnership.


“Celebrate success, excuse mistakes.” Any time working with a partnership, mistakes will make; look for a common culture. This is the attitude that the HPL brings to the table. You lose volunteers fast if you become critical; everyone who worked on it gets T-shirts, Ti-cat tickets, had a draw. Everyone is recognized.

They have not turned on financial transactions yet (city and library are currently using them but haven’t turned on for the community groups; legally with the city they haven’t decided how they should open it up).

Virtual library branch is a real branch. Started in 2001. Provides full online services, has its own manager.

Bibliocommons – social software, front end for library systems, allows users to put in information. Want to be the first multi-faceted group to use this

Second Life – have an island, just starting to build it. He loves SL; he believes it has huge potential. Working with vendors to deliver services

Hpl.ca
Myhamilton.ca

Blogging at Computers in Libraries

I'm now settled into the conference hotel, ready for Computers in Libraries to start tomorrow. I spent the last two days with Sabrina Pacifici preparing our workshops for Thursday, a new one on blogging for the enterprise, and one that Sabrina runs annually on mining blogs and RSS for research purposes.

I've now had a look at the list of people planning to blog the conference, and it is quite impressive! For anyone not here, it will be a well-covered conference. My only regret was deciding not to bring my new microphone, so I won't be recording people. Too bad, because it would have been a great opportunity with all these interesting people here.

Lots of ideas for future projects are already flying around. I may have to take a sabbatical from my usual job to get all these extra projects done! Heh.

Anyway, if you are here as well please do say hello. :-)

Cheers,
Connie

Caveat Emptor? Researching Metropolitan Who's Who

I find it incredible the number of people finding my blog post about Metropolitan still. They are trying to determine whether to take memberships, whether to take the risk. You will note I do not call the Internet-based private social network a scam. As a librarian, I believe in presenting the various points of view, good, bad or indifferent, so that people can form intelligent, well-informed opinions on their own. People deciding whether to join should make up their own minds about Metropolitan. In addition to the Metro-written website, blogs and press releases which as with anything written by most organizations are very positive, also have a look at this and this and weigh the risks carefully for yourself before you pay $741 or whatever amount they quote you. If you don't feel uncomfortable giving them your money after reading the various points of view, then you will have piece of mind giving out your credit card number.

Remember, in any relationship when you sign on to join a group or buy something, caveat emptor. A nice Latin phrase for you legal research fans!!

Third Winner Found in Blog Anniversary Draw!

Congratulations to Heather Acton who is the third winner in my third blog anniversary draw! Heather has been away from her email and just saw my message today.

Again, congratulations to all our winners! I'm still waiting for our Cafe Press store to open up.

Cheers,
Connie

Have You Found Your Second Life Yet?

I have been playing with Second Life for several months now, slowly finding my way around and discovering more reasons to visit. Tonight I am joining a group of Canadian women called "After a Fashion" who are using the excuse of shopping to learn our way around SL as a group. This will be my second time out with them, their third trip as a group.

As I become increasingly familiar with Second Life, I seem to hear about more related groups and events.

Wayne MacPhail of rabble.ca podcasts seems quite involved. This is what I found checking out his efforts tonight:

• Rabble.ca podcast: Who's on Second? talking to educators and activists using Second Life. This podcast has been running since November 2006 and is up to its 20th episode.
• Rabble.ca on Second Life
• Tomorrow night 9 pm EST Don Tapscott will be in Second Life discussing Wikinomics with Wayne MacPhail's help. See the notice.
  

Winners of Connie Crosby's Big Fat 3rd Blog Anniversary Draw

Thanks to everyone who took part in the little survey in honour of my 3rd blog anniversary!! Everyone who responded is a regular reader, with the exception of one person who described him/herself as someone who reads frequently but not regularly. You all left wonderful comments. I also asked about my portrait photo on this blog, whether it should be changed. 3 of you said to keep it since "it is a classic" (those were my words), 2 of you said it is time to change it, and everyone else said it is up to me. So, I'm not going to go out of my way to have a photo taken just YET, but if I happen to walk in front of a camera, you may see a change sometime in the future..... heh.

Okay, now without further ado! Three winners of NE2007 swag from the yet-to-be-created Cafe Press store were selected randomly from the 18 people who gave me email addresses in the survey (there were more who responded to the survey). Each of the 18 were numbered, and I had Wendy Reynolds pick three numbers in the 1 to 18 range. She could not see the list of email addresses. Each of the winners was sent an email message from me notifying of the win and requesting permission to post their names to this blog.

And the winners are:

• Kathryn Bennett
• Steve Matthews
• and ???

Yes, the third person has not yet responded!! And, because I don't have the name of the person (although I have my suspicions who you are), I cannot hunt you down via your work address. If you left your gmail account address, please check to see if there is a message to you from Connieblog! If I don't hear from you tomorrow I will try sending the message again. I'm hoping it didn't get stuck in your spam filter. I will keep trying!

Anyway, congratulations Kathryn and Steve. And thanks to everyone who took part in the draw!!! I appreciate all of your support in this little blogging endeavour of mine, and am thrilled that you are reading along with me. You have made this little milestone very special.

Cheers,
Connie

Slaw home page not available

It has been a frustrating day for Slawyers... the Slaw main web page has been unavailable. Apparently if anyone has a link to one of the individual pages, those are still accessible since the web site is still available from the web. It is just the front page for some reason (the part I really like to read) that we can' t get to right now. Hopefully it will be resolved soon.

Cheers,
Connie

Am I Really Stephen Abram?

Kathryn Greenhill has posted the funniest thing over at Librarians Matter. She wants to know if anyone has ever seen me and Stephen Abram in the same room together, because she suspects we may be the same person.

Too funny, Kathryn!

Cheers,
Stephen
(oops!)
Connie

Blog Anniversary Survey - There's Still Time!

Thanks to everyone who has taken my Big Fat 3rd Blog Anniversary Survey to be in on the Big Fat 3rd Blog Anniversary Draw. All who have responded to date are regular readers. What a terrific surprise--I have more than 2 regular readers! Thanks so much for your kind words, everyone. I'm glad you enjoy reading along as I learn about this great big info world of ours. We live in exciting times, I think. And I am privileged to know a lot of smart and interesting people, including many of you. I'm just a big sponge and like to learn from everyone.

If you haven't taken part yet in the survey/draw, there is still time! For details see: this post.

Cheers,
Connie

New Law Librarian Blog: All-Purpose Biblioblawg

I welcome Meg Kribble to the law librarian blogger community! This is part of a fantastic note I received from Meg today:

I wanted to let you know that I’ve started a blog, and I’ve included yours in my blogroll as one of my favorites. My introductory post is here:

http://biblioblawg.blogspot.com/2007/03/introduction.html

I realize that because of the subject matter, not all of you will be interested in reading regularly, but I still wanted to take a moment to introduce myself, and to say thank you with a bit more personalization than is possible with “blogs that link here.”

Thank you, and keep on blogging!

Regards,
Meg

I am honoured to be on Meg's original blogroll. Moreover, I would encourage you to have a look. She is just getting started but I'm sure she will be great!

Connie Crosby's Big Fat 3rd Blog Anniversary Giveaway Draw!

To celebrate my third year of blogging, I have decided to thank my friends and readers with a little informal giveaway draw. We are just in the process of setting up Cafe Press with Swag (t-shirts and maybe a couple other things) for the 4th Northeast Regional Law Libraries Meeting, Libraries Without Borders II. So, I thought it would be fun to give a few of those items away. Since that is not *quite* set up just yet, what I can say is I will be drawing for 3 items from our lineup.

To be eligible for the draw:

1. You must take my Big Fat 3rd Blog Anniversary Survey
2. You must provide me with your email address in the last survey question.
3. If you get selected in the draw, you must give me a mailing address.
4. You must be in North America or have a North American address I can send the Swag to, 'cause this is out of my own pocket.

I haven't seen the full swag line-up, but I expect prize winners will be able to choose your own groovy item from the list. Woo hoo!

Okay, click here to take Connie Crosby's Big Fat 3rd Blog Anniversary Survey! And best of luck in the draw!!

Thanks so much, everyone!!

Cheers,
Connie

Rob Hyndman Speaks to TALL About the New Media

Rob Hyndman Speaks to TALL
Originally uploaded by ConnieC.

Rob Hyndman spoke today at the Toronto Association of Law Libraries meeting about new media. In my usual style, I captured a fuzzy photo. This talk took place in the dramatic Arts & Letters Club (no pun intended) where TALL usually meets.

Wendy Reynolds has done a nice little commentary over at the NE2007 blog: We have met the new media, and it is us.

Rob has promised to post his presentation on his blog.

Thanks, Rob!

Happy Birthday Little Bloggy

Well, yesterday was your 3rd birthday. You are growing up pretty fast, little blog! I didn't forget about you. I have actually been working on a BIG SURPRISE for readers. I will post something more about it in the next day or so. Readers should check back tomorrow for news on how I am going to celebrate this blog's birthday!

Cheers,
Connie

Talk to Special Libraries class at University of Toronto on Web 2.0 and Library 2.0

FIS Special Libraries Class
Originally uploaded by ConnieC.

Courtesy of course instructor Vicki Whitmell, I spoke to the Special Libraries class at the University of Toronto Tuesday night and snapped this pic at the end of the presentation. Considering I gave no one warning, it turned out pretty good I think.

I had a canned presentation on Web 2.0 and Library 2.0, and supplemented that with more interesting visits to the websites themselves with little mini-tours. It was fun to show them the two tools librarians discovered in the past couple of weeks, Twitter and Ning. I think probably LinkedIn will be a good tool for this group in job hunting--we had fun looking at the bios of some of the people they recognized.

Thanks to the class for their interest, and for the questions during and after class. If anyone has other questions for me, don't hesitate to email! connieblog@sympatico.ca

Carnival of the Infosciences #67

Welcome to the Hangover Edition of the Carnival of the Infosciences! It was a slow week for the Carnival, no doubt because of a combined effect of Spring break, the early North American time change, and St. Patrick's Day celebrations (commemorated over at the Vincent G. Rinn Law Library blog) . We had only one submission for Carnival #67, so I am afraid you will now be subjected primarily to picks from my blogroll and maybe even some personal promotion. I'll try not to shout.


St. Patrick's day parade originally uploaded to Flickr by chidorian.


Superstar submitter Chris Zammarelli kindly submitted this post by cindiann from Chronicles of Bean: Library Agitprop . It riffs on this post by Karen Schneider at ALA TechSource: Dear Library of Congress... and takes a good, long, look at what we are doing with Library 2.0. Thank you for a fantastic submission, Chris!

Top on my list is those who have just concluded taking part in Five Weeks to a Social Library, the ground-breaking web-based course put on by the biblio glitterati:

• Meredith Farkas, Chair
• Michelle Boule
• Karen Coombs
• Amanda Etches-Johnson
• Ellyssa Kroski
• Dorothea Salo
  

I was going to list individual blog posts, but I suggest you just go over and explore the whole website, including blogs, wiki and course content. Meredith Farkas has also been blogging the experience over at Information Wants to be Free. And congratulations to Amanda Etches-Johnson for just being named one of LibraryJournal.com's Movers and Shakers of 2007!!

Turning my sights to the other side of the globe, CW at Ruminations based in Perth, Australia, discusses her trip to Margaret River to meet with a number of viticulture (wine-making) students and academic staff and provide them with some information literacy seminars and EndNote training. She talked about the trip beforehand, her plans to use Twitter to communicate with the biblioblogosphere while she was on the trip and away from blog access, and then summarized the experience in What we did in Margaret River.

One of my favourite law library bloggers, Michel-Adrien Sheppard who works at the Supreme Court of Canada and blogs at Library Boy, celebrated International Women's Day with a list of Feminist Legal Theory Resources. Michel-Adrien always picks up on the best of Canadian and international legal information.

At the cooperative group blog Out of the Jungle, Betsy McKenzie celebrated International Women's Day by taking part in Blog Against Sexism Day with a post called Letter to My Daughter. It is a touching read.

Also at Out of the Jungle, Marie S. Newman responds to a New York Times article about digitization, whether anything not digitized will be forgotten in the future, in Digitizing History.

Over at the Vancouver Law Librarian Blog, my west coast counterpart Steve Matthews created a fantastic summary called Biggest Hurdles for Law Firm RSS Adoption just before heading off to Disney.

Scott Vine, at Information Overlord based out of the UK, has shared with us his secrets for finding music in places other than iTunes: Let the Music Play On...

Since we last met, the lo-fi librarian celebrated a first blog anniversary. Happy blogaversary, lo-fi!! Keep on blogging! And check it out--each week lo-fi puts together a list of This Week's Latest Tools - March 18th list and March 11th list.

Which reminds me, Jim Milles is currently teaching a class on how to teach legal research, and he has been blogging and podcasting the content of the course over at TLR07. The students are learning how to incorporate new technology into their teaching. I strongly recommend having a look if you are involved in adult education.

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention the new cooperative blog we have created for the Northeast Regional Law Libraries Conference, librarieswithoutborders.wordpress.com . Wendy Reynolds has written a fantastic post called Pushing the borders of the profession . I hope you will have a look. (Okay, that is the blatant self-promotion part. I hope it wasn't too loud and painful!).

Everyone! Show the love and submit your blog article picks to the next edition of Carnival of the Infosciences using the carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on the blog carnival wiki page. Our next host, on April 2, 2007 will be Grumpator (just missed April Fool's by one day!).

Cheers,
Connie

Call for Carnival Submissions - due this Sunday!

I'm a bit late posting this reminder: I am putting together this week's Carnival of the Infosciences. Please get your submissions in by tomorrow night latest! I've only received one submission so far so I really need to hear about what good things have happened in the biblioblogosphere in the past two weeks. Bring me the best and the brightest!

Details here on my previous post.


Cheers,
Connie

NE2007: Libraries Without Borders II - Now Blogging!

I mentioned it somewhere in a past blog message, but thought I would mention this again more formally We are now blogging about the 4th Northeast Regional Law Libraries Meeting (affectionately known as NE2007) over at the new blog Libraries Without Borders II which happens to be the conference title! For anyone who would like to link over to it, the URL is http://librarieswithoutborders.wordpress.com . The main website (which will soon be nicely updated) is still http://www.librarieswithoutborders.net . But do check out that blog for the inside scoop on everything that is happening.

Later this week we will be releasing initial conference details to help everyone with conference attendance planning. Woo hoo!

Cheers,
Connie

Can You See the Wind Rushing Through My Hair?

In my usual style, I am over-committed and should be committed! Too many things on the go, doing my best to do them all somewhat brilliantly.

I just finished penning an article on trends in legal research training for the National, the Canadian Bar Association magazine. Whew! It is overdue and they have been very very patient with me, so it is good to have that finished.

We have also been working on NE2007, the planning of which has been heating up to a frantic pace. I had been anticipating it being this busy in June/July, not already in February/March. Meetings and email messages galore, and a growing concern that we are not getting enough information out to people in a timely fashion. That is being addressed this week. We are going to put out some "hard" details for people by next week and I have started up a blog for us so we can start talking about what it really is we have been doing. Have a sneak preview at http://librarieswithoutborders.wordpress.com.

Work has been a flurry of large projects including research outside the office, and the redrafting of our business continuance plan for the whole office. This time we are taking into account a pandemic scenario since that was not on the radar back in--what?--1999 when we last put some elbow grease into this thing.

In my spare time I have been thinking about and talking about podcasting and video podcasting, figuring out what I want to do. I definitely want to do something.

Oh yeah, and I have been taking a fabulous survey course through the PLC on Web Site Management and Implementation. My group project is to create a website for a real legal aid clinic. I have enjoyed being the liaison between the clinic and the rest of the team. I have also been working on the project report we have to submit, giving the team feedback on the site we have been creating, and being all-round cheerleader. Heh.

And I still have to create a personal site for myself in the next week. We have been creating one as we have gone along in class, but mine managed to somehow go awry and I have to start over. I am envisioning something that will incorporate my blog, a CV which I can update as I complete my growing list of professional activities, and a schedule so people can see what I am doing next. It would also be nice to have a place to post documents, such as presentations I have given, and maybe links to my various web presences. Tall order, but would be very useful!

Oh, yeah, and my next LLRX.com column has to be on the radar too. The plan is to write it on networking. Not the computer kind, but the people kind. It is something I am always coming back to somehow in the column, but haven't addressed it specifically as a topic. I met a bunch of super-networkers at Podcamp and learned a thing or two about networking, so am itching to share it.

So, enough about me. What have YOU been up to?

Carnival of the Infosciences #67 Coming!

Carnival of the Infosciences #66, hosted by Joshua Neff at The Goblin in the Library has now been posted!

That can only mean one thing: Carnival of the Infosciences #67 is on its way. And yours truly Connie Crosby is hosting it here! I am scheduled to post it on Monday, March 19th. Please submit your suggestions for infosciences blog posts by Sunday, March 18th. I need you to keep open all your eyes and ears! Find and send me the best, brightest, most exciting blog posts you see in the next two weeks. You can either send your submissions to me directly at connieblog@sympatico.ca or via the Carnival's submission form. Woo hoo! The Carnival is coming!

Online Tools for the 21st Century

Online Tools for the 21st Century - "an espresso hit of Web 2.0 with Wayne MacPhail". What a great idea! The first episode was on Meebo (which I have yet to explore) and the second episode is on Twitter which I am just trying to figure out now (if you are reading this from my blog website, you will see a Twitter screen I have added to the toolbar on the right).

Way cool.

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.

Podcamp Toronto Press Release - January 31, 2007

Free Podcasting "Unconference" Aims to Teach Newbies How to Podcast

(Toronto, ON) – Podcamp Toronto (www.podcamptoronto.org), a 2-day unconference which will be held at Ryerson University on February 24-25, 2007, will teach people how to plan, produce and publish a podcast. Attendance is free.

A podcast is a multimedia file that’s syndicated over the Internet. Similar to an Internet radio program, podcasting allows people to download audio or video content when they want to view or listen to it.

“Both hobbyist and companies are using podcasts to communicate with fans or clients,” says Leesa Barnes, one of the organizers behind Podcamp Toronto. “There’s a guy who uses his podcast to teach people how to knit and there’s a large corporation that uses their podcast to give end users tips on how to maintain their computers.”

The very first Podcamp was held in Boston in September 2006. It was born out of the desire to share information about audio and video podcasting and related subjects. Podcamp Toronto is a 100% free, volunteer-driven, sponsor-supported event. Otherwise known as an unconference, Podcamp Toronto focuses primarily on allowing people to share ideas, interact with each other and learn in an open environment.

“Using the unconference method means that attendees will learn from those in the trenches, the very people who are producing podcasts on a day to day basis,” says Barnes. “Whether you’re a seasoned podcaster or someone who’s just curious about this new medium, Podcamp Toronto will allow you to learn at your own pace.”

Sessions includes Interviewing Techniques, Video Podcasting for the Average Joe, Podcasting 101, 7 Ways to Monetize Your Podcast, How to Create Hollywood Effects from Your Living Room and Podcasting in Public Interest. There are a number of panel discussions, including Will Podcasting Kill Radio, Using Podcasting in Secondary Schools and What’s Hot in Marketing Your Podcast. The hosts of 2 of Canada's most listened to podcasts - In Over Your Head and Galacticast - will be on hand to answer questions about replicating their success. These are just a sample of the 25+ sessions and panels being offered.

A blog is updated almost daily with news about Podcamp Toronto. Sponsors include Scotiabank, the first Canadian bank to produce a podcast called The Money Clip and BabyTel, a voice-over IP company.

Visit http://www.podcamptoronto.org for more information or to register for free for Podcamp Toronto.


Media Contacts



Leesa Barnes

leesa.barnes@gmail.com

(647) 225-3792



Jay Moonah

jay@jaymoonah.com

(416) 885-5341

Flickr Members Conflicted

Lots of angry people venting over at Thomas Hawk's Digital Connection: There's Some Mighty Pissed Off Flickr Members Right Now. Seems like there are many people angry about the change to a Yahoo ID.

Or ARE there?! Thomas Hawk discloses himself as the CEO of an up-and-coming potential competitor to Flickr, Zooomr. He has definitely picked up the negative arguments, but if you scroll down in the comments, there are people like me saying this is all much ado about nothing, that it is to be expected since Yahoo! owns Flickr.

One fantastic change I discovered today with using the new ID: I can now actually log onto my Flickr account from the office computer, which means I can start loading up personal photos at home and using them in the office for some of my professional projects. Previously certain network security settings prevented me from signing onto Flickr (I think they were cookie settings). Well that just gives me a reason to say "yahoo!!!"

8-)

Information Overlord Covers Wikinomics

Information Overlord Scott Vine gives his evaluation of the book Wikinomics in his recent blog post Wikinomics.

He says:

I have just finished reading Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams' - Wikinomics. It is set to become the must read in the blogging community this year, and it is well worth several hours of anyone's time.

The book which takes off where Thomas Friedman's - The World is Flat left off last year paints a picture of the changing face of the internet and connectivity, and how the businesses that succeed in the future will be the ones that adopt and change and ride of the crest of the - dare we say it, web 2.0/social media, wave.

He goes on to give some key quotes and discuss them. Well worth a visit!

Flickr Moves Old Skool Members to Yahoo! Sign on

Tonight I received the message below from Flickr asking me to switch over to a Yahoo! sign on:

From: FlickrHQ
Subject: Update for Old Skool members


Dear Old Skool Account-Holding Flickr Member,

On March 15th we'll be discontinuing the old email-based Flickr sign in system. From that point on, everyone will have to use a Yahoo! ID to sign in to Flickr.

We're making this change now to simplify the sign in process in advance of several large projects launching this year, but some Flickr features and tools already require Yahoo! IDs for sign in -- like the mobile site at m.flickr.com or the new Yahoo! Go program for mobiles, available at Yahoo! Go.

95% of your fellow Flickrites already use this system and their experience is just the same as yours is now, except they sign in on a different page. It's easy to switch: it takes about a minute if you already have a Yahoo! ID and about five minutes if you don't.

You can make the switch at any time in the next few months, from today till the 15th. (After that day, you'll be required to merge before you continue using your account.) To switch, go to Merge a Flickr and Yahoo! account.

Nothing else on your account or experience of Flickr changes: you can continue to have your FlickrMail and notifications sent to any email address at any domain and your screenname will remain the same.

Complete details and answers to most common questions are in our FAQ: Yahoo! IDs, signing in and screen names.

Thanks for your patience and understanding - and even bigger thanks for your continued support of Flickr: if you're reading this, you've been around for a while and that means a lot to us!

Warmest regards,

- The Flickreenos

So, to prove that just because I am dragging my feet on switching this blog over to the new Blogger does not mean I have issues with change, I pulled out my little-used existing Yahoo! login ID, signed onto my "old skool" Flickr account, and merged the two. No problemos, and it took me all of about 30 seconds. Woo hoo! And poking around my Flickr account with new sign on shows nothing has changed.

Thought I would post this here for nervous nellies worried about switching. It seems to go as smoothly as they claim.

What does this mean? That I trust Yahoo! more than Google (Blogger owner)? Hmmm.....

By the way, I notice that Flickr is not beta, but "gamma". Not sure what that means--they are ready to take their service out of beta, but not confident enough to call it final? And how long before it is in "omega"??

Welcome Carnival Goers!

Michael Habib has now posted Carnival of the Infosciences #53 and he has kindly written about the two posts I submitted last week.

Welcome to everyone who is linking back here from that post!

The Carnival is now running every two weeks, which is a lot more manageable for everyone involved--readers, writers, and people submitting. I have signed up to host on March 19th, so stay tuned. I guess the big question will be whether I do a belated St. Paddy's Day theme, or come up with something else.

In the meantime, please please submit your favourite library-related blog post from this week and next week, either your own or someone else's, to the Carnival. Check out the wiki page for details.

The Ultimate Teachable Moment

I'm wondering how many of these perfect teachable moments we are missing out on?--

a lawyer or student comes to us and says: "I have spent 15 min/30 min/4 hours on this and can't find this document. Can you find it?"

Well, our favourite thing in the world as reference librarians is to run around, quickly find it, pull a rabbit out of the hat and say: TA-DA!



But wait....

...we may look like a star for 15 seconds, but have we really taken advantage of this opportunity??

The person is ripe for learning how to find this document. Ideally, we should be taking him or her by the hand and walking through the steps to finding the solution. Worst case scenario, if the task has just been hoisted on us and the person has disappeared, we should provide a rationale (email, voicemail) as to how it was found.

How many of these moments have we missed? It's that whole "Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime" concept.

Especially if the person is already hungry for the knowledge, that is the perfect time to feed it to him or her. It really is the ultimate teachable moment.




Top photo of fisherman is by UpNorth Memories.
Bottom photo of man eating fish is by spiderwegian.
Both with some rights reserved under Creative Commons. Both located through the Flickr advanced search screen.

Jakob Nielsen's 10 Best Intranets of 2007

Jan. 25/07 - Jakob Nielson recently released his "10 Best Intranets of 2007" list.  In his summary, he discusses these newer trends that he sees as favourable:

• increase of multimedia including regularly changing photos, increase in video, and more precise news feeds or edited news;


• ability for internal staff to rate items or add comments; he feels these features are even more useful on an intranet than out in the real world since you are more likely to receive constructive comments;


• users in multinational (or multilingual) firms to have choice of language interface; he also comments on how some multinational companies are using their intranets for people to work more cohesively;


• more standardization; firmer standards;


• conservative use of trendy web applications such as blogs, wikis and other social tools.  He notes a successful employee search tool which shows the searcher how many degrees of separation he/she has from the other person, to help find someone the most closely related;


• web usability statistics on intranets should be interpreted differently than statistics for websites because the contexts are different;


• intranets are becoming more established in the organization's infrastructure with proper budgets and staffing;

Full 360 page report with screen shots is available here for $174 for single report or $378 for site licence with ability to post to your intranet (prices are U.S.).   If anyone purchases it, could you let me know if it is worthwhile?? 

Link to this report was courtesy of today's beSpacific.

CALL/ACBD 2005 Private Law Library/Corporate Law Library SIG Operational Survey Released - Comments requested

Today the PLL/CLL Committee of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries released its 2005 Operations survey, available from the PLL/CLL webpage.

This survey was a lot of work and covers subjects such as:

• Library clients


• Library staffing


• Physical library space


• Library products and services


• Billing


• Budget and financial planning - including costs per lawyer


• Online services - use and spending


• Firm intranet and website - involvement by library staff


• Library catalogue


• Multi-office firms/National firms

The committee who put this together request feedback about the usefulness of this survey:

"Given the effort exerted and expense incurred in conducting CALL surveys it is time to seriously question whether we should continue to do so -- given that members often conduct their own small surveys via the CALL-L listserv as questions arise. This committee is interested in your thoughts on this."

For my own part I find it an immensely enlightening read, but then I wonder if I put what I learn into practical use? I am hoping to look more closely at the results and see what conclusions I can draw. If I find anything of particular interest, I will share it here.

Cheers,
Connie

This Blog & Comments Function

I think the comments function on this blog are not working at the moment. I recently switched it so that I would be moderating comments because of a large increase in comment spam. It worked for a day or so, but since then I have had reports that it is not working. I have tried resetting it and republishing the blog, but as far as I can tell you will probably still get errors if you try posting a comment. Feel free to give it a try and prove me wrong!

At this point, I'm not going to put more time into correcting it as I still have to upgrade to the new Blogger platform. I am hoping that the move over will correct things. It is going to take a lot of work since I have to figure out how to back up this blog first, and then I have a number of blogs which need to make the move all at once. I'm also bouncing around the idea of getting a separate domain since Blogger is now offering to host blogs on private domains. Cool idea and I'm thinking of taking them up on it if I am going to switch things around anyway. But I need to think this through. So, it may take a few weeks.

In the meantime, my apologies if you are unable to post comments. Like I say, it may work but I am doubtful. You are welcome to send comments to my email address connieblog@sympatico.ca in the meantime.

Thanks for your patience, and happy reading!

Cheers,
Connie

OLA Super Conference 2007 - Blog!

The Ontario Library Association has created the OLA Super Conference 2007 blog for the upcoming conference, January 31 - February 3, 2007. For those of us not attending, it will be a treat to read along with attendees. A call went out this morning for bloggers, so not a lot has been posted yet. Let's keep an eye on it!

Ruminating on keitai and RFID

I was just reading a comment about the new iPhone, how it brings little new to the Japanese mobile phone culture since keitai (Japanese mobile phones) are so much further ahead than the North American version. I was reading about all the things that keitai can do.

It brought me back to a discussion I had with Anh last week about RFID tags and what they will eventually do for our library. We don't have a barcode system to sign out books, and I have always preferred to wait for the cost of RFID tags to drop so we could use those instead since they have a lot more functionality. I have an idea about the basic uses for RFID tags, but I figured there are uses we haven't even thought of yet.

Now, what about somehow having the cell phones or blackberries reading the RFID tags? Is that possible (or, should I say, how could we make that possible?). What about someone in a small office pulling up a catalogue record on the cell phone and having that cell phone help them figure out which shelf in the library or which office in their building has the book? What about, if they walk through the shelves in the library, tag clouds from the books pop up as they walk around so they can locate the books that best cover their subjects? (I heard of this idea somewhere else, but using the RFID reader, not a cell phone).

Is anyone thinking about using RFID and cell phones together? Well, keitai apparently have RFID in them. I can't imagine I'm the first to think of this....

And then, someone could use the cell phone to automatically sign the book out in his/her name. And to add additional information to the RFID tag, such as additional folksonomy-type tags and user notes for others to view. How cool would that be?

Wikinomics: Mass Collaboration Coming Your Way

Last week Michel-Adrien Sheppard pointed out the new book Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything. I was so impressed with some of the Globe and Mail columns that Michel-Adrien pointed to in his post that I ran out, bought the book, and started reading it immediately. Then I heard about the book launch taking place at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto last night, and invited myself along. Well, I didn't exactly crash the party, but let's just say I didn't have an invitation to the invitation-only event.

The book itself is not just about wikis, but about how mass collaboration is making great changes to organizations and, as a result, society and the economy. So-called Web 2.0 is one catalyst for the change. We're really at the cusp of the enterprise changing, and authors Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams have some solid real-world examples of how this is happening. The first example they give is how Goldcorp, Inc., a Canadian gold mining company, opened up its private, proprietary data (something definitely unheard of in the mining industry) and asked people around the world for help finding gold on their own land. Anyone giving them the most successful information would get a cut of the profit. The experiment was hugely successful, with expertise coming from around the world and unexpected places. Much more gold was found from a number of different locations in what was previously thought to be a "finished" mine. The first chapter of the book is available from the Wikinomics.com website if you want to read the full story.

Toronto Wiki Tuesdays

Last night I attended my first Toronto Wiki Tuesdays meeting. Organizer Martin Cleaver was welcoming, and there were a number of other newbies there. There were about 12 of us total and it sounds like that was probably the best meeting they've had thus far. It turned out to be one of the most interesting meetings I've attended in a long while.

We started with Martin giving a synopsis of the first 70 pages of the new Wikinomics book, how collaboration is growing and affecting enterprises and society, and the concept of "peer production". At some point we interrupted him with so many questions and comments that the "lecture" got off track and we ended up sharing our various questions and ideas. It was clear everyone there was from a very different background, each of us had an agenda of something to discuss, and we all are interested in the "high level" picture of society and organizations rather than just talking about comparing which software works best.

I liken it to a kitchen party where you are meeting all these cool new people but you know you have at least one interest in common and you have to figure out what else you have in common or can learn from each other. There was someone talking about business communications, someone talking about monetary systems, and someone else talking about mathematical theory. There was another special librarian there (a systems librarian in the healthcare industry) so we compared some notes on a few library-related things.

Then, someone (Paul, I think it was) pulled out his newly acquired Wii and plugged it in to the bar's big screen TV projector. That shifted the dynamic and, as people took turns trying out playing with the Wii, the rest of us broke into groups of 2 or 3 and started comparing notes on a number of issues. As people cycled through the Wii game, the little groups reconfigured.

The meeting was supposed to end about 9:30. It was a Tuesday night, and I left at 11:00 pm and things were continuing with a few people still there talking!

Some of the things I learned from our discussions:

• You can use a wiki as a metaphor for a lot of different things.
• Wikis are most useful when coming to a definitive answer, and not so useful for open-ended questions that cannot be resolved.
• Wikis act as a "negotiation" tool allowing people to work together until they come to an agreed document or vision.
• Flickr might conceptually be considered a type of wiki. If that is the case, I would suggest that Second Life is a form of a wiki as well (albeit a graphical one).
• Wikis are good for converging ideas; blogs are good for diverging ideas.
• All forms of electronic communications have served to flatten organizations.
• The larger, more established the organization, the longer it is going to take to "turn the boat around" and have it change to a collaborative model rather than the command and control model.
• The type of editing interface an application has can influence the writing style of a person. If you don't want to encourage a long list of bullet points, don't include a bullet point option.

I recommend, if you are interested in looking at the big picture of collaboration in enterprises or in society, this group might be of interest to you. I hope to see these people again at the next meeting.

Book launch - Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything at Rotman School of Management (U of T) (Thursday, January 11, 2007)

The Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto is hosting a launch party for Don Tapscott, co-author of Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything. The book launch takes place this Thursday, January 11, 2007 at 5:00 p.m. Details on Upcoming.org. You need to email them an RSVP to attend.

I picked up the book on the weekend and started reading it. I have a feeling it is going to be one of those must-read books, following up where The World is Flat left off. Despite the title, it is not just about wikis! It is about how businesses and the economy are going through fundamental changes thanks to the new collaborative mindset we are seeing thanks to developments such as those in Web 2.0.

5 Things

I don't know where this meme originated, but Jim Milles tagged me for the list of "5 Little-Known Things About Me". The most difficult thing about this is to limit myself to only five! Here goes, 5 things you probably don't know about me:

1. I was in French immersion from grades 7 to 9 and can still understand most everyday conversation in French.

2. I started my undergraduate degree in computer science. Once upon a time I could program in Fortran and Pascal.

3. I met my husband on-line in 1986, before most people had ever heard of email and long before the World Wide Web!

4. I was once an overnight DJ on campus radio.

5. Despite appearances to the contrary, I am a "gym bunny" and can be found at the gym or Pilates studio at least six days a week.

I am tagging Carolyne, Dave, Daniel, Michel-Adrien and Gary.

Happy New Year!

Things are starting to get back to normal after a very busy holiday break. Things didn't really go as planned over the holidays, so I didn't quite get all the things done that I wanted to do. Such as move this blog over to the new Blogger, get my vacation photos (from September!) loaded onto Flickr, and get my next LLRX.com article written. As my mother would say, "such is life." Instead I did some equally (or more) valuable things: spent more quality time with family than expected, got lots of much-needed sleep, and used my French language skills I thought forever buried in my subconscious while visiting my in-laws' relatives in Quebec.

Anyway, now I am slowly trying to get back on track and thinking in English again. Heh. And I've got a few things to catch everyone up on this blog. I should get back in the swing of things again soon.

Happy Chrismukkah One and All

Happy Chanukka, Merry Christmas, Happy Chrismukkah, and Happy Festivus for the rest of us!

New Blogger Out of Beta

It's official! The new-and-improved Blogger (the blogging software which runs this blog) is out of beta. I've received my invitation to move over. I've gone through some of the emotional stages of change, including denial and anger. I'm starting to come around. It is going to take some time to save what I have to date as a back up and then move it all over, so am leaving that to a little later in the holidays when I can better deal with any potential chaos.

So, please forgive me if things continue to look the same for now. It's just temporary until I have time to rearrange the furniture and sweep up.

More info.

Reaching Across the Generations in the Profession

Back in October I asked for ideas for my column on LLRX.com, The Tao of Law Librarianship. Bonnie Shucha obliged with a couple suggestions, including one about intergenerational communication.

I wasn't sure what I could contribute that would be new to the "generations" discussion, but I do have some pretty strong feelings about it. The result has now been posted on LLRX.com: The Tao of Law Librarianship - Reaching Across the Generations in the Profession. Thanks to editor extraordinaire Sabrina Pacifici for finding a great title for the article! I was definitely struggling with that part.

Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys the article and finds some food for thought.

Cheers,
Connie

Globe and Mail @ play: Not your grandfather's library system

The Globe and Mail published a great article on Tuesday in the @ play technology column: Not your grandfather's library system. Do have a look before it slips behind their "must pay for full article" wall.

This article outlines new technologies being used by Canadian public library systems,including Vaughan Public Libraries and Toronto Public Library.
University librarians were also interviewed, as was Stephen Abram, vice-president of innovation at SirsiDynix and a well-known figure in the library world.

I was going to quote selectively from this article, but you really should read the whole piece. I am frequently blown away by how advanced our public libraries are becoming, and this article really reinforces that opinion.

I sometimes get asked how I keep ahead of the crowd with my work, but when I look at what these and the academic libraries are doing, I really feel like I am much more of a follower than a leader.

Kudos to all interviewed for the article, and to those who make everything tick at those libraries!

Book Discussion - The Library at Night - Update

Wendy and I have had great feedback on the book discussion evening we are organizing. We are reading The Library at Night by Alberto Manguel and will be meeting the evening of January 17, 2007 to discuss it with other librarians. Thus far we have 8 people confirmed and have heard of others planning to join us.

More details--and related links with more information about the book--are available on my December 4th post.

I have given the option to register via email, but I would really LOVE to see people signing up via our post on Upcoming.org and making it a popular Toronto event. Also, if you have any librarian friends (not necessarily law librarians), please do pass the word along.

Inmagic's WebPublisher Pro V10 - RSS Publishing

The upcoming release V10 of InMagic's WebPublisher Pro --the web interface tool for DB/Textworks-- will include RSS publishing. This is great news for InMagic users, although details as to how it will work are still forthcoming. See the news release Inmagic's TextWorks & WebPublisher V10. The InMagic update is scheduled for release on December 29, 2006.

This should help add a few items to Steve Matthews' now-famous blog post Top 10 Uses for RSS in Law Firms, I should think!

Issues and Looking Forward with Law Intranets

Long story short: there is a burgeoning law intranet co-ordinators' interest group in Toronto which met for the first time last week. I attended and took a few notes which I thought others might be interested in.

Issues currently of concern with intranets:

• search
• archiving information (what is being archived, how it is being archived, and what is deleted)
• providing better access to precedents
• information is too static (not being updated frequently enough)
• intranet is not being used
• making the site bilingual for some firms
• governance issues - who "owns" the intranet
• security
• usage measurement, and what to do with the usage stats that people are collecting
• connectivity between content management system and the document management system
• connectivity between the intranet and the document management system

Projects people are anticipating looking forward:

• addition of news feeds
• adding content (especially dynamic content)
• incorporating RSS feeds
• use of wikis

Even further in the future:

• has the intranet had its time and will federated search replace the need?
• evolving into a self-service model, for example folksonomies (tagging) rather than taxonomies
• Microsoft has a lot of tools for "on the fly" collaborative work spaces that would promote the self-service model

Topics for discussion at future meetings:

• who are content publishers?
• governance
• what is the workflow and process in each organization?
• what do you archive, and what do you delete?
• training issues
• which firms have web developers or coders on staff? Are there issues around this?
• how people use the intranet?
• how are people using blogs and wikis?
• how to push information to people without email
• delivering content via RSS feeds
• issues around providing service to multiple offices
• how people use intranets for current awareness service

Lots of interesting thoughts for consideration. Are there any similar groups meeting elsewhere?

A Librarians' Book Discussion - January 17, 2007

Wendy Reynolds and I have decided to read Alberto Manguel's new book and invite along anyone else who is interested. We're opening this up to any librarians in the Toronto area who would like to join us~~

Who: All Librarians welcome!
What: Discussing Alberto Manguel's recent book The Library at Night
Where: Toronto. Venue to be announced.
Location will be selected once we have an idea of how many would like to join us.
Why: We're reading this book and would like to discuss it. Simple as that!
How: Register at Upcoming.org or by emailing us at connieblog@sympatico.ca
**This is an informal, unsponsored event.**

Related links from CBC:
The Constant Reader (Nov. 20/06)
Conversation with Alberto Manguel, The Sunday Edition (Nov. 5/06) (audio)
Interview with Alberto Manguel, Words at Large, CBC Podcast (Nov. 1/06) (audio)