Category Archives: conferences
greetings from mexico!
Right now I’m in Xalapa, Mexico for the Peer Learning Meeting of the Gates Foundation’s Global Libraries Project. People attending the meeting have either received, or will be receiving grants from the Gates Foundation and I’m along to talk about Web 2.0 and library usability.
We’re going to do a few site visits, including some Web enabled all-terrain buses that travel around Mexico providing access. Does that sound as cool to anyone else as it does to me?
Here I am in full turista mode at Zempoala, where Cortés headed after arriving in Mexico.
Amanda Etches-Johnson and I presented a poster about library website usability at the 2009 Information Architecture Summit last week. What fun!
The poster was interactive. It asked readers to list things they’d like to see on library websites and nudged people toward thinking about fun, whimsical things. It wasn’t a surprise that a bunch of IAs had things to say about websites, but I was a bit surprised about how many library enthusiasts we came across.
We’re going to synthesize the suggestions that people gave us, but off the bat I can tell you that the *vast* majority of people we talked with equated library websites with OPACs. I’d like to explore this more formally.
Side note
Librarians seem to be *much better* about agreeing upon and sticking with official conference tags. I saw #ia09, #ia2009, #iasummit09, #iasummit2009, #ias09, #ias2009 on twitter. This from a bunch of people dedicated to labeling information! Fixing this is a small way in which librarians can contribute to the specialized areas of IA and User eXperience.
I’m looking forward to Computers in Libraries later on in the month. One of the things I’m doing is giving a presentation called “The Best of the Web.” It is about “websites and tools that you can use to connect with your community, make your website better, and make your job easier and more fun.”
I have a list of sites and some strategies that I want to share but hey, I’m only one person. You know about things that I haven’t seen yet and it would be great to include some collective intelligence in the presentation.
Be assured that if you email me with your favorite new tools and websites you’ll get full credit as I’m doing my show and tell and maybe even a little thank you gift if I use something you send in.
THANKS
Twitter seems to be the defacto backchannel at library conferences and events but at WebWise the other day Nina Simon suggested that everyone also use a site called Today’sMeet. I haven’t been inclined to report on conferences via Twitter nor have I used it very much to communicate with others during presentations. This is probably because I don’t find that type of reporting too compelling. One exception is when people highlight smart things people have said, but I like that when it isn’t in a conference reporting context too.
This being said, I did check out and use the WebWise Today’sMeet and liked it. It was more like an instant, disposable chat room than Twitter and that’s why I liked it.
- It wasn’t global. I’m pretty sure only people at the conference knew about the room and it felt very local and community-y.
- It didn’t place an emphasis on the poster. There were no pictures or avatars. Mostly it is just what people typed and a small attribution.
- It didn’t require an account or login so more people could get in on the action. It was link an IRC backchannel for all.
While tweeting about conferences via hashtags is great for people not at events, keeping up with parts of events you’re at but can’t attend, highlighting interesting ideas and people’s perceptions, Today’sMeet was nice in these other ways.
Yesterday I was part of a preconference session at WebWise 09, put on by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. It was really fun! The session’s moderator, Nina Simon, gave my co-presenters and I the challenge of coming up with a social media plan for an ongoing library event. I gave the audience some strategies for using weblogs, twitter and collecting (and helping people make) user generated content.
My presentation was titled “Formatting for the New Web” [6.5 MB PDF]. It is quite pink in parts and features me dressed up as Abe Lincoln on one slide.
