Cycling for Libraries

Fancy riding from Copenhagen to Berlin with a bunch of librarians next summer? I do. Kai, a information school professor and cycling enthusiast is organizing a ride.

Cycling for libraries is a politically and economically independent unconference and a bicycle tour. It also supports physical and mental well-being of library professionals, grassroots networking, and internationalism and — last but not least — the crucial role of libraries for the society and for the intellectual and scientific education in general. Cycling for libraries also supports environmental values and ecological way of life.

More info at Cycling for Libraries.

Gaming Workshop Handouts from PLA

 

Yesterday I had the pleasure of presenting a preconference workshop at PLA with Eli Neiburger. Even better than listening to Eli talk was getting someone to play a video game for the first time. She liked it.

Here are some resources mentioned during the presentation:

PDF of our slides
the video Eli showed
GTSystem WIki
ALA’s library gaming toolkit
Games in Libraries Podcast
Eli’s book!
8 Bit Library
National Gaming Day

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?

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Here I am in full turista mode at Zempoala, where Cortés headed after arriving in Mexico.

the usable library website poster

Amanda Etches-Johnson and I presented a poster about library website usability at the 2009 Information Architecture Summit last week. What fun!

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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 need your help with a presentation

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

today’smeet: an alternative backchannel

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.

today’smeet: an alternative backchannel

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.

webwise-c2ab-today_s-meet-2
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.

my presentation at webwise 09

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.
webwise (page 9 of 10).jpg
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.

early spring presentations and fun learning

plane

In addition to the UIE roadshow yesterday I have a bunch of fun speaking and learning opportunities coming up. I’m looking forward to it all!

2/25 : WebWise 2009
→ Social Media Iron Chef

2/17 : Drupal4Lib Camp
→ attending!

3/17 : Illinois State Library On The Front Lines: Agents of Change
→ Keynote, Creating the Usable Library

3/20 : IA Summit 2009
→ The Usable Library Website (poster session with Amanda Etches-Johnson)

3/22-27 : Gates Foundation Global Libraries Peer Learning Meeting
various sessions

3/28-4/2 : Computers in Libraries 2009
various sessions

More details and PDFs as it all unfolds.

HOWTO give a good presentation

Over the past few days I’ve had a number of conversations with folks about presentation styles and abilities. David Lee King even suggested that someone give a presentation about giving presentations at a library conference. Until that happens I thought I’d post a list of my thoughts here. Please note that I’m not claiming to be an expert presenter. I’m sure I use terribly too, many, uh, pause words when I’m speaking to people. I also think I caught myself pacing a kinda fast at one point during a talk this week. Oops! Even though I’m sure I have presenting foibles, I bet the following thoughts remain helpful for presentations at conferences, in your own library or on the corner soapbox.

Remember that you’re not giving a presentation. What you *are* doing is sharing ideas and hopefully trying to convince people of something. So don’t “give a presentation.” Just talk to your audience. Have a main point or two and tell the story surrounding those points.

→ Often said but worth repeating: Please don’t fill your slides with words. Find some relevant and pretty pictures to support what you’re saying. You can use the pictures to remind yourself what you’re going to say next. Search Creative Commons photos on Flickr and cite the photos with a URL. Your presentation should be *very* incomplete without your narration.

→ Instead of spending time practicing a presentation, use the time to learn more about the subject. The more developed your thoughts on the topic are, the more you’ll know what the audience needs and doesn’t need to know. This also helps with the Q&A portion of the talk.

Leave plenty of time for that Q&A session because it’ll probably be much more interesting than your prepared remarks. If you get stumped during this time, don’t pull a Palin and answer an entirely different question. Ask the questioner to get in touch to talk about the subject later.

→ Quoting other people makes you look smart.

Don’t be nervous. The people you’re talking to aren’t out to get you. In fact, they want to see you succeed. Because if you succeed they’ll be informed and entertained. Instead of being nervous, have fun. It will be apparent that you’re having fun and having fun is contagious.

Say something outrageous. Big, bold statements get people’s attention and are often funny. People like to laugh. Don’t confuse this with me suggesting that you be crude. I’ve heard “hell,” and “damn” used a one or two times to great effect, but I don’t think anyone would suggest you drop an f-bomb on stage at a library conference.

→ Speaking of stages, get off of them. The podium is not your friend.

→ Read Presentation Zen, The 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint (though I don’t agree with it all), Tufte’s classic The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint, watch Steve Jobs and Lawrence Lessig.

→ Don’t fret if there’s a software or hardware glitch. With any luck your moderator/handler can help you with it whilst you keep talking. Or maybe the tech is a lost cause (Kate, you were amazing!). If you rely on the web during talks, it will fail on you one of these times. Be prepared with screenshot/casts or just plain talking.

Be polite. Thank the audience for listening.

Hey, thanks for reading.