March, 2009

If you’re interested in learning what Internet access and Web 2.0 technologies can do in terms of education and empowerment at the global level, take a look at Rising Voices. Rising Voices is an outreach project funded by the Knight Foundation that awards micro-grants to social media training initiatives and citizen journalism projects in underrepresented parts of the world. Their grants are supporting local efforts that teach people how to tell their stories digitally through blogs, podcasts, video blogs and other tools.

Approximately 60 people participated in yesterday's "Technology Grants for Libraries 101" webinar. Stephanie Gerding, who co-wrote the book, Grants for Libraries, led the session. It's archived!

Donna Feddern (a former colleague who now works in the San Diego area) passed along a link to this story about LibraryThing’s effort to organize “flash-mob cataloging events” at small libraries. 18 volunteer catalogers recently descended on the Audobon Society Library of Rhode Island and cataloged 2500 items in a single day. The catalogers included a mix of 3 professional librarians and 15 book-lovers, library-lovers and LibraryThing fans.

We all understand the concept of offering more for less--for many of us it is a daily reality. Whle I often hear stories from public libraries in the US, yesterday I had an opporutnity to hear ideas on this topic from library representatives and support organizations that span the globe.

Kudos to the organizers for featuring an "Innovation in Smaller Libraries" track at this year's Computers in Libraries Conference in DC. It's great to see national level conferences including options like this.

There are BIG opportunities for libraries to benefit from the broadband provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). 7.2 billion has been authorized! As with all the ARRA funding, the next few weeks and months will reveal more as the federal agencies coordinate and quickly plan how to spend these important funds.

Even though my professional librarian life has focused on technology, I really am first and foremost a lover of books. And even though my professional librarian life has focused on adults (beyond the few nerve-wracking times I filled in at storytime), I am most passionate about the importance of library services for children. Summer Reading Programs, Storytimes, early literacy enhancers of all kinds… I am moved by hearing about them like I am by nothing else.

Are you still tracking library donors, library advocates and other contacts in an Excel spreadsheet or an e-mail folder? If you’ve been thinking about organizing your fundraising and outreach campaigns, this week TechSoup is offering a discount on Telosa Exceed! Basic. During the next two days, Wednesday the 18th and Thursday the 19th, eligible public libraries and nonprofits can request a copy of Exceed! for an administrative fee of $99. The normal retail price is $499.

Next weeek we will have two more free webinars!  We'd love to "see" you there and learn together about technology grants and also producing webinars. Register for the sessions: http://www.maintainitproject.org/events  

Software buying and licensing can be a daunting subject for the uninitiated, but Zac Mutrux, a San Francisco-based technology consultant with years of experience advising nonprofits, did a great job simplifying this subject during our latest TechSoup Talks webinar. During his presentation, 5 Mistakes to Avoid when Acquiring Software, he drew on examples pertinent to nonprofit organizations, but his five main points apply to libraries as well.  Below is my summary of his talk:

I recently spent a day in the Teen Tech Lab at the McCracken County Public Library in Paducah, Kentucky. Although I wasn’t there for gaming (the library generously allowed the lab to be closed from 9-3 for a technology planning workshop for librarians), I did have a chance to talk to Jay and Roy – the library “tech guys” – about the extensive gaming opportunities provided at the library.

Many librarians have shared with us the immense efforts they undertake to support geographically distributed branches. Jim Lynch, the Computer Recycling & Reuse Director forTechSoup’s GreenTech Program recently posted about saving money on travel, and I thought his throughts were worth a re-post.

We need to replace a gasket or a carburator or a camshaft, or something like that, so the MaintainIT site may be up and down tonight between 5 PM and 10 PM, Pacific time. We apologize for any inconvenience.

This Tuesday and Thursday we will be busy webinaring!  We'd love to "see" you there. Register for the free webinars IT Asset Management and Technology Grants for Libraries 101: http://www.maintainitproject.org/events

Environmentally-friendly technology initiatives may be the only investments in the world right now guaranteed to show a return, and St. Patrick’s Day is almost upon us, so I thought I’d mention TechSoup’s GreenTech Initiative once again and recap some of our recent blog posts on this topic:

Earlier this week, I blogged a bit about my week in Kentucky and I have a few more posts from that trip in the works. I was there to provide "Taking on Technology" workshops with Kendra Morgan (TechAtlas). One of the things we talked about during the day was 2.0 technologies. We played 2.0 Bingo (something I've blogged about here before) and we also introduced groups to the Common Craft videos (on RSS, on Twitter, etc...). 

I spent the last week of February traveling around the great state of Kentucky, providing technology training with Kendra Morgan (of WebJunction TechAtlas fame). We provided workshops in 3 different locations around the state: Lexington, Paducah, and Somerset.  The workshops were titled, “Taking on Technology” and focused on learning, innovation, and technology planning.

Much fun is had! We're lucky to have an eclectic group who hail from all corners of the country and represent different flavors of librarianship.

When? Tomorrow, March 3, 11:00am - 1:00pm Pacific (Noon Mountain/1 PM Central/2 PM Eastern)

"23 Things" is a self-directed staff development learning concept centered on social collaboration tools such as blogs and wikis. During this 2 hour Summit, organizers from several successful programs around the nation will share best practices and lessons learned.