Sarah Washburn's blog

Find resources and ideas for finding and training people who can effectively guide your community in Internet adoption.

We've interviewed a lot of people from libraries for the Edge Initiative. In our interviews we're trying to uncover what factors or best practices aligned to create a situation for success in a particular benchmark area. In our seven published Edge Spotlights, we uncovered that it all comes down to...

Today I read Lee Rainie’s tweet (Director of Pew Internet Project) requesting examples of innovative library services and decided to send him a few highlights from this past year. To me, some of the more innovative library programs do not fall under bleeding edge tech or super cool gadgetry categories, but under smart uses of resources to meet community needs. This past year, many of the innovative programs I heard about were focused on extending the boundaries of the library through partnerships and through reimagining services the library  offers.

Have you heard about the Edge Initiative? Whether you're a seasoned expert or a recent newbie to the Edge scene, please attend the Edge Update session at MidWinter in Seattle to learn about the new and improved benchmarks, strengthened by feedback from you and your library colleagues.

It's not often an opportunity arises to provide the world's largest foundation your thoughts on your work, your field, and the resources your library needs to succeed. The Gates Foundation is asking for your perspective in an anonymous survey that will help them support today's libraries into the future.

Today as I walked in to work I was barraged by the enormous Salesforce conference (50,000 attendees!) in downtown San Francisco. This is the type of conference that defies all of my previous event experiences: a closed-off street covered with sod to create a "park" where participants can mingle and watch a presenters in front of a big screen; conference personel greeting me as I walk down the sidewalk (that was kinda nice); trucks with huge billboards advertising booth numbers and products that circle endlessly around the conference city blocks; groups of men and women in suits staring at smartphones and giving bro-hugs...

Have a great idea for an app that would help your nonprofit or library make a difference, but don't have the technical skills or resources to make it happen?

Do you need a clear and engaging report to share with your board, funders, or community? Transform your data into visually stunning, interactive reports with ease - with SAP Crystal Reports software.

I just read Tom Sloan's highly informative Public Libraries magazine piece on the Naperville Public Library (NPL) titled, "What Makes an Award-Winning Public Library Successful." This article is jam-packed with practical tips on how to manage people, data, and create a culture that is nimble and open to change. What's more, the tips Sloan outlines are directly related to the Edge Benchmarks. Read on to find out how, and while you're at it, please take a few minutes to tell us your thoughts about the Edge Beta Benchmarks. We rely on your thoughts and expertise!

Today I'm co-facilitating an ALA session titled, "Libraries Lead Community Digital Inclusion." Along with my colleagues from WebJunction, ICMA, and IMLS, we'll be guiding librarians through activities that utilize IMLS' recently published Building Digital Communities framework. I'll be talking about gathering stakeholders and leaders for digital inclusion work. Here's what I plan to share.