Scholarships Available to Attend the 2013 ARSL Annual Conference

Posted on May 13, 2013 by

The Association for Rural & Small Libraries is now accepting applications for three scholarships to attend the 2013 ARSL Annual Conference in Omaha, Nebraska, to be held September 26-28, 2013. 

The Dr. Bernard Vavrek Scholarship will go to a current LIS student. It includes conference registration, hotel, $500 stipend and a free one-year membership in ARSL.

The Founders Scholarship and the Ken Davenport scholarship will go to a current library professional. They include conference registration, hotel, a $500 stipend and a free one-year membership in ARSL. The definition of a “Library Professional” is a library staff member working in a small and/or rural library. A degree or certification is not required.

Candidates do not need to be members of ARSL; however membership is encouraged.

Visit the ARSL Scholarship webpage for more information and the scholarship application.

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Thing #67: And the Webby goes to….

Posted on May 1, 2013 by

Throughout Nebraska Learns 2.0, you’ve been exploring many of the new internet technologies and websites that are empowering users with the ability to create and share content. But there are so many more emerging every day. And although time will only tell which of these new collaborative, social networking and information tools will remain on top, one thing is for sure, they’re not going to go away (at least anytime soon).

For this month’s Thing, you’re going to select any site from this list of the 17th Annual Webby Awards Nominees & Winners and explore it. The Webby Awards honor excellence in interactive design, creativity, usability and functionality on the Internet in over 100 Website, Interactive Advertising & Media, Online Film & Video, Mobile & Apps, and Social categories.

The Webby Awards accept five types of entries: Websites, Interactive Advertising & Media, including banners, viral, branded content and more; Online Film & Video, that which premiered on the Web including Comedy, WebbyLive Events, Music and more; Mobile & Apps which recognizes mobile websites and apps made for handheld, tablet and all other mobile devices; and Social, which recognizes the emerging field of social media across all platforms.

The Webby Awards presents two honors in every category — The Webby Award and The Webby People’s Voice Award — in each of its five entry-types: Websites, Interactive Advertising & Media, Online Film & Video, Mobile & Apps and Social. Members of The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences select the nominees for both awards in each category, as well as the winners of The Webby Awards. However the online community determines the winners of the Webby People’s Voice by voting for the nominated work that they believe to be the best in each category. Each year, The Webby People’s Voice Awards garners millions of votes from the Web community all over the world.

With so many to choose from, it might be handy to first select a type of entry that interests you, narrow down within that type to a category, such as Education or Travel, and then select a tool/site to explore from that shorter list.

A couple of warnings: Be careful to select a tool that is Free. And be aware that some services may require a plug-in or download.

Assignment:

  1. Select any site/tool from the list of the 17th Annual Webby Awards Nominees & Winners.
  2. Explore the site/tool you selected.
  3. Create a post about your discovery. What did you like or dislike about the tool? What were the site’s useful features? Could you see any applications for its use in a library setting?
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BookThing #16: Confessions of a Public Speaker

Posted on May 1, 2013 by

This Month’s BookThing is Confessions of a Public Speaker by Scott Berkun.

From Amazon.com:

Confessions of a Public SpeakerIn this hilarious and highly practical book, author and professional speaker Scott Berkun reveals the techniques behind what great communicators do, and shows how anyone can learn to use them well. For managers and teachers — and anyone else who talks and expects someone to listen — Confessions of a Public Speaker provides an insider’s perspective on how to effectively present ideas to anyone. It’s a unique, entertaining, and instructional romp through the embarrassments and triumphs Scott has experienced over 15 years of speaking to crowds of all sizes.

With lively lessons and surprising confessions, you’ll get new insights into the art of persuasion — as well as teaching, learning, and performance — directly from a master of the trade.

Highlights include:

  • Berkun’s hard-won and simple philosophy, culled from years of lectures, teaching courses, and hours of appearances on NPR, MSNBC, and CNBC
  • Practical advice, including how to work a tough room, the science of not boring people, how to survive the attack of the butterflies, and what to do when things go wrong
  • The inside scoop on who earns $30,000 for a one-hour lecture and why
  • The worst — and funniest — disaster stories you’ve ever heard (plus countermoves you can use)

Filled with humorous and illuminating stories of thrilling performances and real-life disasters, Confessions of a Public Speaker is inspirational, devastatingly honest, and a blast to read.

About Scott Berkun:

Scott BerkunScott Berkun (@berkun) is the best selling author of four books, Making Things Happen, The Myths of Innovation, Confessions of a Public Speaker and Mindfire Big Ideas for Curious Minds. His work has appeared in the The Washington Post, The New York Times, Wired Magazine, Fast Company, The Economist, Forbes Magazine, and other media. He has taught creative thinking at the University of Washington and has been a regular commentator on CNBC, MSNBC and National Public Radio. His many popular essays and entertaining lectures can be found for free on his blog at http://www.scottberkun.com.

To earn 1 CE credits answer the following three questions in a 300 word blog post or a three minute video posted to your blog:

  1. What did you / what can librarians learn from this book?
  2. How might the focus of this book impact library service?
  3. How might the focus of this book impact library users?

If you would like to plan ahead, next month’s book will be Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip & Dan Heath.

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BookThing #15: You Are Not a Gadget

Posted on April 1, 2013 by

This Month’s BookThing is one from the archives: You Are Not a Gadget by Jaron Lanier.

From Amazon.com:

you-are-not-a-gadgetA programmer, musician, and father of virtual reality technology, Jaron Lanier was a pioneer in digital media, and among the first to predict the revolutionary changes it would bring to our commerce and culture. Now, with the Web influencing virtually every aspect of our lives, he offers this provocative critique of how digital design is shaping society, for better and for worse.Informed by Lanier’s experience and expertise as a computer scientist, You Are Not a Gadget discusses the technical and cultural problems that have unwittingly risen from programming choices—such as the nature of user identity—that were “locked-in” at the birth of digital media and considers what a future based on current design philosophies will bring. With the proliferation of social networks, cloud-based data storage systems, and Web 2.0 designs that elevate the “wisdom” of mobs and computer algorithms over the intelligence and wisdom of individuals, his message has never been more urgent.

About Jaron Lanier:

Jaron LanierJaron Lanier scientific interests include biomimetic information architectures, user interfaces, heterogeneous scientific simulations, advanced information systems for medicine, and computational approaches to the fundamentals of physics.  He collaborates with a wide range of scientists in fields related to these interests.

Lanier’s name is also often associated with Virtual Reality research.  He either coined or popularized the term ‘Virtual Reality’ and in the early 1980s founded VPL Research, the first company to sell VR products. In the late 1980s he led the team that developed the first implementations of multi-person virtual worlds using head mounted displays, for both local and wide area networks, as well as the first “avatars”, or representations of users within such systems. While at VPL, he and his colleagues developed the first implementations of virtual reality applications in surgical simulation, vehicle interior prototyping, virtual sets for television production, and assorted other areas. He led the team that developed the first widely used software platform architecture for immersive virtual reality applications.  Sun Microsystems acquired VPL’s seminal portfolio of patents related to Virtual Reality and networked 3D graphics in 1999.

From 1997 to 2001, Lanier was the Chief Scientist of Advanced Network and Services, which contained the Engineering Office of Internet2, and served as the Lead Scientist of the National Tele-immersion Initiative, a coalition of research universities studying advanced applications for Internet2. The Initiative demonstrated the first prototypes of tele-immersion in 2000 after a three-year development period. From 2001 to 2004 he was Visiting Scientist at Silicon Graphics Inc., where he developed solutions to core problems in telepresence and tele-immersion.  He was Scholar at Large for Microsoft from 2006 to 2009, and Partner Architect at Microsoft Research from 2009 forward.

Lanier has received honorary doctorates from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Franklin and Marshall College, was the recipient of CMU’s Watson award in 2001, was a finalist for the first Edge of Computation Award in 2005, and received a Lifetime Career Award from the IEEE in 2009 for contributions to Virtual Reality.

Lanier is a well-known author and speaker.  Time Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2010.  His book “You are not a gadget” was released in 2010 and was named one of the 10 best books of the year by Michiko Kakutani in the NY Times.   He writes and speaks on numerous topics, including high-technology business, the social impact of technological practices, the philosophy of consciousness and information, Internet politics, and the future of humanism.  His lecture client list has included most of the well-known high technology firms as well as many others in the energy, automotive, and financial services industries.  His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Discover (where he has been a columnist), The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Harpers Magazine, The Sciences, Wired Magazine (where he was a founding contributing editor), and Scientific American. He has edited special “future” issues of SPIN and Civilization magazines.  He is one of the 100 “remarkable people” of the Global Business Network.  In 2005 Lanier was selected as one of the top one hundred public intellectuals in the world by readers of Prospect and Foreign Policy magazines.

To earn 2 CE credits answer the following three questions in a 300 word blog post or a three minute video posted to your blog:

  1. What did you / what can librarians learn from this book?
  2. How might the focus of this book impact library service?
  3. How might the focus of this book impact library users?

If you would like to plan ahead, next month’s book will be Confessions of a Public Speaker by Scott Berkun.

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Thing #66: Social News Sites

Posted on April 1, 2013 by

This month’s Thing has been borrowed and modified from Boston Public Library’s Learning for Life Online program.

Many of you are quite social online, on places like Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, or elsewhere. And, you may also visit online news sites, like CNN, Yahoo News or your local news outlets. But, did you know that there are places on the internet that have combined these social and news aspects into one site?

For this month’s Thing, we will explore social news sites, places where users – anyone in the world – can post a news story that they’ve found online and share it. Then, other users get to vote on that story, making it appear higher or lower on the list of news items. In this way, the reading community decides what is more interesting or relevant. The same goes for any comments on a story – they can be voted up and down, depending on how interesting they are or what they contribute to the conversation.

Even on the web, major news outlets like newspapers and television news programs can only cover so much, and they don’t often point to all the fun and interesting things in blog posts, on image sites, and in little-known corners of the internet. Social news sites show that by distributing the work among millions of readers (otherwise known as crowdsourcing), much more information can be found and shared than if a single organization tries to do it all by themselves.

Digg was the first general social news site to be well-known beyond the computer industry. It was also one of the first to introduce the “voting” feature. Digg now categorizes submissions into Top Stories, Popular and Upcoming. Read more in the Digg FAQ.

Reddit (say the name out loud to get the joke) has been around nearly as long as Digg, and it still has the very personal feel it had at the beginning. Check out the Reddit Frequently Asked Questions about how the site works and how you can contribute. Also, check out Reddit 101 for the basics. For our particular needs, there is a subreddit community for Libraries. And a very good tutorial specifically for Reddit for Librarians.

Slashdot was one of the first social news sites, focused mainly on science and technology. It’s still one of the go-to places for geeks to get their news, and the conversation in the comments is usually as good or better than the posts. Slashdot FAQ.

Fark is a social news site with the motto: “We don’t make news. We mock it.” Try Fark out if you’re a fan of sarcastic humor and weird news. Learn more in Fark Frequently Asked Questions.

Now Public is a website for citizen journalists – everyday folks who actively try to find news near them and report it, especially when it doesn’t appear on big media like newspapers and television. Now Public Frequently Asked Questions.

Newsvine was originally focused on political news, but has expanded to include any sort of news from around the world. Check out the Getting Started section of the Newsvine Knowledge Base and the Quick Tour.

Additional Reading

A feed of articles on social news from Mashable

Digg.com and Socially-Driven Authority

How News Consumption is Shifting to the Personalized Social News Stream

Assignment

  1. Explore the social news sites above, and create an account on one or two of them.
  2. Search for topics of interest to you personally, or that would be of interest to librarians.
  3. Interact with your chosen site (or sites). Post a story you want to share, vote on other stories posted, or comment on stories posted.
  4. Create a blog post about your experience. How could you use these sites personally or professionally? How could your library users or your library itself use these sites? If you explored more than one site, how do they compare to each other? Did you find one site better suited to personal research and another one better for professional?
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