Author Archives: Michael Sauers

Library Camp Nebraska was the first full event that I suggested, organized and implemented. It’s now the next day and I’m still exhausted. From the original idea after attending Library Camp Kansas back in March, through our event yesterday, there was a lot of planning and preparation to have yesterday go off as well as it did. Before I talk specifics I want to specifically thank Christa Burns, Diane Wells, Karin Dalziel, and Scott Childers for all their help throughout the process. I couldn’t have done it without you.

So, what happened at Library Camp? In a word, conversation. 51 librarians arrived about 9am for registration and refreshments. At 9:30 we all gathered in the main room to decide the day’s topics. These topics ranged from Using Web 2.0 for Marketing, Distance Education, Youth Services, Going Green, Social Bookmarking, OCLC, Privacy, Recruitment, Advocacy, Web Design, High Tech vs. High Touch, Cheap and Free Tools, and my personal favorite Wildly Impractical Expensive Ideas for your Library.

We ended up with three one-our sessions along with the impractical topic being the lunch-time topic. In each session the person who suggested the topic was assigned to be the conversation facilitator and asked that one person in each room also put their notes directly into the wiki. (Some rooms ended up having no one with a laptop so those notes should appear on the wiki in the next few days.) All of those notes can be read, and contributed to on the Notes from the day page.

As the event organizer I didn’t hide myself in any one room during each session. I wandered from room to room taking photos (check out the Flickr pool) and listening. I did contribute to a few topics but I didn’t want anyone to think I was in charge of anything. The point was to let the conversations go wherever they ended up going. As one person commented at the end of the day, that’s exactly what happened.

I did notice that the largest groups were around the two sessions on using Web 2.0 tools for marketing. The smallest sessions were the repeated High Tech vs. High Touch (the group in the morning version was much larger so maybe that one didn’t need to be repeated in the afternoon) and the privacy discussion. (I’ll also note that four of the five people in that room were NLC staff which I found interesting.)

The range of attendees were wonderful. From directors to front-line staff, academic to public to school librarians, someone one-month from their MLS to those that have been in the profession for decades. We even had one tech consultant from the Iowa state library spend the day with us and commenting that he was going to recommend doing this in his state.

I totally forgot to press the record button on the video camera for the opening session and therefor decided to eschew the video camera the rest of the day. The tripod however was put to great use for a group photo near the end of the day.

During the wrap-up session we discussed what happened during the day, should we do it again (a resounding “yes!”) and what should be done differently. A few of us ever heard off the record comments that this was better than the annual state conference.

I’m officially declaring Library Camp Nebraska 2008 a success. The plan now is to do one out in the western end of the state involving folks from Wyoming and South Dakota too. Keep an eye out on the Commission blog for details to follow (hopefully) early next year.

Thanks again to all the attendees. You are what made it the success it was.

If you’re not attending you can follow along in the FriendFeed room or, in testing out something new… right here. Library Camp is scheduled to run from 9am-4pm CST. If you’d like to leave a comment just create a FriendFeed account if you don’t already have one, log in, and click the appropriate Comment link.

There are still plenty of seats available in Library Camp Nebraska one week from today. Sign up now! It’s totally free and totally fun!

Potential topics to be discussed currently include:

• The Social Web in the library
• Cheap and free tech tools
• Copyright & Creative Commons
• Public programs
• High Tech / High Touch: are they mutually exlusive?
• Get your free Web presence (for libraries that don’t have one already)
• Privacy in a Social Web world
• Wildly impractical, expensive ideas for your library
• Alternative searching techniques (or, what’s new & cool in the world of searching??)
• Ideas for library marketing on the cheap
• Ideas for new granting agencies/funding sources and/or grant success stories
• Demythologizing the "information wants to be free" (while information may want to be free, it aint cheap to provide it…)
• Community Outreach
• Mentoring
• Instruction
• Expanding the role of the library on campus (PR/marketing/collaboration)
• Exploring the future of library workers: What’s the greatest need in Nebraska?…support for Master’s level v. pre-professional training?

Full details @ http://librarycampnebraska.pbwiki.com/

The MaintainIT Project is pleased to announce the latest Cookbook! “Planning for Success, a guide for the overworked librarian”
This free online resource brings together the most current ideas and best practices for planning, building, and managing your library’s computer technology. Librarians around the country have contributed their knowledge on topics ranging from security solutions and strategic maintenance practices to community building experiences involving Web 2.0 tools and vital partnerships. And best of all, like all of the other MaintainIT materials, it is FREE.
Some great topics worth checking out:

• sample technology plans
• guidelines for collaborating with key stakeholders such as funders, IT departments, and vendors,
• in depth strategies that can help you save money, make the right decisions, document necessary information and test your equipment,
• important insight into daily management, from remote desktop software and help desk management, to extending the life of your computers and step by step troubleshooting guides,
• basic practices for ensuring your library’s network security, including use of firewalls, bandwidth management, security policies, how to monitor performance and choose an ISP,
• examples of Web 2.0 in action in libraries!

MaintainIT is also offering a lot of free webinars focused on public access computing and the new Cookbook. See the topics and register at http://www.maintainitproject.org/events.

Library Camp Nebraska
University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Wednesday 19 November 2008
Sponsored by
The Nebraska Library Commission and
the University of Nebraska – Lincoln Libraries

Library Camp Nebraska is the first of what we hope to be a series of unconferences throughout the state of Nebraska. So, just what is an unconference?
An unconference is the best part of a conference (conversing with your colleagues) stripped out and crammed into a fun and informative day-long event. Unconferences have no pre-selected presenters, just group discussions on the topics that you want to talk about with your colleagues. There are many different ways unconferences can be run. Library Camp Nebraska will be using the BarCamp model this time around.
Library Camp Nebraska will be held at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln Union on 19 November 2008. Participation will be limited to just the first 100 registrants and is open to anyone who is interested in dialogue and conversation about customer-friendly libraries, library 2.0 and how we can all improve our services and organizations to meet the needs of our communities. (There will be tech topics covered, but if you aren’t a techie, come talk about something else.)
For more details and to register head over to the Library Camp Nebraska wiki at http://librarycampnebraska.pbwiki.com/. Please don’t wait until the last minute to register. Seating will be strictly limited to the first 100 registrants. No additional seats will be made available.
(Please feel free to forward to everyone.)

Michael Sauers on the radio in Kansas City, MO
This past Monday, September 8th, 2008 our Technology Innovation Librarian, Michael Sauers, had the pleasure of being the guest on Kansas City, MO NPR affiliate KCUR’s show up/to/date. We discussed several library issues including copyright, Creative Commons, DRM, databases, privacy, and search engines.

Download (MP3)
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KCUR’s up/to/date

Nebraska Learns 2.0 is an online learning program that encourages staff to learn more about emerging technologies on the web that are changing the way people, society and libraries access information and communicate with each other.
Nebraska Learns 2.0 will be starting on Monday, October 6th and will continue for 16 weeks, ending on January 30, 2009. All Nebraska librarians, library staff, friends, and board members are welcome to participate. We encourage library directors to support their staff in participating by allowing work time to be used in pursuit of the program’s goals.
Over the course of the 16 weeks, the program will highlight “23 Things” and discovery exercises to help staff become familiar with Blogging, RSS, Instant Messaging, Flickr, Podcasting, and more.
Nebraska Learns 2.0 is based on the 23 Things Learning 2.0 program originally created by Helene Blowers at the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenberg County and has been previously offered as a state-wide program in states ranging from Montana to New Jersey.
More details will be coming soon, but for now there’s nothing for you to do other than mark your calendars. Successful completion of this program will earn you 15 CE credit hours and entry into a prize drawing.
Don’t miss this spectacular learning opportunity!

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Participating in the Creative Commons: Michael Sauers

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How are You Accessing WorldCat.org?: Allana Novotny

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Next Generation Cataloging: Renee Register

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