Author Archives: Michael Sauers

Clay Shirky: What I Learned About Creativity By Watching Creatives from Piers Fawkes on Vimeo.

In this video of his talk at PSFK CONFERENCE NYC, Clay Shirky talks about the work of Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. After working there as an assistant professor for almost ten years, Shirky describes five student projects that he thinks are pushing the creative boundaries – from interface design to how people cluster to build new work. At the end of the talk, the technology thought-leader compares creatives as members of a philharmonic orchestra and wonders if any rules can be drawn from looking at such an ensemble.

Nebraska Learns 2.0 (http://nlcblogs.nebraska.gov/nelearns/) is the Nebraska Library Commission’s ongoing online learning program. It is a self-discovery program which encourages participants to take control of their own learning and to utilize their lifelong learning skills through exploration and PLAY.

Each month, we offer you an opportunity to learn a new Thing (or lesson). You have all month to complete that Thing and receive one CE credit. You may choose which Things to do based on personal interest and time availability. If the Thing of the month doesn’t interest you or if you are particularly busy that month, you can skip it.

* The Thing for July is: Playing with a New Gadget – http://nlcblogs.nebraska.gov/nelearns/2012/07/01/thing-57-playing-with-a-new-gadget/

This month’s Thing comes to us courtesy of Learning for Life Online at the Boston Public Library.

When you’re trying to live life online, it’s important to know how to play with a new online tool. It’s also important to know how to start using and playing with the gadgets that connect us to those online tools. Some gadgets are so easy to use that it’s no problem, and others require a little more work.

Another facet of Nebraska Learns 2.0 is BookThing. Each month we pick a single title that we feel has relevance to librarianship and/or information theory. Some of the titles will be very obviously related; while others may not seem so on the surface but there is a connection. Your assignment will be to read the book and create a blog post answering some questions about the title.

* The BookThing for July is: “I Live In the Future and Here’s How it Works” by Nick Bilton – http://nlcblogs.nebraska.gov/nelearns/2012/07/01/bookthing-6-i-live-in-the-future-and-heres-how-it-works/

If you are new to Nebraska Learns 2.0, your first assignment is to sign up to participate at: http://nlcblogs.nebraska.gov/nelearns/sign-up-2/  This program is open to ALL Nebraska librarians, library staff, library friends, library board members and school media specialists.

We hope you’ll join your library colleagues in the fun as you learn about new and exciting technologies!

Published on May 3, 2012 by AtGoogleTalks

A while back I’d heard that Baright Public Library had made the decision to actually close the library on a regular basis for training. I asked director Francine Canfield for some more details and here’s what she shared.

During the three-day closure last August for migration to a new ILS, the Baright Public Library staff used part of the time for strategic planning. After two days of meetings, the staff decided to recommend regularly closing the library for professional development. The library board agreed to the goal in the strategic plan for 2012. The library now opens at 1:00 pm on the third Thursday of the month January through May, and August through November. We’ve had training in CPR, databases, customer service issues, safety, and security. Our trainers have included customer service experts, database company representatives, police, and other professionals. The public has been supportive of our late opening.

So, have you considered this for your library? If so, have there been any barriers to implementing it? If it ended up not happening, why not? If your library has done something like this how successful has it been? Please share in the comments.

“In 2008, Dan Roam released his first book, The Back Of The Napkin, to immediate and lasting acclaim, promptly winning numerous awards. His premise was that visual communication is much more effective than mere text, and that people weren’t taking nearly enough advantage of it.

Four years later, Dan has finished “”Blah Blah Blah: What To Do When Words Don’t Work””, which continues where The Back Of The Napkin left off by introducing new tools and frameworks to help anyone — not just the graphically inclined — translate their ideas into useful, helpful, and understandable visuals.

Dan also recently launched http://www.napkinacademy.com/, which brings his tools into the realm of online courseware.

You can find more information about Dan and his work at http://www.danroam.com/

http://vimeo.com/18913413

John Cleese tries to explain creativity and how to become more creative. The background of his lecture is scientific, the guide based on his own experience. This is really spot on and any creative professional will agree. Plus, it is really funny at the same time!

Enjoy and be inspired!

Video streaming by Ustream

CIL2012 Keynote: Creating Inspiring Services: Going Boldly Into the Present
Michael Peter Edson, Director of Web & New Media Strategy, Office of the CIO, Smithsonian Institution

Digital strategy has changed, but has your library gotten the message? Ten years ago, digital strategy was mostly about peering far over the horizon to predict a hazy, distant future. But the future we saw then—a world of cheap ubiquitous technology, crowdsourcing, social networks, the cloud, and powerful mobile computing—has become the reality of the present. In this inspiring presentation, Michael Edson, the Smithsonian Institution’s Director of Web and New Media Strategy, will talk about how libraries of all types can adjust their planning and perspective to benefit—not from better vision of the future—but from a better understanding of what can be accomplished today.

This session focusing on National Library of Medicine Digital Resources, will be presented by Marty Magee, Education & Nebraska Liaison, National Network/Libraries of Medicine. It will include such resources as Turning the Pages, and History of Medicine Resources, tutorials and much more!

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For more information, go to the NCompass Live webpage.