There is a video making the rounds in libraryland of a very cute 3 year old named Abby talking about what she wants from her library. If you haven’t seen it, I’ve embedded it below. I saw it when it first started making the rounds and thought cute, but clearly that child has been coached and so dismissed it. She isn’t telling us what she wants, she telling us what the person behind the camera told her to say. She is three, she has no idea what she is saying. But then it started to be retweeted, and librarians started holding it up as proof of something. Of proof we need to adapt and change for digital natives. Then I started beating my head against my desk. Because please, anyone can see this child is coached and this, THIS is your proof? If you showed this to me as proof your stance in an argument I would mock you. And you would deserve it. I don’t argue that we need to change it is why I work so hard on the transliteracy issue, it’s why I started the blog. The struggle to incorporate new technology into libraries is well documented
Posts Tagged ‘ Libraries ’
Top Ten Links Week 8
My personally selected top 10 from the links I shared on Twitter from 2/19/2010 thru 2/25/2010 1. RT @VenessaMiemis: 16 free ebooks about social media via @fredzimny. Just look at this list of titles and authors : Building a Social Media Team, Amber Naslund, ContentCory Doctorow Customer Service, The Art of Listening and Engagement Through Social Media, Brian Solis Fish Where the Fish Are – Mapping Social Media to the Buying Cycle, Chris Brogan Getting a Foothold in Social Media, Amber Naslund Let’s Talk: Social Media for Small Business, John Jantsch New Media and the Air Force, United States Air Force Public Affairs Agency Social Media and Network Starting Points, Chris Brogan Social Media Time Management, Amber Naslund Social Media Tips: Sharing lessons learned to help your business grow, Jeff Hayzlett The Art of Community, Jono Bacon The Essential Guide to Social Media, Brian Solis The New Rules of Viral Marketing, David Meerman Scott The Simple Web: A Philosophy for Getting What You Want, Skellie The Social Media Starter Kit, Amber Naslund What is Social Media?, Antony Mayfield 2. RT @VenessaMiemis: new post – reimagining human/social capital & how to spark innovation - Tapping the Network to Facilitate Innovation – How can the power and scope of social networks, combined with a human capital inventory, be used
New Project – Libraries and Transliteracy Blog
I am excited to announce the kick-off of a new project, the Libraries and Transliteracies blog! The blog is a group effort from me, Buffy Hamilton and Tom Ipri. Due to the amount of interest in transliteracy and the role libraries play, we have created one place to share information and resources. The blog will contain information, resources and links to other new literacies related content from all three authors. I will still be posting about transliteracy here, but you will find more transltiteracy related content more often on the Libraries and Transliteracies blog. So add the feed to your feedreader. How this came about (if you’re interested in that sort of thing). Due to the amount of interest in transliteracy and the role libraries play in 21st century literacies, I wanted one place to share information and resources. I decided this blog was not the best venue as I wanted everything pertaining to transliteracy to be easy to find and adding to the current page doesn’t help others keep track of new information. I also I did not want all of the information to come from me, this is an important issue to ALL libraries. This led to the idea of a new blog, with additional authors, but even more importantly,
Librarians Play a Vital Role in 21st Century Literacies
We know it, but no one else seems to. Many organizations are looking at the definition of literacy and expanding it to include the knowledge and skills it takes to be an active participant in today’s society. What baffles me as I read through reports and recommendations from so many organizations is the lack of mention of libraries and librarians. There are a few such as this one from the Report from the Knight Commission: Recommendation 7: Fund and support public libraries and other community institutions as centers of digital and media training, especially for adults. or this one in a white paper from the MacAuthor Foundation If anything, these traditional skills assume even greater importance as students venture beyond collections that have been screened by librarians and into the more open space of the web. Some of these skills have traditionally been taught by librarians who, in the modern era, are reconceptualizing their role less as curators of bounded collection and more as information facilitators who can help users find what they need, online or off, and can cultivate good strategies for searching material. These are the only two I have found. Why are libraries missing? The only place most people can receive instruction on these new literacies
Thinking Outloud About The Echo Chamber
Last week while I was traveling Net Potter brought to my attention a discussion happening on Twitter about the echo chamber (#echolib). This is an incredibly important topic to be thinking about and discussion to have. I’ve been thinking heavily about the ideas of the Echo Chamber and the Bubble lately (well last longer actually). Let’s talk about the Echo Chamber first – let’s face it most of us are preaching to the choir. Chances are if you didn’t believe in what I write and agree with me (most of the time) you wouldn’t be reading this blog. Chances are if I read your blog and/or follow you on Twitter I agree with you. I occasionally wonder if this is any different from a pack of high school aged “cool” kids, one of them says something and the others say “right on man”! We’re just puffing each other up. What about the unconverted? What if (gasp!) we’re wrong? In December when I decided to take a two week break I quoted from What Matters Now: “The echo chamber we’re building is getting larger and louder.” – Connected, Howard Mann. I was thinking about and concerned that I am only preaching to the choir. That
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