Sneaking the Social Web into Your Library: Tips Tricks & Just Plain Sneaky Tactics
One of my presentations from Notes from the 2009 Internet Librarian Conference with Erin Downey Howerton
I mentioned during the Q&A that you can do all sorts of things with RSS. An audience member asked me if I could include some of that information in my post. Here goes
David Rothman’s Favorite RSS Resources and Tools *start here*
- Explaining RSS
- Resources to help you choose a feed aggregator
- Google Reader Tips and Plug-ins
- RSS-to-Email tools
- Publishing RSS content on Web Pages
- Web-Based RSS-to-Web-Page tools
- Hosted RSS-to-Web-Page Tools
- Feed mashing and filtering tools and Creating feeds for pages that don’t offer them
From Mashable The Ultimate RSS Toolbox – 120+ RSS Resources includes
- readers
- rss to email converters
- feed validators, plugins
- mixer
- ping tools
- directories and tips & hacks.
It’s ok if you don’t know what all of those are, bookmark it for later when you do.
Every Library Should Have a Sandbox to Play In
Notes from the 2009 Internet Librarian Conference
Matt Hamilton
What is a sandbox?
Safety model Place to test code that is isolated from production environment
Software development model test installation that allows to role back changes as necessary
Wiki model environment not consider production but just for ppl to learn new skills
Who can learn from software – staff, ppl who want to play & learn, helps keep up on cutting edge technologies, small IT staff to explore if its worth to develop expertise in something
Sandbox is a safe place to place
Learning environment
Inviate patrons to be beta testers, get feedback before implement new services
Is this something that is really going to be good for patrons but something were just enamored with for the moment.
Place to perfect your craft –
Two approaches – and internal option
Lisa Haitts at
Installs software that is heard about at conferences
How do you make it happen? 3 approaches
Virtual appliance marketplace, from VMware preconfigured virtual machines
Wanted to be the type of IT department that says yes, still have mission to protect data etc so can’t just say use, but can say yes, but…
Working with virtual desktops, so when patrons log into machines they would also see their own desktop, own software etch
Bitnami – free, includes a small SQL & linux installation, and allows you to run about 24 apps, can install on home pc or an old pc in the back
Also have virtual machines, doesn’t require a server, there are machines
Probably wouldn’t trust to run production environment, but great to play around with
JumpBox – will cost, will run on a server or a virtual machine
Can put into a production environment
Includes administrative panel, control back ups enable ssh
If IT dept isn’t comfortable with it you can install all of these in the cloud with Amazon EC2, Bitnami & Jumpbox both have agreements with Aamazon so both services are both available
Librarysandbox.info
Greg Schwartz
Have you flood proofed your sandbox?
Ask a few key questions before you start your project
Why are you doing this? What are you trying to accomplish? How does it tie itself to the mission of you library?
If you can’t answer those questions you’re wasting your time and your resources
Do you have a plan? Sure
But do you have a plan b? What will you do when your plans don’t work out, can adapt & move fwd
Got support? Everybody has so much to do already, how do you get staff buy in? How do you get them to be willing to play explore and learn
Do you have commitment? You can’t just set up a sandbox and walk away from
Are you sure you have the time?
Do you have a plan? Even if the sandbox is just for play you may need access to that information?
Questions
Looking for a place to allow an employee to play & explore but want it for a long term option not just for play, so is the virtual environment the right place for that? IT wants to use a virtual machine to avoid installing anything ever on the PC
Matt – yes it’s a great use
Stephen – SLA innovation lab, free to use & play with for any member
How do you get people to play?
Matt – it’s include in directors goals,
He doesn’t ask people to do anything; he waits for them to ask him
references Bobbi Newman (hey thats me!) – Stop talking about the tools
Stephen tie it to their value system
Audience – make it fun, do it in public so others can see it and ask
Have staff bring in and share stuff
Bribery
Distinction between internally & externally facing sandboxes
Redesigning website, allow patrons to beta test?
Managers – The Message You’re Sending About Time is Affecting Customer Service
CC image courtesy of Robbert van der Steeg on Flickr
The choice you need to make is will it affect it in a good way or a bad way?
We are all busy. My to-do list is so long at this point I keep a master running list and a small list just for today, because looking at the long list inspires panic.
As individuals, managers and organizations it can be easy to keep adding responsibilities, expectations and tasks to our list and to the lists of others. Especially at a time like this, when you may be short staffed, or just busier than normal (library usage goes up during a recession) or both.
Unfortunately this attitude towards time can really hurt you in customer service. How staff feel about their time and the expectation from management affects how they interact with patrons. It’s the difference between handing someone a call number and vaguely gesturing towards the stacks and leaving the desk and walking the patron to the book. It’s the difference between hand the book over and walking away or asking if you can help them find anything else. It shows up in the type of greeting patrons receive in that minutes of extra chit-chat so many love, in determining if the information they are asking for is really the information they are seeking.
Don’t think it’s just front line staff either. It can mean the difference in pulling that raggedy looking book or letting it circulate one more time, in ensuring the door knobs and other areas are properly disinfected, in how fast a phone call is returned. I could go on but I think you get the idea.
Want to get smart about time? Here are some suggestions from How Smart Leaders Talk About Time on Harvard Business.
1) Establish a shared language that distinguishes between the “pressure on time” and “impact on goals” factors.
Team leaders often fail to make this distinction clear. Tasks are transmitted without specifying if the emphasis on such task is due to:
- a combination of the above mentioned two factors
- the fact the task has a remarkable impact on the individual or group’s goals
- the restricted timeframe within which the task must be completed
2) Reduce those activities that, despite being important, must be performed under pressure. (emphasis mine)
A successful leader reduces “urgent and important” activities to a minimum, by monitoring:
- How tasks are planned and delegated.
- How “urgent and important” activities can be reduced.
- How much free-of-distraction time people have for high-impact activities.
ALA Learning – On Demand Training for Staff
I have a new post over at ALA Learning about on demand training for staff, the benefits of it and how to make it happen.
Because these impromptu, or on demand, sessions are one on one, people often feel more comfortable asking questions they may not ask in front of a group. One on one sessions have other advantages too. You move at the pace of the individual, not the group or a schedule. You can walk them through the process step by step, more than once if needed. You can see if the person doesn’t understand right away and explain it again or in a different way.
I also find that providing on demand training can make staff more interested in attending your training classes, give you new ideas for training sessions and even get you invited to department meetings for training!
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- What is Transliteracy?I attempt to answer some questions about transliteracy including what is it, in my Librarian by Day blog post – Defining Transliteracy I have been asked this question many times by librarians so I am way overdue for this post. Most recently I was asked “….are librarians the people best equipped to define and interpret transliteracy (as opposed [...] […]Bobbi Newman
- Digital Literacy Skills Essential to Closing Broadband Gap #knightcommThe Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy sites the Broadband Adoption and Use in America (pdf) report released by the Federal Communications Commission in Digital Literacy Skills Essential to Closing Broadband Gap when emphasising the importance and need for digital literacy The survey findings reinforce the growing body o […]Bobbi Newman
- Media Skills Integrated into Core Standards
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