Back to Life

After some discussion with professional friends and acquaintances, I've decided to reactivate the blog, with the help of IFTTT. So now, when I post something to Facebook, it should also show up here! (I hope.)  Let's find out...

Facebook vs the Blog

You've probably noticed that I've been very, very quiet these last few months here. It's not that I haven't been seeing, reading, and hearing about things impacting librarian image; it's more that I find myself using other social media more to broadcast it, especially the Facebook page for this site.

According to Google, I have 10 subscribers here. Over on Facebook, I have almost 3500. Still small potatoes compared to the giants of the library world, but I never thought I'd be a giant. If I can get just a few people thinking and talking about the issues we deal with all the time, then I've accomplished my goal. But I can reach a lot more people via Facebook now than I ever did with this blog.

Given that - and that I've been writing this blog in one form or another for over a decade - I'm semi-retiring the blog in favor of Facebook. It won't go away completely, but please consider joining the discussions over there instead. Thank you.

Meet me in Monterey!

Stop by and say hi Monday night during Internet Librarian! And, if you're interested, swing by Track C203 to hear me talk with Deb Hunt and David Diamond about Info Pro Skills for the Future!

This October, Information Today, Inc.'s most popular authors will be at Internet Librarian 2013. For attendees, it's the place to meet the industry's top authors and purchase signed copies of their books at a special 40% discount.

The following authors will be signing at the Information Today, Inc., on Monday, October 28 from 5:00 to 6:00 PM during the Grand Opening Reception: 


Ruth Kneale, author of You Don't Look Like a Librarian: Shattering Stereotypes and Creating Positive New Images in the Internet Age

Susanne Markgren and Tiffany Eatman Allen, authors of Career Q&A: A Librarian's Real-Life, Practical Guide to Managing a Successful Career

Donald T. Hawkins, editor of Personal Archiving: Preserving Our Digital Heritage

David Lee King, author of Face2Face: Using Facebook, Twitter, and Other Social Media Tools to Create Great Customer Connections

Marcy Phelps, author of Research on Main Street: Using the Web to Find Local Business and Market Information

LISA VII Call for Papers

Library and Information Services in Astronomy - LISA VII: Open Science - at the Frontiers of Librarianship

hosted by the Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte, National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), Naples, Italy, June 17-20, 2014

In a rapidly changing scientific information environment, astronomy has been a forerunner. Astronomy libraries have adapted and responded with innovative services to meet the demands of this environment; Big Data, Open Science, are among the many challenges and opportunities that astronomy librarians face as they look ahead to the future.

Come join us!

The LISA VII Scientific Organizing Committee cordially invites you to submit contributed talks and poster presentations at http://eventi.oacn.inaf.it/lisa7/.

The conference Keynote Speaker will be Dr. Chris Lintott, University of Oxford, famous for making astronomy more accessible through projects like Zooniverse, and his advocacy for Open Access initiatives.

Submission deadline will be 30 November, 2013.

Please note that the SOC cannot guarantee that all submitted papers will be accepted and that it reserves the right to request that a proposed oral presentation be presented as a poster paper or vice versa. Notifications regarding accepted papers will be made no later than 15 January, 2014.

If you have any questions or suggestions, don't hesitate to contact:

Eva and Andras
Co-chairs, LISA VII SOC

Eva Isaksson
Helsinki University Library, Finland
Eva.Isaksson@helsinki.fi

Andras Holl
Konkoly Observatory, Hungary
Library and Information Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
holl@konkoly.hu

The New Librarianship

This is a call for book chapters for The New Librarianship, a book that will focus on new roles and responsibilities for librarians in the digital environment, as well as new skill sets, new partnerships, and other exciting endeavors.  The book will be published by Scarecrow Press.

Topical areas suggested include:

• information stewardship
• research evaluation metrics
• new skills and new roles
• open access
• scholarly publishing
• the library as publisher
• involvement, engagement, connection with patrons/customers
• training
• embedded librarianship
• research data management and services
• grant writing
• virtual reference, instruction, etc.
• e-science
• innovative uses of technology
• library mobile apps
• information visualization
• ILMS redefined
• data literacy, media literacy, multi-literacy
• institutional repositories
• sustainable and effective assessment
• exciting and innovative partnerships outside of and within the library
• user-generated content
• data curation
• innovative uses of metadata standards and interoperability
• new models for library services
• mega-collaborations (shared print, shared services, etc.)
• marketing/outreach services
• "green" libraries
• creating/reinventing new spaces in libraries
• web-scale discovery tools
• folksonomies

These are only a few of the topics that will be explored in this book.  The editor is looking for case studies, thoughtful and insightful opinions, and innovative new services and models for moving libraries forward. 

To submit book chapter proposals, please submit an abstract of approximately 100 words and a title for the chapter to Dr. Brad Eden at brad.eden@valpo.edu.  Deadline for proposals is November 25, 2013.  Deadline for accepted chapters to be submitted to the editor would be May 1, 2014. 

RILA Tattooed Librarians Calendar

Another state library association joins the Tattooed Librarians Calendar club!  The "Tattooed Librarians of the Ocean State" calendar sales will benefit the Rhode Island Library Association; "the twelve librarians and library workers featured in this calendar represent just a few of the many working professionals who are proud of their career, their ink, and the stories they tell."

Welcome aboard, Rhode Island!