Moving

It's time to move on. I've been working on another blog with Sandra Sajonas, fellow Library Journal Mover & Shaker. I'll be blogging over at People Interact about usability, unconferences, professional development, etc.

PLA 2010 Recap

Highlights of PLA 2010 in Portland, OR

Experimenting with Unconferences
Mel Gooch, Gretchen Caserotti and I presented a program titled Revitalizing Communication and Professional Development Through Unconferences where we talked about BPL ThinkTank, a staff development unconference at Brooklyn Public Library and KidLib Camp, a children's librarianship unconference at Darien Public Library. Our presentation is up on Slideshare.

Revitalizing Communication and Professional Development Through Unconferences: The Brooklyn Public Library and Darien Public Library Experiments

Fly-on-the-wall, Behavioral Archaeology, Five Whys and Character Profiles/Personas
Sandra Sajonas and I facilitated a talk table program titled DIY Usability: Is Your Library People Focused? where we talked about people-centered usability and the project that we did in library school which focused on the evaluation of a library's new service model that promotes library patron self-sufficiency through the use of technology. It was an amazing group that generated some great ideas using people-centered design methods. More info on our People-Centered Design Thinking site.


Marshmallows, Gum Drops and Twizzlers
I co-facilitated a talk table program where we discussed how libraries can work to promote genetic literacy in the community. Find out more about the Human Genome Project Community Conversations Initiative.


Board Games, Arts & Craft, Food and Drinks
I attended a very interesting panel program (organized by my colleague Sandra Sajonas) titled If You Didn't Work Here, Would You Come Here? showcasing some great examples of library outreach and programming for people in their 20s and 30s. Check out the write up of this program in Library Journal.

Are you going to PLA?

As I'm preparing for PLA, I realized that the conference is not a month away anymore, it's in a week. I'm looking forward to my first in-person PLA conference. I attended the virtual PLA conference two years ago. Are you going to PLA? If so, be sure to check out some of the programs mentioned in my last blog post about PLA?

PLA 2010 in Portland, OR

Are you going to the PLA conference next month?

Check out these programs that my colleagues (including fellow graduated PULSE trainees) and/or I will be presenting at PLA -

Revitalizing Communication and Professional Development Through Unconferences: The Brooklyn Public Library and Darien Public Library Experiments
Thursday, March 25 at 2pm-3:15pm

DIY Usability Study: Is Your Library People Focused?
Friday, March 26 at 8:30am-9:45am

How Libraries Can Work to Promote Genetic Literacy in the Community: Brooklyn Public Library's Human Genome Project Community Conversations (HGPCC) Initiative
Friday, March 26 at 2pm-3:15pm

STEP UP! Timely Outcomes-Based Model for Helping Job Seekers
Friday, March 26 at 2pm-3:15pm

If You Didn't Work Here, Would You Come Here?
Saturday, March 27 at 8:30am-9:45am

Check out the PLA 2010 programming schedule for more info.

Dewey: Stick with it, let it go, or work with it

There has been a lot of discussion about libraries using or not using Dewey. Take this Library Journal article: The Dewey Dilemma, for example. Part of the article focused on the Darien (CT) Library and how they use a combination of Dewey and subject categories; "We wanted to retain the findability of Dewey while encouraging and enabling browsing" - Kate Sheehan, knowledge and learning services librarian.

The article mentions some good points such as children's books where the question usually involves finding a book on a particular topic for a particular age/grade. From my experience, patrons usually want a story book (fiction) on that particular topic for a particular age/grade. This makes it even more challenging because fiction is organized by the author's last name. It doesn't even involve Dewey at all.

Sometimes patrons tell me that they don't like the system that we use, that all they want to know is where the [insert subject/topic] books are without having to ask someone, especially having to wait in line at the reference/information desk.

Also, I know that many libraries are pushing for great customer service, but how good is that customer service if people are feeling lost, confused, and sometimes even frustrated?

So what do you think? Should we use Dewey, not use Dewey, use a combination of Dewey and something else?

ALA '09 Recap

Highlights of ALA 2009 in Chicago


Unconference Program

• Combination of quick presentations and discussions
• Topics ranged from Web 3.0 to information literacy. See schedule for list of topics.
• Participated in a discussion about planning and facilitating unconferences. There's an increased interest in doing library unconferences. Look out for our program on BPL ThinkTank, an unconference staff development event that we did at Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) at the Public Libraries Association (PLA) conference in March 2010.

Emerging Leaders Poster Session

• Over 20 posters were presented by this year's emerging leaders based on their projects.
• Projects included working with the PLA conference planning subcommittee, attracting librarians in the millennial generation to participate in ALA, etc.

Visit to Chicago Public Library

• Visited the new YouMedia space, a space specifically designed for teens with the latest digital media technology

ALA 2009 Poster Session

• My colleague and I presented a poster session "Keeping People at the Center of the Public Library: Analysis of Disruptive Technology and Suggestions for Creating a People-Centered Environment". Check out our project wiki.

Congrats to Libraries and Autism: We're Connected for winning the 2009 Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies Award. Libraries and Autism is a collaborative project among two libraries in New Jersey that produced a customer service training video for library staff to help them better serve individuals with autism.

ALA 2009 Poster Session

Check out my poster session at ALA 2009 in Chicago.

Keeping People at the Center of the Public Library: Analysis of Disruptive Technology and Suggestions for Creating a People-Centered Environment

Monday, July 13, 2009 from 1pm-2:30pm
Table #3
ALA Exhibit Hall

Conferences and Unconferences

It's that time of year again - lots of conferences and unconferences are happening. Just this week, I attended LibCampNYC, an unconference focused on libraries and library technology. There was another NYC unconference, Library Camp NYC, in August 2007. Unconferences are about collective knowledge and ideas and the session topics are determined by the attendees. Unconferences have usually been stand-alone events, but this year, there are unconference sessions throughout the SLA conference and ALA has an unconference day during the ALA conference. Looking forward to the conferences and unconferences in D.C. and Chicago. Also, if you're going to ALA, I will be presenting a poster session "Keeping People at the Center of the Public Library: Analysis of Disruptive Technology and Suggestions for Creating a People-Centered Environment" on Monday, July 13 at 1pm-2:30pm.