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.

And that's a wrap!

Finished wrapping up HealthCampNYC, a regional health unconference that took place in May. Check out the summary report.

HealthCampNYC Recap

A month ago, we had an amazing regional health unconference - HealthCampNYC: Using Collective Knowledge to Improve Health Literacy and Community Health. Over 85 people attended and participated in over 24 discussion sessions throughout the day. Check out pictures and discussion notes from the day on the HealthCampNYC wiki.

TEDx Conferences

I first found out about TED (Technology Entertainment Design) in library school. TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to "ideas worth spreading". Since then, I've enjoyed watching TED Talks. Today I just found out about TEDx conferences through Library Journal. "In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created a program called TEDx. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience" (TEDxNJLibraries). Princeton Public Library is hosting TEDxNJLibraries, the first TEDx event to be held at a library. These TEDx events remind me a bit of unconferences because they're both about bringing people together and sharing ideas, but they are also different. For one thing, TEDx events are by invite or selection only while unconferences are usually open to everyone, like HealthCampNYC, a regional health unconference. I think they're both interesting ways of bringing people together and I hope to learn more about TEDxNJLibraries in the coming weeks.

Register for HealthCampNYC

Registration is open for HealthCampNYC: Using Collective Knowledge to Improve Health Literacy and Community Health on Friday, May 14.

HealthCampNYC is a regional health unconference for librarians, literacy professionals, public health professionals, medical professionals, community-based organizations and people interested in sharing with and learning from each other.

Participants at HealthCampNYC will be expected to share their work, skills and knowledge as active participants. In the rich tradition of unconferences, attendees will determine and manage program topics and sessions. Sessions may include (but are not limited to): how-to workshops, debates, or problem-solving sessions. This collaborative environment presents unique opportunities for learning, sharing, and relationship-building.

HealthCampNYC is hosted by Brooklyn Public Library, with support from the Brooklyn Early Childhood Direction Center, The Health Education and Literacy for Parents (HELP) Project, Kingsborough Community College/CUNY's Launchpad to Careers in Public Health, New York Academy of Medicine Library and the Public Health Association of New York City (PHANYC). This project has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract No. NO1-LM-6-3501 with New York University.

Register at http://healthcampnyc.wetpaint.com or email us at healthcampnyc@gmail.com.

HealthCampNYC - A Regional Health Unconference

HealthCampNYC: Using Collective Knowledge to Improve Health Literacy and Community Health

Friday, May 14
9am - 5pm
Brooklyn Public Library, Central Library

HealthCampNYC is a regional health unconference for librarians, literacy professionals, public health professionals, medical professionals, community-based organizations and people interested in sharing with and learning from each other.

Participants at HealthCampNYC will be expected to share their work, skills and knowledge as active participants. In the rich tradition of unconferences, attendees will determine and manage program topics and sessions. Sessions may include (but are not limited to): how-to workshops, debates, or problem-solving sessions. This collaborative environment presents unique opportunities for learning, sharing, and relationship-building.

For more information and to register: http://healthcampnyc.wetpaint.com/

HealthCampNYC is hosted by Brooklyn Public Library with support from The Health Education and Literacy for Parents (HELP) Project and New York Academy of Medicine Library. This project has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract No. NO1-LM-6-3501 with New York University.

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?

Save the Date: HealthCampNYC

SAVE THE DATE

HealthCampNYC: Using Collective Knowledge to Improve Health Literacy and Community Health

Friday, May 14
Brooklyn Public Library, Central Library

HealthCampNYC is a regional health unconference for librarians, literacy professionals, public health professionals, medical professionals, community-based organizations and people interested in sharing with and learning from each other.

Participants at HealthCampNYC will be expected to share their work, skills and knowledge as active participants. In the rich tradition of unconferences, attendees will determine and manage program topics and sessions. Sessions may include (but are not limited to): how-to workshops, debates, or problem-solving sessions. This collaborative environment presents unique opportunities for learning, sharing, and relationship-building.

For more information: http://healthcampnyc.wetpaint.com/

HealthCampNYC is hosted by Brooklyn Public Library with support from The Health Education and Literacy for Parents (HELP) Project and New York Academy of Medicine Library. This project has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract No. NO1-LM-6-3501 with New York University.

Please feel free to share this info and the Save the Date flier with anyone who might be interested.

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.

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.

SLA '09 Recap

Some random thoughts, experiences, and pictures of SLA 2009.


SLA Leadership Development Institute

• Pain-free public speaking: SEE - Stories, Examples, Enthusiasm
• Align in 09: Two-year alignment project that looked into more effective ways to communicate to the non-library world about information professionals. A portal will be set up to discuss project findings and share information. Methods used in this alignment project included surveys, focus groups, and dial sessions. It was found that the name "Special Libraries Association" is not meaningful based on research and a discussion was started about a name change for the association.
  
• Top 10 picks for your SLA leadership toolkit:
  

1. Board of Directors
2. SLA Membership Directory
3. Leadership Center
4. Leadership Discussion Lists
5. Chapter Idea Wiki & Division Idea Wiki
6. Leadership Connections
7. Leadership Resources & Tools
8. Innovation Laboratory
9. SLA Resources
10. Click University

SLA Opening General Session

• Keynote Speaker: Colin Powell mentioned that instead of navigating through the SLA website to get to Click University, he just searched for it using Google. Maybe it's time for some web usability testing?
  
• Congrats to Pam Rollo, SLA@Pratt Advisor, for being selected as a SLA Fellow.
• Congrats to Michelle Dollinger, SLA-NY President, for being selected as a SLA Rising Star.
  

Thinking on Your Feet: Dynamic Communication

• Expanding your comfort zone
• Speaking your audience's language
• Benefits and features of a product or service
• What's the worse possible thing that can happen?
  
• "Plans are useless but planning is essential" - Eisenhower
  

Writing a Resume that Gets Results

• Your resume is not an autobiography
• Resume = marketing tool
• Networthing
• Summary/Qualifications section
• Skills - Transferable skills and technical/career-specific skills

Interviewing Tips & Techniques

• Essential HR Handbook: 100 Best Interview Questions
• Five biggest interviewing mistakes: Acting nonchalant, talking too much, exaggerating, not listening, and being unprepared

SLA Unconference Session #3

• Interesting discussion on participatory librarianship. See discussion notes
  
• Story telling vs. story listening

Developing a Job Search Strategy

• Keep learning/keep current -- core competencies of information professionals
• Building and developing networks
• Mentors
• Business cards. Suggestions: VistaPrint and Moo
  
• Having a Google presence
  

Critical Thinking

• Decision making and strategic planning
  
• Presentation (PDF)
  

National Library of Medicine (NLM) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) Tour

• NLM's Plan for 2006-2016
  
• HITECH Act and measuring meaningful use
• MedlinePlus is going to be redesigned sometime next year. Check out the search cloud
  
• Tutorial: Understanding Medical Words
• National Training Center and Clearinghouse
• Outreach Evaluation Resource Center
• NIH Library's physical space was redesigned based on staff suggestions instead of using a consulting firm

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.