Monday, November 28, 2011

[Lib-helig-l] Presentations from 2011 Evidence Based Library + Info Prac Conf

 
 

Sent to you by IngridThomson via Google Reader:

 
 

via Library Intelligencer by shirley on 11/27/11

http://www.eblip6.salford.ac.uk/online.php

papers include:

Growing the evidence base: results of a national survey into the barriers and priorities for research development in health librarianship; Hannah Spring, York St John University, United Kingdom

Australian employers' perspectives on future skills requirements for health librarians; Suzanne Lewis, Northern Sydney Central Coast Health, Australia and Gillian Hallam, QUT

Undergraduate library use study: students studying students;  Allyson Washburn and Sheila C Bibb, Brigham Young University, United States

The student and the information search process: library development using student voices; Ib Lundgren, Malmo University, Sweden

Moving forward: defining and conceptualising evidence based practice for the library and information profession; Helen Partridge, Queensland University of Technology, Australia

Assessment of student learning in a freshman English library instruction program;  Susan Gardner, Loyola Marymount University, United States

Redesigning evidence based practice for wicked problem solving; Kate Davis, Queensland University of Technology, Australia and Zaana Howard, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia

Valuing knowledge and expertise: using evidence to improve the professional development program in an Australian academic library; Leanne Levinge and Gillian Hallam, QUT

and lots more…..



 
 

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[Lib-helig-l] Great Monday Lunchtime Read from Aarontay :

 
 

Sent to you by IngridThomson via Google Reader:

 
 

via Musings about librarianship by Aarontay on 11/27/11

Like many academic librarians, I do various types of presentations, orientations and classes to students.

Some students might think we librarians are out of touch that we librarian just use our library catalogues and subscribed databases and know little of Google/Wikipedia etc. As such I always try to mention some "real-world" scenarios to signal that I am well aware of the strong google/wikipedia tendencies of well pretty much everybody. Here are some material I am thinking of using or have made use of in the past.

Google has everything

Lane Wilkinson's Sense & Reference blog points out a very common phenomena that we librarians face at tutorials. Inevitably someone will stand up and say why use the library or subscribed databases when Google has everything? And even if no-one is bold enough to say so, you can bet a lot of people are thinking that.


There are many ways to handle this question, but Lane's answer is most interesting. He simply challenges the person to do a google search. Even though Google say there are thousands of results, when you actually move to the last search engine result page you will find there is usually a lot less, because results are usually capped.


In his example "Alcoholism" he shows that Google shows only 800+ results despite claiming a few million.  Even after adding omitted results it shows 1,000. Below shows what I see using Google.com.sg




Google says there are 28 million results, but in actual fact shows only 791, even clicking on repeat the search with the omitted results included doesn't help much. Below shows the results when I click on it.








In comparison most databases (assuming the right type), will show thousands of results (full text only).
Below shows JSTOR






Not that JSTOR is the best database for this , but many students love it, and as the screenshot above shows, there really are 32,000 results!




He concludes


 "It's just a rhetorical trick designed to call into question the commonly held belief that you can find morein Google than in the library. And, as a rhetorical device, it introduces valuable questions. Why does Google cap their results? How useful is it to havemillions of results? How does Google decide which 1,000 results to display? Sure, Google may have 50 billion pages indexed, and you may find websites on just about everything, but sometimes it's nice to be able to show that, from a practical standpoint, the library has more."


I was aware of the capped results effect in Google, though I never thought of using it this way. Though Lane views this as a rhetorical trick, (I mean most dont view past the first 10 and even the most obsessive researcher past the first 100), personally I am still mulling over the implications of this capped results. If say I get capped results of 758, if I refine it further does it just work on the set of 758? If so this can be quite a handicap. 




xkcd : Where Citations come from








 Source: http://xkcd.com/978/


The above picture probably says it all pointing humorously that there is a loophole despite Wikipedia policies of No Original Research. It is important to note that I am generally in agreement with the Daring Librarian, that Wikipedia is not wicked. I could be wrong but I think most librarians agree as well that Wikipedia can be used properly to help start research occasionally.

But still interesting to use this has a starting piece to further discussion on Wikipedia.




Does library use affect student attainment? A preliminary report on the Library Impact Data Project


Again the graph says it all, showing that the students who got first class honours generally used library resources more for both online resources and borrowing of print material, though the effect was stronger for the former. There seems to be almost no correlation for visits to library though.

This is a UK project (University of Huddersfield & 7 partners) and I have been fascinated with their project since I learnt about it. Seems to be a good short slide to quickly show to motivate students :)

Still whenever I mention this, I tend to joke that correlation doesnt not imply causation, so it doesn't mean if you start searching randomly on library databases, you will start increasing your chances of a first class honours :)

Always wondered if we could do this here in Singapore, either at the undergrad level or at the lower levels of A Level students where there is a "Project Work component" required for university admission, where students get a feel of doing some research. Such students would pretty much have to rely on NLB eresources and while there are classes on research held for students by the NLB academy, I am curious whether there is a correlation at this level as well between usage of eresources and perhaps book borrowing and grades received eventually,


Conclusion

Would you use any of these pieces? Why or why not? Anything else you use as talking points?











 
 

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Friday, November 25, 2011

[Lib-helig-l] Library Studies at UCT

*   Please share with your networks. * 
 
The University of Cape Town is pleased to announce that its Department of Information and Library Studies will remain open in the future, and will be offering the following programmes in 2012:
 
Postgraduate Diploma in Library and Information Studies
Master's degree in Library and Information Studies
PhD
 
Applications for these programmes are invited by those interested in studying at UCT in 2012.
Applications:  http://applyonline.uct.ac.za  or  http://www.uct.ac.za/apply/applications/forms/
Inquiries: From the Department at cil-ched@uct.ac.za  or A/Prof Karin de Jager, karin.dejager@uct.ac.za
 
Applicants for the PGDipLIS intending to work in a public library may enquire from the Library and Information Association  of South Africa (LIASA) about the possibility of scholarships for their studies.
 
Enquiries: LIASA,  liasa@liasa.org.za
 
 
 

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UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN

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Tuesday, November 22, 2011

[Lib-helig-l] SCECSAL 2012 - early registration...

Dear Colleagues
 
Apologies for the confusion and thanks for the emails pointing out that the date had closed.    I had just forwarded the pdf to the listserv without looking at the dates.   
 
However,  the early registration is open until end 30th December.     http://www.klas.or.ke/p/kla-2011-annual-conference.html
 
Conference fee is 360 US dollars for early registration by 30th December 2011
• For those who will register later than December 2011 will pay 400 US dollars.
• For those who will register during the conference will pay 450 US dollars
• For further information please contact the Conference Chairperson Mr. David
Muswii on david.muswii@knls.ac.ke
 
 
Kind regards
Ingrid
 
 
Ingrid Thomson
Librarian: Humanities Information Division
Chancellor Oppenheimer Library
University of Cape Town Libraries
Private Bag
7700 RONDEBOSCH
SOUTH AFRICA
 
Tel: +27 21 650 3703  Fax: +27 21 689 7569
 
 
 

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[Lib-helig-l] Call for Papers SCECSAL Conference

Dear Colleagues
 
Attached please find the Call for Papers for the SCECSAL Conference next year.
 
Regards
Ingrid Thomson

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UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN

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[Lib-helig-l] Esp for Western Cape Fwd: [cet-l] Invitation: Exploiting the information deluge by Cameron Neylon


 

Dear all

The Scholarly Communication in Africa Programme in collaboration with OpenUCT and the UCT Research Office invite you to a seminar and discussion with Cameron Neylon, a senior researcher and leading global expert in understanding the technologically-driven changes taking place in the 21st-century research environment.

Exploiting the information deluge: The role of institutions, researchers and communities in web-enabled scholarship

It is easy to assert that 'the web changes everything'. It threatens traditional approaches and power relations in scholarship but also offers new opportunities for effective scholarly communication, exploitation of research, and engagement. How does a modern institution position itself to take advantage of the opportunities, while retaining its core values? In a world of distributed information, and increasingly distributed relationships, how can the institution most effectively continue to play a role in coordination and quality assurance? Neylon will argue that an institution with a clearly articulated and shared mission and a strong tradition of independent scholarship is well placed to make the most of the opportunities the web presents. While deep conceptual changes are needed to fully exploit the opportunities these changes align with traditional scholarly values of openness, transparency and academic freedom.

Date: Thursday 8 December
Time: 11-1pm
Venue: Seminar Room, Research Office, 2 Rhodes Avenue, Mowbray
(Parking available at Shoprite rooftop parking. Note that a light lunch will be served.)

Cameron Neylon is a biophysicist who has always worked in interdisciplinary areas and is an advocate of open research practice and improved data management. He currently works as Senior Scientist in Biomolecular Sciences at the ISIS Neutron Scattering facility at the UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). Along with his work in structural biology and biophysics his research and writing focuses on the interface of web technology with science and the successful (and unsuccessful) application of generic and specially designed tools in the academic research environment. He is a co-author of the Panton Principles for Open Data in Science, founding Editor in Chief of Open Research Computation, and writes regularly on the social, technical, and policy issues of open research. He currently serves on the Advisory Panel and is a Special Consultant to the Scholarly Communication in Africa Programme.

This is an open event. Please pass the invitation on.
RSVP to thomas.king@uct.ac.za by Friday 2 December 2012.

- - -

Thomas King
Research Assistant
Scholarly Communication in Africa Programme
University of Cape Town
South Africa
Tel:+27(21) 650 5061
Cell: 073 076 2801
http://www.scaprogramme.org.za/
Follow us on Twitter: SCAprogramme


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UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN

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Ingrid Thomson
Librarian: Humanities Information Division
Chancellor Oppenheimer Library
University of Cape Town Libraries
Private Bag
7700 RONDEBOSCH
SOUTH AFRICA
 
Tel: +27 21 650 3703  Fax: +27 21 689 7569
 
 
 

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UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN

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Sunday, November 20, 2011

[Lib-helig-l] Monday Morning Read - New Research on Embedded Librarians

 
 

Sent to you by IngridThomson via Google Reader:

 
 

via The Embedded Librarian by davidshumaker on 11/20/11

My latest research on embedded librarianship has just been published on the Special Libraries Association website at: http://www.sla.org/pdfs/ModelsofEmbeddedLibrarianshipAddendum2011.pdf

This is a supplement to the final report that Mary Talley and I co-authored in 2009. In this supplement, I report on six site visits that I made during June of this year. Three visits were made to institutions of higher education; two to for-profit organizations, and one to a not-for-profit corporation. Two were re-visits (one educational, one professional services firm) to organizations that Mary and I visited in 2009 and documented in an appendix to our final report.

The six organizations were chosen because of a sustained record of successful embedded librarianship. In each visit, my focus was on practices that contributed to success — especially management practices, and the roles of library managers and information user group managers. I talked to at least four individuals at each site — a mix of librarians, library managers, senior managers, and information user group members. (At one organization, I was unable to talk to information users due to a scheduling problem.)

I'm working on analyzing and synthesizing the results for future publication, but I wanted to make the writeups available for those who might be interested in the meantime. If you go over to the SLA site and read them, I hope you'll come back here and post a comment or otherwise give me your feedback.

p.s. I want to thank the folks at the Special Libraries Association for funding the project and for their patience as I've worked away at it over the past 3+ years.



 
 

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Friday, November 18, 2011

[Lib-helig-l] to share with your students : Google Photography Prize

Dear Colleagues
See below. This photography competition is open to all university students around the world including South Africa.
Please share with interested students ...

Regards
Ingrid Thomson

 
 

Sent to you by IngridThomson via Google Reader:

 
 

via Official Google Africa Blog by Amanda Gicharu on 11/16/11

En Français

Google+ is only a few months old, but the photography community is already thriving on it. Take a look at the profiles of Scott Jarvie, Thomas Hawk, Colby Brown or Claire Grigaut to see just a few of the inspiring photographers on Google+. More than 3.4 billion photos have been uploaded to the platform in the first 100 days.

We're really excited about this, and think great art deserves great exposure. So we're teaming up with Saatchi Gallery, London for the Google Photography Prize, a chance for students around the world, including across Africa, to showcase their photos on Google+ and have their work exhibited at a major art institution.

The contest is open to university students around the world (some exceptions apply, see google.com/photographyprize for more details). From far-away places to up-close faces, there are 10 different categories to spark your imagination. And there are some great prizes to be won: 10 finalists chosen by a jury of renowned photographers will show their work at Saatchi Gallery, London for two months in 2012 alongside Out of Focus, a major photography exhibition, and win a trip to London to attend the exhibition opening event with a friend. One winner will go on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to an amazing destination with a professional photography coach.

It's easy to enter: After you pick a category, upload your photos to Google+ and share them with the world as a public post, then visit the submission form on google.com/photographyprize by January 31, 2012 to enter.

Saatchi Gallery, London will share updates on their Google+ page for the contest, so add it to your circles if you want to see the great work that's being submitted.

We can't wait to see your photos and have Africa represented in the competition!

Posted by Anat. S. Amir, Head of Marketing, Google Africa

====

Prix de la photo Google : A la recherche des stars de la photo de demain

Google+ n'a que quelques mois mais la communauté des photographes s'en est déjà emparée. Jetez un coup œil aux profils de Scott Jarvie, , Thomas Hawk, Colby Brown ou Claire Grigaut pour ne citer qu'eux, et vous serez convaincu du talent des photographes sur Google+. Plus de 3,4 milliards de photos ont été téléchargées sur la plate-forme au cours des 100 premiers jours.

Nous sommes ravis et nous pensons que le grand art mérite une exposition digne de ce nom. Nous faisons ainsi équipe avec la Saatchi Gallery à Londres pour décerner le Prix de la photo Google, l'occasion pour les étudiants à travers le monde, Afrique comprise, de montrer leurs photos sur Google+ et de voir leur travail exposé dans une institution artistique de premier plan.

Le concours est ouvert aux étudiants des universités du monde entier (à quelques exceptions près, voir google.com/photographyprize pour plus de détails). Lieux exotiques ou portraits en gros plan, il existe 10 catégories pour laisser libre cours à votre imagination. Et de superbes prix sont en jeu : les dix finalistes sélectionnés par un jury de photographes reconnus pourront exposer leurs œuvres à la Saatchi Gallery à Londres pendant deux mois en 2012, dans le cadre de Out of Focus, une grande exposition de photos, et gagneront un voyage pour deux à Londres pour assister à l'ouverture de l'exposition. Un des gagnants se verra offrir un voyage exceptionnel vers une destination surprenante avec un photographe professionnel comme coach.

Pour participer : après avoir choisi une catégorie, il suffit de télécharger vos photos sur Google+ et de les partager avec le monde entier sous forme de post public, puis de remplir le formulaire d'inscription sur google.com/photographyprize avant le 31 janvier 2012.

La Saatchi Gallery à Londres mettra à jour les infos sur le concours sur sa page Google+. Ajoutez-la à vos favoris si vous voulez regarder les superbes travaux proposés.

Nous sommes impatients d'admirer vos photos et de voir l'Afrique représentée dans le concours!

Posté par Anat S. Amir, responsable du marketing Afrique

 
 

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[Lib-helig-l] Google Scholar Citations

Dear Colleagues
 
Anyone tried the new Google Scholar Citations yet?
 
regards
Ingrid Thomson
 
 
Ingrid Thomson
Librarian: Humanities Information Division
Chancellor Oppenheimer Library
University of Cape Town Libraries
Private Bag
7700 RONDEBOSCH
SOUTH AFRICA
 
Tel: +27 21 650 3703  Fax: +27 21 689 7569
 
 
 

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UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN

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Thursday, November 17, 2011

[Lib-helig-l] Interesting Friday morning read:

 
 

Sent to you by IngridThomson via Google Reader:

 
 

via LJ RSS Feeds by David Rapp on 11/17/11

On 11/11/11, what some claimed was a good day for turning a new leaf, Library Journal held its second Future of the Academic Library Symposium, at Temple University. Attendees heard not a single presentation with the word "future" in the title. No predict...

 
 

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[Lib-helig-l] [Wolpe-cape] Invitation to the 9th Harold Wolpe Memorial Lecture

Apologies for cross posting



Dear Friends of the Trust
 
The Harold Wolpe Memorial Trust invites you to the 9th Harold Wolpe Memorial Lecture.
 
Date: Thursday 24 November 2011
Venue: Old Mutual Head Offices, Pinelands
Time: 18h00 for 18h30
 
Speaker: Mr Pablo Solon
 
RSVP: Nosipho Masiza: (021) 674-0361, email: Wolpeforums@mweb.co.za
 
Please see the attached invitation for more information.

__________________________________________

Harold Wolpe Memorial Trust
http://www.wolpetrust.org.za

Please DO NOT reply to this message.

Contact The Harold Wolpe Trust directly at +27 21 674 0361 or email to wolpeforums@mweb.co.za.



--
Regards
Fatima Darries

E-LIS SA Editor

http://eprints.rclis.org

www.highedlibrarian.blogspot.com
www.openaccesslibrary.pbwiki.com

[Lib-helig-l] ICADLA2 on Twitter

Dear Colleagues

The 2nd International Conference on African Digital Libraries and Archives is taking place at Wits this week. If you would like to follow tweets on the conference, type #icadla2 in the search box on 
--
Regards
Fatima Darries

E-LIS SA Editor

http://eprints.rclis.org

www.highedlibrarian.blogspot.com
www.openaccesslibrary.pbwiki.com

Saturday, November 12, 2011

[Lib-helig-l] Information Literacy practices @ your Library Colloquium - Presentations

WCHELIG hosted a colloquium on Information practices @ your Library on 03 November 2011. Presentations are now available on LIASA website under Western Cape Branch/ HELIG or

Follow the link http://www.liasa.org.za/node/693

Regards,
Bulelwa Mandubu
UWC Library
WCHELIG Chairperson
021 9592930 (W)

Friday, November 11, 2011

[Lib-helig-l] Poster of the 4th Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries International Conference (QQML2012)

Apologies for cross posting 

 

From: Secretariat@isast.org [mailto:secretariat@isast.org]
Sent: 20 October 2011 14:45
To: Mbambo Thata, Buhle
Subject: Poster of the 4th Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries International Conference (QQML2012)

 

Dear Colleague,

 

Please find attached the Poster of the 4th Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries International Conference (QQML2012, Limerick, Ireland, 22 – 25 May 2012, www.isast.org ) for your information.

 

We would appreciate very much if you disseminate the attached Poster of QQML2012 International Conference to Colleagues, Researchers and Students.

 

Looking forward to welcoming you in Limerick for the conference,

 

Kind regards

 

Dr. Anthi Katsirikou, Conference Co-Chair

University of Piraeus

Library Director

Head, European Documentation Center

Board Member of the Greek Association of Librarians and Information Professionals

anthi@asmda.com

 

 

Jerald Cavanagh BSc Econ, MSc, MA, Local Committee Co-Chair
Institute Librarian
Limerick Institute of Technology
Limerick, Rep of Ireland

e-Mail:  jerald.cavanagh@lit.ie

 

Padraig Kirby BA (Hons) HdipLIS, Local Committee Co-Chair

Acting Senior Library Assistant

The Library

Limerick Institute of Technology

Moylish Park

Limerick, Republic of Ireland

Padraig.Kirby@lit.ie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you don't like to receive messages regarding the QQML2012Conference please click here: Unsubscribe

 

 

 

 

 




--
Regards
Fatima Darries

E-LIS SA Editor

http://eprints.rclis.org

www.highedlibrarian.blogspot.com
www.openaccesslibrary.pbwiki.com

Thursday, November 10, 2011

[Lib-helig-l] LILAC 2011: Presentations

 
 

Sent to you by IngridThomson via Google Reader:

 
 

via Library Intelligencer by shirley on 11/9/11

http://lilacconference.com/WP/past-conferences/lilac-2011/

presentations include:

22nd Century Librarians and the death of information skills. Andy Jackson.

Keeping up the dialogue: fostering information literacy in a community of professionals. Jason Eyre and Julie Kent.

Bibliometrics support for the research community: the experience of 4 Irish University libraries collaboratively producing a suite of Open Access reusable learning objects. Ros Pan and Eileen Breen.

Effective approaches to thinking like a researcher. Emma Finney & Deborah Harrop.

Above and beyond: an online tutorial to develop academic and research skills. Sara Thornes.

What do university students want to know?: Re-evaluating information sessions based on an analysis of commonly-asked library questions. Jessica Lange & Katherine Hanz.


 
 

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Tuesday, November 8, 2011

[Lib-helig-l] Reality-based Librarianship for Passionate Librarians

Dear Colleagues
An inspiring mid-week read. Lengthy, but this is the closing keynote at the recent LIANZA (New Zealand) conference.
regards
Ingrid

 
 

Sent to you by IngridThomson via Google Reader:

 
 

via Attempting Elegance by Jenica on 11/8/11

Here it is, past the jump, as written and mostly as delivered. It's hard to remember precisely what I said at which of the three times I did this, so this is some amalgamation of the three. I do know that once I set language patterns I stick to them, so I suspect this is pretty close to word-for-word. When the LIANZA video is released, we can compare notes. Click to embiggen the slides.

Slide 1

This may seem an odd title — we all do, in fact, live in reality, so there's no need for the phrase "reality-based librarians"…  Except I think there is. Because we live in a liminal time – the internet, globalization of information and culture, and the as-yet-unseen repercussions of the digital divide, the shifting global and regional economies – they're changing everything. And so we have people who are clinging desperately to the past, people urgently plunging forward, and people standing still.  It doesn't matter which camp you're a part of, really — I think the future will take care of us all in one way or another — but what matters is that your decision to cling, to lunge, or to stand be based in your personal, local reality. Local realities differ, just as our individual positions differ. Budgets, communities, goals, needs, resources, skills, desires… they're all different. And so we stand, we plunge, or we cling. I believe that we're all capable of being passionate, effective, and successful — of plunging forward in smart ways — but it's foolish to think we can all do that in the *same* ways.

So that's where reality comes in.  I value reality-based librarians, whatever their circumstances.

Slide 2:

So thats the title and where it comes from. But who am I, where am I from, and why am I here?

The easy part to answer is that Potsdam is 20 miles from the Canadian border in New York State, and is closer to Montreal than to Boston, New York City, or Buffalo. The closest decent airport is in Ottawa. It gets very cold in the winter, and is currently snowing, and will do so until April.

Who am I?  I've been working in libraries for half my life, and all the adult part of it, committing myself to public education, and finding great satisfaction and some very cool opportunities as a writer and speaker. I have worked at my current institution for 8 years in three different roles, and I have been director of libraries, encompassing the campus general library, the music library, the archives, and special collections for two and a half years.

As for why I'm here, offering you a closing keynote, well, I'm someone who gets things done. I set goals, identify dreams, and make things happen. I do that by planting myself equally firmly in passion and in reality.

There's been a lot of questioning, here this week and in general, about how to nurture and create leaders from within our profession. I would say the answer is clear: go do it. Go be it. Take responsibility for that need for leadership, and do it.  And if you tune out halfway through this talk, I hope you remember one single thing: You are your own best weapon against the things you want to change. You are your own most powerful resource.(You can stop listening now.)

So I'm here to share some thoughts on that – possibly wisdom. Possibly not. You decide for yourself.

Slide 3:

The very first thing you have to do to be a passionate librarian is find your passion. You're hearing great stuff at this conference, talking to fascinating people, and you've got ideas. Great ideas. Some big, some small, some huge and unwieldy, some very do-able but fraught with uncertainty… and you're wondering how to do it. How to make it work. What to actually do.Step one is to figure out why you like the ideas. Why do they keep circling your brain? Why are you fixated on that particular outreach technique, or that bit of tech you saw demoed? Why do you want so badly to change this thing, that thing, and the other? What is it about those ideas that resonates for you?

Figure that out. If you can figure that out, you're advocating for an idea, a goal, and a belief. A passion. If you can't figure that out, you're advocating for an outreach technique, a piece of software, this thing, that thing, or the other.

An example  Standing up and saying "Springshare's LibGuides website builder is awesome!" isn't nearly as compelling as standing up and saying "Expanding our users' access to up-to-date content by using web-page creation software designed by librarians for librarians with a shared contentbase created by our peers is awesome!"

Some attendees voiced concerns that Aroha Mead did not explicitly link her excellent talk to "what this means for libraries". I would argue that it's your job to create that linkage, because only you can see the ways in which your context links to her information.

So use another example, attending a conference or a talk, and saying that you went, and that you heard these 20 things, is less compelling than thinking about the talks you attended, linking them to the ideas and challenges you took away from them, linking the ideas to goals of yours, linking your goals to your institution's goals and community needs, and then linking the goals to work you've done on concrete projects – and talking about that.

Which one would you rather hear about? So name your passion. Start there. And then make it actionable.  I believe that one way to do that is to be an optimist — Just optimistic enough to believe in yourself, to believe "it" – whatever your it is – can be done.

Michael Lopp, who writes about IT management, was reflecting on the death of Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple. He was provoked enough by the loss of a visionary to write, "You are underestimating the future. You are fretting about the now; worrying about little things that don't matter. You are wasting precious energy obsessing over irrelevant details. You don't believe that a better future is out there and can be built, that it can exceed people's expectations, because you're spending so much time considering the truth of the present and the seemingly important lessons of the past. You are underestimating the future because you believe you cannot see it, but you can – you've seen it done before."

If you are convinced, and believe that something matters and CAN be done, fears and fretting aside, you have to then stand up for it. That's what I mean by actionable passion — a belief in something coupled with a belief that it's possible is a great call to action.  But you cannot assume that someone else will lead the charge, make the stand, shout the slogans, or do the work for what you believe in. That works sometimes — sometimes Steve Jobs is reinventing Apple. Sometimes someone else will do the thing and make your dream a reality for you.

But not usually. Usually, if you want something, you have to make it happen.  So name your passion. Own it. Be optimistic about it. Believe in it. Stand up for it. And get ready to make it happen.

Slide 4:

So, you've named your passion and decided to stand up for it, you want to make it actionable, to do something. Awesome.

I'm a visual thinker, and i love metaphors. So i ask you to play along with me, here -  let's all agree to pretend that acting on your passion is a hill, because that will make my metaphors work way more smoothly.

Everyone has a hill to climb. Everyone believes in something, wants something. Always. I cannot believe anyone who says they can't think of what their next project should be, or that they don't know what they might possibly change or improve.  There's always a hill to climb — the people who think otherwise just haven't named their passion, or don't believe it can be done.

So if you can accept that everyone has a hill that they can climb, you yourself must next decide if you should climb it.  Some hills are too big, too dangerous, too far away — and some are a really awesome challenge because they are all of those things. You have to decide which ones are which.

I have a whole mountain range of passion about my work.  One of the places I climb it is on my blog, in my writing. This fall, I chose to argue with vendors, calling out Proquest and the American Chemical Society on bad service and terrible pricing models. I drew a line in the sand about librarianship's professional identity and the (terrible) decision of some university librarians to hire non-qualified staff rather than supporting the skills development of their qualified librarians. Before that, I was commenting on our professional take on online identity, and it's immense power and the fear it engenders in many of our colleagues. These professional thought wars all still wage, but I fought and won a bunch of small battles, raised awareness of issues that matter to me, and started some conversation. My choice to act mattered.

The things I do at my institution also matter: Improving spaces, reinventing services, reorganizing the staff structure, changing our mix of resources, empowering staff to learn and innovate.  Not all of it was easy. not all of it was safe. It matters, regardless.

You can do the same.  How? Doing what you're doing now, here at this conference. Gathering new data and then making new arguments. Trying out new stuff.  To quote Amy Buckland at McGill University Libraries, professional development is all about challenging legacy processes. Or, as we say over too many beers at conference bars, "die bunheads die". Except, when we say that, and when we challenge those processes, sometimes we see that those bunheads are guarding the heart of our profession — and then we defend them to the death. But you can't know which processes are which unless you challenge them, examine them, and understand them.

But, so, you come to conferences, right? You talk to a hundred interesting people. You hear a dozen talks, take notes, check websites, grab business cards and pens with vendor logos on them, and you try on new ideas… and then what? You go home with a million big ideas, all poised to change the game. But you're one person, working at one library. You can't do it all, and the size of the hill in front of you is daunting.

There's always a hill to climb. You cannot let the simple existence of the hill stop you from climbing it.  
You just have to pick your hills. Look at what you've learned here, this week, at the ideas you've generated. Look at your energy, your resources, and your barriers. And pick a hill.
Figure out which one is worth the climb, worth the sweat and the sore quads and the scramble over rocks.  And just start climbing.  And when you get halfway there, and see the insurmountable obstacle — be it lack of budget, resistance from colleagues, lack of leadership, dissonance of vision, the consequences of a natural disaster, or a good old fashioned catastrophic avalanche of all of them at once — you have to stop, and ask:  Is this the hill I want to die on?

Because not all hills, even smartly chosen ones, deserve your passion. Some battles aren't worth fighting, and can't be won. Or the cost of winning is too high – you will spend more than you can afford to see it done. Or, remembering the exhortations of earlier keynotes to focus on political awareness, the victory isn't strategic enough.  Some hills are not worth dying on.

And since choosing the hill is intensely personal, only you can know if this climb is the climb you ought to be on.  But you have to know you can choose. Because there's always a hill to climb, if you choose not to tackle this one.

Slide 5:

And that's a whole lot of squishy metaphorical talk about feelings. So want to know something concrete. People always do. So: How do you start?

I'll sum up my thoughts. Things don't just happen. Steve Jobs does not magically appear and invent the iPad. Things happen because someone was in the right place at the right time with the right idea. Things happen because someone planned for them to happen. So approach success, advocacy, and change as you would any other project: Plan for it.

Put yourself in the right place at the right time, because you intended to be there, you worked hard to get there, and you made a plan to ensure you stayed there. You can't just show up in your manager's office door and say "we should have ebooks" and expect it to happen. You must have a plan. (I would, on behalf of all managers everywhere suggest that if you are the sort of person who shows up and says "we need ebooks" you might consider how that sounds to your audience, and consider how well it's working for you.)

A plan is key. Because I believe that, I'm going to assert that any goal can be project-managed, and I'll also assert that any goal should be project-managed. Must be.  I'll say it again: Change doesn't just happen. Change happens because someone worked hard to put themselves in the right place, at the right time. Work to put yourself in that place, just at that time. Plan for brilliance, agitate for success.

Slide 6:

So, how?

In short, to reiterate, PLAN.  To some people planning a dream or a goal sounds completely bizarre, but I maintain that it's necessary.

1. Identify your goals. That's the bit I talked about first. Name your passion.

2. Map out the steps. This is the crunchier bit. If your goal is to make sure your library's website is responsive and modern because that's in the best interests of your users access to information, what's the first step? I can't tell you that — this is where your reality comes into play.
Who are you in the food chain of your library?
Who is in charge of the thing you want to change?
What's your relationship to that person?
What allies do you need to make it happen?
What's it gonna cost?
All of those things and a bunch of others define your first step, because your first step might be to begin a user needs survey, or it might be to ask for a meeting with the person who updates your website, or it might be to rearrange your budget plan for the year. I can't know that for you. What I can know is that if you don't have a plan, you won't know where you're going, or how to begin smartly.

3. Understand your need for accountability — of others, of yourself, of external forces.
How much do you need to know, understand, and report?
How much do you need to be involved in the decision making process, as a consultant or a decider?
What and who do you need to update, and be updated on and by?
Prepare to be ask for the information you need, and to provide it in turn.

4. Understand your need for support. Each of us is a different kind of social and professional creature, so each of us will have differing needs for team work, validation, attention, and participation. What do you require in order to feel successful?

5. Consider those questions, and then include your conclusions about all of them in your plan.

Slide 7:

And then follow your plan. Do not self sabotage. I cannot tell you how many times I've seen librarians build a great plan that then dissolves upon first contact with reality.  Stop that.  You built a plan based on your needs and goals.  Your needs and goals have value. They matter. You matter. Treat yourself accordingly, and follow through.

When I say this, I don't mean you need a complex process map complete with flowchart arrows for every step of every day (though I think those are really cool), but if you haven't considered the needs, outcomes, and challenges of getting shit done, how will you respond when the challenges arise, needs are identified, and outcomes take a sudden turn left from your expectation? A map, a plan, some forethought and care, can protect you from yourself… and from others.

Slide 8:

New metaphor!  For a few minutes, we're all astronauts.

You want to reach the stars.  But you look around, and you know you can get to the moon; that's a reasonable goal, and you can see the route to get there. And so you plan for it.  But in your planning process, you realize you can't just get to the moon; to get there with the resources you have available to you, you have to build with a really ugly rocket. And you hate that rocket. But you need that rocket. It's what will get you to the moon.So love your rocket. Give it a cool name. Ignore how ugly it is. Always remember that it's what will get you to the moon, and that getting to the moon is important.

Bringing it back down to an example:
Your passions about user service tell you that what you want is a new information architecture on the website for a vital service to your community (this is the stars). But you know, when you consider the reality of your situation, that what you can get is an update of the content on the current sort of clunky website. (This is the moon). But as you build a plan of action, you realize that to get to that update, you're going to have to agree to do a user need survey. You think this survey is sort of pointless; you don't believe it can tell you anything you don't already know from working with the community and doing your own professional research. But the powers that be believe there useful data to be gathered, that hard data will make a stronger case than anecdotal reporting. So that survey.  It's a necessary step to get administrative buy in for your plan to get to the moon. In that moment, it doesn't matter if you're right or wrong about the survey — that survey is your rocket. It's a damn ugly rocket, but it's the process that will get you there.

Embrace it. if your goal matters to you — embrace the process, because you know it's worth it in the end.

Slide 9:

So, embrace process, but don't be a pushover. Back to the hill.  Some people have to be encouraged to embrace the process as a necessary part of planning for success.

But other people… sometimes people begin something and then have poured so much energy into climbing their hill that they can't imagine stopping. It happens to us all. Sometimes you've given so much, tried so hard, that you can't fathom turning back. You simply cannot stop. As an amateur rock climber, I know that when you have knees full of stone from smashing into that rock over and over again, it's very very hard to consider not topping the climb to make it all worth it.  When you've given weeks or months of time, energy and startup funding, it's nigh unto impossible to declare the thing a failure. That's just another facet of the reality we all work within.

And so I also advocate that you remember why you've set yourself on this road — come back to your passion. Why are you climbing the hill? Why are you scaling the face? Why are you facing off with this immovable person? Why did you start this project? Why are you arguing for resources?  What is your end goal, and why do you care?

But in moments of crisis, also ask yourself: have you passed your point of no return? Have you truly reached the point where the project must be completed? Or is there a way to say that you're done climbing, and you'd like to come down now?

We have inherently altruistic reasons for doing things — we're all in libraries, and as such we serve the needs of others as our daily operating goal, so altruism features large — and that altruism often leads us to think that turning back or admitting defeat is purely unacceptable. I'll acknowledge that there's also some correlation between willingness to fail and not giving a damn, but I think that when you do give a damn there's a point where being altruistic prevents success by preventing failure. If you cannot acknowledge that a project is doomed and was a mistake, you never stop doing it, and if it isn't working, can't work, but you can't say that it's a failure, you keep pouring resources — altruistically! — over a cliff.  That wasn't your goal, was it?

Earlier I said "be an optimist, and believe". I would amend that to "be the kind of optimist that makes people want to follow you … not the kind of optimist that can't see truth through their belief and so fails." You have to parse out what's probable and what's possible.  And when you hit the "not very probable, only possible with tactical nuclear weapons" stage, even an optimist has to know that it's time to stop now.

Slide 10:

Because you will not always succeed. That's reality, too.

So I ask you to consider: do you know where your tolerance for failure is? How accurate is your personal guage as you assess challenges? How high are you willing to climb, knowing the oxygen will get thin and it's a hell of a long fall to the bottom if you slip?  Or, to switch visual metaphors, (again!) how strong is your egg? How fragile? (Strong things can be fragile, if you know where to push, and fragile things can be strong if you hold them right.)

In order to choose your projects, goals, and dreams, and plan for smart risks, you have to know not only how high you're willing to climb, you have to know if you can handle failing. So before you start chasing a new passion, and before you say yes or no to an opportunity, ask yourself: What's the worst that could happen?

And not in the flip way. For real. What's the worst that could happen? If you try this, buy that, ask for the other thing. What's the worst that could happen?  Thinking about the "best" is easy. We predict success brilliantly. Patrons will come in droves and will love us dearly. Yay! Best case scenario!  We pick projects, battles, hills, because we can imagine the pinnacle, see the peak, envision our dreams, and we want it. That's awesome. Focus on it, and let it guide you. But know what you're doing: Consider failure. What's the worst that could happen? And once you know that, ask again: Can I handle that?

I don't advocate for this because I believe we should operate from a place of fear; far from it. Fear is the worst possible driver of decision-making. Fear is not strong, or hopeful, or wise. Fear reacts and fear protects and fear makes us small. But we must know how far we can push ourselves before we break, and we must anticipate both the negative and the positive consequences of our choices and actions before we can make wise, strong, and hopeful choices.

Know what you want. Know what you can handle. And then make a choice to move forward.

Slide 11:

And if you can name your own tolerance for failure, you must then also acknowledge that every other person you encounter has a tolerance, too. We're all human. We have issues. We all have a point of fear: beyond this line, I do not go. Spiders. Spiders is mine. You say spiders, I say no. Fortunately, spiders are not a big feature of academic libraries, so professionally, I'm mostly golden. Personally, give me a rodent problem in the house, I'm good. I got this. Give me spiders, I turn to stone. Trembling, terrified stone. So everybody's got a line.

Which is to say, people fear things. Professionally, one of the things they often fear is failure, with different points of tolerance. So some people are a brick wall on some issues, usually out of fear, — but not all people, and not on all issues. Part of being a change agent is knowing when you're bashing your face into a brick wall, when someone ten feet to your left has a door in front of them.

There's great strength in seeing a barrier for what it is, knowing when to stop hitting it, knowing when to ask for help, and knowing when to turn left and go around. Fear of failure, and our tolerance for it, are powerful motivators. If someone is strongly rooted in theirs, you may not be strong enough to move them aside. But you can always move yourself. And one way to start is to ask why someone is blocking you. Ask yourself what you can do about it, aif it's worth doing, and if you can do it.

So… to deal in my own chosen metaphors, if passions are hills that you can choose to die on, people and their fears are walls. If you can't find a way through the wall, open a door. If you can't open a door, go over. Or go around. Sometimes you have to be creative — and understanding of what motivates others — to find a way through. But if you don't try, you can't succeed.

Slide 12:

At this point, I expect some of you are drawing lines between my words and your lives, and thinking "I can't go around my supervisor, or over her, or through her — that's a TERRIBLE piece of advice. But you're right, her fear of failure is blocking me. And I can't change that. I've tried." And you're right. Openly thwarting your supervisor is probably terrible advice.

Ok then. 2 things.

1. Can someone else change the unchangeable? Boost you over the wall? Can you find an ally, an advocate, or a partner who can speak in ways that will get you through the wall? One of the best lessons I've ever learned is that sometimes my power lies not in speaking but in finding someone who can speak for me. Not in acting, but in finding someone who can act on my behalf.  Sometimes you are not the one who makes it happen, for all sorts of reasons, but you can be the voice whispering the good ideas to the ones who can make it happen.

and,

2. Even if you can't find someone to help you, even if this issue in front of you is something you have to turn back from, go find those allies anyway. You need support. We all do. You need to have people who get you, who will feed your passion when the world sucks you dry, who will prop you up when you wobble. That might be a local community — your coworkers, you local peers. Or it might be regional, or national. Or, as in my case, international. Use your professional organizations, professional development opportunities, and the internet to build a world of professional peers who can offer you a hand when you need it.

None of us can function alone. Steve Jobs had an army of smart, creative people standing with him, generating ideas, making his ideas real, and (presumably) supporting his innovation. You're no different.

Slide 13:

One of the reasons you can't function alone is that you're gonna need a network someday. If you're taking ownership for your choices, choosing to make your passions actionable, and deciding that you believe in your dreams, you will sometimes find that you have outgrown the capacity of your current place of work.

And while I acknowledge that it's a terrible economy, globally and locally, there are always other jobs. You can always choose to move on. And in that moment, your professional buddies are often the ones you can turn to as you move forward — the ones who know things about the jobs you're applying for, who can give you a lead on something interesting, or who will simply support you as you make changes in your life. Cultivate that network.

If there aren't other jobs for you, for whatever reasons are a part of your personal reality as life happens to us all, we become tied to a place, the needs of others, or whatever it is that anchors you to a place, I hope everyone will consider what you're giving up if you can't embody your passion. You're making a choice, and a sacrifice, if you don't have room to act on your goals and dreams. You are the only one who can know if that's the right decision for you, but make the decision consciously.

Slide 14:

And so, to conclude…

What I'm saying is:
To succeed, and be proud of who you are as a professional, you have to focus on your own reality, and know what you need as a human being, so that you can decide what you need to accomplish, want to try, desire as goals, and cannot live without. If you don't know those things, setting your priorities accurately is impossible.

If you can identify your strengths, your resources, and your values, regardless of your personal reality, you'll know which hills to climb, how to build a plan that includes all the important stuff, and when to turn back or ask for help.

Without a strong sense of who you are and what you need, you're going to be taking the hard road. And the world needs too much change to do any of it the hard way.

Because I don't care whether or not you think that our shared future of transformational change is exciting, terrifying, or just par for the course. I don't care what your passion is. I don't give a shit how hard times are, how bad everybody says things are, or how bad your funding is. This is life. This is our profession.  It is what it is.

I grew up in Illinois, and Illinois is a part of our country which has lots of two things: corn and soybeans. Farmers as far as the eye can see, and on that flat land, the eye can see pretty far. And when I was 16, taking my mandatory course in US History, I quickly saw a trend: farmers never have a good year. If crops are good, prices are low. If prices are high, there's a drought. If nature allows a decent a crop, prices are mediocre. Farmers never have a good year.

But here's the thing: they keep farming. Even though it's hard, and nobody gets rich, they keep farming because growing things matters, feeding the world matters, and if it's a bad year… So be it.

Libraries are very much the same, to my mind. So it's not a good year for libraries. So what? Has it ever been a good year for libraries?

I'd say no. And I'd say we're going to keep farming anyway.

So decide what you value and fight for it. Do something.

~~~~~~~~~

Credits:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/voglesonger/2509367383/in/faves-jenica26/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stefan-w/5355424756/in/faves-jenica26/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sovietuk/3146573233/in/faves-jenica26/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sashawolff/3427937070/in/faves-jenica26/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/x-ray_delta_one/5741979434/in/faves-jenica26/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chadpodoski/120104172/in/faves-jenica26/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38446022@N00/4589969792/in/faves-jenica26/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/planeta_roig/1878956841/in/faves-jenica26/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33881710@N06/3969715742/

http://www.randsinrepose.com/archives/2011/10/06/you_are_underestimating_the_future.html

And some photos are my own.


 
 

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