Where do we go from here?

Doug and Joyce wrote about the things that keep them up at night, and Diane asked people to "please get out of my profession". @Gwynethjones commented

What concerns me is that we're preaching to the choir here: those who NEED a PLN are not likely to join Twitter, or read a wiki - then what?

At a recent HVLA meeting, Linda Braun talked about some of the cool 2.0 tools that we could use in our libraries: VoiceThread, TeacherTube, Screenr, among others. After, several "oldies" asked about finding time to play - they wanted to learn new tricks, but also wanted to feel supported in their learning. These are women who have been librarians for more years than they want to count, who consider themselves to be dedicated to being librarians, not those who are just retiring to the "easy" job of sitting around shushing and reading books. My guess? They don't read many blogs, if they read them at all. They probably read SLJ and possibly LMC, but don't belong to ALA/AASL/YALSA/ALSC (etc.) and so don't get those professional journals. There's no professional development money at their school so going to a conference better be local.

Are they good librarians? I think it depends. Do they create wonderful programs for their students? Does their school graduate life-long learners? Is their collection responsive to the curriculum and the students' interests? If the answer to all those questions is "yes", then yes, they are "good librarians." I don't want them kicked out of my profession. I want them there to help guide newbies who come in all enamored with the latest and greatest in technotools, who don't see that school cultures change slowly or that sometimes, less is more.

I know one woman who does not have her MLS. Her program is warm, student-centered and everything a school could ask for. I know other women who have their MLS and who are the very definition of the Disposable Librarian. A local friend of mine was telling me about a new Administrator at her school; he'd come from another school, one with what most of us local folks think of as being a good library with a strong program. His response? He could never find anything he needed in the library and that the collection was worthless (he'd be a big supporter of James Tracey.) His "new" librarian has spent years cultivating that collection, enhancing the finding experience and has helped his see that it's not necessarily the fault of the books, it's the fault of the people guarding the books. And the first librarian? An extensive PLN.

So, where do we go from here?

Photo Fun

I don't know if you can actually read the marquee, but New Moon is playing here. Yes, a Bloodmobile is parked right outside. As they say, timing is everything.

Thing One pointed this out:


Now look at the picture:


Don't know how to break it to either HBO or the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame, but that looks an awful lot like Stephen Stills. Crosby looks like this.

Rethinking Clutter

I'm in pre-Thanksgiving mode, cleaning and listmaking. And thinking about the cleaning as I read my clutter blogs.

Most say "make your bed daily". I'd like to, but at the time I'm ready to make it, Bogie and Mallory are snuggling into the comforter for their early morning nap. Even if I kick them off the bed, they'll just find a way under the covers for their daily snooze, which means that when I get home the bed will look remarkably unmade all over again. So I tidy it up and hope that Bogie won't have one of his "let me bring the comforter downstairs" moments.

The other Clutter Clues are that you should keep all surfaces tidy, do the dishes immediately and hang your coat up when you get in. All good things, all things that my mother also taught me. But... I live alone. Ok, I do live with The Boys (which occasionally, like next week, becomes The Gang of Four) but I'm talking about humans. Sometimes there are other humans here, but mostly it's just me. Keeping things a little cluttered makes me feel a little less alone, as though someone else is making the mess. Silly? Perhaps. But as Coming Clean says, you need to make clutter work for you.

My advice to you, dear reader, is to do the same. Find ways to make any system work for you, be it decluttering or simply organizing. You'll feel more comfortable in your home if you do.

Links Galore

• During this upcoming holiday season, destress with an Information Reduction Plan
• While you're at it, remember to loiter
• Remember, not all introverts look alike, so be careful when party planning.
  

Making Connections

Julia Stiles' post about Twittering in a forest struck a nerve.

People need to have a record of their experience to validate it, to remember it, to understand it. Why else did we start writing? That’s all the more exaggerated now in this hyperactive age of constant reportage; Twitter, Facebook, three million “news” stations each with incessant tickers and four screens. Everyone seems to want a record of even the most mundane occurrences. “I wish I had a tissue” “I’m talking to my Dad!” “I can’t get my hair to stay still!” “I missed my train!” “I’m taking a dump!”

It goes along with my problem with too many photos, and feeds into this session I attended at NEIT09. Scott McLeod asks Are we too connected? (SwissToni might disagree).

I love connecting to my PLN with Twitter/Facebook and reading their blog posts (although nothing beats being with them at a conference). The amazing Elizabeth Abarbanel wrote a post about her PLN (linking to this from David Warlick). So... where does that leave me?

Conflicted. Putting myself "out there" professionally feels right, but sharing innermost thoughts this publicly feels increasingly wrong. Of course, there's the permanence factor - all those old posts are cached somewhere. I guess I'll just have to live with that.

Better late than never (aka My Review Policy)

I've been really slow in my reading the past couple of months, which may mean that I don't reach last year's record 180 read! Not quite sure why the slowdown or what the cure is, but it seems like a good time to talk about reviews.

As some of you may know, the FTC started issuing new guidelines about posting reviews, accepting ARCs, etc.. The Big Question on everyone's mind was: what will the fall-out be? Can I blog my reviews on my review blog, post them on FB, use GoodReads/LibraryThing, whatever? Even the Wall Street Journal weighed in.

The answer seems to be, I can do anything I want as long as I indicate where I got the book, and be upfront about any other compensation received. Unlike LizB, I'm not an Amazon Associate (although I will no longer point people to Powells when recommending or listing a book; I prefer "real" bookstores to Amazon, and yes I'm a snob about that. Deal with it.).

So what is a review? Shannon Hale has some good advice.

National Clean Your Fridge Day

Rather than taking it easy on Sunday, I'll be "celebrating" National Clean Your Refrigerator Day. Admit it - yours could use a good clean, too. Particularly with Thanksgiving on the horizon. Learn more here.

Links Galore

• If you like collective nouns, you'll love this list! (þ: Books Blog)
• And if you hate office speak, this list will make your head explode.
• Bob, my uncle, participated in this survey - learn more than you ever wanted to know about American Yiddish!
  

Things I Hate About Conferences

This is truly the Fortnight of Learning for me - first the AASL Conference, and now NEIT.

While I love the energy of AASL, and seeing so many friends and gurus from across the country, there's something about a >150 person conference that leads to greater connection. AASL had a Blogger's Cafe, NEIT will be an Unconference - both incredible opportunities to share and grow.

Both conferences will be tech heavy, but I'm guessing that the connectivity issues at AASL will also be felt at NEIT. In some ways, that's a good thing. Shouldn't we be focusing on the concepts rather than the tools? Isn't the pedagogy just as important as practice? As I look at the proposed sessions for NEIT (and scanned the concurrent programs for AASL) I saw a great deal of reliance on tool; unlike Ross Todd, I don't care as much about the research but I do care about the macro discussions.

What will be different is that at NEIT, the Big Names aren't quite as Big as at AASL. The people I'm going to working with/learning from are there to work with/learn from each other. At AASL I saw many of the Names going to each other's sessions, mostly (it seemed) to be seen at each other's sessions rather than to really participate and learn. They'd work on their own presentations, or blog posts, or something other than the actual session - terribly distracting for the rest of us. Distracting how? When there's time for group work and it's clear that the Names haven't paid attention, it's distracting.

Time to dress and get moving. One of the things I hate most about conferences won't be a factor at NEIT: I get to commute from home!

I just shouldn't be allowed out on my own...

I live in a Town about an hour north of NYC. It's a sprawling town, and there are some oddities (like, I have a street address there but vote/pay taxes in the next Town over and my fire district is a third Town). All the shopping and sidewalks and Post Office are in the smaller administrative unit. This isn't that unusual: my parents live in SmallTown, just outside SmallVillage.

Today I went to buy groceries and saw a sign that read "Hamlet Beautification Project" and the only thing that crossed my mind was, Isn't that why they cast Jude Law?