The WoW Librarian

Friday, March 30, 2012

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

An ex-pat finds a home in a bookstore cafe

I've joined the forces of those who use the neighborhood bookstore cafe as their home office. We hover around the electrical outlets, plugging in our laptops so that we can work at full power. We pay for our seats with extra large coffees and bookstore memberships so we can access the wi-fi. We ask complete strangers-- our office mates-- to watch our things while we head for the restrooms and do a quick browse on our way back.

What brought me to my office away from home? Mostly it's the realization that once I'm home, the distractions are overwhelming and chaos seems to reign. My creative output slows to a trickle, and even dries up. And so I've fled my refuge to find a place where distractions are more easily shut out, including my neighbor who is singing while wearing headphones. I'm an ex-pat from my house.

The ambiance here is casual but studious. The piped-in music is soft. I’ve learned that eavesdropping can be fun. The typical drivel I block out by second nature. But every now and again, the most fascinating conversations tickle my ears; quiet discussions between complete strangers who are just whiling away some time, relaxing and sipping their coffees.

The new strategy is working out thus far. I've set up a schedule, and I'm ticking things off my to-do list. I've updated my LinkedIn profile, and re-written the About page on my website. I've caught up on some other writing; I've made notes for some new blog posts.

I look forward to my nights in the bookstore cafe. Do you have a special place where you find you are more productive? A bolt hole to escape to? Tell us about it in the comments below.

Thursday, November 03, 2011

Queen of the Free

Queen of the free e-book, that is. It's true. If there is a free e-book out there, I'm bound to download it.

I'm one of those people who never seems to have enough information. I research until the last possible minute. And that's a problem. Jill Chivers calls it "drinking from the information fire hydrant". She's identified two kinds of information seeker personalities: the data gatherer and the data analyzer. The gatherers rarely have enough information; the analyzers may not have it all, but often suffer from information overload.

Am I a data gatherer or a data analyzer?

Both, it seems. Which leads me to the next problem: counter-research. Have you noticed that data are like fish on dry land? Flopping about, impossible to catch. Were they always like that? Slippery devils. For every bit of data that says "X", there's another bit that says "Y". Coffee is good for you. Ah, no. It's bad for you. Except on the fifth Thursday of the month, when it's good for you in the morning, but not at night. Sean D'Souza suggests setting an egg timer when you start your research-- no more research when that sand runs out. The data no longer applies, anyway.

Sitting in my Chrome downloads there are four e-book/whitepapers, a report, an mp3, a zip file, and a jpg. Yes, I've listened to the mp3 (a Daniel Pink interview on employee engagement); the zip file has been installed; and the jpg has been shared. The report is an index of technology wages-- that's a keeper. And those four e-books are all on some aspect of social media strategy.

It's positively amazing how much information is out there. Much of it is very useful. Some is well-intended. Some may be perfunctory-- e-books and whitepapers must of course be produced for a successful social media strategy.

Don't get me wrong. I've certainly benefited from many-- if not most-- of those e-books and whitepapers. I'll be writing a few myself, and I hope they'll fall into the useful group and people will download them. Nevertheless, I think it's time to weed my free e-book collection.

By the way, here's a HubSpot article on why e-books are better than whitepapers. And yes, I've already downloaded the free guide to e-book creation. I'll read it while I drink my coffee this afternoon.

Friday, October 21, 2011

The Knowledge Economy of World of Warcraft

Lean Manufacturing and the World of Warcraft

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Social Crush Blast

Social Crush exploded in "Famously Hot" Columbia, SC this week. Hundreds of social media practitioners flocked to the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center in anticipation of upping their social media skills. We were not disappointed.

Tim Moore and Ty Downing brought a host of experts with them, including Michael Brito of Edelman Digital, Silicon Valley; Glen Gilmore, Esq., Gilmore Business Network; Victoria Harres of PR Newswire; Skeeter Harris of Mac Village Pro; Kipp Bodner of HubSpot; and Bostjan Spetic and Tin Dizdarevic of Zemanta.

I'm spending the next few days (ahem... weeks) trying out several of the tools I learned about. I've just installed Zemanta, a content enhancement tool that suggests links, tags, images, and further reading for blog posts. Very nice.

One of the key takeaways from Bostjian and Tin's presentation is: The Web is made for linking.

One might think this statement is self-evident. Based on my experience last week while adding some news releases to a website, I think it's not obvious to most news providers. Perhaps they are still thinking in paper press terms. Just cutting and pasting an article from print into a digital format doesn't work for the web. I found myself searching for links to studies cited and to companies referenced in the articles. Not only is it bad web form, it's one of my pet peeves.

Using Zemanta is a great time saver, doing much (but not all) of the footwork for you. I'll keep tweaking it, but I think this tool is going to stay in my toolbox. Oh-- and it's free.

Wednesday, July 06, 2011

You can take the girl out of the library...

For the past several weeks, I've been wondering what to do with this blog. Should I change the name? Start a new one? What?

Why? After working in libraries for the past 13 years, I am now working in the private sector, managing a recruitment and staffing firm's social media program. It's a very good fit: the firm specializes in information technology hiring--something I know a thing or two about, from both sides. Developing the social media strategy is challenging (yea!), and keeping abreast of the changes keeps the challenge fresh. And many of the skills I learned as a systems librarian and innovator are transferable.

In other words, I do not anticipate becoming bored any time soon. (This is a good thing; ask my mother.)

As one might suspect, I've been really delving into the world of branding, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. See my post, Swimming in the sea of social media. I remain impressed by the number of people who are interested in sharing what they know. It's almost overwhelming.

A side note: The title of my last post might have been more accurate if I had called it "Trekking across the social media terrain" - as illustrated by the 2010 Social Networking Map. Note the "Google Information Gathering Outposts". I guess the map will need to be redrawn to include Google+!

So, this week I'm preparing a social media guidelines draft, and reviewing staff profiles on LinkedIn. Here are some useful lists of policies and guidelines:

Social Media Governance - a database of about 176 policies

Only 29% Of Companies Have A Social Media Policy: Is Your Company At Risk?, by Jeff Bullas

Enterprise: List of 40 Social Media Staff Guidelines, by Laurel Papworth

A personal favorite of mine is by SocialVoice. Its simplicity makes it concise, and its tone appeals to our better instincts. Check it out.

So, you can take the girl out of the library, but can you take the librarian out of the girl? That remains to be seen. In the meantime, I'll keep the name of this blog for now. After all, I've spent quite a few years building this brand.

Oh, yeah... Atzilut is level 85! Think I'll work on my worgen now. Play on!

Sunday, June 05, 2011

Swimming in the sea of social media

I've had to stop reading about gaming, anthropology and sociology, while I work on a consulting job. I'm developing a social media campaign and training for a recruitment firm. Our first workshop is this Monday. I'm thoroughly saturated now in social media methodology. There's SO much information out there! The good news is there's such a glut of info that people can't sift through it. Enter Catherine stage right.

It's amazing how social media has developed in business and marketing. Quite fascinating, actually. Facebook can be a huge marketing tool. Check out one of the leaders in Facebook innovation, Mari Smith. She's got a YouTube channel, too. I found her through another Facebook guru, Amy Porterfield, and the Social Media Examiner. They are just two of the people I've been listening to this past week.

Before I landed this consulting gig, I picked up the book, Branding Yourself, by Erik Deckers and Kyle Lacy. Great information!

One of my teachers signed my high school yearbook with the words, "Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity"--a quote from H.D. Thoreau's Walden. It's been buzzing around in my mind this past week (at least); I think they are good words to keep in mind as I swim in the sea of social media.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Reading about gaming & World of Warcraft

I've been doing some interesting reading lately. I'm listening to Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World by Jane McGonigal (@avantgame), and I'm reading My Life as a Night Elf Priest: An Anthropological Account of World of Warcraft, by Bonnie Nardi. Both are fascinating. I could insert a rant here about the differences between listening to a book and reading a book... but I'll desist (for now). I might mention that I listened to Dan Tapscott's book, Wikinomics, last year, and The World is Flat, by Thomas Friedman.

I have been playing more in large part to McGonigal's book. Things IRL haven't been golden lately, and oddly enough, I stopped playing WoW. After listening to Reality is Broken, I realized that perhaps not playing was not the best strategy. Interesting. So I made an effort to begin playing more frequently, and I've found it really does make a difference to me. It's at this point that I find I really wish I had a hard copy of McGonigal's book at hand. I'll get back to this in another post.

Nardi's My Life as a Night Elf Priest is also fascinating. One of the more attractive features is that this book is not a collection of essays, but an ethnographic exploration of World of Warcraft. I'm only in chapter 3, so I won't talk about this book any further.

Last year I read Digital Culture, Play, and Identity: A World of Warcraft® Reader, edited by Corneliussen and Rettberg (@jilltxt). This is a book of essays by people who actually play WoW. I would like to be in their guild!

I promise all of this is building up to something; it's still incubating, but I guarantee some sort of paper will result. In the meantime, Atzilut is level 84, and that's something to enjoy. (Edited and reposted from The WoW Librarian.)

WoW Librarian

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Atzilut Dings 84

W00T!

I've been playing rather sporadically; the last few weeks have seen much more gameplay. My significant other gifted me with Cataclysm in December, and I immediately rolled a worgen, Lunebane. She's level 28 right now. I also picked up a copy of "official strategy guide". If I had realized how different this guide was from the WoW guide, I wouldn't have bothered. At any rate....

I've been doing some interesting reading lately. I'm listening to Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World by Jane McGonigal (@avantgame), and I'm reading My Life as a Night Elf Priest: An Anthropological Account of World of Warcraft, by Bonnie Nardi. Both are fascinating. I could insert a rant here about the differences between listening to a book and reading a book... but I'll desist (for now). I might mention that I listened to Dan Tapscott's book, Wikinomics, last year, and The World is Flat, by Thomas Friedman.

I have been playing more in large part to McGonigal's book. Things IRL haven't been golden lately, and oddly enough, I stopped playing WoW. After listening to Reality is Broken, I realized that perhaps not playing was not the best strategy for me. Interesting. So I made an effort to begin playing more frequently, and I've found it really does make a difference to me.

It's at this point that I find I really wish I had a hard copy of McGonigal's book at hand. I'll get back to this in another post.

I promise all of this is building up to something; it's still incubating, but I guarantee some sort of paper will result.

In the meantime, Atzilut is level 84, and that's something to enjoy.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Atzilut hits 80!

Yes! I have a level 80 night elf druid! Just moments before I earned the 1500 Completed Quests achievement. I leveled when I turned in The Broken Front quest. I am so very happy. <do happy dance> <-- Gee, I ought to be able to write some code there... Signing off... May the stars guide and watch over you!

WoW Librarian

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

New website platform

After a bit of deliberation, I've decided to move my website (wowlibrarian.com) to a new platform. It's been in Joomla! for a while; now it's in WordPress. I've often used my website to test Joomla! updates and plugins; my website at times suffered for this. (Yeah, that's a "duh" statement.) I learned about an online sandbox for testing software packages at LITA last year. Now if I can find my notes...I'll be testing from there instead. I've just downloaded a WordPress plugin called CrossPress. This plugin should allow me to "post once, publish many". I guess we'll see in a minute. If you read this on wowlibrarian.blogspot.com, you'll know it worked. Atzilut is at level 78.5! I've been playing more regularly lately, and it's done wonders for me. Looks like I'll get to 80 before Cataclysm is released.

WoW Librarian

Monday, February 22, 2010

A Digital Native's Demands

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Once upon a time...

Once upon a time, I worked for a business management consulting firm in Boston, and I learned at lot. A great deal. I truly had some embarrassing times; I was, after all, a newly graduated philosophy major. Nevertheless, I learned a great deal about private industries and how they worked. It was quite enlightening, but I was not truly ready to be enlightened. I had children instead.

Now, no one can really say having children is not enlightening. It is. New lessons in humility. In hubris. In despair. At any rate, I had three beautiful, smart, talented children.

I worked at several jobs. During college, I had worked in bars, as a waitress, for a cobbler, made candy, worked a shrimp boat... there were some other jobs in there. I also worked in the print shop, on the college's literary art magazine. During my childbearing years, I worked for a newspaper, first in classified ads, and eventually as the feature editor. I worked at a bookstore; I volunteered at my children's media center; I sold craft kits; I edited a book; I did many, many things.

And then I went to graduate school. The first day after class, I was walking to the bookstore to purchase my text, and I had an intense experience. I KNEW I was doing the right thing. I just knew it. To this day, I remember walking to that bookstore, and suddenly, I felt like I was in a snowglobe... Everything coalesced, and I was certain-- more certain than I had ever been-- that I was doing the right thing. I was in the right place at the right time.

During grad school, we had a speaker from the SC State Library. Now, it had not taken long for me to realize there were job paths I really wasn't interested in. And there were places I felt I really wanted to be. Did I want to be in public services? Ah, no. I didn't know what "public services" really meant, but I was pretty certain that, if it was like retail, it was not the place for me. I felt this should be a very secret thing... I mean, after, wasn't a librarian supposed to want to work with the public? What if "they" found out, and kicked me out of library school for not wanting to work with the public? This was a disturbing thought for me. Seriously.

As it was, this was an amazing time to be in library school. Oh, sure, for some people it was a nightmare. It was the early nineties, and the Internet-- the World Wide Web-- was brand new. I started grad school after the Internet began, when we were still learning how to use Archie, and gopher, and Veronica. And then there was Netscape.

OMG!! The dreams I had as a kid were suddenly becoming true. Information was just about at my fingertips. Literally.

We had a visitor from the SC State Library, who told us what a state library was; and how no two state libraries were really the same. And she told us what the state library did in SC. I knew right then, I wanted to work for the SC State Library.

When I graduated and finished my advanced certificate, I was a little concerned. Time to start work. Those student loans would be coming due soon. I applied for two jobs: one was with OCLC, and the second wasn't even an MLIS position, but it was in a library-- the SC State Library. As it was, I was interviewed and offered the position of Automation Librarian at the State Library.

Talk about a dream come true. You see, as an employee of the state library, I would be acting as a consultant to the state's public libraries. Wow. I knew what a consultant was... remember, I had worked for a business management consulting firm way back when.

Let's talk a little about family history. I am the granddaughter of a USAF Lieutenant Colonel. He graduated from Clemson as a civil engineer, at a time when Clemson had many ROTC students. My grandfather later joined the Army Air Force, which eventually became the USAF. He finished his career as a civil servant, still in the same position. His last duty post was at Cape Kennedy.

I am the daughter of a USAF air policeman. He was the first to predict that I would become a librarian. I wasn't even a teenager at the time. He was proud of my abilities.

Suffice it to say, I have a strong leaning toward civil service.

This used to be a good thing.

It's not now.

Now, I wake up every morning wondering if I'm going to have a job by the end of the day....

(to be continued)

Sunday, January 10, 2010

I Resolve

Happy 2010!

I've been thinking a lot about this post, and about posting in general. I noticed I have a few drafts stuck away; I doubt I'll go back and finish them, but then one never knows. I've spent the past couple of months clearing backlogs and preparing for new things.

Before I go further... Atzilut is now level 75. Still a long way to go til 80, but my pace has picked up.

I thought for a change I would take some time to think about some changes and some goals, not just in observance of the "new year". A few years ago, my job description changed, resulting in a strong focus on innovation, or research and development. Immediately after, other changes occurred, and I assumed additional duties. The focus on innovation was stifled by the immediacy of those other duties.
In December, I was relieved of those additional responsibilities. I spent the month tying up loose ends, and thinking about new directions for the division.

I thought about tasks I had neglected: Professional reading. Writing. Getting my hands under the hood. The most infuriating thing is those actions are exactly what prepare the ground for innovation! Not to have the time to pursue those occupations was the most difficult part of the past 18 months.

I resolve not to hoard Computers in Libraries, Library Technology Reports and Online.
I resolve to resume reading professional literature both print and online.
I resolve to write more, with Twitter, on my blog, and in the good old fashioned journal.
I resolve to meet monthly with my division.
I resolve to network.
I resolve to focus on technology competencies and training for staff.

I think that's enough. A quick Google search for definitions of "resolution" indicate that a statement identifying the resolution is not enough; a resolution involves analysis and a game plan.

I've set up RSS feeds to alert me when the aforementioned journals are available online; this should prompt me not to hoard them. (BTW, I put myself last on the routing list already, noting that I would collect them.)

The Innovation and Technology division met for the first time last week. In the course of discussion, we discovered we had some action items... it was most exciting. I have to say this is a great team.

And thus ends my first blog post of the year.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Open Source Software in Libraries

Very good, balanced discussion of OSS in libraries.

Open Source Software in Libraries

View more presentations from Sukhdev Singh.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Socialnomics

OK, I understand we can make statistics say anything, but this is so much fun!

Saturday, August 08, 2009

Level 71 At Last!

Haven't had a chance to play much in eons, but finally got back to it a bit these past few weeks. Tonight (this morning?) Atzilut finally leveled. Atzi was in Valiance, picking up Grand Master training for skinning, herbalism and first aid. Also picked up the Writhing Longstaff. Well, off to bed. May the stars guide you...

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Sending Out an SMS - Joe Murphy

Considers the ability to send a text message a "core competency" for librarians today.
Twitter: @libraryfuture
Tweetable: text messaging is the focus of mobile communication and info exchange. It is the most important addition to library services of our time. The role of SMS in our lives is growing. Alerts by SMS include weather, air lines, 911, politics, ordering pizza, emergency alerts and more.
More popular that phone calls. Expectation experiential gap.
Contact point, information service, portal.
Text messaging coupons... great application, but the technology isn't there yet.
Social networking: some do it better than others. Facebook isn't even quite there... you can get a message that someone wants to be your friend, but you can't friend them without going to the Facebook application.
Joe engages with ~400 text messages per day for personal communication, news, current awareness and searching.
SMS is now used for so much more than communication; it is also a major way that we engage with info. Journals, higher ed,
SMS transforms the phones in our pockets to discovery devices thru mobile answer and searching devices.
Through Mobile search services such as Google SMS, ChaCha & KGB we search the web and get answers from real people in real time.
Every librarian should have a smart phone... The workstation of the future.
Never believe a librarian who tells you that Web 2.0 is free.
Thru the mobile use of social networking sites, esp twitter and Facebook, we use SMS for seeking info from social circle.
We also use SMS increasingly for knowledge management: tracking and sharing info and resources with SMS alerts.
Libraries can stay relevant in this evolving mobile landscape by offering answer and info services via text messaging.
Joe uses ChaCha and KGB to answer his information needs.
Choosing a technology for SMS reference can be tricky but is THE major concern affecting all aspects of the service.
The major considerations for evaluating SMS ref technologies: cost, staff workflows, meeting patron expectations, flexibility of tool.
Options for tech for SMS reference: SMS/IM mashups, direct with cell phones, web based, SMS/Email conversion software
Using a cell phone is best, gives mobility, no expectation gap, least steps for staff, flexible for future services. Helps bridge the gap between traditional services and virtual services. He recommends the iPhone, but in the next year things will be happening. Security issues: securing the phone, security for the patron.
Does the popularity of twitter make it a viable option for mobile ref or is the patron needing a twitter account too high a barrier?
Get the SMS ref phone # into patron's phones and foster the connection between that contact and their needed info.
We need a carefully planned management structure for SMS ref because it's a major service shift with unique considerations.
Staffing concerns
Mobile literacy: librarians need an emerging skill set for engaging info services thru mobile devises.
joeydigits on flickr - Social Networking Competencies for Librarians
Yale University Science Libraries. @ylescilib blazed the trail...
Tips to start an SMS re program: explore tehs, plan for management, train/play, test, launch. Contact @libraryfuture for assistance.
SMS can expand all ref services and is the keystone to mobile virtual reference.
We can get a good sense of what to expect for the future of SMS ref by keeping a finger on the pulse of SMS and mobile...
Consortia/Collaborations will be important for SMS
The slides will be on flickr www.flickr.com/joeydigits
www.facebook.com/joemurphy3

This was a very exciting session. Lots on interactivity. Lots of good things to consider as we shake up our customer service areas.

Public Library Panel on Text Messaging

Orange County Library System: Gregg Gronlund ("Information . Imagination . Inspiration" on the bottom of his slides)

Tapping into the public trend; excellent customer service; innovation
Questline = their call center. Started in Sept. 1994. Separated their walk-in from the call-in traffic, so that reference librarians could focus on walk-in traffic. Reference librarians still answer reference questions. Average 15,000 calls per month. Stafing: 3 fulltime librarians and 11 full time reference assistants, manager and asst. manager. Also cross trained reference staff.
Tools:
Phone and headset. Email. Questline database. Library Catalog. Text messaging. Millennium circ. Instant service.
OLIVE (OCLS Interacrive Virtual Experience)- Video conferencing
Service determined by 1) service requsted and 2)cardholder status
Offers full service through Questline.

Text messaging through upside wireless www.upsidewireless.com. Has a microsoft office plug-in which converts a text message to an email, and vv. Has an autoresponse feature for some keywords. Zip code will get them the 3 closest branches. Gamer will get them the next gaming event at the library. Also alerts for due dates and computer classes.

Innovations @ OCLS

Use an Excel spreadsheet with codes for scheduling staff.
Training
Guidelines:
150 characters or less
answers should come from a reliable accepted source
When possible answers should include the source in the reposnse
Response time should be 30 minutes or less
Try to be thorough; the patron may not followup with other questions.
Tiny URLs don't tell people where they are going, so it's important to tell people what site you're sending them to.

Advertised a Business Text Messaging Night and a Sports Text Messaging Night. Increased the number of texts received that month.

They post a message about standard text messaging rates apply. If you're under 18, must have parent or guardian permission to text.

One format does not get priority over the other. Call center people take them as they come, but focus on finishing one before moving on to another.

Put an Ask a Question icon on every page that gave people a choice between chat or email. Increased usage from 85 a month to over 300 a month.

Good session.

A Quick Review of EBook Devices

Read an EBook week.

The Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville has a guide to ebook devices, that includes youtube videos, etc.

4.5 million netbooks sold each quarter. light, better battery life. being used as ebook readers.

Nintendo DS is being used in Japanese.

Augmented reality... Second time today I've heard this.
I'm loving these AR popup books!!

7 textbook companies have now moved to ebook format (CourseSmart)

Augmented reality coming to iPhone with iPhone OS 3.1