Infoblog

Archive for the ‘George and Joan Podcasts’ Category

In this edition of Thinking Out Loud, George and Joan discuss the role libraries should be playing in the care and maintenance of Wikipedia. George heard Sue Gardner, Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation (the non-profit charitable organization that operates Wikipedia), speak at the Canadian Library Association. She related a story about a historian she had heard speak who felt that it was his professional responsibility to monitor Wikipedia articles for historical accuracy. George and Joan use this as a jumping off point to look at what librarians’ professional responsibilities. Is it reading professional journals? Is it keeping up with new technologies? Is it delivering services at the point of need? Are we looking for new ways to do librarian “stuff”? If we’re not, they worry, we’re at risk of extinction. It’s food for thought.

Here’s the FAQ for librarians about Wikipedia that George mentions in the podcast.

In this edition of Thinking Out Loud, George and Joan take on what they call “the classic objections” – things that libraries say to avoid taking risks or making changes. Why? Joan says it stems from a lack of confidence in their area(s) of expertise, and the dreaded “What if it works?” among other things. Listen and see what you think!

Oh, and here are the classic objections they cite:

• It will never work
• We tried that in 1997 and it was a disaster
• Our patrons/member libraries/board won’t like it
• It will take too much time
• We can’t afford it
• We can’t do it without more staff
• We need to focus on the basics
• It means throwing away all the hard work we’ve done
• You can’t prove it’s any better than what we have
• This isn’t why I got an MLS

In this edition of Thinking Out Loud, George and Joan talk about cycles, as in the ebb and flow of various things (good and bad) that happen in libraryland. Everything changes, everything evolves, and things inevitably move forward not back. I’m not doing the topic justice: you’ll just have to listen to get the full value.

In this latest edition of Thinking Out Loud, George and Joan look at children’s literature and the kid’s books that have had the most lasting impact on them. The messages in these books, as it happens, aren’t just for kids! Titles discussed include “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” “Stone Soup,” Many Moons,” and “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.”

The last economic upsurge was driven by lawyers, bankers, accountants and the like. What will drive the next wave? Some say it will be a “creative economy.” Some qualities of a creative worker: curiosity, humor, quirkiness. How does this potentially impact libraries? Listen to George and Joan’s latest podcast and find out!

In this podcast, Joan and George use their considerable brainpower to look at ways to improve the Infopeople brand. As usual with them, it’s scintillating stuff!

Thanks to Chuck O’Shea for his help producing this podcast.

George and Joan’s latest podcast may not sound like a high interest topic but in a time where more and more libraries are being called on to justify their existences, you’d do well to pay attention! Using Guy Kawasaki’s blog post, Mantras versus Missions, George and Joan make a strong case for seriously thinking about how libraries go about concisely describe what they do – the essence of what they really do. Thought-provoking stuff.

Here’s the Infopeople mission statement: “The mission of the Infopeople Project is to improve the quality of life of the people in California by upgrading the performance and effectiveness of California libraries.” Do you know what your library’s is?

In this edition of Thinking Out Loud, George and Joan share their thoughts about some of the discussions they participated in during ALA Midwinter in Boston. One of the big topics of conversation: alternative revenue streams for libraries. Some of the ideas discussed: ways you can generate income from your excess space, change out how you do book sales, participating in local green initiatives, alternative ways to pay fines, mobile giving (also known as mobile donating), and off-hours parking. Lots of food for thought, so give it a listen!

In this year’s end (or year’s beginning) podcast, George and Joan contemplate how the top ten New Year’s resolutions can be applied to libraries. Among their ideas: spend more time this coming year being more customer-focused or try something new (a new service, a new technology). Do you have other ideas for resolutions? Let’s hear them!

Happy New Year!

In this special edition of Thinking Out Loud, George and Joan offer up “A Visit to the Library,” with apologies to Clement Clarke Moore.

On behalf of George and Joan, and all the folks at Infopeople we wish you and yours a safe, healthy and happy holiday season!