Wild Wisconsin Web Conference

Reminder: 

Register for the FREE Wild Wisconsin Web Conference!

It's January 16th  8:30am - 5 pm

What is it? A state-wide virtual conference developed by the Nicolet Federated Library System and sponsored by several other public library systems throughout Wisconsin!  It will feature six webinars in one day (using GotoWebinar), with presenters from California to Maine.  Attend what you want -  one….four….or all six!  Door prizes will be raffled at each session, and there will be a Cheesy Sweater Contest! 

What is the cost? All sessions are FREE and will be recorded.  We'll also be live tweeting at #wwwc13 the day of the conference. 

Why in January? Why not?  January is cccooollllldddddd in Wisconsin, and no one likes to travel. We're bringing the speakers to you, virtually!  

Who are the speakers, when are they speaking, and what are their topics?  See the schedule below for the who, when and what, with the registration links!  Each session is worth 1 CE credit. And don't forget to check out information for the Cheesy Sweater Contest!


8:30 – 9:30 am The Great Library Swindle: Your Rights Are at Risk Carson Block, FounderCarson Block Consulting Inc.     Fort Collins, Colorado
Libraries, oft loved and honored, are under attack from the most unlikely of sources. Many of us feel that book publishers, municipal governments, eContent superstores and others are bent on library destruction.  We shudder when people question the relevance of the library in the digital age. If the library disappears, who will really defend the right to confidentially access free information? Libraries - and librarians - care. Come to learn what's really at risk, how the library is more relevant today than ever, and what you can do to change your world!

Carson served as a consultant to the Colorado State Library, helping libraries understand and comply with the Children’s Internet Protection Act through an informational Web site and public speaking.  He has also contributed library technology standards established by the Colorado State Library, and digitization best practices for the Collaborative Digitization Program.
Register here! 


10 - 11 am Dealing with Difficult SituationsSonja Plummer-Morgan, Library DirectorMark and Emily Turner Memorial LibraryPresque Isle, Maine
Think about the 10 most difficult situations you had to deal with in your library throughout the years. Were they with patrons?  With staff, with budgeting?  Seasoned rural library director Sonja Plummer-Morgan will discuss these types of situations and how she handled them, as well as what she might have done differently. 

Sonja Plummer-Morgan was appointed Director for the Presque Isle Library in 2003.  Prior to this, she directed a public library in Moab, Utah and worked as Ed Tech in a school library in Scarborough, Maine.  She received a BS in Library and Information Technology at the University of Maine at Augusta and an MLS from the University of South Carolina.  Sonja is past president of the Maine Library Association and the Association of Small and Rural Libraries.
Register here!



11:30 – 12:30 pm Marketing on the EdgeBen Bizzle, Director of TechnologyCraighead County Jonesboro Public LibraryJonesboro, Arkansas
From its billboard and poster campaign to its YouTube comedy series, Craighead County Jonesboro (AR) Public Library (CCJPL) takes an adventurous approach to increasing community awareness. Compelled to change the perception of the library as an antiquated and boring institution, CCJPL produces aggressive, comedic promotional material that’s sure to inspire. We'll discuss strategy, getting buy-in, budgeting, the creative process, and community response. 

 As Director of Technology for the Craighead County Jonesboro Public Library, Ben utilizes over 20 years of technology experience to meet the challenges facing libraries in the 21st century. With an emphasis on virtualizing resources and extending the library’s reach beyond the library itself, he has developed a number of cost-effective ways to enhance the patron experience and increase community awareness of the value of public libraries.
Register here!


1 - 2 pm Library Self vs. Library ActionJenica P. Rogers, Director of LibrariesState University of New York at PotsdamPotsdam, New York
What kind of library do you want to be for your users?  We need to worry less about what we're doing, and more about why we're doing it.  Why did the academic library buy two hospital-style sleeper armchairs for our study area?  Why does the tiny public library offer a delivered book service for housebound patrons?  When we set looser goals, we can embrace spontaneity and allow room for change.  Jenica will discuss great projects and directions that can come about from focusing on “Library Self” instead of “Library Action.” 

 Jenica P. Rogers is Director of Libraries at the State University of New York at Potsdam, coming from a background in cataloging, collection development, and staff training. Jenica earned her MLIS from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2001 after graduating from Trinity College in Hartford, CT in 1998 with a BA in English Literature. In 2009 she received a SUNY Potsdam President’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service and was nominated one of Library Journal’s Movers and Shakers for 2009.
Register here!

2:30 – 3:30 pm Are We Hypocrites? 
Library Ethics and Digital Content
Sarah Houghton, Director 
San Rafael Public Library
San Rafael, California

The digital content market for libraries is changing more rapidly than most library professionals can keep up with. Libraries have been in a rush to acquire eBooks and other digital content to meet user demand, often glossing over critical issues: legal limitations such as copyright, contract terms and conditions, and how eBook acquisition and access is affected by library ethics including the ALA Library Bill of Rights. This webinar offers an overview of the evolving notion of content, legal and contract issues to consider when acquiring digital content, how library digital services can be guided by library ethics (such as providing equitable access to information, formats and fair budgeting, challenging censorship, and promoting free access to ideas), and how digital content is shaping the future of libraries.

Sarah Houghton is the Director at the San Rafael Public Library and is best known for her blog: Librarian in Black. She was named a 2009 Library Journal Mover & Shaker as a Trendspotter.  She speaks internationally at online and realspace events for libraries and other institutions.  Sarah received her MLIS from the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign and an MA in Irish Literature from Washington State University.
Register here!



4 – 5 pm Scale Up: 10 Ways to Increase Your Impact Without Increasing Your Workload
Joan Frye-Williams
Library Futurist
Sacramento, California
Traditional library service has focused on – and done a good job with – individual service transactions.  We’re always happy to help you, one-on-one.  But there’s no way we can touch everyone who’s entitled to our service, one person at a time. 
Consultant and futurist Joan Frye Williams thinks that the long-term viability of libraries may depend on using our talents in new ways, to benefit far more people.  In this lively session, Joan will offer practical suggestions for changing how we work, in order to multiply – and get credit for – the benefits each of us provides to the communities we serve.
 
For more than 25 years, Joan Frye Williams has been a successful librarian, consultant, vendor, planner, trainer, evaluator, and user of library services. Her clients include libraries of all types and sizes, library consortia, state library agencies, professional library associations, library boards, library vendors, and architects.  Joan is best known as an acute--and sometimes irreverent--observer of emerging library trends, issues, and practices. She is an internationally recognized library futurist and designer of innovative library services.
Register here! 

Wisconsin Tops in Library Usage & Interlibrary Loan

From the Leader-Telegram post Dec. 11, 2012.

Wisconsin residents borrow more than 1 million library materials each week, ranking the state among the top 10 in the nation for library usage.

“The collaboration and cooperation among Wisconsin’s public libraries and library systems is a testament to the value we place on libraries and the connections libraries form to serve their local communities,” said State Superintendent Tony Evers. “During our recent economic struggles, libraries stepped up their employment resources. Librarians helped patrons search for jobs, write resumes, and submit employment applications online, many times in partnership with local job centers and employment organizations.”

Wisconsin’s 385 public libraries are part of a network of 17 public library systems that work together to fill requests, share materials, and provide services more economically than if each library worked alone. State funding for library systems was cut 10 percent each year of the 2011-13 budget, which amounts to $3.3 million over two years. Those cuts, and local and county funding decreases, have made it difficult for libraries to maintain their historic high service levels.

The $15 million in library system aid for 2013 operations will help libraries

• ensure that system residents have complete access to all public libraries within the system area. State residents made 34.4 million visits to public libraries and checked out 64.5 million items in 2011.

• coordinate the sharing of library materials among participating libraries to meet user needs. Annually, libraries loan more than 9 million items to each other in response to users’ requests, ranking Wisconsin first in the nation for per capita interlibrary loans. System-supported delivery networks deliver interlibrary loan items at no charge to library patrons.

• support the download of digital materials. Wisconsin’s digital collection ranks third in the nation in volume of use. In 2011, state residents downloaded more than 500,000 ebook and audiobooks from their local libraries and regional library systems. For 2012, use has already exceed 1 million downloads.

• offer programming to support child and adolescent literacy. In 2011, children’s programs provided by public libraries attracted more than 1.6 million attendees. The Department of Public Instruction coordinates an annual Summer Library Program along with 46 states that are part of the Collaborative Summer Library Program. Wisconsin library usage data and system aid. 

Summer Library Program attendance for children and young adults was more than 500,000 in 2011.

• provide training and continuing education for local library staff to help them offer the best possible service to their communities.

• coordinate cooperative library technology projects. About 93 percent of the state’s public libraries now participate in shared computer systems that offer users online catalog access to regional library holdings. All public libraries provide the public with the use of computers with high-speed Internet connections and most offer free wireless access for laptop users in the library.

“Even though library visits and circulation have increased over the past five years, the number of library staffers per capita working in our libraries has decreased by 2.6 percent,” Evers noted. “I know librarians are dedicated to helping patrons get the information they need and commend the 5,000 plus individuals who work in our state’s libraries and library systems for their devotion to the public.”

 http://www.leadertelegram.com/news/daily_updates/article_d9fe83fa-43ae-11e2-8b8d-001a4bcf887a.html

Plug Your LIbrary Into the Local Music Scene

Paten Locke performs at Jackson Public Library.

It’s hard to miss the ever-growing enthusiasm for the “buy local” movement. People want locally grown food, locally made handicrafts, locally created products. Now is the best time for libraries to join that movement and provide space in their collections for local content, particularly local music. These collections are a plus for libraries in terms of economics, partnerships, and plugging libraries into the local creative “scene.”
Read more....
http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/features/1211212/live-your-library

Wild Wisconsin Winter Web Conference

When is it? Jaunuary 16th from 8:30am - 5pm

What is it? A state-wide virtual conference developed by the Nicolet Federated Library System and sponsored by several other public library systems throughout Wisconsin!  It will feature six webinars in one day (using GotoWebinar), with presenters from California to Maine. Attend what you want -  one….four….or all six!  Door prizes will be raffled at each session, and there will be a Cheesy Sweater Contest! 

What is the cost? All sessions are FREE and will be recorded.  We'll also be live tweeting at #wwwc13 the day of the conference. 

Why in January? Why not?  January is cccooollllldddddd in Wisconsin, and no one likes to travel. We're bringing the speakers to you, virtually!  

visit the website for more information and to register:

http://nicbits.blogspot.com/p/wwwwc.html

3 Ways to be More Social in Social Spaces

from David Lee King's blog http://www.davidleeking.com/2012/08/30/3-ways-to-be-more-social-in-social-spaces/#.UHbOLhY-sYE

Successful posts in social media spaces like Twitter or Facebook are the more social, friendly posts (at least for my library, anyway). How can you be more “social” in those spaces? here are three ways to do it:

1. Think “Business Casual.”Anyone like that formal, stilted, edited to the max writing style that appears on brochures and markety emails from businesses? Nope – didn’t think so. That type of language doesn’t help you connect to the organization, does it? So don’t do that. Instead, try to make your photos, videos, blog posts, and status updates more “business causal.” How do you do that? Here’s one way – write like you talk. That way, your posts will naturally sound more conversational. More in the next post!
2. Ask, then Respond. Ask questions. Ask for input. Ask readers to add their thoughts. For example, if you share a list of five favorite action movies in Facebook, make sure to include a question asking readers to add their favorites, or to add what’s missing in the list. People love adding their own favorites to a list!
3. Include your customers. So you asked your customers to add their favorites to your list in #2. That’s awesome … and that can be your next post! Compile that list of customer favorites, post it, and include everyone’s name that added to the list. The people you included might share that list out (i.e., an appeal to vanity), and more customers will add to the list, too.

So – those are some ideas to be more social in social spaces. Do you have any additions to this list (yes, I’m doing #2 right now)? Please add them in the comments below!

If you liked this post, you’ll also like my new book, Face2Face: Using Facebook, Twitter, and other Social Media tools to Create Great Customer Connections. Get it now!

Look What's Up in Osceola!

How I Write Awesome Content

by Kivi Leroux Miller

Let me start by saying that I am fully aware that not ALL of my content is awesome. Far, far from it.

But, I do know that I do write awesome stuff on a regular basis, because you tell me I do (and you are the judge). I often get emails or tweets that say things like, "I was struggling with this exact problem today! How did you know that?" or "I agree with you 100% but could never say that in my office. Now we can talk about it, because you wrote about it."
So I am doing something right, at least part of the time, for some of the people. And honestly, that's the best you can hope for, since awesome is always in the eye of the awesome-gauge holder. What you think is great flew right by a whole bunch of other people who couldn't care less. Maybe next time you'll impress them.

Here are my not-so-secret tips on creating awesome content.

1. Listen.

I am a sponge for needs, concerns, wants, angst, and excitement of nonprofit marketers. I am constantly listening (which is often actually reading) all the time to pick up what's going on in our professional world. I do it by paying attention to questions and reactions on webinars and in workshops, by reading comments on my blogs and others' blogs, by following nonprofits in social media, and more. Creating awesome content is much easier when you know what your readers are thinking about.

2. Find Your Way to Add Value.

But listening is really just the first step. To create awesome content, you have to go beyond just aggregating a bunch of ideas or topics, and to figure out a way to add value. I'm pretty good at seeing patterns, connecting dots, and boiling a whole bunch of stuff down to its essence. That's how I can add value. You need to figure out what your brain is good at, and then apply that to what you are hearing to create value of your own, which you then share in your own awesome content.

3. Put Something New into the World.

I like to do a few big surveys each year of hundreds of nonprofits, and often do smaller polls during webinars to capture anecdotal information, and then I share that information on my blog. I report back on various experiments of my own, from what happened when I gave donations to 20 national nonprofits to the impact of daily blogging. Think about what new information you can help bring to light. Don't get all hung up on whether something is statistically significant or scientifically accurate. As long as you explain your methods and don't overstate your claims, even sharing anecdotal information can be very helpful to people.

4. Show the Thinking Behind the Result.

I see my role as not only showing you how to do things, but helping you see how I came up with the process in the first place, so that you can think through your own problem solving. For example, I could have just given you the agenda for the recent board retreat I did on marketing, but I don't think that would have been nearly as helpful as giving you the adult learning and participation principles I used to create the agenda.

5. Take a Position - And Get Out There with It.

If you can write something that people can't say for themselves for whatever reason -- because the thoughts just haven't coalesced in their own heads yet, or because it would be politically unpopular in the office -- they will love you for you it. Strong opinions are also naturally more interesting and engaging, even if you don't personally agree with them (if you have any doubt about this, you obviously don't watch cable news, which is based entirely on this reality.)
One good example is the post I called My Communications Director is an Idiot. On timely topics, it does pay to get your views out there quickly, instead of just being another "me, too" voice. My blog post that received the most comments ever is one where I shared a strong opinion, and was one of the first to do so, in The Accidental Rebranding of Komen for the Cure.

6. Add Some Clarity.

This may be the most important tip of all. People are so overwhelmed with information, and details, and all the ifs, ands, and buts that they are often paralyzed by it all. If you can add some clarity, so people know where to start and where to focus, they will love you. That's the whole goal of big projects like my six-month mentoring program, and little blog posts and graphics, like the "Is My Message Relevant?" Checklist.

That's how I do it.

An Old Friend in the Library - when rethinking service imperatives, let compassion be your guide

from an article by Jennifer Burek Pierce in americanlibrariesmagazine.org/columns/my-mind/old-friend-library.
Are libraries serving elderly patrons in the best ways?  Take a closer look at the experiences encountered by Jennifer Burek Pierce and her friend Doris.

As summer days grew longer and the heat increased, so did my trips to the public library. This summer, I had a companion: a longtime friend’s 84-year-old mother—now another good friend. While I cruised the children’s section, Doris would head to the shelves with large-print books. Her library use heightened my sensibilities about how we serve aging adults.

Despite professional statements about serving the elderly—notably Guidelines for Library and Information Services to Older Adults from ALA’s Reference and User Services Association and Serving Seniors: A Resource Manual for Missouri Libraries—I’ve begun to doubt that these ideals play an active part in our daily practices.

Doris’s library habits wouldn’t, at first glance, seem significant to anyone. It wasn’t until I’d been in the building with her over the course of a few weeks, attempting to find a balance between watching to make sure she didn’t fall and leaving her to her own devices, that I started to recognize the patterns.

On almost every visit, she looked for books in the exact same part of the large-print section. Eventually I realized this shelf wasn’t populated with her favorite authors; rather, that particular row, closest to both an entrance and a self-check station, didn’t require her to walk the full length of the building. Also, someone regularly left one of those round scooting stools in that aisle, undoubtedly to aid young, able-bodied shelvers. Doris could never have used the stool for its intended purpose—to stand on it—but the stool did provide her with a place to sit while she browsed. She is, admittedly, tiny, but you could be a few inches taller and still be incapable of reaching, or even really seeing, a third of the books on these shelves. Plus, I’ve scanned the new bookstore-emulating part of the library that is furnished with real chairs, easy-to-reach shelves, and cover-forward shelving. Large-print titles aren’t to be found there.

Watching the staff interact with her was frustrating. I know they were trying to treat her as the capable, independent woman she would very much like to be—and how she tries to present herself. Once, I came looking for her after finding my own books. She had asked for help locating the DVD of Brideshead Revisited, and a staff member had given her a slip of paper on which three call letters were written in the penmanship equivalent of 10-point type. The item Doris sought was on a bottom shelf at the far side of the room.

I know that libraries are busy places and staffers face many demands. I know all elderly people aren’t the same and that some truly don’t want or need that much assistance. Still, I couldn’t help thinking, “This is how you serve a 4-foot-11 woman with white hair, trifocals, and a hesitating gait?”

My concerns are framed by the time I spend in youth services departments. Think of all the things we do to make those spaces usable for kids: low shelves; bold, attractive signage. Think of all the training and professional rhetoric about establishing ways to interact with teens that recognize their need for independence versus the inherent limitations of their age. Why don’t we strive to serve the elderly in the same ways?

Such an endeavor brings us back to the roots of our profession, to Samuel S. Green’s 1876 article, “Personal Relations between Librarians and Readers,” in which he urged librarians to attend to all patrons’ varied needs. Three years later he wrote, “I would have in every library a friend of the young, whom they can consult freely when in want of assistance” (Library Journal, vol. 4, no. 9).

I would also have in every library a friend of the elderly, tactful and sensitive to their changing needs.

JENNIFER BUREK PIERCE is associate professor of library and information science at the University of Iowa in Iowa City.

Mapping Out Your Big Picture Communications Timeline

This is from NonProfit Marketing Guide.com by Kivi Leroux Miller http://www.nonprofitmarketingguide.com/resources/strategy/mapping-out-your-big-picture-communications-timeline/

Do you feel like you are just throwing out a bunch of words and pictures into the universe without much rhyme or reason, and calling it your communications plan?

One way to bring some order and focus to your communications plan is to sketch out what I call your Big Picture Communications Timeline.

This is often the first step I’ll do with new clients, because it helps me see all the big parts, both moving and immobile.

This is best done on a big whiteboard, but you can also do it with a big sheet of paper. I think this is one of those times where sketching it out offline works best. Once you are done editing, you can clean it up as you move it online.

Since this is a timeline, pick your starting and ending points. A year, with tick marks for each month, is a good place to start, but if another time range makes more sense for your organization, use that.

Here’s what you plot out on that timeline.
Big Events, Outside Your Organization’s Control

Look at the calendar that your organization, your participants, your supporters, and the rest of the world are living with. What holidays, seasonal events, or other regular occurrences have a big effect on your communications?

For organizations that do political advocacy, the election cycle is often important, so you’d put down filing deadlines and primary and general election dates. For animal shelters, the start of kitten season, when stray cats start to have their litters, is mid-Spring (most kittens are born between April and October).

Food banks benefit from lots of food drives in November and December, but the shelves are often bare during the summer when the people who typically organize food drives (including schools) are busy with vacation plans. Nonprofits that offer after-school sports would chart the season openers and championships for the different sports leagues they play in.

Big Events, Within Your Organization’s Control

Next, add the big events that are within your control. Start with events that you host, including everything from annual fundraisers, workshops or conferences, member meetings, major performances, and lobby days. Then add on similar types of events that others host but that you co-sponsor or otherwise participate in in a major way. I’m not talking about events that one of your staff members might attend as professional development, but those events that your whole organization is involved with as a core part of what you do.

Your Major Story Arcs

On top of these events, layer on the major story arcs within your organization, roughly approximating when they happen. These are the major stories that play out as you deliver your programs and services. These are often tied to events you already have on the calendar now, so start there. Try to map out the beginning, middle, and end of those story arcs.

For example, let’s say a Friends of the Library group holds an annual used book sale in the May. While they will have already marked the sale weekend on the calendar above, now it’s time to build out the story around the book sale. If we treat the book sale as the end of the story, asking the community for donations of used books in February and March could be the beginning of the story and sorting and organizing the books in April could be the middle.

Or, you could treat the book sale (or any other fundraiser) as the beginning of the story, since the money raised there is probably being used for upcoming programming. In this case, the end of story might be a new Story Hour Series in the fall. The middle of the story, in the summer, could be the selection of books, authors, and activities for the series.

With these big milestones and stories in place, it’s now much easier to start breaking down this big picture into smaller chunks of time, like a quarter or a month, and to develop a more specific editorial calendar from there.

Technology Trainer Boot Camp

The Nicolet Federated Library System in Green Bay hosted a terrific webinar last week by Sarah Houghton, aka The Librarian in Black, called Technology Trainer Boot Camp.  It was an hour of excellent information and ideas about how to manage the onslaught of technology devices, providing training for staff and for library users alike.

You can access the archived version of the recording right here:  http://blip.tv/nfls/tech-trainer-boot-camp-6271571.  In it, you’ll learn:

• Techniques for helping e-reader newbies, including
• A regular drop-in (1 or 2 times a week) program where people can get their tech questions answered by staff and volunteers—this takes pressure off the reference desk!
• Helping pair up new users of the same device so they can help each other
• How to come up with training topics:  Think Big!  What do you want to teach?  What do you get tons of questions about?  Is there any training you can let go of to free up time for new topics?
• Remember that hands-on is the ONLY way to really teach about technology—you must allow for and encourage exploration
• Adaptability to change is a great thing to teach to staff and patrons!
• 10 great tips for tech training:
• Tell stories to really illustrate your points in a meaningful way
• Use humor
• Stop relying on step-by-steps!  Handouts alone don’t do the trick, people need to explore technology more organically.
• Keep it loose—be willing to shift what you are talking about depending on questions or technology problems
• Give people something to take away (handouts, contact information)
• Encourage exploration—give people time to mess around with a knowledgeable person in the background, ready to help
• Show respect—don’t talk down to people!
• Give them what they came for, even if it wasn’t what you planned to cover in a class.  Don’t overwhelm with superfluous information
• Be a real person—don’t put on an authoritative persona, use real examples from your own life, build commaraderie
• Give avenues for follow-up, be approachable afterwards

I recommend hearing these tips—explained with humor and real examples from Sarah’s experience—right from the horse’s mouth—give yourself an hour to watch the archive of this webinar!     -Leah Langby, IFLS Library Development and Youth Services Coordinator

Library-Book-Burning-Party Sparks Public Response!

Troy Public Library Book Burning:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoT13m8-Kxo

Troy, Michigan couldn’t afford to keep its library open, so it scheduled a vote for a 0.07 tax increase.  The Tea Party waged strong anti-tax group waged a “Vote No” campaign against the increase.  The city worked with Leo Burnett Detroit to run a counter campaign in the name of the Book Burning Party.  Signs appeared around Troy with the message, “Vote to close Troy library Aug 2, book burning party Aug 5.”  The campaign’s Facebook page became the hub for the new campaign, with Twitter, Foursquare, want ads, flyers and more to drive engagement.  The campaign became international news as outcry over the idea of burning the library’s books drowned out the opposition and galvanized support for the library--which won by a landslide.  The campaign won a Gold award for Government/Political at the International ANDY Awards 2012, and was recognized with the Facebook Integrated Media Award at the 2012 Clio Awards.

Behind the Google Goggles, Virtual Reality

from:  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/23/technology/google-glasses-will-be-powered-by-android.html?_r=1

It wasn’t so long ago that legions of people began walking the streets, talking to themselves. On closer inspection, many of them turned out to be wearing tiny earpieces that connected wirelessly to their smartphones.
What’s next? Perhaps throngs of people in thick-framed sunglasses lurching down the streets, cocking and twisting their heads like extras in a zombie movie.

That’s because later this year, Google is expected to start selling eyeglasses that will project information, entertainment and, this being a Google product, advertisements onto the lenses. The glasses are not being designed to be worn constantly — although Google engineers expect some users will wear them a lot — but will be more like smartphones, used when needed, with the lenses serving as a kind of see-through computer monitor.

“It will look very strange to onlookers when people are wearing these glasses,” said William Brinkman, graduate director of the computer science and software engineering department at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. “You obviously won’t see what they can from the behind the glasses. As a result, you will see bizarre body language as people duck or dodge around virtual things.”

Mr. Brinkman, whose work focuses on augmented reality or the projection of a layer of information over physical objects, said his students had experimented on their own with virtual games and obstacle courses. “It looks really weird to outsiders when you watch people navigate these spaces,” he said.

They have not seen the Google glasses. Few people have, because they are being built in the Google X offices, a secretive laboratory near Google’s main Mountain View, Calif., campus where engineers and scientists are also working on robots and space elevators.
The glasses will use the same Android software that powers Android smartphones and tablets. Like smartphones and tablets, the glasses will be equipped with GPS and motion sensors. They will also contain a camera and audio inputs and outputs.

Several people who have seen the glasses, but who are not allowed to speak publicly about them, said that the location information was a major feature of the glasses. Through the built-in camera on the glasses, Google will be able to stream images to its rack computers and return augmented reality information to the person wearing them. For instance, a person looking at a landmark could see detailed historical information and comments about it left by friends. If facial recognition software becomes accurate enough, the glasses could remind a wearer of when and how he met the vaguely familiar person standing in front of him at a party. They might also be used for virtual reality games that use the real world as the playground.

People flailing their arms in midair as they play those games is a potentially humorous outcome of the virtual reality glasses. In a more serious vein is the almost certain possibility of privacy issues and ubiquitous advertisements. When someone is meeting a person for the first time, for example, Google could hypothetically match the person’s face and tell people how many friends they share in common on social networks.

This month, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a research and advocacy group for Internet privacy, asked the Federal Trade Commission to suspend the use of facial recognition software until the government could come up with adequate safeguards and privacy standards to protect citizens.

Mr. Brinkman said he was very excited by the possibilities of the glasses, but acknowledged that the augmented reality glasses could pose some ethical issues.

“In addition to privacy, it’s also going to change real-world advertising, where companies can virtually place ads over other people’s ads,” he said. “I’m really interested in seeing how the government can successfully regulate augmented reality in this sense. They are not really going to know what people are seeing behind those glasses.”

More here: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/01/google%E2%80%99s-project-glass-lets-technology-slip-into-the-background/

How To Solve the Impossible Search Problems

There are plenty of Google search cheat sheets floating around. But it’s not often you get to hear advice directly from someone at Google who offers you his favorite search tools, methods and perspectives to help you find the impossible. 

 David Russell, a research scientist at Google, shares some tricks that can help you solve problems that look impossible. 

For the full post full of very good searching tips, visit John Tedesco's blog: http://www.johntedesco.net/blog/2012/06/21/how-to-solve-impossible-problems-daniel-russells-awesome-google-search-techniques/

Understanding Compassion Fatigue in Your Library - Archived Webinar

You love your job. You love your library. You love helping your patrons and giving them the extra attention that lets them know you care. But there are days when you’ve given just about all you have to give. At the end of the day you feel drained, or irritated, or both! You may have achieved "compassion fatigue." The term, which is used frequently in medical settings, describes a caregiver’s reaction to chronic stress that results in feelings of hopelessness, anxiety, self-doubt, lack of focus and fatigue. This webinar will help you recognize the symptoms and the situations that may trigger compassion fatigue and understand how it affects you and your working environment. Explore ways to take care of yourself so you can continue to show compassion and give your patrons the care they need.

Webinar archive available: 
http://www.webjunction.org/content/webjunction/events/wj/Understanding_Compassion_Fatigue_in_Your_Library.html?utm_source=WhatCountsEmail&utm_medium=Crossroads&utm_campaign=2012-06%20Crossroads

Mousercise!

Mousercise is an exercise to increase your familiarity with using a computer mouse. It is great for beginners who are not savy on mouse control.  Check out the exercise at: http://www.pbclibrary.org/mousing/mousercise.htm. 

Read an interview with founder, Chris Rippel (taken from Jessamyn West's blog): http://www.librarian.net/stax/3865/the-origin-story-of-mousercise/

1. Did you make your original Mouserobics/Mousercise as a thing for work? Is it something you used at your job at the library?

When I taught my first basic computer class in Prairie View, Kansas, I lectured on how a computer worked and how to use a mouse. Eyes glazed over. Soon after I made Mousercise.

2. Do you still work at the library?

I still work for the Central Kansas Library System. CKLS has member libraries, not patrons. I was teaching classes in member libraries, not at CKLS.

3. Did you make any other similar tutorials?

Sort of. Here is one about keyboarding. And I played with Word, etc., but none are as successful as Mousercise.

4. What are your go-to sites for people who are looking to teach people computer basics?

I have no one place. Over the years I have made a number of Web sites with links to online tutorials. My first and biggest was a delicious page called Computer Training Tutorials, or something like that. Now I use blogger Web sites to provide links to more training after specific classes, but they don’t get used. Here is one example. I intended to do a Web page for each software, but I didn’t.

I recently gave one of our computer people, Maribeth Turner, my list of Blogger Web sites and she has incorporated the links into a Web site she is creating.

5. What do you think the biggest challenges are in this day and age for teaching technology skills to novice users?

• Lecturing too much to novices. Novices understand little of what you say and, therefore, remember less. So, for me, the main lesson of mousercise is more work, less talk, and be there to show students how to correct their mistakes. Teaching people how to correct mistakes is as important, sometimes more important, than teaching how to do something correctly. So, in my classes, I generally hand out exercises and tell them to type this. When needed, I give them one- to three-minute explanations of what to do, then let them do it. When that part is done, we go to the next part, i.e., short explanations followed by lots of work.
• Covering too much in each class. We often pack in so many topics that novice students can’t remember and learn them. Covering less and giving students time to absorb a few basic things works better for me. This has an additional advantage for teaching librarians. Having to cover less allows librarians who may not be experts to also teach classes. Librarians knowing how to type a letter in Word know enough to teach a novice class on it even when they don’t know all the ins and outs of this program. When people ask about something you don’t know how to do. Then you have a topic for the next class.

6. Anything else you’d like to add?

I was going by myself with a mobile computer lab out to teach patron classes in libraries. I had no teaching assistant. I am not a good multi-tasker. I can’t run the teaching computer and effectively watch and help students at the same time. So I have one of the students run the teaching computer. I tell the student what to do. This requires me to clearly explain each step and ensures that at least one student is understanding what is being said and can do it. In hundreds of classes, I have only swapped students twice. They were glad to switch.

I suppose most computer teachers would be uneasy having students with unknown skill levels running the teaching computer. So I am not recommending it. However, I would recommend letting the assistant run the teaching computer to free the more knowledgeable teacher to spend more time helping students.