Weekly Reader

Six Ways to Motivate Employees To Be On-Board with Social Media
"So you have committed to incorporating social media into your marketing objectives. You may have even hired a social media agency to help manage and jumpstart your Twitter and Facebook marketing efforts. Your platforms have been setup, integrated, customized with graphics that fit with your brand and strategies are in place to grow your presence. However, one obvious puzzle piece seems to be missing. Your employees don’t seem to have an active role in your social media initiative. Why is this? Because you haven’t empowered, motivated, educated or inspired them to do so!" -- Krysty Petrucci, Social Media Today, 8/10/11

Lessons from Bossypants: Women and Leadership
"When I was elected chair of my department this past semester, I did two things immediately. First, I sent out a tweet asking for resources, suggestions, and advice. Second, I bought Tina Fey's Bossypants -- on audiobook, of course, so I could listen to her reading it." -- Janine Utel, University of Venus, 8/9/11

The Definitive Source for Information About IT Issues Effecting Higher Education
"Several weeks ago, it was my sincere pleasure to attend a dinner hosted Casey Green, the man behind the Campus Computing Project. For those who may not be familiar with this 20+ year old effort, it is an exemplary data collection, analysis, and reporting project focused on the use of IT in Higher Ed." -- K. Walsh, Emerging Ed Tech, 8/10/11

Video Forum: Students Assess Their Professors Technology Skills
"The classroom technology that professors enthusiastically attempt doesn’t always get a warm welcome from the students out in the lecture hall, especially when gadgets feel gimmicky or class time is wasted as instructors fumble with gear. To get a sense of just what students think of their professors’ classroom technology use, The Chronicle invited four tech-savvy students to weigh in on the best—and worst— moments in classroom technology they have seen. The discussion was held last week in an online video chat using Google Plus, and recorded using a screen-capture program. Check out highlights from the discussion in the embedded video." -- Jeff Young, Wired Campus, 8/8/11

Google, Mozilla Team Up To Create a Smarter, Action Based Web
"Google has announced a new set of APIs for its Chrome web browser, which are designed to connect applications and sites across the web. Web Intents, as Google is calling its new meta-website API, allows websites to pass data between each other — for example, to edit a photograph or share a URL with friends. Developers at Mozilla have been working on a similar framework for Firefox, and now Google says it will work with Mozilla to develop a single API that works in both web browsers." -- Scott Gilbertson, WebMonkey, 8/8/11

The Best Online Presentation Tools: Top Picks
"A few months back, I featured some nifty screen capture tools for making video tutorials, or screencasts, to share with students and teachers. While screencasts are great, sometimes you need to be on hand to offer live help to people who can’t meet with you in person. In those cases, a live, online presentation is the way to go. The following tools enable you to offer assistance in real-time on the Web. All are free or offer basic versions of the service at no cost." -- Richard Byrne, School Library Journal, 8/1/11

Librarians at University of Minnesota Make an Impact with Data Management Program
"Librarians at the University of Minnesota have stepped up to help researchers manage their digital data and, in the process, have highlighted the value of the University Libraries within the larger institution. Under the direction of Lisa Johnston, a research services librarian at the University Libraries and a codirector of the University Digital Conservancy (UDC), the library has created a program called Managing Your Data, which guides researchers in the creation of data management plans (DMP)." -- Michael Kelley, Library Journal, 8/8/11