ALAO 2013: Pre-conference

ALAO Pre-conference: Social Media Spark
Tips and Tech Tools to Ignite Your Community

Stark State College, North Canton, Ohio - October 24, 2013

Many experts will tell you how to succeed at social media, but very few will lay out a clear path to failure. Learn what the most common points of failure are for libraries, and why libraries often are not getting what they want out of this new medium. Find out if your library is on its way to a social shipwreck and how you might be able to change course.

Preconference speaker: Laura Solomon, MCIW, MLS

Laura Solomon is the Library Services Manager for the Ohio Public Library Information Network and the former Web Applications Manager for the Cleveland Public Library. She is a 2010 Library Journal Mover & Shaker. Her book Doing Social Media So It Matters: A Librarian’s Guide was published in late 2010 and The Librarian’s Nitty-Gritty Guide to Social Media was published in 2013.

About the workshop: This is an interactive workshop and participants will need to bring a laptop.

How many times have you heard about an interesting, new tech tool and made a note to experiment with it later, but simply never found the time? This fun, interactive workshop will open with a rapid-fire demonstration of tech tools and apps. We will then rotate between different workshop tables to learn from table facilitators. At the end of the day we will gather together as a whole group to share some of our tips, creations, and applications!

Preconference website: http://goo.gl/VWT5Wl
Preconference registration: http://goo.gl/XTZaeL

Register early; space is limited and the deadline is October 14, 2013.
Cost: $25 and includes boxed lunch.

Weekly Reader

Practices of Communities
"I've been around long enough that I remember the first e-mail I ever sent (mistakenly putting the entire message in the subject line because I had no idea how it worked; the person I was trying to reply to kindly called me on the phone and talked me through it). I remember the first time I joined a professional Listserv and how amazing it was to be in conversation with several hundred professionals around the world who were interested in the same things as me." -- Barbara Fister, Library Babel Fish, 8/15/13

Get Used to Sharing Digital Content Says U. of Texas at Austin President
"Professors at the University of Texas at Austin should get comfortable with the idea of using online course materials created by their colleagues at other institutions, according to William C. Powers Jr., the university president." -- Steve Kolowich, Wired Campus, 8/15/13

How England's Studio Schools Can Help Colleges Across the Pond
"In a TED Talk posted in September 2011, Geoff Mulgan spoke about the concept of the “studio school” and its success in some high schools that have adopted the model in England. The idea of the studio school is that rather than structuring school around subjects and classes and making grades the primary goal, we should structure school in terms of projects, with teams of students working together to see each one through to the end."-- Courtney Buell, edCetera, 8/15/13

Make Your Own Comic Strips: Using Bitstrips for Projects or Assignments
"You might have noticed that one by one, your Facebook friends have been turned into comic strip characters. The culprit: the free and extremely addictive application Bitstrips, which allows you to quickly create comic strips without needing to know how to draw." --Adeline Kon, ProfHacker, 8/15/13

More with IFTTT & Blogs

After successfully using IFTTT to tweet new IRC News & Information blog posts, I decided to create a new recipe to do the same with the general Library News Blog and IRC Twitter account. I quickly learned that once a blog channel has been selected, in my case Blogger, a second trigger can not be developed for a different Blogger blog. It presumes a second trigger with Blogger should be created with the blog channel already selected. However, a second blog can easily be set up using RSS feeds.

I first tried to copy Twitter post text used with the blog and found IFTTT uses a slightly different vocabulary with RSS (entry vs post). I used the same basic format of introductory narrative, title, content, URL, and hashtag for Library blog posts.

From the AU Library News Blog: Looking @ The New AU Home Page Ashland University recently updated the home page.  If you are having troub...
— IRC - AU Library (@IRCaulibrary) September 2, 2013

From the AU Library News Blog: AU Library Hours: Fall 2013 The library fall 2013 hours schedule begins Tuesday, September 3rd.  A comple...
— IRC - AU Library (@IRCaulibrary) September 3, 2013

After viewing the results, I have had to revise the layout removing content from the recipe in order for the URL to publish. The next library blog post is not yet authored (or scheduled), so results of the latest 'tweaking' will have to wait.

Working with IFTTT & Blogs

The IFTTT - aka If This Then That - app has been patiently residing on my iPhone with other web resources, many which have been ignored for an extended period of time. Waffling about actual need for the service,  I have been following conversations in the twitter-sphere (yes, lurking) regarding ease of use and the variety of channels available. After being invited to participate in a faculty college session on social media resources being used personally and professionally, I was surprised by the number of attendees who did not know the IRC had a blog, twitter account, or Pinterest site. I decided it was time to explore ways to make these accounts work together.

I signed up for an account (free) and determined the simplest way to begin was having IRC blog posts automatically Tweet to the IRC account when published. Blogger, the platform used for the IRC blog, is one of the available channels. After providing login credentials for the IRC blog and twitter accounts, I created a recipe; new posts published to the IRC News and information blog are tweeted to @IRCaulibrary.  After determining what text and post information (title, content, URL) should accompany the tweet, I also decided to include the hashtag #IRCblog. The first entry posted with new juvenile books:

From the IRC News Blog: Juvenile Books: Fiction http://t.co/mqFw8hBKGh The following new books have been added to the juvenile circula...
— IRC - AU Library (@IRCaulibrary) August 29, 2013

With post title and content ingredients in place, the hashtag did not display. I adjusted the recipe and removed the content component leaving text, post title, URL, and hashtag in place for the second juvenile books blog post.

From the IRC News Blog: Juvenile Books: Fiction http://t.co/M4jogdbC8S #IRCblog
— IRC - AU Library (@IRCaulibrary) August 29, 2013

The hashtag was visible, but without accompanying post information it lacked interest; I missed the narrative. I made a 'final' recipe adjustment and moved the hashtag directly after the text and returned the content element. The next blog post tweeted picture books added to the collection.

From the IRC News Blog #IRCblog Juvenile Books: Picture Books The following new books have been added to the ju... http://t.co/mRAKaFPE25
— IRC - AU Library (@IRCaulibrary) August 29, 2013

This is the current IFTTT recipe for published IRC blog posts to automatically tweet.  I've watched it display on the library digital sign for a few days now and like the updated content it presents. That said there's no telling when I may change my mind again.

I am a {social} librarian: infographic

A fun librarian infographic from "Elsevier's Library Connect Newsletter (@library_connect) and Joe Murphy (@libraryfuture)." Read more about it here and download your own copy here.

Weekly Reader

Need Help? Join.me Online
"When librarians first began offering chat reference, most envisioned it as a medium to answer quick and simple questions. Involved research questions were best answered in person. Somehow, our patrons didn’t get the memo on this, and many chat interactions are just as involved as face-to-face reference sessions." -- Meredith Farkas, American Libraries Magazine, June 2013

The Ultimate, Mega, Essential Web Site Design Guide - 115 Tools and Resources
"Whether you’re building your first website or re-designing an existing one for your organization, this all-in-one guide will get you started with tools and resources for creating today’s modern websites."-- Ellyssa Kroski, OEDb, 6/26/13

A Quick Guide to YouTube Privacy
"While we don't share as much personal information on YouTube as on other social networks, if you're conscious of online privacy, you may want to take a look at your privacy settings. We've taken a quick look at how to protect your privacy on the video-sharing site with a few easy steps to ensure your account is set up in a way that satisfies your need for online confidentiality." -- Amy-Mae Elliott, Mashable, 8/7/13

10 Must Ask-Questions for the Campus Interview
"Visiting a campus for the first time can be a dizzying and chaotic experience even when you are simply attending a conference or visiting a colleague. When you are in town to interview for a position it can be even more stressful, which is one reason why it’s important to think ahead about questions you want answered or people you want to meet while there." -- Menachem Wecker, Vitae, 8/6/13

5 Flipped Classroom Issues (and Solutions) for Teachers
"Have you been thinking about flipping your classroom this fall? Flipping can let you make the most of face-to-face time with your students. Rather than taking class time to introduce content and using homework to review concepts, flip the process so that students gain basic knowledge at home and then create, collaborate, and make connections in school." -- Beth Holland and Samantha Morra,  Edudemic, 8/12/13

Pinterest Targets Casual Visitors with New "Pinterest for Teachers" Site, May Add More Content Hubs in Future
"Pinterest has launched what may be the first of several official “hubs” featuring content targeting a particular segment of its user base, with today’s debut of a new “Pinterest for Teachers” site at pinterest.com/teachers. Obviously timed to coincide with the back-to-school rush and news cycle, the company tells us that the new hub will also serve as something of a test to see if it makes more sense to continue down this path in the future, with more hubs devoted to other interests or groups." -- Sara Perez, Tech Crunch, 8/13/13

17 Pinterest Metrics Every Brand Should Track
"Pinterest has established itself as the dominant online source of visual inspiration. The social bookmarking site enables users collect and share photos of their favorite events, interests, and hobbies. Pinterest users spend more money, shop more frequently, and purchase items more often and in larger quantities than users on any other social network." -- Pam Dyer, Social Media Today, 8/12/13

Weekly Reader

California Puts MOOC Bill on Ice
"Legislation in California originally aimed at getting state colleges to award credit for massive open online courses and other offerings from non-university providers has been shelved for at least a year." -- Steve Kolowich, Wired Campus, 8/1/13

Two New Services Offer Ready-To-Launch Websites for Libraries
"Library web hosting provider LISHost this month launched Library CMS, a modular, Drupal-based content management system template tailored to the needs of library websites. The move follows the March debut of Prefab, a WordPress-based CMS template designed for libraries by user experience (UX) consultancy Influx." -- Matt Enis, The Digital Shift, 7/31/13

All the Project Based Learning Terms You Should Know
"Project-based learning is far and away one of the most popular strategies teachers are discussing right now. Whether it’s at conferences, on social media, or in the school hallways, it’s easy to see that this trend is not slowing down." -- Jeff Dunn, Edudemic, 7/24/13

Snap Your Joy

Great video from Soul Pancake on YouTube: "SoulPancake set up a giant camera on the street and captured people's expressions of happiness. How will you express yourself today?"

(Dated) Weekly Reader

A Printable Guide to Creative Commons
"Something you probably see a lot of these days as you browse the internet is Creative Commons licensing. You’ll see many graphics that say something like ‘shared under a Creative Commons license’, or you’ll see a little rectangular graphic with some signs in them. Since we live in an age where most of our information comes from the internet in some way or another, its useful to know when and how it is ok to use something that you've found." -- Kati Lepi, Edudemic, 7/4/13

Best Web Sites for Teaching & Learning 2013
"Here in Chicago, AASL’s Best Websites for Teaching & Learning Committee just released its standards-aligned 2013 list. Sites and tools are selected because they engage users through innovation, creativity, active participation, and collaboration. Honored websites, tools, and resources will provide exceptional value to inquiry-based teaching and learning." -- Joyce Valenza, Never Ending Search SLJ, 6/29/13

Tacit Knowledge and the Student Researcher
"I’m old enough that the annual Beloit Mindset List (created to help instructors avoid making what they think are contemporary cultural references that are actually historical to their students) is full of references to things that I never got around to knowing before they became passé." -- Barbara Fister, Library Babel Fish, 6/25/13

What it Takes to be a Boss Everyone Loves
"Being a successful leader means being good at what you do and possessing integrity. But more than anything, it's about your ability to build healthy relationships with others -- particularly those who work for you."-- Mark Sanborn, Entrepreneur, 6/25/13

ALAO 2013: Conference App

Have you downloaded the ALAO 2013 conference app? It's free and filled with useful - and timely - information.  Learn more about our Keynote speaker Nancy Fried Foster, submit your proposal online (posters, lightning talk, and discussion table submissions are open!), consider applying for a student or support staff ALAO presenter grant, and follow the official ALAO Twitter account ALAOorg and the conference hashtag #ALAO2013.

Interested? Here's how it works:

1. Download YappBox to your mobile device (phone or tablet), it's free from the iTunes Store and Google Play.
2. Install the ALAO Conference app by visiting this page, http://my.yapp.us/3CCFY9 via your device.
3. OR - use the "Add a Yapp" function in YappBox and enter the code: 3CCFY9
4. OR - follow this link to send the link to your mobile device.
5. OR - Scan the QR Code

Once loaded on your device, updates will be automatically offered each time the app is accessed.

Weekly Reader

Who is Driving the Online Locomotive?
"Proponents of online learning often use train metaphors to describe its growing impact on the educational landscape. Those of us who teach at two-year colleges, especially, are constantly encouraged, prodded, hectored, cajoled—and sometimes even ordered—to get on board. Otherwise, we're told, we're likely to be run over." - Rob Jenkins, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 7/26/13

Web-Hosting Project Hopes to Help Students Reclaim Digital Destinies
"Jim Groom and Tim Owens believe that college students are not being adequately prepared to be good “digital citizens” of the 21st century. Partly to blame, they say, is the prebuilt and prepackaged software that many use to create digital identities or to curate their interests online." -- Sara Grossman, Wired Campus, 7/25/13

How to Answer "so you need a degree to do that?"
"This oft encountered, teeth grinding question is something of a rite of passage for every one who joins the librarian field and was part of Tumblr post that came across my feed. I’ll even admit it makes my eye twitch as I summon up the willpower to provide a rationale and polite answer to this query." -- Andy Woodworth, Agnostic, Maybe,  7/24/13

Welcome to the Palace of Ambiguity
"Funny how sometimes you read an article and it feels like a smack on the forehead. Of course! Why didn’t I think of that before? Usually that means you had thought of it before, in vague, inchoate terms, but somebody else has put it into words. Bam." -- Barbara Fister, Library Babel Fish, 7/18/13