Megan Battey shared with us a nifty tool from SF MOMA for looking at a large collection of images at the same time. It’s called Artscope and can be found at
Author Archive
Artscope: A nifty way to look at images
November 17th, 2009 by Michael RoyLIS Annual Report: July 2008- June 2009
October 28th, 2009 by Michael RoyDear Colleagues,
Months in the making, our annual report is now available on-line at http://blogs.middlebury.edu/lis/files/2009/10/2009-LIS-Annual-Report.pdf for your reading pleasure. Thanks to Doreen for all of her hard work in putting this together, to all who contributed their words to this document, and to all for all the hard work that is documented within. It’s an impressive list of accomplishments!
We are already working on compiling next year’s report, with the hope that by writing throughout the year we won’t have to struggle to pull it all together at the end of the year.
– mike
Strategic Decisions (slides)
October 27th, 2009 by Michael RoyAt last week’s LIS Strategic decisions, we presented the results of our strategic planning efforts, which are a set of four strategic areas that we have chosen to focus on. The a .pdf of the presentation can be found at http://blogs.middlebury.edu/lis/files/2009/10/LIS-Strategic-decisions.pdf , while a longer document that goes into greater detail about the process can be found at http://docs.google.com/View?id=dcst5th3_2chx2w2gq .
Please feel free to ask questions, make comments, and add to this by way of the comments on this blog.
Our next leg in this journey will be to set goals around these areas, which we will be doing starting immediately.
- mike
Staff Re-arrangements
October 27th, 2009 by Michael RoyAs we discussed at September’s staff meeting, we are in the process of re-arranging our work in order to continue to function with reduced staff. Some of this involves stopping or reducing services, and some of this involves asking people to pitch in and do work in other areas.
Here’s a list of what’s happened so far; we’ll post updates as we continue to re-arrange things. (Please add other re-arrangements to this post as comments if we have missed something!)
Media Services
* Mary Backus is serving as interim manager of media services and Lab management and support
Help Desk
* Alex Chapin, Mack Roark, Barbara Merz, and Chris Norris are doing shifts at the service request desk; we anticipate asking others to help out here in order to provide coverage and allow that group to continue to make progress on various projects.
Circulation Services
* Rich Church is helping out with opening the building in the morning.
* Dan Frostman, Todd Sturtevant, and Nancy Reynolds are now doing shifts in the Main Library.
Systems and Networks
* Dave Guertin will be become more involved in system administration/programming for central systems
We very much appreciate the flexibility that everyone has shown to date. As we discussed at the staff meeting, we are working on a viable long-term staffing plan this fall which will be informed by the results of the upcoming offers of early retirement and voluntary separation, and by conversations with students, faculty, and staff about reconfiguring and reducing services. We anticipate having to continue to make adjustments to this short-term plan, and will send updates on a regular basis so that we can all be working from a common understanding of who is responsible for what services.
Map of Wireless Coverage, October 2009
October 26th, 2009 by Michael Roy
LIS Makes the Front Page!
October 23rd, 2009 by Michael RoyWe made the front page of The Campus . The article focuses largely on student concerns about ending the 24 hour library hours during exams, and on printing. You can read it at http://www.middleburycampus.com/story/lis-cuts-24-hour-exam-week-access
I still haven’t found what I’m looking for!
October 13th, 2009 by Michael RoyHere’s are the lyrics to the song I delivered (I won’t describe it quite as singing!) at Monday’s in-service open mic event. Next year, if there is a next year, Mary Backus has promised to sing while I strum the guitar.
I am grateful that nobody was taping!
– mike
What I’m Looking For
(apologies to U2)
I searched Google, asked Mr. Jeeves
Queried About, Said Pretty Please
Said Pretty Please, said pretty please
And I still haven’t found what I’m looking for
I walked the stacks, the catalog
Keyworded WorldCat, and yet after all
Yet after all, yet after all
I still haven’t found what I’m looking for
I called the HelpDesk and Reference
Scoured my hard drive, tried to make sense
Oh I want to retrieve
I want to retrieve it!
And I still haven’t found what I’m looking for
We pick the tools and the taxonomies
Index our data as we please, as we please
Yet we still haven’t found what we’re looking for
Middlebury joins ArtStor’s Shared Shelf Project
July 16th, 2009 by Michael RoySubmitted by Mike Roy
We’ve made a three-year commitment (that we can back out of on an annual basis if we feel like it!) to work with ArtStor and a small group of other colleges and universities on a shared image management system that ArtStor is calling Shared Shelf. The press release is at http://www.artstor.org/news/n-html/an-090714-shelf.shtml . Terry Simpkins and Mike Roy are the main representatives to the project, and we’ll be consulting closely with others as the project moves forward.
David Lewis’ constructive Summer Time Wasters
June 15th, 2009 by Michael RoyDavid Lewis from IUPUI put together this nice collection of videos to while away the summer hours.
TED Talks
Richard Baraniuk on open-source learning | Video on TED.com TED Talks Rice University professor Richard Baraniuk explains the vision behind Connexions, his open-source, online education system.
http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_baraniuk_on_open_source_learning.html
Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity | Video on TED.com
Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
Yochai Benkler on the new open-source economics | Video on …
TED Talks Yochai Benkler explains how collaborative projects like Wikipedia and Linux represent the next stage of human organization.
http://www.ted.com/talks/yochai_benkler_on_the_new_open_source_economics.html
Clay Shirky on institutions vs. collaboration | Video on TED.com
TED Talks In this prescient 2005 talk, Clay Shirky shows how closed groups and companies will give way to looser networks where small contributors have big …
http://www.ted.com/talks/clay_shirky_on_institutions_versus_collaboration.html
Jimmy Wales on the birth of Wikipedia | Video on TED.com
TED Talks Jimmy Wales recalls how he assembled “a ragtag band of volunteers,” gave them tools for collaborating and created Wikipedia, the self …
http://www.ted.com/talks/jimmy_wales_on_the_birth_of_wikipedia.html
Charles Leadbeater on innovation | Video on TED.com
TED Talks In this deceptively casual talk, Charles Leadbeater weaves a tight argument that innovation isn’t just for professionals anymore.
http://www.ted.com/talks/charles_leadbeater_on_innovation.html
Other
Clay Shirky Keynote at Web 2.0 Expo “Where do we get the time”
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2708219489770693816
Web 2.0 Expo NY: Clay Shirky (shirky.com) It’s Not Information Overload. It’s Filter Failure
http://web2expo.blip.tv/file/1277460/
Malcolm Gladwell on the challenge of hiring in the modern world. From “Stories from the Near Future,” the 2008 New Yorker Conference.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/video/conference/2008/gladwell
teams
June 12th, 2009 by Michael RoyAfter much conversation, we are pleased to announce the three teams that we are forming, and the membership of those teams. The teams are meeting next week to develop their plans and charges, at which point we can update everyone with more concrete information.
LIS Website
Jeff Rehbach - sponsor
Elin Waagen- leader
Jim Beauchemin
Doreen Bernier
Jess Isler
Ian McBride
Carrie Macfarlane
Barbara Merz
Liz Whitaker-Freitas
Digitization
Terry Simpkins-sponsor
Mike Lynch-leader
Steve Bertolino
Arabella Holzapfel
Rachel Manning
Danielle Rougeau
Michael Warner
Scott Witt
Curricular Technology
Shel Sax – sponsor
Alex Chapin – leader
Joe Antonioli
Bryan Carson
Sue Driscoll
Adam Franco
Dan Frostman
Joy Pile
Mack Roark
a dream of one library…
June 5th, 2009 by Michael RoySubmitted by Mike Roy
I’ve started a blog called (following Tim Spears’ lead ) “Another Dean’s View” and recently posted a piece about cooperative collection development inspired by a recent meeting with my colleagues from other library’s in the northeast. The piece is called “The Dream of a Single Library” . I’m hoping this might serve as a springboard for conversations about our views on the future of our library collection in particular, and library collections in general.
- mike
LIS Staff Meeting Notes, 21 May 2009
May 22nd, 2009 by Michael Roy1. Various updates:
- Project Directory: Mike Roy and Chris Norris are in the early stages of designing a project directory for all of LIS that will will help raise awareness about the various projects that LIS is involved with and help clarify how these projects relate to specific departmental and institutional goals. We are really looking forward to working with each area to compile a comprehensive overview of projects that can be shared within LIS and beyond.
- Goal setting : We hope to establish LIS-wide goals for the upcoming year by the of July. These goals should like to our mission, main things, and the projects (listed in our project directory, see above) can then be linked to these goals. We hope to offer better guidance and support in the formulation of goals.
- Teams . We will start with three teams: educational technology, LIS website, and digitization; training on teams to take place June 16th – June 19th. Stay tuned for more information.
- Early Retirement Program. We have been developing plans for how to keep LIS functioning and delivery quality services with a reduced number of people. We will be going to SRC very soon with a plan ; our focus is on a) redeployment and b) stopping things.
- Web makeover: Lots going on as we move forward with this project. See http://go.middlebury.edu/webmakeover/ for the latest news, schedule, and opportunities to participate in this project.
2. Ron McKinnon gave a very nice presentation on the accomplishments of the Phoenix Project to date, and its future plans.
(If I left anything out, please feel free to add comments.)
The future of everything…
May 15th, 2009 by Michael RoyAs part of my work as an editor at Academic Commons, I’ve been working on a new issue that we’re calling The Future of Everything. You can read more about the plans for the issue on-line.
As part of the run-up to the publication of the issue, which will take the form of an anthology of the best writing and resources that contemplate the future of various topics, we’ve set up a delicious account and are crowdsourcing the collection of readings.
If you happen to use delicious and have bookmarked particularly good readings and resources on topics such as the future of reference, the future of the book, the future of the web, and so on, please feel free to suggest materials by tagging them for:academiccommons. (There is a brief description of how this works also on-line.)
Thanks so far to Mike Lynch for suggesting some good materials on the future of reference.
– mike
Goals and Projects: What’s the difference?
May 8th, 2009 by Michael RoySubmitted by Mike Roy
In the upcoming months, I am planning on working with Chris Norris to develop a project directory for all of LIS that will allow us to present to ourselves and our constituents an overview of all of the projects that we are working on. In addition, I am also keen to see us improve upon our goal setting process from last year so that we also have a comprehensive list of all of our goals in a single place for us to see what we’ve committed to accomplishing in the upcoming year.
In thinking about how to approach these two activities, I’ve begun to wonder: is there a difference between a goal and a project? Are there projects that can’t be described in the language of goals? Are there goals that can’t be described in the language of a project? It seems to me that they could sensibly be handled with a single list.
As I envision this list of our goals and projects would let us know:
- the name of the goal or project
- a description
- the date it would begin
- the date it would end
- the people and resources involved in achieving it
- who would benefit from it being completed
I’m interested to hear from the rest of LIS about whether or not they think this is the right information to keep track of, what differences they see between goals and projects, and what we can do to optimize the benefit of this, and minimize the cost (time and energy) of maintaining such lists.
Who’s on first for the computer age!
April 10th, 2009 by Michael RoySubmitted by Mike Roy
I don’t normally send jokes around via email, but this one made me laugh so hard that I cried.
Envisioning Transinstitutional Work in the Age of the Cloud
March 16th, 2009 by Michael RoySubmitted by Mike Roy
Dear Colleagues,
At the upcoming NITLE Summit, Bob Keift from Occidental College and I will be leading a session called ‘Envisioning Transinstitutional Work in the Age of the Cloud’ where we want to focus our collective attention on opportunities for doing our work in new ways that leverage technology and new and sometimes cloud-based models for providing services. We hope to focus on five such opportunities. Which five? We don’t know yet! That’s where you come in. We’ve set up a forum at http://doteducloudward.uservoice.com and a blog at http://doteducloudward.blogspot.com where you can tell us your thoughts on these matters. What are specific collaborations and business models that you are presently involved in and/or would like to see come into being, and would like to see discussed at our session? We’ve seeded the list with a few ideas of our own, some of which involve the cloud and some of which are older ideas perhaps more possible now within this new paradigm: cooperative collection development, shared ERP, outsourced high-performance scientific computing, warchest for open source development, and others. Please take 20 minutes in the next few weeks to review the list, vote on which topic you would like to see discussed, add new topics that others can vote on, and even volunteer to lead a discussion on one of the topics. And since this is one of those ‘wisdom of crowds’ efforts, feel free to share broadly with your colleagues.
Whither the AD meeting notes?
March 9th, 2009 by Michael RoyIn case you haven’t noticed, since LISt turned into a blog, we’ve stopped using LISt to publish the notes from our AD meetings. We’re now wondering if anyone misses hearing about the topics we’ve been discussing. One thought we’ve had is to morph the LIS Restructuring Blog, which is a secure blog that only folks in LIS can access, into a LIS Notes Blog, where any/all groups that have regular meetings and wish to share their notes with others can do so in a secure, semi-private space.
This post asks three connected questions: One, should we get back into the habit of publishing these notes? Two, in general, would a single place where all these notes could reside be a welcome thing? And three, does a blog sound like the right place for storing this kind of information?
Please use the comments below or send me an email.
– mike
What’s up with teams?
March 6th, 2009 by Michael RoyPeople have asked what’s up with teams. Here’s the deal. We have in hand self-nominations from across LIS, and we’re sifting through these nominations trying to decide which teams we should start with, and who should be on them. In addition to this, we’re also working with Sheila Andrus from Human Resources to develop some workshops for those in LIS either involved and/or impacted by the formation of teams. These workshops will address:
- What is the role and responsibility of the sponsor/mentor of a team?
- What is the role and responsibility of a team leader?
- What is the role and responsibility of a team member?
- How does the relationship of a supervisor of a team leader or a team member change when their staff member is now also leading or a member of a team?
- How should we communicate our plans, priorities, resource needs, and accomplishments?
Once we’ve organized the workshops and recruited the teams, the teams will begin by going through these workshops together. Stay tuned!
– mike