At long last, here is Jane’s presentation to the Spring 2008 conference Ontario Library Service-North held for its incredible public library clients. We so enjoy working with the public libraries in northern Ontario; in this discussion Jane talked with them about “applying and learning web 2.0 tools in 15 minutes/day”, originated by Helene Blowers at Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.

Learningtalk Jane For Olsn Spring 2008

View SlideShare presentation

Thank you Michael Stephens!! Once again you’ve “tamed the web” for me <wink>. Michael’s blog links to Brian Solis’ work on a “conversation prism” that “charts online conversations between the people that populate communities as well as the networks that connect the Social Web.” It’s very cool. Not only does it help us identify myriad ways we and our clients and communities are talking, listening and conversing (often very different - many of us “talk” without ever “listening” <grin>), but Solis also shows the current tools enabling each venue. So the prism will have to be updated regularly - but what a great start!

An interesting concept. Apparently the US Department of Defense has a definition of PM in one of its manuals; and many public relations firms offer PM as one of their services. According to David Baldacci in an author’s note in his recent book, The Whole Truth:

PMs are not spin doctors because they don’t spin facts. They create facts and then sell them to the world as the truth. An that, to quote then venerable Mark Twain (who wouldv’e had a field day with the PM guys), is the difference between the lightning bug and lightning…..by using these methods, a major untruth can be established so quickly and overwhelmingly across the world that no digging by anyone after the fact can make a dent in the public consciousness that it actually isn’t true at all. And that’s precisely what makes it so dangerous.

Thanks, David, for a great summer thriller and illustration of how the net can further PM in a nanosecond. Discerning what is true (facts) and finding quality information will always be a challenge and information professionals will always have a role in the process and in teaching others to beware.

I heard David speak at a conference in 2005, and was very impressed and when I learned about his foundation, Wish You Well Foundation, and all the good work he does, I was even more impressed. Not only a good writer with great reads (love his books), he is a good man. Check him out.

Well there is just so much I could say about hot air and balloons but I’m just going with this fun Google doodle today in honor of the first hot air ballon flight.

And, on Jane’s 35th wedding anniversary, and our 15th working anniversary, a word about partnerships. Seems obvious, but too often individuals and organizations enter into partnerships without asking, discussing and documenting the answers to the following questions:

1.What’s the specific purpose of the partnership? Why is it being considered?

2. How will it benefit customers?

3. How will it benefit each organization?

4. What are the risks for each organization?

5. What are the exit conditions?

There are many more questions to consider — and we’ll be exploring those on Tuesday June 17th at 7:00 a.m. (argh!!! Breakfast meetings!!) at SLA’s annual conference in the Seattle Convention Centre, Rom 203. Oh yeah - another condition for partnerships? Willingness to let go & to laugh!!!! Love ya Jane -

Coming up at the Education Institute, Tuesday February 19th from 3-4 EST, Stephen Abram talks about technologies for promoting your library. “Jane Dysart, Dysart & Jones Associates, interviews globe-traveling Stephen Abram about the cool new technology tools he has experienced, heard about, observed as well as interesting research about new technologies, specifically those that can be used to promote the library. Through exciting stories, Abram shares his knowledge of new technologies and examples of libraries using them, and provides lots of places to look for further resources.” Sign up and join us! And if you have questions for Stephen or things you want to know, let me know throught the comments here or via email (jane at dysartjones.com)

SLA excerpted a chapter from Intranets for Info Pros (a book edited by Mary Lee Kenndey and me, Jane Dysart) in it’s most recent issue, Jan 08, of Information Outlook. Check it out!
Here’s SLA’s description of the article:
Information professionals with intranet-based responsibilities are interested in knowing what work is emerging in the marketplace, what they need to know to do their best work, and what opportunities are available to them for ongoing professional development. With the incredible speed of change in information technology, the increasing levels of sophistication of the user base, and the ubiquitous nature of information, keeping pace with, let alone leading the intranet experience, is a challenge.

Friend, colleague, mentor, and overall brilliant guy, Stephen Abram is now Presdient of the SLA, a 12,000 international member organization, and his agenda: “Innovate in 2008″. Stephen always has great ideas and has mobilized a terrific group of volunteers to work with him in many areas — learning, impacting, communicating, and more. We look forward to his leadership as he blows the cobwebs from this almost 100 year old organization! Check out his two articles in the January 08 issue of Information Outlook: A Year for Innovation at SLA Will Mean New Opportunities & It’s Our Mandate to Release the Energy of Our Members.

Do you wonder what his keynote next month in NYC to O’Reilly’s Tools for Change for Publishing will focus on?

As always I love Google’s art. And don’t you feel old knowing Lego is 50??

How could I forget? A great source for academic libraries on organizational transformations is University of Arizona Libraries’ Living the Future Living the Future 7 is April 30 - May 2.