Posts tagged ‘Amy Kearns’
Change and Growth – Amendment
Immediately after I posted that bit about “Change is inevitable. Growth is optional,” right before the Futures Conference, I realized it needed an amendment. It needed me to add that I am such a hypocrite!
I am a huge advocate of using “2.0” things for libraries – blogs, wikis, podcasts, etc… and not being AFRAID of CHANGE and of doing some different things. And here I am, NOT blogging really! I posted that post and then went off to take a shower and it was there that I realized that I have to admit and face up to MY fears and issues if I am going to be talking to others about CHANGE – FEAR – GROWTH and their issues.
My fear is of not being perfect; not being good enough – liked – accepted; etc…. That is why I have been avoiding blogging. This is a true soul-baring admission. I want to blog. I often think of things to blog. Yet, I allow my fears to hold me back.
Well, no more! I am realizing my fears, admitting them, and challenging them. Just as I want to be able to challenge everyone else to do! So, as I go forth and blog and challenge you (hopefully) you can know that I do so with a clear conscious having admitted this and having started to face my own fears!
At the conference Robert said to me that people appreciate honesty and that’s what is most important. Well, consider yourselves warned . . .
[Thanks to Robert and Pete for discussions surrounding this topic at the conference! It helped a lot!]
The Future’s So Bright . . .
Robert’s here!
Pete’s here!
Lots of friendly, happy, familiar NJ librarians are here! And lots of happy, friendly and not-yet-familiar out-of-state librarians are here!
The wireless here in The Borgata seems to be great in some places and not-so-great in others, despite the promise of free wi-fi all over the hotel! Tomorrow I have to conduct a webinar from here and I have finally secured a location but now need to confirm decent Internet access (more on that later).
The first session here was already inspiring – I went to Salvador Avila’s presentation (I believe many presentations and even podcasts and information is to be made available on the Palinet site) and already, from that session, I was invited to take part in some “brainstorming” for a project – however, I had previously arranged a brainstorming lunch with Pete so I’ll have to be brought up to speed on their brainstorms later on!
There’s tons of brainpower here! I started that post this morning at 9am and couldn’t get enough good online time to justify running my battery on the laptop down, so I took hand-written notes and will post those tomorrow – it’s 12:35am! – so that is today, I guess! I would have done it earlier tonight but I was very good and attended my online class from 7-9pm!
I have already posted my first set of photos on flickr – I’m exhausted though so more from my notes tomorrow!
[Note to Pete and self – we forgot to talk specifically about CLENE!]
5 Things I learned @ Conference
5 Things I learned @ Conference
- Helene Blowers is sooooooooooooooooooooooo cool!
- Running the NJLA Podcasting Station w/IT was even more fun this time around!
- If you’re going to ask a speaker to come to said NJLA Podcasting Station, it’s best to be prepared, or they might just walk away!
- If you go to a luncheon at Ocean Place, don’t order the vegetarian meal (or so I heard).
- Pete is a snappy dresser!
If you went to conference and want to share “5 Things” on your blog then, “Tag, you’re It!”
Conference Swag!
Hello! The ‘gardeners are just back from the NJLA Conference, and what a wonderful conference it was!!! (And some of us are off to another conference – The Mid-Atlantic Library FUTURES Conference, May 7th and 8th at The Borgata in AC!)
I don’t know about anyone else, but I sure have a lot of stuff, or swag, from it! Plenty of free pens, notepads, lanyards (even flip flops – really!) abounded in the exhibit hall from the vendors.
And, of course, t-shirts!
Well, if you have too many t-shirts, here’s a fantastic thing to do with them! My friend Beth Cackowski (go NJLA IT Section!) reminded me about a book called Generation T: 108 Ways to Transform a T-Shirt, by Megan Nicolay.
I had seen this author on one of the morning shows once – Martha Stewart I think actually!
Check out this book and, voila! there you have it – something to do with all those free conference t-shirts!
- Make it into a skirt!
- A bikini!
- Turn a regular t-shirt into a tank or tube top!
- A handbag!
- iPod cozy!
- Leg warmers!
- and more…………. (yes these are all real patterns in the book)!
I’m so glad Beth reminded me of that and I am passing the tip along to you! If you actually DO turn any of your conference t-shirts (or any other t-shirts) into something else, let us know! Beth was wise enough to choose t-shirts in larger sizes so she would have ultimate playing-around room with them!
However, I myself will not be taking scissors to my beautiful purple SUPER LIBRARIAN shirt!
Friday Fun!
This really has nothing to do with libraries, but I found it amusing… and it is interactive between an agency and the public, which is social and so sort of related to my interests in social software and technology and libraries…. and, anyway, it’s Friday, so… check this out:
You can vote on which Star Wars character will have his/her/their/its own sheet of stamps! You can vote once a day and you can vote for different characters each time. I’m not a big Star Wars fan even, but I have been having fun voting and I’m leaning toward Yoda myself!
Apparently, the USPS hasn’t been too keen on getting the public’s input in the past – according to the site, this is only the second time in history that fans will make the decision about which stamp will be issued.
The choice is in your hands. Time is running out.
I’m off to see the conference…
It’s that time of year: The NJLA Conference!
The conference is one of my very favorite things! Last year was the first year that I found myself “behind the scenes” and I had the best time! I experienced the conference in a completely different way and got just as much, though different, things out of it! I had attended a few years prior to that strictly as an “attendee,” but last year, due to my involvement on the NJLA Information Technologies Section, and the NJLA Member Services Committee, I found myself much more involved.
I spent a lot of time welcoming people at the Hospitality Table – boy, that was fun! And a lot of time at the Podcasting Station, which was also fun and very exciting!
I hope you’ll stop by either one of those places, or both, if you’re coming to conference….
I’ll also be blogging the conference here for NJLA (really, I WILL! Which I intend to use to get back into blogging and stop being so lame!) so check it out! Really!
I hope to get to at least SOME of the programs – I am especially excited about:
- Of course, the IT and YA Programs, particularly Cool Tools and Just Push Play! with Steve Garwood; Let’s Mambo at the Library, with Robert P. Rynkiewicz; and Harness the power of Social Software @ Your Library, with Liz Burns and Sophie Brookover!
- Our own Janie L. Hermann will be presenting 15 Fantastic Freebies in 50 Minutes, which I’m sure is going to be packed!
- And, especially the Helen Blowers presentations, Core Competencies, Core Values in the Era of Library 2.0 and Discovering Library 2.0 (Can you tell I’m a little bit tech-oriented!?)!
Gosh, I hope I can get to everything! That is usually the only criticism I hear and feel about the conference – too many good programs competing against each other in the same time slots!
One more invite: Lynn Schott and I will be hosting “Lunch Buddies” again at the conference – if you want people to eat lunch with, we’ll be gathering people at the Hospitality Table – so come see us!
Not Enough Friends? Buy Some!
Not feeling “popular enough” on your MySpace page? Afraid that others have way more friends!? Scared the friends you do have aren’t good looking enough!? Concerned prospective employers and/or mates will search for you online and find you just don’t cut it!?
Don’t worry – now you can buy some VIRTUAL friends!!!
The New York Times today reports, Fake Your Space is a “business founded by Brant Walker, which offered users of MySpace.com and similar sites a way to enhance their page with photographs and comments from hired “friends” — mainly attractive models — for 99 cents a month each.”
Wow.
I’ve felt like a loser in real life, but not on the Internet. Yet. Maybe I should!?
On the other hand, if you have too many friends, or unwanted friends (!?), Mr. Walker also provides a service called BreakYourSpace.com to get rid of unwanted friends!
According to the article, all of this is perfectly legal. MySpace and Facebook have had no comment.
Is this unethical? Immoral? Is it any different from pre-arranging a cell-phone-call-bail-out when you are going on a blind date or other potentially bad social engagement? Is it any different from a totally “fake” online self? Is this “stealth technology”?
I wouldn’t worry about it too much, and anyway, if you use this service you’ll be so popular you won’t have TIME to think about issues like these!
Gaming and more @ your library
Hey I just wanted to post a brief report on the NJLA Information Technology meeting that was held on Thursday at the East Brunswick Public Library. LG’s Tyler Rousseau gave a great presentation on Gaming in Libraries! The full presentation and handouts will be available very soon on the “Links of Interest” section on the NJLA IT page.
After Ty’s presentation everyone got a chance to do some hands-on gaming! We provided Play Stations with Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero (one of my personal faves); some online gaming and the new Nintendo Wii. The only downside to this event was that NOW I MUST HAVE A Wii!!! 😉
I don’t consider myself to be much of a “gamer,” but once I tried this I found out what all the fuss is about! It comes with the sports game that includes bowling, tennis and a few other things. I played the bowling game (against a very formidable opponent, Mary Martin, who kicked my butt!) and I am really hooked! The “real action” play of using the wireless hand-held controller while performing actions very similar to “real” bowling was just so much fun! I am officially saving up my money as of yesterday!
Funny aside: The other night a newscaster was reading from the teleprompter and read “Wii” as “World War II”!
Also, if anyone is interested, our next meeting will be held March 8, location TBA, and will focus on Vodcasting! Check our page on the NJLA website for more information!
And, I wanted to point people to a great tool shared by Jessica Adler at the meeting (one of the regular features of our meetings is sharing information and sites or tools of interest)! The tool is Snipshot and it allows you to edit photos online before you share them. There is nothing to install – it is 100% web-based, with a one-click important from any site, and you can save to a free, permanent URL. I haven’t tried it yet but it looks great! Thanks, Jess!!!
I’ve Been Tagged!
This is so great! I’ve been “Tagged” (see Blog Tag Tree) to share with you all and it is just the thing I need to get me back into blogging on a regular basis, which is ONE of my New Year’s Resolutions (more later)….
Also, this forces me to jump in and use this “new” Blogger, so we’ll see…
Blog Tag: 5 Things You Don’t Know About Me
I’ve been tagged by Michael Casey to write about “5 Things You Don’t Know About Amy Kearns”(for those of you who care)!
1. I have a B.A. in Philosophy from Rutgers because I couldn’t stop taking the classes because I loved them so much, even though I had no idea what I would be “when I grew up” with a degree in Philosophy!
The best thing a Philosophy Professor ever told me was, “When someone asks you, ‘What are you going to do with a B.A. in Philosophy!? You tell them ANYTHING!”
And, it’s true – a B.A. in Philosophy is good for any-and-every-thing you would ever want to be when you grow up, especially a librarian (which I didn’t even know I wanted to be until about 1995)!
(Note: My sister went on to get a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Delaware and my Director, Cindy Czesak, also has a Philosophy degree!)
2. I can’t believe I am about to admit this, but I have a secret (well not-so-secret now!) passion for Drum and Bugle Corps competitions, and I have attended them almost every single year without missing one since I was about 5 years old! I was never in band, and I’ve never participated in one, but I have been a strong and fanatical supporter of Youth Education in the Arts for many years now!
3. In some ways I am a somewhat “stereotypical” librarian – I LOVE to READ and I LOVE to KNIT! A favorite site of mine is knitty! I just knit a scarf for my sister (my photos are on flickr) for Christmas. In some other ways I am NOT a “stereotypical” librarian – I don’t have (or really like that much) cats but I do have an English Bulldog named Nigel! 😉
4. I worked in Publishing in NYC for 5 years when I first graduated from college and my dream was to live in Manhattan! That never happened and after five years I couldn’t really take the commute anymore! I was about to get married at the time and my then-fiance-now-husband was working as a teacher in NJ and I wasn’t very happy getting home after 7pm when he was finished with work around 4! 😉
5. I have already recruited one new librarian since I received my MLIS (also from Rutgers, SCILS, in 2003)! My mom is the Children’s Librarian at the Glen Rock Public Libray! Who are you going to recruit!? 😉
Thanks for tagging me and allowing me to play and for reading, if you got this far! Now it’s my turn and….
I’m tagging Tyler Rousseau, Mary Martin, Jenny Levine, Leslie Burger, and Peter Bromberg!
Library Garden 