Blogger labels my e-mail as spam?

Several of my friends are not getting my e-mails. Finally one person investigated and determined this from her ISP:

I did a bit of research and it turns out that sometimes folks who send email from an account associated with Blogger (like your friend's account below – i.e., austin-pacific.com) have been added to blacklists. So your invitingchange server checks to see if the incoming email is on a list of know spammers, sees that the domain is associated with one of Blogger's servers that is on their blacklist, and won't let the email through. This is Blogger's fault – they need to correct the issue with the blacklist companies (e.g., Spamhaus), so there is nothing to be done except use a different email address.

That seems to be it! Presumably both your friends are bloggers on Blogger?

I want my e-mail credibility back, but I can't find a way to make that happen. Help!

More on Libraries and Journalism Connection

As I've mentioned before, I am very curious (but at the nascent stage) of thinking about the blurring lines between journalists and librarians. Certainly the two fields have much in common - information professionals whose institutions have to change dramatically because of technology, the glut of information, the increased ease for ordinary people to have an audience, and the growing ability for people to get information from other "non-information professionals". (I check out the amazon reviews, send out a twitter asking for feedback, read blogs to make sense of emerging news stories, ichat with my brother when I'm having trouble with my computer, and send text messages to my husband when there are home maintenance issues during the day.)

Lately, I've been digging around one of my favorite citizen journalism web sites (also a Knight project) and am struck by how similar the language and offerings of the site are to what libraries do. Someday, I'll write a journal article about this, but in the meantime, Here are some of my random thoughts...

Knight Citizen News Network is particularly relevant to the field of Community Informatics. They have created a "self help portal that guides ordinary citizens and traditional journalists in launching and responsibly operating community news and information site." They further state, "Citizens like you can learn to use digital media in ways that enrich community, enhance public discourse, and enliven democracy as we know it."

This site is rich with resources for librarians who want to help people in their community to become community reporters, find local metroblogs (see for example, Austin MetBlogs) or citizen media outlets, get funding to start a micro-local news service, make us of widgets like google maps, learning modules with online reports like "How to Survive and Thrive: A digital literacy guide for the information age", stories from people who have a particular expertise (e.g., a backdoor biologist shares his photos and info on finding rare birds), information about fair use and copyright...the list goes on.

But more importantly, I don't see anything on this site that could not also be done by "the other" information professionals - librarians. In fact the paragraph describing "Why support KCNN" sounds very much like it could be part of a library's brochure about upcoming workshops:

Citizens like you can learn to use digital media in ways that enrich community, enhance public discourse, and enliven democracy as we know it.

Wouldn't that be a great thing to learn at your local library? Use technology to increase your ability to participate in your community and learn it at the library?

The Rondo public library in St. Paul is doing just that! Last Spring e-democracy invited me to Minneapolis/St. Paul to meet with several libraries and to keynote a regional library meeting. One of my favorite visits was to the Rondo Library which is housed in a low income neighborhood on the first floor of an apartment complex with over 90 apartments and 6 townhomes. E-democracy works closely with the library and with library users to provide in impressive array of E-democracy Online Tools Workshops.

Young people need only go downstairs to the library to take computer classes on how to upload video online, build a website and produce a podcast. Parents can learn how to use the e-democracy site to contribute their opinions, AND it's a site that as become a trusted source for local politicians to monitor and use for making policy. But here's what's really impressive. These classes and many of the other activities it takes to make this program work are done by members of the community. When I was there to speak at their open house, a thirteen-year-old volunteer (actually, he might have been even younger) did the videotaping. Prior to the event, he taped residents talking about their concerns and ideas for the community and that video was uploaded online.

The official name of the library is Rondo Community Outreach Library, but it should be Rondo Community Engaged Library. Perhaps their tagline should be "the library of the people, for the people and by the people."

What are some examples of libraries that are providing this kind of community portal - physical or virtual? How are libraries enabling citizens with digital media skills in order to build community?

Library Supported Community Reporting? Why Not?

This just in via Twitter from David Cohn, who will be a guest speaker on citizen journalism for my Community Engagement course: first community funded report published! This report explores the question: "What happens if, all of a sudden, you need to change the entire energy infrastructure on which California’s transportation system runs?" Check it out.

Here's what David says in his introduction to this article.

[Editors Note: This is the first example of "community funded reporting" here at Spot.Us. To learn more about Spot.Us read this NY Times article. To fund another investigation - check our pre-beta wiki which still has two actionable items. As this content is commissioned by the public it is free to any news organization or blog to republish. Thank you to the donors who made this possible. At the bottom is a non-exhaustive list of other publications that have run this material.]

How cool is that? It's commissioned by the public so it belongs to the public. (I personally contributed a small amount of money to a news story that will fact check political advertisements. Now isn't that a great service?)

Gee, what other public institution might use this approach to decentralize reporting on local issues?

What if libraries provided the infrastructure for this kind of reporting to take place in their own community? (See the spot.us wiki) It might not be "community funded" but it could be "community based". Citizens could make a pitch for a story they want to write about their community and be posted on the library's wiki. Other people who share an interest could contribute content and resources. Obviously the library could support the reporter's information needs and perhaps even provide training on how to do community-based research. When the reporter is finished, the library could provide editorial review and publishing support.

What about opinion pieces in addition to straight reporting? Last night my husband and I were reflecting on the editorial pages in our weekly village newspaper. They are dominated long articles written by a few individuals who often rant ad nauseum. (I'd like for my local library to host a workshop on how to write concise letters to the editor. At least my newspaper could refer them to information about how to write a letter to the editor!) I wonder how many thoughtful people in our community have something to say (op-ed or newsworthy) but feel shut out by the cacophony of a few. What if the library were the vehicle for people to have a voice?

hmmm, what else????
Any downsides????

More Reasons to Twitter

I just attended socialmediacamp in Austin and learned just how popular Twitter is with the techno set. (NOTE: apparently I'm less on the fringe and closer to the fray when it comes to the geek set.)

I've been twittering for about five months and wrote an earlier post on how Twitter can be useful. But as is the case with all technologies, some uses are not clear from the beginning. They emerge over time and the real benefit of the technology is often beyond the imagination of its creators.
So, it was interesting to learn that reporters for the Austin American Statesman are using Twitter to:

• have eyes on the street ("stuck in traffic on Mopac at Spicewood Springs" "nasty car wreck on 35 at Braker")
• get info ("writing story on cheese-making. Who makes cheese?")
• drive traffic to the web site and blogs (I follow @omarg who writes about technology and just followed this tweet to his friday afternoon blog.)

So why not use Twitter to promote the LBJ Library, create a buzz about upcoming events and cool things in the collection, and drive traffic to the web site AND to the library itself?

For example, a few weeks ago, the Vostok 3KA-2 the last unmanned Russian space capsule was unloaded at the LBJ Library.

(Video and photos to come later - it's late on Friday afternoon and staff are heading out the door - but you can see a photo here. I'm not inserting the actual photo to avoid copyright infringement.)

It took a crane to hoist it up through the fourth floor windows. What a site that must have been. Of course, press was there, but a little twitter might have brought out a few more peeps. At least it would be a reminder that this stunning exhibit is in the works!

Here's more from the web site of the company that owns the Vostok, which, by the way can be purchased, but I think you have to buy the whole space collection!

Vostok 3KA-2 Space Capsule
This flown spacecraft was sent into space on March 25, 1961 with the mannequin Ivan Ivanovich and the dog Zvezdochka, aboard. This was the last practice flight of the Vostok program, 18 days prior to the Vostok flight carrying Yuri Gagarin into history as the first human in space.
K09150

City Year Names My Workshop "The best Learning Development Day of the Year"

On May 23, I conducted a one-day workshop for Americorps Members (CM). I was asked to lead this workshop by my friend, Todd Moore the Program Manager for San Antonio City Year. The purpose of the training was for corps members in the San Antonio/Austin area to experience a greater understanding of civic engagement and the effect it has on their current and future community. Specifically there were four goals:

• CMs will understand the importance of engaging in positive social change
• CM’s will clearly articulate personal viewpoint on the role of citizen service in the movement for positive social change
• CMs will understand the definition of Civic Engagement and how tey can become lifelong leaders in civic engagement
• CMs will identify at least three different ways their ‘city year’ can impact their future communities

In his funding request to OneStar Foundation, Todd wrote, "Few individuals in the state are more qualified than Taylor Willingham to educate and inspire our corps members to future service."

I must admit that I was a bit apprehensive about doing the workshop, but apparently it went well because the participants named it the best learning development day of the year! I'm flattered.

NCDD Conference: What Can Technology Do For Us?

I recently sent an e-mail to Andy Fluke, the Technology Dude for the NCDD Conference which he posted to the NCDD web site. I was responding to an e-mail from him in which he noted that he would give Twitter a try for 30 days, but would dump it if he didn't get 50 followers during that time. My response was to try to broaden the potential uses of technology, specifically Twitter for the upcoming conference.

With my permission, Andy posted my e-mail to the NCDD web site. I thought I'd also post it here (with a few edits) since it reflects how I'm thinking about technology these days and some of the thinking that I can offer to my clients. I've even expanded my thinking about Twitter as a tool which I wrote about on my Scattered Leaves Blog.

Andy,

A few thoughts and insights on how technology can knit us together leading up to, during and after the conference…

1. Standard tagging: Through standard tagging, we can easily see each other’s content uploaded on Flickr, Blogs and elsewhere. For example, last August a Texas Forums co-hosted an event with the League of Technical Voters called We Are All Actors. People took photos that they uploaded to their own site on Flick and they wrote blogs. But no matter where they posted content, they tagged it WAAA2007. So on Flickr, you can see everyone’s photos at: http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=waaa2007&m=text. You could do the same for blogs if you tag them with Technorati tags.

[author's note: we have since implemented standard tagging for the upcoming conference as: NCDD2008]

2. Real time feedback: Twitter was used heavily at SXSW Interactive here in Austin to give real time feedback during sessions. I was there with a couple of colleagues and was able to see what they were doing and what they thought about the presentations they were attending. If I was in a session that wasn’t working for me, I could easily vote with my feet and go where something cool was happening.

(OK presenters may not like that, but we DO want to make sure everyone gets what they want from the conference, right?)

Also, you can get instant answers to questions. For example, I recently wondered (twittered, actually) about the difference between tinyurl.com and tiny.cc. within less than five minutes, I had two responses. I use twitterific so I get messages on my desktop as soon as the come in. (This is also one way I get good recipes, consumer guidance, referrals, etc.)

3. Drive traffic to blogs. I follow a very prolific blogger who writes for several blogs and a podcaster. Through the magic of microblogging (that’s what Twitter really is) I get one sentence from them along with a “tinyurl” If I’m too busy, then I can save it as a favorite.

For example:

Tom Parish tparish Posted my podcast with Dr. Nicolas Horney on “In Search of IT Agility” at EnterpriseLeadership.org http://tinyurl.com/2ukqd4

4. Lots of people prefer the microblogging of twitter. (See: http://twitter.com/Digidave/statuses/780610943) Below is snapshot of Twitterific and posting by David Cohn - someone I’ve never met, but who found me and found that we share similar interests.

5. You can send direct messages to people through twitter - much easier than e-mail AND it doesn’t clutter things up. You might think that being limited to 140 characters is a bad thing.

OH NO! It’s a VERY good thing. Twitter combines the best of e-mail and instant messaging. If people don’t have computers or can’t afford the wireless (it’s not free at the Renaissance, is it?) they can still participate with their phones - there will be plenty of people with computers on hand to sign them up.

6. Spontaneous meetings. Many of the geeks I hang out with in Austin (and elsewhere) don’t make appointments. They go to a coffee shop or bar, Twitter their location and people spontaneously show up. That’s how we all found each other at SXSW. Imagine you’ve just come from a stimulating session and want to keep talking about what you learned. You post a twitter with the topic and your location and people can join you. Think “Technologically facilitated Open Space”.

7. Mobile technology: Twitter works with cell phones - both receiving and sending. No need to be online.

[author's note: This will be particularly useful at the conference since there is no free wifi. YIKES!! How un-Austin-like!]

8. Instant updates of changes: A speaker gets sick? You’re in a room that you thought would have a flip chart, but it doesn’t?

Post a notice. “Workshop A canceled.” or “Any flip charts not being used? I could use one in Serenade Room”

Response: “not using the one in Serendipity Room. Sending it over to you.”

Everyone tied into Twitter is empowered to contribute to the conference.

So the real power isn’t in how many people are following you, but in how many people are connected and ABLE to connect with Twitter!

I knew about the NCDD twitter NOT from an e-mail, but because Tim Bonneman twittered that he had just joined. I joined immediately. THAN I got an e-mail from Andy Fluke. But it took me 24 hours to respond and now I have to make a decision about where to file the e-mail!

E-mail and RSS feeds are just too cumbersome any more.

__________________________________
I'm not sure I've completely won Andy over, but I have earned the title, Director of Building Excitement about Technology and Libraries in my position on the NCDD Board!

Dangerous Ideas: "What if..."

[Cross posted]

The recent Public Library Association Conference featured a session titled, "The Dangerous Ideas". The idea behind the session was to stimulate a conversation about adaptation and change by posing the question, "What if...?"

The presenters began by introducing Ten Dangerous Ideas:

1. What if we stopped cataloging?
2. What if we participated fully with the FBI in all criminal investigations that involved the use of library resources?
3. What if librarians individually and as a profession promoted, used and helped to develop Wikipedia?
4. What if we accepted open source software as a way of being more in control of the customer experience?
5. What if we embraced our iner geek and created immersive games that prompted cults of library junkies?
6. What if we required all library staff to have expertise using technology?
7. What if mistakes were expected and embraced and all librarians became mistake masters?
8. What if we didn't make decisions based on fear or scarcity?
9. What if we stopped being passive/aggressive?
10. What if we didn't make our customers work so hard?

I did not attend this session, but have been following the aftermath on the Transforming Texas Libraries Blog and the Web Junction Blog. Some of the provocative questions raised and documented on the Web Junction Blog are:

What if librarians would promote and participate in the development of Wikipedia?
What if we made decisions that are not based on scarcity?
What if libraries large and small invest together to adopt open source solutions?
What if teens in the library were our partners instead of our problem?
What if we learned to advertise the allure of libraries as successfully as soft drinks and junk food?

This discussion is continuing on "whatiflibs" wiki posted on wetpaint, a very easy to use wiki.

The question, "What if?" calls upon us to use our imagination and to push our thinking into uncomfortable territory.

Recognizing this, the presenters had follow-up questions for the workshop participants:

• Why does this thought make me uncomfortable?
• What are the opportunities in this idea?
• What actions can be taken to pursue the opportunities?

I teach Change Management and Civic Entrepreneurship to graduate library students. I thrive on uncomfortable thoughts because that is where opportunities hide. Too many people retreat when confronted with uncomfortable thoughts. We don't like ambiguity. We may feel threatened. We may feel insecure about what change will demand from us. But all of these are just the flip side of opportunity.

I'm sorry I missed this workshop. I would love to see this thinking brought into the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation Conference taking place in Austin, TX October 3-5, 2008. The conversation starter could be a "What if..." related to the D&D community or democracy itself and how D&D impacts democracy.

How about it D&D-ers? Are we ready for some Dangerous Ideas?

Learning to Read After Decades Brings Joy

From 1990-2000, I was the director of an adult literacy program in Santa Clara County, CA. One of my favorite projects was Digital Storytelling which provided adult literacy students with the opportunity to tell their story through mini-movies. After moving to Texas, I sustained my literacy passion by serving on the founding board of the National Coalition for Literacy and still consult with NCL on various projects. So you can understand my delight when I learned about the following story from the NCL news release.


Volunteer tutor Michelle Miller (left) and her student, Joseph Buford, told their story in Nashville, Tenn.
StoryCorps
Morning Edition, April 18, 2008

Joe Buford, 63, has a high school diploma but kept a secret, even from his family: He couldn't read. "I could memorize things," he says. "I call it drawing the words .... Nobody in my family really knew how bad it was with me and how hurt I was over it." Buford's wife didn't know about his reading problem until after they were married, he says.

"Some mail came one day and normally, she's telling me what came and what [bills] needed to be paid. But this time, she gave it to me and said, 'Here, read this.' And so she found out that I couldn't just read something from top to bottom. That tore my heart out."

Listen to the rest of the interview
Write to Joseph Buford
Read the rest of Joseph's story

13th Annual Technology, Colleges and Community Worldwide Conference

This week I will be a facilitator for the TCC 2008, a worldwide online conference designed for university and college practitioners including faculty, academic support staff, counselors, student services personnel, students, and administrators. This will be my second time serving as a facilitator. I'm very excited about the content as well as the environment and technologies (Learning Times, Elluminate and wikis) that this conference uses to bring together people from all over the world.

The theme for this conference is: The New Internet: Collaboration, Convergence,
Creativity, Contrast, and Challenges. Here are some of the questions this conference will explore:

• Within this global venue, how do faculty, staff, students and the communities they serve converge, collaborate, innovate and produce useful learning outcomes?
• What best practices have emerged in teaching, learning and research?
• Is Internet-based learning effective and worth the effort?
• How can we efficiently assess student learning?
• Which tools will work best for us?
• How do we support faculty and staff?
• How do we overcome our feelings of being overwhelmed?

I have signed up to facilitate these sessions:

• Developing Online Peer-to-peer Mentoring Programs for Distance Degree Programs
• Podcasting for School Media Specialists: A Case Study from Central Minnesota

I will be attending:

• Web 2.0 Solutions to Course Development Communication Challenges
• Making Audiobooks Using Podtext and iPods

I will visit the archive after the conference:

• Using Moodle to Promote Collaboration and Community
• Extreme Makeover: Course Edition
• Oh heck, who am I kidding. I can't possibly list all of the workshop archives I will try to access.
  

This conference is always exciting because of the diversity of participant experiences (Nutritionists, economists, librarians, physicists, attorneys, anthropologists, psychologists curriculum development specialists) and geographic location (Japan, Hawaii, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, Alaska, California, Georgia, Vermont).

At $99 ($69 for early registration that has already passed) this conference is a bargain and you retain access to the archives after the conference ends.

Twitter Redux (A lost post comes to light)

[I wrote this last fall, but apparently it was never published. It feels a bit dated now, but I'm posting it so that I'll at least have the record of what I was thinking at the time! I frequently have troubles with Blogger, but have been too lazy or bus to move this blog over to WordPress.]


I recently nudged my colleague, Andy Fluke who is the technical support for the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation about working on ways to use technology to create a buzz prior to, during and following the conference. He agreed to twitter, but said he would cease if he didn't get 50 followers in 30 days. Wrong approach! Here's my response.

Andy,

Since I'm the "butt-kicker" in the group, let me offer a few thoughts and
insights on how technology can knit us together leading up to, during and
after the conference.

1. Standard tagging: Through standard tagging, we can easily see each
other's content uploaded on Flickr, Blogs and elsewhere. For example, last
August a Texas Forums co-hosted an event with the League of Technical Voters
called We Are All Actors. People took photos that they uploaded to their own
site on Flick and they wrote blogs. But no matter where they posted content,
they tagged it WAAA2007. So on Flickr, you can see everyone's photos with that tag. You could do the same for blogs if you tag them with Technorati tags.

2. Real time feedback: Twitter was used heavily at SXSW Interactive here in
Austin to give real time feedback during sessions. I was there with a couple
of colleagues and was able to see what they were doing and what they thought
about the presentations they were attending. If I was in a session that
wasn't working for me, I could easily vote with my feet and go where
something cool was happening. (OK presenters may not like that, but we DO
want to make sure everyone gets what they want from the conference, right?)
Also, you can get instant answers to questions. For example, I recently
wondered (twittered, actually) about the difference between tinyurl.com and
tiny.cc. within less than five minutes, I had two responses. I use
twitterific so I get messages on my desktop as soon as the come in. (This is
also one way I get good recipes, consumer guidance, referrals, etc.)

3. Drive traffic to blogs. I follow a very prolific blogger who writes for
several blogs and a podcaster. Through the magic of microblogging (that's
what Twitter really is) I get one sentence from them along with a "tinyurl"
If I'm toobusy, then I can save it as a favorite. For example this twitter from Tom Parish:
tparish Posted my podcast with Dr. Nicolas Horney on "In Search of IT
Agility" at EnterpriseLeadership.org http://tinyurl.com/2ukqd4

4. Lots of people prefer the microblogging of twitter. (See:
http://twitter.com/Digidave/statuses/780610943) Below is snapshot of
Twitterific and posting by David Cohn - someone I've never met, but who
found me and found that we share similar interests.

5. You can send direct messages to people through twitter - much easier than
e-mail AND it doesn't clutter things up. You might think that being limited
to 140 characters is a bad thing. OH NO! It's a VERY good thing. Twitter
combines the best of e-mail and instant messaging. If people don't have
computers or can't afford the wireless (it's not free at the Renaissance, is
it?) they can still participate with their phones - there will be plenty of
people with computers on hand to sign them up.

6. Spontaneous meetings. Many of the geeks I hang out with in Austin (and
elsewhere) don't make appointments. They go to a coffee shop or bar, Twitter
their location and people spontaneously show up. That's how we all found
each other at SXSW. Imagine you've just come from a stimulating session and
want to keep talking about what you learned. You post a twitter with the
topic and your location and people can join you. Think "Technologically
facilitated Open Space".

7. Mobile technology: Twitter works with cell phones - both receiving and
sending. No need to be online.

8. Instant updates of changes: A speaker gets sick? You're in a room that
you thought would have a flip chart, but it doesn't? Post a notice.
"Workshop A cancelled." or "Any flip charts not being used? I could use one
in Serenade Room" Response: "not using the one in Serendipity Room. Sending
it over to you." Everyone tied into Twitter is empowered to contribute to
the conference.

So the real power isn't in how many people are following you, but in how
many people are connected and ABLE to connect with Twitter! I knew about the
NCDD twitter NOT from this e-mail, but because Tim Bonneman twittered that
he had just joined. I joined immediately, then I got this e-mail. But it
took me 24 hours to respond and now I have to make a decision about where to
file it! E-mail and RSS feeds are just too cumbersome any more.

Taylor

Salado Public Library Grows Exponentially!

The library has applied to Hamburger Helper (no kidding!) for a My Hometown Helper grant and recently sent out a plea for people to support this grant by adding an online comment. The library has grown at an amazing rate (in the past three years, circulation increased 30% and computer use jumped a whopping 160%!)

The library is requesting $15,000 for:

• rolling shelving to allow us to make space for programs ($6500)
• funds for moving expenses to rearrange our current book shelves ($2500)
• stations for public computers ($1600)
• tables and seating for patrons ($5000)
• shelving attached to the walls of the library to save floor space and a movie (we are the only movie store in town) and audio book wall for maximum “wow” impact ($4500).

Eventually the library will have to expand it's 6,000 square foot space, but until that day, these items will at least free up some space. I'm so proud to be a part of this innovative, big thinking small town library that holds its own next to its much larger counterparts!

If you live in Salado and love the library, add your comment here!

The Newest Salado Public Library Trustee

I was set to re-open this blog to my campaign for election to the Salado Public Library Board, but it looks like that won't be necessary. With three openings and three candidates, there won't be an election. I'm looking forward to serving on the board. This is an exciting time as the library looks to expand. The other new Board Member is the President of the Friends of the Library and has a history of service to the library. We will join the only incumbent running for re-election.

It was a joy to get the news from my father, a library board incumbent who chose not to run for re-election. Even though I didn't have to run and rely on the support of the community, he still said he was proud of me. Now matter how old I am, I'm still delighted when I make my father proud.

But I am a bit disappointed that there won't be an election for several reasons. First, I am a library-lover and I know that many in the community feel a great fondness for our library. I would love to see that support exhibited by a large pool of candidates for the board. Secondly, an election, while an expense for the library, reminds the community of the role that the library plays. The interviews with board candidates published in the Salado Village Voice forces the candidates to think deeply about their positions on issues critical to the library and highlights these issues to the community. Lastly, I'm going to miss the candidate's forum. It was a good discipline for me to put my platform into a speech to the community. Perhaps I should write one, anyway!

But, of course, those are minor disappointments. Mostly I am just thrilled that I will have the opportunity to work with my colleagues in serving the community to make the Salado Public Library the Best Small Village Library in the World.

I'm at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign for my on-campus session with students in my Civic Entrepreneurship Course in the Graduate Library and Information Sciences program.

It's always a stressful time for me because they make such sacrifices to be here and I feel pressed to make it a very useful time. Fortunately, I have two things going for me. First, Jill (my GA for one more week) has done a great job organizing a field trip to the American Library Association Archives to research the historical roots of libraries as the university of the people and the center for civic education. Second, I have stayed in the Illini Union so often that it feels homey. It's not my decorating style and the beds are not nearly as comfortable as my own, but it IS familiar.

There is a really cool interactive map where you can see all of the rooms around here. Well, I guess I'll climb under those scratchy sheets and get some sleep. After a hectic day of packing and then traveling, I don't think I'll have any problem sleeping. I've got a hectic day AND week ahead of me. If you don't believe it, check out my calendar!

More later...

Portraits of Women in 500 years of Western Art

I found this youtube video when I looked online for a recipe for Mango Salsa. I found a recipe on the blog "Simply Recipes" (which I made into a summer salad with Prawns) but didn't stop there because the recipe blog was so good that I wanted to see what Elise's other blogs. (She's also a consultant with a Silicon Valley company so I was reminiscing about my past life in San Jose.)

That's how it happens online. One thing leads to another. And that's how I found Elise's blog about this video which I had to share with you. It's one of the coolest I've ever seen!

So where do we go from here...

I've owned the domain name "austin-pacific.com" for years. I've been through those painful times when my site said "under construction". For a while, http://www.austin-pacific.com was amusing baby pictures of me doing things that seemed a prediction of things to come with the sub-heading, "Future this or that" like the picture where I, as a five-year old child with a bare mid-riff standing in front of shelves of books announce my candidacy for the Salado Library Board.

Or this charming photo from my childhood where I'm playing with a soldering iron - an odd choice of toys for a young child, but dad was an engineer. This photo showed up on my web site with the caption, "Future Silicon Valley Quality Control Inspector." These photos made their debut on my web site when my parents (without consulting me) created an amusing site to celebrate my decision to move back home to Texas from California and pursue a life of independent consulting in order to be closer to my family. (After building me a web site like that, can you blame me for coming home to Texas where I can keep a closer eye on them?)

So, the question remains...what shall become of this site? I don't currently need the P.R. to get work - at least I don't need much more work right now. I do like having this space to dump my thoughts whether or not anyone reads them. It is convenient to point to this link because I have an extensive resume posted on the link to the right hand side. But mostly, I think I just like having this space for creative thinking, soul searching, and venting. Maybe that's good enough. It sure feels that way to me right now!

And the Results Are...

Salado Public Library will continue with its current slate of board members as the two incumbents were re-elected as of 7:38 p.m. on Saturday evening. Although I will not be serving on the board, I am delighted by the following:

• I had a fabulous campaign watch party surrounded by interesting, forward-thinking, supportive individuals.
• I make WAY too much food so I won't have to cook for a week!!!
• We actually HAD an election. It's a poor reflection on our civic-mindedness when we can skip elections because we don't have enough people who WANT to serve.
• I only lost by 31 votes which means that at least 435 people liked my ideas and I'll continue to bring those ideas forward from outside the board.
• I made a public statement that I care about enough about this community to put myself out there and risk rejection.
• A good many people out there know about my qualifications as a university library degree instructor, a consultant to libraries across the country, a frequently invited library keynote speaker, and an active member of American Library Association. The two gracious incumbents commended me for my ideas and I in turn pledged my support to them during their tenure. Even without an elected position, I feel like I can do just as I have done with dozens of other libraries across the country...lend my expertise and be a consultant as my voice is needed.

I celebrate the democratic process and am thrilled I participated in this small way. I congratulate the winners - Patty Campbell and Susan Krals - and I especially congratulate my fellow non-incumbent, Thad Wilson who served on the library's Long Range Planning Committee. Only he knows how courageous it is in a small town to throw your name into the hat. Based on my brief encounters with him, I'm sure he feels just as honored as I do to have had this marvelous experience and to be a part of the democratic experiment.

I'm sure there is much more I need to say, including personally thanking some fabulous people. But the prawns are in the trunk and need to be iced, there are scraps of chocolate cake that would go down nicely with a hearty Merlot, and there a more dishes than I can count that need to be rinsed before the caked food becomes part of the decoration. Just as I wished for more colleagues to enjoy the bounty of my afternoon cooking fenzy, so do I wish those same colleagues were here for the cleanup!

Virtual Campaign Watch Party for my Out-of-Town Friends

On Saturday May 12, I will be hosting a Campaign Watch Party from 6:30-8:00 Central time in Salado in celebration of democracy and hopefully celebration of my election to the Salado Public Library Board. It’s a small town and 90% of the votes were already cast in early voting so we should have the results by about 7:30. The in-person party will be at the Salado Wine Seller.

Since I’ve received so much encouragement and support from so many people who can’t be with us in person, I’m hosting a virtual campaign watch party.

IF YOU HAVE A PC:
To join, go to: http://67.19.90.10/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rs36a886a07b55 using your pc and Internet explorer. UNFORTUNATELY THIS TECHNOLOGY ONLY WORKS ON PC!

If this is your first visit, you will need to download something minor that takes about 20 seconds. After that, click on “Enter the Room”. You’ll be asked for a user name and password. ENTER WHATEVER NAME YOU WANT AS "USER NAME"...IT DOESN’T MATTER...AND IGNORE THE PASSWORD.

Once you are logged in, you will be able to send a text message, talk if you have a microphone on your computer (by clicking on the microphone in the lower left hand corner) and hear others if you have speakers hooked up.

IF YOU HAVE A MAC:
I have another virtual room that works with Macs, but I only have space for three computer log ins. To join that room, go to: http://www.elluminate.com/live/md.html?rk=5KB3XCXCZNDWNW0N. Again, you will have to download a minor piece of software. Every time I go to this site it tells me I don’t have the required software, but I know I’ve downloaded it so I ignore it!

FOR BOTH PC AND MAC:
Once you log in, you will see my austin-pacific web site where I have been blogging about this experience. Once I get the results, I will update this blog so you will be able to see whether or not I won. Of course you can go straight to the blog (http://www.austin-pacific.com) and ignore the virtual room, but you’ll miss out on being able to talk to people attending the party and hearing our voices. I may even have a camera handy and upload photos until we get the results.

I hope you can join me. I know this is a bizarre experiment, but would you expect any less from me?

Week 3 Answers to Village Voice Questions

Below are my responses to the questions posed by the Salado Village Voice which will be printed in the newspaper on May 9, 2007.

1. What do you see the role of a Library Director as being? (100 words)

The Director manages the daily operations according to policies and procedures developed between the board, director and staff with input from the community. The director ensures adherence to the budget established by the board with oversight from the Finance Chair, prepares reports to ensure transparency and accountability to the community and the board, manages staff and creates an environment for learning, mutual respect, and innovation. The director must be a visionary leader who stays abreast of emerging technology, new theories of management, innovative programming, opportunities to meet community needs, grant opportunities, and resources from the state library and professional associations.

---100 words---

2. What is the relationship between the Library Board and the professional staff of the library? (100 words)

The library director’s role is articulated above. The Board’s relationship with the staff is to ensure that they have adequate tools to perform their job under the direction of the library director.

I will increase professional development opportunities for staff through a comprehensive professional needs assessment and funding for staff to access training through conferences, workshops, and free online opportunities provided by the Texas State Library, American Library Association and OPAL (online programming the for all libraries). The board and the director according to the long-range needs of the community will orchestrate these professional development opportunities.

---96 words---

3. What one thing would make SPL the best small town library in the state? (100 words)

Eliminate “small town”, “in the state” language and be THE best library in the country – period!

Writing this from a conference of library instructors in San Diego inspires me to say that we should:

1. recognize that technology and the talents and skills of our local citizens make it possible for us to enjoy the same resources, programming, and access to information available to large urban libraries,
2. teach our community how to access those programmatic and technological resources,
3. be innovative beyond what other rural libraries are doing,
4. provide professional development for staff.

(see: http://www.austin-pacific.com for details)

--- 100 words ---

3. When the Library District was formed before Salado's incorporation, it was stated at that time that a referendum could be called to release a portion of the half-cent sales tax the Library District collects so that the Village could collect those taxes. Would you support such a measure? Why or why not? (100 words)

With rural libraries closing at unprecedented rates, we are fortunate the Salado library can meet its short-term financial obligations. However, it would be irresponsible to support a tax release while our reserves are inadequate to fully meet the current and anticipated needs, especially when our library’s contribution to the economic and cultural vitality of Salado can exceed the value of its meager half-cent sales tax. The library can be the unbiased source of information about Salado’s economic and cultural opportunities - an information portal for new and current small businesses and new families, and a destination for tourists.

---98 words---

More Notes on Library Services to Seniors From Flight #1566

I'd love to host gaming parties for youth at the library. This is not without controversy in some of the most progressive communities and is likely to face resistance in Salado. But I often wonder what young people who are not engaged in extracurricular activities DO in our community. Where do they go? They seem to be a hidden population.

But at the same time I'm concerned about engaging young people, I'm also interested in expanding the wildly popular computer classes my parents have taught to seniors. In fact, I'd like to connect our youth who are comfortable with technology as techno-mentors to the elderly population who are intimidated by computers.

Who could have predicted that an idea to address both interests would come from a seat mate on my flight home from San Diego?

Jim, a retired businessman who owned a Certified Public Accounting firm, described how he would spend the first hour with his new employees introducing them to the office, their workspace, the facilities and the coffee maker. Since it was the mid-80's, many new employees were unfamiliar with computers so the second hour of their first day was spent playing computer games like solitaire. What a great way to get techno-phobes over the hurdle!

AND two generations later, what a great way of demonstrating the fun and value of computer games to seniors who might question library-organized teen gaming activities.

So now, I'm off on a really wild hair...can you imagine an intergenerational gaming night with seniors playing solitaire, free cell, or tetris next to a middle schooler playing world of warcraft?

OK, maybe that's a bit far fetched, but I do think we need innovative ways to bridge the generations through technology and other interactions that let the youth be the experts for a change.

BTW, Thanks Jim and Janis for making the flight home so enjoyable! I hope you made it home to St. Helena safely and are recovering from your cruise. Do a couple of deep knee bends every time you approach the refrigerator and you'll be over that week of non-stop eating in no time!

Managing Organizational Change in the Library

[cross-posted at: http://texasforums.wordpress.com/2007/05/06/172/]
I am attending a conference called LOEX. This is a group of library instructors and the theme "Uncharted Waters: Tapping the Depths of Our Community to Enhance Learning" was perfectly aligned with my interests in libraries and community engagement.

The 11:15 - 12:15 time slot on the LOEX Conference Schedule in San Diego posed a real challenge for me. First, it is tough to be inside for a workshop at a beachside resort.

Second, there were two excellent presentations that both apply to my interest area and research.

• The Role of the Library in Achieving Co-Curricular Activites in Civic Engagement on College Campuses, and
• Sailing off the Map: Managing Organizational Change in the Library

I teach Change Management for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, but I'm also researching civic engagement of libraries. Fortunately, they were both on board the William D. Evans Sternwheeler so I could bounce between the two and my colleague, Ann Bishop attended the civic engagement workshop. I introduced myself to Mary Reddick, CSU Sacramento and Susan Metcalf, University of S. Indiana who invited me to join them at the end of their presentation and collect e-mail addresses and introduce myself to their attendees.

So off to learn about Organizational Change from Wendy Holliday, University of Southern Utah and Kristen Bullard, University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

Wendy and Kristen used a conflicting values assessment tool to evaluate the organizational cultures at UTK and USU. This Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (free!) was developed by Kim S. Cameron and Robert E. Quinn in Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture. Through a series of questions, the tool measures organizations according to four quadrants or dominant characteristics with each quadrant given a numeric ranking for a total of 100 points:

• Clan Culture: very friendly place like an extended family where teamwork, participation and consensus are the dominant modes of decision-making.
• Adhocracy Cuture: places an emphasis on entrepreneurship and creativity. People are encouraged to stick their necks out and take risks. The organization encourages individual initiative and freedom.
• Market Culture: the focus is on results and getting the job done. Leaders are drivers, tough and demanding. The organizational style is hard-driving competitiveness.
• Hierarchy Culture: formal and structured, this culture emphasizes procedures and managers are good organizers who focus on efficiency.

They asked members of each organization to respond to the questions two times - first assessing what is and secondly responding with what they would like for the organization to be. Not surprisingly, both organizations leaned heavily toward the clan or adhocracy culture and the primary difference between the current state and the preferred state was less hierarchy even when hierarchy ranked lower than either clan or adhocracy.

But the real value of the tool is not the picture of the current culture or even the preferred culture, but the conversation that takes place about what factors of each culture speak to their core values for the organization and what they reject from each cultural characteristic. For example, a discussion at the workshop revealed a bias against the Market Culture because of the competitive nature, and yet everyone valued the idea of getting the job done and focus on achieving goals. Although the description provided by the workshop leaders did not include "response to the market demands" I can imagine this is an element of the Market Culture and one that library instructors who are concerned about meeting the information needs of students would certainly support.

So the value is not in where the lines get drawn, but in the conversation about why the lines are drawn such...what elements fall within the box of acceptable behaviors within our culture and what elements fall outside of what we are willing to tolerate.

I can imagine that the skills a moderator uses in deliberative forums would be extremely useful in moderating a group reflection of this tool and its results. Essentially, the four quadrants represent four different ways of managing an organization and conducting business. They are each driven by a different set of values that take priority. No one method is the right answer. Elements of each are appealing, but too much of one over another may lead to unintended consequences. These are all criteria used by National Issues Forums in framing an issue for deliberation. Here are some generic questions we use to train deliberative forum moderators that could be useful in leading a discussion of this organizational culture tool:

• Why does this particular approach appeal to you?
• What might be the consequence of following this approach completely?
• I know that you resist approach X, but what do you imagine is important to those who support it?
• Can you make the best case for the approach you like the least?
• What would it take to make this approach more palatable to you?

It would be interesting to use this tool and my experience in deliberation together! Perhaps I will find a way to integrate this tool into the course I teach at the University of Illinois Graduate LIbrary and Information Sciences program.

The presenters did an excellent job and I'm sorry I had to duck out early, but it was well worth it to connect with the civic engagement contingent on the top level of the William D. Evans Sternwheeler.