Children's Libraries of the future .

As I may have mentioned before, I currently work in a Museum. There is many more cross-overs between Museums and Libraries than you may at first imagine. In America there is the Institute of Museum and Library Service - who have some great resources and publications including this great 21 Century skills checklist for museums and libraries.
http://www.imls.gov/assets/1/AssetManager/21stCenturySkills_matrix.pdf

I was further struck by the cross-over when viewing the children's interactive library. Many of the ideas and technologies used here are already in use in museums but could also allow museums to become more interactive, responsive along with making way-finding (like resource finding).

The Children's Interactive Library 

 

Mixed use libraries



Images courtesy of Hugon Kowalski, UGO Architecture and Design, via Designboom.
From Would More People Use the Public Library If It Had a Water Slide?

John MetcalfeMar 19, 2013

Found an intersting article which suggests that libraries need more than just books to attract readers - perhaps waterslides instead. Mad i hear you say ..... have a look at the article

Would More People Use the Public Library If It Had a Water Slide?

creativity and leadership

Yesterday I attended a conference -  Creativity Project. Big Fat Smile. At the end of it I was struck by how important creativity and the creative process is to learning and expressing and to finding ones voice and consequently how creativity is probably an essential quality  for a dynamic leader to possess.

Richard Gill and John Marsden were standouts as was Margo Ward from kidsxpress. One of the speakers Glavin Scott Davis showed a lovely cartoon of the evolution of the tablet - not quite this one but i like this too!. Galvin spoke about his journey from app to printed book that has seen him develop an app and merchandise first with the ultimate aim of getting his book published. It is inspiring to think that we could all follow this pathway to print or an alternative way to get ours or a student's work published. Incidentally, his book "Dandelion" which is about bullying is released this week!

http://www.threadless.com/submission/252383/Evolution_of_Tablet

Pew report on library services

The Pew report, "Library Services in the Digital Age"provides some interesting research on what people want and expect from libraries in the digital age. One of the interesting finding was that there were different views about whether libraries should move some printed books and stacks out of public locations to free up space for tech centers, reading rooms, meeting rooms, and cultural events: 20% of Americans ages 16 and older said libraries should “definitely” make those changes; 39% said libraries “maybe” should do that; and 36% said libraries should “definitely not” change by moving books out of public spaces.

Thoughts raised by librarians in terms of libraries perceived strengths, direction and limitations in Part 5: The present and future of libraries were interesting particularly in terms of the notion of community. Perhaps there is more to be explored and gained from public and school library partnerships.

wireless library technology

Image: 'Its a Library Card!'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14802104@N07/6345154126
Found on flickrcc.net

Teacher librarians as promoters of educational technology

Came across the article  "the Role of School Librarians in Promoting the Use of Educational Technologies" prepared by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Media Specialists SIG (SIGMS) Executive Advocacy Committee. It provides a nice overview of the role of the TL with a focus on technology.

web 2.0 or 3.0?

This week we are exploring web 2.0. I found this topic really interesting and was diverted along the way into thoughts about web 3.0. I think the uses and potential of web 2.0 tools such as wikis and blogs are reasonably well understood but like most of these things maintenance and updating is the key to relevance and also one of the trickier aspects.

The other is the pace at which technology and interface trends change. In fact, as Weebly, shows us, it is now no longer necessary to have any knowledge of web code to create a website. I think the bigger issue is the idea that connectivity, regardless of interface, will become more a part of teaching - particularly if we want to engage today's students. Perhaps as Herring (2011) suggests about websites needing to be evaluated on their educational merits - the use of any technological tool should be because it is the best vehicle for learning not simply for the sake of using technology.

O'Connell (2008) refers to informal learning spaces and the opportunities for personalised learning that web 2.0 can provide suggesting that it's part of the TLs role to structure this material to promote information literacy. This make me think of the value social bookmarking could potentially have - which links back to web 3.0 and the idea of making meaning and connections of data

web 3.0 - the semantic web. The idea of filtering the filters, aggregating, integrating and adding value to content - making sense of the data. But whose sense and how to describe? This is a great video! I have been more and more drawn to Judy O'Connell's work - i wish my blog held a fraction of her insight and knowledge!

The Next Big Thing is Web 3.0. Catch It If You Can from Judy O'Connell

O’Connell, J. (2008). School library 2.0 : new skills, new knowledge, new futures. In P. Godwin & J. Parker (Eds.), Information literacy meets Library 2.0 (pp. 51-62). London : Facet Publishing.

Kennedy, J. (2006). Collection Management: A concise introduction. (2^nd ed). Wagga Wagga NSW: Centre for Information Studies.

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musings

so ... my aim to continue regularly blogging has failed. But as i like to procrastinate, i thought I'd add some now instead of working on my assignment.

I am well into the ETL503 resourcing the curriculum.

One of the things that captured me was this notion of being in a post-literate society. What! No way! I hear you mutter

well actually i think i agree. Not in the purest sense of the word, that is, as that writing and reading are no longer necessary or common. But in the sense that the written word is not always now the first point for information.

I've come rather late to the "i" revolution, but i have to say that since getting my ipad i have changed the way i view and use technology and information. I now often find myself watching TV while surfing the Internet or writing emails and often now my first response for information is from the Internet not print (though i am of course choosing reliable sources!) and that often i am using visual images, video, photo podcast etc rather than reading. And one must also consider social media and the way in which it is being used to convey information in new ways.

Do i think the book is dead. No way! although i can read a book on my ipad - its not as comfortable as holding a book while lying down in bed - and lets face it there's nothing nicer than opening a book and snuggling down with a friend (a novel that is!)