The Jenny and Michael Show
January 14th, 2006Coming soon to a city near you. Jenny Levine and Michael Stephens (clearly the “it” librarians of 2006) are doing a 4 city tour (hopefully more, fingers crossed) of a program that they have developed called “Conversation, Community, Connections, and Collaboration: Practical, New Technologies for User-centered Services”. Here’s the description:
“This session will focus on new technologies your library can implement now to enhance online services for your patrons. We’ll explore how blogs, RSS, wikis, and social software can be used to offer a more dynamic, useful site for your patrons, while at the same time making maintenance easier and more efficient. In addition, we’ll examine how new applications of virtual reference (such as instant messaging and Jybe) can help you reach out to patrons where they are online. Staff training will also be addressed, including recommendations for getting started and best practices, as well as advice for user planning. At the end of the day, you’ll leave with concrete ideas and recommendations for going back to your library to implement any and all of these services at almost no cost.”
I’m been very impressed with the energy and enthusiasm that Michael and Jenny have put into getting their message out. I’m also thrilled that they have ditched “Library 2.0″ from these session descriptions in favor of non-buzz words. Smart move. I also hope that that they can bring their show to the east coast and energize the libraries out here on the four C’s. (link via ALA Techsource Blog)