Building Bridges to Business in Barrie

• slides are here
• have a dedicated biz lib position (created in 2002)
• librarians as info brokers
• read papers to become familiar with local biz issues
• economic downturn = library upturn
• outreach for inreach...go out so they'll come in
• talk about BENEFITS of your library, not features
• have a tag line/elevator talk..."this is YOUR tax dollars at work" "best deal in town"...might as well come and use it
• connect with other biz libs
• subscribe to the "Dear Reader" biz book club (good idea to promo on our biz page!!)
• net orking and netWEAVING
  

Creative Librarian/Creative Library

• anything worth doing is worth doing badly
• "Institutions" are not creative, people are
• libs need to reinvent themselves continuously to be creative
• keep things fresh for the peeps
• "dare to dream creatively and dare to live your dreams"...start from dreams
• "in dreams begin responsibility" Yeates
• dreams define you...self-actualization
• committee meetings are enemy #1 to creativity!!!
• ...try a creative exercise / short concert / something different to spark creativity
• energy to motivate comes from anger...that status quo isn't working...a call to action
• hope and change = Obama-esque
• strive to have an annual dream...what is my dream for 09 PP?
• look for upcoming article by Stan using our dreams
• give people the ingredients to create with...space / place etc.
• need to nurture your creativity...use it or lose it idea...but never loose it entirely...need to use it though
  

Michael Enright Keynote

• always interesting to SEE radio peronsality irl
• "infomania"...info is everywhere
• impossible to process all the info...we're digitizing ourselves to distraction

Successful Projects 101 with Sam Kalb

• slides are online here (yeah, finally!!!)
• good basic practices
• projects are about change...and empowering staff (by their involvement / outside "regular" work)
• poor planning is often the cause of unsuccessful projects
• communication is key throughout the process
• "The Art of Project Management" by S.Berkun recommended...check it out...also "Project Management Journal"...and allPM.com
  

Friday morning Planary with Michael Bloom

• Michael Bloom of the Conference Board of Canada
• basically a statistical version of Richard Florida's message!
• "Valuing Canada's Creative Economy"
• a new look at culture...the value of art/culture...economic/social/aesthetic
• creativity leads to innovation
• creative chain: creation/production/manufacturing/distribution/support
• economic footprint of the creative economy
• 3 elements: direct impact/indirect impact/induced impact....totals about 7.4% of GDP
• "prosumerism" = consumer as producer...desire to participate / interactive experiences...user-led content
• issues of intellectual property and copyright...
• talent/creation/innovation/technology/collaboration
• need links between: tech/content/creativity/business acumen/production/consumption
  

Richard Florida Keynote

• new economy = creativity
• economic development = human development
• we need to nurture creativity
• stoke the creative furnace withing ALL staff
• "squelchers" = people who squash creativity..."we already tried that" "we've always done it this way"...etc.
• his web site
  

Distrupting the Library Transporter Beam with Mark Leggott

• Mark's blog
• University Librarian at UPEI
• "if science can transport matter why do we still need the MARC record?"
• we need to *really* change
• a la Calvin and Hobbes' transmogrifer -- freedom to explore...build one and keep it in my office as a reminder
• upei has totally gone open source...evergreen
  
• check out Marshall Breeding's 2008 ils survey...negative comments outweigh positive by a LOT...ils-es are not effective...
• black box vs. open box
• the main reason upei went open source was to encourage a new culture that is open / new / transmogrified!!!
• Innisville Public Library (small, Ontario...wow!) went OS ILS
• switch to osils forces you to change your workflow, even if you don't need to
• check out DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals
• open mind + open world = open access
• traditional approach is not good enough
• @ upei used reserach funding / funded positions to help with univ.-wide open source project...open and collaborative frameworks...expanding to steward all kinds of resarch data...expanding the role of the library on campus
• lib involved to share their expertise with meta data / data stewardship etc. PLUS get in on big research funding...think about how pub lib can do this in the community....
• VRE = Virtual Research Environment...supports local research collaboration
• "Island Lives"...digitized local papers / history...community involved in editing and tagging...building community around digital collecitons
• the goal is the common good
• WorldCat is becoming a black box,not an open box
• embrace innovation
• build a true library commons
• walk the walk
• be more radical and protecting of the public good
• get in touch with your inner Potato Head!

What they tell us: Listening to your residents with Pat Cavill and Wendy Newman

• slides are online here
  
• the input of your community is critical to a library's survival
• tools:
• surveys
• interviews
  
• preferred futuring
• focus groups
• "finding out what people need, then changing, if necessary, to meet those needs"
• helps libs remain relevant and responsive
• never assume! it's arrogant and dangerous
• Rule #1: don't ask if you're not prepared to act (or at least re-think)
• use surveys when:
• stats and measures are required
• find out what people need; their beliefs, preferences, satisfaction rates
• surveys must be well designed and tested
• disadvantages of surveys:
• random sample difficult
• poor design or analysis = misleading results
• "preferred futuring:
• vision for 10 years hence...about saying what you want, not fortune-telling
• Focus Groups:
• powerful research tool
• explore peeps feelings about issues
• 6 - 12 people ideal
• not statistically valid, but has "face validity"
• participants should be "opinion leaders" whenever possible
• participants should be homogeneous
• kinds of questions:...determine your objectives...what do you need to know?...who is most likely to give you the info?
• more hours and better parking are *always* on top of wish lists!!!
• report back to participants on a regular basis...
• identify usable quotes for your advocacy work
• link to online presentation (not online yet...)
  

A few neat things...

• pedometers were given out in the confefrence bags -- goal is for all attendees to collectively walk across Canada...have mine ready to go for tomorrow
• One Book Once Conference...I finished The Book of Negroes on the flight here (thankfully it was delayed an hour, so I could finish it!) and am looking forward to getting my "I read the book" sticker and chatting with people about it
• First Nations Public Libraries...debuted a series of PSAs for TV re supporting FNPLs...does FWFN have a public library?
• bumped in to Corinne Simons who used to work for TBPL back in the 80s! I remember her training me on circ...says HI to everyone who remembers her!!!
• almost 4,500 attendees...wow wee!
• "The Book of Negroes" title was changed to "Someone Knows my Name" for the US market
• chatted with a publishers rep and the new tall skinny pbk format is being printed because of demand from the discount retail market...ie. WalMart etc. like them like that...I guess they can squeeze more on to the shelves...so, although they don't fit on our pbk spinners, they do stand out and will likely be "hot"
  

Opening Plenary: Cynthia Nikitin on the Place of Libraries in Changing Times

• libraries are good at change / doing more with less
• need to become public spaces / destinations
• have a big role in community building
• are about serving needs, not *just* eye-catching buildings
• PPS (check out www.pps.org) Cynthia's non-profit organization
• William Whyte = mentor of pps...has written a few books...check them out
• a not-so-nice physical building will disappear if the stuff going on inside is fab
• start with your community and place and work on solutions together...don't start with the solution...use a storied/organic approach as opposed to a structured / bureaucratic approach
• ensure your buildings have "active edges"...if people hang around outside, give them somewhere to sit
• cooperate with local transit so bus stops right at front door (Wave and MJ good...CPark and Brodie need improvement)
• co-program with other outdoor activities close by
• "library square" idea
• access + linkages
• if you focus on creating a PLACE then you do everything else differently
• contemplation: I wonder if you can apply the same principles to the Virtual Library?...hmmm...
  

OLA SuperConference 2009...The Day Before

• tying up loose ends in preparation for early morning departure tomorrow
• links to session handouts may be found here (I'll link to specific ones I attend as I go along)
• looking forward to reconnecting with people, and meeting new colleagues, as well as my first official duty as OPLA Councilor -- attending the OPLA AGM
• stay tuned for daily updates!