Daily Thoughts 7/26/2010 ( Cognitive Surplus, Queens Library, libraries )

Benjamin Franklin., 1767, Oil On Canvas, In the White House

Daily Thoughts 7/26/2010

It is clear that advocacy is becoming a central fact with libraries in the United States these days.  If you are not willing to speak up for your library you may not have one in your community.  Also, if you work in a library and do not speak up for your library, you might even get laid off.  Being quiet is not really an option. It may make some people uncomfortable, but it is necessary.



To Close Budget Gap, Queens Library To Lay Off 46
http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/886041-264/to_close_budget_gap_queens.html.csp




With Library Campaign Materials Libraries Must Navigate Between Education and Advocacy
http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/886037-264/with_campaign_materials_libraries_must.html.csp




I checked out a book called Design And Launch An Online Social Networking Business In A Week by Entrepreneur Press and Julien Sharp.  It provides an outline of the process of creating a social network from scratch.


I am looking at the Fostering Digitally Inclusive Communities Grant offered by the National Broadband Plan.  To even begin applying to the grant we would have to put some social media into effect in order to get it.  The grant mentions blogs, email, and other digital tools as being part of communicating with the public.  I have already been looking at MP3 players and ebooks because of our recent promotion of Overdrive Digital Media Catalog at our library.  It should be very interesting.




This morning, I went through and updated most of the displays as well as set up meetings to understand the invoicing process for electronic data interchange.  I also emailed Poets House about their Poetry In The Branches Program and talked to BWI about electronic data interchange.  Posters for the Library Express database also came in as promotional material.




On the train home, I finished reading Cognitive Surplus by Clay Shirky.  I like the descriptions of how people donating time to social media adds to real life connections through groups like Wikimedia and Meetup.  He does an excellent job of describing the intrinsic value of giving time to social platforms that can reach into the real world.  A very real example of this for me is my going to places with the New York Librarians Meetup group.