Tag: Library

Categories
consulting

43 of 365: On Supporting Electronic Devices in a Library [handout]

Library Link NJ Tech Speed Dating sessions

nexus 7 32G wifi
nexus 7 32G wi-fi (Photo credit: shizo) 

I am very grateful to Library Link NJ, the statewide consortium that provides technology, training, and other support to NJ libraries. I have recently been invited to do their Technology Speed Dating series, in which librarians and staff from various NJ regions come to learn about lots of technology topics from lots of NJ library resource people. I am proud to be regarded as such, and I’ve been asked to talk about library support of consumer electronic devices in the current series of speed dating sessions. I am often asked to offer handouts for my sessions there, and have been reluctant to do so in the past because (in my opinion) 1. links don’t work well on paper, and 2. paper requires the death and downing of trees. Regardless of this, I consistently get good reviews except for my handouts, which I consider electronic, but which participants often see as non-existent. I’m fixing this today by designing (hence part of this 365 series,) writing and publishing the following document, which participants will have in paper form at the tech speed dating sessions. It is freely available for reuse with attribution under a creative commons license (by John LeMasney via lemasney.com) Here’s an excerpt, followed by the link:

On the Support of Electronic Devices in Libraries

“As librarians and library staff, you are increasingly asked by patrons, students and other stakeholders for support of devices that are neither present in the library, nor well-known by staff. If someone walks in with an iPhone, and there has been no formal training or personal experience with the iPhone, for instance, then it can be a case of a disappointed patron, a frustrated staffer, potential for misconfiguration, and so on. This document seeks to give you resources and strategies for meeting the needs of stakeholders who bring their own devices (BYOD) to the library for support. ” Read more at https://docs.google.com/document/d/14LSmZ_oCL6EekWkCGnT7JKVQDqdfU8fWVFEiRiyBP9M/edit?usp=sharing

Related articles

 

Categories
affiliations brand classes and presentations consulting curriculum vitae insights instructional technology libraries open source professional activities professional experience publications references research interests teaching teaching experience technology workshops

Resources for Staff Day Training at Woodbridge Public Library

Libraries, the original co-working space cc-by lemasney
Libraries, the original co-working space cc-by lemasney
An important distinction
An important distinction (Photo credit: lemasney)

Today, I’m presenting on behalf of Library Link NJ on the topics of eBook borrowing and the Basics of Graphic Design.

In this session, we are going to look at using Overdrive to borrow eBooks, a very common method in libraries today. We will spend the rest of the time looking at the basics of Graphic Design concepts, like inspiration, font choice, layout and visual branding. The materials that I am distributing are below.

The graphic design presentation is here.

The eBooks handout (Brisbin, Lemasney, 2014) is here.

A complete list of all of my presentation materials is here.  

Categories
consulting

Migration is complete!

Gumdrop! by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Gumdrop! by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Gumdrop! by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Gumdrop! by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

Hi all. This is just a note to let you know that our recent move from ‘filehost a’ to ‘filehost b’ is complete, and that our broken links, images, and other issues should now be resolved! If you see anything out of place, please don;t hesitate to drop me a line at lemasney@gmail.com.

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
Categories
brand consulting insights libraries research interests

The Customer and the Service: Self-Checkout and New Jersey Library Technology Assessments

In this episode, Sean and John talk about self-checkout woes in retail situations, and the process of doing a technology assessment in a New Jersey Library.

Related articles

 

Categories
affiliations brand consulting insights libraries professional activities professional experience

On a New Jersey library technology assessment

Conversation
Conversation (Photo credit: Rohit Rath)

Today, I did one of my favorite consulting tasks: library technology assessment. I sat down as part of a team with the administrative and technology staff of a New Jersey library system to help them to find out where they’ve been, where they are, and where they want to go with technology in the next two years. It’s a fun discussion, especially after we get past the point of discovery and move to solutions.

We begin by asking about what it is that they hear is missing or insufficient from patrons. In this particular case, we learned that the public use computer systems needed updates and renewal, the printing and copying system was less than ideal, and that the web site needed to move from one engine to another. Noting those, we moved on to a structured list of discovery items, such as asking about the speed, price, and coverage of wireless access. We learned that the phone systems were sufficient and reliable, but that better methods of communication, such as those found in unified messaging systems and intranets might be a great addition to supplement phones.

We talked a lot about social networking and communication and how to use them more effectively to support and inform stakeholders of new systems, updates, and programming. We talked about internal development and training to support external development and training. We discussed a lot of things, discovered a lot of truths, and began to develop new plans for forward movement. We discovered a lot of points for discussion aligning with 20 points of technology assessment, with many short-term, intermediate, and long-term solutions. I often get a little charge out of explaining how easily the issues at the top of the list of patron feedback and needs are going to be met, how the awareness is the toughest part.

Many libraries have not had this discussion, and some have never had the discussion. Those who have are taking part in the conversation about the ways that libraries are changing, moving from being media distribution points to development centers, community life and work spaces, and collaborative, making, and incubator spaces.

Libraries that are thriving are meeting new and different needs than they were 5 years ago. They are creating comfortable, enabling, rich work spaces for people to grow in the ways that they wish to. People want to meet, develop themselves, organize, and extend themselves, and the best libraries today are helping them. Books and movies are a part of it, but just a part. Decreases in physical media circulation is being countered by an increase in foot traffic, participation in programming, increases in digital circulation, and increases in specialized meeting services, co-working, and knowledge sharing. I wonder what the conversation would be like with your library?

Related articles

 

 

Categories
consulting insights

Why I offer the first hour of consulting for free

Do not covet your ideas... by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org
Do not covet your ideas… by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org

A few colleagues have learned that I always offer my first hour of consulting with a new client for free, and have given me lots of advice:

  • But what if you only ever get one hour out of them?
  • You should never give away your skills, it devalues you.
  • People will take advantage of you.

The reasons that I give my first hour of consulting for free to new clients considers these and many other issues. I’ll discuss them here.

I may only get one hour out of a client, but if that’s the case, I was not likely going to get a lot of business out of them anyway, and they are likely to speak well on my behalf to their friends and colleagues if it goes well. If even one referral comes from any client, it is at least worth an hour of my time.

I have spent many hours volunteering my time doing my consulting, presentation, and training work, and it has come back to me a thousand times over in referrals, new paying work, experience, and good-faith networking. Volunteering also happens to bring me joy and happiness,all by itself. I am focusing more now on paying work these days, but I will never regret the volunteer hours I have put in.

I welcome people to take advantage of me, or try to. I think that if someone sits with me and sees what I have to offer them, I can make an impression that makes them think of me the next time they need graphic design, technology support, a presenter, a media consultation, etc.

Perhaps the most important reason for the first-hour-free clause is that I may not wish to continue to work with someone after hour one, and they may not wish to work with me. Everyone has their philosophies, concepts, experiences, and values, and they may sometimes make for uncomfortable partnerships. I’d rather not have to ask for money from someone who does not wish to work with me, and I’d rather not take money from someone who I’d rather not work with. It’s more important that we be able to amicably walk away, saying “I’m sure you will find success, thanks so much for your time!” with smiles on our face, cheer in our heart, and money safely remaining where it was.

This philosophy also acts as a standing discount on the remainder of our work together, meaning that if I work with someone for two hours, it’s as though they had a 50% off coupon.

So if you are wondering if I can help you, remember that you can find out for free, no strings attached, for the first hour that we work together. I promise.

Related articles