Library Revolution

As we embark on a new season of conference and other presentations, I think it’s time for all of us to do a little thinking about our presentation skills and strategies. Check out presentationzen.com for some great tips on using powerpoint for an unsucky, effective presentation. I came across this via The Brand Builder Blog, which pointed me towards this great article about creating good powerpoint slides. I, for one, am guilty of not creating slides that don’t have much of a visual impact… which I think detracts from my presentations sometimes. I will have to rethink this a little. Call it a New Year’s Resolution.

Some other resources that have got me thinking about giving dynamic, interesting and effective presentations:

• Great Presentations Mean Business: I have found some great tips on this blog, along with good examples.
• Business Presentations: More good tips. I especially liked what they said about Doo Wop recently.
• SuccesCo: Boldness Rules: This little article brings up a good point I think a lot of librarians could learn from when they speak. Take some chances. Be bold.
• 10 Deep: Presentations by LIfehack.org: a list of 10 articles giving advice on good presentations. I especially liked the Use Your Audience one. Sometimes corny is good. At the very least, it’s bold.
• Great Public Speaking: Good tips here - especially about how to use humor. But if you need too many tips on this, I wonder if you’d be better off not trying to be funny.
• Speak Schmeak: A fun public speaking blog that often offers gems of advice as well as good examples and analogies. A favorite recent post explains the differences between being prepared and being over prepared. A lesson I could learn a lot from.

Those are just a few off the top of my head… What are some other good places for presentation advice?

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One thing people ask me pretty often id how I find the time to “do it all.” Well, the short answer is that I don’t. None of us do. But I do put a lot of effort into making time for the important things. Which means prioritizing.

So during these last few weeks, I haven’t posted much… there were just too many other important things to take care of. Hopefully things wills start to calm down a little, now, though, and I’ll get to put blogging back on my “things to get done” list without going completely crazy.

To summarize what’s been going on with me, here are a few of the highlights of the last two weeks for me:

Long Island Economic Trends Forums: OK, so speaker Martin Cantor was a bit of a blatant name dropper (it was pretty funny, actually). But he gave a very interesting talk about the economic trends he sees on Long Island’s horizon. It wasn’t all doom and gloom, either. And the really important part, I think was that it was real food for thought in terms of where we can imagine libraries fitting in with the economic landscape of this area. Some of the reports he referenced can be found here.

Suffolk County YA Librarians meeting: This was the first time I’ve attended a YA librarian’s meeting (as I’m not a YA librarian), and it was so much fun! It was considerably more spirited than the meetings I’m accustomed to, including salsa music and mango chutney (thanks, Barbara!) I was there to do a presentation about some of the new and exciting OPAC features that are going to be introduced for the county soon (shhh… it’s top secret!). The feedback I got from this group was so positive and constructive, which made it such a pleasure. Plus, I’ve since heard from a number of the people who were at the meeting that day – folks who sought me out to work on other projects or ask questions they might otherwise not have asked. One of the great things about my job is that I get opportunities like this to connect with the folks out in our libraries. It’s fun when I get a chance to do that with new groups and people I didn’t know before!

Helene Blowers: Helene came to visit SCLS last week and gave two excellent presentations to the staff and directors of our libraries. I can not even begin to say how awesome it was to hear her speak… and even more awesome to hear the buzz that has resulted from those talks. Most awesome of all was the chance to meet Helene… I hope our paths cross again soon!

Sharon Cates-Williams: I also got a chance to hear the Suffolk County CIO and Commissioner of the Department of Information Technology speak about the WiFi Long Island project. I have to say I’ve been really skeptical about the whole project, both in terms of feasibility and sustainability. But her presentation sure did sound convincing. Maybe too good to be true… or is that just me being a cynic? Hey, if they can make it work, make it affordable, and keep it going, then I’m all for the idea.

Feedback: I love getting feedback on the projects I work on, and these last few weeks have been really great for that. Thanks to everyone who has been so great about giving me positive, constructive commentary, especially on the OPAC design I’ve been working so hard on. I love the feeling of getting somewhere… and often the best way to make progress is to get involved in a good feedback cycle.

Facebook app: After much playing around and with great thanks to everyone who helped me out on this one (especially Lou at SCLS and Graham at Reyerson University), the Suffolk County Catalog Search application for Facebook is now available. With over 43,000 members belonging to the Suffolk County network (not to mention all of the other networks Suffolk residents belong to!), I thought it would be a real shame not to have an app. So now we do, and folks are starting to add it to their profiles…

So that’s some of the stuff I’ve been doing. And, of course, there’s work. You know, the regular day-to day stuff that you do all the time, so it doesn’t seem to count… but it has to because it takes up all of your time. And there’s the whole sick toddler screaming his lungs out because his ear hurts and he wants to play with the toaster and I’m the meanest Mommy ever and where is Daddy??? And of course, the Holidays, which means shopping, errands and ten million office parties. Plus that whole birthday thing.

Well, hopefully things will calm down a little in the next few weeks, and my priorities will get another chance to shift. I’m well overdue for a good rant.

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A couple of people have asked me lately what 2.0-ish technology has been the most useful to me. I thinks some folks who are just trying to get started with this stuff are looking for a place to begin so they don’t get too overwhelmed. Good idea!

For me, it definitely has to be the use of a feed aggregator.

I started out small, with just a few interesting professional feeds, plus some things of personal interest to me. Now that I look back at the past few years, it’s amazing how my list of feeds has grown and changed. As I commented to one person the other day, I rarely read a newspaper from cover to cover any more - but I do skim about 300 sources on a daily basis.

If you had to pick just one, what would it be?

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While I’m showing videos, here is another one that really grabbed me (found via).

A few of my random thoughts on the video and the conversations it led me to explore:

• Did you catch the question: “To whom were these questions directed B.G. (Before Google)?”
• I’d like to recommend adding another line to the section at the end. Why not “Ask Your Library:”?
• Another thing I want to point out is the “Key Question” associated with this project:
  

  “Given the realities of our modern age and the demands of our children’s future, is it really okay to allow teachers to choose whether or not they incorporate modern technologies into their instruction?”

And don’t be afraid to accept the invitation to join the conversation. I think libraries have a lot that they could add. Or at least, they should.

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Bravo, Dorothea!

One of the most common things I hear myself saying to the library staff I train is: “Play with it. You can’t break anything!!”

But I know that a lot of them are reluctant, or downright terrified of the idea of just jumping in and trying things out.

Read her full post about the “training wheels culture” and cataloging… I think it will ring true with many of the frustrations felt by many of us who find ourselves doing training for library staff. And she pulls no punches in venting these frustrations.

Librarians are a timorous breed, fearful of ignorance and failure. We believe knowledge is power, which taken to an unhealthy extreme can mean that we do not do anything until we think we understand everything. We do not learn by doing, because learning by doing invariably means failure. So a librarian just won’t sit down with AACR2, Connexions, and the AUTOCAT mailing-list archive and work out how to catalogue a novel item. Nor she won’t sit down at the computer and beat software with rocks until it works.

She’ll sit passively, hands in lap, and ask for training, feeling guilty the whole time for displaying ignorance.

And

What they need is to kick off the training wheels, honestly. Their locus of control vis-a-vis technology needs to move a long way inward. There is nothing more frustrating than dealing with fear-based apathy. I don’t mind intelligent skepticism; I’ll prove a given tool’s worth or I’ll abandon it. I don’t mind dealing with genuine problems. They happen.

I do mind, quite a lot, having to stand over a grown professional’s shoulder teaching her to use a set of essentially self-explanatory web forms because she cannot be bothered to learn by doing. And I do this a lot.

My husband and I picked up a new wii game last week. Did we:

A. Sit down with the manual and try to memorize all of the controller movements and their proper applications

B. Call Best Buy and ask that a member of their “Geek Squad” swing by the house to thoroughly train us in how to use the game

C. Refuse to play the game because it was unfamiliar to us

D. Pop the disc into the slot and start shooting away at bad guys until we figured it out

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I think a lot of librarians could learn a lot from playing more video games.

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Just for the record:

No, I do not like stereotypes.

No, I do not think all librarians are bun-wearing old ladies.

Yes, many librarians are quite fashionable.

But I can’t say I agree with the outrage over Paula Ryan’s participation in New Zealand’s National Library Conference. See the video here. (via)

http://www.tv3.co.nz/VideoBrowseAll/NationalVideo/tabid/309/articleID/34668/Default.aspx#video

Librarians are professionals, and part of that territory is presenting a professional image when representing your organization and profession. This is something that is well acknowledged by other professionals, and there are tons of resources out there aimed at helping people project the kind of professional image that will further careers as well as portray your profession positively in the public eye. And part of presenting a positive professional image is dressing for the part.

But have you been to a library conference lately? Let me put it to you this way. I would NEVER represent my organization and profession at a conference, meeting, or in a library wearing a hoodie sweatshirt. Or crappy old sandals that look like they’ve spent one too many days at the beach. Or (God forbid) holey jeans. To me, that is not the way to project a confident, credible, competent professional image. But I see others presenting themselves like this all the time.

And maybe I’m shallow. But I really have a hard time taking these folks as seriously as I do their more put-together colleagues. But I know I’m not alone in thinking this way.

A while back, Professor Laura Morgan Roberts posted a good article about presenting a professional image in the Harvard Business School “Working Knowledge for Business Leaders” blog.

She talks about a lot of different aspects of presenting a professional image, and I think her comments about stereotypes are particularly relevant to librarians.

“Members of negatively stereotyped identity groups may experience an additional form of identity threat known as “devaluation.” Identity devaluation occurs when negative attributions about your social identity group(s) undermine key constituents’ perceptions of your competence, character, or commitment. For example, African American men are stereotyped as being less intelligent and more likely to engage in criminal behavior than Caucasian men. Asian Americans are stereotyped as technically competent, but lacking in the social skills required to lead effectively. Working mothers are stereotyped as being less committed to their profession and less loyal to their employing organizations. All of these stereotypes pose obstacles for creating a positive professional image.”

How does one combat this sort of unfair stereotyping, especially when it can be detrimental to your career or profession? By cultivating and maintaining a professional image that you do want to be identified with.

“First, you must realize that if you aren’t managing your own professional image, someone else is. People are constantly observing your behavior and forming theories about your competence, character, and commitment, which are rapidly disseminated throughout your workplace. It is only wise to add your voice in framing others’ theories about who you are and what you can accomplish.

Be the author of your own identity. Take a strategic, proactive approach to managing your image.”

There are many, many ways that professionals can take charge of the image they project. They work on their writing skills. They take courses in public speaking. And they build professional wardrobes. Doctors, Lawyers, and Business professionals all do this. They think it’s important, and seek out advice on how to do it effectively.

But librarians get all huffy if someone suggests that they, too might want to consider the image that their professional wardrobe projects and look for tips for improving that image? Come on.

Why is professional attire for librarians such a taboo topic? I feel like by talking about it I’m opening myself up for tons of criticism about “perpetuating stereotypes.” I think that’s a big part of what happened in NZ. Somebody thought it was a good idea to include a speaker about professional attire, and it caused a huge stink. But if we don’t talk about it and open ourselves up to the idea that all professionals, including librarians (maybe especially librarians, given the stereotypes?), can use help in presenting their desired professional image more effectively.

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I’m not the worst public speaker in the world. (But I’d like to think I’m not too terrible, either!) And since I’m often called upon to speak, I’m always glad to get little reminders about how to improve my public speaking skills.

Here’s a list I came across today (via Lifehacker) that presents a good, brief overview of the basics we all need to remember when speaking to an audience. How we present ourselves as professionals is so important, and I felt like this simple little list hit a lot of the basics that, at least to me, tend to differentiate between an OK presentation and a polished, dynamic one.

The ones I need to remember the most:

5. Talk to your audience, not at them - People hate it when they get talked at, so don’t do it. You need to interact with your audience and create a conversation. An easy way to do this is to ask them questions as well as letting them ask you questions.

9. Watch what you say - You usually don’t notice when you say “uhm”, “ah”, or any other useless word frequently, but the audience does. It gets quite irritating; so much that some members of the audience will probably count how many times you say these useless words.

These are the two I plan to work on the most this fall meeting season. I’m sure those of you who hear me speak will let me know how I’m doing!

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So I read Seth Godin’s new book, The Dip the other day. Like most of the things he writes, it’s a little gem filled with common sense ideas that make you say “duh” and “AHA!” both at the same time.

I am glad to have read it, as I took away a powerful reminder of something I have a real tendency to forget.  Like a lot of things, it’s something I know, but sometimes need to be reminded about. And this book did that for me. Here it is:

Not everyone I deal with intends to be the best in the world - not should they.

Like a lot of the people I know read this blog, I am one of those really supermotivated self-starters who doesn’t do anything in life without the full expectation (realistic or not) that I will succeed remarkably. You know, the old if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right…. only taken to a completely new level. I expect myself to succeed, to be a stand out, to make every one of my endeavors brilliant. I call it motivated. My husband says I’m a workaholic. Can anyone relate?

So that is a big part of my persona at work. Those off you who have encountered me professionally would, I’m sure agree. I assume that the task at hand will be a huge success and will do anything to make it so. Whatever I do must be the best I can possibly make it. I just don’t know any other way.

The thing is, I sometimes forget that not everyone thinks that way. As Seth Godin says in The Dip:

People settle. They settle for less than they are capable of. Organizations settle, too. For good enough instead of best in the world.

Thing is, as a trainer, I have to keep this in mind more. Not everyone comes to the table with the expectation that they, or the project we’re working on will be the “best in the world.” Could it? Of course! But that’s not the way a lot of people (most people??) think.

They come into the training session wanting to learn just enough to get by, because that is how they live their lives. It’s totally understandable because this is the safe way, the easy way. I mean, isn’t it a lot easier in LibraryWorld to get a job, do a good enough job to keep it (maybe even an above average job), and then just wait for someone to retire? Maybe I’m just beating my head against the wall and making myself miserable by thinking that I (and my organization and our libraries) can do better than that. It would be so much safer to never stick my neck out, to settle for good enough all the time and forget about reaching for exceptional. I’ll tell you, I’d have a lot fewer sleepless nights and nerve-wracking meetings that way! Trying to be a superstar is hard work!

This doesn’t mean I should let the folks I work with settle… or at least not all of them. I’m the person I am, and that’s why I have the job I do. Pushing people to do better is my middle name. But I need to remember where these folks are coming from. In order to motivate them, I need to be reminded that not everyone even WANTS to be the best. It’s too much pressure, too much risk. For most people, good enough is good enough.

I’ll never forget the first semester I taught a college course. I was so nervous when I gave out the grades at the end of the semester. I mean, I couldn’t just give everyone A’s, after all, and what was I going to say when the students came and complained (as I figured they were bound to - I would have freaked out not to get an A!!). The next day, a student knocked on my office door. I cringed and thought “oh, here it comes,” since I had given him a B. To my surprise, he thanked me for a great course, and seemed quite pleased with his grade. It was my first real look into the psyche of people who, while not underachievers, aren’t overachievers either. Not a single person in the class complained about their grade.

The world (and that includes LibraryWorld!) needs people who don’t necessarily want to be the best. In fact, that’s very beneficial to those of us who do. But I feel like we can motivate them, maybe not to want to stick their necks out to be THE BEST, but to be a little bit better than good enough. And I really think the first step in that, at least for me, is in understanding where they’re coming from, and that the possibility of being exceptional may not be on their agenda in the first place.

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I just couldn’t let this one languish down in the comments.

Remember my little rant recently about Librarians and Minimum Technology Competencies? You know, the one that got a lot of people riled up? (If you could only see the outrage that warmed my In Box. LOVE IT!!)

So one comment read as follows:

It is interesting to compare your list to the list of skills that students in Livonia Central School must exhibit at the conclusion of third grade.

http://www.sctboces.org/toolbox/template.cfm?ID=2791&P=LP&L=4479&T=Technology%20Goals%20Primary%20Grades

Sorry this is a cut ‘n paste. That’s as far as I went.

Well, well, well.

In case you’re not interested in clicking through to see what the school expects third graders to be able to do, I will summarize here.

Prior to completion of  Third Grade, students will:

1. be able to copy and paste within a document (creating and formatting the document was required for 2nd grade)
2. use spell check
3. insert a graphic into a word processing document
4. use the internet to communicate

Please take a look at the full list. Using a mouse is listed for Kindergarten.

Why does the school require these skills? Beause without them, the kids won’t be able to function in future grade levels, much less in college or in the workplace. So for anyone who god miffed and argued with me that simple computer skills just aren’t relevant to their lives as librarians, I wonder if your child’s school would agree.

Didn’t grow up in a time when basic computer skills were a required part of the curriculum? I totally understand - most of us didn’t. That doesn’t mean that we don’t have to catch up.

Thanks to Lizz for the link. I really don’t think I’m out of line in any of this. Lizz would be the first person to tell me if I was… she’s also my mom!

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Bloglines had a meltdown on me today and started spitting up all sorts of older posts, seemingly at random. At first it was really annoying, but it may have been a blessing in disguise, as I happened to rediscover a few things I had read.

Here is one of them. Take a look - It’s a nice, concise post about the phrase that makes me bristle more than any other: “I didn’t get an MLS to do that!”

And the comments are great, too. I love Terry Dawson’s comment that:

“I didn’t get an MLS so I could shelve books, pick up scraps of paper off the rug, or clean restrooms. But in the 31 years I’ve had the degree, I’ve done them all. And doubtless will again.”

This particular post focuses on the argument that librarians are not there to fill up the printer or help format a spreadsheet. But Steve’s core arguments could really hold true with so many of the duties librarians find themselves performing even though they are not strictly “professional activities.”

For me, the bottom line is that professionals do whatever needs to be done in order to fulfill their professional mission. In the case of a profession dedicated to delivering information services, sometimes that means rolling up your sleeves and getting out of your chair to make sure the patrons have access to the information they need. Sometimes it means that you’ll have to answer a phone or place a hold, even though it’s not technically your job. Sometimes it means stepping outside of your comfort zone a little. Sometimes it means that professionals need to stop hiding behind their degrees and start going out there and doing whatever needs to be done.

In my opinion, if you are not willing to go all out and do whatever it takes to fulfill the missions of our profession, then you’re not much of a professional at all.

Note:

When I went back to the archives, I found that Steve had followed this post with another excellent post examining where we must draw the line when it comes to the kinds of computer questions professional librarians should be expected to handle. He raises some great points about competency levels (a topic I plan to post on in the near future…), connecting with patrons, and the expectations we set up by even making computers available in the first place.

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