In our third episode of Begin Transmission, we’re lucky enough to sit down with none other than Cinthya Ippoliti. Cinthya is a LITA Blogger and Associate Dean for Research and Learning Services at Oklahoma State University. Enjoy her library tech wisdom and perspectives in this short interview. Begin Transmission will return May 15, 2016.
Author: Lindsay Cronk
Transmission #2
Welcome back to Begin Transmission, the biweekly vlog interview series. Joining me for today’s discussion is none other than Brianna Marshall, our fearless leader here at the LITA Blog. Remember to follow her on Twitter @notsosternlib. Begin Transmission will return May 2nd! Stay tuned.
Begin Transmission #1
Welcome to the new LITA Vlog series, Begin Transmission. Every two weeks your host (that’s me) will sit down with a guest to talk about libraries, tech, the state of the profession, and their thoughts on LITA. Begin Transmission will provide another channel for you to learn from your fellow LITA members. I hope you’ll enjoy this first episode, featuring LITA Blogger Marlon Hernandez. When he’s not writing seriously interesting posts for the blog, he’s working for NASA Jet Propulsion Lab. He has a truly unique perspective on the profession. Look for our next transmission dropping here on the LITA Blog on Monday, April 18th.
Level Up – Gamification for Promotion in the Academic Library
Let me tell you the truth- I didn’t begin to play games until my late twenties. In my youth, I resisted the siren call of Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis. As an adult, I studiously avoided Playstation and XBox. When the Wii came out, I caved. I am very glad I did, because finding games in my twenties proved to be a tremendous stress reducer, community builder, and creative outlet. I cannot imagine completing my MLIS while working full-time and planning my wedding without Super Smash Bros. It was a time in my life when I really needed to punch something. In case you are wondering, I specialize as Kirby and I am a crusher. Beyond video games, I like board games (mainly cooperative ones, like Pandemic) and trivia. Lately, I have also been toying with getting into Dungeons & Dragons because what I really need is more hobbies. More…
Brave New Workplace: Your Homegrown CRM
What is a CRM? For starters, an excellent starting point for this installment of Brave New Workplace, a multi-part LITA blog series on using tech tools to ease your entry into a new position. A CRM is a Customer Relationship Management database, a record management system comprised of different record levels from individual to organization, with entries and fields for interactions and transactions and notes. CRMs provide essential business intelligence to a company, nonprofit, or even (you guessed it) library. As a new hire, you may feel overwhelmed by the amount of information you receive at first. A CRM can help you organize information by contact, associating workflows, projects, committee information, research interests and more with the relevant colleague. By categorizing and tagging colleagues, you can identify overlaps of interest and synergies. CRMs are used for a variety of purposes, including communications automation and e-commerce. For our purposes, I suggest…
Brave New Workplace: Text Mining
Hi there, future text miners. Before we head down the coal shoot together, I’ll begin by saying this, and I hope it will reassure you- no matter your level of expertise, your experience in writing code or conducting data analysis, you can find an online tool to help you text mine. The internet is a wild and beautiful place sometimes. But before we go there, you may be wondering- what’s this Brave New Workplace business all about? Brave New Workplace is my monthly discussion of tech tools and skill sets which can help you adapt and know a new workplace. In our previous two installments I’ve discussed my own techniques and approaches to learning about your coworkers’ needs and common goals. Today I’m going to talk about text mining the results of your survey, but also text mining generally. Now three months into my new position, I have found that…
Brave New Workplace: Start with a Survey
Brave New Workplace is an ongoing exploration of tech applications that can help new employees acculturate. While this series is aimed at empowering recent hires, managers could modify some of these suggestions in order to speed the acclimation process as well. In today’s first installment, I’ll discuss developing and administering a workplace survey as a tool for developing relationships and assessing needs. Plan: Survey Your New Workplace Tool: Google Forms Next Steps: Text Mining and CRM creation Starting a new job can be a daunting proposition, and in the first few weeks on the job information gathering is often priority number one. Learning about your workplace and your coworkers is the key to making a successful start. Developing a survey can speed your workplace acclimation. All the benefits of surveys generally- a standard set of questions, a functionally sized test group- translate well to developing workplace relationships and getting to…
It’s a Brave New Workplace
LITA Blog Readers, I’ve got a new job. For the past month I’ve been getting my sea legs at the University of Houston’s M.D. Anderson Library. As CORC (Coordinator of Online Resources and Collections), my job is supporting data-driven collection decisions and processes. I know, it’s way cool. I have come to realize that the most challenging aspect of adapting to a new workplace may well be learning new technologies and adjusting to familiar technologies used in slightly different ways. I’m text mining my own notes for clues and asking a ton of questions, but switching from Trello to Basecamp has been rough. No, let’s be honest, the most challenging thing has been navigating the throngs of undergrads on a crowded campus. Before working remotely for years, I worked at small nonprofits, graduated from a teeny, tiny liberal arts college, and grew up in a not-big Midwestern town. You may…
Tech Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself – Volume 6
What’s new with you TYBYWYers? I’m sure you’ve been setting the world on fire with your freshly acquired tech skills. You’ve been pushing back the boundaries of the semantic web. Maybe the rumors are true and you’re developing a new app to better serve your users. I have no doubt you’re staying busy. If you’re new to Tech Yourself, let me give you a quick overview. Each installment, produced monthly-ish offers a curated list of tools and resources for library technologists at all levels of experience. I focus on webinars, MOOCs, and other free/low-cost options for learning, growing, and increasing tech proficiency. Welcome! Worthwhile Webinars: Texas State Library and Archives – Tech Tools With Tine – One Hour of Arduino – May 29, 2015 – I’ve talked about this awesome ongoing tech orientation series before, and this installment on Arduino promises to be an exciting time! TechSoup for Libraries –…
Tech Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself – Volume 5
To paraphrase Outkast, it’s the return of the Wreckster, LITA Blog readers. It’s been months since last I typed an installment, but not for lack of enthusiasm or material. If this is your first Tech Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself, let me explain. TYBYWY is a curated assortment of tools and resources for aspiring library technologists at all levels of experience. I focus on webinars, MOOCs, and other free/low-cost options for learning, growing, and increasing tech proficiency. Thank you for reading! Project Management Tools Through the course of a recent group project, I’ve had the opportunity to explore a number or project management tools, applications, and methods. This TYBYWY is for my fellow compulsive to-do list writers. Consider it a love letter. Level Up I recently converted to Habit RPG. As you know, gamification is an ongoing interest of mine. Habit RPG literally gamifies your life, giving game mechanics (leveling…