Category: General information

One of my main research interests is in user experience design; specifically, how people see and remember information. Certain aspects of “seeing” information are passive; that is, we see something without needing to do anything. This is akin to seeing a “Return Materials Here” sign over a book drop: you see this area fills a function that you need, but other than looking for it and finding it, you don’t have to do much else. But how much of this do we actually acknowledge, little less remember? Countless times I’ve seen patrons fly past signs that tell them exactly where they need to find a certain book or when our library opens. It’s information they need but for some reason they haven’t gotten. So how can we make this more efficient? I visited the Boston Museum of Science recently and participated in their Hall of Human Life exhibit. Now, anyone…

Yes the title of this blog post is sensational.  After reading Chapter 7 from Hicks’ 2014 book titled Technology and Professional Identity of Librarians, I was appalled to read that the few male librarians in our profession are negatively stereotyped into being unable to handle a real career and the male dominated technology field infers that more skillful males will join the profession in the future.  There is a proven concept that the competitive environment of technology is male dominated.  If this is true, then will more males join librarianship since it is becoming more tech-based?  There are a lot of things that are terrible about all this – males have tough stereotypes to overcome and there is a misconception that technology is the omen that will bring in more capable male librarians to the field.  I am going home early to sit at home, cry, read a scholarly book, and…

Wireless — this term evokes an array of feelings in technologists today. Even though the definition of the term is relatively simple, there are numerous protocols, standards, and methods that have been developed to perform wireless interactions. For example, by now, many of you have heard of the mobile applications, such as Apple Pay or Google Wallet, similarly, you might have a transit pass or badge for your gym or work. With a wave of your device or pass a scanner processes a “contactless transactions”. The tap-and-go experience of these technologies often utilize Near Field Communication, or NFC. NFC is a set of standards that allows devices to establish radio communication with each other by touching them together or bringing them into close proximity, an effective distance of 4 cm.  A direct transmissions of specific information, separate from the open ended Wi-Fi access and seemingly limitless information resources it provides….

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…

The Chronicle of Higher Education recently released an entire report on credentialing. The Educause Learning Initiative has published several articles on the subject. Similarly, ACRL held a forum in September to discuss its role in a growing national conversation about badges and credentials. So what are they and how can you begin the conversation at your own institution? Credentials refer to a general body of certifications that are typically awarded outside of traditional degree programs. They include continuing education credits, certificates of achievements, and more recently, digital badges. More specifically, badges are digital tokens that appear as icons or logos on a web page or other online venue. Awarded by institutions, organizations, groups, or even individuals, badges signify accomplishments such as completion of a project, mastery of a skill, or marks of experience. Learners fulfill the issuer-specific criteria to earn the badge by attending classes, passing a quiz or exam, or…

Announced today by Matthew Reidsma of Grand Valley State University and Editor-in-Chief of Weave, the Journal Of Library User Experience, the publication of the submissions of the winner and first two runners-up for the 2015 Great Library UX Ideas Under $100. In June 2015, the LITA’s President, Rachel Vacek, Program Planning Team partnered with Weave to hold a contest for great, affordable UX ideas for libraries. The winner won some fabulous prizes, but the committee had trouble choosing just one of the entries they received for recognition. Therefore they choose a winner and first two runners-up for the 2015 Great Library UX Ideas Under $100. Congratualations to all the winners: Conny Liegl, Designer for Web, Graphics and UX Robert E. Kennedy Library at California Polytechnic State University Rebecca Blakiston, User Experience Librarian, University of Arizona Libraries Shoshana Mayden, Content Strategist, University of Arizona Libraries Nattawan Wood, Administrative Associate, University of Arizona Libraries Aungelique Rodriguez, Library Communications Student Assistant, University of Arizona…