Category: News

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Librarian.Support Real Time with Matt Finch

Join David Lankes as he talks with Matt Finch Tuesday March 24th 9-10 Eastern Time.

Matt is regularly invited to keynote at conferences and events. He is currently a facilitator on the Scenario Planning course at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School. Join us to talk about Planning for uncertainty; scenario and foresight work for libraries; how to do the anticipatory groundwork for the post-pandemic ‘New Normal’ which awaits librarians, information professionals, and the institutions they serve

We’ll be using Blackboard Collaborate – a web based conference solution. We should have room for about 100 folks to join the “studio audience” and ask questions.

https://us.bbcollab.com/guest/efd8f17225514d5f83dba12dcb50d7ae

We’ll be hosting these sessions every Tuesday and Thursday morning through the end of April as part of the Librarian.Support effort. You can see the system requirements for Collaborate here: https://help.blackboard.com/Collaborate/Ultra/Administrator/About_Collaborate/Browser_Support

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SLIS Pandemic Resources

We have been fortunate that as our university moves online, we were already there. We are, however, working hard to ensure that our students can access our courses online with a particular eye to emergent digital divide issues.

I spend a fair amount of time talking about how the School of Library and Information Science seeks to have an impact in the community. We don’t just want to teach change agents, we want to be change agents – faculty, students, staff, alumni.

To that end I am happy to announce some of our efforts to support our communities.

First up the South Carolina Center for Community Literacy has pulled together resources for parents with kids at home and teachers:

https://sites.google.com/view/scccl-resources-covid19/home

We also know that a lot of libraries around the world have closed their physical spaces and a lot of library staff are working from home. To support librarians using this time to work on skills and engage in professional development I am proud to announce SLIS has teamed up with Public Libraries 2030 to put together Librarian.Support, a site (and to be clear one we are building as we go) to highlight some professional development resources from SLIS. Our focus is on preparing folks for better libraries after the virus.

http://Librarian.SUPPORT

We are adding resources as we go including archives of webinars, lessons from our online courses, guides to good learning resources, and we want to add more. Once agin this is a fluid effort, so all are welcome to contribute and please be patient.

Starting this Tuesday, March 24th I will be doing open support sessions every Tuesday and Thursday at least through April. I’ll be inviting faculty, staff, and great librarians from the field to join me in a call-in-style class/show. I’ve already had folks like Erik Boekesteijn for the Royal Libraries of the Netherlands, Karen Gavigan SLIS Professor and genius in everything graphic novels, Marie Østergaard director of one of if not thee most innovative public library in the world Aarhus Public Libraries in Denmark, and Kim Silk Strategic Planning & Engagement Librarian at Hamilton Public Library agree to join me for shows. The idea is a real-time conversation that you can join to ask questions and join the conversation.

I’ll do a separate post this afternoon with details, but for now know the link will be https://us.bbcollab.com/guest/efd8f17225514d5f83dba12dcb50d7ae

9-10 Eastern Standard Time and archives of the conversations will be posted on the Librarian.SUPPORT site. It should be great to get a global view on librarianship. We can have up to 150 folks join the live sessions.

If you have a topic you or your library would be interested in, or want to be a guest, please email me at [email protected]

Folks, this is an extraordinary time. Borders are closed, National Guards activated, quarantines enforced. Everyone has every right to be anxious. I have found that in times of anxiety it is best to do something – anything. Let’s use this time, if we have the resources, to first take care of ourselves, and then teach each other.

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Corona Virus and Library Science Students

The following is an update I sent to our alumni. It is a version I sent off to our LIS students.

Greetings Friends,

As you may know the university has extended Spring Break through next week and is then going online with all of its courses (graduate and undergraduate) for two weeks after that (through April 3). For the latest information on the university’s response please see:

https://sc.edu/safety/coronavirus/

To be clear, this is the authoritative source for information. I haven’t emailed you before because the school has to wait for the university’s lead.

I wanted to reach out to see if you had any questions, and make you aware of a few things:

  • Next week is an extended break for the students, but busy for the staff and faculty. We will not only be adjusting dates and materials for course, but many faculty will have to move in-person classes online, and that will take work.
  • The university guidance also means changes in scheduled events. The Deans and Directors lecture on April 3rd has been indefinitely postponed. This includes the award ceremony and the Beta Phi Mu installation. We are working on a new date for these, or alternatives.
  • Right now hooding and graduation have not been effected, but the situation is “fluid.” As I learn something, you’ll hear it.
  • Offices and administration remain open at the university. Some staff and faculty will be working from home, particularly if they are in a high-risk group such as immune compromised. Also folks traveling may have to self-quarantine.
  • Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. If I don’t have answers, I’ll track some down.

And now a personal note. We got this. We as a school, as faculty, as students, as staff, we have this. We know how to work online sure, but more importantly, we know about using knowledge as an antidote to fear and misinformation. Some of you may find all of this an over-reaction. Some of you may have a heightened sense of anxiety in these uncertain times. I had a bone marrow transplant 18 months ago, so as someone who is immune compromised, I get it.

The answer is not to disconnect from community while we may shelter away physically. Some of our students are already working in libraries, all of them are being prepared to support communities. Right now what they’re feeling (anger, relief, anxiety, confusion) is being felt by the 3rd grader in a school library. It is felt by a spouse browsing the health books. It is felt by students in Thomas Cooper, or the person self-quarantined at home. Soon it will be their role to reach out to all of them. To let them know they are not alone. To provide what information we can, and all the compassion we have. In these times of conflicting stories the role of a librarian and an information scientist is to be trusted and caring.

I will send updates as I have them.

__

R. David Lankes
Professor and Director

803-777-3858
[email protected]
School of Library and Information Science
College of Information and Communications
University of South Carolina

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It’s Not You, It’s Me

Welcome to the new look of my site. It is very different than my last configuration. All the content is still there. All the links still work. The main navigation menu under my big mug is exactly the same. It just gets rid of the more static front page.

To be honest it’s not as pretty as my former layout and the home page is not as good in highlight projects and presentations (sell those books!).

So why the change? Well the main issue was a hack that would repeatedly put links to viagra and college essay writing sites into my old theme. I got tired of trying to track down the injected code. Also, the previous site had a management overhead in making highlights and such. Now that I have, you know, a real job time is tight.

When I looked at my traffic it was coming from social media that sent out direct links (to say a presentation or blog post) or it was coming via a search engine to a direct page. So I did some simple user-based design.

If you hate it, let me know. Enough voices that actually care and I will put in the effort to spruce it up again. For now, enjoy the content.

Also, thanks to Jessamyn West I decided to throw up a couple of “hero” pictures that randomly rotate at the top. Yes, some of them are older pics of me, but either they’re fun (keep an eye out for “Freaked Out Dave”), or I just like them.

Finally, I apologize if you landed on this page looking for viagra or good sites to write your college essay.

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Thank You for Making a Difference

This past week I spent some time in social media and here asking folks to give blood. This was the 6th year in a row that we’ve been part of an Annual Lankes Family Blood Drive in Central New York. We began (though my amazing wife Anna Maria deserves all the credit) the event after my first stem cell/bone marrow transplant. We wanted to use our experience for something positive. People giving blood saved my life and we wanted to give back.

Even though we’ve moved to South Carolina amazing volunteers like Michele McIntyre and Blythe Bennet and the congregation of the Holy Cross Church have kept it going.

We received the following email from Katie Stepanian, our amazing contact with the American Red Cross, and it shows just how many people you can help with your donation.

Thank you for all of your time and efforts with the blood drive this year at Holy Cross Church. Without your personal asks, your volunteer time before and after the drive,  and the support from Holy Cross Church, we would not have been able to meet our goal for this drive and the demand this month. 

From where I sit the event went perfectly, though I would love any feedback you have for me. Below are the stats:

  • Goal- 53 units
  • 43 scheduled
  • 56 registered
  • 8 deferrals
  • 2 turnaways (could have been self deferrals or walkins who could not wait)
  • 43 whole blood donations
  • 5 power red donations
  • 53 units collected (100% to goal!)

There were 7 first time donors!  I will put on my calendar to pull the list of presenting donors for you once it comes through which will be next week. 

I can’t thank you each enough for continuing to help the Red Cross connect with donors in the community. David’s drive is one of the highest producing drives in my territory.  Year after year it yields a significant contribution, and with the addition of these 53 units now totals 374 donations! This brings your total in potential lives saved to 1,122!  WOOO HOOO!!!  Most importantly, you are a reminder to the community about the importance of taking time to donate blood and the why behind our mission.

1,122 people benefited from your generosity. Thank you thank you thank you.

Please give blood if you can: American Red Cross.

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Farewell to My Dear Friend Nicolette

Nicolette Sosulski

Today the world lost a great librarian and I lost a great friend. Nicolette Sosulski passed away from a long and brave journey with cancer. 

She was an advocate for the profession and a great teacher. She cared deeply about serving those in need. She was also a tireless advocate for librarians with a belief that we could all get better. 

I have no higher praise to give than to say she was my librarian. If I had a hard question or wanted to check a crazy idea she was there. Beyond professional, she was dogged, passionate, and a genius navigating sources and working with people. When I talk about librarians advocating for our communities she is the face I see. 

We began this latest road with cancer together. She was always there checking in and sharing. Even as her options dimmed, she was there cheering me on. She was clear eyed about what was coming and had a strength I cannot fathom. 

Today I miss my friend.

UPDATE: her family has posted this obituary:

On May 15, 2019, Nicolette Marie Warisse Sosulski, loving daughter, sister and mother of two children, Peter and Nicholas, passed away from a year-long battle with lung cancer at the age of 56.

Nicolette was born on March 20, 1963 in Louisville, KY to Nicholas and Doris Warisse. She grew up in St. Martha’s parish and graduated from Sacred Heart Academy. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in English from Georgetown University, Washington, DC and her Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Nicolette found her passion in librarianship.  The American Librarian Association, in their memorial resolution to her said, “She was a motivated information professional: relentless about investigating a research question, had a gift for connecting people to information, had a real knack for identifying areas of need and developing plans, Nicolette was all that a 21st century librarian should be.”  Nicolette loved all things Southern which included cooking, literature, and big floppy hats.  She had a passion for animals, rescuing over a dozen dogs and cats, either finding them homes elsewhere or taking them in and loving them herself. Nicolette was an award winning author, a witty and phenomenal online communicator – she took online messaging and managing connections to a whole new level.  Nicolette was enthusiastic, mindful, continuously curious, loved and WAY smarter than anyone else in her family.

Nicolette is survived by her father, Nicholas and her mother Doris, her two children Nicholas and Peter, her sisters Jeanine and Michelle, and her cousins, nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Portage District Library, 300 Library Lane, Portage, MI 49002.  

A mass celebrating her life will be held at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, 936 Lake Street, Kalamazoo, MI, 49001 at 1:00 in the afternoon on Thursday, May 16, 2019 with a reception immediately following. The family is also planning a celebration in Louisville, Kentucky that will take place over Fourth of July weekend. 

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CUBISS Documentary on Community Library

cubiss logo

The folks at CUBISS in the Netherlands have put together a great video on libraries and communities. It is in Dutch with English subtitles. They were generous enough to include me.

I’ve been working with CUBISS for a few years now on preparing librarians to engage the public and put communities at the center of their work.

Here’s what they say about why they made the video (via Google Translate:

Community Library: a search for the new library
In a world that is changing, the library is looking for a new role. Cubiss asked documentary maker Joep de Boer to portray this search. In the documentary, directors, people from the field and library innovator David Lankes share their vision.


The documentary is intended for library directors. It helps them to tell the story of library in transition. Both internally, to their own employees. But also externally, to partners in the social field and local politics.


Land locally 
The documentary does not provide clear answers. It is primarily a means of entering into dialogue with each other.How can you land the library’s new course locally?


Continue talking 
The film is not isolated. We organize a number of meet-ups to discuss this further with each other. The first is in Tilburg on April 10, then another on April 13 in Haarlem.

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Expect More Now Available in French (Exigeons de meilleures bibliothèques)

Book CoverI am proud to announce the availability of Expect More in French (Exigeons de meilleures bibliothèques). Published under the Creative Commons by Ateliers de [sens public] it is free to download and is also available in print for a small cost. You can access the book here: http://ateliers.sens-public.org/exigeons-de-meilleures-bibliotheques/index.html

The translation under the direction of Jean-Michel Lapointe, librarian at the University of Quebec at Montreal, was the result of an amazing effort of volunteers. As Jean-Michel said

“Without their passionate commiment, this book would not exist. This is volunteer work they did on their free time because they believed in the importance of your ideas to our profession. Add to this that the project was done very quickly : 6 months in total, from its inception to the publication. A million deeply-felt thanks to them. Merci, merci, merci.

Ateliers de [sens public], a brand new subproject of Sens public, is an innovative open access monograph publisher runned by Servanne Monjour and Nicolas Sauret. Exigeons de meilleures bibliothèques is one of the three initial publications of Ateliers de [sens public]. Marcello Vitali-Rosati, holder of the Canada Research Chair in Digital Textualities, initiated the project with Sens Public – a peer-review open access journal of which he is the editor in chief — and was of great help throughout the editorial process. Marcello, through his chair, gave vital financial support to carry out the publication, including the meticulous proof reading work of Margot Mellet. Many grateful thanks to them.”

So very special thanks to those who contributed to the translation:

  • Isabelle Bastien, bibliothécaire à l’Université de Montréal
  • Lilen Colombino, étudiante à l’École de bibliothéconomie et des sciences de l’information de l’Université de Montréal
  • Marie D. Martel, professeure adjointe à l’École de bibliothéconomie et des sciences de l’information de l’Université de Montréal
  • Pascale Félizat-Chartier, directrice générale de la Corporation des bibliothécaires professionnels du Québec (CBPQ)
  • Adèle Flannery, bibliothécaire à l’Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)
  • Catherine Forget, bibliothécaire à l’École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS) de Montréal
  • Jean-Michel Lapointe, bibliothécaire à l’Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)
  • Michael David Miller, bibliothécaire à l’Université McGill
  • Réjean Savard, professeur honoraire à l’École de bibliothéconomie et des sciences de l’information de l’Université de Montréal et président de l’Asted
  • Louise Struthers, bibliothécaire à la bibliothèque publique de Saint- Lambert
  • Ekaterina Valkova-Damova, bibliothécaire en chef, Montreal West Children’s Library

And thanks to Marcello Vitali-Rosati and Margot Mellet.

The translation is part of lead up to Congrès des professionnels de l’information in Montréal. And more is planned for the future, so stay tuned.

Expect More is now available in English, Portuguese, German, and now French! It demonstrates the power of open access and librarianship.

Interested in translating Expect More or the Atlas of New Librarianship? Please let me know how I can help.

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German Edition of Expect More Named 2017 Book of the Year

Germaqn Language Cover of the Expect More Book

PASSWORD-Online, the German online magazine, has chosen the German Edition of David Lankes Expect More as the “book of the year 2017.”

A very special note of thanks to Prof. Dr. Hans-Christoph Hobohm and his team of translators. He and his team went well beyond simply translating words, but did an amazing job translating and promotion the spirit of Expect More and pushing for transformed libraries in Germany.