I also gve three presentations at Lincoln City Libraries in Lincoln, Nebraska. Great staff – very energetic! My keynote session was titled “The Future is Not Out of Reach: Trends and Transformation.” Here’s the Slideshare version:
April 2009
Remember my library’s techie toybox? What happens when those gadgets are new no more? Check this article out (found via vBSetup): Gadget Graveyard: 10 Technologies about to go extinct.
Here’s their list:
- landline phones (ok, my family still has this – check back with me in another year or so)
- floppy disks (my kids once asked me “what’s a floppy disk, dad”? I stared at them a sec, then realized they had never seen one. Time flies!)
- wristwatches (don’t wear one – that’s what my iPhone’s for! and the computers I stare at all day)
- VHS Tape and VCRs (yep – still have these, too)
- Beepers (iphone again – the beeper is no longer needed)
- Film Cameras (haven’t had one for years)
- typewriters (interestingly, my 9-year old has one … ONLY because Molly [the American Girl Molly who lived in the 1940's] had one, and my mother-in-law still had an old one in a closet. Yes, a typewriter was an odd present for a 9-year old, but she loves it!)
- walkmans & discmans (haven’t had one in years)
- dialup (My library serves a whole county – Topeka has broadband, the county is pretty spotty)
- DVDs (I still use these, and we still watch DVDs. But that’s now. They’ll be gone in 10 years time, I’ll bet).
What would you add to this list? Or how about this question – what in this list does your library still support, and why?
OK… I’m a card-carrying member of the American Library Association, and it’s voting time again. Every year, we vote for a president (and a lot of other stuff). This year, there are two candidates for ALA President – Kent Oliver and Roberta Stevens. Both fine, highly qualified people, I’m sure (though I’ve never met either one).
As a web-centric, social media loving geekboy, here’s what I noticed when I visited their websites:
Roberta Stevens:
- Cool. She has a website.
- Dated design … looks like a fine site from the year 1999
- big fat Donate button (actually the first thing I noticed)
- where’s the RSS feed … hey, wait a minute … why isn’t this a blog-based site with commenting?
- a mish-mash of text links that point to videos, photos, podcasts, webpages, and pdf files
- a link to a Facebook Fan page
- Ah – there’s her blog – one of the many text links points to it.
- Oops – I clicked through to her blog. She has embedded a YouTube video there … but it broke her blog template.
Kent Oliver:
- Cool. He has a website too. A nicely designed site, looks a bit like Obama’s recent campaign site
- it’s a blog – the RSS feed is right there, where it should be (subscribed)
- two quick links to platform and qualifications
- a Donate Now button that blends in with the rest of the site
- an embedded video (used blip.tv – coolness)
- Flickr images, embedded on the main page so I can see them…
- a search box!
- no one’s commented on his blog posts yet (currently displaying big 0′s beside each post)
- Oops – just clicked on Platform. Instead of getting his actual platform, I got two more links… same with the Qualifications link.
Honestly, once I get past all that stuff and take a peek at their actual platforms, it’s all the usual stuff (diversity, more money, support privacy, etc) – nothing that stands out as remarkably interesting to me, a lover of all things web (which is a reflection of ME, not them 
).
But – looking at the two lists above … who do you think “gets it?” Who either understands new online media, or at least knows who to ask for help? Will that sway my vote (and the votes of many others)? Probably so.
Yes, understanding “the new stuff” is definitely important, and can make or break a campaign.
Tyler, from the 344pounds.com blog, was kind enough to take this snapshot of Designing the Digital Experience sitting on the shelf at the Richland County Public Library and email it to me! Here’s what Tyler said about the book:
Hey David,
I bought your book off of Amazon yesterday, but also went down to the
Richland County Public library to check it out until it gets here.
Attached are the pics from that visit!
I found about you and your site a little while ago by searching for
something about designing a better blog for users (can’t remember exact term). I started a personal blog, 344pounds.com, about 3 months ago — I
don’t have a huge technical background, but I’m learning as much as I can
so I can make sure my blog is “good” for my customers, aka readers.
While your book is *marketed* towards designers and business owners, I
think that anybody who has any type of website can benefit from the book,
even a small “not for profit” personal blog like mine. I’ve already found
quite a few things from reading your book that I can apply to my blog.
Feel free to post this on your blog or testimonials page or whatnot — I’d
love to help sell the book, it’s great!
Tyler
Thanks Tyler for buying the book, taking the pics, and the kind words! You rock!
