For the next couple of days, I’m attending Internet Librarian 2012. Great conference – why aren’t you here?
Day one is over – I don’t have extensive notes from each session, but I will share some highlights.
David Weinberger started us off today with a keynote presentation on his Library as a Platform idea. He explained what he meant by platform and how knowledge is changing because of platforms, and then talked a little about the library as a platform. It was a good, thought-provoking talk.
Next up … well, that was me. I’ll post my slides in another post.
Michelle Boule talked crowdsourcing, and mentioned how to give your crowd the means to survive:
M. Ryan Hess talked about Google Analytics, and then showed CrazyEgg. I’d forgotten about this really cool tool. It makes a heatmap of clicks on your website – great tool for usability, tracking clicks, etc. I need to check this one out again!
I was able to sign some books – always fun and a bit humbling, too.
And … I saw Jason Griffey’s LibraryBox in action. Very cool project, Jason!
So – good first day. Two more days to come!
Update – ok. It’s really for SXSW 2013. Not changing the link, since it’s already been tweeted out. Hee. Maybe I should write a post on proofreading? 
Have you ever thought about attending SXSW Interactive (March 8-12, 2013)? It’s not a librarian conference, though a growing number of librarians have been going the last few years.
But it IS a great technology and emerging trendsconference, and usually has some really big names in the tech world presenting on a ton of topics – everything from monetizing blogs to how to use social tools for businesses, to the future of the web.
It’s a really good learning and networking opportunity … which is why I want to present there! SXSW has a unique way of figuring out who presents – they let their community vote on the potential topics, using the SXSW PanelPicker.
This year, one of the potential sessions includes me, Michael Porter, and Amy Buckland. Michael and Amy presented at SXSW last year, so here’s hoping! Here’s what we plan to talk about:
Title: We build online communities. Really, we do.
Description:
The concept of an online community means more to libraries than simply having a chatroom and a blog for folks on which to comment. It involves making resources freely available, teaching our communities how to access these resources, and getting local community members to interact and work together in ways no other civic institution can.
Be it digital collection or ask-a-librarian, libraries have been building online communities since before we were “supposed to be” online. In most cases, our technology is not particularly cutting-edge, and our SEO tactics are sometimes lacking, yet our communities love and use our online resources and want more.
Even with the unique success stories we have there is room for you to help libraries build community and succeed, especially as technology evolves and makes new services and outreach possible. Hear about how libraries made it online, and help us figure out how we can keep making it better in the future.
Here’s what I’d LOVE for you to do – vote for our session! You’ll need to set up an account to do it (it’s easy to do). We really want to see more librarians at SXSW Interactive. We have some really good insight into user communities and content trends that the business world simply doesn’t have. So this is just one way to get librarians and our unique knowledge out into the greater world.
So please vote us in!
Have you ever attended the Handheld librarian online conference? I have, and have enjoyed them – they’re usually full of great ideas on using technology, mobile tools, etc.
I am one of the presenters at next week’s Handheld Librarian 7 (it’s being held on August 15-16)! I’m giving the last presentation of the day on Wednesday – here’s what I’ll be talking about:
Title: Face2Face: Using Social Media Tools to Create Great Customer Connections
Description: The average library or organization has yet to embrace emerging social tools. In fact, many haven’t even started. Yes, they have a website. But the content is mostly ABOUT the organization – there’s no face 2 face engagement between customers and the organization. Social tools like Facebook or Twitter? Relatively non-existent. If they DO exist, they are used primarily as one-way broadcast mediums. Not as a way to connect with and deepen relationships with customers.
What are these organizations missing? Real, online connections with their customers. In this presentation, David explains how online engagement works, and provides practical ways to start and sustain conversations with customers.
Other speakers include Earnestine Adeyemon, Robin Ashford, Jason A. Clark, Bohyun Kim, Breanne A. Kirsch, John Larson, Chad Mairn, Willie Miller, Mary Minow, Iman Moradi, Dawn Nelson, Ken Petri, and Sue Polanka. Ellyssa Kroski and Lee Rainie are both keynote speakers. Find out more about the sessions/speakers on the HHL Presenters page.
It’s a great conference, and there’s no travel involved! If you’re interested, make sure to register now.
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