Slide 13 says it well...

It's been a draining week and half for me. Lots going on, both professionally and personally, and lots to plan and help pave the path for. I know, lots of Ps in that last sentence... If my brain was functioning fully, I'm I could come up with a much 'punnier' title. But alas, the brain cells are a bit spent tonight and besides it late. So I'll leave it at that. :)

Anyway, with a fatigue pattern setting in, the theme of resilience couldn't be more appropriate. If you've been feeling the same, then I'm sure you also appreciate this recent find from 23 Things n'@, a joint program of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and the Allegheny County Library Association.

Technology Playground

View more presentations from Beth Mellor.

Slide 13 really says it all! I won't reprint here. You'll have to take a look for yourself :)

Thanks Beth Mellor for tonight's inspiration and happy learning ACLA and CLofP!

AIMS Keynote

This morning I’m keynoting the AIMS Technology Retreat in St. Michaels, Maryland. The conference location is marvelous -- Right on the bay. I’m wishing I could stay longer than just a few hours – and all the programs look great. In addition to the keynote, I’m also doing a follow-up session on Learning 2.0: 23 Things (yup, the requests to talk about this program just never seem to end)

Anyway, for those in attendance, here are links to my slides...

• From Players to Guides: Learning in a Hyperlinked World
  
• Learning 2.0: It’s all about Play

WJ hosts 23 Things Summit

I’m a little bit bummed that my schedule on Tuesday (March 3rd) won’t permit me to be online for the full event. But I’m happy I will be able to participate in the first half hour and even more pleased to know that WebJunction will be archiving it so I can catch what I have to miss later. :)

"23 Things" is a revolutionary staff development learning concept centered on social collaboration tools. Helene Blowers successfully created the first program while at the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.

Thousands of libraries and library organizations of every size and type have adapted the idea for their staff. Hands-on, self-directed, and innovative, 23 Things style programs have introduced many, many library staff, volunteers, trustees, and others to 2.0 tools like blogs and wikis.

During this 2 hour Summit, organizers from several successful programs around the nation will share best practices and lessons learned. Participants will be able to ask questions and seek advice to help in implementing a similar program.

Who should attend? If you are involved with library training, if you are thinking about implementing a 23 things style program, or if you have already implemented a 23 things style program and want to share what you've learned, then this session is for you!

WebJunction, MaintainIT, the State Library of Kansas, and the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library are collaborating to create this event.

23 Things Summit, Tuesday March 3rd 2-4 EST. FREE (but registration is required)



BTW: I'm yet again blown away to see the impact that this program has had world wide. Just the other day I received an email from a library organization in South Africa inquiring about adopting 23 Things. By my rough count, that means the impact of the program has reached over 15 countries across the globe.

Don't ask me the number of libraries or organizations? With programs having been run by the National Library of Norway, the State Library of Victoria, Maryland public libraries statewide, 23 Things on a Stick for multiple libraries and organizations, I really have no way of knowing the total impact or number of organizations that have adopted the program. But from my delicious links and growing communications folder I can tell you this... the number is definitively over 700 and more then likely hovers somewhere just under 1000 organizations worldwide. Yup, it blows me away too!

The religion of “best practice”

Dave Ferguson left a comment on my blog yesterday that stuck such a resounding cord with me that I was motivated to flickrize it. Here’s the result:


After I did some crafting on this new image -- which you can bet will also show up in some future presentation of mine -- I stumbled across this thought-provoking post from Bailey WorkPlay:

“Best Practices encourage the belief that there is just one true path.
Ever hear a consultant or industry peer tout best practices like they were written in stone and brought down from the mountain by Moses himself? They preach that all someone has to do is simply install these practices into their organization and they’ll score easy rewards. They’ll argue quite strongly that to ignore best practices is to needlessly “recreate the wheel” and waste valuable resources. It’s enough to make you feel like a sucker if you don’t immediately sign up to learn as many best practices as possible. But let’s be frank…the sucker turns out to be the blind adherent to the religion of best practices. Hopefully, this isn’t you.”

Read the full post, Tools of the Devil- Best Practices and let me know if you agree.

From an innovation standpoint, I can definitely see how blindly subscribing to “best practices” can definitely lead to the death of innovation. However, learning from "best practices" is another thing. The religion of learning I will always subscribe too!

Related thoughts: Best practice or fresh practice?

Learning 2.0 Survey: Calling all program coodinators ...

It’s hard to believe that two years I launched Learning 2.0 for PLCMC staff and in two short years this simple program has grown it’s own set of arms and legs and literally walked itself all over the globe.

To celebrate this date – and to also gain a bit perspective – I’ve decided to conduct a little survey to see how this program has impacted libraries and pull together lessons learned.

Over the last two weeks I’ve already gathered input from coordinators of over 50 different individual learning 2.0 program adaptations. But I hoping that through this posting I can gather several more program responses to get a wider sampling of the program’s impact and lessons learned.

If you or your library has completed your own Learning 2.0 program or adaptation, I’d loved to get your survey input. Just email me at helene.blowers(-at-)gmail.com or leave a comment. I’ll be happy to forward to the survey link to you and would be grateful for your input.

BTW: The survey is short. Only ten questions and should take no more then 5 minutes.

Note: for those that are interested, I’m also planning to share the results here. And if the early results are any indication, there is some good stuff to share.

Learning 2.0 Interview

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of speaking with Sarah Long, director of the North Suburban Library System and former ALA president, as part of her Longshots podcast series.

>>> Longshots #109 (17 min)




Download [17:25]

The topic won't surprise many of you ... yup, Learning ! :)

SLJ launches Learning 2.0 !

When I ran into Brian Kenney at ALA I was excited to hear that the School Library Journal was launching their own version of Learning 2.0 and that it would be open to anyone. :) Today Brian blogged it.

"For a while now (and prodded by our Technology Editor, Kathy Ishizuka) I've realized it would be a great idea if all of us here at SLJ went through a "23 Things" like experience. After all, we are always writing about different 2.0 applications, shouldn't we experience them as well? Walk the walk, talk the talk, and all of that...So I resolved that we'd do it this summer.

Then I got to thinking: if we're going to do it, why not open it up and invite everyone to join us?

So that's what we are going to do. But we're not going it alone; we've asked 2.0 guru, Dominican faculty member, and season trainer Michael Stephens to join us for the ride. Beginning Monday, July 21, Michael will author a blog here on SLJ.com that will lead us through the different exercises, offer guidance, answer questions, and even provide a little hand-holding. We're calling it "All Together Now: A 2.0 Learning Experience."

As you might guess, I'm personally thrilled to see SLJ pick-up and support this program. I'm also thrilled that Michael Stephens (aka 2.0 guru*) will be leading the effort -- a great choice !

And for my fellow CML colleagues who might be wondering ... Yes, we will be launching our version of the program for staff very, very, verrry soon (look for announcement shortly). And I also might add that Michael Stephens, himself, will be joining us to kick it off. :)

* sorry Michael, I couldn't resist :)

23 Things: Impact & Results

One of things I’m often asked whenever I'm doing a talk about Learning 2.0 is what type of post evaluation did I do to measure the success of the program. The answer I usually give is that the post evaluation was built into the program as the 23rd thing and that if you want to see transformation that the program had, all you have to do is read participants blog themselves. For me, their words say so much more than any survey can convey.

Even so, I know there is a lot of merit to the evaluation question that is being asked. That’s why I was so excited to see these research results gathered by Melissa Rethlefsen as part of the Mayo Clinic Libraries Learning 2.0 program. Melissa has shared the results in a great slideshare.

Here's one image from her slides that shows pre & post knowledge:



Thanks Melissa. This research is fantastic!

Filed Under: [smile]

23 Things makes Self Check...



... & Obama does too! :)

Learning 2.0 completion rates from other libraries?

This request fell into my email today and since I didn't really have a good answer beyond my own experience at PLCMC, I thought pose the question for any other libraries that have adopted or done the Learning 2.0/23 Things program here.

"My Emerging Technologies committee is going to embark on 23 Things this fall, and we’re trying to anticipate how many completion prizes we’ll need to buy. Do you have any data on the average completion rate of the programs that libraries have been doing? We’re planning on offering the program statewide in conjunction with the state library. "

Great question ... here's what I can offer from the PLCMC experience:


If you have any stats for your library's program that you can share, can you please post them in the comments? I'd also love to know.

Thanks

Learning 2.0 Reflections

This post fell into my ego feed this morning -- Yes, I have an ego feed. Everyone should. It’s important to know what people are saying about you -- and I couldn’t help but smile. Not because my name was mentioned, but rather because the blogger, Cathy, shared so eloquently the transformation she experienced through her participation in the California School Library version of the Learning 2.0 program.

Just yesterday, CML had the kick-off planning meeting for this adventure and I’m thrilled that I’ll have the opportunity to experience the program a second time. But this time I'll be supporter and participant - not the coordinator :). Anyway Cathy says so well exactly what I shared with the kick-off team.

“As I review my blog posts of the last nine weeks, I feel a tremendous sense of personal accomplishment and deep gratitude to those who have made this tutorial possible … What a journey! The words I would use to describe the Library 2.0 journey are engaging and empowering. It was fun and quite a challenge.

In the face of many new web tools and so much new web jargon and web content in the form or blogs, podcasts, wikis, etc., I sometimes feel overwhelmed and retreat to the sidelines. This tutorial has enabled me to feel as though I have “caught the wave,” at least for a little while. That feeling is a great motivator for me to continue learning.”

As Cathy eludes, the Learning 2.0 program does more than just expose participants to web 2.0 tools, it transforms attitudes, adds confidence and creates a powerful peer-to-peer learning environment.

To be honest, when I developed the program, these were initially secondary considerations. But after hearing from hundreds of people who have completed the program all over the globe in the last year and half, I’ve changed my thinking. The transformational aptitude that happens when whole groups of staff become more confidence in their skills and take control of their own learning is far more powerful then just gaining exposure to wikis, blogs and RSS feeds… it’s a full frontal embrace of lifelong learning that shifts the entire organization.

PS: Thanks Cathy for posting your thoughts & congrats on finishing the program!

PPS: Can't wait to see what the CML L2.0 project team comes up with to kick the program up a notch.

NCLA Presentation & thoughts

One would think that after nearly a year of speaking about Learning 2.0 that I would be tired of the subject -- and in some ways I am -- but like this morning, once I get started talking about the importance of incorporating and encouraging “play” into the work flow, I discover a renewed energy for the subject.

This morning I had the pleasure to speak to a group at the NCLA conference and their questions afterwards were both numerous and familiar. However, I did field one question among the bunch that surprisingly within the last year I have not gotten before. A young librarian in the back asked “What was your rational for allowing non-public service staff to participate in the program and get a MP3 player?”

For a moment the question took me back a bit (perhaps it was the phrasing or the tone). But to me it seemed to imply that libraries have two classes of personal; those up front who work with the public and those in the back who do all the other stuff.

I've encountered this divisional attitude many times in libraries before and to be honest, it irritates me. Everyone in libraries works for “the customer.” In reality we’re all “public services!” regardless of how many steps or doors are between us and the customer. Anyway, nuff said on this front. That's for another post. To end, I'll just share with you my response...

“ Since the program was both voluntary and optional for staff to participate in, and provided a reward, it was important that it not be discriminatory. Besides, it’s not only those that work with the public that need to be familiar with these new tools. In our library system we’ve also incorporated many of these tools in our staff communication on our intranet. For example, our system wide strategic plan is available for all staff via a wiki and many departments use blogs for communication. With this in mind, it would be shortsighted to only think that public service staff could benefit from the program. Everyone who works in libraries should be given the opportunity to learn.”

PS: For those in attendance, my presentation slides are here (sorry the “rocky” montage doesn’t work in Slideshare).

License to Play

It seems like a day hasn’t gone by within the last 6 months that I haven’t answered at least one Learning 2.0 inquiry. The most common question I’m asked these days is do I know how many libraries have adopted or are doing it? To be honest, I don’t know exact count because so many still have their program in development. But with 182 variations launched that I know about, I’m guessing the actual number hovers a bit closer to 200.

One of all things I love seeing most it's the creativity and fun that other libraries have added to their own programs. Today, I stumbled across the “@ play” signs for Lee County’s Play to Learn program and it totally made me laugh out loud.

How cool is it to get a “License to Play” from the Library Director?

To the creative staff at LCLS and Sheldon Kaye, Library Director ... Thanks for sharing this image. It completely Made. My. Day!!

PS: More fun play signs can be found on the Play to Learn blog.

Filed Under... Truly Amazing!!

What if every single public library in the State of Victoria…
Launched an optional learning program for all library staff all on the same day…
Would it work?
Would staff join it?

The answer is OMG … AMAZING!!

The program was launched today, September 10th
and already over
1000 library personal
have jumped on board!!!!!

Congrats Victoria Public Libraries for successful launch of your L2.0 program.

And hats off to Lynette Lewis and Leslie Sharples of YPRL for spearheading the effort (including the creation of over 45 different library versions). You two have clearly earned the title L2 Divas!

PS: And just think of the amazing results that can happen as result of moving 1000 + library staff through the program all at the same time. Well done SLV & VICLINK for supporting such a massive learning effort... Yes, Well Done!

A year of Learning 2.0

PLCMC Technology Summit: Library 2.0
Originally uploaded by mstephens7

When I realized the date today was August 3rd, I knew I needed to interrupt my sablogical to share this insight ... today marks the one year anniversary of Learning 2.0

Honestly it seems like ages since Michael Stephens and Michael Casey joined our staff for our Technology Summit where the program was launched. And had I know then what I know now, I would spent some time developing some type of FAQ guide to help answer the hundreds of emails I've responded over the past year about the logistics, etc. of how to setup and run the program.

After over 200 inquiries from other libraries & non-profits -- I've got a folder in Outlook that I saved them in. In makes it easy to cut and paste responses to previous inquiries, so I guess that's my personal faq guide :) -- Learning 2.0 seems to have circumvented the globe. They're doing it in Norway, in Denmark, in Germany and all over Australia. (see Minerva Shelved's google map)

Anyway, it's been a fantastic year and the grassroots success of this program has surpassed my wildest dreams. Funny, when I set out to design and develop the program for PLCMC staff, my initial goal was to reach 125 employees. Never did I imagine that in less than a year later, the program would have been adapted or duplicated by nearly 125 different libraries. :)

So... Thanks all, for not only seeing the potential that these tools have to bring individuals and communities together, but for actually seizing the opportunity. It's been amazing to see the library community connecting all over the globe this past year on a similar mission. And I am truly honored to work in a profession that is so generous, collaborative and sharing.

[Note: Heading back to my sablogical now. Will return shortly.]

Maryland Libraries Learn Together

Although I’ve known that the Maryland Libraries statewide has been working on this for awhile now, I just have to say that I’m totally impressed with the support that they provided libraries in their state with launching their own learning 2.0 opportunities. The list of participating public libraries is great to see.

Officially the program was launched today and many libraries already have 45, and even 80 and 86 participants on the first day!

Way to go Maryland! What a great way to build collaboration and community statewide!

PS: A big wave to James Kelly at Fredrick County and L2 liaison. To this day, I still believe that you own the award for providing the world'ssmallest training handout.

Learning 2.0 around the globe

Thanks to Minerva Shelved there's now a Google Map of the locations all over the world that have launched a Learning 2.0 program. For those that curious, a quick scan of my email folder indicates over 147 inquiries during the past few months about the program. Ans although there's a few dozen on the map so far, I know of several programs still in development that are planned to launch soon (including translations in Danish, Spanish and Italian).




Anyway, It's exciting to see libraries and organizations all over the globe improve upon and spin the Learning 2.0 program slightly differently for their respective staffs. But the neatest thing for me is seeing how all this growth is helping to transform learning environments from the traditional "knowledge expert" model (i.e. instructor led) to a peer-to-peer "knowledge player" ecosystem where every participant in the experience can both benefit and add to the community's learning network.

Current list of organizations (that I know about) that have launched a Learning 2.0 program.

Got one to add? Just let me know.

PS: Be on the lookout for news here shortly about a new learning initiative for PLCMC staff that will offer those who want to continue the journey more ways to explore and have fun!

CIL 2007 Talk

Helen Blowers on Learning 2.0
Originally uploaded by madinkbeard.

For those of you in the audience for my CIL talk tomorrow, here's some links to the slides and follow up references:

CIL 2007 talk: From Core Competencies to Learning 2.0 (slides)


Core Competencies:

• PLCMC Core Competencies lists - 4 tiers (.pdf)
  
• The C’s of Our Sea Change: Plans for Training Staff, from Core Competencies to LEARNING 2.0, Computers in Libraries magazine, Feb 2007
• Technology Competencies and Training for Libraries, ALA TechSource Reports, Mar/Apr 2007
• WebJunction: Technology Competencies

Learning 2.0:

• LEARNING 2.0 Blog
  
• Learning 2.0: 23 Things
  
• Customizing Learning 2.0
  
• Nine best Practices for Learning 2.0
  
• List of other libraries doing Learning 2.0 (in Del.icio.us)
  
• Learning 2.0 in the news

Technorati Tags: learning 2.0, cil2007

On Wired.com today...

As you might guess I did a little happy dance when I saw this on the homepage of Wired.com today. The image came from one of the staff participants in the program. (Who also happens to be the Library's graphic designer. You can tell, cant' you, by looking at her blog?)

Anyways, I just checked the stats for the site and yes, there's is definitely a "Wired effect". To be honest the exciting part of this whole learning thing to me is how other libraries are adopting the program, modifying it, and making it better. Imagine what could happen if libraries together shifted some focused and fostered this type of discovery and organic learning for their communities? I don't have to guess. I know. It would be Amazing !!!!!

Read the full article Public Library Geeks take Web 2.0 to the Stacks.

Learning 2.0 Update

According to the stat meter, the last time the Learning 2.0 blog was accessed this morning was at 12:46am The good news is that it's just six short hours later and I just recieved this friendly email:

Hello,

Your blog has been reviewed, verified, and cleared for regular use so that it will no longer appear as potential spam. If you sign out of Blogger and sign back in again, you should be able to post as normal. Thanks for your patience, and we apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.

Sincerely,
The Blogger Team

Thanks Blogger Team! I apreciate the quick turnaround and email -- even if is automated. :)

Learning 2.0 Temporarily Unavailable

Apparantly the main blog for the Learning 2.0 (http://plcmclearning.blogspot.com) has recieved so much redirected traffic over the last few days, that it has been tagged by Blogger's robots as a potential spammer. This is message that I recieved when I logged on:

Your blog is disabled

"Blogger's spam-prevention robots have detected that your blog has characteristics of a spam blog. (What's a spam blog?) Since you're an actual person reading this, your blog is probably not a spam blog. Automated spam detection is inherently fuzzy, and we sincerely apologize for this false positive.

We received your unlock request on March 23, 2007. On behalf of the robots, we apologize for locking your non-spam blog. Please be patient while we take a look at your blog and verify that it is not spam."

As you can see from the message (This was confirmation after I already notified them), Blogger is now aware of this mistake. I've had this happen once before with Blogger and the good news is that it took them less than 24 hours to unblock the site.

Anyway, for those of you using the exercises on the Learning 2.0 site, I send my apologies. The site will back online soon. I can only assume that this is the price of being profiled in LJ as a mover & shaker, for the usage of the site has spiked dramatically since the issue came out.

BTW: It looks like you can still get access to the About page and the list of Things. But the links to the main blog are still blocked - at least unitl Blogger figures out their mistake.

[smile]

tagged_doors_2-003
Originally uploaded by Copenhagen Public Libraries.

This made my Monday ...


"Doors tagged as preview to our 23 things learning project. Creativity blossoms at otherwise dull doors of the libraries' administration "

What a great idea to promote any type of library event (staff or public). Image generators rock.

See the full set of photos on Flickr

KCLS does 27 Things

It's amazing to see other libraries spinning the program and adding more great discoveries to the list. King County Library just launched their own Learning 2.0 U and extends the program to 27 things by adding MySpace, Google Labs and more.

I especially love thing #27 - Suggest one more Web 2.0 topic you would like to learn about. With so much out there to play with, this "thing" should create a whole new list of items to explore !

SDI Exec Conference Follow-up

Being the last speaker for the day is always a hard spot to fill, especially after all the audience members have been saturated with lunch, dessert and a monster cookie break ... and it also doesn't help to be the only obstacle left before the complimentary cocktail hour. :) Anyway, for those of you in attendance for my talk this afternoon at the SirsiDynix Institute Executive Conference, here are the slides from my presentation on Learning 2.0

You can gather more details from the SirsiDynix talk archived as both a podcast and webcast. But for more information about the program also check out these links:

• Learning 2.0: Program Notes
  
• Learning 2.0: Customizing Learning 2.0
  
• Learning 2.0: 9 Best Practices

...and in the press this month:

• The C’s of Our Sea Change: Plans for Training Staff, from Core Competencies to LEARNING 2.0, Computers in Library, Feb 2007
  
• A Roadmap to Learning 2.0, American Libraries Feb 2007
  
• 15 Minutes ad Day: A Personal Learning Management Strategy , Information Outlook Feb 2007

Bibliotek 2.0 - 23 Ting :)

Wow ... library staff are joining the fun all over the globe :)


"This Blog is a co-operation between Copenhagen, Randers and Herning's libraries."

Another Learning 2.0 Challenge

Via Janie Hermann @ Library Garden:

"The Central Jersey Regional Library Cooperative (CJRLC) has issued a Learning 2.o challenge to anyone who works in a CJRLC member library. This is a great chance to learn new skills and I hope others will join me in taking the CJRLC Tech Challenge."

Wow! It's so amazing to see libraries developing programs like these that challenge and reward staff for taking on personal initiatives. I especially love Challenge #6 - "Teach someone else how to use one of the technologies described above!" Libraries are built on the foundation of "knowledge sharing" and it's great to staff members being challenged to take this personally.

Congrats CJRLC!!!

PVLD Kicks Off Learning 2.0

Via Kathy Gould's Palos Verde Library District Director's Blog:

"Today PVLD launched the Learning 2.0 Challenge - details can be found at www.pvldlearning.blogspot.com or by downloading the flyer at Download StaffLearningFlyer.pdf ...

Staff incentives include MP3 players and drawings for Nintendo Wii, MS Zune, iPod Nano and more.

PS: Love the party pictures and the cake photo - a Sandisk MP3 player :) Very cool!

Learning 2.0 in Sweden

Thank goodness for RSS feeds and Systran language translater.

Machine translation:

"During the spring comes this blogg to last the end punk for those hits that aim to encourageing Malmö town library personnel to experiment and faith themselves more about new services and tools. Services and tools which influences and changes our possibilities to förhålla us to information.

The hits are inspired of the “Learning 2.0” programmes ...We believe Malmö town libraries is first in Sweden."


I know the translation is lacking in lots of ways, but without machine translation like Systran, I'd have no idea why this blog would end up in my RSS feeds. :)

Orginal post here: MSB- Bloggen

The learning adventure continues ...

Lately it seems like a day doesn’t go by when I don’t field an inquiry from someone about duplicating of using Learning 2.0. What makes the whole L2 experience the best for me is when I see other people improving and expanding the program to fit their own organization needs. In the last two days, two such examples were recently unveiled and in looking over the list of discoveries that each program is encouraging participants to play with, it’s clear that they’ve made some adjustments and modifications that are for the better.

• Garfield County Libraries Social Networking Contest - Developed by Deputy Director Mindy Kittay for GCPL staff, this program is built using a wiki and encourages the exploration of 19 neat things including GCL’s own Firefox toolbar , Protopage, Pandora, Esnips, Fixster and more.
  
  Mindy emailed me this weekend and shared this… “Ever since reading about your Learning 2.0 Program last year I have been working on something similar for our library. It has taken me about 6 months, most of it on my own time, but I finally put the contest out to the staff last week and I am floored by the response and the quality of the work that they are turning in.”
  
  Way to go Mindy. It’s so neat to see a Deputy Director taking on this type of leadership at this level. If your experience mirrors anything like PLCMC’s, then you 6 month investment will be returned ten-fold.
  
  FYI-JFTR, It took me about 4.5 months to develop PLCMC’s program and most of it was on my own time as well. :)
  
  
• Learning 2.0 @ Mac (McMaster University, Ontario, Canada)
  Amanda Etches-Johnson and the Emerging Technology Team of McMaster University just kicked off their own spin on Learning 2.0 for University library staff. What’s neat about their programme (I’m using the Canadian spelling here) approach is that they have not only expanded the programme to twelve weeks and added some new topics (Gaming & Virtual worlds, browser tools, and social networks), but they have also added a “Learning Group” element to element people exchange ideas and explore together.
  
  At PLCMC this group concept wasn’t formalized as well as McMaster’s, but it definitely was an organic growth outcome.

Anyway, these programs are just two more excellent examples of ways that the Learning 2.0 approach can foster staff development. And for other libraries considering such opportunities of your own, I encourage you to take a look at both of these excellent examples.

PS: Here’s a link to some other programs as well.

Great quotes & other good reads ...

The latest copy of AL arrived in my mailbox today and I had the opportunity to practically read it cover-to-cover this morning while waiting for my 5 year-old to return from her kindergarten readiness test. The issue, newly designed, is just as sparkly and sharp inside as it is on the outside and in thumbing through the pages I was please to read several great articles.

Meredith Farkas' Balancing in the Online Life was excellent and I'll look forward to reading more of her contributions via a new column in the future. Also of note was Jenny Levine's column on gaming, Getting your Game On. She shares some great stats on players which indicate that that I fit the profile of a gamer more than my 15 year-old skateboard-fanatic neighbor. There's also an offering on 20 Tips to Inspire Innovation from Steve Abram -- this one needs a whole post in itself -- my favorite of which is #10, Have vision and dream big : "When the vision doesn't have enough stretch in it, things seem mediocre." How True.

And last but not least, I discovered a great quote from Miriam Pollack in an article titled In the Company of Friends: Learning through dialogue ...

"I think the key to learning is not the format, the medium, nor the message; it is the quality of the dialogue among peers that really matters."

I'll definitely be using this one sometime soon. :)

Relieved ... [wipes brow] ... :) (SDI Webcast)

I can't tell you how relieved I am to have today's SirsiDynix Institute talk on Learning 2.0 behind me. With my training background and all the hours that I've logged standing in front of group of people, it seems very rare for me these days to work up a good sweat about speaking in public. But for some reason this online thing really threw me for a loop. The main thing I find mind boggling about it, is that 1) there's no way to see the faces of the people you're talking to so you can judge their reactions, and 2) you also don't have audio (laughter, chuckles, moans) to go by. For 50 - 60 minutes straight, your voice just has to fill a dead space in the hopes that some of what you may be saying is making sense to your audience.

Anyway, I'm glad it's over and although I barely slept last night, I feel pretty good about the presentation and was happy to see I was able to cover all the material with just a few minutes to spare.


In a review of my comments, a co-worker did point out one glaring piece of miscommunication in my presentation. So for those of who you attended, let me correct this here. The budget for Learning 2.0 project was 10K, not 1K as I blunder in the online presentation. I'm hopeful that some of you did do the math as I suggested, because 226 mp3 players (one for every participant who completed L2) x 38/player definitely comes out to more than $1000. Add to this figure (roughly $8500) and a new laptop that was raffled off at the end and you get the actual budget of $10K.

With that one misquote aside, everything else I shared was pretty much on target. If you're interested in the slides, I'll try and post them tonight they're added below. In the meantime, thanks to all who joined me on the nerve racking adventure. In retrospect, it wasn't that bad and yes, I think I could do one of those again. I'm just incredibly relieved to have this first one behind me and now all I want to do is get home and recapture my lost sleep.

Slides: Make Play your New Year's resolution (pdf)

PS: Archive of the event should also be up in a week or two.

The 24th Thing ...

It's been a busy week dominated by several staff workshops and discussions about the 24th Thing. What is the 24th Thing you ask? Well it's really whatever you want it to be. Through three engaging staff workshops this week, we discussed and explored ways to use the 23 things that staff learned about in Learning 2.0 to benefit our library's patrons and staff. The ideas generated were really awesome... everything from putting library clips on Youtube and providing podcasts of storytimes for kids (for that Fisher-Price MP3/FP3 player crowd) to offering L2 for patrons and creating a staff "facebook" on Flickr.

During the sessions we tried out a new method of capturing data by having staff members works in teams and add their thoughts about three questions to surveymonkey with their wireless laptops. It worked out well and the bonus is that it saved me from retyping all the data. Here are the results ...

• 11/27 Survey Results
  
• 11/28 Survey Results
  
• 11/30 Survey Results

In addition to capturing the results from the 24th thing discussions in a survey format, we also used the old paper and marker technique to capture words that describe libraries. Yup, you guessed it, they were "e" words to match our library's mission statement. These you can view on my Flicker gallery. :)

www.flickr.com

Technorati Tags: Libraree, 24th Thing

Customizing Learning 2.0

(or tips on De-PLCMC-izing the exercises)

Thinking of duplicating Learning 2.0 for your staff and are wondering which exercises might need a little bit of reworking to make them work for your organization better? Here's my suggestions ...

• #5 - Flickr exercise - This exercise suggests that participates use PLCMCL2 to tag any images they upload to Flickr. To make this more relevant to your library, I'd suggest coming up with a unique tag of your own.
  
• # 14 - Tagging in Technorati - ditto. Go the unique tag route so participants can see blog posts tagged by your own staff members.
  
• #17 - Wiki Sand box - Since this wiki is already so heavily populated with "favorites" from PLCMC staff, I might suggest that you create your own wiki sandbox using PBwiki. It's really very easy, just give it a try.
  
• #22 - Netlibrary - If your library/organization does not subscribe to this service, then I would suggest substituting this exercise for one of your own. Can't think of any? Why not have staff explore MySpace & FaceBook and see how other libraries are using these social networking sites to reach out to users.

That's it -- I think? Everything else is pretty much fully usable in its current format. So if you're thinking about doing the program for your location, let me know and once you have it developed I can add you to the list. So far I know of nearly 2 dozen libraries that are looking at or in the process of doing a Learning 2.0 program of their own, but only 2 so far have completed their development and/or launched the program:

Yarra Plenty Library System Melbourne, Australia - already launched and flying with success! :)
Missouri River Regional Library Jefferson City, MO - They're doing 29 things. Yeah for MRRL! :)

Let me know & I'll add yours :)

Technorati Tags: Learning 2.0

One more L2 Thought ...

Opps, I just thought of one that I missed (and it's a biggie!!)


Practice transparency & enable radical trust

I think of these as being two of the cornerstones to the whole Library 2.0 movement, and in a learning environment designed to introduce staff members to these new technologies that empower library users it also means that your library needs to trust your staff and practice transparency when it comes to communcating with them. This was a huge part of the whole Learning 2.0 program and from my experience it's was a win-win for library employees and administration all around. :)

Technorati Tags: Learning 2.0 , Library 2.0

Nine Seven Best Practices on Learning 2.0 & Two Additions

Program Note: In reviewing my earlier posting, I can't believe I left out two important best practices. Yup, I guess my withdrawal symptoms were worse then I thought. :) See list below, it's updated now.
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It's been a week since the finale of Learning 2.0 and I think I've finally gotten over RSS feed withdrawal. For the last 13 weeks the participants in L2 have overloaded my Bloglines account so much so that when the program came to abrupt end last Wednesday it actually felt odd to not have 80-200 new posts to skim through each night. :)

Anyway, the good news is that my family is now relieved to have clean laundry back on regular weekly schedule and my withdrawal symptoms have ceased enough over the last few days for me to jot down some thoughts about this whole experience -- that is before I forget everything. :)

In the past few weeks I've had several libraries contact me asking for guidance in creating their own Learning 2.0 programs and while I can't say that I have all the answers, what I can offer is a list of my Best Practices or Lessons Learned from my experience. So here they are in no particular order. Note: I'll apologize in advance for this lengthy post but I don't want to cut out any thoughts that might be useful to someone else duplicating the program, so if you're interested read away ...

Learning 2.0 Thoughts & Best Practices:

• Don't confuse learning with training - In the ideal world training and learning are linked together, but as anyone who has stood in front of a classroom and looked at sea of blank stares can tell you, this is not always true. In order for participants to learn, they must be a) engaged and b) have motivation. These were two elements that Learning 2.0 took advantage of the most. Encouraging the participants to engage in their own learning discoveries and providing motivation (via the incentives) as way to jump on board.
  
  The breakthrough of the program itself is that it did not involve one bit of classroom or workshop instruction nor were any handouts or cheat sheets designed to support the exercises. Instead, it was purely built upon the notion of lifelong learning and encouraging self-discovery and fun. And the biggest plus to it all was that the program itself was built using the very same free tools that it encouraged staff members to explore. :)
  
  
• Design the program for late bloomers - One of the things that I built into the program was an extra month of discovery time at the end. This was initially done to assist staff who might run into time commitments along the way, but in retrospect it offer the greatest benefit in allowing staff to jump on board late in the program and still have ample time to complete it. Let's face it, the majority of your staff that need the exposure to the tools and technology introduced through Learning 2.0 program probably aren't your library's early adapters. Instead they're late bloomers - and valuable staff members at that. From my experience, the vast majority of the participants didn't jump into the L2 pool until the 4th, 5th and 6th weeks. In fact at week 9 & 10, I still had new staff steadily joining in at a rate of 6-8/week. Also of equal importance to adding extra time at the end, was my decision to use the first two weeks of the program to build excitement and gently reintroduce the concepts of self-discovery and lifelong learning to staff before they were encouraged to jump into the deep end.
  
  
• Allow participants to blog anonymously – Keeping in mind that many staff members might not feel comfortable posting their thoughts openly on worldwide web (especially if they had to have their name associated with it) it's good to allow participants to jump into the 2.0 pool with a cloak of anonymity. Well over 80% of the participants chose this option and it in fact added to the fun of the program as staff tried to figure out who was who. For tracking purposes participants did have to post their progress in a log file contained on our staff intranet, but this information was not shared with other staff and was only used to track eligibility for earning incentives.
  
  
• Use 1.0 methods to continually communicate. - Most participants kept up with the exercises either through the links provided in a weekly emails or through the staff Intranet. Don’t expect participants to use 2.0 technologies (RSS) to keep up with the program. You need to use technologies that they are already comfortable with in order to continually reach and encourage them.
  
  
• Focus on “discovery” & offer challenges – Since many staff might not have the technical skills or equipment to “upload a picture to Flickr” or “insert a LibraryThing widget” in their blog, the basic exercises within Learning 2.0 tried to focused merely on easy discovery and offered optional challenges for those who wanted to do more. This allowed participants to explore but not feel so pressured to do the hard stuff. But even so, I gotta tell ya that most participants tried to do the challenges -- yup, this confirms it -- libraries are full of high achievers. :)
  
  
• Encourage staff to work together – This was the singular reason, I think, for the high staff completion rate at many of our locations. At branch locations, like Steele Creek, University City and Myers Park (just to name a few) staff pulled together and paired up to make their learning and discovery process more fun. Through the learning and knowledge exchanging process, self-proclaimed tech novices became experienced discovers and Learning 2.0 tutors and in turned gained confidence in their own skills. This was a great outcome and one that would have most likely never happened in the traditional teacher/student environment -- and to think it was all from just a little bit of encouragement to have fun and play!
  
  
• It’s not about “doing IT right” - One of the most important things that I had to keep in mind throughout the 13 weeks of the program while reviewing all the blog posts by participants was that it wasn’t about doing the exercises correctly. But rather Learning 2.0 was really more about providing staff with “exposure” to these new tools and just encouraging them to get out their comfort zone. I don't think this core idea discounts the notion that staff should also have knowledge about how to use these tools, but the first step in gaining knowledge is really exposure. Once you have a little bit of information behind you it's gives you the confidence to seek and learn more.
  
  
• Practice transparency & enable radical trust - I think of these as being two of the cornerstones to the whole Library 2.0 movement, and in a learning environment designed to introduce staff members to these new technologies that empower library users it also means that your library needs to trust your staff and practice transparency when it comes to communicating with them. Allowing them to blog openly is a huge part of radical trust and from my experience with Learning 2.0 it's been a win-win for library employees and administration all around. :)
  
  
• And last not but least …