In preparation for a major writing project (more later), I have been reading a lot of books on collaboration in the era of the Internet and the ways this mindset has influenced… everything. I am currently in the middle of Wikinomincs. I know this is something I should have read ages ago, but there is no time like the right now and so, I read.
I have felt, as I have read these books, The Wisdom of Crowds, Crowdsourcing, The Starfish and the Spider, and Tribes, that these books were talking about me, my tribe, my experience. I have been a lurker in my librarian tribe of late, due to my family obligations, but I still think about librarians and libraries quite a lot.
In conjunction with all this ruminating on the way collaboration has changed everything, I have also been thinking about organizational culture and professional organizations. You know, like ALA and libraries in general. I have been thinking about how librarians share information and how we resist change or jump in depending on the technology or who is proposing the change.
I have been thinking of all the ways librarians share knowledge, collaborate on projects, and have embraced technology in ways that are wonderful and amazing.
And speaking of amazing… David Lee King and Michael Porter are launching a new website today called Library 101 that is a great example of all the things I have been pondering. Open, free access to information? Check. Information in multiple formats? Video, music, essays, and resources? Check, checkity, check. Making professional learning and sharing fun, informative, and cooperative? Yep.
Library 101 looks like a fantastic project. I can not wait to see the content, hear the music, and see the community grow. It goes live, live at Internet Librarian at 2 pm PST.
–Jane, loves her librarian tribe