The Little Free Libraries Project Comes to Syracuse!

This post originally appeared on Information Space, the blog of the iSchool at Syracuse University, on 20 October 2011.

I arrived at the Warehouse this weekend not knowing quite what to expect; I was looking forward to a day of conversation and preparing to create Little Free Libraries in Syracuse’s Near West Side. My head is still buzzing with ideas, hopes and designs for the project. The Syracuse Little Free Library Project is a collaboration between the School of Information Studies, the College of Visual & Performing Arts, and the Near West Side Initiative. As part of the interdisciplinary team on the project, I’m excited to be working with people outside of the iSchool, and those inside it too!
9:45 am: Arrive bright-eyed & bushy-tailed (get coffee), meet the other participants as they’re coming in (drink coffee, get more) and get settled in (with coffee).
10:00 am: Greeted by the facilitators (Jaime Snyder, Zeke Leonard, Maarten Jacobs and Jill Hurst-Wahl), we get right to work. After a quick introduction to the concepts behind the Little Free Library Project, and the Syracuse incarnation in particular, we break into smaller groups and start discussions. It’s important to note that every one of the groups included community members, design students from VPA, and iSchool students as well–we kept changing groups around throughout the day. Every facet of the project was represented in every group, every time, throughout the day. The collaboration between members of such different backgrounds was great to see and take part in! We problem-solved as one unit, and could often make up for weaknesses in ways that single discipline teams couldn’t have managed.
Our first topic of conversation was books–classic library material, right? Interestingly, we didn’t start trying to organize them or figure out what books to recommend, but instead the conversations focused on ways that books had affected us. Many of us brought examples of “desert island” books (ones we’d never want to be marooned without) and those helped to spark memories of other books we’d all loved. In my section, people spoke again and again about old favorites or even books to “fight with” because of characters or situations that challenged our perspective.

Free Little Libraries – Syracuse, NY from Kyle Kuchta on Vimeo.

12:00 pm: Lunch and more brainstorming! This time, the topic was location; we discussed spaces that would make perfect homes for these potential Little Free Libraries. I was surprised to see how similar the “perfect locations” tended to be. Most people agreed that they should be placed in highly-visible locations with plenty of traffic, areas to sit and read, and where you could join neighbors and friends in sharing the books you love. We still have some questions to answer, but we’ve found plenty of common ground for now.
1:00 pm: At this point, we split into small groups and started to work on the next step: the design process! Our interdisciplinary teams came up with some fantastic ideas, and once again we discovered that we had more in common than we thought. We considered colors, materials, shapes, sizes, dimensions, and talked some more about what these Little Libraries might hold (Books? Magazines? Games?). The design team from VPA had plenty of supplies on hand, and each group was able to create a map of their ideas and designs for possible prototypes.
2:30 pm: We reconvened as a large group for the last time to reflect on the day’s work and talk about the next steps. Librarians are armed and ready to consider the collections to “seed” these libraries, designers have the prototypes to make, and residents are hard at work deciding where these libraries should be hosted. The day was deemed a great success, and we left excited for more!
We’ll be meeting together once all of the “homework” is done, so check back to Information Space for more updates on the Syracuse Little Free Library Project.
Do you have any ideas to share about Little Free Libraries? Let us know in the comments!

How to Succeed as a First Semester LIS Student

This post originally appeared on Information Space, the blog of the iSchool at Syracuse University, on 4 October 2011.

In my first few weeks as a student at the School of Information Studies, I’ve been scrambling to figure out the best ways to engage with my classwork, prepare myself for a future career in the information field, and have fun while doing it. This post at Hack Library School lays out some great advice for new librarians, but their suggestions also apply to IM and TNM students, or anyone interested in the information field. So, I’ve compiled a list of some of the best advice I’ve found, been given, or wanted to give about settling in to a new program.
Before You Get to School

• Start a portfolio: Whether it’s a blog, a website, a collection of works, or even just well-managed social- networking profiles, be prepared to present a public face to the world (and to future employers). Especially at the master’s level, the work we’re doing feeds our careers, and will establish us in the field. Simple ways to do this are to create a site using about.me or flavors.me, or sign up for Brand-Yourself.
• Manage your online presence: Know which social networks you’re on, and which ones you should join. Twitter is full of librarians (check out this list), and the #libchat hashtag is a great way to get a bead on the conversation. LinkedIn is also a good way to start reaching out to the people in your discipline—alumni networks are powerful tools, and there’s nothing preventing you from starting to connect with them now.

When You Arrive

• Set up tools for communication and collaboration: Setting up your campus email is a must, but look to your classmates as well. Information sciences are all about communication and conversation, and it’s important to know where those conversations happen. GoogleDocs and Gmail are both really useful for working on projects, but don’t forget online tools like Facebook, Skype, Twitter, Dropbox, and more! See what people are using to collaborate and hop on board.
• Meet the faculty: This is good advice for everyone from prospective students to Ph.D’s—getting to know your professors outside of class will give you a plethora of people to work with and get advice from, and it might just make your classes more enjoyable. Go to office hours, volunteer for projects in your specialization, talk to the researchers who are doing things that fascinate you.

Once You’ve Settled In

•  Start talking to people: Join the conversation in your field, as early as possible. No matter what program you’re enrolled in, it’s important to get to know what options are available to you as you prepare to start a career. Ask for informational interviews with the people who are most passionate about their work- ask them how they got started. People love talking about the things they’re most interested in, and it’s a really good way to build your network.
• Explore: Get out of your comfort zone! Particularly in LIS, where most of us seem to have multi-disciplinary backgrounds, it’s wonderful to keep up ties to other fields. Join a chorus, play in a kickball league, find a chess club—as much as Hinds Hall is a second home to us all, it’s great to see the rest of campus. Make connections outside of the other students in your program and some of them might become lifelong friends.

By the End of the Semester

• Have a plan: This is straight from Zachary Frazier at Hack Library School, but it’s amazing advice. By the end of your first semester, have a good idea of where you’re going and what it will take to get there. Meet with your faculty adviser, check out the course catalogue, and know what you need to do both inside and outside the classroom. There’s nothing that says you can’t change plans, but having one to start with will keep you on track.

Do you have any advice to share? Let us know in the comments!

Experience Open Access Week in Syracuse and Beyond

This post originally appeared on Information Space, the blog of the iSchool at Syracuse University, on 24 October 2011.

October 24 marks the start of Open Access Week, now in its fifth year. Running until October 30, Open Access Week promotes and celebrates access to information. There are several ways for you to get involved, on campus and off.
From the Open Access Week website:

“Open Access” to information – the free, immediate, online access to the results of scholarly research, and the right to use and re-use those results as you need – has the power to transform the way research and scientific inquiry are conducted. It has direct and widespread implications for academia, medicine, science, industry, and for society as a whole.
Open Access (OA) has the potential to maximize research investments, increase the exposure and use of published research, facilitate the ability to conduct research across available literature, and enhance the overall advancement of scholarship. Research funding agencies, academic institutions, researchers and scientists, teachers, students, and members of the general public are supporting a move towards Open Access in increasing numbers every year. Open Access Week is a key opportunity for all members of the community to take action to keep this momentum moving forward.

Here in Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies, we have partnered with Bird Library to bring you plenty of chances to celebrate and get involved.
Last week, you may have taken part in The Common Cause Is Freedom: The Personal Politics of Solidarity Organizing or Publication Innovation: Sustaining Digital Repositories for Science lectures given at the Bird Library and sponsored both by the library and others. If you missed them, there are plenty of other events coming up.
Monday, October 24:
Open Access Week Kick-Off Webcast
10:00am – Noon
Bird Library, Peter Graham Scholarly Commons
Tuesday, October 25:
ENY-ACRL (Eastern New York/Association of College and Research Libraries) Open Access Brown Bag
11:30-1:00pm
ESF Moon Library, room 110
Join panelists Michael Poulin (Colgate), Yuan Li (Syracuse), Steve Weiter (SUNY ESF) and others as we discuss discovery of open access materials, SHERPA/RoMEO, costs of publication and other related topics of interest.
Wednesday, October 26:
E-science Expo – what you need to know about data management and data preservation
12:30-2:00pm
Life Science Building, Lundgren Room
Presentations by eScience Fellows –graduate students in the School of Information Studies, involved in e-science/data intensive librarianship and improving data management/preservation practices, especially for federally-funded research.
Thursday, October 27:
Will Libraries Survive Copyright?
12:30 – 2:00pm
Hinds Hall, Innovation Studio, Room 011
Lecture by Dorothea Salo, Faculty Associate, School of Library and Information Studies, University of Wisconsin at Madison
Current national and international copyright practices have the potential to devastate libraries as we know them.  Widely-accepted practices, such as First Sale, Section 108 (the library “fair use” code), electronic reserves, interlibrary loan, electronic-book and e-journal lending are all under legal threat.   Digitization of library-owned materials presents additional challenges, as does the technology sometimes used in the name of enforcing copyright.  This Open Access Week, learn to recognize these threats and what we can all do about them.
Even if you’re unable to get involved in the OA events this week, there’s a lot of great information about OA week on their website—and be sure to check out the sections for librarians, students, and faculty. They’re chock full of great ideas on how to get involved.
Syracuse University also has its own Open Access repository. Known as SUrface, the Syracuse University Research Facility And Collaborative Environment, “gathers, organizes, disseminates, and preserves the cultural and scholarly record of SU. At the same time, it increases the visibility of authors’ works, maximizes research impact, facilitates interdisciplinary research, and provides local, regional, and global communities with immediate and permanent access.”
What do you think of Open Access? How have you gotten involved? Let us know in the comments!

Library Blogger Stephen Abram Spoke with iSchool Community

This post originally appeared on Information Space, the blog of the iSchool at Syracuse University, on 24 September 2011.

On Wednesday, October 5^th[2011], the Syracuse University School of Information Studies will host librarian, author and blogger Stephen Abram for “Ten Questions with Stephen Abram”. Abram is known in library circles as the author of the blog Stephen’s Lighthouse, and is the VP for Strategic Partnerships and Markets for Gale Cengage Learning.  He is a past-president of the Special Libraries Association, and the Ontario and Canadian Library Associations. He is in demand as a speaker internationally, and has written for Information Outlook, Library Journal, and others. He has received numerous honors, including the AIIP Roger Summit Honor, and the Outstanding Teaching Award from the University of Toronto, Faculty of Information Studies, where he is an adjunct professor.
“Ten Questions”, hosted by the iSchool, will give faculty, students, and community members the chance to talk with Abram about his work, his impressions of librarianship now and in the future, and any other topics of interest.
Why Should You Attend?
As a new student at the iSchool, I’m excited about this event for a number of reasons.  Mr. Abram is seen as a “mover and shaker” in the library world; he’s been listed by Library Journal as one of the top 50 people influencing the future of libraries. I’m interested to hear what he’ll recommend for students just entering the field. The library field is changing rapidly and Mr. Abram’s blog offers many insights on those changes.
One thing I have already noticed about librarians is that they tend to be dynamic, passionate people, and I’m sure this event will continue that impression. Stephen Abram’s lectures and keynotes have catalyzed many people in the past, and no doubt will continue to do so. In a recent column for Information Outlook, Abram offers a strategic look at staying current. This is a reminder to everyone—even new library students—that libraries are always shifting, and that librarians need to lead the charge, not just keep up with the times. As an aspiring librarian, I know that the field I’m entering will look different once I’ve finished my degree, but the speed at which things change in libraries is one of the most exciting parts of my career path.
Not Just for Library Students!
The curriculum of the iSchool strives to create leaders in the information field, and “Ten Questions with Stephen Abram” will help any aspiring information leader get a bead on the conversation.  In the column mentioned above, Abram reminds us of the value of differing perspectives; sometimes the very best ideas can come from outside the field we know. That said, this event is open to any interested parties—including the Information Management and Telecommunication and Network Management Master’s students, undergraduates & doctoral students and members of the public.
What: Ten Questions with Stephen Abram
Where: Innovation Studio, 011 Hinds Hall
When: Wednesday, October 5th from 4:00-5:30pm
Meet Stephen Abram and enjoy stimulating conversation over light refreshments.  Hope to see you there!

Memory Lane

After a rather embarrassing lacuna, I'm back on the blogging scene. Still, with only eight weeks remaining in my masters program,and a job hunt in full swing, I don't have nearly enough time to write. Because of those demands, the posts that I've chosen for the next month or two are reposts of my writings from other places. Thanks for tuning in!

Where we're coming from; where we're going.

This semester has already been quite a journey, and as far as I can tell will only continue. As I've gotten busier, this blog has started to languish. I have every intention of getting back to it, but for now, expect to see a transition over the next month or so as I attempt to turn the blog into my portfolio. Chances are quite good that most of the post content you'll see will be my writings from other places: I write for InfoSpace, and am both writer and co-managing-editor for Hack Library School, and over the next few months will be trying to gather most of my work from those sites here.

I'll also be adding content to the other pages on the site. One of my ongoing projects this semester has me thinking a great deal about portfolios, and a personal take-away has been the importance of presenting my work to the outside world. At least until I'm gainfully employed, and probably beyond, I want to share my work publicly, and this is one of the best forums for me to do so.

So it will be interesting. I'll be working hard on it--stop by and check out the new info!

...so what the hell. Jump!

About to get started with the second day of R-Squared, the Risk & Reward Conference. I'm almost acclimated to the 9,500ft-plus altitude, after spending Sunday exploring the towns of Telluride and Mountain Village, Colorado. The location couldn't be better for a retreat-style conference, and more than 350 librarians have come into town lately to prove just that. In and amongst the mountain peaks, we've been tackling the thorny questions of risk and reward in the library setting.
As a library student, I've been fortunate to participate in a bunch of library conferences, and all of them have their own themes and undercurrents. R-Squared is proving among the most closely aligned with my own interests in the library world, with its focus on flexibility and risk, entrepreneurial thinking, and creative solutions to age-old problems. Even nicer than that, though, is the population that chose to attend. Every person I've talked to - and they're a diverse bunch - proves through their interests and actions that the library world is changing. As a personal affirmation that I'm not crazy for caring about this stuff, it was worth attending, but more exciting than that is the chance to engage the conversations I care about in a proactive way, avoiding the endless explanations and justifications that "yes, these are issues we should be talking about."
I'm fairly sure I'm the only student here, and I think the lessons I'm learning apply just as much to me as they do to any of the librarians working in the field. To whit:
Stay curious! It's simple, but vital, for information professionals to stay just as curious as we wish the members of our communities would be.

Ask engaging questions! Question design can make all the difference between engagement and apathy.

Work publicly, fail big & often, and don't be shy, even when you aren't certain.
All of these have been said before, but they're worth saying again. We're entering a changing field, and we have the privilege- and the responsibility- to change it for the better.

Keep it up!