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Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: chrystie, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 9 of 9
1.

Chrystie on why she loves Twitter:



From the LJ ALA 2008 wrap-up.

1 Comments on , last added: 7/3/2008
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2. WebJunction sneak peek

You may have heard about the new WebJunction, coming later this summer.

It's true!

We did a sneak peek with our WJ Advocates yesterday and (1) I was extremely proud of the staff who put the program together and (2) I was extremely thrilled with the initial feedback from a few of our most active members.

Thank you for waiting patiently, libraryland, for the new version of WJ to come around. You won't have to wait much longer, and I think you'll find that you like what we've started. It's a very nice place to build from, together.

If you're interested in the details, we're doing blog posts on the new site features (Next WJ tag over at BlogJunction) and we'll be highlighting the new services at ALA. First week of July, we'll do a virtual preview of the site in beta for a full release in late July.

Stay tuned... Read the rest of this post

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3. where's the party?

Many of us are getting ready for ALA in California, but I've got something coming up a tad more quickly that's keeping me from settling on any ALA plans. I'll be in Dublin, OH next week along with some of my WebJunction colleagues for a face-to-face meeting with our community partners. The purpose of our meeting is to train partners on the use of our new platform at WJ, and we're excited to further (and finally) show it off to everyone, not to mention having them get in there and start playing with things themselves. I say finally because we had to push off a partner preview period in order to, well, get a few things in order before showing it off. Surprises abound, let me tell you, anytime you're planning and implementing a major platform switch-a-roo.

I feel a little like a party hostess getting ready for guests (who've been asked to come a few weeks later). Online facilitation often feels like party hosting. But the stakes are higher now that anticipation is mounting *and* we'll all be together for the first time since last June, not to mention a few more additions to our partner group. I am in constant amazement of my colleagues here at WJ and all the hard work they've all done to make sure the meeting and all its preparations are a complete success.

At this meeting we expect to show off improved functionality the new site brings both to WJ members and admins. This includes enhanced personalization, professional networking, and ease-of-use. Contributions can take place in-line right from the page after a member is logged in (right now we use a separate, back-end content management system). Pages can be tagged and bookmarked, friends and groups will form, surfacing more relevant content based on your interests. Altogether, we think we're onto a much more engaging experience for members. On the admin side we'll show off easier management of content, courses, and users, and well as the ability to better message groups, control access to private resources, and track member engagement. What's more, our course catalog will be much improved, with Mac accessible 'just in time' course content offered in a much more blended online learning environment. All around, we're excited to hear what our partners think of the work we've done on the platform so far, and look forward to working with them over the coming months to get ready to show it off to everyone who'll be visiting and using the new version of WJ coming later this year. Woot! Woot!

0 Comments on where's the party? as of 5/13/2008 7:53:00 PM
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4. working knowledge

I am an online community builder for librarians. In short, my job, my actual job, is to help librarians find and connect with each other online. I've said many times that I think I have the best job in library land. Sometimes, honestly, like today, it's not all that. It's not that I get discouraged, though sometimes that happens too, as I'm sure happens in the course of many of our day-to-days, but rather that I find my job very, very difficult. Head. Banging. Against a Wall. Difficult.

The parts that are most challenging for me have to do with resources. In our environment, as in most, resources are limited, and even though my particular project is considered well-funded, and indeed we are, it is a constant struggle to align those resources towards absolute efficiency and effectiveness. Of course, resources aren't just the dollars. There's also our time and our staff. I work really hard, and I know the team that I work with works really hard, to try and make the best decisions that we can about how to line things up effectively. Still, things are changing around us so rapidly. The plans we make are almost never exactly manifested. We always dream much bigger than we're able to implement. We always want to do more than we're able to in a day. By the time we're implementing there are three, five, or ten more things we wish we would have known. How can we be more clever? do this smarter? start that sooner? (And I'm not even really talking about the technology here. I'm talking more generally, about every aspect of the work.)

The other thing is that everybody cares so much about this work. In some ways I think it's a burden to feel so passionately about libraries and community. I often wonder if caring about the work as much makes me less effective. Am I missing something by taking things as seriously? How can I infuse humor, light, and even some degree of dispassion into my work so that I can be as personally nimble as the technologies I use and advocate for?

One of the best books I've read on libraries and change is "The Thriving Library" by Marylaine Block. I love this book. She outlines the things that "thriving" libraries are doing - not as a recipe, but as an example of some things that we can draw into our own libraries and communities. Come to think of it, Robert Putnam does the same thing in his work "Better Together" where he looks at successful community building projects and says 'here are a few things that work. it's not a recipe. just something to think about. something to try.'

So fine, there's no recipe. There's no perfect process, no perfect "plan for results". I think I can deal with that. And maybe things get easier as you gain experience and move through your career, (and perhaps that's another story). In all, I'd still say I have the best job EVER. I even know somewhere that the fact that it's difficult for me, that I'm constantly feeling like I'm new at this and that there's a lot to learn, is part of the reason it's such a great job for me.

But maybe tomorrow could be easier. Maybe tomorrow my cleverness could just swoop in and *poof!* solve the tough questions currently in front of me. Shoot, it wouldn't even have to be my cleverness. It could be yours. Please?

1 Comments on working knowledge, last added: 4/24/2008
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5. prediction markets

Hey look! I'm blogging!

There's a special section in the NY Times today on technology innovation. The cover story is about prediction markets and their usefulness for business decision-making. Something about it unsettled me, at first, but then I started thinking about the possible applications a little closer to home. What if we could use such a tool to help direct the features we choose to build at WebJunction for our members there - it's a smallish set of the library profession (30K members, 70K visitors a month) or even help direct decision-making at OCLC with the wisdom of the membership of our vast, global cooperative. Would you make "bets" on what's coming and what's next if you could win an iPod? It has such a lovely tone of fun and gaming that I think people might actually 'play'.

I'd love to hear if anyone knows of any library-related application of prediction markets *in libraries*. If our patrons could bet on the future of the library - where would that be?

3 Comments on prediction markets, last added: 4/11/2008
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6. simple matters

It's day four of my sitting back at my desk after having been away for several weeks to spend important time with friends and family. All the same bright stars are here - more of them, actually - doing incredibly diligent, insightful work with and for libraries and library staff. Through their work they create and support change for our profession, and it's good change too: another librarian signed up for their first RSS feed; another library with a completed technology plan.

Having been away, I admit that I find myself somewhat disconnected from some parts of the overall effort. Sure, I'm floating about, making various remarks, each accompanied by a CRH jest, smirk, or toss of the hair. Honestly, it hasn't been too terribly difficult to dive back into projects and conversations, do what I do, what some like to call "be Chrystie Hill." But behind all that - it's as if I'm watching myself from above - I feel as if I'm about to cross a new threshold, but I don't know what's exactly I'm crossing over into. (I can hear George,and Marilyn, and Clayton, and others saying as they read this "Don't do it Chrystie - walk away from the light!")

Not to worry. I'm not leaving library land, nor what I still claim to be the best job in library land. On the contrary, the threshold involves some new ... let's call it perspective, but that's not the right word ... clarity? ... about "what's important," and it really is very simple: at the end of the day we all should be able to say that we are working to change libraries so that they matter more. (Don't say we already matter. We don't matter enough.) As a profession, we should be of single mind on this (or something like it) and all of our efforts should map to a vision - call me Utopian - where all libraries are relevant and thriving.

At the very least, I know that's why I care about my job, and that's why I come to work every day. Being away reminded me of the simplicity of it, really, and I'm hoping I can stay clear on this as I immerse myself back into the details and the complexities of our work. (Ever the optimist; I know, I know.)

Hello Libraryland. It is great to be back.

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7. Annie and Me, We Disagree

Anne Lamott is my favorite writer who writes about writing.

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott is my favorite book about writing.

Word by Word by Anne Lamott is my favorite audio tape about writing.

So why aren't I happy with Anne Lamott? Because of something she said at the beginning of Tape One, Side One. She said: “Publication has nothing to offer you... It will work like a big plate of cocaine, where if you get the good news, it will take your mind off things for a while. And then very quickly you will need more good news and better good news.

Lamott argues, “The writing itself can provide the solace, the illumination, the direction, the self-awareness... and it
can open your heart. And there's nothing more important than that.” She dismisses publication as like “like being on the rat exercise wheel. You can’t sell enough and you won't sell enough...”

I so strongly disagree. Publishing—not just writing; publishing—has made a huge difference to my life. And I'm not talking my financial life—though it’s made a big difference there, too. I’ve been considerably poorer as a writer than when I had gainful employment.

No, the big difference is right in
the heart of Anne Lamott country; it’s spiritual. Being a writer—a published writer—has allowed me a spiritual life so rich that it would be otherwise almost unattainable.

For instance... I wake up to the sun, not the jangling of an alarm clock.
That’s a major spiritual gain in the first 30 seconds of the day. I don't race out of the house to catch a bus or train. So I've eliminated that daily frenzy. Because my work is anything but routinized, I've abolished boredom. Today I write about Lake Champlain in autumn; tomorrow I write about hate crimes in Montana. After lunch, if the sun is shining, I go for a walk. If there's snow, I cross-country ski. Either way, I go with my wife—she’s also a writer— our dog and maybe a neighbor or two. If I'm on assignment, I get to travel to far-off lands and meet fascinating people. If I'm not, I get to search my mind and see what stories lurk there.

And, because I'm a published writer, I get paid for the whole enchilada.


It’s the pay that lets
me live this kind of life. The pay comes from publication. Not from keeping a journal, not from nature poems, not from writing as therapy— it comes from publishing my words. So publication is responsible for improving my spiritual life.

In her oth
erwise wonderful tape, Anne Lamott complains that while she tries to teach students the secrets of great writing, what they really want to know is where to put their name on the page when they send out a manuscript.

I don't have that problem. I a
lso try to teach my students the secrets of great writing, but long before I get to the fancy stuff, I show them where to put their name on the page.

It’s a little detail that can help in the hard business of getting published. And if they’re to e
njoy that rich spiritual life that Anne Lamott and I share... they’re gonna have to get published.

You can get Anne Lamott’s audio tape,
Word by Word, in libraries, bookstores or by calling the publisher at
(800) 88-W-R-I-T-E.

And, by the
way, your name goes on the upper right side of the page. Don’t forget to double space and leave one-inch margins all around.

Posted by Jules Older, author of Cow, Pig, and Ice Cream.

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8. The Writer-Hating Bus

Robin, over at her blog, reminded me about Anne Lamott's famous writer-hating bus.

You know, the one that runs you down
before you have a chance to fix all those problems in your crappy rough draft. The one that leaves you with a tombstone that reads:

Thought
(she was a writer)


Not to mention the obit that says:


"A sad, wrinkled manuscript
was found decaying on her desk.
There were massive doses of
literary Botox in her system."



Oh, Robin, now I'm going to have nightmares about that bus. Does it go by my street? What color is it? Are there terrifying ads on the side of it, like:


BAD WRITER, BAD.
YOU SHOULD NOT BE TRYING TO CATCH THIS BUS. YOU SHOULD BE HOME, REVISING THAT CRAPPY DRAFT.


Do you think school did this to us? Made us not want to show our messy assignments as if they were the literary equivalent of tattered underwear?

Robin also mentions gold stars. Oh, man! I can see the shiny little things now. How they poke your tongue with their sharp points when you lick them! How they twinkle when placed in a wobbly row!

It was one of the hardest things I had to face in writing my first book. No one cared if I finished it or not. There was no Gold Star Giver. Nope, there wasn't even a box of "Good Job" stickers to console me for a less than stellar try.

What finally got me writing was the thought of another powerful bus. The End of the Line Bus. When I reached the end of the line, where did I want to be? What destination would make me content to give up my seat?

The only answer, for me, was to have written a book. Okay, yes, I wanted to have loved, and been loved,
a lot. But besides that? Nope. Nothing else but a book with my name on it felt like a Big Gold Star destination to me.

At that moment, I knew I was toast. I didn't want to live the rest of my life knowing that I could have made myself happy, but didn't. That I could have given myself a Gold Star, but didn't.

P.S. Look both ways before you cross the street this week. I'm thinking of learning to drive a bus.

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9. Anne Lamott, Pictures from Adulthood, and Coming to Terms with Our Tendencies Towards Forgivishness...

I had the joy of seeing Anne Lamott speak last night at the Baghdad theater where she talked about her new book, Grace (Eventually), life and answered her own questions.



And while I don't consider myself religious so much as spiritual, many of things she had to say about learning to forgive resonated. It's hard not to envy, it's hard not to hold on to old gripes and it's hard not to talk yourself too seriously. It is not, however, hard to listen to someone who can make you laugh while being candid about the failings within us all.

Thank you, Anne, for sharing. And hank you, Powells, for giving me the chance for free. (Next time I'll have to get there earlier so I'm not in the last row, struggling to see over/around people's heads.)

I highly suggest checking out the book, and hopefully I'll get a chance to discuss it here with you. This post, however, will not be the place as I'm suffering from computer burnout today and desperately need to alleviative it by going outside.

So instead of intellectual discussion I give you proof that I did indeed grow from that small little thing with a book bag into something resembling an adult who can take a picture without always making a face. You can thank the Boss Lady for the photo and the clucks that led to its immediate posting.



The paleness is due to the fact that basement bookstores are the antithesis of sun-filled parks. Blah, blah, blah, something about direct sunlight hurting books and vampire salesgirls, blah, blah, blah... Read the rest of this post

5 Comments on Anne Lamott, Pictures from Adulthood, and Coming to Terms with Our Tendencies Towards Forgivishness..., last added: 4/5/2007
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