She is also well known throughout the library community, having worked for both big and small libraries and consortia… she is definitely one of the leading technology consultants in the field.
Apart from being an RFID expert, Lori is also extremely easy to work with and is very accessible. You can tell she really cares about her work and it's impact on libraries across the country (and world). Our library system highly recommends Lori for any consultation work that you need.
There are a lot of moving parts to coordinate in libraries today. Everything is changing very fast including everything related to the Internet, what we mean by “phones”, user expectations of customer service and discovery, DRM, funding levels, the increasingly long list of devices and technology that people use to create things, and the composition of our communities.
One of the things changing almost as fast as technology is our communities. Many communities are not just melting pots, they are roiling stews of people moving in and moving out with some communities getting older while others seem to maintain a permanently younger set. As people flee their countries of origin due to climate change, violence, or just to pursue opportunities, what were once static communities change and morph to accommodate the new arrivals with new cultures, practices, foods, and religions.
The good news is that there is data out there to help a library understand these migration patterns and to help the library understand more about the people living in the various neighborhoods within their service area. Using data in the library system combined with census data, and other spatial data, a library can learn who is and who is not using the library. They can identify areas of growth and plan for a new library and they can learn who lives in that growing area to ensure the collection and services reflect their needs.
I'm copying this very useful blog post from the CENIC website. It is a write-up of a session that was held at CENIC's 2015 Annual Conference held at UC Irvine from March 9-11, 2015. It describes the state of the roll-out of 1GB broadband Internet connectivity for California libraies. We've all heard about it, but it is so hard to find out where this thing is at. Finally, here's the answer!
The most recent issue of Information Technologies and Libraries (ITAL) has an article b Karim Tharani that does a nice job of explaining why BIBFRAME matters to libraries. The article, Linked DAta in Libraries: A Case Study of Harvesting and Sharing Bibliographic Metadata with BIBFRAME sounds less exciting than it is. It ends with this inspiring call to action:
In 2002, Roy Tennant wrote a Library Journal article entitled “MARC Must Die.” Sadly, the article remains relevant today. We are still saddled with MARC and we are still operating in a technological backwash when it comes to our library systems. And worse, we are isolated technologically because our attachment to MARC makes it impossible to participate in a meaningful way with the rest of the interconnected, web-based world.
NXP Semiconductors just announced a new chip, the ICODE SLIX 2, that they'll be incorporating in the RFID tags we use in libraries. RFID tags are composed of an antenna and a chip and adhesive backing. So this isn't a whole new tag but it will end up in a new tag eventually.
I always enjoy those end-of-year activities that provide a synopsis of important things that happened, important people who died, and the endless lists of top ten songs, books, movies, and of course, trends. I particularly enjoyed the “10 trends shaping consumerism in 2015” put out by trendwatching.com. Although the title may be off-putting for some librarians, there are plenty of good ideas for libraries in that document. In fact, many of these new trends have been trends in libraries for decades, and it’s the rest of the world that appears to be catching up!
Conference presentations are a lot about bragging rights. Libraries do something awesome, they go to conference and brag about their awesomeness. Nothing wrong with that! This is how we learn from each other. As Program Co-Chair for the California Library Association’s Annual Conference, I review all the proposed sessions, and as a result, get to see not only what California libraries are doing but also the initiatives of which they are most proud.
I just love this so I'm sharing it:
"Libraries must be places that create creators; foster makers, and push every man, woman, and child into active stewardship and becoming architects of great societies.
Are books valuable tools in that pursuit? Certainly…as are 3D printers, public access computing, technology classes, and community developed lecture series. Libraries in the states returned to the most fundamental definition of a library: a platform for the community to learn and teach.
Yes, libraries are safe places to encounter dangerous ideas, but they are also publishers of local culture and local expertise – not some paternalistic purveyors of literature. It's not about reading; it's about knowing. It's not about escape where libraries act as some sort of oasis, but engagement."
- R. David Lankes in Jelly Babies, Katrina, and Libraries (on CILIP blog)