Beverly Choltco-Devlin's Page

Peter Chien of the Jervis Public Library in Rome and I, in conjunction with the Rome Area Chamber of Commerce have been conducting an 8 part series over the course of the past year on how web 2.0 tools can help Chamber members in their business. The series, including hands-on workshops and labs held at various area businesses and organizations and at the chamber headquarters has focused on both through creation and utilization of web 2.0 tools to promote and manage their business and, also, awar… Continue

I have to say that this is the one single confererence where I learn the most, am the most energized and become recommitted to our role.

Now I am in the Innovative Marketing Using 2.0 Tools with Helene Blowers who spoke in Utica and is the creator of the 23 things) and Michael Porter from WebJunction.

The notes below are paraphrasing of Helene's and Michael's comments.

Here are some good examples of marketing libraries using Web 2.0 technologies.

"A day in the life" with photos from the comm… Continue

Lee Rainie, a dynamic man who speaks at warp speed, presented the latest finding of the Pew Foundations research into library use. The most compelling finding that he presented today was that TEENAGERS comprise the largest segment of the population using public libraries. This is a CRITICAL finding. I think of the some libraries where teenagers are made to feel unwanted, where staff are trying to limit teen use of social networking sites (such as MySpace and Facebook) and diminish their exuberan… Continue

Yesterday I attended the preconference workshop Searcher's Academy which was chock full of new websites and resources for power searching. Mary Ellen Bates, Marcy Phelps, Greg Notess and Gary Price all provided us with enough to keep us all busy for years. The discussion at the end of the day regarding the perennial issues of why users use Google almost exclusively, the role of libraries and librarians and the issues regarding fee-based databases and why people don't use them was very stimulatin… Continue

I have signed up for the conference in April and realized it was right around the corner. I need to get a hotel reservation soon.....I am looking forward to learning all the new things and am happy I am taking a pre-conference on searching. We are starting to see real gains in our libraries re: library 2.0 technology use. One of our member libraries (Waterville Public Library) has begun a staff wiki so that staff can make suggestions, voice issues, etc. The director stated that it has been very… Continue

Helene Blowers at NY PULISDO conference (image used with permission)

Helene Blowers, the vision behind the wonderful "23 Things" program, designed to get as many of the staff at the Public Library of Charlotte Mecklenburg County in North Carolina as po

… Continue

Though not specifically Library 2.0 related, I was listening to NPR (Morning Edition) this morning and heard the piece about the use of excessive text messaging by college coaches and recruiters to potential student athletes. Apparently this practice has become problematic for so many of the students to the point of there being talk of banning the practice. My thought is that it is a certain hallmark of our culture that colleges are not text messaging and recruiting potential science or art or h… Continue

I found out today that Thomas Friedman is speaking at my son Evan's graduation this May from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. We were trying a year ago at Mid-York to get him to speak or be part of a videoconference for our World Is Flat Regional Read, but his speaking fee is way out of our price range and he is booked a year in advance. Oh well, I will take good notes at graduation. If anyone knows of any good sites related to globalization and The World is Flat (aside from Thomas Friedman's)… Continue

Today is my first post in Library 2.0. Hello to everyone out there in Library 2.0 land. A busy day. Working on the Regional Read Programming wiki and my RR2007 blog. Our Regional Read 2007 "Finding Your Balance in a Flat World" encourages everyone in our 3 county service area to read the same book and this year's featured title is Thomas Friedman's "The World is Flat". We are also featuring additional titles and resources which address the varying points of view concerning globalization. The RR… Continue