SCRLC's Annual Meeting

Last Friday’s annual meeting was on the topic of the Metaverse. The speakers were fantastic-- thought-provoking and engaging--the day provided much good information and discussion of the issues.

In the middle of the day we held a quick business meeting. Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton, who represents the 125th district (Tompkins/Cortand counties) and was appointed Chair of the Assembly’s Library and Education Technology Committee, attended the afternoon portion of the day. The Assemblywoman's office had recently given SCRLC's Tools of History digitization effort a boost with a $15,000 member item. She provided us with some tips and strategies for advocating with our legislators.

During the business meeting, I gave a report, highlighting some of the sections of our Annual Report, including the Tools of History.

I also mentioned some of the emerging technologies that are shaping libraries and library users. More on "Users Gone Mobile" in a future post. From my Bag of Mantras, I reiterated that technology is a tool to help us achieve our goals--it is never a goal in of itself. We need to be mindful of our organizational goals as we examine the advantages, possibilities, and cost-benefits of venturing into the realm of the Metaverse.

Tom Peters, our final speaker of the day, summarized and wove the day together for the annual meeting participants. Check out his slides at www.tapinformation.com/SCRLCtalkPeters.htm - works best in IE.

And... take a look at the presenters and some of the people who attended the Annual Meeting!


By the way, the Second Life Economy 3rd Quarter in Detail report was released yesterday--very strong showing! Check it out on the Second Life Blog .

Highlights include:

• 150M USD in User-to-User Transactions, 54% growth over the same quarter last year (note: this is an all-time high!)

• A new all time high and continuing rapid growth for the Xstreet online marketplace.

• 3.1 Billion Voice minutes, up 27% from the same quarter last year.

Check out the blog for more information, charts, etc.

-Mary-Carol Lindbloom

SCRLC's Annual Meeting - 30 October 2009

SCRLC's 43rd Annual Meeting (30 October, Tompkins County Public Library, Ithaca) is rapidly approaching!

Here is the blurb:

The Metaverse is a term coined by Neal Stephenson in Snow Crash (1992) to describe 3D worlds or multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs). Increasingly, businesses, organizations, colleges, schools, libraries, and entrepreneurs are establishing presences in MUVEs. Why are they involved? What are they learning? What are the issues? What is the future and role of the Metaverse in learning and edcuation--and libraries?

Where does the Metaverse fit as we move deeper into the 21st century and examine our traditional roles and services as well as our part in innovation and transformation within our libraries and institutions? Join our speakers for a lively, thought-provoking discussion as they take up those issues and share their insight and experiences.

Our Speakers:

Dr. Robert Bloomfield, Professor of Accounting, Johnson School of Management, Cornell Univeristy. Founder and host of the weekly Metanomics program (www.metanomics.net).

Dr. Paul S. D'Ambrosio, Vice President and Chief Curator of the New York State Historical Association, Cooperstown.

Christina Galanis, Executive Director of Southern Tier HealthLink, Binghamton.

Tom Peters, founder and CEO of TAP Information Services and maintans the library presence for Online Programming for All Libraries (OPAL).

Gail Wood, Director of Libraries at Memorial Library, SYNY Cortland.

Here is the direct link to register: www.scrlc.org/events/show/40. You can also read more information about the speakers.

What aspects would you likle the keynote speakers and panelists to address?

--Mary-Carol Lindbloom

Welcome to SCRLC's New Blog!

Good day!

Welcome to our new blog, which you may have reached from our newly launched website! If you have surfed in, welcome, as well! This blog replaces LakeNet Effect, which has been retired.

The new name, South Central Station, is indicative of the role it is expected to play in the social networking life of our organization. Just like with a train station or an airline terminal, the links will transport you to other destinations. Train stations and terminals often provide an information board, exhibitions, places to browse or a chance to talk to your fellow travelers, and this station also offers those things, as well.

So....find a cup of tea or grab a latte and read on!

LakeNet Effect taught me a few things about blogging. Blogging is very time-consuming and challenging to build into a daily, weekly, or even monthly workflow. This time, it has been set up to enable all of us at SCRLC to contribute!

I also was cognizant that just because we can blog doesn't mean that we should blog! I wondered why we wanted a blog when we have a website, a mailing list, a FaceBook page, and even a Twitter presence. We are a staff of six and are already stretched. Wouldn't those other components suffice to faciliate communication? Here is why I think a blog is important, and an analogy (warning: pretty bad one!). We love flourishing communities that offer many options for services, cultural orgs, and transportation choices. A blog affords the community of library workers another option for getting information, interacting, or sailing off to other destinations. A blog bestows upon SCRLC one more opportunity to get the word out about events and services. Multiple presences lead to spontaneous conversations, and you, for example, are here reading this, and can post a comment about it!

What are your thoughts on how/where blogging fits into the grand scheme of "web presence," social networking, and websites?

Cheers,

Mary-Carol Lindbloom
Executive Director
SCRLC