One of my favorite memories involves the summer reading program at the public library. It's fuzzy, and it's probably a mishmash of several summers all at once, but I can still see the long box filled with cards and feel those cards under my fingers as I flipped to my age group and then to my name. I loved summer reading--well, I loved all reading, but particularly the summer program. It was loosely structured, but you got to tally it up; it was self-directed, but you got a reward at the end; it counted, but it was purely optional. Plus, the books had that sheen of new ideas--with each summer's theme, I read books that I never would have picked up otherwise, ones outside my normal comfort zone of biographies, "true" ghost stories, and fiction with a magical bent.
As an academic librarian, I have a smidge more unclaimed time in the summer than during the school year. There's a little more time for projects, research, skills renewal, and self-improvement tasks. In many ways, it reminds me of the summer reading program of my youth--less structure, more self-direction, fewer requirements. Because this column appears in June, I'd like to talk about some great resources that would make for an interesting summer "reading" program for librarians. If your job doesn't ebb and flow with the seasons or semesters, no worries--most of the things I'll recommend lend themselves well to being consumed in bits and thus could be integrated into just about any workday, year-round.
One final caveat--like my childhood summer reading program, this may push you outside your normal comfort zone. I won't be discussing any resources that are about libraries or librarianship directly. Sometimes I wonder if librarians might not benefit from spending a little more time with nonlibrarians, and summer is a good time to test that theory.
Podcasts Are Like Reading With Your Ears
Adding a few tech podcasts to your rotation can really open up your thinking and help you be ready to face technology issues that may challenge your library now or in the future. From understanding philosophical concepts such as Net Neutrality to confidently troubleshooting e-reader devices, there's a lot to know. Here are a couple of my favorite podcast series.
The Talk Show. Dan Benjamin and John Gruber chat about tech in a relaxed fashion; they're basically two smart, funny, and well-read guys having a conversation. I love this podcast because it's less reporterlike. Dan's and John's internet pedigrees are long and varied, and that's evident in the podcast. Recent topics have included everything from setting up new computers to end-user experiences downloading Kindle books to impressions from technology conferences such as SXSW Interactive. Don't go in expecting step-by-step how-to's or "Five Greatest X" lists--it's much more meandering and, therefore, much more interesting.
This Week in Tech. Probably better known as TWiT, this podcast is hosted by Leo Laporte and a varied cast of knowledgeable co-hosts. Leo started out in radio broadcasting, so he sounds more like a radio personality than a tech guy or podcaster, and that lends a certain entertaining quality to the show. TWiT is fast-paced and interesting. Recent topics have included privacy implications of the iPhone Color photo app and the Amazon Cloud Player. One thing I appreciate about TWiT is the varied cohosts who join Leo each week--they introduce a variety of perspectives, and it makes me happy that the list of "tech luminaries" includes at least a few women.
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Fly or Die. The hook for Fly or Die from TechCrunch.tv is that products and services are described and judgment is pronounced all in one tidy package. Think of it like collection management for technology--this is great; this isn't worth your time; this might do more harm than good. TechCrunch is one of the most popular tech blogs written, and this podcast offshoot builds on that success. It's not as quippy as TWiT or as thought-provoking as The Talk Show, but it packs a lot of information into segments that are typically less than 15 minutes. Plus, instant judgment!
Getting the Most Out of a Conference You Never Attended
Conferences can be a valuable source of professional development and learning, even if you don't attend. Many conferences post audio or video of talks online after the fact for anyone to access. Here are two that I've enjoyed. One is from a conference I attended, and one is from a conference I've never been to.
SXSW Interactive. I attended SXSW Interactive for the first time this year, and I'm sure my co-workers are tired of hearing about it. I'm nowhere near finished unpacking all the interesting things I learned, not the least of which was that being a librarian at a nonlibrary conference is a great thing. We're cooler than we might realize, apparently. Additionally, it was stimulating and refreshing to listen to fascinating ideas and then imagine how I might translate them to a library environment. I learned things about gaming and its everyday relevancy that blew my mind, spent a good deal of time pondering the creative process with some of the most creative thinkers out there, and considered the future of education with people who are open to every possibility out there. There's audio online for many presentations, and you can filter the hundreds upon hundreds of SXSW sessions by topic if the initial list seems intimidating.
EDUCAUSE. I've never been to EDUCAUSE, but I have colleagues who swear by it. It represents itself as "the best thinking in higher ed IT." Topics at the conference run the gamut from technology infrastructure issues to accessibility for people with disabilities to experiences using Google Apps. You definitely don't have to be an IT person to find value here. EDUCAUSE offers streaming videos of speakers and their slides for select sessions, audio podcasts for others, and slides and handouts for nearly everything else. It is worth checking out for the video player alone, which does a handy picture-in-picture so you can see both the speaker and his or her slides at the same time.
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Ideas Worth Spreading
We'll wrap up with my all-time favorite source for inspiration, sparking creative thought, and exploring possibilities: TED talks. It's my firm belief that the world would be a better place if everyone watched a TED talk every day. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and it is a nonprofit foundation devoted to "ideas worth spreading." TED talks are given by people from a wide variety of backgrounds who share a certain curiosity about how the world works. You can pick TED talks to watch by broad themes such as Media With Meaning or Women Reshaping the World, or you can look for videos other viewers have tagged with qualities such as "ingenious," "jaw-dropping," or "beautiful." You can also subscribe to the TED RSS feed and have videos delivered to you daily. Here are a few I've been stunned by lately:
* Eric Whitacre: "A Virtual Choir 2,000 Voices Strong"
* Mick Ebeling: "The Invention That Unlocked a Locked-In Artist"
* "Carolyn Porco Flies Us to Saturn"
* "Larry Lessig on Laws That Choke Creativity"
* Brene Brown: "The Power of Vulnerability"
Not a one about libraries, but each had something to offer that could impact my actual work, my behavior at work, or my interactions with patrons and co-workers.
So there you go--a summer "reading" program for your edification and enlightenment. If I could, I'd put all your names on cards and file them in a long box and give you stickers and stamps every time you took a suggestion to heart and spent just a little unstructured time learning something new.
Resources Discussed
The Talk Show http://5by5.tv/talkshow
This Week in Tech http://twit.tv/twit
Fly or Die http://techcrunch.tv/fly-or-die
EDUCAUSE 2010 Streaming Video www.educause.edu/e10streaming
EDUCAUSE 2010 Podcasts www.educause.edu/Resources/Browse/EDUCAUSE10/37391
SXSW Interactive sessions list http://schedule.sxsw.com
TED talks www.ted.com
Donna F. Ekart (dfe@k-state.edu) is a librarian and the communications coordinator for K-State Libraries at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan. She loves libraries and technology and sharing those things with people every chance she gets.
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