Odds and Ends - Day lilies in bloom edition

I actually have all of July at home. First time in I don't know how long I've had a entire month that did not require getting on an airplane. I may have to sneak across the border into North Dakota just say that I was at least out of state. We have a "destination" wedding up in East Grand Forks soon. That may be my chance.

But the day lilies are profuse thanks to the LWW's gardening work, the boat's running well, and life is good on the lake. Not a bad month to be home, all said.  

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Nice to see that echoes of the Atlanta NECC are still sounding. I was delighted that a young colleague wrote to me:

And...you know all that "young punk blogger" stuff criticizing ISTE and large conferences?  I need to publicly retract all those statements.  NECC was the best professional experience of my life.

 There may be hope for the world yet.

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John Pederson posted on his Flicker account this photo that just cracked me up:

John found it ironic. I don't know. I've always said that a thousand words is worth a picture.

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Dave Warlick made an interesting observation about the impact of bloggers on the NECC conference:

It was mentioned that there were almost 20,000 educators in attendance in Atlanta.  They were teaching, learning, conversing, and taking oh so much home with them — and compared to that, we (bloggers) are just a cult. 

Are bloggers what Ian Jukes would call the "committed sardines" who will start the entire school headed in a new direction?

Would it kill the fun if next year attendees agreed to commit to live blogging specific sessions? Seems like some sessions were well-covered and others ignored this year. Organized spontaneity - I like the concept.

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At last, an iPod I can get excited about. A proposed Apple ebook reader using the iPod as a driver. Cool clip - check it out.

 

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Joyce Valenza asks that we edit her "You know you're a 21st century librarian if . . . " manifesto wiki.  A great exercise in seeing how well we as individuals are fulfilling our 21st century roles. Get to editing!

Oh, don't confuse this with my "You Know You're a Librarian in 2005" written way back when. 

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 It looks like I'll need to add Andrew Keen's book The Cult of the Amateur: How Today’s Internet is Killing Our Culture  to my reading list. You've got to love a contrarian.

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Brady and I visited the Apple Store at the Mall of America last Saturday to look at the iPhone. Very cool. I picked it up and poked buttons with my pointer finger and got nowhere. Mr "Net Gen" picked it up and had it dancing in seconds by sliding his thumb across the screen. Who knew fatherhood could be so humiliating?

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I've got a call in to register for Virtual World Librarianship - Your Second Life, a course being offered by the University of Illinois this summer. Here's the description:

Avatars! Linden Dollars! Librarianship! Librarianship? What ARE they talking about?
To discover how avatars, Linden dollars, and librarianship relate to one another, join us in a continuing education course on librarianship in the virtual world of Second Life. Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents, including real life librarians on Info Island.

Week One:  Introduction to Libraries in Virtual Worlds
Week Two:  Second Life 101
Week Three:  Collections, Resources, and Exhibits in Virtual Environment
Week Four:  Reference and Information Services in Virtual Worlds
Week Five:  Managing and Working in a Virtual Library or Department
Week Six:  Skills Needed by 21st Century Librarians in Virtual Worlds

The two-hour synchronous sessions will meet online in Second Life. Asynchronous discussions and weekly assignments will be posted to Forums on Moodle, the course management system used at GSLIS.

Oh, oh. Just learned all sessions are sold out. I'll see if I can be put on the waiting list for next semester. Phooey.

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That's it. Enjoy your July. Hope there are some day lilies somewhere in it.