Blue 2.0 Training Program Finale

Lots of excitement at work has kept me from blogging lately, but I did want to congratulate all of those who completed the UK Libraries Blue 2.0 training program. I think we all learned a great deal from the experience, and the working group will be sending out a survey soon to the participants. In addition to writing an article about our experience with the program, some of us from the working group have been meeting with staff from UK's Teaching and Academic Support Center to bring the program to a much larger audience on campus. For quite some time I've been wanting to share tips on using RSS and other tools with a wider audience--here's our chance for the library to take the lead!

It's Official

So it's official--I've been hired as the permanent Head of the Information Commons (the Hub) at the University of Kentucky. I've been serving in an interim capacity since January 2007. I'm delighted to be in the permanent position and look forward to building on all the terrific things we've done in the Hub so far.

UK Island Grand Opening

I'm so pleased at the crowds we drew--both real life and in world--for the UK Island Second Life grand opening on Thursday. I'll post more about the event later but here are a few photos:

Eloise Pasteur's presentation

ArthurConan Doyle's presentation

UK Second Life Grand Opening on Thursday

Just a reminder that the in world/real world grand opening of the University of Kentucky island is on Thursday, March 20.

• Full schedule of events
• Images of UK island on flickr
• If you don't want to log into Second Life or join us in the real world Young Library, you can watch the events via streaming video.

Hope to "see" you tomorrow!

(Image of Young Library from Alice Burgess)

Facebook Chat is Coming

I know it's becoming passé to report on Facebook-related news, but I had to share this. Of all places, I just heard the news from my favorite gossip blog, Gawker:

Facebook is launching FBChat in two weeks.

Sure I have too many chat IDs to keep track of now (OCS plus Gmail and AIM--at least I can run AIM thru Gmail now). And then there are all those chat accounts I rarely use. Thank goodness for tabbed browsing, huh. Anyway, Facebook chat will be just another convenient way to stay in touch with your peeps.

Creative Programming in the Academic Library

The March 2008 issue of C&RL News includes an interesting article about developing creative programming ideas in the academic library. Here are five ideas from the article:

1. Host a fair.
2. Plan a mystery event.
3. Create a stress-free zone.
4. Have a blind date with a book.
5. Invite children to the library.

When we think programming, many of us tend to think of public rather than academic libraries. But why not offer some fun, creative events in the academic library that will help engage students?

Point to Multiple Profiles with ProfileFly

One of the obvious issues with social networking software is the lack of connection among different services. I have a Facebook account, a MySpace account, and even more contacts in LinkedIn. I have some flickr images, some YouTube videos, then there are those bookmarks or blogrolls I might want to share. Not to mention all the blogs where I contribute or websites I manage.

Until there is a way to connect all of this social data, at least there are some services designed for creating a single profile with pointers to your various social presences. I have started looking at these and just signed up for ProfileFly yesterday. I haven't added very many links yet, but there are a number of options. Check it out--it's an interesting idea.

UK Island Grand Opening in Second Life

I'm delighted to announce the Grand Opening of the University of Kentucky Second Life island on Thursday, March 20. The grand opening will include a series of real world and in world events--check the website for more details. Pictured above is one of our many planning meetings for the event. Aside from some landscaping, I haven't contributed much to this event, but others are working hard to make this a fun and educational afternoon. Hope to see you at Young Library or in world!

Watch the video invitation to the event:



(video credit: Kirk Laird, TASC AV)