about the author …
Henry Mensch is a new student at the Syracuse University iSchool. He has more than twenty years’ experience in leadership roles in the IT area, and is now looking to broaden his horizons.
View Articlesocial media in libraries?
This may be a result of my newbie status, but I feel like there’s rather a lot of participation in social media by librarians and information workers, but not nearly as much social media reaching out...
View Articleatlas: the mission thread
i’ll get a bit ahead of myself and say that much of what i’ve read in the atlas makes me feel like i’m exactly in the right place. the atlas has given me words for some ideas that i’ve never had...
View Articleatlas: on knowledge creation
i never expected that most uses of libraries led to knowledge creation … at best i figured for knowledge duplication. i knew that media in the library wasn’t, in itself, knowledge, and i knew they...
View Articlelibrary feeds i follow
i’ve been following many of these for at least a year. some have gone idle for a while, and some are rss feeds of more active places (so you might get 40-50 items per day). i don’t read every item, nor...
View Articlemore on boot camp later this week … but first …
first i’m going to move this content to a blog space i control. look for a link to a new location here in a few days.
View Articlemain() { printf(“hello, worldn”); }
I am Henry Mensch, a second-year part-time LIS student at the Syracuse University iSchool. My studies are nearly complete–I expect to complete my degree (as well as a Certificate in Digital Libraries)...
View ArticleContext Book Report: a choice for unusual reasons?
I’ve decided to read Henry Jenkins’ Convergence Culture and then report on this work in my context book report. A few reasons for this choice: During the 1980s and early 1990′s I worked at MIT....
View ArticleInitial impression from foundation readings
My main problem with the Library 2.0 likeness is that it seems to be inspired by the dot-com experience. For many people the dot-com time was awesome, but for me it represented lots of poorly-managed...
View ArticleToo many techno-negatives!
The challenges related to technology which were identified in Michael’s white paper “The Hyperlinked Library” felt very familiar. Having worked with technology for a very long time I’ve sometimes felt...
View Articlenothing to do with anything, really
This is what I see on the way to lunch on a nice day. You can’t see it here, but the Golden Gate Bridge in all its orangey goodness is just behind those trees on the right. I think I may need to choose...
View Articleon participatory librarianship
This is Tasha … she is 23 years old! One of my homework supervisors. I wanted to help people solve problems. I didn’t care about books (well, I did and I do, but this was far from my motivation to go...
View ArticleContext book report: Convergence Culture by Henry Jenkins
Introduction Immediately after announcing my choice for this report (Convergence Culture by Henry Jenkins) I began to wonder if I had made a mistake. My personal relationship to popular culture is a...
View ArticleQuick Response codes as technolust?
I think so. On the surface they seem like a great idea: they’re square images which have encoded information which can be easily captured with a smartphone’s camera. The encoded information is usually...
View ArticleOn transparency …
While working through this week’s transparency readings I was struck by the tone of some of the work. It all felt very serious, “you must do this!” … very strident. Of course, this happens because...
View ArticleConnecting to all members
Using Facebook for this purpose has a bunch of downsides … many related to the ownership and management of Facebook. Specifically, the Facebook discussion in the lecture made me think of my own usage...
View ArticleSocial Media Policy
I was, initially, divided over which assignment to do for this requirement. Each assignment had plusses and minuses. At the end of the day, though, I find myself more and more interested in social...
View Articlethe annoying side of disruptive technology
It is often true that, when technology disrupts our existence, it starts subtly … when Facebook appeared on the scene it was limited to university undergraduates (and so its impact was limited to that...
View ArticleMobile and Geo-social? Sure … but …
Right off the top I have to say that Google Glass puts me off. A a potential user of the technology I’d want to use it everywhere, of course–it would be super convenient. As a bystander I would be...
View Articlesince I did diss on google glass earlier this week …
I found this blog post today which describes seven things that libraries can do with Google Glass. None of these address my privacy concerns, but they’re still pretty cool stuff.
View ArticleThis is why I’m here …
Reflective practice is one of the reasons I’ve made my switch to librarianship. I have worked in technology for a very long time, but in capacities which haven’t really encouraged reflective practice....
View ArticleCame for the Transparency–stayed for the Reflective Practice
The subject pretty much tells it all. I didn’t come here to learn much about technology–the accident of my career up to my point leaves me well-positioned with respect to most new technologies....
View Articlecoming together nicely
one of the assignments in my reference class calls for five hours of observation in reference environments … my luck with sfpl has improved dramatically: i met the assistant director of the library...
View Articlewhat i’m reading at the moment
Out Behind the Desk: Workplace Issues for LGBTQ Librarians (Gender and Sexuality in Librarianship) what’s amazing to me is that this sort of book is necessary in 2011.
View Articlewhy librarians should be interested in data
this infographic shows the growth of data centers. it’s all bits and bytes and machines and stuff, but all that hosts data: ebooks, databases, scientific data … there’s gold out there!
View Articlemy first LibGuide
Last semester one of my assignments was to create a LibGuide … I had never used one before, so creating one was a whole new experience … I ended up creating a LibGuide for a boring topic but one which...
View Articlemy love/hate relationship with QR codes
it’s sad, really. qr codes seem like a really good way to get dense chunklets of information out to people. but, you know, it’s not always a great way to do this. last night i sat at a bus shelter–the...
View Articlesummer plans
My classes ended last week–while I’ve enjoyed school so far the break is welcome. I’ve been at this since last June (in addition to my day job responsibilities), and it’s nice to not have the extra...
View Articlething 2: exploring others’ blogs …
This isn’t a first–I try to follow quite a few blogs with Google Reader. The volume can be enormous, but I continue to add new blogs anyway. You see, I can’t really tell how prolific a blogger may...
View ArticleSo it seems that I’m not a very good blogger …
seeing as I don’t update very often. I’ll try to improve.
View Articlewhat’s going on lately
I’m taking three courses: Introduction to Digital Data (formerly Introduction to Digital Libraries), Copyright for Information Professionals, and Grantwriting. The semester is winding down with about...
View Articleend of semester!
So … just a few weeks ago I was concerned about finding an internship and figuring out classes for the spring. I’m down to three classes for the spring and may drop one more before the semester starts...
View Articlethis rss thing is killing me!
Ever since Google announced the sunsetting of their Google Reader (GR) service this coming June I’ve been on a mad dash to find a replacement. I follow about 500 feeds daily and I do it from a variety...
View ArticleTiny Tiny RSS not in my future!
So, having had a few spare cycles this evening I prepared to try Tiny Tiny RSS and I ran into a roadblock pretty early on by a prerequisite for Tiny Tiny: it requires a slightly newer version of PHP...
View ArticleWhat does your workspace look like?
Some time ago a gentleman from whom I take professional advice asked me to visualize my future librarian workplace … Here’s a photo of my current non-library workspace: What does your workspace look like?
View Articleon committee service …
Many months ago … sometime last year … I saw an announcement (I think it was through ACRL but can’t be sure) calling for volunteers for committee service. I had never served on any ALA committee and am...
View ArticleI’ve just imported a few blog posts from a class I’ve taken
They may be interesting … or not.
View Articlethe end of semester … but not really.
This time of year usually brings some relaxation as classes are over and I usually take the summer off from school. This year is different: due to a variety of issues which came up during the past...
View ArticleHalf-off sale at MIT Press–save on Atlas of New Librarianship and other cool...
I’ll say something more interesting later in the week, but I did want to get the word out that MIT Press is having a half-off sale. The MIT Press has lots of cool stuff (everything from coffee table...
View Articlepatron … member … guest … user …
librarians like to talk about this: what to call library users. i wonder if this makes a real difference for library users?
View Articlethings to remember for ALA conference next week (this list will grow)
putting stuff on your calendar? make sure to choose the right time zone! pack business cards try to find some nice clothes … just in case air out luggage laundry comfy shoes pack small bag good for...
View Articlesomething to do at a conference when you’re a newbie: get a conference mentor
Even though I have attended SLA once before I took advantage of an opportunity offered by the local San Francisco chapter of SLA: the opportunity to have the assistance of a conference mentor. In this...
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