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15 Things: An IPL birthday party
I’ll bet you’re wondering how the Internet Public Library (now more accurately known as IPL2) is celebrating its 15th birthday.
15 Things is a bit of a party, but it’s also a bit of a present, for librarians everywhere interested in retooling or retooling their colleagues. The party began in August and will culminate with Thing 15 by IPL’s actual birthday on March 17th.
The 15 Things project follows the impressive thing tutorial tradition of:
And it introduces . . .
15 of our favorite online technologies, with background information, best practices, related readings, examples of how the IPL is using the technology, and hands-on exercises.
Nine things are currently underway on the site:
- IPL Thing #1: Blogs
- IPL Thing #2: Microblogging
- IPL Thing #3: Social_Networking
- IPL Thing #4: Wikis
- IPL Thing #5: Virtual Worlds
- IPL Thing #6: Podcasting
- IPL Thing #7: Videos
- IPL Thing #8: SMS Text Messaging
- IPL Thing #9: Social bookmarking/tagging
Lorri Mon of Florida State University’s College of Communication and Information offered background for the project, a collaborative venture involving LIS students at both FSU and Drexel University.
Initial inspiration for the project came from grad students in Eileen Abels‘ Drexel University Workshop class, who identified resources necessary for information professionals of the future. Mon’s FSU students created IPL’s Digital Reference and Web 2.0. The 15 Things team–which includes Alison Miller, Head of IPL2 Reference Services and graduate assistant, Robert Vandagriff–views library as teaching and learning laboratory. Students created the project; students continue to manage it.
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Mon spoke highly of the existing thing tutorials for professional development. She shared that one of the goals 15 Things is to take the learning a step further:
Keeping up is difficult. New things keep coming out. But many library staff members now need to go beyond basic introductory materials. They need intermediate and advanced tutorials. For instance, beyond merely listening to a podcast, we are offering instruction in creating, producing, and promoting podcasts. We are aware that we are preparing library staff to be not merely consumers, but to be creators and producers of online content.
What’s on the list of upcoming new things? While Mon was a bit secretive about what things 10 through 15 were going to be, she suggested that her students are currently very interested in Google Wave and geographic information systems (GIS).
For those who may need a bit of a carrot to join the retooling celebration:
If you complete the IPL 15 Things by April 17th, 2010, your name will be entered in a drawing for a $50 gift card to Amazon. To be eligible for the drawing, you must submit your name and e-mail address for each of the 15 Things.
Filed under: Uncategorized
About Joyce Valenza
Joyce is an Assistant Professor of Teaching at Rutgers University School of Information and Communication, a technology writer, speaker, blogger and learner. Follow her on Twitter: @joycevalenza
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