NELA Counterparts, a meeting of state library organization counterparts and other interested librarians, will be held this year on July 16 and 17, 2009, at Connecticut College in New London, CT. Amongst other activities, Nancy Kranich, past president of ALA, will give a workshop on the role of libraries in promoting civic engagement. All NHLA members are encouraged to attend. (You don’t need to be an office holder in NHLA or one of its sections.) If you are interested in attending this year, please contact me so I can keep track of how many NHLAers will be going. It should be a lot of fun, and I hope NHLA will be well represented!
Archive: January, 2009
Counterparts 2009
Steve Butzel | 
January 31, 2009 |
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Feb. 24th NHLA-ITS quarterly drop-in meeting
Steve Butzel | January 26, 2009 |
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The next NHLA-ITS quarterly drop-in meeting will take place on Tuesday, February 24th at 10am at the Hooksett Public Library. In addition to our general conversation of tech topics, we’ll be hearing from Mark Glisson (of the Hooksett Public Library) who will give a brief presentation about how Hooksett has embedded a YouTube video into their website and how they use Google Docs for web-based forms.
Also, please start thinking about if you would like to nominate yourself or another NHLA-ITS member for President of the section for the coming year (May 2009 – April 2010). I don’t yet know what the
deadline will be for sending in nominations, but I will let you know as soon as I figure it out.
New Classification System for Public Libraries
Steve Butzel | January 22, 2009 |
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Are you tired of Dewey and fed up with its outdated classification scheme. Do you long for an alternative that, amongst other things, makes shelving a lot easier? Whether you do or don’t, please take a moment to read a recent entry from the PLA blog titled "New Classification System for Public Libraries." The entry is contributed by a guest author, Laena McCarthy, Image Cataloger and Assistant Professor at Pratt Institute, and Project Manager for LibraryThing’s Open Shelves Classification system.
McCarthy invites us all to help build the Open Shelves Classification (OSC), a free, “humble,” modern, open-source, crowd-sourced replacement for the Dewey Decimal System. "The project began this past summer, when Tim Spalding of LibraryThing took the reins of popular library chatter and decided it was time to help coordinate the development of a new classification system. LibraryThing members, librarians, catalogers, and enthusiastic readers have joined in and contributed feedback, data, discussion and development."
McCarthy offers a number of reasons why the OSC is needed and explains that libraries today should not be constrained by the Dewey Decimal System and its mental models of the 1870s. "Nor should they be forced into a proprietary system—copyrighted, trademarked and licensed by a single entity—expensive to adopt and encumbered by restrictions on publishing detailed schedules or coordinating necessary changes." McCarthy also mentions other recent attempts to replace Dewey, including BISAC, and argues that none of them have met the needs of public libraries.
So what is your opinion? Is McCarthy moving in the right direction, or is she wasting our time? Leave a comment by clicking on the "Comments" link at the end of this entry.
Increasing Membership, Fostering Innovation
Steve Butzel | January 16, 2009 |
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As we all know, one of the many terrific perks of working at a library is having access to a wide range of interesting periodicals. Today I was looking through the December issue of the Harvard Business Review, and I found an article which I thought might have important applications to libraries.
The article was titled “Finding and Grooming Breakthrough Innovators.” In the article, the authors describe many common characteristics of innovators including their strong analytic skills and their ability to think strategically even in ambiguous situations. They are curious, assertive, persuasive and self-aware. Once identified by organizations, these individuals should be paired with mentors who help facilitate their growth and allow them to test new ideas and assumptions. They should also be encouraged to form networks with their innovative peers.
As an organization, NHLA does a good job of identifying and mentoring talented, innovative librarians amongst its membership, but how do we each do at identifying these innovators within our own libraries? Do we give them opportunities to develop their talents, and do we encourage them to join NHLA?
As President of NHLA, I encourage all members to make a New Year’s resolution to successfully recruit at least one new colleague to join NHLA in the year ahead. Even if that colleague works for another organization, why not offer them an opportunity to grow and help us innovate.
International Library Association Partnership Opportunity
Steve Butzel | January 6, 2009 |
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Have you visited libraries in far away lands? Ever thought about working at a library in another country? Or maybe you just think the idea of international librarianship sounds fun? If so, I would love to hear from you because I am looking for help in exploring the possibility of NHLA forming a sister/brother relationship with a regional library association in another country, (kind of like how your city may have a sister city in another country.) As a volunteer helping with this process you will have input into which countries we contact and how the partnership is developed. Just send me an email including your contact info and why you’d like to help. We’ll go from there.
NH Library Use Value Calculator
Steve Butzel | January 6, 2009 |
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A number of libraries have been updating their website to include a library use value calculator. NHLA has added one to its own website here, http://www.nhlibrarians.org/calculator.html. Feel free to add a link to this page if you aren’t able to add a calculator to your own website.
A link to this page has also been added to the top of the Library Links page, http://nhlibrarians.org/librarylinks.html.
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