Whoa! This awesome parody is just so great, and pretty funny. I found the link on the blog Library Cloud and I think that the point is that even when embracing new technology, always ask your users and always respond to their needs.

Hanging out in the Handheld Librarian Conferences today, and I wanted to share some web tools for creating a mobile site for your library! Chris Haefele shared his work with the attendees.  
 

Chris' slides: http://www.slideshare.net/chaefele/building-a-mobile-site-one-block-at-a-time 

 His Mobile Site Generator: http://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/msg/  You can use these pre-made frameworks:   http://code.google.com/p/iui/  

http://www.lib.montana.edu/~jason/files/m/   
And check out Library Anywhere, which will convert your Online Catalog, for a fee, to a mobile page!    http://www.librarything.com/thingology/2010/01/library-anywhere-prices-public.php

In an effort to connect with the freshmen in my class, I polled them about what they do with their phone, and what they do on the web. Well, all of them text and send texts, so here's the assignment I came up with.  

They need to take their initials (mine would be A and V) and go to a part of the library with the As or the Vs and then text me what subject that is. They can, for a bonus, tell me what their initials together stand for, but mine, AV, doesn't exist.  

I am hoping that they will learn the "browsing" technique of information behavior and that they will learn more about the Library of Congress subject heading.  

Also, you're probably wondering if I am using my cell phone for this. I am not! I am using my Google Voice account. Also, all of our students can send an SMS message from their google chat (in their campus mail account).  

Cool stuff! Are you using texting in the classroom or library?

I am currently having an online discussion with some of my wonderful librarian friends about whether or not the newest generation of youth/young adults are the harbinger of the BOOK. What is the future of the book? Here are some perspectives I've heard:

• books look old, like microform readers look old to the 20s and 30s generations
• books are necessary and young adults are just not looking at them enough
• young adults don't consider reading online reading
• students may not be motivated to look beyond the screen
• "whether it's paper or a screen, what matters is whether or not the information needs of these students are being met"
• that abandoning books is like abandoning crucial infrastructure in a city
• information is changing so rapidly that as soon as a book is published that information is now obsolete
• growing up with the screen has changed the way we think

I personally believe that we will be bookless within the next ten years compared to how many books libraries currently do have.  Here are some other places this conversation is taking place, too:

• The iPad tablet replaces (reboots) the book: http://radar.oreilly.com/2009/09/rebooting-the-book-one-apple-i.html
• This group is documenting the progress as we shift from the book to the screen: http://www.futureofthebook.org/

I can see a future where we'll have the "book room" for access to information not available on the web that will look like the "Microfilms Room" or "Microfims area."What do you think? 

So, it looks like library camps and library related unconferences are an increasing trend: http://liswiki.org/wiki/Library_Camp There were just two in 2006, a handful in 2007, more in 2008 and then during 2009 it seems like library unconferences/library camps just exploded! 

Why are they so popular? Because traditional conferences are expensive due to the planning, preparation and other long term expenditures, unconferences make sense. This website for Library Camps and Unconferences explains this trend similarly, and also offers a helpful guide to hosting your own unconference: http://lln.lyrasis.org/node/355  

This site says that the mark of a good and successful unconference is, "In a good unconference, all or almost all participants are participants, not just audience."  

The benefits seem to be resource sharing, networking, the participants power to decide what they want to learn collectively, that the participants are not just audience, but participants (much like the whole point of web 2.0), and of course the major cost savings to just about everyone.  

The STELLA (Science, Technology & Engineering Library Leaders in Action!) unconference stems from how hard it is to attend so many conferences that apply to the specific needs of science librarians: http://www.nuthingbut.net/2008/12/sci-tech-bunching-of-lsw.html  

Joe writes, "science librarians don't neccessarily need to have an umbrella
organization to talk, chat and meet with each other. We can organize
ourselves without the organizational beauocracy." The STELLA unconference is happening now this week in Denver: http://denver-stella.pbworks.com/ 

I'm hesitant to suggest that Idaho libarians need this, but we might. I at least think it's something worth investigating and if you are interested I'd like to hear your thoughts.My thoughts are to put something together that is as free as humanly possible where the spirit is just to share ideas, brainstorm, and come up with some great, great ideas. 

Lastly, here is a link to an article overview on library camps called The unconference: a new model for better professional communication http://www.lianza.org.nz/library/files/store_021/GreenhillandWiebrands_Unconference.pdf