Chicago Librarian - Design, Technology & Culture from a Librarian living in Chicago

Drupal4Lib BoF at ALA Chicago - Final Location Information!

Leo Klein — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 01:29:15 +0000

Okay, it's official: thanks to the wonderful help of our friends at ALA, we have a meeting room for our Drupal4Lib BoF on Sunday, 7/12.

DATE: Sunday, July 12 (3:30p-5:00p)

LOCATION:
McCormick Place
West Building, Level 1
Conference Center Rm #11b
Chicago, IL.

Annual Independence Day Cook Out

Leo Klein — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:56:56 +0000

We had our annual Independence Day Cook Out in Lincoln Park near Addison. The weather was perfect and we didn't leave till 7pm -- to see the fireworks downtown.

Zeldman Reveals Secret of Successful Project Management

Leo Klein — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:47:40 +0000

Web Designer extraordinaire, Jeffery Zeldman (half-seriously) reveals the secret of successful project management:

The trick to great projects, I have found, is (a.) landing clients with whom you are sympatico, and who understand language, time, and money the same way you do, and (b.) assembling teams you don’t have to lead, because everyone instinctively knows what to do.

One can only wonder what prompted the comment.

Drupal4Lib BoF at ALA Chicago - We Have Sign-ups!

Leo Klein — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:18:18 +0000

I looked up the event listing for our Drupal4Lib BoF at ALA Chicago (Sun. 7/11, 3:30p-5p) and was happy to see we have more than a dozen sign-ups!

That's a good sign.

World of Widgets: Google Friend Connect

Leo Klein — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 18:36:47 +0000

I put up the Google Friend Connect widget on the far right column. It kind of duplicates what the MyBlogLog widget does though in a more dynamic way.

In any case, sign up today!

Twitter in Iran: Earth-shaking Or Just More Hype?

Leo Klein — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 02:24:51 +0000

I have no idea what role Twitter is playing in Iran. On the one hand, Clay Shirky and the U.S. State Department apparently think it's having a huge role.

On the other hand, a reader quoted by Nico Pitney of the HuffingtonPost says it's 1979 all over again:

"Also - what is happening now with regards to spreading information to the people. They are going back to 79 strategies. basically they are printing papers having people distribute them all over the country. twitter/net etc is not effective right now - they are going back to old-fashioned style. [Sun., 6/21/2009: 12:57 PM ET]"

Then there's this exchange between On the Media host Bob Garfield and a Professor from UC San Diego currently residing in Teheran:

Bob Garfield [3:55]: "Twitter has been at the center of the conversation [sic]. It's unclear how much of a role Twitter has played. But we have seen a lot of press reports of Iranians using Twitter to give a kind of blow-by-blow description -- but more especially those in the Diaspora keeping others apprised of events."

Professor: "Twitter is a recent thing in Iranian society especially among the youngsters. My hunch is that, the Diaspora community has kind of exaggerated the effect of Twitter. Definitely there are some Iranians using Twitter in order to connect with other Iranians outside of Iran. But at this moment, I could assure you, Twitter is not the main kind of new form of communication ... which Iranians are using."

The professor seemed to think that satellite tv with its feeds from the BBC and CNN was having a greater effect.

Can a Book be "Not Charged"?

Leo Klein — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 21:05:13 +0000

I'm just coming to grips with the recent upgrade to "Version 7" of the Voyager Book Catalog at DePaul.

I love the use of facets to limit search results but I really wonder if they're going to stick with the status "Not Charged" for books available and on the shelf. It's probably not what most people think when they're headed to the stacks.

Business Down - Even for Undertakers?

Leo Klein — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:25:46 +0000

You too can have your own 'dream' funeral parlor, no doubt exquisitely furnished, within easy reach of the Loyola Redline Stop and the Lake.

NSLS, PALS, DLS Drupal Library Group

Leo Klein — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:51:57 +0000

Mick Jacobsen organized an informative and very well attended meeting on Drupal for Librarians at the Oak Park Public Library today. I was happy to see a few familiar faces from our Drupal BoF at DePaul earlier in the year.

Jenny Levine led off with a discussion of ALA Connect and what impressed me wasn't simply what they've been able to put together but their future plans for incorporating functionality.

Next Mick Jacobsen and Michael Buhmann from Skokie Public discussed Skokie Business Portal which at the time unfortunately was suffering from CSS indigestion.

Afterwards, Mick spent some time discussing Panels and we even managed to squeeze in a bit of time discussing Drupal in small groups.

Is Twitter Dead Yet?

Leo Klein — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:58:14 +0000

I'm so sick of hearing about Twitter. On the Media Hype Index™, it's reaching Krispy Kreme proportions*.

____
*(then, now)