R.I.P.

As fascinating as many of the Futures Conference programs were, I was struck by an activity conducted by Joan Frye Williams during her “What Got Us Here Won’t Get Us There” session, during which she asked participants to develop a list of practices and activities that should be stopped, and forever rest in peace. The items on the resulting collective list reflect almost every aspect of library operations. Following is a sampling of R.I.P. activities on the list.

Creating a rule to solve every problem
Stop prohibiting coffee in the building
Stop listening to staff first when they try to hold on to old ways that preserve the status quo.
Stop doing brochures and flyers that the civilians cannot understand.
Stop top down approval for every little or big good idea that staff suggests.
Stop charging fines.
Stop maintaining the service desk as a barrier to service.
Stop using ‘Library’ words with the public.
Stop collecting popular materials for our collection.
Stop having high level librarians sit idle at the reference desk.
Depart from “it’s always been done that way”, encourage others to do the same.
Stop controlling staff Wiki content.
Stop expecting perfect records in OPAC.
Stop obsessing over library processes and structures.
Stop assuming we know the customer.
Stop cataloging to the 11th degree.
Stop hiding behind my desk and greet customers.
Stop departmentalizing…”that’s ref’s job, that’s circ’s job” It’s everyone’s job!

What are your potential R.I.P. activities?

To view the entire list, visit the Mid-Atlantic Futures Conference Website.

 

The World Cafe PowerPoint is here!

Remember that PowerPoint that Peggy and Barbara stayed up until 2 am to put together? Here it is… comments from the World Cafe contributed by all those who attended the World Cafe…

 

Photos for event are posted!

We’ve set up a flickr group, why not join and submit your pictures from the event too? Meanwhile take a look at the page to see the photos already posted.

 

What did you think of the conference?

Let’s get the dialogue going… add your comments about the conference here!

 

Mid-Atlantic Library Futures Conference – Wow!

From New Jersey State Librarian Norma Blake’s Blog, Blake’s Blog….
The Mid-Atlantic Library Futures Conference was a spectacular success. More than 360 of your colleagues attended and were fascinated by Ray Kurzweil’s vision of the future. Mary Catherine Bateson spoke about our extended life expectancy and the role libraries can play in providing resources to our aging population.

One of the people who attended this event, Phil Bowermaster, is a futurist based in Denver, Colorado. The planning committee used questions that Phil developed to promote discussion at the “World Cafe.” One of the questions was “If you live to be 100, what will be the biggest difference between the world you were born into and the world you leave?” Phil fully participated in our conference and helped to facilitate discussion. The following is a video he developed.

 

Registration is closed!

Word spread fast and even after expanding the number of participants, we have reached our limit. Keep checking back here to get updated news about the conference.

 

Announcement! Additional discounted rooms are now available

Debating about attending the Futures Conference May 7-8? We’ve just secured 50 more rooms at the $139/night rate. The rate is usually $279. So, if you are thinking about attending, reserve now. And plan to stay for the closing speaker, Joan Frye Williams. She is practical, inspiring and on the money!

 

This really is THE conference to attend

A perspective by Cathy Wilt, Executive Director of PALINET
As we discussed ideas for a futures conference, it quickly became apparent that if we want to know the future of libraries then we need to look at the future of our world. What will that world look like? How will life as we know it change? How will we communicate? What tools will be available? What needs will our customers have?

We decided to seek out visionaries from all walks of life and bring them together with a small group of colleagues from our field to begin a discussion that will impact libraries well into the next decade. We imagined a morphing of information, inspiration, and imagination that will transform the way we look at our future. With such lofty aspirations, we recognized we also need to build a solid foundation that will serve as a concrete plan with which to move forward.

The result: The Mid-Atlantic Library Futures Conference – a groundbreaking partnership between the NJ, PA, MD, WV, and DE state libraries and PALINET, May 7 and 8, 2007, at the Borgata Hotel in Atlantic City.

An event where speakers will share their vision, small groups will explore ideas through conversations, and EVERYONE will walk away with their plan to navigate through our new possibilities.

I keep saying this is THE conference, because I suspect everything that happens in tomorrow’s libraries will somehow be connected back to an idea, a discussion, or an insight that came about from the combination of people who gather for this. You don’t want to miss this one.

 

Why this conference … A perspective by Peggy Cadigan

Did you know

According to former Secretary of Education Richard Riley . . .

The top 10 in-demand jobs in 2010 didn’t exist in 2004.

We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist . . .

Using technologies that haven’t been invented . . .

In order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet.

Did you know …
It’s estimated that a week’s worth of New York Times contains more information than a person was likely to come across in a lifetime in the 18th century.

This video was created by Karl Fisch, a Colorado teacher, to give his fellow faculty members a sense of the world that their students are entering. Karl Fisch credits one of our keynote speakers, Ray Kurzweil, as a source of inspiration for his video.
The issues raised here are exactly the issues we are grappling with in our libraries nationwide. Is it possible to keep up with the incredibly rapid pace of technological innovations? What job skills will we need to be efficient in the future? Will libraries exist in 20 years? Will we remain relevant? Who will our customers be and what kind of information will they need?

We have assembled a stellar list of presenters to help us begin to imagine various future scenarios. We have carefully selected presenters who are willing to engage in a dialogue with the people attending this conference, because we believe that the conversations that take place and the connections that people make with one another at this conference will coalesce into the transformative force that propels libraries into the future.

 

And we’re off!

Postcards have been sent and messages delivered to listservs all around the country and the response is already fantastic. Roz Pelcyger, Director of the Glen Rock Public Library was one of the first to respond sending this message, “The topic and speakers sound fascinating and the Borgata is an exciting and luxurious hotel- sign me up!” Don’t be shy, let us know you are coming by leaving a comment to this post.

 

Ray with resident Mikhail Gorbachev

Ray Kurzweil having lunch with President Mikhail Gorbachev on April 12, 2005 at
the Massachusetts Software Council annual meeting (Ray is on the MSC Board of Trustees).
Credit: Courtesy of Kurzweil Technologies, Inc.

 

Ray talks about AI…

“Ray walked on stage, played a composition on an old upright piano, and then whispered to I’ve Got a Secret host Steve Allen “I built my own computer”.

“Well that’s impressive,” Steve Allen replied, “but what does that have to do with the piece you just played?” Ray then whispered the rest of his secret: “The computer composed the piece I just played.” During the yes or no questions, former Miss America Bess Myerson was stumped, but film star Henry Morgan, the second celebrity panelist, guessed Ray’s secret.

This high school project was Ray Kurzweil’s first endeavor in the field of “pattern recognition,” which Ray describes as “that part of the AI field where we teach computers to recognize abstract patterns, a capability that dominates human thinking.