I must confess to experiencing some difficulty keeping up with all the posts from Friday – already?? you ask – and so if I miss anyone in this summary, please accept my apologies. It’s the usual case of human operator failure, rather than anything else.

The range of topics was definitely impressive. We had posts on professional topics:

• Julia summarised a report on The Value of Libraries for Research and Researchers
• Morgan looked at the case of AFR.com as an example of how not to monetize content
• Mal reviewed an event he attended, Future Smarts: Education for the 21st Century
• Steph wondered why it’s not easier to locate the electronic version of the Australian Federal Government’s Hansard
• Peta shared how she chairs meetings AND writes the minutes at the same time
• Teresa reflected on her library’s contribution to the university campus
• Garrett described new, creative approaches to information literacy

I personally enjoy learning more about all my friends and colleagues by reading their posts on more personal topics. Take, for instance:

• Hoi’s hand drawn image of all the stuff she’s been lugging around in her “old, worn out but well-loved 1990s library bag”
• Polyxena’s musings on recreational reading and the delights of Dorothy L. Sayers
• Katie wrote about Finegan the cat
• Tony posted from Brisbane, where he’s been visting for work
• Fiona reflected on her insomnia, and continued sharing a musical challenge with us
• Sally shared a recipe for okonomiyaki
• Tania pondered her 2011 goals and checked to see how she was going with them
• Kate’s away at Knit Camp
• Corin gave us a lesson on New Zealand politics
• Ghylene on food and chefs
• Sarah posted from the Big Apple

Special mention:

Kris’s post on the Maori new year. I learned something new – had no idea about this celebration.

Lutie’s ‘novel’ (sorry bad pun) way of spending her Friday night.

Elissa writes about her happiness now she has a library membership and access to the info she used to have as a uni student…

And to round it all off, New Grad Librarian says that:

In a large academic library with 160+ staff one has to do something about the information overload and I have found that getting up to speed has come much faster by adopting a ‘nod and smile’ approach and not worrying too much about the details in the first instance. I find that absorbing the culture and the big picture of a new environment (whether it’s a new job, or a new soccer club the kids are involved with) is the quickest way through the confusion of those first few weeks and months.

A great way to learn in a new environment, in my opinion! I’m pondering how to encourage some of my colleagues to foster and be comfortable with this sort of “nodding and smiling” attittude when considering new approaches to how we do things in libraries. We often get hung up on wanting all the information and all the answers upfront and are unwilling to contribute and participate until we feel comfortable. The only problem with that is, we can get left way behind while others create the answers and draw up the maps, and we won’t have had any say in the process…

Great brain food here.

Keep blogging, all!