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Jolene Bennett posted this in Lib, IM, KM on March 29th, 2013 This poster was developed by: Adrienne Charette, Grimsby Public Library
Learn about the Library’s Grimsby Grows Seed Library project. Started with the support of the Niagara Community Foundation and the Richmond Public Library in California, library users borrow vegetable seeds to plant at home. They are encouraged harvest seed from their plants to be returned to the library for the next growing season. Find out how the project was started and how and why you might want to start a seed library at your library.
 We are very excited about participating in a new event in Toronto on Tuesday May 14th at the Bram & Bluma Appel Salon, Building Smarter Organizations. It’s an intimate and interactive one-day event to discuss, network, and learn to spark creative and innovative solutions for organizations using enterprise social networking. It’s for leaders, knowledge managers, technologists, learning / training experts, innovators, business designers, strategists, social business gurus, communications and human resources specialists — all those who want to expand their thinking, increase their network and get some practical tips to make their organization smarter.
People in smart organizations share what they know more easily, learn faster, innovate more. That means the organization is able to spot and exploit opportunities, manage risks, operate efficiently, and be more productive. Using a new approach to leadership and leveraging new technology like social networking means people are more engaged with the organization’s purpose and the flow of ideas and knowledge is maximized into and around the organization.
Check out the website for more program details and to see the terrific line up of speakers! And if you can’t join us in person, join our LinkedIn group.
Jolene Bennett posted this in Blog Posts on March 25th, 2013 This poster was developed by: Sandra Kendall, Mount Sinai Hospital
In response to the Ethiopian Government’s aim to train 5,000 specialist MDs and PhDs and 10,000 Masters graduates by 2018, the Toronto Addis Ababa Academic Collaboration (TAAAC) was established to co-build capacity and sustainability in graduate programming at Addis Ababa University (AAU). Enhancing Library Sciences at the College of Health Sciences, AAU is essential to successfully support the expansion of graduate programming. The program for clinical medical librarians will build capacity in library literacy skills, including the accessing of up-to-date information, with foundational knowledge and appraising the evolving literature in evidence-based medicine (EBM) and critical thinking skills to support medical faculty and trainees. UofT medical librarians provide onsite training at AAU over a series of visits starting in 2011 to reinforce and sustain newly acquired medical library skills.
This poster was developed by: Tony Onorato, Fanshawe College, Library & Media Services
Can students find your library’s website? Even if you have invested resources into creating a great library website, students won’t use it if they can’t find it! During our 2012 website redesign, we examined the number of user actions required to access the library from Fanshawe’s homepage. We compared this to the number of actions required at other Ontario colleges, plus forty-six other partner institutions. Usability testing, student feedback and the corresponding research have discovered a gap in accessing the library at Fanshawe and other Ontario colleges. In doing so, we are deterring and disenfranchising students from accessing the library, when we should be creating more user-friendly access pathways, to draw students away from nonacademic resources.
 
Jolene Bennett posted this in Change & Innovation on March 21st, 2013 Move change forward? Really?
Yes, really. If you’re frustrated trying to move a project, strategy, or initiative forward you’re not alone. Change is hard, but experienced leaders, movers, and shakers seem to know how to move mountains, even in the most challenging environments.
Join 4 change makers to go beyond the library echo chamber to learn how new ideas succeed, scale, and fail in business, government, and non-profits, and then apply these insights to your situation.
Leo Mullen, CEO of Navigation Arts, will share insights from his 25 year career of guiding technology change initiatives at organizations as diverse as the Smithsonian Institution, Marriott International, and the U.S. Department of State. Leo is a tireless visionary who insists on finding solutions that work for users and organizations.
Lawrence Swiader works at the intersection of technology, media, and social change. Larry is the Senior Director of Digital Media at The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy where he leads the astonishing Bedsider program which makes use of new media to change the reproductive health behaviors of young adults. Larry consults for the Greek government on infrastructure and cultural projects, and previously he was the CIO of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Archivist Kate Theimer, best known through her successful books, blogging and writing at Archives Next, will describe what she’s learned from projects that failed, and what the impediments to change in libraries, museums, and archives looks like from the outside and the inside.
Who is the 4th change maker? None other than workshop facilitator Michael Peter Edson, the Director of Web and New Media Strategy at the Smithsonian Institution. He’s joined by Rebecca Jones, a partner at CIL 2013 organizers Dysart & Jones Associates.
 
Hilton Washington, DC @ CIL 2013 on April 7, 2013 1:30 – 4:30 #cildcchange
Register Here (Select W13 – “Move Change Forward”)
This poster was developed by: Cindy Li, University of Regina
There are many different ways to manage subject data in library system. But how to integrate them, make them work together and have one stop access for patrons is a big challenge. This poster will use one example –GIS (Geographic information system) research project to show the steps. The display will include how we export data from Voyager, import into Pinterest, and then link to LibGuides, which is followed by twitter and links with LibCal. Faculty and students will access GIS resource and related event in one place. It is helpful for research and study.
Stephen Abram posted this in Leadership, Learning on March 18th, 2013 Jane posted a note about elevator speeches last week. Here’s some additional process that puts the elevator speech into context.
Over the past few years we have heard a lot about the special role of elevator speeches – those sound bites when you have the ear of a key decision maker or influencer for a few floors. We’re told to craft a few short stories or facts and install them in the heads of these folks. Then, magically, good things could happen. There are even many examples of where this strategy worked. I love this tactic, but let’s remember that it’s just a micro-skill and we can’t leave our communication strategies up to chance encounters. Let’s learn how to make our own magical moments. What would be steps to moving into deeper conversations with our decision-makers and key influencers? There are two simple things we need to know first.
How do ideas grow?
Sometimes new ideas look like they arrive fully blown. They don’t. People follow a very specific process whereby they come to accept new ideas. It’s a simple five step process. First, you need to have the awareness that some product, process or concept exists. Advertising and PR helps here. Then, and don’t neglect this step, they have to be interested in it. This isn’t always the case. If you’re not interested in reality TV, no amount of awareness activities will engage you in the next step, evaluation. This is your first major yes/no step. Will I invest any more energy in knowing more about this idea by researching or trying it? Would I even invest as little energy as typing the word into Google? Getting to trial moves your target audience of decision-makers from evaluation to the point where they can make a decision about adoption. So, understand this short process: awareness, interest, evaluation, trial, adoption. It’s known by the initialism, AIDA. When you ask someone with power to adopt your ideas, invest time and effort in supporting, financing or discussing them, without filling in the first four steps, you’re more likely to fail.
This process can happen very fast. For example, a new chocolate bar with an exciting flavour can get from awareness through adoption in seconds. I just discovered dark chocolate M&M’s. Time from awareness to stomach – minutes! Now, suppose the new ideas are a suite of complex processes and technologies like 3D printing, digital experiences, or intranet repositories. We’ll see the market taking years to absorb and integrate the solutions promise here.
Second tip: Your idea needs to have five qualities to be more easily acceptable to the people you desire to invest their enterprise’s energy and money in. Overall, the idea’s benefits must be visible in some way. This visibility can be tangible or intangible but it’s best to make sure you can speak to all five. First, your innovation should be able to demonstrate a relative advantage over how things are done now. It should be compatible with current behaviors or show steps that lay a path from the old ways to the new. Compatibility with current modes was why bank machines started on the outside of banks instead of in more convenient places. The relative advantage was that you had 24/7 access to your account. Complexity is an issue for markets. How can you make something less complex than the way it’s done now? Online banking is arguably less complex, but only after the target client has acquired the technology, web skills and done the account set-up. Hence, we see slower than desired adoption for the banks and new competitors who aren’t anchored in legacy systems. Trialability is a key strategy. It was easy to try M&M’s. I even paid for the privilege. The same is not necessarily true for OpenURL fulltext access, mobile apps or targeted federated search. Lastly, observability is an important aspect of the adoption process. Can you show the change through demonstration? Can you show other users having successful experiences? Is your environment so unique that you can’t find another enterprise or a metaphor to show your innovation idea in action? Either way, by using these five insights, you are now empowered with some keys to convincing others about what makes your ideas for innovation interesting.
So, what are the next steps after you’ve baited the hook with your elevator speech – making sure you have been interesting, intriguing and included a call to action…? I like to think about these as steps in developing a new relationship. Not quite dating but still getting to know each other better.
The Starbucks Latté Chat
Nearly everyone likes one of the ubiquitous Starbucks™ beverages. Slyly insert into casual conversations, a query about what their favorite Starbucks is. Is it different in summer? Do they change their choice from morning through evening? Do they actually prefer Seattle’s Best or Tim Horton’s? Then, later, call them when you know they’ll be Jonesing for a fix and ask them out for 15 minutes and you’ll treat them to their favorite Starbucks. What do you get? 15 minutes instead of an elevator ride. It’ll be the best five bucks you ever spent. Be prepared to be social and listen and have your ideas ready too. Pick them up at their desk so you have the walking time too. And don’t put all your eggs in one basket, make sure you repeat this with influencers and decision makers.
The Hot Dog
Graduate to the Hot Dog Stand. This is perhaps an urban trick where quick lunches of NY cut fries and kosher hot dogs on the street are part of the downtown and business district cultural fabric. Maybe there’s something similar on campus or in your town. Anyway, this gives you half an hour to chat and plan together. You also get to know each other better too. Your goal might be transferring ideas, excitement and information or planning a future larger meeting. Either way, you now have a deeper relationship with people who matter. You might even make a friend but in any event you’ll have a closer colleague. You’re entering the inner circle’s orbit.
Lunch, Dinner and Social Events
As you earn the right to be part of the team, you’ll have more opportunities. Just remember not to be all business, all the time. People want professional relationships with other people, not fellow employees.
The Meeting
Now you’re there. You have several people who matter primed to hear your big ideas in a more fulsome manner than an elevator speech or a budget line item discussion. This is your chance to shine and bring in the big guns – formal PowerPoints and handouts and a request for more consideration and alignment with the organization’s bigger strategies. You can do it. You’ve already worked the room!
Keeping the Energy Flowing
Lastly, here’s just one last piece of advice for you. This isn’t a budget strategy, it’s almost always wrong to introduce new ideas in the formal financial side of the budgeting process. That’s where cuts happen, not investments. New program investments happen throughout the year in thousands of small conversations and strategic planning meetings. Be political and keep your mind on the long term goal. Align yourself with the enterprise’s most exciting goals.
Here’s some additional links that might be helpful:
A Librarian’s Guide to the Elevator Pitch by Elyssa Kroski
Here are some resources to help you do that.
Tools:
The Harvard Business School Elevator Pitch Builder Application – Harvard Business School
15-Second Elevator Pitch Wizard – 15-SecondPitch.com
Articles:
The Perfect (Elevator) Pitch – BusinessWeek
How to Perfect an Elevator Pitch About Yourself – Harvard Business Review
The Art of the Elevator Pitch: 10 Great Tips – ReadWriteWeb
How To Craft A Job Search Elevator Pitch – Forbes
Elevator Pitch 101 – Elevator Pitch Essentials
10 Steps to Pitch Yourself and Elevate Your Career – JobsDB
How to Craft a Killer Elevator Pitch – Lifehacker
Video:
How to Perfect the Elevator Pitch
I wrote about elevator pitches and more a few years ago. Here’s a link to that article:
Beyond Elevator Speeches! A Process for Influence
by Stephen Abram, Information Outlook, November 2006
http://stephenslighthouse.com/files/IOColumn_53.pdf
Stephen
Jolene Bennett posted this in Lib, IM, KM on March 15th, 2013 Engaging Patrons: Fightback on the 2012 Toronto Budget
This poster was developed by: Maureen O’Reilly & Viveca Gretton; TPLWU Local 4948
Libraries and librarianship are under attack but popular resistance has been strong. The Toronto Public Library Workers (TPLWU) Local 4948 (CUPE) lead a successful community fightback campaign to the Ford administration’s 2012 austerity budget. Learn more about the tools of the campaign, the players – including Toronto literati, and the suspenseful vote at city hall that ended in a successful conclusion.
Jane Dysart posted this in Leadership on March 14th, 2013  For more than 20 years, most recent Dysart & Jones associate Stephen Abram, and I have been encouraging those in the information industry to be able to articulate their value in the time it takes an elevator to move through a building. If you happen to get someone on the elevator and can start a conversation, what do you want them to remember? Do you have a sound bite ready?
Recently in Toronto a group of start-ups were given the chance to pitch to investors in the time it takes to go from the ground to the top of the CN Tower. One of our friends was involved, unfortunately he didn’t win. However, the winner just posted a great article with wonderful tips (which I hope she doesn’t mind me copying here). Noura Sakkijha is the co-founder of Mejuri, a Toronto-based startup that uses crowdsourcing to allow jewellery designers to take their designs to market and jewelry lovers to influence which designs get manufactured. Menjuri won the Elevator World Tour at the CN Tower earlier this year. Her tips for painting a picture of your value proposition:
1. Do your homework
Know your audience and tailor your pitch accordingly. Research the investors you are pitching to, take a look at their investment portfolio and understand what they’re looking for and emphasize these points in your pitch.
2. Structure your Pitch
If your business model is similar to an already established company or a company that is gaining a lot of attention, don’t be afraid to mention that. For example “Mejuri is the threadless.com of the fine jewelry industry.” This automatically simplifies your pitch as it sums up your business model in a few words.
- Start with stating a problem that your company solves.
- Explain how your company solves that problem.
- List your core competencies and competitive advantages.
- Then, transition into explaining where you currently are in your plan.
- Conclude with what your next steps are (my rationale around that is even if you don’t land a deal, someone might be able to help you achieve your next steps).
3. Keep it simple
Use simple words that flow easily. I think this is important because it allows you to remember your pitch, and it makes it easier to grab peoples’ attention.
4. Practice, Practice, Practice
Once you are comfortable with your pitch – practice, practice, practice! Pitch to your friends, your team members, or even to yourself. Even though I know my company inside-out and
I’m passionate about presenting it, I find that practice is very important to help me stay focused on my pitch while I’m in the act of giving one (especially when you have 58 seconds to summarize everything, you need to have your words flow easily and quickly).
5. Relax and go
Before you pitch, take a deep breath and demonstrate your passion! Every entrepreneur I know is in love with their company – show that passion and enthusiasm when you pitch your idea.
Jolene Bennett posted this in Lib, IM, KM on March 12th, 2013 This poster was developed by: Karin Davidson-Taylor, Royal Botanical Gardens
 Imagine being able to connect with experts globally without having to go further than your local library. Videoconferencing is an innovative technology that enables you to interact in real-time with cultural organizations as well as other libraries throughout North America and beyond. Explore how you can collaborate with other libraries, provide engaging education sessions for patrons including seniors and children, or extend this service to community organizations. School and academic libraries can support and enhance teachers’ lessons with curriculum-connected interactions. Come with your questions and leave with enthusiasm to discover how you might use videoconferencing in your library.
To learn more about RBG Virtual Field Trips: http://archive.rbg.ca/pages/evirtualfieldtrips.html
  
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