Netspeed 2009: Big Worlds & New Literacies

A number of Chinook Arch staff attended the Netspeed 2009 Conference last week in Calgary.  The aim of the Netspeed conference, hosted by The Alberta Library, is "Connecting libraries to cutting-edge technologies".  Among the keynote speakers was Margaret Mackey, Professor in the School of Library and Information Studies, at the University of Alberta. 

Margaret's talk was on "Big Worlds and & New Literacies".  The talk discussed the idea of the "Big World" - an information universe that doesn't stop at the borders of a single text.  Examples of Big Worlds include a series of books or films, a field of study, a text with a variety of spin offs, or a text that has been opened up by fan responses.  The idea is that the reader does not want the story to end at the end of the book.  They look for other ways to engage with the story, and there are MANY examples of how readers are participating in Big World reading.

Margaret identified 4 qualities of digiital world texts:

1. Porousness - reading and writing, speaking and listening are no longer separate activities.  Texting is a good example of this.  It has both characteristics of writing and speaking.  Facebook is another example. 
2. Hybridity - the resulting texts of the types of activities that are described above.  Cathy's Book by Sean Stewart is a good example.  A fictional story that includes real web addresses, phone numbers and more.  Readers can actually call Cathy's voicemail.
3. Slipperiness - stories that are created to mutate.  For examples, stories created by a group of people, such as multi-player online role-playing games.  Another example is the Penguin wiki novel - a project called A Million Penguins in which a web space has been created where anyone can contribute to the writing of a novel and anyone can edit anyone else's writing.
4. Unfinished - the story is never really over; the limits to what constitutes a story proper are not clear anymore.  A good example of this is fan fiction, where fans don't want to see the story end so they create endless ongoing stories for their favorite characters and settings.

Margaret ended her talk by asking what this means for libraries.  She did not attempt to give us the answers, but instead encourages librarians to think about what role we might play for Big World readers (an ever increasing population). 

We loved Margaret's talk so much that we immediately invited her to present at the Southern Alberta Library Conference.  It is people like Margaret who force us to think a little bit "outside the box" and encourage the unique and innovative services that libraries provide.  We look forward to Margaret's participation in our conference as we feel this topic fits well with our theme Libraries: Where the Wild Things Are.

(Posted by Terra)

Teen Read Week - Read Beyond Reality

This week is Teen Read Week! The theme, Read Beyond Reality, "encourages teens to read something out of this world, just for the fun of it." For more details, please visit:http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/teenreading/trw/trw2009/home.cfm

It's not too late to set up a science fiction display to encourage teens o use your library. For ideas on books to include, check out the Sci-Fi Book List on the Teen Reading Club website. Many of the books included on this list were recommended by teens themselves!
http://www.teenrc.ca/booklists?tid=2598&title=&field_book_author_value=&field_series_value=&uid=

Women's History Month

Did you know that on October 18, 1929 the Persons Case was settled when the Privy Council in England declared that Canadian women were indeed 'persons' under the law and could be appointed to the Senate? 
In commemoration of this event and of Women's History Month why not put out a special display to celebrate women?  
Want more information on Women's History Month? Visit Status of Women Canada.

Celebrate Canadian Library Month @ your library!

Ok , so I know that it's already mid-October, but it's not too late to celebrate Canadian Library Month!  This year’s theme is: Your Library: Your World, so why not show your community how important libraries are.  Libraries are part of everyone’s world and this is your chance to encourage people to use their local library.

Here some ideas for celebrating from Consulting Services:

• Have an open house to highlight library resources
• Library card promotions
• Invite local artists, politicians, business people etc. to speak up about the value of the library
• Invite a local author to do a reading or book signing 
• Booktalk at a local school
• Send our a special edition of your newsletter
• Put an article about the library in your local newspaper 
• Put up a special display that highlights a part of the collection that is unique
• Organize library tours
• Hold a reading contest
• Host a family reading night 

The library is a very important part of our communities, so spread the word!!  For more information on Canadian Library Month you can visit http://www.cla.ca/clm09/ .

If your library is participating in Canadian Library Month, post a comment and tell us about it!

Welcome!

In an effort to provide the best service to you, our member libraries, we have launched this blog.  In it we (Terra, Lauren and Kerby) will write about a variety of topics related to librarianship, rural libraries and the library world at large.  Fun right!?
We will also keep you abreast to the latest developments here at Chinook Arch HQ as they relate to your libraries.
So check back often to find out what's new!
If you would like to comment, please do!  If you would like to become a "guest blogger" or have something you would like us to blog about, please let us know.
Enjoy!