Hand-held 3D printing???

This is an interesting concept...drawing 3 dimensionally!  And it sounds like it will be priced in a way to make it accessible.

http://www.springwise.com/style_design/3d-printing-pen-draw-real-objects-existence-raises-usd-2m-kickstarter/

And here is there website: http://www.the3doodler.com/

Should the library have these when they are available?  Should we circulate them in-house?  Let people take them home?  Should they have to pay for the plastic???

MakerSpaces a role for Libraries?

On November 28 a few of us will be attending a MakerSpace meetup and I'm excited to start thinking about what this may mean for us.  Pat just told me that a MakerSpace of some sort is on the Foundation's future fundraising list so it really should be in our future!  Let's do some brainstorming here.

Unglue.it...crowdsource funding to unlock ebooks

https://unglue.it/

I believe this will be a popular model for the majority of authors…not the James Pattersons and the real giants who get so much in royalties (unless they think they have enough) but the folks who write for the joy of writing.  I’m very hopeful about this but also recognize that it will impact libraries significantly.  It may be a way for libraries to form a consortium nationwide (worldwide?) and basically all chip in a few dollars for a book and then it will be available to all.  The problem is that they won’t need to go to the library to gain access to the book…how will we get credit for our contribution?  Circ?


Can we create some amazing interface that will drive customers to want to "check out" these books from us?  Something that takes advantage of the brilliance of our staff?  Perhaps we have a site where the book talk, tagging, descriptions, "read-a-likes," what to read next is so much better than anywhere else, that people come to us to decide which of these free books to check out next?  It sort of cataloging at the next level, true librarianship where the "book people" are our brand rather than just the book?

Entrepreneurial Library Services

Money attracts money, and if we spend money in a way where people can actually see it, it will have the affect of bolstering our efforts to get even more government and grant funding. Counterintuitive, yes, but I think we all know this principle. (Ie - banks only lend money to people who don't really need it, etc.)

In this blog post (with link to original article), the Associate Dean of the University Libraries of Virginia Tech posits some ideas about where libraries are along the Innovators to Laggards spectrum of entrepreneurialism.

In the graphic, an example project for Innovator libraries is experimenting with 3D printing, whereas the Laggards are only now setting up a Facebook page.

What technologies should we be investing in? I've been interested in 3D printing, but I'm even more keen on offering print-on-demand technology. I'd also love to get funding (and space) for a mulitmedia lab for customers to create audio and video projects.

Ultimately, I think it's our responsibility to invest in technology and offer services that are prohibitive to individuals. What other services should we be looking into?

I would be happy to research and start grant writing for these services, by the way.

Raising the Library's Profile - the art of being real

As we move forward into a digital era, it will become more important for libraries to nurture, stengthen and eventually expose its human side. A library's strength will no longer be the gateway to information in an age where any basement computer terminal can lead you to the down the same information pathways. Rather, our strength will be in how our *people* enliven and enrich the lives of other people.

I believe we will have to veer away from a focus on acquiring data and direct our focus on the humans who need that data.

"People are looking for real people who speak from the heart... [l]ibraries have this in spades. We have many stories to tell that will illustrate our value to customers and we should be 'shouting these stories from the rooftops.' " - Audra Caplan, President of the PLA and retired director of Harford County Public Library.

Call for ideas

I have my own ideas about ways we can do this (including putting together librarian profiles outlining who we really are, what our passions are, what we love about library service, etc.), but I'm curious what everyone else thinks. Any other ideas?

ebooks and ereaders?

This is based on no research and really only personal anecdotal OPINION but I believe that ereaders will be short-lived.  Note, I did not say ebooks, but eREADERS!  Currently, I do most of my pleasure reading on my phone.  I need to figure out how to do a poll on here and see what you all do.