I Love Public Libraries
Posted On Mar 22 2010Two more firsts for me this year. After several years of near-misses, I’m finally making it to the PLA Conference in Portland. I also decided to join PLA this year. Having been on the LITA Board for 6 years (3 as an officer), I have heard many times about the expense of professional affiliations. I’ve always paid my own way for ALA and Divisional memberships, which I find to be a bargain compared to other professions. In previous years, I could not think of a good reason to join PLA. But then my job changed at the same time I …
Global Web Scale
Posted On Mar 1 2010I just got back from the first ever OCLC EMEA Regional Council meeting in The Netherlands. Much has been written and discussed regarding OCLC’s governance changes, but that is not really what I wanted to address. This meeting was the best I have ever seen for non-US participants and members for OCLC. And I’m not just saying that because OCLC’s Web-scale strategy was a central part of the discussion. OK, that is why I’m saying it. “EMEA”–Europe, Middle East, and Africa–is completely an American invention, used to simplify business dealings across an entire region. OCLC certainly didn’t invent it, but …
Time Flying and Fun Having
Posted On Jan 8 2010I woke up yesterday slightly startled by the realization that it was my two year anniversary with OCLC. A lot has happened in those two years. Besides all the personal adjustments, which of course are not trivial, work has been unbelievably busy and rewarding. But don’t take my word for it–apparently moving library management services to the cloud attracted a lot of attention last year as thenumber one story at Library Journal. But the year was more than a news releases, we’ve actually got working software and it’s being tested by the initial pilot libraries. We’ve got great engagement from …