I am now a persona

an image describing a casual mountain biker persona

Talk about a role reversal! Instead of thinking of our library users as personas, I have become a persona myself. This semester my business students have been researching the outdoor recreation industry. For their third project of the semester, the ~400 students did a marketing consulting project for the Bailey's Mountain Bike Trail System. Quite... Continue Reading →

April 23, 2019 0

Using Screencast-o-matic as a simple video editor

David Lee King posted some great suggestions for video editing tools. One application that he left off his very-comprehensive list is Screencast-O-Matic. I've used SOM for several years to record the screencasts for my YouTube video tutorials and I have recently started using SOM to edit my videos as well. This has allowed me to... Continue Reading →

April 19, 2019 0

So long to the Business Blog

a screenshot of the Business Blog website

Sometime this summer I will be shuttering the Business Blog, my WordPress website that I've used to provide tips, tricks, and tools to business researchers across the planet since 2004. This has been a tough decision, but I am excited about exploring other methods to create and deliver my instructional content. Here I address the highlights and challenges of using WordPress as a library research guide.

April 16, 2019 0

Library Service Desks and User Experience

A picture of a notepad with writing of "user experience desk"

As reference interactions declined, libraries have cut, modified, or reduced reference services. This means that librarians have to find new ways to keep in touch with the general library user. Our frontline user services staff can be advocates for general library user experience.

April 12, 2019 3

Does Google ignore women’s sports?

Wow, Google hates women, that’s stupid”, observed my 10-year-old son. Needless to say, Google needs to get with the program. My son gets it. So should you.

April 10, 2019 0

I’m an old school video guy

IGTV is "a new app for watching long-form, vertical video from your favorite Instagram creators." I realize that IGTV from Instagram probably has an audience, but I'm not yet convinced it's for me. Call me old school, but I'm quite concerned about an outbreak of VVS. Are you not concerned, too? Vertical Video Syndrome... Continue Reading →

June 26, 2018

Cheers to my ALA friends

This weekend, thousands of librarians will descend upon the city of New Orleans for the American Library Association annual conference. It's a big deal in our profession, and for the first time in ages, I'm not there. There's a number of reasons I decided not to go, but they all boil down to just... Continue Reading →

June 22, 2018

Library Voice