Future Ready Libraries are Diverse

This blog post spoke about the need for libraries to represent the diverse population that they serve. For hiring committees, instead of asking if the candidate fits into the organizational culture, leadership needs to embrace differences and be willing to change.

This is an important consideration for all libraries in Florida. The growth of Hispanic populations in Florida is evident, and professional librarians who reflect this culture are necessary for the profession.

Future Ready: Libraries are Diverse by Charlene Johnson

http://futureready365.sla.org/12/13/future-ready-libraries-are-diverse/

Quotable Notables

From Information Today, it had some pretty interesting quotes about e-books. David Prichard, CEO on Ingrams said "People think of the world as being digital or print, but it really digital and print."

David Bowers, VP of Oxford UP said "In the future, libraries will provide apps as much as they are providing ebooks to today."

Tracy Armstrong, President of Copyright Clearance Center said "Usage is no longer stopping at the border, so neither is licensing."

Some pretty interesting ideas about the futures of libraries. The one overriding message is that libraries are dedicated to providing information to people, it is just the means of delivery is changing.

Think tank creativity

This interesting article from the New Yorker speaks about the history and need for creativity and shared ideas. The concept of the think tank is that for creativity to flow, a safe, non-judgmental envirnoment must be nurtured. Despite the outlandish ideas that can be proposed, it is important to permit the free flow of ideas. Studies have concluded that brain storming doesn't led to improved creativity, but group think is still popular and increasingly important in team oriented organizational structures.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/01/30/120130fa_fact_lehrer

Leadership by Capt Kirk

This interesting article talks about leadership lessons learened from Capt Kirk. Some advise was to go on away missions, blow up the Enterprise occassionlly, enjoy those bickering arguments between McCoy and Spock, and keep learning. While whimsical, there are some good lessons. Go on away missions translates to get out the office, get out from behind the desk, and find out what is going on. Blowing up the Enterprise is a metaphor to do a radical change, if what is status quo is not working, regardless of the emotional attachments involved. As a leader, it is important to get differing points of views (McCoy and Spock) and always keep learning.


http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2012/03/05/five-leadership-lessons-from-james-t-kirk/

Cloud Legislation

Microsoft in Jan 2010 pushed for more legislation of cloud computing. Because of the nature of the cloud, it has legal problems. Firstly, the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act is woefully outdated and needs serious revisions. Also, jurisdiction of cloud correspondence is a quagmire. If someone in NJ sends an email to someone in FL, but the cloud server is in NY, who has jurisdiction? It is even more tangled if the cloud server is located internationally, since there is no standardization.

Since different nations have various concepts of privacy, companies, like the medical providers are very reluctant to go to the cloud, for fear of violating patient confidential records. Different jurisdictions in the US have different laws about sharing personal information. Shared standards would be important for this.

The Cloud Computing Act, still be drafted, could address many of these issues, at least in the United States. Getting international legislation that is standardized is another question.

It is more than obvious that updates in electronic communications laws are critical. Cloud storage is estimated to be a many billion dollar industry, lets get the laws in place to regulate this.