Mar₭ the Engaged

Oh man. Thinking of them all. - laura x

Glad to hear he's ok. Thanks for letting us know. - Kirsten

Liking it doesn't make someone cool, either. - josh neff, Fun Dip of FF

Well, no, but then you are pretty cool anyway. ;) And, I don't really mean to imply that one causes or impinges on the other. Maybe it's just a reaction to all the (usual) IL hype. :D - Mar₭ the Engaged

Very true, Josh. - Mar₭ the Engaged

I thought it was just me. :-/ ETA: I mean, I get the spirit of it, and I thought that so many people participated was cool, but I just didn't get it. - cecily

Agreed, Cecily. I appreciate the contribution, if you will, and that a lot of folks participated ... but where was the content? What was the message? No doubt it is there but like all the surveys of kids these days say I am not sitting through 7 & a 1/2 minutes of something for 30 seconds of content. - Mar₭ the Engaged

It is a fun video with lots of cool images and widespread participation. I'm not getting how the phrase "Library 101" effectively conveys the message that libraries need to innovate and use technology to provide access to information, library collections and library services, that libraries need to evolve. I absolutely support this message, I'm just saying that the phrase "Library 101" doesn't encapsulate or represent it for me. - marthalib

That's pretty much how I feel, too, Martha. (Well, I also think libraries *are* evolving, & worries about libraries "going extinct" are a bit extreme.) - josh neff, Fun Dip of FF

I was looking for the "About." The PR blurb. The bit you can point your boss at. - Betsy (bentley) Vera

Okay, I've been poking around more on the site. This list of skills provides useful context for the phrase: http://www.libraryman.com/blog... - marthalib

I'm actually glad to find this thread. To be upfront, I made the video, so there is that. And of course David King and I both hope ppl like it. But we knew it wouldn't be for everybody. I appreciate the feedback like this tho because, frankly, we are just learning as we go along. We believe in what we said and we tried our best. And that is all we can do. Personally, I was thinking more about Spinal Tap than actually thinking we were anything close to really "cool". I wish that came across more to everyone. - Michael Porter

But here's the thing: we just love libraries, are experimenting and saying what we believe. Also, as marthalib pointed out, we did add the 101 "RTK" page, plus, the essay pages have some really good stuff in them, and in the few critiques I've found ppl don;t mention them yet: http://www.libraryman.com/blog... And all over the place on the pages we invite ppl to leave feedback, addition info and their own thoughts. We know we don;t have it all right and need help, and we ask for it! - Michael Porter

I know it isn't perfect, but man, we did this in our own "free" time and worked our butts off on it. We tried hard to make it respectful, accurate, motivating and pointed. All I can say is we tired really hard and did our best. Again I appreciate being able to read this and learn from it and I thank you guys for being detailed in your feedback and, you know, not just going all "smashy smashy" on all of it. :) - Michael Porter

I'll also add that another reason I didn't get it is because most of the librarians I know (myself included, not that I'm some kind of special snowflake) already have these skills. My naivete and lack of library experience is showing, but it didn't resonate because it seemed so obvious that in today's library - and tomorrow's - these skills should be commonplace. In my experience, it's not necessarily the tech skills (or passion) that is lacking, it's leadership that is falling short. - cecily

But I'll say again that I appreciate the effort and the passion that the creators threw into this project. That's something to be applauded for sure. - cecily

Linking this thread as it got mentioned as a "counterpoint" to this one: http://friendfeed.com/lsw... Absolutely no idea why. - Mar₭ the Engaged

Michael, I fully appreciate the work David and you (and any others) put into your video and the site. No doubt about that. I am sincerely glad you guys are enthused and are doing things to attempt to raise the profile of libraries and librarians! The simple fact is that many of us prefer our content in different ways/formats and some of us prefer a fair amount of "meat" where others prefer less. - Mar₭ the Engaged

As to the video, well, they generally do not speak to me. I watch very little video on the internet. I love film/cinema/movies but the vast majority of internet video has so far left me cold. As to the web site, what is up with that time consuming loading sequence? It's kind of cool the 1st time but since it happens *every time* I return to the main page it gets beyond old quick. As for... more... - Mar₭ the Engaged

Hey Mark, David and I tried to make the song as meaty as we could, but also entertaining and at the very least palatable. I wrote the largest percentage of the lyrics and David and I poured over them to try and have them work with the music but also tell a story. And it was a difficult task for sure. As the song and video became such a major... - Michael Porter

... effort for us (fitting hundreds of still images in a video and making them dynamic was very hard, and something I hadn't ever done before), we both were concerned that many folks would see the video (like they did with the last video) but not have other value added content. So we worked on getting the essays and building out the 101 resources on the "RTK" page.... - Michael Porter

...For the web page, we actually hired someone to do that for us. I don't have the technical chops or the time to do some of what was done with those pages and we wanted to make it as good as we could in the time we had (there was a serious crush there at the end). I think your critique makes sense though. But even with that, I think David and I are both feeling a little fried (and... more... - Michael Porter

I'll have another look at the video this weekend, Michael. Perhaps I just missed some of the content, as in maybe there is more than it seemed to me when watching it the 1st time. Sorry you guys are fried and broke from the effort. And I sincerely did not mean my lack of enthusiasm--or specific critiques--as a personal criticism of either of you. - Mar₭ the Engaged

Coming back home last night, David and I saw quite a few negative comments, and while we talked about knowing that would happen, it feels different when it actually happens. I'm glad we've had some back ad forth here though and thank you guys for it. I don't think this thread was hurtful though I really am glad we had it. - Michael Porter

so, uh, like to be challenged in your work much? - Christina Pikas

I love challenges! Especially intellectual challenges. But this is more akin to an honest challenge as "What have I got in my pocket?" is to an honest riddle. ;) - Mar₭ the Engaged

oh, i know, i just re-read my comment ... i didn't mean it that way -i meant to be funny like - there's challenging and there's freakin impossible - like reading something in another alphabet by using an undergrad in physics' knowledge of greek letters. ok, pi, maybe sounds like p, phi maybe sounds like f... but the little b in Ukrainian - hah! that makes something before it softer ?!?! and then string it together and get a word in Ukrainian which I don't speak - Christina Pikas

Congratulations! - Jenica

Thanks, Jenica! - Mar₭ the Engaged

Congratulations! :) - Laura B coughin'

That's wonderful news! Congratulations! - Jill is sugar free

Thanks, LB and Jill! - Mar₭ the Engaged

Congratulations! - Stephen Francoeur

congrats! - Sir Shuping

Congratulations! What wonderful news. I wish you both a lifetime of happiness together. - Meredith

Thanks, Stephen, Sir Shuping and Meredith! - Mar₭ the Engaged

I'm very happy for you both. - Steve is older than ever

THAT'S AWESOME! - Christina Pikas

Thanks, Steve and Christina! - Mar₭ the Engaged

Yay! Congrats to both of you! - Kårín Dalzĭel

Congrats. - Walt Crawford

Thanks, Walt! - Mar₭ the Engaged

By the by everyone, Sara is not ignoring anybody but is involved in meetings & such all day with the Mortenson Associates so is mostly offline. - Mar₭ the Engaged

Congratulations! - Mark Jepsen

Thanks, Karin and Mark! - Mar₭ the Engaged

Congratulations! - Betsy (bentley) Vera

Thanks, Betsy! - Mar₭ the Engaged

Congrats, Mark. Good stuff. - Greg Schwartz

Thanks, Greg! And if I missed thanking anyone I am sorry; not intentional. Thank you, all! - Mar₭ the Engaged

congratulations to you both!!! - Stephanie_GoBigBlue!

Thanks, Stephanie! - Mar₭ the Engaged

Congratulations, Mark! - Emma

Thanks, Emma! - Mar₭ the Engaged

My best to you both! - laura x