Thanks for the note. I’d like to believe I’m getting really good at minimalist editing: I did almost nothing to the DBL pieces in order to combine them into a single essay.

On one hand, no, people won’t need to register to read that article. Only protected articles require registration–as does any actual new content. Most new articles aren’t protected, as a matter of policy, unless protection is requested by the author or the content is licensed third-party content.

On the other: I hope people take your advice and register–and come back and contribute!

When my Director and I first discussed my title, we thought about Outreach Librarian, but I’m also responsible for technology. Then we thought of Digital Services Librarian, but I don’t rely on technology for everything. When we heard of other libraries having UX Librarians, it seemed like a perfect fit. So while I agree that the UX Librarian title might be the current fad and incorrectly used at many libraries, in my case it does a great job of actually telling someone what it is that I do everyday.

Of course, coming up with a new title is one thing. Getting our administration to officially change it is another.

“Hard fun” is defined as that point between being too easy and too hard. With ‘good’ video games you have this element and you are also challenged over time and are pushed to another level; you adjust your behavior over time, and you have some degree of control over your environment (you have the ability to save your state).

Children who play video games can process tremendous amounts of visual information. They have a different expectation for how they interact with information.

For today’s ILS, the most problematic feature is that we don’t have a compelling narrative (unless it’s a personal narrative of having to get the research done!).

These points and Gee’s principles are food for thought for academic academic librarians trying to address library instruction. You can look at these points on a macro level as well, I think. For instance, building progressive modules for library/research instruction into the curriculum of, say, a psychology course of study speaks to Gee’s fourth point in your post. (Skills taught in a 200 level course form the foundation of the skills to be learned in a 300 level course.) This macro view isn’t always apparent to the student, however, and I think we lose students along the way; they aren’t aware of the meta-narrative (the payoff at the end) that drives the ‘game’ of research, or don’t take it to heart or something. Or we librarians don’t always do a good job of keeping the narrative alive or in focus.

Thanks for the post and for making me think some more about this topic.

For example, we limit the number of internet sessions for one person during our busiest time, right after school and early evening. When some staff choose to ignore this rule — even when a computer seems to be available — two minutes later someone who hasn’t been on at all that day can’t use a computer for at least an hour, maybe for job hunting or email.

Scarce resources need to be distributed as fairly as possible. We have a number of patrons who really know how to work the system to their advantage, and that’s WITHIN the rules! It would be different in a perfect world where we had all the computers, study rooms, electrical outlets for laptops, quiet tutor zones, and other resources that anybody wanted, but we simply don’t.

Rules that *I* would like to eliminate are the ones that make people angry, but that we have a historical bias toward as a public library: no cell phones, no beverages, no snacks, etc. (I will continue to support “no smoking”, though!!) In our library, the Director’s stance about food and drink, inclluding a cafe, is that it won’t be considered until we have a full-time custodian, which is reasonable.

Other rules, such as the unattended children policy, are to protect the Library from liability in case of problems. We live in a litigious society.
It’s a hard call…

We did come up with a solution, which is to issue a family card where the account number is shared by all family members. But first you have to cool them down enough for them to hear the offer.

I love how we (the collective “Big We”) are constantly shooting ourselves in the foot (feet?)