Lowrider Librarian

We live in a time unprecedented for information and knowledge in management and organizational cultures. Systems theory and other theories of organizational innovation state that there must be open channels of communication in the organization. Yet, today we use organizational communication based on the memo to communicate for the most part. With the technology available today it is easy to increase communication in your organization even with a tight budget. I am going to talk about 10 things one can do with technology to facilitate communication, either externally or internally. The applications are free and just take the investment of time/labor to get them going. 1) Start a blog. Yes, I know, everyone has heard this before. However, there are so many blogs that are boring or irrelevant. Make your blog interesting--invite guest posters who cover different aspects of your organization. You can even bring in guest bloggers who are external to your organization. Blogs can imp...

Twitter for Organizations Right now you're probably thinking, "Oh, no, not ANOTHER Twitter® tutorial!" Well, yes, this IS a Twitter® tutorial, but we're going to dig a little deeper. We'll cover the basics, then move on to organizational uses and searching. I'm hoping to impart some ideas and enthusiasm to friends in the library community as well as anyone else who might benefit. This tutorial takes for granted that the reader is already familiar with Twitter® and has a user account. For those who are not, and don't, a cheat sheet follows. The site address is http://Twitter.com/ . Sign up for an account. Why use Twitter® at all? Twitter® creates a constant stream of updates from important sources. Twitter® is like RSS on steroids, or like having multiple (both local and international) television news reports open all at once, or like having your best friend’s opinions in combination with world famous experts' opinions—all available for questions a...

It is all about relationships.  Even in subject search terms it is about relationships most often.  Lets try to build relationships that are mutually beneficial, create an atmosphere, or community even that allows questions to be asked, information to be shared, collaborations to take place and a structure for future generations.  Since the recent announcement the Criticas is ceasing publication I've been thinking about how to supplement the ensuing vacuum with some meaningful content.  So, to further this endeavor I've started a campaign to contact as many libraries and librarians as I can that speak Spanish, who are on Facebook.  If we build some sort of contact infrastructure, first by communicating with one another, and then implementing strategies to collaborate, share, and aid one another then we will go a long way toward filling the vacuum.  We can leverage the power of networking and collaboration to build something that will not be as threatened an entity as a magazin...

Organizational Communication Infrastructure for Innovation and Progress by Max Macias 11/08 At large organizations, Web 2.0 is being used in internal blogs or social networks. These perform the very useful functions of keeping far-flung employees, teams, and divisions in touch, sharing best practices and other useful information, and serving as a way to train. Organizations are beginning to see the value of these arrangements for more formalized training, as well as informal companywide communications (HR Focus, 2007). One of the requirements for an efficient (profitable?) organization is effective communication. With the influx of information today, new forms of communication are required for organizations. Most contemporary associations I have encountered have late 20 th century forms of communication based on an hierarchical system (I will be kind) from the 19 th century. Today one communicates in a variety of ways based on new tools for communicatio...