It’s been awhile, but I wanted to say Yeah! I officially have my MLIS now. Woot!

The graphic includes fun facts about the number of accounts on twitter, types of messages tweeted, international demographics, who has the most followers, etc. It also has a nice time-line of Twitter’s growth since its creation in 2006.

Out of curiosity, I went to Bill Gates’ Wikipedia page, clicked on the ‘history‘ option to see all the revisions and then did a control-F (aka find) for “vandalism.” In the first 500 revisions, I found 22 cases of vandalism — some funny, some probably honest mistakes and some just downright mean. This is a reminder of the speed at which these pages may change and at any moment, you could be reading erroneous information… or see a mustache painted on someone’s picture.

Always double-check your sources for confirmation of information!

- via Student Affairs Collaborative:

I love how the video gives props to the “first follower.” While it is important for a leader to take the first step, push limits and set an example — the first follower is a central piece of the leadership puzzle. The first follower is the person who helps start the momentum in creating a movement. Without the first follower, the rest of the crew might not join the cause.

As consistent concert attender through the years, I have witnessed many brave souls who let the music take them over while they dance to their heart’s content. (Some may argue a controlled substance spurred them to dance like that, but that’s besides the point). It almost never fails — one fearless person joins in on the dancing, becoming the first follower, who then starts a movement as others join in.

What a wonderful example of this concept!

[ps--It appears dancing dude is at The Gorge Amphitheater in George, Washington, which is an awesome venue to see a concert btw!]

A colleague of mine had this on her computer in her office. While it is a joke, I wondered, what if folks in Student Affairs or Librarians had such a phrase on their business card? What would you say if someone gave you a business card with that written on it? Would you laugh? Would you think it a tad unprofessional? Or would you appreciate the thinking outside the box?

Save Libraries is a grassroots effort to compile information about libraries in need of our support. Save Libraries will aggregate information about current advocacy efforts, archive advocacy efforts, and provide links to resources for libraries facing cuts.

On her blog, Lori Reed explains further:

Our mission is to help raise awareness of the funding crisis libraries are facing. We will serve as an aggregator of news about library budget cuts, closings, and reductions, and compile links to “Save Library” campaigns.

Our slogan is, “When one library is in trouble, ALL libraries are in trouble.” There is a trend happening in this country and it’s one as a society that we should be appalled at. Our libraries represent the freedom and democracy that our country was founded on. Can you think of another place where all are welcome? No matter what your color, religion, or economic status the library is there with open doors.

The current reality is that many public libraries and library systems are facing dismal funding situations that are leading to drastic cuts in hours, staff, programs and services. SaveLibraries.org is a grassroots campaign to inform, educate and advocate for libraries. Well done and thank you to Lori Reed and Heather Braum for their efforts in creating this important site.

Mark Moran writes:

In the libraries of old, the Dewey Decimal System got you started on research. But there is no card catalog 2.0. To use the Internet as a library you need new research skills: the ability to pick out reliable sources from an overwhelming heap of misinformation, to find relevant material amid an infinite array of options, to navigate the shifting ethics of creative commons and intellectual property rights and to present conclusions in a manner that engages modern audiences.

This is another wonderfully well written piece about the challenges we face in teaching our students 21st century research skills. The bright side is that we have the ability to teach our students how to effectively evaluate resources and determine their authority (a.k.a. “crap detection“). While this seems like an uphill (and at times futile?) battle, school librarians are doing it every day, trying to reach kids when they’re young and before they can develop a dependency on Google. One school librarian in particular, Buffy Hamilton, is – in my humble opinion – a leader in this area. (To see what she is doing with her students, check out her blog, The Unquiet Library. She also writes at the blog, Libraries and Transliteracy).