I have a feeling that the title “Catalog Notices to Cell Phones” isn’t the most descriptive thing in the world, so I’ll also include a more fully-fleshed out description here. With any luck, they’ll get this added to the full website as well. Here goes:

Texting Your Library: Designing a Mobile-Friendly Service Platform

People are doing more and more with their mobile phones, but the market is a confusing mishmash of proprietary hardware, software, and service providers. How do you offer mobile-friendly library service that speaks to many types of mobile users, while providing the most bang for your buck? Toby Greenwalt, the Virtual Services Coordinator for the Skokie Public Library shares his experience building a suite of mobile services, including a mobile catalog and website. Special attention will be paid to ways libraries can use text messaging to send out account notices, offer reference service, and allow patrons to reserve items using their mobile phones.

Looking forward to (virtually)  seeing you there! If you have any questions beforehand, please leave me a comment and I’ll try to cover it in the presentation.

You know who you are.

Thanks for a great conference, those of you I met in-person finally, and those I got to talk to on the datastream. Let’s do what we can to continue the conversation, and make great things happen.

Thanks for the admonishment of “Don’t be an ass, this is NOT spam.” Now I can block it under the Library’s no-profanity rule, rather than the spam rule.

Wink!

I am thrilled and overwhelmed to be part of the 2009 class of Library Journal Movers and Shakers.  To be listed with people like Michael Porter, Sarah Houghton-Jan, Jason Griffey and Karen Coombs, Chad Boenninger, Lori Reed, and Karen Kleckner Keefe is a real honor. Half of me feels like the spring chicken in this group, and the other half wonders why on earth they weren’t made Movers and Shakers already.

I really couldn’t have done it without the support and insights from so many people.

• Many thanks are due to everyone at Skokie Public Library for their trust and enthusiasm. I’d like to thank director Carolyn Anthony and Adult Services supervisor Deborah Grodinsky for hoodwinking the selection committee making such a strong case for me. I should also single out Ruth Sinker for taking the photos that we sent in to LJ. But I owe everyone on staff at SPL a billion thanks.

• I participated in the Illinois State Library’s Synergy program for emerging library leaders in 2007, without which I would not have gained the perspective and confidence to push many of these projects through. I’m so grateful to have been part of such a fantastic cohort, and know the rest of the class is doing some Moving and Shaking of their own.

• I also owe a debt of thanks to my first POW, the Westmont Public Library. Director Christine Kuhn gave me a lot of support in my first job out of library school, and provided a lot of coaching as I found my librarian legs.

• Finally, I’d like to thank my parents, my sister Sarah, and my wife Jordan for putting up with all my librarian blather over the years. Sorry to say it’s not going to stop.

There’s a million other people I should be thanking – everyone from NextRound, for certain – but if I continue, I’m not going to stop, and I’m already gushing enough as it is. I should also address the LSTA grant mentioned in the article. The Shoutbomb text messaging service was initiated by the folks at the Peninsula Public Library, and as I was working to adapt what they had developed for Skokie, I ended up pestering them to no end with questions about their implementation strategy. Thank you for putting up with all of that.

Once again, it’s a real treat to be part of this group. I hope to do all I can to continue living up to the honor.

We’ve had C-SPAN running all day at MPOW. Visitors to the library have at least 5 spaces where they can watch the inauguration festivities. Regardless of your political affiliation, it’s so thrilling to see the public coming together to view the induction of a public official in a public space.  What’s even more telling is how many people actually stopped what they were doing to watch the ceremony.

Even more telling was this shot of our normally-full express Internet stations. Despite the fact that multiple sources existed for watching the swearing-in online, people felt the need to get up and share the moment with others. I will readily cop to feeling a warm fuzzy or two. Hopefully you did the same.

As President Obama’s (I keep saying that in your head over and over) first official speech as head of state intoned, we’ve got a lot of work to do to improve our station, and rebuild our standing with the rest of the world. Watching this little area watch the rest of the world watch our new elected leader gives me the hope it can happen. I can only hope we’re all capable of living up to this responsibility.

THE 99 THINGS MEME

Things you’ve already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven’t done and don’t want to – leave in plain font

Full thread after the jump.

1. Started your own blog. (well, obviously.)
2. Slept under the stars.
3. Played in a band. (bass, and superfluous stage presence)
4. Visited Hawaii.
5. Watched a meteor shower. (Growing up in New Mexico has its advantages.)
6. Given more than you can afford to charity. (Give sure, but not more than I can afford.)
7. Been to Disneyland/world. (both)
8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a praying mantis.
10. Sang a solo. (note #41)
11. Bungee jumped.
12. Visited Paris.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea. (seems a little terrifying, if you ask me.)
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.
15. Adopted a child.
16. Had food poisoning. (not fun.)
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
18. Grown your own vegetables.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.
20. Slept on an overnight train.
21. Had a pillow fight.
22. Hitch hiked.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill. (In high school, not at my current POW. I swear.)
24. Built a snow fort.
25. Held a lamb.
26. Gone skinny dipping.
27. Run a marathon. (Thanks again, everyone who contributed to the AIDS Foundation!)
28. Ridden a gondola in Venice.
29. Seen a total eclipse.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset. (Again, NM has its advantages.)
31. Hit a home run. (Only if Wii Sports counts.)
32. Been on a cruise.
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors. (Got lost en route to camping and found myself in Fairfield, IL. Close enough, right?)
35. Seen an Amish community.
36. Taught yourself a new language. (only if markup languages count.)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied. (With any luck, these will remain mutually exclusive.)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person. (Does this one count?)
39. Gone rock climbing.
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David in person.
41. Sung Karaoke. (What would I do without the occasional Noraebang?)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt. (Yellowstone in general is huge on my to-see list.)
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant.
44. Visited Africa.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.
46. Been transported in an ambulance. (Hopefully, this will stay this way, too.)
47. Had your portrait painted.
48. Gone deep sea fishing.
49. Seen the Sistine chapel in person.
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling.
52. Kissed in the rain.
53. Played in the mud.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater.
55. Been in a movie. (Self-produced student films count, right?)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China.
57. Started a business.
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia.
60. Served at a soup kitchen.
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies.
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Gotten flowers for no reason.
64. Donated blood.
65. Gone sky diving.
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.
67. Bounced a check. (Thankfully, no.)
68. Flown in a helicopter. (Grand Canyon, age 2.)
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy. (Star Wars and Transformers FTW)
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.
71. Eaten Caviar.
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Times Square.
74. Toured the Everglades.
75. Been fired from a job.
76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London.
77. Broken a bone. (Feet, toes, ribs)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person. (see #68)
80. Published a book.
81. Visited the Vatican.
82. Bought a brand new car.
83. Walked in Jerusalem.
84. Had your picture in the newspaper.
85. Read the entire Bible.
86. Visited the White House.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating. (Fish, at summer camp)
88. Had chickenpox.
89. Saved someone’s life. (Again, something I hope I’ll never have to do. But I’d like to think I’d be able to.)
90. Sat on a jury.
91. Met someone famous. (Book signings, rock shows)
92. Joined a book club.
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Had a baby. (maybe not personally, but you get the idea.)
95. Seen the Alamo in person.
96. Swum in the Great Salt Lake.
97. Been involved in a law suit. (Class action against the record industry. Thanks for the $13.86, suckers!)
98. Owned a cell phone.
99. Been stung by a bee.

So who’s next?

So, as promised, I’ll get you an update once I can speak/think coherently and/or without coughing. There’s a lot of interesting ideas here, and I’m eager to start running with ‘em.

Like so many of you, I went ahead and searched for myself. Here’s what comes up:

Of those six hits, we see:

• An old airplay chart I made from my old college radio station (which has unfortunately disappeared)
• My background role in a college production of Death and the King’s Horseman
• My successful 1996 contest entry in a “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” contest, held by my local alternative newsweekly
• a quote from my high school newspaper on the dress code that manages to say nothing whatsoever, albeit awesomely
• A comment I submitted to the Taco Bell website, which I’ll attempt to qualify by saying I was trying to get all of their Tick kid’s meal toys.

Compare to a present-day Google search:

Which is mostly library-related stuff, at least on the front end. What happened to you, Toby? You used to be cool.

Or at least your digital footprint did.

What’s on your cache? How has it changed in the intervening eight years?

Whether you’ve read the book before, of if it’s your first time plowing through all 1078 pages, you’re in for a great reading experience and some (hopefully) fascinating discussion. Use the above page as your jumping-off point, featuring links to other participant pages and background resources on the book. Post comments. Write blog posts of your own. Have fun.

Happy reading!

(That photo comes from my reviewer profile at MPOW; I’m clearly thinking “oh, that Pemulis, what a cut-up.”

You can help in one of three ways:

1. Download and fill out the donor form.
2. Click over to my fundraising page, and give till it hurts.
3. Spread the word! If you know someone who’s looking for a cause, send them my information. I’ll be happy to run a mile in their name.

I’m trying to raise $1500 by August 15th, but every little bit counts. Thanks for your support.