Librarian Substitutes 2.0 wiki launched

I've spent the whole afternoon working on the "Librarian Substitutes 2.0" wiki. It's fun, it's easy, and it's time consuming, especially on my (slow) home computer.

Go take a look. You will see that it is quite raw and new, with just a few ideas sketched out, but that was an afternoon's work, and I've got to go do whatever it was I was supposed to do with the rest of my day!

Everything I put into the wiki so far is available elsewhere, but the point is to gather it into a quick reference guide with the substitute librarian in mind. We are generalists, and when we want to make sure our skills are current, this will be a first place to look. We can also note specifics about libraries, including the all important where-to-go-for-lunch-or-coffee question!

I picked Wet Paint as the wiki site in part because it was recommended in Terry Burrows' Blogs, wikis, MySpace, and more; everything you want to know about using web 2.0 but are afraid to ask. However, I'm already heartily sick of the advertisements, so I'm open to a move to another wiki host at some point.

Patron or Customer?

Here's an article from Library Journal that I bookmarked some time ago but is perennially relevant: what do we call our guests/clients/patrons/customers?

BackTalk: Patron or Customer (and Why)? By Brent Wagner -- Library Journal, 7/15/2007

I'm always on the lookout for articles that support my belief that the business model is not the best model for non-profits. James Collins, author of Good To Great; why some companies make the leap and some don't, wrote a (great) follow-up which addresses this:

Good to great and the social sectors : why business thinking is not the answer : a monograph to accompany Good to great : why some companies make the leap--and others don't / Jim Collins.