Thursday, November 8, 2007

Library 2.0: Flickr resources

This week in the Library 2.0 class we are doing for staff at the OHSU Library we are exploring Flickr. We are all encouraged to contribute additional resources and ideas to this online class.

Janet Crum, one of the instructors and participants in the class, posted some additional Flickr/photo-sharing tools I thought were cool, so I am including them here.

List of Flickr mashups:
http://www.programmableweb.com/api/flickr/mashups

FD's Flickr Toys:
http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/
Allows you to make mosaics and posters from Flickr photos.

Picnik:
http://www.picnik.com/
A web-based photo editor.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Report from EDUCAUSE 2007 - Part One

It was my great pleasure to last week attend this year's EDUCAUSE conference, held at the Washington State and Convention Trade Center in downtown Seattle, Washington.

The first keynote speaker, Doris Kearns Goodwin, spoke about leadership through examining the leadership qualities of Abraham Lincoln (whom she biographied in her 2005 work, Team of Rivals, the Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.

She described leadership qualities, as exemplified by Lincoln, as including the following:

  1. Capacity to listen to different points of view. People felt free to disagree without fearing consequences, but once a decision is made, the discussion is over.
  2. Ability to learn on the job through and from one's mistakes.
  3. A willingness to share credit for success.
  4. A willingness to shoulder blame for one's subordinates.
  5. Awareness of one's weaknesses so one can compensate.
  6. Ability to control emotions when angry or anxious.
  7. Strength to adhere to fundamental goals. Not reacting to short-term problems in ways that would undermine long-term goals.
  8. Knowing how to relax and replenish energies to reduce anxieties.
  9. "Managing by walking". Actually seeing what is going on on the ground with front-line workers. Apparently Lincoln would walk out amongst the soldiers on occasion to see what was going on.


I think these altogether, while challenging to achieve, are worth striving for.