Technology Manager
In January 2012, acquired training in CQ5 content management system for handling regular duties of creating and maintaining Web pages for the world's largest membership organization. Also learned the use of Maestro/List Manager to handle email blasts. Worked with TripBuilder to create mobile apps for enhancing conference experience. Redesigned Section membership e-newsletter (before / after), streamlining the banner and adding jump links to improve navigation.Web Paladin
In October 2011, I began contract work for Vanguard Technology Corporation. My recent article Archeology of HTML describes the content migration process with which I am assisting. I can add another CMS tool to my arsenal of software applications: Sitefinity.Adjunct Instructor
Passed DeVry University's Blended Learning course and use of their eCollege course management applications. Taught there until lack of Masters degree disqualified me for further sessions.Web Developer
It's tricky to present a portfolio of Web accomplishments performed for an organization as large as the American Library Association (ALA). The Web site is well over 90,000 pages, changing constantly as all good Web sites do, and growing! Nonetheless, these annotated links can give you an idea of what I have done. I also have a listing of applications with which I am familiar on my Technical CV page.As Web Developer, I worked with consultants to develop organization-wide applications as well as unit applications in a variety of contexts. For instance, the I Love Libraries unit desired to go digital with the Andrew Carnegie/New York Times poll. It greatly increased the number of entries to the poll. Unfortunately, you cannot see the actual poll until it reopens in the fall of 2010, but follow links to see the results of this application I created. We took a relatively simple request for handling petitions digitally for ALA governance-level elections and created a virtual content management system for all levels of the ALA, creating a rules-based application that also used the iMIS membership database to populate required fields based on a members' status and according to what unit he or she belonged. In that way, a member was presented the opportunity to electronically sign all petitions for which he or she was elibigle to sign as well as create an e-petition. Unfortunately, you need a password to see this. I also was involved in an exciting project brainstormed by ALA's Jenny Levine, called ALAConnect. Dissatisfied with an earlier attempt to create a virtual workspace for the hundreds of committees and interest groups of ALA, our vision was one of a social network for members that was enriched by the vast amount of data that can be mined in our iMIS membership database. While having a password will give you a fuller idea of the rich environment for collaboration and networking provided, you will see a great deal on the home page. (If interested in looking deeper, you can register but providing your ALA membership number will enable more services.) Here is a six-month progress report on what we hoped would be Facebook for Librarians and a one-year anniversary report, 18-month report in PDF, and 2-year report. If you scroll up from the anniversary report, a number of updates show how the application is growing in versatility, according to the plan we implemented.
Manager, Web Services
I developed and maintained the RUSA and ASCLA Web sites. In those nine years, we went from fairly independent designs that were FTP'd to the hosting platform to not one, but two content management systems (and bids are out for adopting a third one). I was on both committees that chose the vendors who helped us design and implement the ALA Web site. The two sites still follow the basic architecture I initiated but have been updated by my predecessor. To have anything to show of my work after nearly three years away from that position is providential. Thus, I am blessed to have some applications that still exist outside of the Collage CMS system used by ALA:- RUSQ Sources An interesting aspect of this app is it has been fairly seamlessly attached to the RUSQ Blog, which was created under my direction by ALA's Production Services department. (Sorry if it looks like it hasn't been updated since 2006, but I laid down the programming!)
- LSTA Success Stories This application is a good example of the kind of interactivity I was able to provide members of ASCLA for soliciting success stories and making them available to lobbyists in convincing Congress to continue extending the Library Services and Technology Act. The success of this simple Web site served as a model to other ALA divisions for handling similar situations.
Videos
Two videos that have me in there somewhere: the first was created at the 2009 Annual Conference where a sizable contingent of librarians who volunteer to work virtually in Second Life came together in atomic and virtual aspects. I am very passionate about these pioneers of what we believe is the future of the Web.ALA Conference SL Video
This Interview about Second Life was taken in 2007 as I was taking a course on virtual librarianship from the University of Illinois. The course and more advanced courses are still offered.
This final video is not about me, but it's pertinent to what I would hope to help a nonprofit membership organization do to transition from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0. It features the CEO of Linden Lab in 2010 and the debut of the overhaul of the Second Life viewer. It's long, but there are a number of pertinent references to how the new viewer overcomes the legendary learning curve of SL as well as how it brings strong functionality for social networking that surpasses anything on the two dimensional Web of Twitter and Facebook. If you look at nothing else on this page, devote some time to this one and think very carefully about how your organization is handling interactivity and professional networking in virtual space.
Robert Scoble and Mark Kingdon
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