Case Studies: American Library Association Innovation Boot Camp

In May 2006, the Otter Group developed and managed an innovation boot camp for 50 librarians, under the auspices of the American Library Association.

The Boot Camp used a new model for delivering technology-based learning. In the traditional model, people work inside a course management system where all activities take place. Course participation is highly structured within this typically closed and proprietary system. The ALA boot camp was designed to immerse the group in the new technologies underlying the web 2.0 revolution and to give them a structured process for exploring this new world and applying their experience to their work. Each person worked in a project team that developed new ideas for libraries based on the new technologies and models boot camp participants were using.

For the boot camp, librarians were immersed in a new learning network. Each librarian was given a weblog, rss aggregator, and technical training and support on how to use these tools to create content. Using these tools participants built their “boot camp” collectively, publishing their ideas on their blogs and team wikis. A central blog portal helped people navigate the multiple threads of conversation that emerged and make connections with one another and what they were learning. Links and tags knit all of this content together. And search and RSS made the content visible and navigable, helping participants stay on top of it all. Expert content on the future of libraries was delivered via podcasts through iTunes. The boot camp was opened and closed with web/telephone synchronous sessions, where participants shared their expectations and experience.

The outcomes:

A new research process using the blogosphere to vet and critique national issues of importance to the profession;
A set of recommended best practices (in podcast form) for public comment on library websites;
Recommendations for how ALA uses 2.0 technologies to welcome new members in their first 10 minutes of membership;
An analysis of how new social tools can be used to feature national advocacy issues on the ALA web site;
A portal for continuing education resources for librarians;
Recommendations for how ALA can use 2.0 technologies to better meet the needs of its student members;
Podcasts on how to deal with challenges to library materials;
Recommendations for ALA can use RSS feeds to manage information flows in the association;
Recommendations for libraries can integrate their services into the major search engines; and
Recommendations for how ALA can use 2.0 technologies to better serve its many communities.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 18th, 2006 at 1:52 am and is filed under ALA Innovation Boot Camp. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comments will be moderated but will appear as soon as humanly possible.