| March 5, 2012

A Pinterest Contest for the ‘New Librarian’

Update:   The contest has ended and voting for finalists is now open.  See all the finalists and vote for your favorite here.

The Future of Librarianship

What is the future of librarianship? You might have seen it in your community. You might be creating it yourself.

The future of librarianship is the Little Free Library that just popped up in your neighborhood.

It’s high school students creating their own research “dashboards” in a program invented by their school librarian collaborating with their English teacher.

It’s a seed library in a public library, where community members can check out heirloom seeds and return some of the seeds they harvest at the end of the season.

It’s a Fab Lab makerspace equipped with a Makerbot Thing-o-matic 3D printer.

It’s a Human Library where people can check out other people, like an HIV-positive man, a Haitian refugee, or a reform Jew, just to have a conversation.

Pinterest

What is Pinterest? Pinterest is a visual repository of ideas and information in the form of a social network. It’s a way for experts in a wide variety of fields to share their knowledge. Educators and researchers are using it to collaborate and organize information. Innovative job-seekers are using it to post their resume and land a job. Communities revolving around shared interests are creating dialogue that transcends borders. Librarians are using it as a way to build a collection of resources, organize display ideas and facilitate collaboration. The Pinterest community is a reflection of your local community—members include Moms swapping recipes, lifelong educators and professionals networking and making their experience a resource for others, young people building their careers and defining their lives, artists and entrepreneurs sharing their products and services.

Below you will see an example of how one Librarian, Joe Murphy, is using Pinterest.

 

 

The Contest

The iSchool wants to know how you define the future of librarianship. What are you doing to define librarianship of the future? What do you envision the future of libraries to be? What are the ideas that have inspired you? If you are a librarian, a student of librarianship, or if you have a passion for the future of libraries, we want to hear from you!

Create a Future of Librarianship Pinterest Board and collect your ideas. Then, send your Board url to the iSchool for a chance to win The Atlas of New Librarianship (just awarded Best Book in Library Literature by ALA!) by David Lankes. Entries will be accepted through Monday, March 19.  The top 10 boards will be posted on the iSchool’s website and the three winners will be chosen by public vote.  For all you good librarians who already own a copy of Dave’s awesome book – no worries – there’s a prize to be had for you too!

You can submit your Future of Librarianship board URL one of three ways:

  • Twitter:  Tweet us @iSchoolSU using #NewLibPinterest
  • Facebook - Leave a comment on our page under this post, which will be pinned to the top of the page 
  • Share in the comments below 

Good luck and get pinning ~ We can’t wait to see what you come up with!

If you need an invite to get started on Pinterest, let us know in the comments below and then send us an email with the subject line ‘Pinterest Contest’ to ischoolsyracuse@gmail.com.  We’ll get you out an invite as quickly as we can.

Kelly Lux

I connect people and share information = I work in social media. Executive Editor of Information Space, Social Communications manager at the iSchool, Co-founder of #CMGRchat on twitter and Adjunct Professor teaching Social Media and Online Community Management.

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Related posts:

  1. Vote for Your Favorite ‘New Librarianship’ Pinterest Board!
  2. Pinterest: A New Social Media Opportunity for Libraries
  3. One Librarian’s Resolution for 2012: Battle the Stereotypes
  4. I’ll Never Touch Books! & 3 More Crazy Librarian Ideas
  5. How Brands are Using Key Insights to Find Success on Pinterest