Categories
presentation

OLA SuperConference 2016

I was thrilled to spend the last few days at the Ontario Library Association SuperConference 2016, the largest library conference in Canada. I was invited to be the Spotlight Speaker for the Ontario Public Library Association, and gave a talk I ambitiously titled “Incubating Ourselves: Internal Iteration and the Quest for Better Libraries.”

The presentation itself was design as a series of stories, with an introduction dealing with innovation itself, and how libraries might consider what and how to approach innovation in their own operations and activities. The core of the talk was two stories about me, the first illustrating why libraries offering innovative technology to their patrons can help change their patron’s lives, and the second about how the same technology can also help to improve libraries themselves. I closed with a look at near-future tech that I think will impact society, as a suggestion about what libraries and librarians should be looking at as next-stage technology for themselves and their patrons. Throw in a bit about LibraryBox and Measure the Future, and that’s a lot to get into an hour, but I think it came together really well.

While the presentation doesn’t hold up remarkably well without the audio bits, if you’d like to take a look, here are the slides from the talk:

Two things stood out to me as a result of this talk. The first is that it was the first of my talks to have a Graphic Recorder/Graphic Facilitator assigned to it, and I’m over the moon with how amazingly cool the resulting poster turned out. If you aren’t familiar with the idea of Graphic Facilitation, here’s a video on the process:

So here’s my talk in graphic form, with details of different parts pulled out:

IMG_3382

IMG_3388

IMG_3383

IMG_3385

IMG_3386

IMG_3387

The other thing that I was really thankful for was that people seemed to appreciate the effort I make in trying to not only present good ideas, but to do so with some style:

Canadians really ARE the most polite and friendliest people around. 🙂

Thanks again for having me, OLA! It was fantastic, and I hope to be back someday keynoting for you.

By griffey

Jason Griffey is the Director of Strategic Initiatives at NISO, where he works to identify new areas of the information ecosystem where standards expertise is useful and needed. Prior to joining NISO in 2019, Jason ran his own technology consulting company for libraries, has been both an Affiliate at metaLAB and a Fellow and Affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, and was an academic librarian in roles ranging from reference and instruction to Head of IT at the University of TN at Chattanooga.

Jason has written extensively on technology and libraries, including multiple books and a series of full-periodical issues on technology topics, most recently AI & Machine Learning in Libraries and Library Spaces and Smart Buildings: Technology, Metrics, and Iterative Design from 2018. His newest book, co-authored with Jeffery Pomerantz, will be published by MIT Press in 2024.

He has spoken internationally on topics such as artificial intelligence & machine learning, the future of technology and libraries, decentralization and the Blockchain, privacy, copyright, and intellectual property. A full list of his publications and presentations can be found on his CV.
He is one of eight winners of the Knight Foundation News Challenge for Libraries for the Measure the Future project (http://measurethefuture.net), an open hardware project designed to provide actionable use metrics for library spaces. He is also the creator and director of The LibraryBox Project (http://librarybox.us), an open source portable digital file distribution system.

Jason can be stalked obsessively online, and spends his free time with his daughter Eliza, reading, obsessing over gadgets, and preparing for the inevitable zombie uprising.

4 replies on “OLA SuperConference 2016”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *