Search results for: compassionate computing

One of the many good articles I’ve read recently is “Why I’m Teaching My Kids That Computers Are Dumb Machines” by Greg Lavallee. The article covers the experience of the author, who is the director of technology for Slate, in supporting teaching/learning from home for two kids. The article details problems with online learning, ranging from material (a trackpad that didn’t work properly for small hands) to functional (students have to log in and out each day for attendance to be counted). The article includes helpful tips for mitigating problems. To me, the best part of the article is what comes out in terms ofRead More →

In January, I became the Senior Director for Library Technology & Digital Strategies, which means I now also lead Library Technology Services, in addition to chairing the Digital Partnerships & Strategies Department. I am thrilled to be in this role, to best support current needs and possible futures, including for how we leverage and build-upon technologies with socio-technical practices that understand and embrace maintenance, minimal computing, ethics of care, mutual aid, collaborative practices, generous thinking, shine theory, and many other names that speak to our ability to be better together. With so many of us moving to working remote, I wrote briefly on compassionate computing.Read More →

The Libraries at UF closed yesterday at 6pm. It is unclear when we will re-open. The full announcement is here: https://cms.uflib.ufl.edu/news/index.aspx#20200312 We are working remotely, and this is a fast (and for some folks is a first) time to work fully remote.  In Library Technology, we’re discussing our work as compassionate computing: we are working under changed conditions and where we are working to support folks with changed needs. For everyone during this time, we need grace and compassion. Technology is helpful for connecting together and doing our work, but it is a deprecated experience, it will fail us, and we will all need timeRead More →

I am thrilled to share that I will soon be the Associate University Librarian for Collections & Discovery at the University of Connecticut! While this is bittersweet news because I have loved the people, communities, and work at the University of Florida and in the city of Gainesville, I share this with a joyous heart for the wonderful new opportunities as my career and life move north. At the University of Connecticut, I am joining an amazing team! I will be responsible for Acquisitions & Discovery, Archives and Special Collections, Digital Imaging and Conservation, and Collections Strategies. I am excited to learn and grow inRead More →

We’re continuing to work on planning for strategic retreat sessions for this summer. We’re still in the research phase for Digital Partnerships & Strategies. For Library Technology Services, we are open to change, but we have a plan! The plan is to have 2 meetings, with the first to be unit-level and then the second with all four units together as a department. We’re planning to use BINGO as the structure, and details are below. I’m hoping that this is fun and effective in our zoom meeting world. It is always useful to share terminology, map to local (unit) practices, and then re-map and shareRead More →

I try to remember to share terms/concepts that I find helpful in illuminating and understanding the world. Two that I apparently haven’t shared and need to share are: Triangle of satisfaction Contributive justice The triangle of satisfaction is simply a way to explain how we get to satisfaction for something, acknowledging that it includes 3 parts: result (or outcome), emotion, and process. For tech work, we often talk about acceptance criteria (super important to agree on what the outcome is) and this also builds into the process (agile, iterative, how we get to the outcome), which also supports the emotion on how all of thisRead More →

I hope lots of folks take the time to see Earl Lewis’s opening keynote from the Charleston Conference: “Leading in an Age of Chaos and Change: Building a Community of Grace.” The presentation is excellent, and it parallels so many important conversations, including conversations at UF on compassionate computing.Read More →

Wikipedia explains etiquette as: “the set of conventional rules of personal behaviour in polite society, usually in the form of an ethical code that delineates the expected and accepted social behaviors that accord with the conventions and norms observed by a society, a social class, or a social group.” In the workplace, we have many ideas of what constitutes good etiquette, and whenever those idea aren’t documented and shared, we run the risk of people being unfairly evaluated based on an assumed “norm” that was unknown and unable to be known because it was unwritten and uncommunicated. In the shift to remote work, folks rapidly learned the technical how-to for technologies.Read More →

UF’s Library Technology Services is undertaking strategic planning sessions. We’ve completed one of four sessions, each as 1.5 hours in zoom meetings with full group and breakout sessions, with this transformed from the planned all-day, in-person session).  The first session was a grounding (established shared values, language, and orientation). The second will build project planning and management, following agile philosophies, and we’re moving further into agile project portfolio management. If interested, please the schedule, which has links to pre-readings, project charter template, project retrospective templates, and agile project portfolio management workbook samples: https://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00078428/00006 In the meeting on Tuesday, we-LTS affirmed (pending edits, always), a draft ofRead More →

Below is a handout (or digital file) for our departmental strategic planning session for this year year. Digital Partnerships & Strategies, Readings for Strategic Planning Meetings in 2020 From 2019 readings: Grounded Theory Grounded Theory: research method where the theory and findings are developed from the data; does not start with a hypothesis that is then tested by experiment/data.  Benefits include: “Ecological validity: Ecological validity is the extent to which research findings accurately represent real-world settings. Grounded theories are usually ecologically valid because they are similar to the data from which they were established. Although the constructs in a grounded theory are appropriately abstract (sinceRead More →