LSDF - Sharing the Knowledge?
Ok, the provincial government's Library Strategic Development Fund sounds wonderful - in principle. Up to $50,000 of matched funding is provided for various strategic projects headed up by Libraries, with a few requirements such as: fits with their strategic priorities, partners are included, municipal support is stated, and (more importantly), the project must serve as a model, or best practice that can be shared with other libraries.
Sounds great, on the face of it. Wonderful initiatives such as gaming in libraries (Kingston Frontenac) and a Web 2.0 and Libaries initiative (Waterloo Regional) have been funded in 2007. But as the new LSDF application deadline approaches, I found myself wondering where I could get information on these projects, how they turned out, what lessons were learned etc. In speaking with the government representative, there was no formal knowledge exchange facilitated, nor was there a central archive or knowledge base for the required interim and final progress reports. Past digitization of content projects funded -- if you want to find out what technology or methodology, you have to call the Library directly, and track down the people involved.
On the face of it, this seems like a lost opportunity. We all have too many technology changes coming at the Library world way too quickly for us all to learn by trial and error. Additionally, we already have the platforms in place through SOLS Online repository and now the LNG site, to ensure that this essential and vital knowledge is shared.
I say - let's make sure that knowledge and experience gained is shared with the community in a structured way -- so that when we come to looking at web 2.0 technologies and best practices for integrating them into the library services, we can base the project on successful models already funded.
It just makes sense!


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