Philosophy  The
Digital Media Center fosters and enhances continuous learning
environments to develop critical thinking skills and keep pace with
changing technologies. Though technologies, media formats, and
distribution pathways will change continuously, we believe that the
process of developing and using digital media utilizes core competencies that can be adapted and applied as new technologies emerge.
Whenever possible I provide our staff and student workers with
tools, training, and support for continuously learning new standards
and technologies. All Digital Media Center staff have yearly action plans for
professional development and learning that are developed and reveiwed
at each performance evaluation. I keep current on changes using books
and journals, listservs, websites, communities of practice,
conferences, and presentations. When opportunities arise and time permits, I contribute articles to the professional literature.
Pacific Lutheran University Leadership Seminar
During the 2004-2005 academic year I was fortunate to have theopportunity to participate in Pacific Lutheran University's Leadership
Seminar - reading, learning, discussing, and reflecting on Leadership
in our own institutional context.
Two stated program outcomes include:
- "Deepen the level of participants' self-awareness about their purpose, values, skills, and leadership style."
- "Use that heightened knowledge and enhanced skill level to
become more effective, more confident, and more satisfied in their
leadership roles."
I've read Kouzes and Posner's The Leadership Challenge from
cover-to-cover and am still working through the commitments and
suggested reflections at the end of the chapters. For me the process is intellectually challenging
and personally satisfying as I develop a clearer sense of meaning and
purpose in my work. As opportunities arise, I apply knowledge and
skills gained in the Seminar to my daily activies.
Migrating Server Technology and Applications from ColdFusion/Access to PHP/MySQLOver
two years ago, while evaluating upgrade options for our dynamic web
server running ColdFusion and Access databases, we decided to make the
shift to PHP, MySQL and Apache on a Linux server. To accomplish the
shift to these open source tools, we'd need to learn the tools, retool
all the applications with PHP and MySQL, and migrate the applications
to the new server.
I'm a self taught ColdFusion scripter and I learn best by doing in situ. So two summers ago I began migrating Journals at PLU
to PHP and MySQL. To begin, I configured my laptop with a basic toolkit
of PHP, MySQL, and MySQLFront as well as appropriate documentation
and help resources. With patient, expert guidance and sample scripts
from Kevin Freitas, I learned enough PHP and MySQL to migrate the
application in about three weeks of part-time learning/scripting.
Since that time all our new dynamic web applications have been
developed with PHP/MySQL and nearly all of our older ColdFusion
applications have been migrated. Now I'd classfy my scripting skills
under a rubric of "emerging." I still have lots more to learn and more
proficiencies to devlop, but I get opportunities to do so each time I
write and update scripts -- continuous learning at its best.
Implementing Technologies Based on Standards
Working
in the library systems field has sensitized me to the need for
technical standards for portability and interoperability. I try to keep
current on relevant standards and how they can be used to improve our
services.
Here are a few of the standards-based services we've collaboratively implemented and what effect they've had for users:
- LDAP Authentication: We've used the LDAP
infrastructure and PLU ePass developed by the Systems group to provide
one-username, one-password authentication to online library resources.
Authentication scripts negotiate access to resources from either on
campus or off-campus. Once authentication has taken place, it lasts
through the browser session when accessing resources from different
aggregators.
- RSS Newsfeeds: We've integrated RSS 0.91, 1.2,
and 2.0 standards into Channel Manager, a web based application that
allows creation, maintenance, and scheduling of items for news
channels. These channels can be rendered for use as News and Events
"holes" in PLU web pages or read directly by feed readers.
- UnicodeTM Library Catalog: Last year we served as one
of two beta test sites and later as one of nine Early Release Partners
for the UnicodeTM version of the Endeavor Voyager software. This software
release "internationalized" our library catalog by enabling display of
diacritics and special characters used in foreign languages.
As part of the continuous learning process I've made presentations at
national conferences on some of the standards we've implemented:
"User-Centered Authentication: Implementing LDAP for Single-Password
Access to Campus Resources" at the American Society for Information
Science 2000 Annual Meeting and "Transitioning to UnicodeTM: Strategies
for Tidying Your Data" at EndUser 2004.
Related Links
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Attributes
- Keeping current on technology topics and trends
- Maintaining knowledge of applicable technology and data standards
- Keeping involved in communities of practice
- Developing technical and professional growth plans
- Learning appropriate new technology and keeping abreast of profession
- Promoting technology and information literacy for clients and staff
- Reading and contributing to professional literature
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