A Year in Review and Looking Ahead

Another year is coming to an end. Here’s our look back and look ahead.

A Year in Review:

• We continued with our Monthly Method Spotlight series. Contact us if you’re interested in using these methods in your work and career; we can brainstorm and work together.
• Our interest and work in design thinking led us to learning about a workshop and a book called Designing Your Life.
• We’re still exploring libraries, bookstores, archives, etc. as Wandering Librarians. Check out our recent adventures!
• We shared bathroom stories and experiences as part of Bathroom Blogfest 2017 all week long.
• From a hands-on UX study of METRO’s new headquarters to a self-guided tour of Amazon Books to an onsite visit of ELIA Life Technology, we organized some great METRO UX meetups this year.
• And lastly, to wrap up the year, the book Asian Americans and Libraries: Activism, Collaboration and Strategies for the 21st Century (that we can contributed a chapter to) just came out in mid-November.

Looking Ahead:

• We’re gonna continue with our Monthly Method Spotlight and Wandering Librarian series, so keep an eye out and let us know if you have suggestions of libraries, bookstores, and archives to explore.
• We are reading Designing Your Life and look forward to continue learning how design thinking can be used not only for our careers, but also for our lives, in general.

How was your year? What are you looking ahead to?

Wandering Librarian: Valladolid, Yucatan

On a recent family vacation to Mexico, I of course had to visit a library in the town of Valladolid where we were staying. Unfortunately, the Dia de la Revolucion meant the public library was closed. Downtrodden, I stumbled upon an English library next to Casa Hamaca where we were staying.  I spoke with the German volunteer about the library. Turns out it was a library for the English classes taught for free by volunteers. Speaking more with the owner of the Casa Hamaca, I was told that the library was cataloged by a volunteer librarian. (I had wondered how and why the collection was ordered under the Dewey System).

The conversation went further into the need for more English materials and also the problem of getting updated materials to the outlying Mayan villages. Hmmmm, future project for us?

 

Asian Americans and Libraries

Just came in the mail and hot off the press! Asian Americans and Libraries: Activism, Collaboration and Strategies for the 21st Century was just published last month.

Check out the book, related podcasts, and our chapter – Going Beyond the Bamboo Ceiling: Issues and Challenges for Asian Pacific American Patrons and Librarians.

Monthly Method Spotlight: Informance

Informance

What:  A “informative performance” of behaviors that you have witnessed or researched. Informance uses acting as a way to tell, explain and share an idea.

When/why: Informance is a good way to build a shared understanding of a concept.

How: Designers showcase an idea by role-playing and putting on a performance.

Interested in using/applying these methods in your work? Contact us for information.