Phil Gerbyshak has an interesting site and new book on “making it great”. Scrolling down his posts brought up this interesting post on life long learning resources. I already use most of the tools Phil lists, but two points from the post grabbed my attention. The first was the fact that the Milwaukee public library had a drive through service for patrons to use to pick up materials. I use the Columbus, OH public library system intensively by reserving items online and having them delivered to a specific branch. I then go to the branch, pick-up the books or materials myself from a shelf, then use the automated check-out system. I’ve written before about library systems really taking a lead in using technology and customer service in education and information sharing (see this 2005 post). The fact that Milwaukee is going to the length of providing a drive through to service its busy and time crunched patrons is a good item to ponder. How do Extension systems work to provide the same convenience?
The second neat thing in the post is a link to an article on finding cheaper magazine subscriptions. Given the budget cuts many of us are facing, a little extra digging to save money could pay off.