Formation Continue du Supérieur

By Brian Mathews. May 22, 2006. That’s when I started The Ubiquitous Librarian Blog. I wrote before at Alt-Ref where I explored new approaches for reference and instruction. But I felt too boxed in. Ubiquitous gave me freedom to roam.
It ends today. Right here.
 407 posts
9 years  1 month  23 days
When the Chronicle of Higher Education informed me that they were dropping the Blog Network I was sad. But after a few days I got over it, mostly. I realized they had given me a gift. This was a chance to move on and do other things.
I’ve probably written and presented too much over the last decade. I’m looking forward to letting that taper off. I want to focus on Virginia Tech and the great people, projects, and programs we have here.
Me as a soldier in the name of greater library experiences.
Rick Anderson says we’re either soldiers or revolutionaries. I have realized recently that I’m firmly in the soldier camp. That doesn’t mean you can’t be creative, passionate, or innovative. It means you’re driven to advance the goals of your college or university (employer) instead of focusing on reforming the world. I want to put as much time as I can into what we’re building here in Blacksburg.
I know my work has generated some thought-provoking conversations at other libraries, but I don’t consider myself a revolutionary. I’ve been very consistent over the last nine years at trying to better understand campus communities and helping them thrive. Call me old fashioned if you want.
I have a long list of “things to blog about” sitting in a folder in my Dropbox. The one post I regret not finishing was about a visit to the National Archives. They hosted me one morning last summer and were very accommodating. I took a ton of notes, photos, and videos. All of that was lost on my phone when it died. (I switched back to iPhone after that tragedy!) I was planning on writing three posts about my visit but ending up with nothing except a greater appreciation for archivists and the amazing work they do.
So What’s Next?
I think these posts will remain on the Chronicle’s site for now. I’m planning to store all of them somewhere else (TBD) eventually.
I’m finishing up a chapter for Steven Bell’s new book: Crucible Moments: Inspiring Library Leadership due out in January 2016. My chapter is tentatively titled: “Cultivating the Entrepreneurial Spirit: Leading the Pursuit for Greater Library Engagement.”
And I also have Encoding Spaces: Shaping Environments That Unlock Human Potential hopefully coming out Fall 2015.
And finally, I just signed a book deal with ACRL for something we’re calling Becoming Ubiquitous. I’m pulling together some old white papers along with a wide assortment of these blog posts that I will edit, remix, and mash-up. I’ll include a few lost papers and other scribblings along with some other surprises.
There will also be a few short chapters – about my writing process, what I learned from blogging, advice, a little history, and some thoughts about the value of reflecting on your actions and aspirations. It will hopefully be published in Spring 2016.
Thanks for reading. And thanks to everyone for the support and influence over the years. Too many people to name.
Goodbye. More...

By Brian Mathews. Lean Startup had a strong influence on me. I had wanted to blog more about lean principles across library organizations, but that didn’t work out. More...

By Brian Mathews. I really like the value proposition design tool. Stephen Abrams blogged about it a few months ago and it’s something we’ve been working on here at Virginia Tech. Slowly. More...

By Brian Mathews. I have a project that has been in the works for a number of years. It’s 95% written and around 15,000 words or about 50 pages. It contains everything I want to say about libraries as physical spaces. More...

By Brian Mathews. I wish I had had more time to develop this post—but only about 24 hours to go.
Jade Womack (recent Virginia Tech alum—now entering graduate school at Cornell) put together a banner signing for Garissa University back in April. She worked with Monena Hall (Community Engagement Librarian) — within in three days they captured over 400 signatures. More...

By Brian Mathews. I’ve had many great conversations with Joycelyn Wilson (Assistant Professor, Education, Virginia Tech) about music, history, Atlanta, and teaching—actually, all of those things combined together. More...

By Brian Mathews. Every time I talk with students about doing group work there is a moan of displeasure. Most of them prefer to work alone despite the push for more collaborative learning. More...

By Brian Mathews. We’re kicking off a residency program next month. Here is the gist:
The Researcher-In-Residence Program at the Virginia Tech Libraries aims to provide faculty, researchers, and designers with the opportunity to focus on a unique academic endeavor of their choosing in a supportive environment that includes interacting with the information and data professionals of the Libraries. More...

By Brian Mathews. I’m a reader for a teaching award at Virginia Tech called XCaliber (shorthand for exceptional, high-caliber work.) It recognizes individual faculty members or teams of faculty and staff who integrate technology into teaching and learning. More...

By Brian Mathews. Here is an interview with Julia Feerrar, Learning Services Librarian at Virginia Tech. She joined our team last summer and spent the past year experimenting with first-year writing courses. More...