Still Playing Around

I think the late Governor Elmer L. Andersen (for whom the library is named in which I work) would have been fascinated with Web 2.0 tools and the possibilities they present. In a couple of weeks we'll celebrate an anniversary associated with the life and work of Governor Andersen. Here's a bit from one of our web sites:

"What nobler purpose can there be for a University than to gather up the prizes of a culture--preserve them, propagate them, make them available--so that the best of what has gone before can be preserved and built on?" -- Elmer L. Andersen

On May 14, 1999, the University of Minnesota Board of Regents unanimously voted to name the newest library facility in honor of former Governor Elmer L. Andersen. It was indeed a fitting tribute to a man who has been the most stalwart of friends to both the University and its Libraries for many years.

It is especially significant that a building housing the archives and special collections of the University Libraries be named for a man who has expressed his deep personal belief in the University's "Fourth Mission" in this way:

I've felt that the University has been a little lax in recognizing only three central missions: teaching, research and community service. They overlook a fourth mission -- an archival one. It falls to the universities in our culture -- and specifically to university libraries -- to preserve the sources of information, knowledge and culture, so they can be found and passed on.

I've been tinkering a bit with my blog and have added a few little wrinkles: links to interesting web sites and blogs, a link to my SlideShare site, and a Blogger logo. I've uploaded four presentations now to SlideShare and no doubt will add more in the future. All of which is another part of what Elmer wanted to happen--to make it possible for things to "be found and passed on."

Reminds me of a song. . .