But now it’s open again! However before a visit you must register yourself. Read everything about it here.

After entering the roof of the Reichstag, admire the architecture, and enjoy the views. Specially at night a visit is surprising.

Harry Jekkers & Het Klein Orkest sang about this Wall in ‘ Over de Muur’ (Dutch). Translated in English, ‘Over the Wall’:

Harry Jekkers & Het Klein Orkest

You can find an English translation here.

The wall is still there in Berlin, but not easy to find. It’s visible at the Bernauer  and Niederkirchner Strasse. At the Bernauer Strasse you’ll find the Gedenkstaette Berliner Mauer

It was crowdy but cosy, the WiFi didn’t work properly but there’s 3G, and it was a pleasure to meet my peers IRL. Mostly we contact via e-mail or (still more often) Twitter.

On the afternoon I was busy with the roll out of a congress track: Happe.Ning (Twitter: #hap7). The name forms a connection with Bibliotheek 2.0  group on Ning. A group of innovative librarians and informationspecialists from everywhere in The Netherlands. It was my pleasure to co-operate with @wbk500 , @timon_nl , @joostheessels , @jtdeboer and @tenaanval. I hope you’ve enjoyed it like I did .

The Track #7 left many traces on Twitter, Slideshare and in the blogosphere. But there’s also a physical trace, let’s call it a souvenir: the biepshirt.

I guess the shirt (design: @Timon_nl) needs some translation work:

• Biep = short for Bibliotheek (Dutch). In Eng. just: Library. I guess shirt needs no further trans.?  Thus in Eng. biepshirt will be like: Libshirt
• Natuurlijk mag u mij storen (Dutch). In Eng.: ofcourse you can bother me!
• #durftevragen = #daretoask.

I’ll take the shirt to my library. I am curious about the reactions of my co-workers .

I experienced the movie as colorful and overwhelming, but story and plot as 100% fiction. I’ve appreciated the cast very much, specially Judi Dench in her impressive play as Queen Elisabeth I.

However, recently I have read a biography about WS by Michael Wood: Shakespeare in love wasn’t fictional in the 90ies of the 16th century.

The story of Wood differs a lot from the story of the movie. It surprised me a lot. Good to read a book now and then.

I consider (Indonesian style) sponge cake still as a impressive dessert. Indonesian style means the use of intense coloring and coconut milk in the recipe.

This (see image) was was a good cake which I’ve eaten yesterday evening in a Chinese ( ) restaurant in Appingedam: fresh, intense greenly coloroured and with an airy bite.

I like this sponge cake recipe by Kokkie Blanda. It’s not that difficult and remember: sponge cakes are not fat (like traditional cake).

My Faculty (Economics and Business-FEB) organizes a large variety of events. One of these event are the Let’s talk sessions:

1. 4-5 x yearly;
2. Theme based;
3. Accessible.

Yesterday afternoon I joined a session with the theme:

Student 2.0 : The Impact of New Ways of Working on University Spaces.

I am interested in 2.0, not only in the tech aspect of it but also in human aspects (wellbeing,  behavior) which comes with 2.0. An important question for me: in which regard is 2.0 a true leverage for interaction and collaboration in organizations?

The session was hosted by Mark Mobach (FEB) and contained of 3 lectures.

1. Alfons van Marrewijk (VU Amsterdam) – Organizational Spaces
Alfons showed the audience a world in which academic buildings are designed to leverage interaction between students and staff. Space is used here as the lever. The space in the new building of VU is restricted, the staff has no own offices anymore. Compared with the old situation 40% of space was saved. That is interesting, less space = less costs.
However, not every staff member is happy to fight for space every morning.  Furthermore staff is outnumbered by  students almost everywhere in the building.  However, academics are output oriented and have the freedom to work from home.

2. Nieske Vergunst (Kennisnet) – A New World of Learning
Nieske showed us the world of working and learning time and place indepently. Tech (mobile devices, Wi-Fi, software tools)  is specially important in this regard: it gives the possibility to work time and place independently. However, there are problems.
Working with somebody who lives in another timezone can be a challenge. The place can be everywhere (work, home, train, plain, library) but is this optimal? Noise can be a huge distraction sometimes. For this reason academic libraries are tending to implement zoning systems (silence, quiet, smooth chaos) for the working places they provide to students.
3.  Andy Boyd (Shell) – Virtual Communication
Virtual communication (hence: web 2.0) is used at Shell as a leverage for sharing knowledge and encourage collaboration. Andy surprised the audience: Shell employees between the ages of 45 and 55 are the real 2.0 users. They blog, tweet and use IM. Younger employees need some encouraging here. How can this be explained?

Maybe it’s just a matter of attitude and experience. The experienced engineers and scientists  working at Shell are simply not intimidated by web 2.0 tech? These experienced workforce sees the advantages of 2.0? Or do they just do what the company wants?  These aspects will be further researched. But time is running out: retirement for this group of employees is lurking at the horizon.

Alfons confronted the audience with interaction and collaboration in physical presence.  How the place herefore has been designed is – however – of huge importance.
Nieke learned the audience that to work time and place independently goes not without problems and distractions.
The same for Andy: a group commonly seen as ‘not innovative’ has embraced 2.0 working behavior.

I guess as educational professionals a we are still searching and looking for opportunities to embed 2.0 in our jobs and daily lifes. The web 2.0 revolution started only 6-7 years ago, and remember: every change takes  time.

Most recent post: 89 days ago according to my LinkedIn profile.

Yes, the past 3 months I have suffered a writers block. I googled and found some good recommendations to fight it: http://www.monlog.nl/logs/2007-09-07-witers-block/.
The post is in Dutch but using Translate will give you the key points.
One recommendation (as a reaction) made me smile: write a blog of just one sentence. He, I already use to do that on Twitter almost every day!  

Maybe my writers block  is not that bad.

The guys of Pearson do understand that your mobile device needs electrical power (and that battery life is  restricted). So, they provide the waiting area with electrical outlets. Lots of them..

I have learned from Pearson International Airport Wi-Fi:

• A customer solution can simply be realised (guess the sockets were already there).

However a recommendation for non-Canada or US residents: you should carry your electrical adapter .

10 am precise the Dutch librarians arrived at Brock and were warmly welcomed with coffee and cookies [and more]. I think the hospitality of our Canadian colleagues is awesome.

The Ground floor of the libary has been refurbished in a great way. But two aspects have impressed me more:

1. The Help Touch screens
All information needed at hand with one touch. I like this much because of the interactivity. Have never seen this before in a library. I guess it’s very innovative.

2. Peer student advisors
I think it’s a good idea to let students work as peer advisors. It’s easier to ask your peer, isn’t? I think this can work out well. Furthermore it connects the library better with the world of the student.

At 12.30 pm it was (already) time to say goodbye. Time is flying when you have fun.

We spend the afternoon at Niagara Falls. The Falls are beautiful, please enjoy the image of the ‘Maid of the Mist’ , fighting with the Horseshoe Falls.

Waste is collected separately here through special boxes. People are kindly invited to separate their waste accordingly.

Why don’t we do that in Dutch libraries? In my library all waste is throwed in one box. We can do better on that, can’t we? 

A fellow Dutch librarian said to me this afternoon that it should be wise to keep the book return boxes far, far away of the waste boxes .

Update [May 31th, 2011]

Boxes differ depending on the library so it seemed today.

Dana Porter Library (University of Waterloo)

Wilfrid Laurier University Library (Waterloo)