Thank you for your interest in METRO’s upcoming events! If you’d like to help shape our programming:
For virtual, on-demand learning, take a look at tutorials offered by lynda.com and request free access here.
We are committed to providing a welcoming and productive environment for all. Please check out our Code of Conduct for more information. Please reach out to us with your events-related questions; our email address is [email protected], and our phone number is (212) 228-2320.
Come check out progress we’ve made in order to develop new and improved Data Dictionaries for NYC Open Data!
We’re unveiling a new user-friendly approach for NYC Open Data’s data dictionaries. Explore popular datasets from the Taxi & Limousine Commission, Department of City Planning, 311, and other agencies, and see how new metadata standards make it easier to find and use the data you’re looking for.
If you’re an information professional, librarian, data manager, or use NYC Open Data, join us for a recap of this summer’s Metadata for All project, networking, and a discussion of where we can go next. Lunch will be provided!
About the Metadata for All Project
For the past six months, a team of data librarians has been working with the Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics (MODA), and the broader NYC Open Data Team, to find ways to make the metadata of the top 100 most-used datasets on NYC Open Data more usable and explore new ways to ensure that metadata is user-friendly for all New Yorkers. The Metadata for All project is made possible by a grant from the Sloan Foundation and partnerships with the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, METRO, Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics, NYC Open Data Team, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn Public Library, Queens Public Library, New York Public Library and Tiny Panther Consulting.
Join us for an afternoon tour of the NYPR Archives!
After a visit to NYPR’s overall facilities and the NYPR Archives in particular, visitors will see a presentation describing how archive staff manage the documentation and repatriation of the content of a nearly 100-year-old broadcaster, while also attempting to keep up with the current output of a very active production facility.
The New York Public Radio (NYPR) Archives was established in the year 2000 by Archives Director Andy Lanset.
Please note that this event is open to METRO institutional and individual members only. There is no fee to attend, but registration is required.
You’re invited to a tour of the New York Academy of Medicine’s Rare Book room.
The Academy is home to one of the most significant historical libraries in medicine and public health in the world, safeguarding the heritage of medicine to inform the future of health.
METRO members will visit the Drs. Barry and Bobbi Coller Rare Book Reading Room, which houses much of the rare book collection, and also contains many secondary sources in the history of medicine and the history of books and printing; as well as visiting the Digital Lab, a FADGI-compliant studio developed to support the creation and preservation of our digital assets internally, particularly rare, fragile and unique materials.
Special subject strengths of the collections include anatomical atlases, cardiology, cookery, dermatology, healthy living regimens, history of medicine of the City of New York, homeopathy and alternative medical systems, medical Americana, medical botany, neurology, surgery, and women and children's health.
Please note that this event is open to METRO institutional and individual members only. There is no fee to attend, but registration is required.
Please consider attending this general business meeting of the Science and Medical Librarians Interest Group to discuss goals for the group, strategies for growing and retaining our membership, and possible topics for future events and programming. All members are welcome.
I will post an agenda in advance of the meeting. Please contact me if you would like to submit potential items for inclusion in the agenda. Thank you!
Join us at METRO for this three-part organizing workshop, taking place on:
In this workshop, participants will learn concrete strategies for building skills, utilizing resources, and creating networks to challenge and reimagine structures of power. In three sessions, organizers from the Prison Library Support Network (PLSN) will lead attendees through the steps of organizing, from idea to action.
Attendees will learn how to discern opportunities for connection, power building, and resistance within their communities, both personal and professional. They will receive an exercise workbook and resource guide to aid in their future organizing work and personal development.
While it is not required to attend all three sessions, previous activities will frame future ones. If you know that you will miss a session, please let us know so we can provide you with the relevant exercises to complete to keep you up to speed. Attendees do not need to have any previous experience with organizing and are welcome (but not required) to bring personal laptops to work on.
Session 1: Assessment, Planning & Research
This session will cover the initial steps of developing an organizing practice through self-reflection, capacity/asset mapping, and research. We will analyze the social and economic context in which we work, exploring how our work interacts with broader structures of violence, white supremacy, colonialism, and our cultures.
By the end of this session, participants will:
Session 2: Collaboration & Action
In this session, we will define effective strategies and multiple action tactics that create meaningful outcomes. We will also discuss internal organizational structures and practical connection building.
By the end of this session, participants will:
Session 3: Evaluate and Sustain
The final session will culminate in learning methods for effective maintenance of your organizations and projects through the process of designing relevant evaluation criteria and group reflection.
By the end of this session, participants will:
About PLSN
The Prison Library Support Network is an information-based collective that aims to redistribute resources and provide support to incarcerated people. Our work is rooted in our recognition of systematic violence that the prison industrial complex creates. We believe that information is a tool for prison abolition, and that we must create space for people who want to commit and redistribute their own capacities and resources.
About our instructors:
Mia Bruner’s work seeks to activate archival and library collections as sites of public dialogue, collective power, and resistance. Right now, she works as a Librarian at Pratt Institute Libraries, organizes with PLSN, and is building a radical queer subject thesaurus at the Lesbian Herstory Archives.
Emma Karin Eriksson’s personal and professional ideology is one of intersectionality, respect, and DIY. She is currently receiving her MLIS with a focus in critical instruction, library outreach, and community support.
This workshop will feature activities from the Mozilla Foundation. We’ll explore new ways of helping learners better understand how our data is being (mis)used online, and what we can do to protect it. Resources will be provided.
This workshop will help you:
Improve your understanding of how the web works, and where we might find security vulnerabilities
Understand how and why outside entities scramble to intercept and monetize your browsing data
Build a toolkit of steps to take to protect your information
This workshop is ideal for those who are curious about the many ways in which online information is tracked, and would like to do something about it. Coffee and snacks will be provided.
About the facilitator
Davis Erin Anderson is a project manager and facilitator seeking to demystify the online environment for learners of all backgrounds. As Program Manager at Metropolitan New York Library Council, Davis leads projects, plans events, and teaches workshops that focus on technology, culture, and libraries.
Davis has been a Mozilla Web Literacy Leader, an SLA Rising Star, and a Library Journal Mover & Shaker. Prior to joining the library field, she performed with orchestras and taught music to young adults.
About Library Privacy Week
This event is one of many being offered as part of Library Privacy Week from October 15 through October 22. [View the full schedule here.]
Library Privacy Week is brought to you by NYC Digital Safety: Privacy & Security, a new initiative to bring resources covering digital privacy and data security to the City’s frontline public library staff. With support from the City of New York Mayor’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer, the project will ensure that NYC residents can rely on public libraries for their questions about internet privacy and security.
METRO Economics and Business Librarians Meetup Group is presenting a program on Financial Literacy Resources and Services on October 17, 2018 from 10 A.M. until 12 noon at the NYU Bobst Library, Room 743.
Our speakers will be Dan Hickey (NYU Bobst) and Kathleen Kalmes (NY Public Library, SIBL).
Please join us for this topic of concern for all and resources. services and programs available to assist our patrons.
We look forward to seeing you.
Co-Conveners:
Lucy Heckman (St. John's University Library); Dan Hickey (NYU Bobst)
The recipe for successful public programming at a library is complex. It is a mixture of knowing your community, keeping track of trends, advance planning, marketing, project management, and persistence. The devil is truly in the details.
Public programming allows library staff to bring a variety of opportunities for learning, engaging, entertaining, and building connections across all age groups to the communities we serve. Programming has seen tremendous growth in the last decade in terms scope and variety and has become a core service to the mission of libraries. Planning and running programs is no longer something extra to be done in spare time. Like any other core service, it requires careful planning, tracking and evaluation.
This practical workshop will examine current trends in programming for adult audiences at public libraries and also explore a variety of project management techniques that can be used to ensure that all goes smoothly during every phase of planning.
This workshop will demonstrate and examine the following topics:
Methods for evaluating current programs and key steps to creating a long range programming plan
Project management forms that allow for organization and tracking of multiple programs
Assessment tools that allow for collection of both qualitative and quantitative data about programs
Current trends in programming for adult audiences at public libraries
No previous experience or knowledge is required.
What to bring:
A pen and paper
About our instructor:
Janie Hermann, in her role as Public Programming Librarian at the Princeton Public Library, oversees the more than 2,000 public programs put together by the amazing team she is privileged to work with. Her work at the library allows her to interact with a wide variety of local groups and organizations and she is dedicated to ensuring the public programs offered at the library not only meet but exceed the expectations of the Princeton community. She was named an LJ Mover and Shaker in 2007, has served on the NJ State Library’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on the Future of Libraries and is involved in many capacities with ALA, most notably as chair of the Programming Librarian Interest Group. As a teacher, librarian, wife and mother, Janie has learned that minute details can have a big impact and that planning is crucial, but you still have to leave room for some spontaneous actions.
We all know how important it is to update our devices, apps, browser settings, et cetera, et cetera, in the name of keeping our information safe. But let’s be honest, maintaining a rigorous privacy practice takes time that we might not be able to find in our daily lives.
Let’s come together to carve out some time to update our privacy settings! On Thursday, October 18, drop in on our Pizza Party to take some me time… or, we guess, device time. We’ll have resources and assistance on hand, as well as snacks and camaraderie.
RSVP with your food preferences! We will make gluten-free, vegan, or any other kind of specialty pizza available upon request.
About the facilitator
Davis Erin Anderson is a project manager and facilitator seeking to demystify the online environment for learners of all backgrounds. As Program Manager at Metropolitan New York Library Council, Davis leads projects, plans events, and teaches workshops that focus on technology, culture, and libraries.
Davis has been a Mozilla Web Literacy Leader, an SLA Rising Star, and a Library Journal Mover & Shaker. Prior to joining the library field, she performed with orchestras and taught music to young adults.
About Library Privacy Week
This event is one of many being offered as part of Library Privacy Week from October 15 through October 22. [View the full schedule here.]
Library Privacy Week is brought to you by NYC Digital Safety: Privacy & Security, a new initiative to bring resources covering digital privacy and data security to the City’s frontline public library staff. With support from the City of New York Mayor’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer, the project will ensure that NYC residents can rely on public libraries for their questions about internet privacy and security.
Building Solidarity: Supporting Community Organizations through Archival Practice
For the past several decades, community archives such as the Lesbian Herstory Archives, Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project, and the Freedom Archives have been important sites of self-determination, memory, and inspiration for historically disenfranchised communities. In recent years, archivists and information workers have become increasingly interested in using their professional skills to support these projects. This workshop will discuss what community archives are and why they are important.
We will review key scholars, discuss ethical considerations, and explore the effects of privilege in this work. Key tools and techniques, such as records management, DIY digitization stations, and non-hierarchical practice will be examined. In the afternoon, we will partner with local NYC organization Asian American Arts Alliance to create a thoughtful plan for the long-term stewardship of their records. Participants will leave the workshop with a theoretical grounding in the current activist and professional conversations around community archives, knowledge about how LIS professionals can support this work, suggestions for practical tools, and experience putting these tools into practice.
What to bring:
A pen and paper or personal laptop for notetaking
About our instructors:
Anjali Goyal is an arts administrator and has worked with various community-based arts nonprofits for the past 15 years. She is currently the Development Manager at the Asian American Arts Alliance in Brooklyn, NY.
Marie Lascu is a graduate of NYU's Moving Image Archiving and Preservation program. She has been a member of the XFR Collective since 2015, and works as the audiovisual archivist for Crowing Rooster Arts, a media non-profit that has spent more than 20 years documenting the arts and political struggles of Haiti.
Maggie Schreiner is an archivist at the Brooklyn Historical Society, and has been a volunteer with Interference Archive and Librarians and Archivists with Palestine since 2013. She is a graduate of NYU's Archives and Public History program.
We accept payment by credit card or by invoice. Please note that we do not accept cash payment, on site or otherwise.
METRO reserves the right to cancel any workshop or to substitute instructors. In the event of a cancellation, postponement, or substitution, registrants will be notified in advance (if possible) via email and may receive a full refund of the registration fee.
All registration cancellations must be submitted in writing to [email protected]
In order to receive a refund, we must receive your cancellation email at least 24 hours prior to the event start time. If METRO does not receive your cancellation email before that deadline, an invoice will be sent to recoup any unpaid fees. If you are unable to attend a workshop, you may choose to send another person in your place without penalty if you notify us in advance. Refunds are provided by credit card or check and will be processed within about four weeks.
METRO will make private space available to nursing mothers upon request. Please contact us at [email protected] to make a reservation.