In these tough economic times, strategic thinking is a wise investment in the future. Whether you work in, partner with, study, volunteer, visit or are just plain interested in museums and libraries and passionate about how they can continue to thrive in their service to the public—you have an opinion to be shared!

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) invites you to help invent the future of museums and libraries through your participation in UpNext: The Future of Museums and Libraries Wiki. IMLS’s first-ever wiki is a platform where individuals inside and outside of museums, libraries, and related fields can discuss, dissect, expand, and inform the issues outlined in the Future of Museums and Libraries: A Discussion Guide. IMLS will use the knowledge shared in the wiki to help shape the agency’s strategic plan, research directions, publications, convenings, and grant making. The wiki officially launched March 3 and is an opportunity to share resources, examples of what works, and vexing questions. It’s sure to be a thought-provoking five weeks for all participants and provide food for thought for your career, your institution and the choices you face.

Nine discussion themes and one theme on next steps will each be featured on the wiki for a two-week period, introduced by expert discussion leaders. The themes and discussion leaders include:

Happening NOW! – March 3-16

1. Changing Definitions & Roles of Museums and Libraries

Martín Gómez, City Librarian, Los Angeles Public Library

2. Shifts in Power & Authority

Beth Takekawa, Executive Director, Wing Luke Asian Museum

Cassie Chin, Deputy Executive Director, Wing Luke Asian Museum

March 17-30

3. Museums & Libraries as the “Third Place”

Susan Hildreth, City Librarian, Seattle Public Library

4. Technology & Policy Development

John Wilkin, Associate University Librarian for Library Information Technology (LIT), University of Michigan, Executive Director of HathiTrust

March 31-April 13

5. 21st Century Learning & Information Use

Tom Scheinfeldt, Managing Director for Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, OMEKA Project Director

6. New Models & Structures for Collaboration

Mark Wright, Director of Partnerships, National Children’s Museum

April 14-27

7. Planning for a Sustainable Future

Emlyn Koster, President & CEO, Liberty Science Center

8. Metrics for Evaluating Service & Impact

John Fraser, Director, Institute for Learning Innovation-New York

April 28-May 12

9. The 21st Century Museum & Library Workforce

Joanne Marshall, Alumni Distinguished Professor, School of Information and Library Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

10. UpNext: Where Do We Go From Here?

Larry Johnson, CEO, The New Media Consortium

May 19

Last official “Wiki Wednesday” IMLS will post wiki final summary.

Each theme will have a unique wiki page describing the theme and posing questions for discussion. Wiki users will be able to respond and comment on the questions, as well as pose new questions and thoughts particular to that theme. Wiki users will also be able to build a collaborative bibliography on the wiki and share existing projects at their own institutions or others, which are relevant to the discussion themes. A unique page will also exist for educators and students to share how the wiki, the Discussion Guide, and other resources on the future of museums and libraries are or can be used in professional education. If you have any questions or comments regarding the wiki or the Discussion Guide, please feel free to contact Mamie Bittner, mbittner@imls.gov or Erica Pastore, epastore@imls.gov.

I especially encourage small and rural library staff to get involved in this program. How are your libraries changing? Are there special considerations for our plans for the future? WebJunction staff will be watching and participating because it’s an exciting new turn in asynchronous online programming for the library field. We’re interested to see if this is a format that we might consider bringing into the online programs that we create at WebJunction.