A few months back, when I was talking about plans for Shovers and Makers with Josh, I wondered if people would really want to do it. We figured if a few dozen people posted to the site it would be worthwhile, especially if some of those people weren’t already friends of ours.

As of this writing, we have 132 profiles on the site. So I feel pretty good about that. I knew that the idea of Shovers and Makers wouldn’t resonate with everyone, but obviously it seemed like a fun idea to enough people to make it worthwhile. I was concerned that either Library Journal or past and present “Movers and Shakers” winners would think that the site was a swipe at them or sour grapes or something. If any of them did take it that way, they didn’t tell me, and I’m happy that so many Movers and Shakers are also Shovers and Makers.

We timed this site to go live shortly after the Movers and Shakers were announced, so it was a nice coincidence that the Computers in Libraries conference came shortly thereafter. It was great fun to pass out S&M buttons at the conference and to see so many people in their LSW / S&M t-shirts.

Jill Hurst-Wahl’s write-up of a random lunch conversation with a non-librarian at CIL is my favorite semi-S&M story that I have heard so far. (Though Laura Carscaddon’s making connections story is just about as good.)

But all good things come to an end. Fewer and fewer people are posting profiles, which probably means it’s time to wrap this up. So consider this an announcement that Shovers and Makers 2009 will come to an end on May 15. The site will stay up, of course, but I’ll remove the form for adding new posts. I’ll probably leave comments on the posts open. So if you have been meaning to make an S&M post–if, say, I gave you a button at CIL and you haven’t posted yet (ahem)–May 15 is your deadline.

All of the posts are labeled “Shovers and Makers 2009,” leaving open the possibility that there will be “Shovers and Makers 2010″ and so on. But I’m not sure that people will want to just repeat what we did this year. And it’s possible that it would be best if this was a one-time event. If you have any ideas for what “Shovers and Makers 2010″ should be, please leave a comment on this post or email nerdboys@shoversandmakers.net to reach Josh and Iris and me.

-Steve

In my efforts to be as cool as the rest, I am declaring myself a Shover and Maker for 2009.

I am an assistant librarian at the University of Arizona and I aspire to build my skills in the elearning arena. I believe we can combine elearning with traditional library instruction and help ourselves do more and do better. I have an unbridled love for the enthusiasm of business students. The question “I need demographic and psychographic information for the toothbrush market in Alabama” might frighten others off, but not me.

I am a strong supporter of using new technology to improve our services outside the library as well as to improve communication and efficiencies inside the library as well. While I know that not all technology will be a solution or an efficiency, I’m all of for giving things a try to see what we can do with them.

While I occasionally blog at Required Field Must Not Be Left Blank, you’re much more likely to find me at Twitter or Friendfeed.