ALA Techsource

Over the course of the last year, there has been a lot of discussion about the interaction between the real and the virtual via mobile phones, specifically about using barcodes as a unique identifier that can be read by a mobile phone's camera. In Japan and other countries, it is very common to see this sort of thing done via a type of code called a QR Code, a form of 2 dimensional barcode. There are lots of places online wh you can create your own QR Code, and many phones come with the ability to read them built in. For smartphones with applications stores, like the iPhone App Store or Android Market, there are many barcode reading apps to chose from.

Some libraries are playing around with QR Codes and other methods of annotating the real world via digital metadata. One tool that I just discovered is called StickyBits, and it takes a different model that I find really interesting. Instead of concentrating on linking physical objects to a single virtual place or information, StickyBits allows people to attach content to a given barcode, and have others see it. It's a form of tagging, but instead of tagging via terms, the user is tagging with any digital information they want: audio, video, photo, or text. For instance, a user could use StickyBits to tag a book with a video review.

Even more interesting is the fact that multiple people in multiple locations can attach multiple objects to the same barcode. It's a method of harnessing the best of the network effect, with the additional benefit of extending the tagging to any object with the same barcode. For example, it would only take one person attaching a video review to the barcode of a bestseller to make that review available to everyone who happens to pick up a copy of that bestseller anywhere. It not only distributed creation of content, but zero-lag distribution of content across real objects. This model could be used by existing library services like Librarything to attach digital objects to books pretty quickly, I would think.

In short, I think this idea has some real potential, both good and bad. On the bad, one only has to think of Chatroulette to imagine the sorts of videos that could potentially be attached to objects (if you are unfamiliar with Chatroulette, it is very NSFW...read this wikipedia article instead of visiting). But on the good, distributed enhancement of physical objects (not just books, although books are what interest me) is a powerful new way of linking the physical and the digital.

We'd like to make sure that all of our readers are aware of this important correction to the January issue of Library Technology Reports, Understanding the Semantic Web: Bibliographic Data and Metadata by Karen Coyle.

A reminder--you can purchase Karen's two-part LTR series on bibliographic data for the price of one issue at the ALA Store.

The images numbered Figure 10, Figure 11, and Figure 12 in the January 2010 issue of Library Technology Reports were incorrect. The correct figures are below.

When bibliographic and authority records are connected through the use of text strings, (Figure 10) any change in the display form of the heading causes the link between the two records to break. (Figure 11). Using a non-display identifier (Figure 12) allows the connection between the bibliographic and authority data to be maintained even though display forms may change. This method also allows the use of alternative displays, such as in different languages or scripts, without the need to make modifications to the bibliographic record.

Figure 10: Sample bibliographic and name records, linked.

Figure 11: Sample bibliographic and name records; link broken due to name change.

Figure 12: Sample bibliographic and name records with identifiers; links remain.

David Lee King certainly doesn't need anyone to give him a voice--whether on his blog, through presentations or in publications, when David talks about libraries and technology, people listen. We received tons of positive feedback on David's August 2009 issue of Library Technology Reports, Building the Digital Branch: Guidelines for Transforming Your Library Website and accompanying webinar.

I had a chance to chat briefly with David and see what kind of feedback he received on this work, and what else he's up to.

Dan Freeman: So the last time you worked with us at TechSource, you did a Webinar on Building the digital branch. What kind of feedback did you get about the webinar and your corresponding issue of Library Technology Reports?

David Lee King: I have gotten some great responses from both. Just last night, someone posted the webinar for their library science students to watch (discovered through the wonders of Google Alerts). Access it here: http://www.webjunction.org/virtual-library/articles/content/80470928. I also receive regular emails from librarians, too, usually stating they just read the LTR and have a question about staffing, timeframe, administration acceptance, etc.

DF: Have you provided any guidance to people building new digital branches? Anything people can check out on the web?

DLK: Well, I often focus my blog posts (at davidleeking.com) on some aspect of building digital branches, so people could certainly check that out. I also answer the occasional email question, and do do presentations about the topic.

What I've seen are lots of librarians who have read the LTR, are interested in doing more on their websites, and have asked me questions about the LTR or have asked for clarification (or even support before they go talk to their administration about the "new ideas').

DF: So what projects are you working on now?

DLK: We are at the very beginning stages of upgrading/changing our ILS system. We're also at the beginning stages of doing a website redesign again! So right now, just like I wrote in the LTR, I am meeting with most of the library's staff and gathering thoughts on what they like and don't about the current website, and what they have seen patrons getting hung up on. Our goal is to be done with the website project by December (fingers crossed).

And those are just two large projects out of many - we're pretty busy at the moment!

DF: You’ve been posting some material on FourSquare and its potential for libraries on your blog. I think a lot of people would like to learn more. First of all, can you just give us a basic explanation of FourSquare?

DLK: Sure. Foursquare is a location-based game played on smartphones. The basic jist is this - you go somewhere (like a grocery store, restaurant, etc) - and "check in" using a foursquare app on your phone. You get points and badges for the check-in, depending on how many times you've been there, what type of establishment it is, etc.

While doing that, you are also mapping out all the places one can go in your city - you connect the name of the place to a Google map. And you friend people, so you end up competing with your friends list - there's even a leaderboard showing friends' scores (it resets every week).

You can also add tips and things to do to each place you visit, and you get points for those. Other people who visit that place can use your things to do list too, and get points as well.

DF: So what about its potential for libraries?

DLK: I see it as one of many ways to attract people to the library. If you've never been somewhere before, you get more points - so if someone's never used the library, they get points for visiting. If you've added things to do lists, like "get a library card" or "check out three books", people get points for those.

Plus, you can add tags to places. So at the library, I have added tags like books, wifi, cafe, etc. If someone's visiting from out of town and needs wifi access, and they play this game, it's a way to discover a wifi hotspot (since there's a location-based search option, too).

Fun game - lots of potential for attracting people to the library, I think.

DF: Since you’re a tech-oriented librarian in the Topeka, Kansas, I feel like I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask for your thoughts on the town becoming known as “Google, Kansas”. What are they?

DLK: My thoughts ... I think it's really very cool! Look what a small group of people in Topeka did in two weeks time:

• created a facebook page with over 12,000 fans
• get local media time
• stage a flash mob that had hundreds of participants
• get the city and the county to support the project
• get the mayor to unofficially rename the city for a month
• and make international AP headlines about it!

Pretty impressive for a small city in the midwest! But more importantly, if this happened in Topeka, it would potentially be HUGE ... and the library would support it (check out our logo right now - we've added "Google" into it for March). I see it as providing fast internet for my digital branch patrons - what's bad about that? Absolutely nothing.

This article appears in the Match 2010 issue of Smart Libraries Newsletter, available for purchase here.

-Dan Freeman

One of the most interesting mobile applications demonstrated at the ALA Midwinter Meeting came from outside the ILS vendors. LibaryThing, a company that has found a niche in adding value to existing library catalogs, has created a mobile app that can be used with almost any of the major automation platforms, allowing a broad range of libraries to create a mobile presence at a very low price.

LibraryAnywhere, developed by LibraryThing, provides an inexpensive solution for libraries to engage their users with mobile devices. It includes features that will enable libraries to offer mobile users access to their online catalogs, including the ability to search the library’s collection and to perform services such as viewing currently charged items and to requesting or renewing materials. It’s designed to be a functional mobile online catalog with a reasonable set of features. No mobile interface offers the full set of capabilities found in full-fledged Web versions, but they attempt to focus on the features most needed and that can be operated through the more limited controls and keyboards of mobile devices. LibraryAnywhere also helps mobile users discover the libraries participating in the service. Features expected in subsequent versions include the ability to return search results in response to queries submitted through a simple SMS text message.

LibraryThing designed LibraryAnywhere to work regardless of the automation system used by the library and for library users with all types of devices. It currently supports most of the major integrated library systems, including SirsiDynix Symphony, Horizon and Dynix sites using the HIP online catalog, Millennium from Innovative Interfaces, Destiny and InfoCentre from Follett Software Company, Voyager from Ex Libris, Polaris, and Alexandria. It also supports a wide range of mobile devices. Library users with any of the major smart phones will be able to take advantage of the service.

LibraryAnywhere functions as a mobile Web application, but will also offer apps for specific devices, enabling a more enriched user experience. Device-specific apps continue to offer features not possible through Web applications alone, even when those Web applications have been designed for mobile devices.

On the technical side, LibraryAnywhere is based on the open source WebKit framework that underlies Apple’s Safari browser and Google Chrome. Supported equipment initially includes some of the most popular devices such as the iPhone, those that use the Android mobile operating system from Google, and the Blackberry.

The flagship business of LibraryThing involves its services for helping individuals organize their own collections of books and to providing an online community for those passionate about what they read. LibraryThing reports a total of one million members with a cumulative collection of 47 million books. An important part of the infrastructure of LibraryThing involves giving its users the ability to assign tags to each of their items, functioning as an informal set of subject or name headings. These tags, currently totaling over 59 million created and shared among LibraryThing users, function as powerful organizing tools that can be applied without formal training, unlike instruments like the Library of Congress Subject Headings, which are designed to be wielded by professional librarians. While a few libraries have adapted LibraryThing as their online catalog, it primarily targets individuals.

LibraryThing has also developed products specifically for libraries. Its initial offering in this arena, LibraryThing for Libraries, makes use of the body of tags within its system, which can be layered into a library’s own Web-based online catalog to supplement the formal and more complex headings derived from MARC records of the underlying ILS. LibraryThing for Libraries has been adopted by 175 libraries, and another 50 libraries use LibraryThing for Libraries content as part of the optional MyDiscoveries add-in to AquaBrowser. As a Web 2.0 service from its inception, LibraryThing brings this understanding of users and interfaces to its library products. LibraryThing for Libraries includes user-created reviews and recommendations that contribute even more substantial content to a library catalog. The company recently added a shelf-browse feature that lends the ability to visually browse items in shelf order, emulating an important in-library experience.

LibraryThing has found its niche in the library automation arena by creating products that integrate into a library’s existing library automation environment to add value through the delivery of content or services missing in the interfaces delivered by the ILS vendor. LibraryAnywhere extends this niche to the mobile arena. Some of the ILS vendors have recently announced iPhone apps for their products, but many seem to be slow to respond to this pressing need. LibraryThing aims for LibraryAnywhere to deliver mobile access to library collections earlier, with more features, and at a much lower price than those offered by the ILS vendors. From its initial version, LibraryAnywhere conforms to the requirements of Section 508 for use by persons with disabilities, a vital feature for publicly funded libraries with mandated compliance.

LibraryAnywhere leverages the connectivity layer that LibraryThing has developed for its LibraryThing for Libraries offering that allows libraries to integrate user-generated tags and other user-supplied content into their Web-based online catalogs. One of the key realities of library automation today involves a separation of the interface layer from the underlying library automation system. This separation has been driven by interest in alternative Web-based discovery products, such as Encore from Innovative Interfaces, Primo from Ex Libris, AquaBrowser from R.R. Bowker, Summon from Serial Solutions, as well as open source alternatives such as Blacklight and VuFind. The independence of the interface from back-end automation will also prevail in the mobile arena, opening up competition that will exert upward pressures for increased features, functionality, device support and downward pressure on price.

Tim Spalding, founder of LibraryThing, reports that LibraryAnywhere is currently in the testing phase and that libraries will find its cost surprisingly cheap. Spalding offered an early glimpse of LibraryAnywhere at the Midwinter Meeting of the American Library Association in Boston, with full release expected in April 2010. In a rather unusual move in the library automation industry, LibraryThing has published specific pricing for the product:
 

• Schools, $150 + $50 per additional location
• Public libraries: $350 for main facility + $50 per branch
• Two and four-year colleges: $750 + $150 per additional library building
• Universities: $1000 + $150 per additional library building

Libraries anxious to enable mobile access will have multiple options, including those offered by their ILS vendor and from LibraryThing. Other competitors will likely emerge. With the high level of functionality and the low pricing, this competition will lower the threshold for mobile technology into the reach of almost any library.

Mobile, mobile, mobile.  It’s all we hear these days.  Mobile…it’s the new black.  Mobile…you just GOTTA.  At my library, mobile web browsers have only accounted for .3% of the total site traffic so far this semester.  Taking all the public PCs into account (the default webpage for which is of course the library web page) only takes this up to .5%.  So, should my staff and I still put effort into a mobile library site, just to serve this handful of people?

In a word, yes. Yes, there is a lot of hype right now, but nonetheless, this traffic will continue to grow. With some initial planning like that so thoughtfully presented by Beth Ruane, Missy Roser, and Courtney Greene of DePaul University, at the ALA Midwinter meeting in Boston, a mobile-optimized website is within every library’s reach.

How does one create a mobile website for one’s library?  There are many resources available for those who want to dig in and get it done.  Creating a mobile version of our website is a goal for this year in my library, so I’ve been focussing professional development efforts on this lately.  At ALA Midwinter in Boston, I participated in a half-day pre-conference workshop sponsored by ACRL, titled “Anytime, Anywhere, Any Device: Developing a Mobile Website for Your Library,” taught by three librarians from DePaul University.

This workshop was great for two reasons: the content was excellent, and its delivery was stellar.  In a single afternoon, each participant learned what makes an effective mobile website and left the room with a plan for devising one for his or her home institution. The teachers (for they taught us; they did not merely present to us) meted out the concepts one pearl at a time, giving us time to digest, reflect, and write.  The icing on the cake: we were left with a blank copy of the workshop handouts and an online toolkit with which we can replicate this process in our own library.

I expected the workshop to be more technical than it was, but this turned out to be unnecessary.  I had been intimidated by the thought of creating a mobile website.  This may seem obvious to say, but pages in a mobile website are just that—web pages.  They are smaller and optimized for the tiny screens typical of a mobile device, but that’s where the differences end.  Anyone who can create a web page can create a mobile web site.  The trick is to do adequate planning with mobile users in mind, rather than simply making a more streamlined copy of all existing content.

One of the most important distinctions made in this workshop for me was the idea that it’s necessary to think about mobile devices in two classes: smart phones and lower-end devices.  These two types of devices typically have different-sized screens that must be taken into account when creating mobile content, and bring two different “interaction styles” to the table: touch and scroll.  A smart phone like the Apple iPhone or Motorola Droid has a much larger screen than a Blackberry 8800 or the LG EnV series, which also come equipped with web browsers, provided the users have the appropriate data plan.  Cell phones can lack features easily taken for granted, like the ability to execute Javascript—something else to keep in mind when designing.

Other important points:
 

A content management system like Drupal is capable of creating a mobile website through stylesheets and theming, as are programs like Dreamweaver.  Taking advantage of this capability will mean having only one set of content pages to change.

The ability to test what you create is critical, but it’s impossible to have access to every single device that might make use of your mobile content.  Essential to have: iPod Touch or iPhone; lots of friends with different types of cell phones.  Libraries that circulate e-readers might test the site out on them (Kindle, Nook, the coming iPad).

The steps we walked through in the workshop were:

Needs assessment: plan for a useful site by first talking with library staff and users by asking questions such as: who are the internal and external stakeholders for this project? How can data be gathered by using surveys, user observations or focus groups?  Are there sources of secondary data that would be helpful, like website analytics or iinstitutional demographic data?  The final step in a needs assessment is to analyze the data that’s been gathered and to report these findings to the stakeholders.

Integrating with existing library services: the thought of creating a mobile-optimized equivalent of the entire library website is intimidating.  Use the data gathered in the needs assessment to identify and prioritize services for which a mobile version would be ideal. Focus on services that assist users in locating information or asking questions and services that deliver useful information to people planning to visit or already in your library building.

Project planning: the instructors wisely advised: “Don’t underestimate the value of written documents in formalizing and building consensus, in sharpening your own vision of what is to be accomplished, and in beginning the very important process of project documentation.”  It is important to think through and document the purpose of the project, who will be involved and be accountable for the project’s success, and its timeline for completion.

Building the site: with screen size in mind, sketch out what your mobile site might look like.

Testing, marketing, launching: The plethora of library services is so broad and deep these days that we cannot simply build a mobile website, expecting people to come.  There is something for everyone in every library, and it’s the librarians’ job to target segments of the population with information about services that will best meet those populations’ needs.  When thinking of marketing any library service, mobile website or otherwise, it’s important to set a goal: what will be the result of the marketing campaign? How will you measure your success?  What techniques will you employ?  Who else in your organization must be involved?  If you are lucky enough to have personnel in your library dedicated to PR or marketing, use them!

Keeping up - The teachers gave participants a toolkit of resources on keeping on top of technologies and trends affecting mobile use and services.  We spent time adding to this list the names of organizations, people and information sources that are our go-to places for keeping up.

Additional resources

• Delicious bookmarks from the workshop
• Workshop slides
• Handheld Librarian: 2009 Conference Recordings | 2010 Conference Recordings (password required)
• Jason Clark’s mobile site template
• Chad Haefele’s Mobile Website generator

The archive of our Webinar TechTrends: Midwinter 2010 is now available. We've posted the audio and visual aspects of the event to Vimeo and the slides to slideshare. Thanks to all who attended, our wonderful panelists Jason Griffey, Sean Fitzpatrick, Kate Sheehan and Greg Landgraf, and our sponsor, the SirsiDynix Institute.

Enjoy!

Video Archive:

 

Slides:

 

Librarians are tough customers when it comes to technology. As a profession (like Mr. Whitman), we are large and contain multitudes. There are librarians who are not so technologically-inclined, those who are pragmatists, and those who are technology fetishists. I’m over-simplifying of course, but each new tech tool requires us to assess on multiple levels: How can I use this? Is it useful to me? What about librarians in general? What about my coworkers? My patrons? Which of my patrons?  The answer will be different for every librarian and every library and may change over time (not so long ago, Twitter was more useful for librarians than their organizations, but now that it’s reached a critical mass, libraries are using it successfully to connect with patrons).

Conventional wisdom is that librarians should try things personally or within the library before using a tool with the public. This often makes sense, though there are some notable exceptions – an internal blog requires a change in organizational communication, while a blog for the public can be maintained by incorporating a few extra tasks into staff workflow; a failed internal blog does not mean that blogs (and by extension, CMS) are a bad idea for communicating and connecting with the public. However, many of us used Facebook or Twitter as individuals before we created that fan page or library twitter account and found that our personal experimentation informed our professional presence online.

Often, the workplace turns out to be the best place to test out new tools and toys. Would Google Wave be useful in planning a surprise party? Sure, but not if you have to provide tech support to a relative who only just got the hang of email. A new project can be an opportunity to try out a new technology within a concrete framework. Not every tool is going to work for every librarian (there are plenty of fantastic bloggers who don’t have any interest in Twitter and Twitterati who see no need for a blog), but we certainly don’t suffer from a dearth of options. It can seem like an insurmountable task to check out every new website and service out there. Luckily, technological voyeurism can be as instructive as experimentation.

Google Wave debuted to much fanfare as what email would be if it were designed today. However, I have yet to find a place for it in my life, so when Sarah Ludwig, Head of Teen and Technology Services and Head of Knowledge and Learning Services at Darien Library, mentioned she was using Wave to brainstorm new ways of engaging teens in her library, I was intrigued. She graciously agreed to talk to me about how she’s using Wave to communicate and collaborate.

Kate Sheehan: What made you decide to use Google Wave instead of, say, email or chat?

SL: The Teen and Technology Department at Darien Library was starting a new initiative to encourage more teen-generated content and email wasn’t cutting it. The people who do the most work with teens right now are me and two part time staff members who are never in the building at the same time. We could all email, but it’s easy to lose track of ideas and it’s difficult to see the whole conversation. We started using Google Wave on this initiative and we liked it so much, we’re implementing it on other projects as well.

KS: What are you planning with Wave?

SL: We’re interested in getting teens engaged with the library in new ways. They’re attending programs and using the teen space, which is great, but we want the teen program at the library to be for, about and by them. We’re missing that last piece – we’re still creating most of the content and it’s mostly happening on the library’s turf – in the library or on the library’s website. We want teens to be writing, making videos, planning events, and talking about what they’re doing at the library on their own Facebook pages.

KS: Sounds like it would be great marketing for you.

SL: Yes, it would be viral marketing but more importantly, it would be a sign of engagement with the library and with the content connected with the library- a sense of ownership.

KS: That’s a tall order and much more complicated than letting the TAB write updates for your Facebook page. So (getting back to Wave), a sophisticated project benefits from a sophisticated planning tool?

SL: Wave is great for integrating both the brainstorming and the concrete planning. Since we’re not all in the same place at the same time, Wave serves as a giant thread of conversation we can all follow and participate in easily. I’m especially into the mind mapping tool (please note, I have edited out a long digression about how much we both love mind mapping tools. They’re terrific and we love them – KS). I use it to visually represent the big picture, but I also use it to divvy up tasks – I can ask Alex to look into one branch, and Heather can tackle another. It keeps us all on the same page.

 

KS: The times I’ve used it, I’ve found that watching people type is unsettling and I really don’t like the thought that they’re watching me type. Since you’re all working asynchronously, you’re avoiding some of that.

SL: It is strange to watch people type! We aren’t all in there at the same time, usually, so we don’t see that. Actually, since we are using it asynchronously, the threading really helps. It’s easy to see who said what and play back the conversation as it happened, unlike in a group document.  I’ve been getting into the gadgets lately too. The mindmap tool is a gadget and there’s a video chat gadget. I’m finding that even if our patrons aren’t using this exact tool, just having technology so integrated into my job helps me think about how to integrate technology into the library in ways that are useful for our patrons.

KS: Thanks for talking to me about how you’re using Wave (and your fantastic teen program). Since I haven’t used it much, I find it instructive to see a real-life use case that’s going so well. One last question: Do you think you’ll keep using Wave?

SL: I think we will (at least for now), since it’s working really well. We have a few different waves going for different projects. This is part of a larger two-year initiative on teens and Web 2.0 in Darien, so I’m excited to look back in two years and see the conversations we had and watch our thinking evolve as we learn and as technology changes.

I am pleased to announce that the first paper from the 2009 CAVAL Visiting Scholar project was published as part of the proceedings of VALA 2010, a conference held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia two weeks ago. VALA - Libraries, Technology and the Future Inc. is an Australian non-profit that promotes the use of technology in libraries, museums and other institutions originally “established as the Victorian Association for Library Automation in 1978 in response to the emergence of automated library catalogues and other technologies that were revolutionising the industry at the time.”

Sadly, I was not there in person - I’d be happy to be away from the Midwest winter for a few more sun-drenched Aussie days. But I was there via technology, presenting and interacting with the crowd. The whole process of doing the research and the way we’ve used technology every step of the way has got me thinking about the bigger implications for conferences and learning.

The research project is ongoing, examining the impact and success of Learning 2.0 programs in Australian libraries. Why Australia? As Warren Cheetham, my co-investigator on the project, said at VALA: The Yarra Plenty Library was the first library in the world to adapt Helene Blowers “23 Things” program in mid to late 2006. From there, the program has grown exponentially. Helene recently wrote:

Don't ask me the number of libraries or organizations? With programs having been run by the National Library of Norway, the State Library of Victoria, Maryland public libraries statewide, 23 Things on a Stick for multiple libraries and organizations, I really have no way of knowing the total impact or number of organizations that have adopted the program. But from my delicious links and growing communications folder I can tell you this... the number is definitively over 700 and more then likely hovers somewhere just under 1000 organizations worldwide. 

Last year, we ran a national survey for program participants, a survey for program administrartors and during my 5 week visit last fall, we conducted focus groups with library staff of various libraries. Working with Warren and Richard Sayers, our “project leader” for CAVAL at that time, has been wonderful! The data set is huge and will be published in various articles over the next year or so - VALA being the first.

Which brings me back to the tech that helped us along the way. Warren and I recently wrote a short piece called “From a Distance” in the Jan/Feb edition of inCite, the news magazine of the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). 

In it we described our use of technology tools like Skype, Dropbox, Flickr, to plan the research and study visit. For VALA, I added a few more tools to our aresenal. Worried that Skype or other VOIP tech might fail us during our presentation, Warren, Richard and I decided that my portion would best be done via pre-recorded video.

I’ve been meaning to do more with video and this was a perfect opportunity to test the tools and my abilities. I experimented for a day with my Flip Video Ultra HD but found the sound quality lacking. Using a USB microphone and Apple’s iMovie, I was able to record within the application via my big iMac’s iSight camera. It yielded 1024 X 576 video that I could edit and manipulate. I shot one 3 minute clip of me welcoming the group to our talk and talking a bit about the project background. There is a spiffy map feature built into iMovie  that creates slick world map animations - a perfect way to let the folks watching in Melbourne know where I was.

 

What I learned: recording 3 minutes of video is HARD! It seemed to take forever as I started, flubbed and started over again. It’s one thing to speak to a group - I do that all the time -  but it’s different when the speech is being recorded. I think I finally said to myself “Get a grip” and just did it.

The other two sections were created by exporting our Keynote slides to iMovie. I then recorded an audio track with Garageband to overlay on the slides, matching my timing up and saying “Warren, please go to the next slide please.” Warren was able to advance the slides as I spoke, creating a seamless experience. We put the video files in the Dropbox folder we share for the project.

During the presentation, I listened via Skype and monitored the Twitter chatter about the session, answering questions and pointing people to our research site. We think that some in the audience might even have thought I was live on the big screen because the transitions were so smooth.

After experiencing how EDUCAUSE can create such an open, engaging conference via various technologies last month and the experience with VALA, I’m becoming even more sold on the idea of these tools breaking down the barriers of space, time and money for conferences and for learning. I would like to see more free archived video and more encouragement of real time interaction beyond the walls of the convention center for all of our conferences. The worries about losing conference attendees because of free content offered on the Web may be a concern for some, but I recall hearing that EDUCAUSE LI had an INCREASE in delegates this year. 

Education benefits as well - especially online classes that often seem to be text-based. When I finally got the video thing right, I also recorded two quick shout out posts to my classes for our class sites. It was easy to do - I just pretended I was suddenly in front of the class and had a few things to share. Bumping into two students this week in the hallway at Dominican, one remarked that she was very happy to see me on video during our month long breaks between class meetings. Note to self, I thought, do more video. I’m rather excited now to explore recording lectures this way, and asking my students to contribute video as well.

I’m also excited to share more of the research and also excited to see where all of these tools take as we continue to learn and explore. Please share your tech and presentation/teaching success stories here! I’d like to include them in a future post and in my teaching.

CAVAL: http://www.caval.edu.au

Research @ TTW: http://research.tametheweb.com

In this post, Jennifer Bowen discusses the implications of Karen Coyle's January issue of Library Technology Reports, and places it in the current context of Metadata librarianship.
--Daniel A. Freeman

A couple of years ago, while in the thick of RDA development, I started hearing some pretty ominous statements from some of my metadata colleagues.   They were saying that if libraries are to remain relevant in the future, then library metadata MUST be transformed to enable it to function within a web environment.  They felt that if RDA fails to make this happen, then library catalogs and cataloging are doomed to oblivion.  Ouch – no pressure there!  Amid other equally strident voices warning that we shouldn’t stray too much from AACR2 and ISBD, I found these calls for drastic change to be more than a little perplexing!

I admit that I first decided to listen seriously to the folks demanding change, not because I found the arguments to be immediately understandable and compelling, but because of the great respect that I have for the individuals (Karen Coyle and Diane Hillmann among them) who were making them.   And after listening for a while, the arguments DID become more compelling.  And the more I tried to understand what they were saying, the more compelling their explanations became.

In her January 2010 issue of Library Technology Reports, “Understanding the Semantic Web:  Bibliographic Data and Metadata,” Karen Coyle has now written the explanation that I needed two years ago!  Thank you, Karen, for writing something so free of confusing jargon, and so full of real life examples to guide everyone through this difficult topic.  I find it even MORE valuable that Karen’s report is not seeped in doom-and-gloom about the future, but wonderful excitement about the possible roles that libraries could take on in a broader online environment, with library metadata informing and populating any number of innovative web applications, built by just about anyone!  How cool is that?

While the discussion about the relationship between library metadata and the Semantic Web may seem to be in its infancy, the “Library Linked Data Movement” (to give it a name) is already maturing in interesting ways.  We (and I now consider myself part of this discussion group) are all on various stages of the learning curve.  Some, like Karen, are out leading the way, and trying to find a way to “fit” library practices into the theoretical concepts of the Semantic Web.  While I still struggle to explain the difference between OWL and SKOS, I find that I understand the concepts at a deeper level the more that I work with actual data.   I now understand the beginnings of what it takes to make our legacy metadata work on the web, and am working to find practical solutions to make that happen using software being developed for the eXtensible Catalog. 

Karen is quite correct when she says that “The movement of library data into the linked data cloud is not as far off as it might seem,” because we have already developed open source software for the eXtensible Catalog that enables libraries to get started with this process.  While the eXtensible Catalog (XC) software can be used as an end-to-end next generation discovery system, the various XC software toolkits can also be used alone or in various combinations to provide a platform for preparing metadata to work in a variety of environments, including the Semantic Web.  XC software provides a way for libraries to experiment with transforming legacy catalog data and making it available as linked data.   Just as importantly, we’ve designed XC software so that it will work alongside MARC-based systems, which allows libraries to experiment with their data in new environments without migrating away from their current Integrated Library Systems.   As Karen said recently during a College of DuPage webinar (http://www.dupagepress.com/index.php?id=4426), XC gives libraries a way to get started!

The bottom line:  libraries don’t need to wait to get started in this area – there is a huge opportunity here, and no good reason to wait.  In fact, there is every reason NOT to wait until everything is figured out by someone else – we need to (and can!) figure it out for ourselves! 

For more information about the eXtensible Catalog, please visit our website at www.eXtensibleCatalog.org (revamped website coming soon!).    On this site you’ll find links to many presentations about XC, including a series of webcasts about the software (http://www.screencast.com/users/eXtensibleCatalog) and a paper describing our work on XC related to metadata (http://hdl.handle.net/1802/6377).

I’m looking forward to Karen’s February issue of  Library Technology Reports, which will delve more into how RDA is now becoming a part of the Linked Data environment.   We are working with some aspects of RDA as part of the XC Project, and I will have more to say in response to that report, especially regarding our findings about what works and what doesn’t, in terms of transforming legacy library data to linked data.

A group of Metadata librarians are also planning an ALCTS Preconference entitled, “Linked Data: Making Library Data Converse with the World”for the ALA Annual Conference in Washington D.C. (http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alcts/confevents/upcoming/ala/ac10/linked.cfm).  If you’d like to learn more, please join us! 

Jennifer Bowen (jbowen@library.rochester.edu) is Assistant Dean for Information Management Services at the University of Rochester River Campus Libraries, and Co-Executive Director of the eXtensible Catalog Organization.  She was involved with RDA development as a former ALA representative to the Joint Steering Committee for the Revision of AACR2, and more recently has been actively exploring ways that legacy MARC data can be reused in other discovery environments and a non-MARC implementation of part of RDA within the eXtensible Catalog.

Earlier this month, Google bought a small start-up company that provides a social search service called Aardvark (www.vark.com)  that helps satisfy people’s information needs. 

Big deal, right? This happens all the time.  Large tech companies always are on the lookout for small companies doing innovative things that they can acquire.  Sometimes the big company wants the innovation, or its the talent pool, or it just wants to acquire and kill a threat to its business model.  It’s probably cheaper and more efficient overall to buy innovation rather than create it in-house. 

Librarians, however, may want to keep an eye on what happens to Aardvark in the Googleplex, because what Aardvark had created prior to its acquisition may point to a rich future for using Social Search to satisfy human information needs. 

We humans need information to survive, thrive, and develop.  Information needs constantly crop up.  Some are very time-sensitive, while others linger for hours, days, months, or even years before they are satisfied. 

It seems to me that initially there were two, then later three, basic sources of information to satisfy human information needs:  other people, the environment, and, later, documents. Before documents became part of the human endeavor, if you woke up in your cave and wanted to know what the weather was like outside, you either asked one of your family members or friends in the same cave who had gotten up earlier and reconnoitered to report back on weather conditions, or you got up, walked outside, and experienced the weather yourself.  In other words, other humans and the environment were the two primary sources of information that could satisfy your information needs.

Then documents came onto the scene:  cave paintings, scrolls, illuminated manuscripts, books, journals, websites, blogs, YouTube videos, etc.  Early on, we discovered that documents are another way to satisfy our information needs – not about current weather conditions, but more stable information like knowledge, culture and wisdom.

Because documents proved to be a good way to satisfy information needs, they proliferated, which in turn created the need for some way to search for and find information contained in documents.  This gave rise to libraries, library catalogs, full-text databases, web search engines, and reference services.  When the era of digital documents dawned and full-text indexing and web search engines arrived, the ability of documents to satisfy information needs took a quantum leap.  This type of search currently is called “web search” or “library search” but in this context the phrase "Document Search" may be better.  

Of course, humans and the environment are still valid ways to satisfy one’s information needs.  Over the millennia, however, Social Search and Enviro Search did not develop nearly as much as Document Search.  For example, although there currently are approximately 4.6 billion active cell phone subscriptions worldwide, if I want to find a few people who could satisfy an esoteric information need I have, I wouldn’t know which cell phone number to dial.  If I phoned a library reference service, in most instances I’d be switching over to a mediated Document Search.  There is no “full gray-matter index” to what we collectively know and remember.

Aardvark and other Social Search engines are trying to help Social Search catch up with and perhaps surpass Document Search as our “go to” source for satisfying our information needs.  (As an aside, it seems to me that Enviro Search engines – comprised, at least theoretically, of weather monitors, traffic cameras, seismic sensors, space satellites, etc. – still run a distant third to Document Search and Social Search and won't catch up any time soon.) 

It seems to me that library reference services traditionally have been focused on Document Search, although reference librarians have been known to refer people to other people who can help satisfy their information needs without resorting to documents.  As a librarian who has provided reference services at a desk, on the phone, in Second Life, and via SMS text messaging, I can’t remember a single time I used Enviro Search to satisfy anyone’s information needs. 

The reason I find Aardvark so interesting is that it may be the harbinger of a major interest in and adoption of reference services provided by libraries and other outlandish organizations to tap into the resurgent power of Social Search.   The Aardvark search algorithm takes your question, expressed in natural language, parses it, then matches it to only a few people who probably know the answer, based on their self-declared areas of expertise and how they have performed with previous answers supplied via Aardvark.  The entire transaction usually happens in less than 10 minutes. 

The story behind Google’s acquisition of Aardvark is a little more complicated than the timeless tale of big fish swallows little fish.  Most of the folks who originally started Aardvark left Google to do so.  I assume Google initiated these acquisition discussions, which puts an interesting twist on the story of the prodigal son.  These prodigal Aardvarks left Google penniless (for all intents and purposes), then returned to Father Google when he offered them $50 million to return to the fold with the cool tool they had invented while they were away tending pigs.  Imagine Fred MacMurray pleading on bended knee, “Hey, Chip, Ernie, and that Eldest One whose name I always forget, please come home!” 

Google Buzz, the Big G's newest and shiniest tool, launched last week to a huge amount of sturm und drang. What is Buzz? It's a lot of things, all shoved neatly into Gmail and leveraged with every ounce of power that Google could give it. If you've logged into your Gmail account in the last week, you've see a pop-up announcing Buzz, and asking if you were interested. Want to know what you're in for? Here's the very, very general idea.

Buzz is a combination of a few different existing ideas. The first is the concept of the "status update" or microblogging service, a la Twitter or Facebook. The second is the idea of conversation, as Buzz threads your discussions, instead of isolating replies like Twitter. This means that posts and replies are presented as a single thread, similar (very, very similar) to FriendFeed.

The third thing that Buzz gives you is that these posts and replies are all geolocated, tied to a specific place in the world. If you access Buzz from your mobile phone, it will use the built in GPS to locate you and geotag any updates you might send from your phone. It also aggregates the Buzzes for a given location, allowing you to see what people are talking about by literally clicking around on a Google Map. This put it firmly in the realm of both geolocated communication services like Foursquare and Gowalla and location-based review services like Yelp.

In launching Buzz, Google did several very smart things, and one very, very dumb thing. The smart thing was that they tied it to Gmail, their most popular service next to search, and they used the information they already had about your email habits to pre-populate Buzz with contacts. This eliminates the lack-of-network issue that users encounter when they first sign on to a social network--who do I talk to? The dumb thing they did was pre-populate with contacts and give effectively no privacy controls to their users in the first 24 hours of the launch. This caused quite a lot of issues when it was discovered that your Buzz account showed up on your Google Profile page, complete with your followers list, which included all your followers email addresses. To Google's credit, they fixed the issue within a day, giving both old and new users finely grained privacy controls.

So why should libraries pay attention? For a few reasons, not the least of which is that unlike Twitter, Google Buzz is being built using open standards, and the API that Google has already provided is more flexible and open than any of the current market leaders in this space. Libraries should always be interested in interacting with and supporting open communication standards online. Google has also announced that Buzz is going to be integrated into Google Apps for Education, which many schools, colleges, and universities are already using for students.

Google is positioning Buzz to be a one-stop microblogging platform, allowing posting from Buzz to outside services, as well as using Buzz as an aggregation tool to collect posts from other services. This may be the beginning of a true collapse of the current social silos that we have, where there is little interoperability between systems. The current microblogging/status update situation is much like the early days of email, when you couldn't email someone who happened to be on another service provider. I know that it's hard to believe now, but at one point if you were on Prodigy, you just couldn't email someone on AOL or Compuserve...they just didn't talk to each other. This is comprable to Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed and more today. Buzz might be the first step towards a short-form asychronous-but-immediate standard for delivery of messages across these services.

More...Open Source Library Systems have definitely arrived. Nevertheless Marshall Breeding’s Perceptions 2009 report seems to indicate that the interest in open source systems, by those libraries with a proprietary system, is still not very high even for those expressing dissatisfaction with their current system.

At ALA Midwinter PTFS announced their intention to purchase the leading open source system support company LibLime. Just before the recording of this month’s show, they announced that PTFS and LibLime could not agree upon financial terms and have agreed not to proceed with the acquisition. So who better to join us as a guest on the show, than PTFS CEO, John Yokley.

We open the show with John providing an overview of PTFS, the LibLime situation, and his gerneral view of the market. Gang members Talin Bingham, Nicole Engard, and Frances Haugen, filled the positions round our virtual table for a view on how these events and survey results indicate a future for the open source sector.

Library 2.0 Gang 01/10 [49:09m]:Download

Our webinar, TechTrends: Midwinter 2010, was a huge success! We had some great presentations and some lively discussion. We tackled some exciting topics. Just to name a few:

• Vendor presence at the webinar--who was there and, just as importantly, who wasn't there.
• Exciting new eBook platforms/software and their potential for libraries
• Augmented reality
• Mobile PACs and library mobile services in general
• Discovery systems
• Libraries adopting open source software
• FourSquare and its potential for libraries

Discussion wove in and out of these and other topics, and we wrapped up with a vibrant Q&A. Discussion on twitter (#TTWebinar) was also lively.

We want to extend a special thanks to everyone who attended, and give a special thanks to presnters Sean Fitzpatrick, Jason Griffey, Greg Landgraf and Kate Sheehan, and to our sponsor the SirsiDynix Institute, as well as co-sponsors LITA and American Libraries.

We will be posting an archive of the webinar to our website in the next few weeks, and will be sure to announce that posting on this blog and on Twitter.

Darien Library has long been known for its “extreme customer service” and for making every Darien experience the best that it can be.  When the proposal to expand the old library building fell through, administrators Louise Berry and Alan Kirk Gray applied these same principles to dreaming Darien Library all up again.  The resulting new building opened in January 2009 to much fanfare and many awards, including being featured on the cover of Library Journal's Design Issue.  I spoke recently with Darien’s John Blyberg and Gretchen Caserotti and asked them to reflect on the past year and on what lies ahead for this Connecticut public library. 

When I asked what they got right with the new Darien Library, Assistant Director for Innovation and User Experience John Blyberg answered, “We hit SOPAC right on the head.”  SOPAC is software that integrates the library catalog and website into a uniform whole along with social features that make the user the center of the experience.  In designing the digital strategy for the new Darien Library, they thought consciously about where the digital and the physical intersect.  “The vast majority of users come at [their library] both ways.  One needs to reflect the sensibilities of the other.”  The goal of SOPAC was to create a remarkable online experience to match the phenomenal physical experience envisioned for the new building.  It’s had a great impact on users, who “have come to grasp the concept of a library portal that has its identity associated with the library and the same quality as the rest of the library.  There is no dividing line between librarian-posted content and the catalog. It is all a fluid experience.”  

The new website and SOPAC were implemented before the building was complete to give staff and customers time to use the new features.  “SOPAC complements what we do in terms of public service because the staff have bought into it. They understand the tools available and how to translate them into virtual and face-to-face reference, reader’s advisory” and other services.  SOPAC’s capabilities have changed the way that library staff do their jobs, in ways that Blyberg didn’t anticipate. “From materials workflow to customer service, it’s been a valuable tool."  For example, staff use tags to create high-quality book lists on the fly that are integrated with the catalog.

When asked what other libraries can learn from Darien’s approach to integrating technology into the user experience, Blyberg advises that it’s appropriate to recognize that some technology has a place in the library and some doesn’t.  “When you introduce a technology into a library, you’re introducing a new element into a system - you’re going to change something.  If you do it right, you can introduce technology in a way that feels right.  If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t right.  It’s important to understand the system but also to be tuned into what effect a change to that system will have.”

When I talked to Gretchen Caserotti, Darien’s Head of Children’s Services, I wanted to ask in particular about their Creation Station, an idea that had captured my imagination a year earlier when I visited.  The Creation Station comes in a silver briefcase (like those you see in spy movies!) and contains a MacBook, Flip Camera, digital camera, voice recorder, cables and accessories.  The kit is intended to spark creativity in kids and is made available during programming and for checkout.  “Kids use the Flip camera most often,” Caserotti explains, “but there is a lot of need for adult support.” Children are adept at using the tools one at a time, “but they can’t always follow through to the next step of making and sharing an object.  When a librarian is there to see them all the way through, it’s more successful.”  With the Creation Station, the Darien Children’s Library is turning library programming into opportunities for creation, not input only.  “Kids learn sensorially. This gives older kids opportunity to be creative.” 

While kids ages 8-12 use the Creation Station the most, kids of all ages use the technology in the library.  The flexible space of the Children’s Library will allow for experimentation with the integration of computers into the younger kids’ area.  “Adults busily compartmentalize stories into formats, but kids don’t see the difference.  Stories can be told on any platform.”  Caserotti counts the fact that there is dedicated technology for the Children’s Library a success.  Having their own programming area, computers and other supporting technology “empowers them as a department to provide services and programming for children and for families.  Thinking about versatility, flexibility and portable things has been very successful.”  For an example of how the Macbook was used in the 2009 Summer Reading Program, check out the “Photo Booth” pictures from Darien’s flickr stream.

Underlying my conversations with John and Gretchen was the Darien ideal of extreme customer service.  The Children’s Library “doesn’t just serve kids; we serve everyone,” as Gretchen puts it.  Knowing how to “cover every market” and serve the adults—parents, caregivers—who come in with the children is just as important as serving those kids.  John summed up Darien’s approach to the user experience this way:  “We try and approach solutions in pragmatic way, that make sense for a public library whose mission it is to enrich the community.  We’re here to ultimately help citizens make better decisions.  To us, a big part of the answer is creating a community space/center where people come together and share ideas, engage in fellowship and consider a third place.”

“I’ve found my tribe.”

I surprised myself with the admission that I felt very at home with the attendees, speakers and organizers of the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative Conference 2010. I had never been to the conference before and I was rather nervous about my invited presentation. This was a step away from presenting in the library world. I'll confess that it felt a bit daunting. The theme of the conference was "Learning Environments for a Web 2.0 World,” and the featured presentations, concurrent sessions and “Experience IT” encounter groups centered around what it means to use technology in education today, and tomorrow. My session was an overview of what I think makes up “The Hyperlinked Campus” (based on my model of "The Hyperlinked Library") and the benefits of creative collaboration and immersive engagement in teaching. It was good for my own process to articulate the learning goals I have for my LIS students with technology and emerging trends in libraries.

Validation, however, is a also good thing. At EDUCAUSE LI, I found folks doing and thinking the same things I am doing and thinking at Dominican GSLIS. I found conversations about delivering course content and classroom interaction via mobile devices. I found a lively discussion of trends like “simple augmented reality” that will create dynamic, information-laden environments out of city streets or any other locale.

What I didn’t find was librarians. Some facts: the organizers reported at the start of the event that 40% of the 500 or so attendees were faculty, followed by 30% IT administrators. Librarians made up 7% of the registered attendees. In my opinion, that number should have been much higher. I would like to have heard more perspective from those folks actually working in libraries during the Q&A sessions.

I’m using Wordpress multi-user blogs to create class communities, and giving my students experience with tools like Twitter. I’m interested in incorporating a mobile device aspect to my classes. At this conference, I found faculty and IT folks actively exploring the same ideas, and others that went way beyond.

I think the reason I felt so connected to the folks attending this conference is that they are people who are also wrestling with bigger issues. Just as conversations about business, organizations and libraries have centered around the changes brought on by connected, always-on technologies, the folks working in higher ed are facing similar discussions.

I couldn’t help feeling that I had stepped into the midst of another group experiencing a sea change - growing pains of a sort as old models give way to new or evolved models that question “how we’ve always done it.”

The evening session devoted to the just released 2010 Horizon Report was wonderful. Grab the report, read it and ponder what it means for your library if you haven't already.

I felt even more in sync with this tribe in sessions like “Twitter Symbiosis: A Librarian, a Hashtag, and a First-Year Seminar” in which a faculty member, a librarian, and a student from Baylor University described their experiences embedding a librarian in the class back channel via Twitter to do on the fly support and reference throughout a class. Professor Gardener Campbell described what he encouraged in his teaching: laptop use, access to WiFi, and the ubiquitous use of Twitter. He would begin the class session with a “call to arms:” “Everyone sign into Twitter and say good morning to the librarian."

 

It pains me to imagine a classroom where instructors make students power down their laptops and devices. Sure, an errant eye might fall on Facebook while class is in session but it also opens a door to adding deep value via real time searches, interaction with librarians (if they are online as Baylor Librarian Ellen Filgo was for Campbell’s seminar), and a sense of community via Twitter hastags or a class web site. Campbell noted that students appreciated the feedback of the back channel during their presentations.

Keynoter John Palfrey, co-author of Born Digital, gave a thoughtful presentation on his work studying Digital Natives. The revelation that the room should have been filled with librarians as well as faculty and IT staff came when Palfrey acknowledged the issue of information overload facing the natives as well as all of us and noted that the wealth of information out there now available to young people via mobile device presents a key challenge for librarians: “In a world of information overload, who are your guides? Who are the people who help you find the most credible information when you need it?” Palfrey went on to say that librarians are in a perfect position to curate, collect resources and develop spaces for young people to find information and interact. I was the one who shouted “Amen” from the back by the power outlets.

Beyond session content, this conference was one of the most connected and open events that I have ever attended. All of the keynotes and featured sessions were streamed live on the Web as they happened via Silverlight and then archived for free viewing at the EDUCAUSE site. The combination of speaker and slides in a Web browser window has made going back to view sessions I couldn’t attend most enjoyable. This content is free and readily accessible on the web. I’d like to see more of this in our library conferences--more streaming and recording and more FREE access. Go watch Palfrey’s session or one of the others listed below. It’s probably the closest to "being there” I’ve ever seen for capturing a conference.

The ELI conference is also a testing ground for emerging technologies. To build community before the conference, organizers used Pathable, complete with attendee profiles, dynamic scheduling, tagged interests and integrated Twitter/Facebook/Linked In. Google Wave also served as an experimental conference channel for discussion and sharing. I still found my favorite place to be was the Twitter back channel and hashtag #ELI2010. The sharing and commentary was positive, extended the discussion and highlighted the promise of what tech can bring to the learning experience.

Organizers used Google moderator to tap into what the crowd wanted to ask presenters. Questions were submitted and delegates in the room and afar--including attendees who viewed/listened via Second Life--could vote their favorites up to the top of the list.

I’m taking away a lot from three days in Austin, Texas with a tribe of educators and technologists. There was much to incorporate into my teaching and much to share on my own campus.

And I’d share this with you, readers: get to one of these conferences or check out the content online. Given the caliber of discussion and the trend-scanning, the long range insights should not be missed by library folk--especially those who work with young people in any capacity, those who teach future librarians, those who work in academic libraries, or those who recognize that technologies on the horizon will be here sooner than we think. Shouldn’t we have a hand in shaping their use in education and beyond?

Links:

Born Digital: http://www.educause.edu/Resources/BornDigital/196238
ELI2010 Presentations: http://www.educause.edu/Resources/Browse/ELI2010/37186
Gardener Campbell’s Blog: http://www.gardnercampbell.net/blog1/
Google Moderator: http://moderator.appspot.com/
Michael’s Hyperlinked Campus: http://www.educause.edu/Resources/CreativeCollaborationandImmers/196260
Twitter Symbiosis: http://www.educause.edu/Resources/TwitterSymbiosisALibrarianaHas/196234

In the wake of the 2010 Midwinter meeting, there's been a lot of talk about unconferences and online conferences. A rough economy and the inconvenience of long-distance travel, combined with the proliferation of Web 2.0, VoIP and other tools for instantaneous online communication have led to a significant increase in the popularity of online events. Our own Tom Peters has written quite a bit about this topic on the blog and in Smart Libraries Newsletter.

WebJunction is right on top of this trend. They have been producing some excellent webinars for some time now, and with their Technology Essentials 2010 Online Conference, (presenter list and program descriptions are here) they've made the leap to hosting a full-fledged, online conference. The focus of this conference, according to WebJunction's page, is "practical and timely strategies for leveraging technology to help you in a wide range of library services and operations". The conference is taking place on February 9th and 10th.

I had a chance to talk with WebJunction's Jennifer Peterson and Sharon Streams about how this conference came to be, and what WebJunction is hoping to accomplish.

Dan Freeman: WebJunction has been doing Webinars and online learning programs for a while. How did the idea of doing a full-fledged online conference come about?

Jennifer Peterson and Sharon Streams: We’ve seen a real spike in webinar attendance over the last year and recognized that in these times of tight budgets, libraries are looking for travel and cost-free ways to connect and to learn with colleagues. We’ve attended some other recent online conferences and decided to pilot the model for ourselves, leveraging our expertise in webinar production and tapping the wealth of experience in our community to gather expert presenters around the theme of Technology Essentials.

DF: Can you talk about some of the events you’ll be having at the conference? The overall theme?

JP & SS: We always ask our webinar attendees for what topics they'd like to see covered in future programming. From that list a handful of technology related topics emerged, both peripherally and directly related to their library’s technology, hence the overall theme of Technology Essentials. We looked at the top set of themes and recruited experts from the WebJunction community and beyond (thanks to ALA TechSource for co-sponsoring the WordPress session!) to target technology facets within these themes:

• Staff training (Learning When There’s No Time (or Money) to Learn)
• Marketing (M&M: Maximum Marketing/Minimum Investment)
• Outreach, funding, advocacy (Library Grants 101 and Funding for Broadband: Indiana Connectivity)
• Services and programming (Helping Washington Libraries in Hard Times)
• Technology planning (The Planning Puzzle: Integrating your Strategic Plan and your Technology Plan and Technology Planning with TechAtlas for Libraries)
• Virtual libraries (Building Digital Community: Arizona Memory Project and Implementing Reliable Instant Messaging at Your Library)
• Your library's web presence (WordPress for Library 2.0 and Beyond)

We also looked at the post-webinar survey results to understand who attends WebJunction online events (their role) and where they come from (2/3rds work in public libraries and more than half work in communities serving fewer than 25,000 people). But we’re seeing that conference registrants represent virtually every library type and title and come from around the globe!

There are 5 presentations scheduled for each day, with a morning welcome time and ample breaks built in. By registering, one gets access to any or all of the sessions. We encourage folks to take the opportunity to make the conference a team learning event, dividing up sessions they can attend and bringing what they learn back to their colleagues in a follow-up discussion. We see all WebJunction programming as an opportunity for collaborative learning, whether it’s with your own staff or with others across the country. The synergy that can happen in an online environment is often more powerful than in a face2face situation, with ideas exchanged simultaneously via presentation content, the session’s chat feature or elsewhere on the Internet (#WJconf).

DF: There have definitely been some other library-related online conferences and events. What did you like about these that made you want to do your own?

JP & SS: Yes, we’ve learned so much from many of those we’ve attended (Handheld Librarian http://www.handheldlibrarian.org/, Idaho Learning Org http://libraries.idaho.gov/page/libraries-learning-organizations, OPALescence http://opalescence.wetpaint.com/, Iowa Small Libraries Online Conference http://www.swilsa.lib.ia.us/isloc/, Talentpalooza http://www.talentpalooza.net). Based on excellent attendance and outstanding engagement of attendees and presenters, we knew it was a next step in our online programming. We’re really doing much of what we do in our webinars (archiving, enabling chat, sharing of resources, etc.), but just taking it up a notch to see how it works expanding it to a 2-day session.

It fits right into the experimental spirit of online learning that WebJunction loves to support!

DF: What did you see that you think could be done differently?

JP & SS: We learned from watching a few of the logistical challenges that we wanted to keep it simple. For example, we’ll have no concurrent sessions or breakout rooms. And we made sure to provide a platform that could hold as many attendees as possible to reduce bandwidth challenges. We look to the conference attendees to experiment with us in this learning event and to tell us what they think! I’m sure there will be lessons learned, but that’s why we’re doing it!

DF: What do you see the goal of the conference?

JP & SS: The goal is to provide an affordable and accessible venue for library staff to share practical and timely solutions for their needs! Now more than ever, we need to band together to solve problems, and that we recognize that attending an in-person conference is completely impractical for many library staff. Looking at how online programming has changed over the past five years, I think we’re in for an exciting time of online conferences!

Conference Page: http://www.webjunction.org/conferences/articles/content/86891033

BlogJunction coverage (feel free to steal anything in the posts that are there now): http://blog.webjunctionworks.org/index.php/category/conferences/wj-online-conference/

Reminder: TechSource is co-sponsoring a presentation during the conference--WordPress for Library 2.0 and Beyond, featuring Joshua Dodson and Laura Slavin.

On Wednesday, the most anticipated technology product announcement of the last few years took place (video of the event here), and Apple finally showed off their tablet computer, the iPad. The iPad is going to dominate the technology discussion for the next several months, but here's a first-blush look at the tech specs and features that are going to be important for libraries and education. as well as what's missing and what we should be worried about.

First up, the specs: the iPad is a roughly  9.5 x 7.5 inch slab of glass and aluminum, .5 inch thick, and weighs in an 1.5 pounds. The 9.7 inch LCD screen is LED backlit, and has a 1024-by-768-pixel resolution at 132 pixels per inch. Apple is producing 6 unique versions of the iPad, 3 different storage capacities with 2 different wireless connectivity options. Here's a table summarizing the different options:
 

  16GB 32GB 64GB Wi-Fi $499 $599 $699 Wi-Fi + 3G $629 $729 $829

The iPad runs a version of the iPhone operating system, and does indeed look a great deal like an oversized iPod Touch. It will run all of the existing Apps that are available for the iPhone/iPod touch, at either the original resolution (windowed on the iPad screen) or something that Steve Jobs referred to as "pixel doubled" at full screen. Apple claims that the iPad will have 10 hours of battery life on Wi-Fi.

For libraries,these are probably the interesting most details:

Jobs announced a new iBook store and corresponding application on the iPad, putting the device squarely in the eReader category. Apple verified that it will use the EPUB format, but unfortunately Abode also verified that it won't be using Adobe DRM. This almost certainly means that the iBook application won't play nicely with existing library ebook providers like Overdrive, which use the Adobe DRM standard and are compatible with any reader that does the same. Apple will most likely be using their own DRM, which will further limit the use of purchased iBook titles to just the iPad (plus, perhaps, other Apple devices, although there has been no details at all on this front).

The iBook application looks incredible, and the reports from those who actually used it via the demo units at the launch announcement were that it was very much like a physical book in feel, complete with color and page turn. They've got 5 or 6 major publishers already signed up to produce content, and in the screenshots of the iBookstore, you'll notice that they've done something else--they've moved up the price point for an ebook. Books on the iBookstore look to be in the $12.99 range, instead of the $9.99 range as on the Kindle. When this was noticed by Walt Mossberg, technology columnist for the New York Times, he asked Jobs about it. Jobs' response was that there won't be any difference in the prices between the two stores. Parse that, as either the iBooks will go down, or perhaps the Kindle books will go up.

There are a lot of details to be parsed out of this thing, some of which may only come after it actually hits the streets (60 days for the wifi version, 90 for the 3G). I imagine I'll be writing a lot about it in the next few months, as details start to trickle out...I'll do my best to keep everyone up to date.

It’s hard not to make new friends at library conferences. This is doubly true in Boston, a city that redefines the term “lost.” The unofficial activity of ALA Midwinter 2010 seemed to be standing on a corner, smartphone in hand, trying to align the map on the screen with the streets (please note: I used to live in Boston, and think it’s a great place. Still, I accidentally went to the airport one morning on my way to the convention center). Post-conference, lots of folks are blogging about the great people they met, either through serendipity or at meet-ups, and I’m reminded that the power of conferences almost always stems from the people who attend. 

I’ve been jokingly referring to my time at Midwinter as “a weekend spent talking to angry librarians,” though I think “angry” is too strong a word. I noticed a pervasive sense of frustration among the people I spoke with, many of whom expressed some professional exasperation with their jobs, the profession as a whole, or both. Everyone I spoke to was passionately committed to their patrons, to librarianship, to libraries, but all felt they were swimming upstream in some way or another.

On my most optimistic days, I like to think librarianship is a big pie. While I don’t think a library can be all things to all people, I think it is possible to serve, for example, patrons who want a quiet place to read and patrons who want a community center where they can meet and talk. Likewise, I’d like to think that this is a profession where everyone can have their pie and eat it, too.

The consistent thread that wound through all of the conversations I had and stories told at the excellent “Set Sail for Fail” mini unconference (held in ALA’s terrific new conference space, the Networking Uncommons) was agility. The librarians I spoke to felt that they were being held back by outdated bureaucracy designed for the 20th century, not the 21st. They wanted to try new things, fail a lot, learn fast and keep evolving, not fill out a form in triplicate and start a committee.

Lest you think this is a story about new, hip librarians against stodgy, bun-wielding traditionalists, I’m going to return to the pie. Shouldn’t there be enough library pie to go around? We can’t run an organization (or maintain a profession) if we’re all trend-hunting social media junkies. We need the collection development experts, the local history buffs, the genealogists, the metadata engineers. In fact, these are not mutually exclusive groups, though we often discuss trends in the profession as if they are.

As the conference wore on, I started to think about the frustration I was hearing as a problem of agility, which to some extent still creates two groups: agile librarians and stuck in their ways ruining it for the rest of us librarians. I am uncomfortable with the “let’s rumble” dynamics of that dichotomy and I think it overlooks the fact that no one likes a lot of red tape. I started to see this issue as a question of scale.  

 

 

 

 

 

Librarianship is a meticulous profession. While cataloging is the obvious choice for a joke about alphabetical spice racks and color-coded sock drawers, public service librarians are rewarded at the micro level for obsessive thoroughness. Reference librarians all have stories of chasing after patrons with just one more source, continuing to search long after the patron has left, and the reference interview that somehow turned into an interrogation. At the micro level, leaving no rock unturned is a valued and encouraged methodology.

At the macro level, it falls apart. While attention to detail still matters, the return on investment changes. Exercising some care and spending extra time with a patron or in the actual implementation of a technology pays off. But spending months researching a trend before acting on it ensures that we’ll never meet our users where they are.

Librarianship (like many things) doesn’t scale evenly. Methodologies, practices, and theoretical structures that work for the individual librarian interacting with a patron, working with a book, or managing a project don’t work as guiding principles for trying new services, technologies, or programs. In some ways, technology is immaterial, but it becomes relevant because it more frequently gets defined as “new.” Adding, say, a new database is perceived as low-risk because it seems to be a known quantity, but offering mobile services gets more scrutiny because it’s different.

Databases are expensive and underused, but offer content that has long been seen as crucial to our services. Mobile services are emerging in libraries, and they too can be expensive and underused. It’s easy to dismiss something with low usage as something librarians don’t need to try out. But there is value in growing with a technology. My personal experience with IM reference, at more than one library, was that the low initial volume allowed librarians to learn the cadences and rhythms of IM and made us better able to serve our users when the service became standard and volume picked up.

Professionally, librarians have excelled at finding ways to side-step thinking trapped at the micro-level. Blogs, twitter, and even Flickr have given a voice to those who want to share their ideas and engage with their colleagues. Unconferences supplement the long timeline of conference presentations. In the broader profession, we’re figuring out ways to scale our thinking. But if my (admittedly biased and unscientific) sampling of librarians in Boston is any indication, we’re still applying micro-level thinking to macro-level issues in our libraries.

We’re stuck with enough of our red tape. Many of us work within larger organizations and institutions and have intensive bureaucratic processes imposed on us. I have yet to meet a librarian who thinks they don’t spend quite enough time filling out forms. But no one I spoke to in Boston had complaints about paperwork, just about the mindset of their colleagues, who were focused with laser precision at the micro-level.

As any one of those librarians who spent time staring at the tiny map glowing in their hand as they tried to figure out if they could walk from Newbury Street to the Convention Center in fifteen minutes can tell you: scale matters.

If you want to hear more of Kate's analysis of the Midwinter Meeting, be sure to register for our TechTrends: Midwinter 2010 Webinar, where Kate will be part of our expert panel. Register at https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/357398507

The ALA Midwinter meeting provides a fantastic opportunity to reflect on how technology is continuing to transform the library world. Between the exhibition floor and the variety of technology-related events, the conference can provide attendees with an overview of where library technology is, and where it may be going. Of course, for various reasons, many librarians weren't able to attend, and many who did found themselves spread too thin to attend every technology-related event they might have wanted to. 

ALA TechSource is proud to present TechTrends: Mid-Winter 2010, a webinar to analyze and discuss the Midwinter meeting from a library technology perspective. Our panel of experts (including two of our own TechSource bloggers) will each offer their own unique perspective, sharing what they’ve learned from the conference and what trends they think stood out. Participants will also have a chance to participate in a question-and-answer session with the panelists.

Our panel includes:

• Jason Griffey, Head of Library Information Technology, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, and ALA TechSource and American Libraries blogger
• Kate Sheehan, Open Source Implementation Coordinator, Bibliomation Inc., and ALA TechSource blogger
• Greg Landgraf, Associate Editor,
  American Libraries
• Sean Fitzpatrick, Associate Editor,
  American Libraries

Please join us for this exciting event on Thursday, February 11th at 4:00pm Eastern (3:00 Central, 1:00 Pacific)!

Register now: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/357398507

Sponsored by:

 

As apple's big announcement draws near, our own Tom Peters ponders it's significance.