Category: Library Issues

Categories
Library Issues

More on authority

I just had to laugh at one of the more recent posts on the ACRLblog about questioning the standard spiel of authority in Information Literacy instruction. Mark Meola says:

This is very simple advice yet I seldom see it recommended outright in the checklists. It’s a tricky balancing act, but in our drumbeat for students to “use authoritative sources” let’s not forget to recommend questioning authority.

I seem to remember someone talking about it at length over the course of the last few years.

Indeed, that is the focus of an entire class that I do, using the sources on this slide (also, up for many years).

Information evaluation without reliance on authority is being taught, and I maintain it is the way it should be taught. Authority is the thing we used to have to use as an explanation, back when actual verification wasn’t possible except for those willing to spend weeks/months/years doing so. We relied on the magical word “authority” in the same way we relied on phlogiston and ether. And just like those, authority is just an explanatory shortcut that is no longer needed.

Categories
Library Issues

Jessamyn gets BoingBoing’d

Check it out! Our very own Jessamyn West gets on BoingBoing, and is called an “Internet Folk Hero” by Cory Doctorow…I’ve always been a huge fan of Jessamyn, and happy to call her a friend, but my “proud to know” radar just went ballistic!

Congrats, Jess! (and if you haven’t read her Ubuntu post, or seen the video, do it now!)

Categories
Library Issues

Thinking about the catalog

I’ve been thinking a bit about the library catalog lately, mainly due to my time at CiL talking with Tim from LibraryThing, as well as being on the NGC listserv.

We know that OPACs suck. They suck because they don’t meet the expectations of patrons, and are written for librarians and not the public. But we hate the OPAC because it just fails to deliver the information cleanly, and doesn’t allow for serendipity. But the OPAC is only one part of the ILS, and the other parts are where I feel like I’ll get pushback from within my library.

In thinking and planning in my still-new-to-me position as Head of Library IT, I’m looking at the next year, the next 3 years, the next 5 years. It’s clear that getting out of our current system will benefit us, and that’s not really a question. The question is: where do we go? I don’t want to jump from, I want to jump to.

So what do I want out of an ILS? I know what I want out of an OPAC…and I know how I want it to look, act, feel. But I don’t feel like I’m quite comfortable making judgements about the rest of the ILS quite yet. I know I want flexibility, but that’s like saying I want color…there needs to be more specificity before there is any usefulness in that word. And I’m just not quite sure.

Those of you with more ILS experience, or more experience in other parts of library administration (especially Access or Circ or Acquisitions)…what do YOU want out of an ILS?

Categories
Library Issues

Blogging and Preservation

All you librarians out there: take this survey!

Blogger Perceptions on Digital Preservation

What is the purpose of this study?
Since first emerging in the mid-1990s, weblogs, or blogs, have emerged as valuable records of current social and political events. This research study grew out of calls in the literature of information and library science to regard these new vehicles for communication and information dissemination as valuable additions to the human record. The purpose of this research is to survey bloggers’ own perceptions on digital preservation. It is hoped that the results of this study will inform development of recommendations for impacting stewardship of weblogs at the level of creation, and the development of strategies for capturing the content of blogs for perpetuity.

Anyone interested in library blogs should participate in this…plus, it’s being overseen by my Master’s Paper advisor, Paul Jones. 🙂

Categories
Library Issues

My CiL wrapup, in 140 characters or less

At CiL there was:

IMG_9089.JPG

and this:

IMG_9040.JPG

some of this:

IMG_8990.JPG

a side of this:

IMG_9070.JPG

with just a dash of this:

IMG_9017.JPG

Translation: It’s all about the friends. And Twitter.

Categories
Library Issues

Library of the Future

Darien Library

Three Principles

  • Covenant with our patrons
  • Stay ahead of expectations
  • First of the new libraries, not te last of the old

Two Goals

  • Design and Build an absolutely fantastic new library (NB: ummm…thats a goal?)
  • Use technology wherever it will make us more efficient and effective, and however it will meet our patron’s demands

One Rule

  • Tolerate Uncertainty

Continuing Vision

  • Eternal Values
  • New Technology

The library technology center is in the basement! The concept of a street-level greenway that continues into the building is really clever and forward thinking.

“We’re just a cute little public library in Southwestern CT”

Lots of spaces for collaborative work, together and with the staff.

OODA Loop

  • Observe
  • Orient
  • Decide
  • Act

Technology Layers in the Library

  • Infrastructure
  • Administrative
  • Staff
  • Patron Indirect
  • Patron Direct
  • P2P

No Tech services, no Circ office…90% of the books are shelf-ready. They don’t care where a material comes from: the ups truck or a patron return, it’s the same workflow.

No cataloging

Outsource EVERYTHING related to Technical Services

What would a library be if it needed no booktrucks? A booktruck is full of things that aren’t in the hands of a patron.

  • Active item back on shelf in 20 minutes
  • Time from ordering a book to first Circ is 18 hours

NB: Holy. Shit.

No more defensive positions. Think of reference as a concierge desk.

Categories
Library Issues

Virginia Tech Shootings

From CNN

(CNN) — A lone gunman is dead after police said he killed at least 21 people Monday during twin shootings on the Virginia Tech campus — the worst school shooting incident in U.S. history.

As I’m sitting here at Computers in Libraries, I’m wondering if there are librarians here from V Tech, and how they can possibly continue to be here with this happening on their campus. I don’t know how I would deal hearing something like this about UTC from afar.

Categories
Library Issues

Pimp my Firefox with Jessamyn West

Presentation and handouts available at librarian.net

Firefox is open source, standards, compliant, cross platform

NB: Jessamyn is a great speaker…you can get some from the presentation, but she’s great in person

Demos how to install a Firefox add on: Google Favicon
Adding a keyword to a search field, allowing you to search the form/site from the address bar using only a keyword
Greasemonkey! Does as sorts of fun scripty stuff including removing ads and pressing buttons for you.

Categories
Library Issues

Computers in Libraries, Monday Keynote

Lee Raine from the Pew Internet & American Life Project
Web 2.0

Asked by the Pew American Life to not advocate for anything…simply collect information.

“I adore librarians”

What is web 2.0? Show’s the “Ask a Ninja” Podcast episode. “That is web 2.0”

6 Hallmarks of Web 2.0 that Matter to Libraries
1. The Internet has become the computer

    Broadband is growing
    Wireless is growing
    The number of people who access the internet from the library has double in the last 4 years
    Broadband makes video a big part of the internet experience.
    62% of Internet users under 30 have watched YouTube videos
    The number one indicator of basic political knowledge: watching Colbert and Daily Show
    Internet use is more social

2. More than half of teenagers have profiles on social sites like MySpace or Facebook: The social comes to the virtual.

    Older teenage girls are the heaviest users of the social sites, far more than boys or younger girls
    51% of young adult internet users have uploaded photos to the internet. This means that visual images are increasingly the currency of communication.
    About 40% of teenagers have posted their own creations online
    33% of college students have a blog…(NB: That’s a full third, people! Pay Attention!)
    26% say they remix content they find online
    19% of young adults havae created an avatar that interacts with others online

3. Even more internet users are accessin the content created by others

    Not a huge single set of users….Long Tail group
    44% of young adult internet users seek information at Wikipedia
    Wikipedia users, statistically, have the higher levels of education over non-Wikipedia users
    Information Seeking is not to find sources, it is to find people…they reach out to their social circle for more info, not to other sites.

4. Many are sharing what they know and what they feel online and that is building conversation and communities

    33% of young adult internet users have rated a person, product, or service online.
    32% of young adults have tagged content online
    25% of younger internet users have commented on videos

5. People are sharing their expertise and resources online

    44% of internet users participate in peer-to-peer exchanges
    10,000 to 30,000 active developers in the Open Source movement

6. Online Americans are customizing their online experience

5 issues libraries must struggle to address

    Navigation: linear to non-linear
    Context: learning to see connections
    Focus: practicing reflection & deep thinking
    Skepticism: learning to evaluate information
    Ethical behavior: understanding the rules of cyberspace
Categories
Library Issues Podcasts

CALA 2007 presentation: Web 2.0 > Library 2.0

Here is the Quicktime of my presentation from last night to the Chattanooga Area Library Association on Web 2.0 and Library 2.0. While a small crowd, they were very interested in what we’re doing at MPOW to try and move ourselves into a more 2.0 mindset and process.

Thanks to Jessamyn, from whom I borrowed the kitty scared image and the general “Don’t fear the user” concept. I briefly considered just using her slideshow and talking over it, because she puts things together so well.

Warning: this is the full-size QT, so be warned.

And I’ve noticed, the QT can be flaky when you try to play it directly…save it, or try this flash version to view it in browser.