Karen 2.0

2008-01-08T13:08:00.000-08:00

Closing Remarks

2007-11-02T13:44:00.001-07:00

By far one of the best conferences I've been to. I was able to take something away from every single session. The problem now becomes deciding which of those ideas to act on.

So let me start with some themes I noticed throughout the conference:

Open Source is awesome. So many librarians have completely embraced open source software and love being able to get a tool on the cheap and use it immediately. Web hosted software means you don't have to get permission to load it on the server or ask IT to do frequent updates. Internet librarians love fast and free.
Self-taught is the norm. Nobody took a whole class or read an entire book on Meebo or Pbwiki. Internet librarians get their hands dirty and learn on the fly.
Play time's a must. Internet librarians allow themselves to experiment and to use new tools on projects or interests they already enjoy. They're genuinely excited every time they learn about something new and cool and can't wait to find a way to use it.
Training for staff and the public should be done thoughtfully. First of all, it should be done. And when training sessions are done, they should be done respectfully in an environment that fosters excitement and experimentation.
Our borrowers are also creators. People increasingly expect to be able (with ease) to share their thoughts, opinions, and experiences.
Internet librarians love Macs. I can't count the number of MacBooks I saw. A lot of us work in a PC world, but this was one Apple-lovin' group of librarians.
Monterey is pretty. (Well, it is!)

So what's next?

I think the first step will be to put all great ideas and inspiration I came away with into one of two categories

for the public
for the staff

Then I'm going to see if there's anything on the list that would help us meet our current goals. I'll then work on implementing whatever intersects. The next step will be to start thinking about my goals for the next year and where there are opportunities to introduce a little 2.0 into 2008.

Even though I'm back from the conference, don't think it's 2.over. In fact, I think it's just the beginning.

OPAC 2.0

2007-11-01T10:56:00.001-07:00

Designing an OPAC for Web 2.0
Casey Bisson, Software Developer & Information Technologist, Plymouth State University

The Lamson Library online catalog is a thing of beauty. It uses Scriblio, a free, open-source platform for libraries.

I had to leave early to go sit in the Monterey Airport, but I was inspired by what I did get to see and hear. Especially, "Your website is not a marketing tool...it's a service point."

slides

Mobile Tools 2.0

2007-11-01T10:55:00.000-07:00

Trends in Mobile Tools & Applications for Libraries
Megan Fox, Web & Electronic Resources Librarian, Simmons College

This was one of the most informative programs I attended. I am just now scratching the surface of the ways mobile tools are going to change user demand for library services.

For example, 90% of college students have cell phones. Shipments of "smart phones" are up 50% over last year. 80% of teens use text messaging. Just imagine what all of this means for us!

One thing it means is that if we want mobile users to use our web sites, we'd better investigate optimizing our site for viewing on a mobile phone like Freemont Public Library has. You can learn more about transcoding and getting a .mobi domain name at Wikipedia, Mippin , FeedM8, and Zinadoo.

Young adults believe texting and IMing is more authentic than e-mail. Which (sigh) they think is for old people. But new products like Reference by SMS can translate text messages into e-mails. Guess what this means, everybody? That's right, no more excuses for not allowing patrons to text message us their reference questions! And, websites like Meebo now make instant messaging from the reference desk a real possibility!

As if you needed another reason never to be apart from your cellphone, Nokia is investigating ways to allow "pay-by-phone" services

The mobile phone payments Venyon wants to facilitate are based on NFC (near-field communication), which uses an RFID (radio-frequency identification) chip and antenna to exchange information with a payment station from a range of a few centimeters. Typically it would involve tapping the phone against a subway turnstile, a vending machine, a payment device at a checkout stand, or another phone, Pesonen said.

Megan also mentioned tumblr as a site to watch. To me it's like a short-attention-span Facebook mixed with Twitter. But what do I know.

And just 'cause it's fun. Check out how colleges are using game show-style clickers in the classroom to improve participation.

Search 2.0

2007-11-01T10:54:00.001-07:00

Future of Search
Keynote Speech
Danny Sullivan, Editor-in-Chief, Search Engine Land

Widely considered a leading "search engine guru," Danny Sullivan has been helping webmasters, marketers and everyday web users understand how search engines work for over a decade. Danny's expertise about search engines is often sought by the media, and he has been quoted in places like The Wall St. Journal, USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, Forbes, The New Yorker and Newsweek and ABC's Nightline. Danny began covering search engines in late 1995, when he undertook a study of how they indexed web pages. The results were published online as "A Webmaster's Guide To Search Engines," a pioneering effort to answer the many questions site designers and Internet publicists had about search engines. link

Two of Danny's predictions about the future of search have already come true, personalized and blended results. He cited Google's Universal Search as an example of "blended" search results.

Google's Universal Search blends video, local, news and book content into the top 10 list. Ask.com's new 3D approach is designed to make vertical results blend into a more seamless search experience. Yahoo and Microsoft also both give vertical results a presence in response to default search. This session looks at how these changes impact life for the search marketer. link

If monster searching's not for you, don't worry. Search developers are also working on "vertical search" opportunities. Vertical searching lets you limit your searches to a particular area like careers or news. Ideally it will provide more relevant hits.

Danny's personalization predication has come to life in Google's Web History. Let Google officially monitor everything you search for and view, and it will list pages you've visited before higher in your rankings. Spooky. (Optimizes ego-searching, though. Did you know there are actually other Karen Kleckner's out there? It's so tedious sorting through all of their mentions to find the really juicy stuff about ME.)

There were a lot of sessions about searching at the conference, but this was the only opportunity I had to learn a little bit more about the future of search. As we're all becoming more sophisticated searchers, search engines are hard at work to meet our growing demands. I look forward to seeing who wins the breadth v. depth wars.

Gadgets and Gaming 2.0

2007-10-30T21:21:00.000-07:00

Gadgets, Gadgets & Gaming!
Barbara Fullerton, Manager, Library Relations, 10-K Wizard
Sabrina Pacifici, Editor & Publiser, LLRX. com & beSpacific.com
Aaron Schmidt, Director, North Plains Public Library
Erik Boekesteijn & Jaap van de Geer, Delft Public Library

What a fun night. Apparently an anticipated staple of the Internet Librarian conference, Tuesday night was a "slideshow" of hot new gadgets. The great thing was that they weren't necessarily "for libraries." They were new products that give us an idea of what our patrons will be using, and the challenge for us is to imagine how these innovations may evolve to impact libraries. (Like, where are people going to park their $30,000 solar golf carts?)

Some of my favorites were the $99 Palm Centro (hint, hint), Mandylion Password Manager, Vudo, Cloudprint, Skitch, and this fantastic Greenprint software.

"The Dutch Boys" then shared a sneak peak of their documentary, many recently familiar faces were featured!

Earthquake 5.6

2007-10-30T21:16:00.001-07:00

We're fine, but I did get to have the quintessential California experience--an earthquake tremor!

At first I thought it was just my head actually exploding from all the information I've taken in over the past 96 hours, but no. The surreal experience of thinking an entire convention center was swaying was confirmed by the swaying chandeliers for a minute after.

(I still think my head might explode, though.)

iTunes 2.0

2007-10-30T17:35:00.000-07:00

iTune Librarians & RSSperts
Beth Roberts, Research Specialist, Congressional Research Service
John Meier, Science Librarian, Pennsylvania State University

It was the end of the day, but Karen from Des Plaines Public Library was sitting in front of me. So hopefully she'll put something on her blog.

For more on iTunes in the library, check out this article from Playlistmag.com.

Social Software (2.0 implied)

2007-10-30T17:32:00.000-07:00

Screencasting & E-Learning on a Shoestring
Karen Coombs, Head of Library Web Services, University of Houston Libraries
Michelle Boule, Social Science Librarian, University of Houston Libraries

Very fun presentation by two hip librarians from University of Houston Libraries. What was so great about their presentation was that the resources they are using are often free and they taught themselves how to use them by assuming they could.

So here's a bunch of links I want to check out:

drupal
meebo
zoho
camtasia
macromedia captivate
camstudio
iShow
blip.tv
audacity
ourmedia
feedburner
podpress

During Q&A someone raised the very interesting question of privacy issues that might arise with chat logs. I'm sure there will be much more discussion about this as librarians continue to adapt how we're communicating with patrons.

Tech Staff 2.0

2007-10-30T17:30:00.000-07:00

How to Lose Your New Tech Librarian & Tech Training
Jenny Benevento, Associated Press
Sarah Houghton-Jan, Senior Librarian for Digital Futures, San Jose Public Library
Michael Stevens, Assistant Professor, Dominican University, GSLIS

Jenny's presentation was flip and fun. She made good points about how some institutions and administrators treat their tech staff like second-hand citizens--ignoring "tech culture," mocking what they don't understand, not allowing enough time for experimentation and innovation. She pointed out that they are often the people with the most transferable skills to other (more lucrative) positions, so treat them well! (Or you really will be rehiring the same position every 1.5 years! A lot of the librarians she interviewed had left libraries not because of libraries, but of how they were treated by the library administration!)

Michael and Sarah used E.X.P.E.R.I.M.E.N.T. to provide tips for successful training:

Engage--use real world examples, stay relevant, provide tips and tricks
Xenagogue--to guide through a strange land, be available, encourage independence
Play--encourage exploration
Explain--provide context, repeat, offer support materials
Reward--right answers, participation, completion
Imagine--send trainees away with a to-do list
Mentor--treat people like adults, be available for questions, expect success
Empower--use the tool in the class, highlight transferability of skills
New--always have something new to share
Time--practice, questions, adapt before implement

And Michael's closing mantra:

Learn to Learn
Adapt to Change
Scan the Horizon

Learning 2.0

2007-10-30T17:26:00.000-07:00

Promoting Play Through Online Discovery: Lego Building
Helene Blowers, Public Services Technology Director for the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County
Meredith Farkas, Distance Learning Librarian, Norwich University

Meredith began the session and explained the different social network solutions used in creating and facilitating the online course, "Five Weeks to a Social Library." Most of the resources they used were free, open source products or sites. They did use OPAL for webconferencing. Other resources included drupal, mediawiki, and blip.tv.

Some of the things that Meredith took away from this project: playing with technology is essential; reflective learning makes ideas stick; learning from peers is vital; and online learning can happen on the cheap.

Helene made sure everyone knew this wasn't going to be a rehash of "23 Things..." but you can hear about that, if you want! Due to staff demand, they have developed Learning 2.1, with 2-3 new opportunities to learn new things presented every month. Helene believes that we need to shift from thinking about "training" and start thinking about "learning." She prefers to think of herself and other "trainers" as "discovery guides." Learning is ongoing, training is often abandoned once a certain skill has been taught.

Discovery guides need to think of themselves as players, not experts. Don't put off training because you don't know everything about a topic. Be open to learning as you go and learning from the people you're guiding!

Helene recommends giving yourself 15 minutes a day to explore something new online. Some of the blogs she looks to for new ideas are Techcrunch, What I Learned Today, Librarian in Black, Wired, and Learning 2.1.

Her final advice? Duh. PLAY!

Lego Building: Learning Through Play
Building a Foundation with 5 Weeks to a Social Library

Game to Learn

2007-10-30T17:24:00.000-07:00

Teach Me More! Fun & Gaming in Libraries
Chad Boeninger, Reference & Instruction Technology Coordinator, Ohio University Libraries
Randy Christensen, Associate Professor Library Media, Southern Utah University Library

Chad showed examples of several popular video games. (I can't wait to get back to the library and borrow Lego Star Wars) and showed how games encouraged exploration, immersion, and learning while doing. Watching those 15 minutes of video game clips really illustrated how successfully game designers reward intuitive thinking, offer guides to finding information, and encourage trial and error. Can the same be said of our online catalogs and web sites? I don't think it could hurt to take a couple of lessons from an $18 billion a year industry.

For more on how gaming is impacting society, check out The Kids are Alright: How the Gamer Generation is Changing the Workplace

Reference 2.0

2007-10-30T17:22:00.000-07:00

Reverence 2.0: Ain't What It Used to Be... And it Never Will Again Keynote Speech
Joe Janes, Associate Dean, iSchool, University of Washington

If you wanted to be terrified, excited and entertained by the future of library reference service, may I suggest a light continental breakfast and a presentation by Joe Janes? Who knew that acknowledging that the future of ready reference was over could be so funny? But seriously, librarians couldn't answer the volume of Google queries if we wanted to. So why don't we explore our areas of strength and the niches where we really can be responsive.

We're already really good at helping people who care about the information they need (or can be made to care), people who just like being helped, and people "deep diving" for lots of trusted information about a topic of great importance to them. As Joe kept saying about reference librarians, "We're made for so much better." Let's play to our strengths and provide patrons with an experience they really can't get anywhere else rather than "chasing users."

He shared some really powerful thoughts on user created content--whether it be blog posts or avatars and entire histories in Second Life: Every act of creation is a way of saying, "I was here; I matter." From cave paintings to Facebook, human beings want a record of their existence. What are we doing to help make these contributions findable?

Libraries have to be "somewhere and everywhere." This means an inviting and responsive physical space, as well as a strong web presence. And here he made a really critical observation. When someone comes into our library to find material or a service, they've made an investment 0f time and energy--putting on pants, finding a parking place, getting to the right desk to ask for help. So the user is willing to put up with a little bit more because he or she has committed resources to coming to us. But online? It's easy to quit if you don't immediately find what you want. Whatever services we offer online have to be even better than what we do in person.

Joe challenged the audience by asking us to assume that eventually all information will be digital. (He repeated it several times, so I know he was serious.) Rather than being frightened by this we should be delighted. The tools keep getting better! What if a patron were desperate to discover which Backstreet Boys song had the immortal lyrics, "I'm a house of cards in a hurricane"? Would you really want to listen to every song they ever released? If the answer is no, you are never allowed to say a bad word about Google again.

There was so much more, and said so much better. Don't believe me? Listen to a podcast with Joe on Infospeak.org!

Social Catalog (2.0 implied)

2007-10-29T21:50:00.000-07:00

Integrating Libraries & Communities Online
Glenn Peterson, Web Administrator Hennepin County Library
Marilyn Turner, Manager, Web Services & Training, Hennepin County Library
John Blyberg, Head, Technology & Digital Initiatives, Darien Public Library

As soon as I find the chocolatey Wonka stream that shot Mike Teevee through a cathode ray, I'm going to go live in Bookspace.org and be the happiest librarian in the land. It's a magical place. They make it extremely easy and attractive for patrons to share content with other readers. And in a move that will make many of my privacy-obsessed colleagues completely nuts, patrons can self-select to have their profile include a list of all the books they currently have checked out!

I had to keep reminding myself that they have over 30 librarians working on Bookspace and librarians are required to contribute at least one new blog per month. I asked about monitoring comments and learned that they employed a "dirty word filter." Blocked messages are sent to Glenn to approve for post or delete. Other comments are posted live, but every four hours a batch of the newest posts are sent to librarians on a rotating basis for the chance to review and "hide" any that might need to be reevaluated. Not as cumbersome a process as I imagined, and certainly not an excuse not to try opportunities like this.

And if that isn't cool enough, look at what else they're doing?

John Blyberg talked more technically about social catalogs and had a cool triangle v. circle graphic that added experience/contribution to the goods/services dynamic. (According to my notes, I may have drawn it with my pen between my teeth. I will not replicate it here.) He explained the difference between pseudosocial catalogs like Encore (the tag clouds look 2.0 but don't allow patron customization), syndicated social catalogs like LibraryThing for Libraries, and individually social catalogs like those used in Hennepin County and Ann Arbor.

I look forward to the evolution of social catalog and hope to see a session on Unapologetically Promiscuous Catalogs at next year's conference.

Cranky 2.0

2007-10-29T21:39:00.000-07:00

Cranky? Boomers & Older Adults Are Greying the Internet!
Allan Kleiman, Old Bridge Public Library, & ALA Chair, Library Service to an Aging Population Committee

Allan's candid Jersey charm was the perfect after-lunch wake up.

Allan put services to seniors in perspective by giving examples of the ways companies/online communities are trying to attract Boomers, believing that they are "sticky" (brand loyal) and will bring their billions of dollars of retirment income with them to these sites.

Some examples are Thirdage, Eons, and Multiply. Allan illustrated the similarities of these sites, and the fact that they seem targeted to white, upper middle class women. He sees greater success for sites like eldr, that have a print magazine to attract offline readers. Eons has created "the world’s first age-relevant search engine," cRANKy.com, For more information on the thinking behind this web site, check out this article at CNNMoney.com.

Blogging has caught on among seniors more than some might have thought. Blogging can keep the mind sharp, keep authors up on current events, provide an opportunity to share life experiences, provide an opportunity to meet people throughout the world, and give authors recognition.

For more information, see Allan's Senior Spaces page, including descriptions and pictures of his library's new physical Senior Space.

Information Literacy 2.0

2007-10-29T21:16:00.000-07:00

Information Literacy in the Public Library
Adina Lerner, Reference Services Librarian, Santa Monica Public Library
Alan D'Souza, Information Services, San Francisco Public Library
Carol Bean, Beanworks

Adina spoke about largely about presenting information literacy programs for niche groups, like parents needing to better help their children with homework or older adults looking for medical information. She suggested putting surveys about information skills and interests on the log-in screen for public computers. In addition to basic "how to do e-mail" training sessions, her library has also done or hosted programs for the "middle of the road" computer user on managing files and folders, digital photography, eBay skills, and internet security. She also reminded us to look at where else in the community people were learning about information and technology.

Alan showcased the ways San Francisco Public Library and its branches reach out to teach information literacy skills to foreign language speakers. Including a hundred year old Chinese woman who wanted to e-mail her grandkids!

Carol Bean is a Technology Training Consultant, specializing in novice computer training. She spoke about aging factors which change the learning process. Her practical advice and experience was a good reminder to take things like screen size into account when planning programs for older adults. Would older adults be comfortable using the smaller screens and keyboards of laptops for computer training?

Which leads right into my next topic...

Marketing 2.0

2007-10-29T20:56:00.000-07:00

Online Outreach: 2.0 Marketing Strategies for Libraries
Sarah Houghton-Jan: librarianinblack.net
Sarah's slides (from something else, but with similar content)
Aaron Schmidt: walkingpaper.org
Aaron's slides

Much of what I wrote in my notes (other than ideas for implementation at my own library surrounded by hearts and stars and exclamation points) are included in Sarah and Aaron's slides. So, I'll just recap some of the highlights.

Your web site should be two-way
On the web, everyone's patrons are your patrons
An effective web site has good findability
Make sure blogs are search and finable
Make sure your library is on Wikipedia and Wikimapia
Find local bloggers with GeoSearch Engines
Make sure you're library's site is linked to from other community agencies
Librarians don't have to be in charge of all aspects of web presence
Make sure your library is listed on current wifi directory lists
Your print phone books are taking up too much real estate

And just an anecdote I find ironic and applicable, Sarah had better success getting patrons to sign up for online newsletters with a paper sign up sheet at programs and events than from online registration.

Want to see who else links to Deerfield Public Library?

Want to guess what that number will be once I get home?

Society 2.0

2007-10-29T12:23:00.000-07:00

2.0 & the Internet World Keynote Speech
Lee Rainie, Director, Pew Internet & American Life Project

Addressing over 1300 conference attendees from 48 states and 11 countries, Lee began his presentation going over the 8 hallmarks of the new (something or other, the slide went to the next screen and I was taking a sip of coffee.) Anyway, he shared fascinating statistics that will take me a while to apply to my library and its services, but here's a handful of the ones that really made me take note:

93% of teens use the internet
broadband users are content creators
55% of teens have created online profiles--it's their social dashboard
33% college students have created blogs/54% read them
19% younger adults have created avatars (v. 9% adults)
15% younger adults have uploaded video to the internet
37% of younger adults have rated products, etc. online (v. 32% adult)
34% of younger adults have "tagged" items, images, etc. online (v. 28% adult)
40% of younger adults customize their news and information pages
1/3 of younger adults get RSS feeds

Lee then went on to discuss A Typology of Information and Communication
Technology Users: Omnivores, Connectors, Lackluster Veterans, Productivity Enhancers, Mobile Centrics, Connected but Hassled, Inexperienced Experimenters, Light but Satisfied, Indifferents, and Off the Network. Interestingly, 49% of respondents fell into the bottom half of the categories--making them "light users." Take the quiz yourself!

Some implications of this study and the proliferation of 2.0 opportunities are the volume of information, the velocity with which information grows, the venues in which people and information intersect, the ways in which venturing for information has changed, vigilance for information, valence for information improves (customization), vetting becomes more social, viewing of information becomes more horizontal, voting/ventillating, and the inVention of information and visibility. Some of this information and much more can be found in LIFE ONLINE: The growth and impact of the internet (and related technologies).

Lee ended his presentation by reminding the group, "Be confident what you already know about how to meet people's reference and entertainment (and enlightenment) needs."

Word.

The Golden Rule 2.0

2007-10-29T07:53:00.000-07:00

Tips for Effective Technology Change Agents
Roy Tennant, Senior Program Officer, OCLC Programs and Research

A strong current that ran through both of today's sessions was to remember that not everyone loves your new project as much as you do. And it's OK. Roy was very candid about the need to remember that when you are implementing technological changes you are changing your coworkers' environment, and so it's natural to encounter some resistance. So be patient and put yourself in the other person's shoes.

He also reminded those of us who agitate for change not to lose sight of the ramifications of seemingly simple changes like changing a phone number. Just think of all the stationery, web pages and directories that you would have to change if you were to finally get that 945-BOOK exchange!

It was also reassuring to hear that you will inevitably make changes you regret and to learn from those mistakes and make better choices in the future. Categories of Innovativeness illustrate where some of these poor choices are likely to be made. We also discussed the economic factors related to this curve.

Roy stressed that if you are not using the right format for the consumer to use in the way he or she wants to use it, it might as well be unavailable. Examples of this might be early adopters of virtual reference who didn't allow patrons to request assistance via IM or text messaging. (Another would be downloadable audiobooks that can't be played on iPods--the market share of portable MP3 players. Sigh.)

When trying to create interest in technological change for your organization, it is vital to be able to reduce the complexity of your sales pitch. You don't need to share everything you know. Some staff need to know what something will allow them to do, while others will be more interested in knowing how something will work.

When you're asking for change, be prepared to hear "No." But be aware that "No" may mean "I stopped listening because I am already very busy." If you come back with the same request, your listener will know that this is something important to you and give you more time to explain your project and implications for the organization.

Roy recommended Real Change Leaders by Jon Katzenbach for more information on becoming an effective change agent. He also discussed characteristics of effective change agents, strategies for keeping current, strategic learning, working with recalcitrant staff, economic challenges and inadequate infrastructure.

He ended the session by reminding us that, "If you're not having fun, you're either doing the wrong thing or you're doing the right thing the wrong way."

Let's have some fun!

Grover 2.0

2007-10-28T17:12:00.000-07:00

Wikis: Basic Tools and Strategies with Meredith Farkas
Slides

I knew I was going to like this presentation when Meredith used Muppet Wiki as an example of the ways users contribute information on these collaborative content management systems.

She also gave me one of the best explanations of 2.0 that I've heard, "perpetual beta." Love it.

Meredith used one of the wikis she's created, Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki, as an example for many of the features she described. I can't wait to get home and click through it more carefully.

I was also interested to learn about the ways wikis are working as in in-house information clearinghouses. Every time you've thought, "This should be written down somewhere!" is a wiki entry just waiting to happen. (Most in-house wikis are behind the firewall and can't be viewed or changed by patrons, so don't worry.) If you are going to start in in-house wiki, Meredith stressed the importance of training people to contribute. She explained that when a wiki creator is self-taught, she may have the tendency to believe that everyone she invites to contribute will be as enthusiastic and willing to take chances figuring things out as she was. Not an assumption that guarantees success.

Wikis aren't ideal for every resource sharing need, but are great for people/groups who have equal rights to content. It's vital to trust your community of users. Sharing=Good.

Meredith explained the pros and cons of wikis hosted on your server, (MediaWiki, PMWiki, Twiki, MoinMoin, XWiki, Confluence, etc.) and wikis hosted by the software company (PBWiki, WetPaint, SeedWiki, etc.) Obviously, the pro of having a wiki hosted by a software company is that you don't have to install, upgrade, etc. But they can be less flexible--offering fewer customizable options. Looking for the right wiki for you? Check out WikiMatrix!

As wikis really are all about community, Meredith stressed the need to be vigilant against the inevitable spam one will encounter and the many benefits of having an active community of users who will help police the site and maintain its standards.

I could go on and on about the many wiki-related enterprises I've been imagining all day. (Like if I had a time machine and could go back to the '90s and put up a wiki that would list all the places in Champaign/Urbana that would take checks and/or deliver food and then have those entries expanded on by other poor grad students. Let's just say my life might be different.)

But until I get my hands on a flux capacitor, the next 2.0 project I tackle may very well be a 21st-century wiki

Blog Lite

2007-10-28T17:08:00.000-07:00

So, it's recently come to my attention that there's a difference between "blogging the conference," "blogging at the conference," and "blogging about the conference from your pretty hotel room adjacent to the conference hours later." I am clearly the latter. I was not sitting in sessions with my laptop, quickly typing links and hitting "publish" every 15 minutes. I was writing notes with a fine point Sharpee on an infotoday imprinted legal pad. My intention was never to create a "you are here" blog, but rather a "these are a few of the things I find exciting and applicable to my immediate colleagues" blog. Now I know the difference.

Spatulas 2.0

2007-10-25T16:16:00.000-07:00

So, I was all proud of myself for adding my name to the list of people who would be blogging at Internet Librarian 2007. Not just proud. Kind of smug, actually. Apparently there's something called Blogger’s Alley in the Exhibit Hall. I could just see myself pithily commenting on the morning's events, linking away to PowerPoint presentations. Like Roz Russell in His Girl Friday with a laptop and a latte.

Then my friend Liz, sensing my smugness from states away, forwarded me an email from Good Experience called "The Web 2.0 question - and Grandparents.com." In the article, Mark Hurst reminds us that just because we can do something doesn't mean we always should do something. He cites his experience with focus groups for grandparents.com,

Perhaps more importantly, we learned what the customers do not want, saving the company from making needless investments of time and money in the wrong features. For example, I won't give the store away by revealing that grandparents are not sprinting to set up blogs. Nor are they prone to tag photos and bookmarks.

Did I hop on the 2.0 train without even looking at the schedule? What scared me even more than realizing how easy it is to get off track by something shiny, was the fear that I'd just spent a week bragging about my new 2.0 spatula. Hurst's article explains.

I should note that many companies face some version of "the Web 2.0 question" right now. Everyone these days seems to want to build social networking into their business. I've recently observed a number of well-established e-commerce sites change their strategy from merchandising and selling products to "connecting customers with each other"... as though buying spatulas (or whatever) gets better after you create a buddy-list of fellow spatula lovers. Some sites should stick to what they know.

Do you see now why I'm just a bit more humble about my 5 blog posts? My emerging insights into the impact of customer-driven change on libraries aren't exactly going to set the blogospehere on fire. (Yet.) But I am a librarian. And I am going to go learn about things that are already impacting libraries across the country. And the last thing I'm going to want to do when I get back to work is type up all my notes, wonder why I wrote "lunch sad" on my handout, and then tell my coworkers to check out my conference report on the s:// drive!

So come on guys, check out my spatula.

Teens and 2.0

2007-10-22T18:44:00.000-07:00

In his October 15 Booklist Carte Blanche column "Social Networking R Us," Cart discusses the impact of the internet on YA publishing with vice president of marketing for HarperCollins’ Children’s Books, Diane Naughton. He writes,

As we talked, however, I felt my spirits rising. As Diane explained that in the last 12 to 18 months Harper has shifted the bulk of its teen marketing to the Internet, it occurred to me that this might be a terrific way to involve Web-savvy teens with books, reading, and writing.

In that connection, Diane says, Harper has entered into a new partnership with the social networking site MySpace, which will build and launch a new “create and share” tool that will give teens a chance to, well, create and share their own writing. Meanwhile, Harper is also signing up from 20 to 25 of its YA authors to begin blogging and interacting with their readers. The publisher will also be launching a new version of its HarperTeen Web site later this year and is currently extending its First Look book program to middle-school kids. This program, which makes advance reading copies of forthcoming books available to teens in exchange for their feedback, is premised on the long-established notion that kids will kill to get their hands on something new before the other kids do. And so long as that something is a book, it’s fine by me.

Link

So, that's kind of encouraging, right?

Library 2.0

2007-10-21T09:18:00.001-07:00

One of the best introductions to Library 2.0 that I've found is Library Journal's article "Library 2.0: Service for the next-generation library." It explains,

The heart of Library 2.0 is user-centered change. It is a model for library service that encourages constant and purposeful change, inviting user participation in the creation of both the physical and the virtual services they want, supported by consistently evaluating services. It also attempts to reach new users and better serve current ones through improved customer-driven offerings.

The article also mentions one of my favorite books from the last couple of years, The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson. In a nutshell, Anderson describes how "as the costs of production and distribution fall, especially online, there is now less need to lump products and consumers into one-size-fits-all containers. In an era without the constraints of physical shelf space and other bottlenecks of distribution, narrowly-targeted goods and services can be as economically attractive as mainstream fare."

An example of this for libraries might be service hours. Most public library patrons don't have critical library needs at 2 o'clock in the morning. So, libraries wisely close their physical sites overnight and save money by not staffing a facility that will be grossly underutilized in the wee hours of the morning. But because it doesn't cost any more to have our virtual library open 24/7, we can offer access to the library's catalog and online resources through our web site and serve that procrastinating student, 2nd shift worker or sleep-deprived parent at his or her convenience. Those "long tail" users would have been out of luck 20 years ago, but now we can serve small numbers of nontraditional users at no additional cost.

For more information on Libraries and The Long Tail, check out:
Libraries and the Long Tail: Some Thoughts about Libraries in a Network Age by Lorcan Dempsey
The Long Tail and Libraries by Tom Storey
The Long Tail Wags the Dog by Tom Peters

What is 2.0?

2007-10-20T15:31:00.000-07:00

I was at a meeting on Saturday, and we were trying to define 2.0 as it applied to Libraries and the Web. So I went to the ultimate 2.0 web site and checked out what Wikipedia had to say:

Web 2.0 refers to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking sites, wikis and folksonomies — which aim to facilitate collaboration and sharing between users. The term became popular following the first O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004.[1][2] Although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but to changes in the ways software developers and end-users use the web. According to Tim O'Reilly, "Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform."[3]

Some technology experts, notably Tim Berners-Lee, have questioned whether one can use the term in a meaningful way, since many of the technology components of "Web 2.0" have existed since the early days of the Web.[4] [5] Simon Fjell created a Web 2.0 site as early as 1994 with the creation of Community Streamwatch. This site allowed school groups monitoring the water quality of waterways in Melbourne (Australia) to share findings to generate whole catchment assessments.

Link

Well, that explains it!

Personally, I think the Time Magazine article, "Time's Person of the Year: You" makes it a little easier to understand. "It's a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter." That makes a lot more sense.

So, if that's Web 2.0, what are 2.0 Libraries supposed to look like?

Welcome!

2007-10-20T13:55:00.000-07:00

It is my hope to add daily posts to this blog when I'm Monterey attending Internet Librarian 2007.

(Do you see the cool way "Internet Librarian 2007" is highlighted and you can link directly to the site? That's the first hyperlink I've ever created on my own. Href=blah, blah, blah. Man, I love the internet!)

Please feel free to share my technomusings and comment often to keep me company while I'm gone.

Jealous?