06.17.08
ALA Annual Conference
I’m just now putting together my schedule for the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, CA, next week. I’ve been meaning to sign up for sessions and receptions for a few weeks now, but haven’t been able to find the time to sit down and do it. So I’ve been working on my schedule for the last few days, squeezing it in here and there between projects, problems, and routine tasks.
As always, there are lots of great programs in the same time slot, in hotels spread across a huge city. Years ago, ALA conference planners were supposed to organize programs into tracks so that we could see what was being offered in our area of interest. They were also supposed to put programs in the same hotel so that when we were attending programs of interest, they were together in the same location.
HA!–I’m here to tell you it didn’t work out according to the theory. There are lots of competing programs in the same time slot in different hotels on the same day and within the same track. Gaaahhh! So much for following a program track and attending programs in the same hotel. They’re still scattered around the city, sometimes a mile or two apart. One thing’s for sure– I always get a good workout when I go to an ALA conference.
Better get back to planning my itinerary. It looks like I have some time slots double-booked (some could be triple-booked if I’m not careful). Better find a quarter so I can flip it and decide when I get there. Sometimes the location rather than the topic of the program helps me decide which one to attend– after I consult with my feet, of course. Ya just can’t be in two places at once.
03.09.08
Tales of a public librarian
I just finished reading the funniest librarian book I’ve ever read. It’s the book I wished I could have written if I’d been working in public services all these years. The book is Free for All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library by Don Borchert. I recommend it for anyone who’s ever worked in or been to a public library.
I enjoyed Don’s humorous stories and occasionally laughed out loud at some of them. He told tales of drug deals in the public restroom, sex toys in the book drop, fights in the parking lot, and dozens of abusive patrons who refused to pay fines. Although his language was a bit salty at times, he used it effectively to convey emotion– both his and that of his patrons. He included several stories of wayward children who needed the library more for their caring than for the materials in it. I found it interesting, but not surprising, that the events and people in his California library mirror those in our own library– and probably thousands of others nationwide.
Before going to library school 19 years ago, I worked retail for 9 years. From that experience, I can tell you working with the public is terribly stressful. They do strange and unbelievable things, but I think people act worse than ever these days, especially when they’re in a public library. I believe it’s a reflection on our culture. I can’t remember a single time while working retail that a member of the public felt they had a God-given right to act obnoxious just because they were in the store. Except for the occasional theft, nobody dealt drugs from our building, or fought in the parking lot, or left their kids there while they ran errands. People just came in, bought stuff, and left. Nobody complained about high prices or demanded special treatment. They occasionally asked where things were. It was that simple.
In the public library, though, people think they can abuse the ‘government workers’ who they view as having cushy jobs (Not!). They also steal or destroy library materials as though it were some sort of a sick joke or retaliation against authority or the government. The public has no idea how hard library staff work with tight budgets and minimal staff to satisfy their broad philosophical ideal of providing access to information for all people. What business provides a similar function without trying to make a profit? All of the librarians I’ve met are passionate about their commitment to serving the public, something that just doesn’t exist in the retail world. I can’t say the same for those I worked with in my retail days. Their only passion was for their shift to end.
I recently found out Don will be speaking at the ALA Annual conference in Anaheim, CA, in June. I hope he’s a good speaker (some authors are better on paper than they are in front of a crowd). I don’t usually have time in my conference schedule to listen to authors speak, but in this case, I’ll make an effort to attend. I may even buy a copy in advance and have him sign it afterwards.
02.03.08
“25 Technologies to Watch, and How”
I sat in on a SirsiDynix Institute webinar with Stephen Abrams last week to hear about his “25 Technologies to Watch, and How.” Stephen is the Vice President, Innovation, at SirsiDynix, a library automation company. He’s tuned-in all things technological and super excited about each and every one of them. In fact, his presentation was supposed to be about 25 technologies; instead it was closer to 30– and he said he could have had more.
Here they are:
1. Mobile- it’s the dominant device outside North America. GPS coding is also big and getting bigger
2. Open Handset Alliance Android- the ability to connect all phones on the same standard, like the Open Content Alliance standard
3. Tagging- the Pew Internet Study said 28% of the population was tagging
4. Scrapbooking- searching web articles in databases like EBSCO; capturing references & citations for research. It allows you to find your original article on your PC
5. SaaS- Software as a Service- Application hosts; using a server farm to store software. This makes it easier to keep software updated and saves money when shared by several institutions/organizations
6. Microblogging- Facebook, MySpace, Twitter & other SNS are running events through these social networking sites. They are popular with groups running events
7. Social content- a genaration of people have bookmarked information; how can we capture & share this content?
8. Public social networking- we (librarians) can’t ignore it as a tool to network with users. We need to find ways to use it to promote the library
9. Private social networking- for classrooms, groups of people with similar jobs, committees, etc. It becomes a virtual meeting room
10. Social networking integration- (F8, MySpace, Developer, IBM, Google OpenSocial); the idea of conecting library web pages to social networking and gaming sites
11. e-books- they need to be combined with other e-content and integrated into other formats
12. e-book devices- devices are still a problem; we need to get e-books on phones
13. Personal homepages- a library homepage has too much focus; libraries need to link to personal homepages in order to make ourselves more relevant
14. Cloud software- Google Docs, Zoho, etc. provide integrated software online. Libraries can offer more integration of software & content
15. RSS groups & readers- (Bloglines, Google Reader) we need to use them to our advantage to cluster similar topics together on our websites– one possiblity would be a local news ticker
16. iTunes, SpiralFrog, LimeWire- music/video collections; both pay & free models are supported; we need to offer them in libraries– the market is too big to ignore
17. Podcasts- libraries need to create and offer podcasts to users, especially teens, who could make podcasts themselves. We can post them on our website– maybe make local stars out of youth services staff reading storytimes
18. Streaming media- DVDs are going away; streaming is in. Sets of streaming media are already available to libraries, but the technology isn’t perfect. We shouldn’t wait for perfection, but should work with it now.
19. Pandora channels- millions of songs & artists available on the Internet. You add content and create channels of your favorite music
20. Presentations- the book Beyond Bullet Points discusses why PowerPoint presentations are so dull; they should be spiced up with visuals, maps, more style
21. AppleTouch, iPod, merged gaming- they are easy to use, so libraries should use them to attract users.
22. Local dominance- is very important. Is the school searching the local public library catalog? Google will default search results once it knows your geographical area. Geocoding is becoming more important; libraries need to explore more mashups with Google maps
23. Custom search MicroFederation- use Google custom search for things like grouping library blogs or certain databases by subject. It’s best built locally in the community you’re serving
24. Open ID- the ability to have one secure ID that allows users to have one ID rather than multiple usernames and passwords
25. Presence management- having different identities, such as parent, librarian, researcher, student. How do I manage my identites in a multi-dimensional way?
26. Avatars- fun to play with; are related to presence management
27. eLearning- spend 15 min. per day learning Internet 2.0. How do we build multi-dimensional learning styles? E-learning is the expansion of learning modality, the removal of the distance barrier. Libraries should partner with colleges using software such as Blackboard, Atomic Learning
28. Web-based collaboration- using software such as Google Docs, a secure shared collaboration creates a virtual room
How? How do we figure out all this technology? We should watch how people are using it, but without making value judgments about the technologies. We should play with new technologies. It’s the best way to learn and free up energy in an organization. What makes play fun? No agenda! Start up a technology petting zoo, where staff can come together and play with cell phones, MP3 players, camcorders, and other new technologies. Read blogs. Stephen reads an astounding 650 blogs per day! He recommended reading blogs every day and letting their information wash over you. Attend conferences and unconferences (he attends 150 per year!). Sign up for Google Alerts and watch technology and social forecasts. Read widely– everything from professional journals to popular magazines, especially the advertisements. Watch Google Trends and Google Zeitgeist; they’re especially helpful for collection development information. Watch YouTube. There’s professional, educational stuff on it, as well as entertainment. Watch a kid. Kids are remarkably adept at texting and creating videos and podcasts. Watch how their group behavior and how they are using technology and physical space. Schedule time to play and learn. Spend just 15 minutes a day learning new technologies and software. Get a buddy, because it’s more fun to learn with a partner and you can push each other to learn more.
To follow Stephen’s blog, subscribe to: http://stephenslighthouse.sirsi.com/
