Even though the beginning of March was too early for the cherry blossoms in Washington, there were some beautiful blossoms outside of the Smithsonian "Castle" Building.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Friday, March 23, 2012
The Mother of All Lib Guides: Reduce Maintenance and Enhance Uniformity Through Strategic Planning
http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/libtech_conf/2012/sessions/82/
Library Technology Conference, 2012 at Macalester College, St. Paul. MN
Dr. Carol Leibiger and Alan Aldrich, University of South Dakota Libaries
http://www.usd.edu/library/
The assumption was: "We have Lib Guides. What do we do now?"
Dr. Leibiger first gave some background. Pathfinder, which originated at MIT in 1970, at first was limited to a single sheet of paper. The idea was to start the user on a topic. Pathfinders went online in 1994, and were enhanced in 1997.
A negative aspect of Lib Guides now is the workload to keep them all updated. Lib Guides are an expectation of the job. Web 2.0 made the current format of Lib Guides possible. 2,900 to 3,000 libaries currently use Lib Guides. They are easy to create and can borrow material or entire content. Good statistics can be kept from them, and they meet student expectations. They are easty to create, but not to maintain. Lib Guides encourage reliance on the web. According to the USD librarians, the average Lib Guide takes 8-20 hours to produce. I found it interesting that the average lifespan of a URL is 44 days! Dr. Leibiger said that we don't want students to tell us that a link is dead. She currently maintains 24 Lib Guides.
There are different models for Lib Guides:
Library Technology Conference, 2012 at Macalester College, St. Paul. MN
Dr. Carol Leibiger and Alan Aldrich, University of South Dakota Libaries
http://www.usd.edu/library/
The assumption was: "We have Lib Guides. What do we do now?"
Dr. Leibiger first gave some background. Pathfinder, which originated at MIT in 1970, at first was limited to a single sheet of paper. The idea was to start the user on a topic. Pathfinders went online in 1994, and were enhanced in 1997.
A negative aspect of Lib Guides now is the workload to keep them all updated. Lib Guides are an expectation of the job. Web 2.0 made the current format of Lib Guides possible. 2,900 to 3,000 libaries currently use Lib Guides. They are easy to create and can borrow material or entire content. Good statistics can be kept from them, and they meet student expectations. They are easty to create, but not to maintain. Lib Guides encourage reliance on the web. According to the USD librarians, the average Lib Guide takes 8-20 hours to produce. I found it interesting that the average lifespan of a URL is 44 days! Dr. Leibiger said that we don't want students to tell us that a link is dead. She currently maintains 24 Lib Guides.
There are different models for Lib Guides:
Individual Creator Model - created independently of each other
Pros
- Complete Customization
- Individual Creativity
- Liason Roles
Cons
- Labor Intensive
- Maintenance
- Updating
Social Network Model
Pros
- Leverage Thinking and Creativity
- Less Effort Needed
Cons
- Maintenance
- Retrofitting of Borrowed Content
Hub Model
Simplest
Change reverberates to all others who borrow
Greatly reduces workload
Sharing or borrowing is not just one directional
Small libraries may consider a single model
For any library the following question needs to be answered:
Who is in control? Having one person in charge works well.
Multiple Node Model
Referred to as "mothers" adding "children"
Having multiple nodes allows sharing and updating of content through all pages
Someone needs to create and update the nodes
Common Content
- Databases are organized by subject or discipline
- Citation style for content and resources
- Links to library resources such as local catalogs, World Cat, etc.
- Uses information literarcy materials, tutorials, etc.
The presenters stressed that you "can't break a Lib Guide"
The content is now more generic, and linking at box level rather than page level offers more flexibility.
CLOSING COMMENTS
CLOSING COMMENTS
I was happy to be one of the 459 to attend the Library Technology Conferene 2012 at Macalester College, and gained much information in the day that I spent there. The most difficult part was selecting the concurrent sessions to attend as there were so many choices. I had lunch with four women who work at high schools in the West Metro area. It was good to discuss issues and concerns (such as printing costs!) with them. Most of their students are college-bound, and the Library Technology Conference is helpful for them to attend. It is also good to be able to "put a face" with librarians who I knew just from Twitter such as Amy Springer (Amy Librarian) who introduced the first Wednesday keynote speaker.
Plan, Execute, Evaluate, Report: Social Media for Libraries and Non-Profit Organizations
Presenters: Laura Hansen, St. Thomas University - Administrator of Library Facebook page
Tanya Cothran, Spirit in Action, Non-profit Agency
http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/libtech_conf/2012/sessions/39/
Laura Hansen began the presentation by giving some statistics from Facebook. As of March 6, 2012, Facebook had a global audience of over 845 million. There are 483 active DAILY users of Facebook. 85% of students (not sure what age range!) in the USA are regular Facebook users.
Facebook Assessment at University of St. Thomas
Done from September 1 to October 15, 2011
Studied other Facebook pages and studies (See above link for sources!)
A conclusion from one study was that Facebook was not effective at actually getting students inside the library.
Analytics take many forms - quantitative and qualitative
I learned about Facebook Insights whcih can be downloaded from Facebook. There are also online tutorials. Timeline data is not yet available.
St. Thomas wanted to know: How reliable is the data from Facebook?
Who is the audience?
What are the demographics?
What is the response rate from having a library Facebook page?
About 6 posts are made by the St. Thomas library each week to their Facebook page.
The study showed that it does not matter so much what is posted - just that people like it and like to interact.
The following breakdown was given for the St. Thomas Library postings:
39% Announcements
6% Blog
29% Database collections
6% Forums
2% Outside marketing
4% Random
14% Reference and General Library
Of the 23,481 impressions for 62 posts analyzed, the number of direct website hits, blog hits, and verbal comments and feedback were counted.
The most recent statistics showed that LIKES were up 13.5% while website and blog hits also increased.
Library users see information on Facebook, and go to the library to interact.
A limit for the St. Thomas Library staff is for no more posts until at least 90 minutes since the last person has posted.
St. Thomas Library posts also go directly to Twitter.
The week of the conference, St. Thomas was moving to the new Facebook Timeline format.
The staff will continue to monitor Facebook page usage.
Laura told us to have fun with Facebook!
Tanya Cothran, Spirit in Action
Spirit in Action, a non-demoninational, faith-based non-profit agency is " a network of committed people worldwide who are serving God by empowering others." They inspire and encourage people by empowering them. Using Facebook is a way to try to attact donors to support their programs.
Three months of data from Facebook use was analyzed. By using Google analytics, it was easy to see what sites people used to refer to their website. 17% of the site visits were from Facebook referral traffic. Google and Yahoo are still the biggest draws to the site.
A Google Alert was set up for Spirit in Action to monitor web traffic
Tanya encouraged us to use photos. Their photos had 3 times the action as posts without photos. I think that our Minnesota West website emphasizes photos too.
Conclusion from Spirit in Action
- Resolve to count more than just followers
- Set goals that connect to the overall mission
- Make changes based on what you see
- Have fun!
The search engine Kurrently will search Twitter and Facebook to see what others say about your library.
http://kurrently.com.websiterecord.com/
I do not know if Minnesota West has done any analysis of Facebook statistics, but still would like our libraries to have a separate page. St. Thomas talked about different areas of the University working together to promote campus events on Facebook.
I do not know if Minnesota West has done any analysis of Facebook statistics, but still would like our libraries to have a separate page. St. Thomas talked about different areas of the University working together to promote campus events on Facebook.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Chad Mairn's Keynote Speech on Wednesday, 14 March
TRANSFORMING OUR VISION TO ENHANCE LIBRARY SERVICES
Chad Mairn, Information Services Librarian/Adjunct Professor, St. Petersburg College, and Chief Technology Officer, Novare Library Services
After plenty of time for lunch, networking and winning prizes (I did not win any!), the second keynote speech of the day began at the 2012 Library Technology Conference.
The recent library technology interests of speaker Chad Mairn, have focused around mobile technologies, building applications for libraries and electronic book developments. He is the author of the chapter 'Acquiring, Promoting, and Using Mobile-Optimized Library Resources and Services' in a recent book by Sue Polanka, E-Reference Context and Discoverability in Libaries: Issues and Concepts.
Chad Mairn began his speech by saying that he was honored to be on the same playing field as speaker Andrew McLaughlin because usually they are "not in the same league." He said that his slides would be available at slideshare.net/chadmairn
Mairn said that he would highlight the technology that affects everyone's lives today. He referred to the "digital metamorphosis" of librarians using technology to make lives easier. Chad Mairn spoke of a book that he is currently reading by Nick Bilton, I Live in the Future, and Here's How it Works. Mairn also referred to Alvin Toffler's Future Shock, which was published in 1970.
According to Chad Mairn, librarians are needed to filter through the information that patrons want. The digital revolution is hitting every form of media now. The way that we are consuming it is what is changing. Librarians are more important than ever in knowing how to make sense of all of the information. Chad Mairn said that the concept that people have of libraries having no value needs to be changed. The responsibility of librarians is to show what we have. We do not need to use every piece of technology that comes out. Lifelong learning and digital literacy are crucial in this age. ("Every age thinks it is the modern age, but this one really is!")
Because Chad Mairn is in a joint use library setting, he works with high school and college students as well as the public. A good idea that he shared was offering free workshops after the holidays for the public to bring their new devices for instruction from the library staff. Mairn does not like "Out of Order" signs in the library. He said if something does not work, get rid of it.
In tough economic times, librarians and library staff keep people afloat and must be available to help users when they need it. Many people don't need librarians to help them search. They need help making sense of what they find. He gave the example of Florida's statewide Ask the Librarian Service. Because most students use instant messaging, the service is popular. If a librarian is not available, students bypass them for Google.
Free Learning Management Systems
Coursekit http://coursekit.com/
Openclass.com http://www.joinopenclass.com/open/home/what
Moodle http://moodle.org/ (more complex!)
Embedded librarianship can be done within learning management systems. Librarians can add content, help with problems, and moderate disccusion forums that are resource-based. Faculty can easily link to the resources.
Popular Research Tools
Lib X
Google Scholar
Khan Academy (also mentioned by the first keynote speaker!)
MITx http://mitx.mit.edu/ (new - online teaching and laboratories)
iTunesU
PBS
Information Fluency
The intersection of information literacy, thinking critically, etc. An important point stressed by Chad Mairn is to allow the user to do the work, and follow up with them. A user does not learn anything, if the work is done for them!
Librarians need to widely share our resources offline and online. He gave an example of when someone complains about a problem on Twitter, there is immediate action.
Quora - popularity has declined since last year. http://www.quora.com/
Wikipedia - an honors class assignment is to edit articles from Wikipedia to include library resources. Wikipedia is now a little more difficult to edit than it was previously.
Best Buy Idea X - http://forums.bestbuy.com/t5/ideas/v2/ideaexchangepage/blog-id/IdeaX still working with to promote e-book sources for e-readers that people purchase.
Twitter - find out what is trending on Twitter. Enhance and support it with authoritative resources.
Share Your Space - http://www.instructables.com/contest/shareyourspace/
YouTube - Dublin, Ireland was the birthplae of YouTube. Every city has places like that.
Jazz in the Stacks - Celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month. Hundreds of people attended when the St. Petersburg Library hosted a 22 piece jazz band and the Smithsonian streamed online. This year a six piece Brazilan band will play. Even though at least one person complains about the noise each year, the event is very popular.
Author visits - Worked to go directly to the author rather than through an agent.
Students wanted more space in the library. Books not being used were weeded and donated to
http://openlibrary.org/
Host game nights at the library
Kinect - http://www.kinecteducation.com/
Virtual Pianos - http://www.virtualpiano.net/
Manipulate air drawings
Augmented reality with Twitter
Learn sign language
Learn to play guitar
Enhance theatre arts
Google + collaboration
Have e-reader classes on the web
iTunes listening stations (like Barnes & Noble) Add call numbers for library locations
Form partnerships
Be an advocate for your readers noo matter what the content - Format is all that changes
Examples of Innovative Collections
East Palo Alto Library - collection of circulating guitars for 8-week courses. http://www.smcl.org/content/east-palo-alto
Mills Music Library - album cover archives.http://music.library.wisc.edu/exhibits/album-covers/index.html
New York Public Library - George Washington's beer recipe. http://nypl.tumblr.com/post/5194250128/nypl-and-coney-island-brewing-company-create-george
Access vs. Ownership
Consider that what a company provides, a company can take away.
E-books sales double each year while print declines.
Encyclopedia Britannica just announced that after 244 years, no more print editions.
Book Discovery Recommendations (I have accounts for the first two)
Library Thing - http://www.librarything.com/
Good Reads - http://www.goodreads.com/
Small Demons - https://www.smalldemons.com/
Social Media in Libraries
Web 2.0 is already an outdated term
Add QR vode to displays with mobile optimized content (previous session that I attended!)
Post frequently!
If someone comments, reply even if the comment was negative
Survey your users frequently
SCVNGR - http://www.scvngr.com/
Many patrons do not care that their privacy is eroding (there were several sessions on privacy later that I was sorry to miss!)
Get Glue - http://getglue.com/
Pinterest - http://pinterest.com/ (I look at a lot that people post on Facebook, but have not created my own Pinterest account yet!)
Mobile Technology
With the PC industry dying, libraries need a mobile presence. In 2011, there were 5 billion phones in a world of 7 billion people. Mobile use keeps growing.
Survey students with text polls
Take down the NO CELL PHONES signs from libraries (I did!)
Wolfwalk is a great photographic example from North Carolina State University of learning campus history of from a mobile phone: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/wolfwalk/
Electronic Books
Siri - The trend is moving toward streaming e-book content
24 symbols - A streaming service based on a subscription model: http://www.24symbols.com/
24 symbols - A streaming service based on a subscription model: http://www.24symbols.com/
Authors are slowly bypassing publishers
Help local authors to get published
"The Times They Are A Changin"
Occupy Wall Street Library http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/occupy-wall-street-activists-try-to-reoccupy-zuccotti-park_b48644
Kickstarter: a new way to fund and follow creativity http://www.kickstarter.com/
Pay attention to legislation affecting libraries
INSIDE - Social film experience: http://www.wired.com/underwire/2011/07/inside/
"Everything will be social." - Chad Mairn
"Memory Engineering" Timeline on Facebook
Need to be good at visualizing data, inforgraphics, creating animations easily
Closing Words
What is your personal mission statement? (Chad Mairn just turned 40)
What excites you?
What do you stand for?
Digital Metamorphis - Look in unexpected places beyond Library Land for work and/or advisory roles, etc.
Monitor and manage your digital identity
Always learn, be curious, play!
Seriously explore open source access
DropBox - Cloud https://www.dropbox.com/https://www.dropbox.com/
Google Cloud Print - Print anything, anywhere: http://www.google.com/cloudprint/learn/
3 D Printers, Projectors
"The future is here, so now what?"
Add Value!
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Point, Shoot and Educate: Using QR Codes to Inform Your Patron
Library Technology Conference, Macalester College, St, Paul, MN.
14 March 2012
http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/libtech_conf/2012/sessions/4/http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/libtech_conf/2012/sessions/4/
I have not had much experience with QR codes, so wanted to learn more about the possible uses for libraries. When in Washington the previous week during spring break, I noticed the use in some of the Smithsonian museums and in the Nazi Propaganda exhibit at the United States Holocaust Museum. At the beginning of her presentation, Louise Alcorn mentioned the use of QR codes in museums before giving us a brief background. QR (Quick Response) codes were developed in 1994 by Denso Wave, a Toyota subsidiary. They are a two dimensional barcode originally used for logistics. A web-enabled mobile device with a camera reads and decodes them. Contact details need to be added to a phone for them to work.
Examples of QR Code Use
Sharing food recipes in grocery stores
Giving plant care instructions in nurseries
Special offers, coupons
Cereal boxes
Real estate
T-shirts
Movie trailers (Time Warner)
Libraries - Free
1 Introduce QR Codes
2 Educate patrons on how to use them
3 Create and use
Can put on website, Twitter feed, Facebook
Be creative in promoting
Save time for patrons and library staff
The best use of QR codes is using a virtual environment to attact to a physical space
If possible, send to a mobile-enabled webiste. (Blackberry is unsupported)
QR Code Generators
Use shorteners. Can use different colors, but black and white scans the best.
Steady hands are needed to create QR codes. Scanning them can give access to webites and free tickets. Some of the participants shared ideas used by their libraries. All 60 branches of the Brooklyn Public Library use them. A good example was using them on end panels and shelving to lead patrons to online subject guides. For Readers Advisory, QR codes on web pages and advertising lead patrons to the physical collection. They can also be used for giving new titles. Louise Alcorn gave the example of the RAGBRI (bicycle race) in Iowa even using them on big signs along the road. She said that there are lots of ideas on the Library Best Practices wiki. QR codes can be used at transit stations, stencils on pavement, library book marks, wristbands and even rooftops. Generally patrons have "caught on" to using them faster than e-book readers.
There was a question about tracking QR codes for traffic numbers. Being a code is actually a URL, it should be able to be tracked.
Advantages for Using QR Codes
Gets us thinking about physical and virtual tie-ins
Gives more 3D applications
A reason to explain to an employer why a smartphone is needed
Patrons today are on their phones anyway - so engage them!
Ideas for Colleges
For new student days - Put information from the library in bars near campus
Cooperate with admissions and student services
Louise Alcorn again stressed that the best use of QR codes is for anything that makes your mobile experience better, not just to give straight information.
Our libraries have not done anything with QR codes yet, but after attending the session the possibilities are interesting to explore.
Wednesday Morning Keynote Speech at Library Technology Conference 2012
March 14th was a lovely Spring day at Macalester College in St. Paul for the opening of the 4th annual Library Technology Conference. Andrew McLaughlin, who left his position as Deputy Chief Technology Officer for the Obama administration to become Vice President of Tumblr, gave a dynamic opening address. McLaughlin is also a fellow at Stanford University's Center for Internet and Society.
The importance of librarians was acknowledged at the beginning of the speech as McLaughlin shared his experience with Internet free speech as an attorney in the 1990's. He realized at that time that librarians do the work of civilization in spreading knowledge. It is important for librarians to "join the fights" that surround us and be engaged as possible. McLaughlin amazed his audience by telling them that their smartphones have more technology than NASA had in 1969 to put man on the moon. He spoke of Moore's Law which doubles the amount of technology for the amount of money. Prices to run cloud applications will continue to drop as global Internet traffic continues to boom. There is no scarcity in processing power. In 2001, Africa had a single fiber cable while in 2012 connectivity for Africa is booming. A problem with Internet is that it is not evenly distributed.
I appreciated the Internet background that McLaughlin gave in his presentation. While not just a telephone network, an accurate architectural description was available for the Internet as early as 1964. The Internet is a distributive network based on an end to end principle that any point can reach any other point. Due to the openess and lack of central controls, we do not need permission for communicating with anyone we wish to communicate with in the world. While "messy", the Internet is worth defending and fighting for as a "best efforts" network. The Internet dominates our information because it is fundamentally different from any past communication being any point can now communicate with any other point.
RECENT EXAMPLES
1. airbnb.com A site that was new to me. Anyone ranks anywhere to stay.
2. Khan Academy. I had just watched an interesting segment on the previous Sunday on 60 Minutes.
3. Egypt in 2011. The dark side where communication was shut off. Egypt was able to use one building as a "choking point." An example where like anything available to mankind, tools can be used for good or evil. Governments can officially use censorship or control to steer the way they want. The Internet is borderless while nations are bordered.
4. The 2008 Obama campaign which spearheaded the use of social media, now seems primitive.
5. Experience with SKYPE while in the Obama White House during the Haiti earthquake.
6. Iceland. After economic problems there in 2007 and 2008, the whole government went into default.
7. Latvia Petitions. Coders set up a decentralized website. Anyone with an idea can post, but only the creator has the URL. After about 1,000 Latvians give the idea a thumbs up, the idea goes to a public site. After enough support is generated there, the award is five minutes of time on the floor of the Latvian Parliament - real world movement in real world government!
dw.de/dw/article/0,,15343035,00.html
8. United States. We the People on the White House website.
whitehouse.gov/petitions
(The examples show that technology does NOT solve anything, but gets into the government)
Internet is power
Decentralization = Power
Data, News, Culture and Politics
Passive Consumption leads to Active Creation
The Internet makes it possible to be an active presenter
Andrew McLaughlin next spoke about Hot Spots for Nerdy Librarians (and those who love them)
He spoke of the Open Internet
Net Neutrality
Wireless
Competition (or lack)
Proposed SOPA/PIPA Legislation
Most "nerds" believe in government hands off of the Internet. An example from the 1980's was when the U. S. government broke up "Ma Bell" and re-concentration took place with lots of different businesses.
McLaughlin also talked about concern with copyright infringement in the entertainment and music industries. His company, Tumblr, was able to generate about 160,000 calls to Congress in one day during the time of the SOPA/PIPA debating on a cluster of issues around copyright and creativity. The copyright system is difficult to access as it is still paper driven. If it moves fully online, the system could be searchable, but the Copyright Office will only change with pressure from the public. Currently the National Institutes of Health is pioneering the move to public access, but for bills in Congress to move forward, there are also bills to move backward.
Before taking questions, Andrew McLaughlin challenged us to:
Fight for the Future
for Freedom of Access and Freedom of Information because they matter
The Center for Democracy and Technology is a fantastic organization in Washington, DC for public knowledge.
cdt.org
Andrew McLaughlin even surprised a few librarians by sending tweets during his presentation. He showed the Twitter feed for #ltc2012 on the big screen so tweeters could even see what they had just tweeted during his speech.
Martin Luther King Memorial
Monday, March 12, 2012
Friday, March 2, 2012
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