From Seth’s Blog: Form and Function

I’ll let you draw your own conclusions as to what this all means. :-)

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The focus, for whatever reason, seems to always be on the “technology” (usually perceived as disruptive) and how it’s going to put us out of business or put a lot of us out of jobs or some such other nonsense. Books- for instance, are perceived as our primary business- not just by the customers (usually non-users) but also (unfortunately) by those who work in libraries (time for you to retire yet?). When i was in library school i remember discussions about libraries versus booksellers. It was always “versus” and i never understood why since we’re not really in the same business.

And now, as people are freaking out about ebooks, i ask the same question- why?

It seems we forget that our business is not defined by our things – the modes in which our information is delivered- physical book, ebook, database, audio cd, computer, etc- our technology if you will. The library is NOT an information warehouse and calling it such removes the element that actually IS our business – the people. Calling us “information gatekeepers” also does us a disservice – enforcing that stereotype that we are better than you and only we can dole out the world’s knowledge on a need-to-know basis and only if you’re worthy. Um, no.

Libraries are in the people business and i’d like to invite everyone who is in the profession on a front lines service desk who does not agree with me to do some soul searching and perhaps find another calling. Libraries are in the people business- connecting people to people (staff to customers and customers to their communities) and people to things (information, skills, knowledge, etc); usually people to the things they need to become better people. When libraries define themselves through their community, suddenly the technology doesn’t matter. And it shouldn’t. Technology is simply a way of getting things done, of solving problems. Sure, I’ll be the first to sign up for something flashy and new just because it is such but that doesn’t mean i’m going to implement it on a system-wide basis simply because it’s “the new thing.” In fact i’m very much against technology for technology’s sake in this context. With something new and interesting, I’m going to file it away and hope i recall it later when i’m faced with a challenge it might help solve. Wordle, for instance- was fun to play with in the beginning but what the hell can i use a word cloud for? Not much… until it came time to write the final grant report and i needed a visual way of representing the year’s worth of customer comments. Bingo.

That’s a simple example but i’m hoping you get my drift. If we define ourselves by the needs of the people in our community, and the relationships we build with them, suddenly we’ve just given ourselves the flexibility to ebb and flow with whatever the world throws at us. Suddenly “omg mobile” doesn’t seem so scary.

See, we have to be limber. Not just people and libraries, but everyone. Businesses that can’t move with the waves of life suffer. Take Western Union- the president of the company in 1876 said, ”this ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication.” Missed opportunity there. And i bet he’d pass out if he could look around the world today.

We’re very good, in libraries, at letting others decide what we should be doing – waiting for others to define who we are and what business we’re in. The great thing about the future that people tend to forget is that WE CAN INVENT IT! The Future is not something that happens to us; we are something that happens to the future. Feel free to quote me on that.

Seriously though, if libraries defined their identities and purposes by their specific community’s needs and stopped worrying about what other people were doing (not in that informed, always-looking kind of way but the “i don’t know what to do, oh lets do what they’re doing” kind of way), libraries would be more embraced into their community as a whole, start to chip away at the stereotype (the stuffy one, not the sexpot one.. though that annoys me too), and be more relevant to their worlds and more flexible as technology shifts (as it tends to do).

It’s our communities that binds us together. Sure, everyone has a hugely different demographic and community base but regardless of who their community is, libraries should be building relationships with those people, asking them what they need in life, and then providing it (either directly or as a referral or partnership).

I’ll go back to my mobile example from a bit ago- Sure, mobile is the thing we need to be in right now- its not going away. the xx billion text messages sent daily is a sign that something’s up. But if your small town library serves a community of aging ESL, perhaps texting and mobile isn’t really a bandwagon you should be jumping on right yet. But if you have conversations with them – keep them up to date with the world just as you try to be as a professional (you ARE, right?) and it piques their interest – ask them what they want to do. Maybe they’ll surprise you and already all have iphones and they want to try this new augmented reality thing. Or maybe you’ll delight them when they finally learn how to retrieve a text message from their granddaughter. You never know unless you ask.

The moral of the story is this- Stop freaking out about technology. Play with it, learn it, talk to people about it, but don’t let it cause an identify crisis. Be flexible. Build relationships with your community. Ask them what they need (and then give it to them).

So- now that i’ve said all that… what do YOU think the future of libraries is? I want to hear what you have to say- comment or trackback. :-)

[oh, and for giggles, here's this post in wordle (for no good reason other than i felt like it)]

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(via Librarian by Day)

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Instead of a ginormous flat screen why not try digital photo frames at your service points? Digital photo frames are CHEAP these days and will allow you to scroll through those static images promoting your program showtimes, upcoming events, new materials, reminders about dvd’s or databases, or even photos from your last exciting event! $50-$100 will buy you a good 7-10 inch frame that you can easily add images to. But you can get fancier than that if you wish, a lot of digital photo frames today are interactive with the internet. Your desktops and bulletin boards will be clear and your customer will still be informed (and maybe even a little wowed). It’s a low investment, high return no-brainer.

Here’s some ideas on what you can put on your service-desk photo frames:

• program showtimes
• upcoming events
• local weather (libraries are also an information center, after all)
• new materials promotion
• location of “quiet” or study rooms
• clues for library treasure hunts
• reminders about dvd’s, videogames, databases, classes, etc
• photos from your last program
• website URL
• list of hours or upcoming holidays
• pointers (ie, “go to the x desk and sign up for a library card,” “people wearing the red ‘Ask Me’ button are here to help”)
• … what else? (share your ideas in the comments!)

Keep your content fresh with new material and make sure you have the scroll time set slow enough that people can read it, but fast enough that they know it actually scrolls.

If you are able to purchase a giant screen, make sure you’re utilizing to the best of it’s ability (read: not static images!). Have your library’s twitter stream scrolling at the bottom (like McMaster University), show current news, or the latest library vod-cast on how to access information about going green. Think outside the… screen. Seattle Public Library has multiple screens that show keyword clouds, recent books checked back in, live data and all sorts of fun LIVE data (the library is a living breathing thing, you know).

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image courtesy of centralasian on flickr

While i was not officially at ALAMW in Boston, i did happen upon attending the Virtual Reference Discussion Group (VRDG) meeting on Saturday. Lisa Carlucci-Thomas started off the discussions with a presentation about mobile – a topic on which i will speak to later because i have very much to say- and the group got to discussing geolocation services (like fourquare) and augmented reality (like layar). It’s not something in the American mainstream yet, more and more of my tech/librarian twitterati are using it and talking about it. And while on a personal level it annoys me (takes up a lot of the twitter stream these days), i think there’s a lot of value here for libraries.

Geolocation

Geolocation is the identification of real-world geographic location information of internet-based devices like your computer or cellphone. Prior to foursquare, we (at least in the VR realm) were talking geolocation so that customers could automatically be routed into their Ask service if they were already in the state. QandANJ did this when they reached capacity after a successful MTV advert.

But now the world has foursquare which, as they say on the site, “gives you & your friends new ways of exploring your city. Earn points & unlock badges for discovering new things.” Why would you want people to know where you are? Well, maybe you don’t. But as a library, you want people to know what you offer, where you are, and perhaps drum up some interest from folks who don’t use the library but see their friends are there.

David Lee King explains it best with his top five reasons why foursquare has library value:

1. Add your library as a place, or edit the entry if someone else has already added it. You can enter your street address (Google map is included, phone number, and your library’s Twitter name.
2. Add tags relevant to the library. For example, I have added the tags library, books, music, movies, and wifi to my library’s Foursquare entry. If you are in the area (Foursquare is a location-based service, so it knows where you are) and search for wifi – guess who’s at the top of the list? Yep – the library.
3. Add Tips and To Do lists. When you check in to a place, you have the option to add tips of things you can do there, and you can create To-Do lists of things you want to do there. For libraries, both are helpful – it’s a way to broadcast your services to Foursquare players. To Do lists are handy, because you can make the list and other players can add those To Do list items to their lists, too. When they do something on those lists, they gain points. Think of it as a fun way to get people doing stuff at your library! Just think – someone could gain points by getting a library card – how cool is that?
4. Add your big events. Then, you can have an event check-in with prizes for the first person who checks in, etc.
5. Shout outs. These are a type of status update, and can be sent to Twitter and Facebook. So do stuff, then shout out that you’ve done them.

It’s a fun, easy, and *cough* FREE way to get people involved at your library. And, since this isn’t mainstream yet, it’s another way the library can look high tech and forward thinking (you know, not that we’re not already).

Augmented Reality

image courtesy of vanhookc on flickr

Talk about high-tech and forward thinking… even though augmented reality has been in the language since the 1990s, it’s just now starting to come into the mainstream consciousness. It’s the overlay of (computer- or cloud-generated) information, graphics, etc onto real-world scenes.

Why does this have library value? Imagine if you will, a library clean and crisp, bustling with activity. A customer holds her device up to the shelf of books she’s looking at and it tells her that the library has databases on her subject and that on tuesday there is a guest lecture program she might be interested in. Or perhaps that the next in the series is due in the library next month and she can reserve it now!. What a new world! No more messy signage or missed promotional opportunities.

And take open catalogs and websites to the next level and not only allow conversation to happen between customers via tagging or comments but lets customers add their own value to the virtual space around your library! Did sally like this book? Pete found the tuesday tech talks to be invaluable! Rodger was looking for a book on X and preferred TitleA to TitleB. YES!

This is the point at which i admit i do not have a device that can handle any of the augmented reality apps that are already out there (truth be told, i’m waiting for the tablet or at least the iphone to come to vz) but Lauren Pressley gives some great examples about AR you’re already seeing and what apps you might want to check out (like layar).

QR Codes

image courtesy strangelibrarian on flickr

QR codes are those funny looking bar codes you’ve no doubt started seeing recently. Although they’ve been in use in Japan for y-e-a-r-s, they’re only just now infiltrating the mainstream American consciousness. I think i first heard about them back in 2007 in use in Japan for historical monuments. Public parks would have qr codes with additional information about the monument someone was looking at. And indeed when we were in England in September, we saw them on pretty much every drink bottle.

Where’s the value for libraries? Like augmented reality, but perhaps something you can use now, imagine the same vision of customers getting extra information about the things they like, want, or need exactly where they are at that moment. You could cross reference your library and provide customers with more information about what services you provide, programs you have, and maybe even the expertise of and contact information for your librarians.

The world i live in values libraries as innovators and saviors of information access for all. With geolocation, QR codes and augmented reality, we have another opportunity to engage customers with the cool (the tech) and the necessary (the content).  While this stuff might seem scary, uneccesary, or impossible to some but how will you know the value it might bring to you and your customers until you try? Sure, these might be ideas ahead of your library’s times but it’s something simple and easy you can do and has high wow-factor.

Are you or any of your libraries using any of these techs? Please share your experiences or ideas in the comments!

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which of course got me thinking about libraries…

the cultures of our libraries differ as much as the people who work for them and the customers who use them. some are flexible in the playing, failing, and playing again. others probably haven’t revisited themselves in a long time and are probably going forth in the same step, pace and direction they were 20 years ago.

it’s like the scene in the Polar Express where they’re trying to get the train back on the tracks after it had skidded off into the ice field. little corrections here and there will keep you in the direction you want to go; it doesn’t necessarily take huge changes every time. you do, however, have to be aware of where you’re going. As long as you know still know where you’re going, even if there’s no change in direction, speed, or step, you won’t wake up one day and go “wait, huh?”

at MPOW we’re very conscious of where we can learn and as a baby service (only6 years old) in a baby profession (virtual reference – around 10 years) there’s still tons we can learn and (re)invent. we are frequently checking to make sure we know what direction we’re going in.

but what happens when either personally or professionally you wake up one day and say “how the heck did we get here?” when you keep your nose to the grindstone and forget to look up, gaze around and take stock, its very easy to miss your stop or connection your train. to avoid this happening, is there a standard practice for organizations (libraries, specifically, who need to be nimble and limber) to revisit and make sure they’re still on the right course?

one of the milestones when everyone takes stock is during tough financial times. we tend to go back to basics and make sure that what we’re providing is the best (and cheapest) we can, eliminating any dead weight, services, or expectations. but what happens when times are good? when budgets are full of life and hope? when profits are up or life is good? do we forget to reflect and learn? learning doesn’t just happen when failure occurs; learning from successes makes it that much more possible to repeat success in the future.

I envision a place that looks back and brings forth learning opportunities on a regular basis with new projects but also with current and long-standing systems. what works? what doesn’t? were there any missed opportunities? what can we learn from this?

what’s the culture like in your organization? i’d like to hear from you. do you (personally or professionally) or your place of work have schedule or procedure for revisiting and learning from things previously done or not done? if not, why not?

i thank you all in advance for your feedback and perhaps challenge you to be the spark of awareness that may initate some change.

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I have a tenancy towards jewel tones and bright, happy colors. The first interior designer we hired didn’t get this. She was trying to steer us towards a house decor and layout that wasn’t at all us. I don’t care what’s “good design” or “appropriate”, i care what makes me happy.

Luckily, the painting service we decided to go with works with a consultant that came to the house yesterday to help us with colors. She was fantastic, energetic, and actually took the time to get to know what we liked before helping us pick colors.

After we had picked the 7 colors that would make up our kitchen, foyer, living/dining room, master bath and the master bedroom, i started having second thoughts. but it wasn’t until prompting that i realized WHY i was having second thoughts.

Looking at the color cards spread out on the kitchen table, i knew there would be no mistaking this house for anyone else’s but mine. So what’s the problem? The problem was that i let other people into my head. What would people think? “Amusement park house” came to my mind.

Having just read Hugh MacLeod’s book, Ignore Everybody, i was very cognizant of the fact that as soon as you let someone into your head, as soon as you start letting other people’s judgments affect you and as soon as you start doing your thing for other people, it’s tainted. You’re no longer doing it for yourself. It’s no longer yours.

i was nervous about the colors i picked because i have never seen an adult’s house… well, anyone’s… with colors like these. I want my house to make me happy but i don’t want to be criticized on my choices (who does, really). but then it hit me. who cares? it’s my house! and it’s my house for a reason. I get to decide what happens in it and to it. (well, *we* do, but still). As soon as i got back into my own head, i knew the colors i picked were fantastic and would make me happy. Sold.

A lot has been in my head around this area lately. This area of doing what makes you happy… or knowing what direction your business is going in and being able to make the decisions to keep it flourishing despite the naysayers or unwellwishers.

Jack Dorsey, when he spoke at TCNJ on Wednesday, spoke to this a little too- that you have to be a good editor. You have to know when something isn’t right for you, your business, or your product. You have to be able to edit out the people, ideas, concepts, and pathways that aren’t true to you and what you’re trying to do. Along the same lines though, you have to also be able to edit yourself and know when to say “when” on something that just isn’t going to work as you’d hoped. (Expectations can really limit you and you have to watch out for it).

On the other side of being in control of your destiny is being a sheep, a lemming, and going along with whoever is the loudest talker…

This morning on the way into work this morning i was checking out a new radio station format, mostly hiphop and dance hits, which this morning i was digging in my happy-and-at-peace-with-my-color-decisions mental place.

…until i heard Rihanna’s new song, Russian Roulette on a new radio station. The beat and melody is infectious but the lyrics are disturbing. the song is about, you guessed it, Russian roulette. The “lethal game of chance” that i always thought was just a myth. I mean, who would actually be stupid enough to “play” this “game”? Anyone not paying attention to what *they* really want instead of focusing on the “others.”

But, in the song, Rihanna has moments of clarity.. but not enough… she “is terrified but [she's] not leaving / Know[ing] that [she] must must pass this test .” That terror is her body telling her that she’s doing something wrong. That something isn’t right. And if she was able to step back mentally for a moment she’d know that.

The lyrics go on to say “He says close your eyes / Sometimes it helps / And then I get a scary thought / That he’s here means he’s never lost.” Clearly she’s never seen War Games, the 1983 movie with a very young Matthew Broderick, because if she had, she’d know that “the only winning move is not to play.” To my mind this guy knows that you have to do for you, not others. I betcha he’s never played… because he knows its dumb. (but clearly, not smart enough to NOT exploit other people).

Equally disturbing are the lines “As my life flashes before my eyes / I’m wondering will I ever see another sunrise? / So many won’t get the chance to say goodbye / But it’s too late too pick up the value of my life.”

“It’s never too late” comes to mind here. The lesson for me, is that even if you’re ideas are tainted by other people’s critiques or flashy objects, you can always correct your path. No matter where you’re headed, there are usually about a million different points at which you can turn around or switch directions. In life, in business, it doesn’t matter. You just have to be smart enough to know when to change and get back to YOUR BASICS. And sometimes you need to be okay with scrapping everything completely and say, “you know what? this isn’t right. let’s do something else.”

Especially when your life is involved. wtf, Rihanna? Way to add another bad influence for people into the world. I’m continually reminded that there’s people out there who will do anything they’ve been told is cool and think anything they’ve been told is right. And there’s always people out there to steer people wrong, either on purpose or by accident (accident meaning they themselves are deluded).

Pay attention to what *you* want… what’s best for your business… etc. If you’re not sure what it is, sit still and breathe. The answers will come. Just pay attention to what feels right to you. And if all else fails, ask around, do your research, and then sit again until things come. :-)

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With a little information and a desire to make his community a better place, a windmill was born. Information (knowledge) is power! Power to the people!

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“If you want to build a ship, don’t herd people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” Antoine de Saint-Exupery

This one is about shared vision. People like to know that they belong and are making a difference. Having a shared vision that people can contribute to, belong to, buy in to, and help shape is a great way to a) keep the whole moving in the right direction, b) give people a sense of how they fit into the larger picture and c) energize people into moving forward.

Everyone likes to have a purpose. Instead of “I make widgets* all day” (which has tones of boredom and tediousness to it), if the widget maker knew that his widgets went on to the doo-hickey line for additions and then on to the thing-a-magig plant for inclusion in the final product that did XY&Z for people in the real world, the widget maker would know how he’s contributing to the whole. Also, in seeing the whole picture, he’s able to contribute his ideas as to making the whole better. If you don’t know what your widget is for, how do you work to improve it?

This quote is guiding me in my development and modification of the AskUsNow! vision. The point is not to tell people “you have to greet customers” but rather to get them to want to build connections with their customers.

“One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.” Andre Gide

This one is about letting go and allowing space, time, and support for play. Change is scary. But it’s also inevitable. An environment needs to be created that lets it be okay for people to let go of the side of the pool and venture into the deep end. People need to know that they’re safe, that they’re not going to blow anything up if the press this button, and that it’s okay to be uncomfortable.

One of my favorite college professors said “get uncomfortable” one day in class. I can’t remember which class or what we had been talking about at the time but i had written it down on a post it that day and put it on my bulletin board. That post it has moved with me from dorm to dorm, apt, to apt, desk to desk for the last 5 or 6 years reminding me that the only way i’m going to learn anything is if i leave my comfort zone. Yes, it’s safe in your comfort zone, but it’s also boring. Nothing new happens in your comfort zone. You have no room to trip,  fall flat on your face, or massively fail in your comfort zone. And the only way to learn and evolve and change is to make mistakes and fail (and learn from those mistakes or failures).

“The satiated man and the hungry man do not see the same thing when they look upon a loaf of bread.” Rumi

This one has two meanings for me; the value of multiple perspectives and the need for clarify and never assuming.

1) No one has had the exact same experience in life. Everything we’ve ever seen, heard, touched, smelled, felt, or experienced has made a mark on us in some way. It is these marks that make us view the world from the perspective in which we do. Everyone brings a unique perspective to the table. The many perspectives among a group often strengthen the group as a whole. All perspectives have value (even if they are in direct contrast to yours).

2) When explaining something, don’t assume they see the world the same way as you do.  I’ve grown up with computers all my life. i know what a widget is, i know that play is important, and i’m not afraid to dive right in. Someone else, looking at the exact same internet, could be scared, not have the same ideas of what is of use or value, or how things work. Knowing this, i always ask where people are to try to guage what they know before diving into something that might end up being over or under where i think they are. When unsure, always ask.

“Punctuation is very important to the writer. Consider these two examples:
Duck sausage.
‘Duck! Sausage!’”

This one is more self explanatory.  Be careful how you say things as different meanings may be applied. Also, always use good punctuation. Though, truthfully this one may be up because it makes me laugh. :-)

I am interested to hear of the principles that guide other people in their life or their business… who wants to start?

——–
* it occurs to me that in the world of web2.0+, “make widgets” has a whole other meaning then it did when my dad used to say “make widgets.” Funny how the word morphed.

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Scapes is the project that Dave was envisioning and i was referencing in my previous post. Scapes is the library sponsored online learning/conversation environment that I’m so excited about. I was not wrong when i said that Dave has spoken about Learning Conversations and the library being a part of it. But he set me straight in terms of where Reference Extract fits.

In Dave’s video response (which, i have to say, uber cool… no one’s ever responded to me in that way before!) explained that the internal search within Scapes is the basis for Reference Extract. It makes total sense. The “database” you query to start your Scapes conversation has to start from somewhere. The results in Reference Extract may have even started from the conversations in Scapes and elsewhere. Reference Extract is a door in.

And “search Engines” are still apparently hot. Reference Extract has gotten a lot of press outside of Library Land. And although a lot of people still see it as a “librarians versus google” thing, Dave envisions it as a greater thing than that.

I very much appreciated his taking the time to answer my questions and concerns. “The success of libraries depends on engaged passionate people” and it’s very easy to stay engaged when the big players in your field are willing to respond to those digging questions, trying to make sure that innovation happens in good directions. So thank you, Dave.

And since it’s 2am and i’m snuggled in bed writing and thinking about all this, i will wait until the morning to send my response back. Because now that i know that RE isn’t off the path, but the first part of the path, I have more questions and comments for Dave.

—–
Update 11/15: Check out Dave’s explanation video on how this all functions.

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