I feel that even a year ago it was unheard of to know your doctor’s email address – let alone think you could email them and HEAR BACK from them via email (your mileage may vary). As far as I was concerned, doctors just didn’t use email; customer service, be damned.

I used to have to speak to a human to schedule an appointment. Now, I can schedule (or reschedule) one online at 3am when i’m thinking about it instead of waiting for business hours and hope I get through.

Probably the biggest shift I noted, though, with my recent visits is the records management piece. At one place, I signed my HIPA forms, read the financial assistance information, and other documentation at a privacy-shielded computer at the corner of the front desk. I even signed everything like I was signing for my credit card at the grocery store.

Even if the forms weren’t 100% electronic, EVERY. SINGLE. OFFICE. had one of these guys. I mean, I have one too (similar model) and it’s the greatest tool i have to handle the household paper monster – and maybe i’d just been going to really old-school docs before – but i feel like i went from seeing these nowhere in docs offices to seeing them in every. single. one. Rock on, medical professionals. (I should have been a portable scanner sales rep within the last five years.)

That scanning piece also helped a ton when needing test results being sent to another doctor. I remember as a kid, my mom always asking for results to be faxed somewhere in addition to getting a copy for herself so she could manage things if the communication failed somewhere without having to re-contact anyone.

At another office not only was my paperwork all electronic but my scans were also right there on the monitor for me to see and the doc to manipulate (think the arrows, circles and lines sports casters draw for us to understand what’s going on in a football game). Coloring, contrast and enlargements were possible right there in front of me. No more mental images of the doc holding patient-confusing xrays to the florescent light.

Even at the Maryland Library Association Conference in May, Dr. Jay Parkinson will be speaking about all this – People would visit his website; see his Google calendar; choose a time and input their symptoms; his iPhone would alert him; he’d make a house call; they’d pay him via Paypal; and he’d follow-up by e-mail. IM, video chat, or in person. Doctor of the Future, indeed. (See his talk at TEDxMidAtlantic in 2011)

It’s a brave new world, folks.

All that said, not every office was as high tech, high touch as the next. Phone menus continued to be long and arduous and sometimes getting a person, almost impossible on the first try. But big strides are happening and it’s awesome.

Still, all this tech can’t replace a doctor that takes their time with you, answers your questions (or better, explains things before you ask or when you can’t ask) and provides reassurance or comfort. Some things, only humans can provide.

—-
on a side note – i feel like i’m the only one who reads all those admittance forms straight through before i sign them. Docs, summarizing it for me is helpful, but doesn’t mean I’m going to skip the reading piece. If you want me to sign, (and sign and sign and sign.. i may have only signed more for my mortgage) then I have to read. Patience, please.

possibly related posts:

1. Google as Big Brother?
2. if it can go wrong, it will.

May lots of joy and peace come your way!

possibly related posts:

1. the simple pleasure of consistent design
2. Google as Big Brother?

haven’t seen it? check it out. (sorry it’s not embedded- I’m writing this on the iPhone in the car (i’m passenger) and can’t figure a way to embed it.

so what’s shazam and why am I so excited? Shazam is one of the apps that will recognize music playing near you and tell you what the song is, let you buy it, etc. and the reason I’m so excited about it is it’s effing brilliant. its the next thing in short code access! (and frankly I’m a little annoyed I didn’t think of it myself)

it makes perfect sense to use shazam like this since at it’s core it’s a program that will give you visual info output for an audio input. just like qr codes (which are visual, visual).

let me pause for a second- need to brush up on the what’s and why’s of qr codes? I wrote about them in 2007 & again in 2010 when libraries started to clue in.

okay so why care about this? because it’s another way to get more info to your customers. got a radio ad for your library? now people can go straight to your website after shazaming (yes i’ve made it a verb) the ad. put something up on YouTube? local access? the college station? shazam! and your customers can auto dial your ref desk, see your hours, or instantly be routed to your catalog or downloadables. really the possibilities are endless- not just with shazam, but this is a model: what else can we use for something besides it original purpose? with the world of mobile devices, crazy apps that basically do everything hut fold your laundry, the possibilities are insane.

I haven’t seen a lot of talk about this move yet, but check out the article in business wire.

so, my brilliant readers, how would you use audio qr codes to promote your library and give people quicker, mobile access?

possibly related posts:

1. QR Codes and libraries
2. (geolocation + augmented reality + QR codes) libraries

This morning, Netflix subscribers got an email. Here it is in its entirety, i’ll meet you at the other end of it:

Dear Julie,

I messed up. I owe you an explanation.

It is clear from the feedback over the past two months that many members felt we lacked respect and humility in the way we announced the separation of DVD and streaming and the price changes. That was certainly not our intent, and I offer my sincere apology. Let me explain what we are doing.

For the past five years, my greatest fear at Netflix has been that we wouldn’t make the leap from success in DVDs to success in streaming. Most companies that are great at something – like AOL dialup or Borders bookstores – do not become great at new things people want (streaming for us). So we moved quickly into streaming, but I should have personally given you a full explanation of why we are splitting the services and thereby increasing prices. It wouldn’t have changed the price increase, but it would have been the right thing to do.

So here is what we are doing and why.

Many members love our DVD service, as I do, because nearly every movie ever made is published on DVD. DVD is a great option for those who want the huge and comprehensive selection of movies.

I also love our streaming service because it is integrated into my TV, and I can watch anytime I want. The benefits of our streaming service are really quite different from the benefits of DVD by mail. We need to focus on rapid improvement as streaming technology and the market evolves, without maintaining compatibility with our DVD by mail service.

So we realized that streaming and DVD by mail are really becoming two different businesses, with very different cost structures, that need to be marketed differently, and we need to let each grow and operate independently.

It’s hard to write this after over 10 years of mailing DVDs with pride, but we think it is necessary: In a few weeks, we will rename our DVD by mail service to “Qwikster”. We chose the name Qwikster because it refers to quick delivery. We will keep the name “Netflix” for streaming.

Qwikster will be the same website and DVD service that everyone is used to. It is just a new name, and DVD members will go to qwikster.com to access their DVD queues and choose movies. One improvement we will make at launch is to add a video games upgrade option, similar to our upgrade option for Blu-ray, for those who want to rent Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 games. Members have been asking for video games for many years, but now that DVD by mail has its own team, we are finally getting it done. Other improvements will follow. A negative of the renaming and separation is that the Qwikster.com and Netflix.com websites will not be integrated.

There are no pricing changes (we’re done with that!). If you subscribe to both services you will have two entries on your credit card statement, one for Qwikster and one for Netflix. The total will be the same as your current charges. We will let you know in a few weeks when the Qwikster.com website is up and ready.

For me the Netflix red envelope has always been a source of joy. The new envelope is still that lovely red, but now it will have a Qwikster logo. I know that logo will grow on me over time, but still, it is hard. I imagine it will be similar for many of you.

I want to acknowledge and thank you for sticking with us, and to apologize again to those members, both current and former, who felt we treated them thoughtlessly.

Both the Qwikster and Netflix teams will work hard to regain your trust. We know it will not be overnight. Actions speak louder than words. But words help people to understand actions.

Respectfully yours,

-Reed Hastings, Co-Founder and CEO, Netflix

p.s. I have a slightly longer explanation along with a video posted on our blog, where you can also post comments.

I wasn’t annoyed before (maybe i just wasn’t paying attention?), nor did I think I was owed an apology. But now, having gotten both an apology and an explanation, i’m a little peeved. Why? because of this: “the Qwikster.com and Netflix.com websites will not be integrated.” Which means I will have to maintain two queues of movies- which is the exact opposite of the simplicity I was describing life suddenly had in my last post.

Having just canceled our TV service, Netflix was/is going to pick up the slack when we really did just want to veg in front of the screen. I had always enjoyed when movies on my DVD queue were suddenly available for streaming- it allowed me to watch it right then AND remove it from my ever-growing and very-not-simple DVD queue.

I’m not sure why this decision was made – to forgo simplicity and the wonder that is a single, integrated interface in order to accomplish this maneuver- but it’s not what I would have chosen. That said, we’ll be sticking with Netflix (and/or Qwikster) until we figure out what the deal is and how it’s going to function in our lives.

I file this move under “pain inducing” instead of “pain reduction.” It’s our job – when we’re in a service professor or providing a service to customers (like Netflix)- that we look at our services and products and make decisions based on LOWERING the amount of pain a customer has to go through to do things. Five clicks before they can log in and renew a book? Painful. Having to log in twice when doing two different things on the same website? Painful. It’s these moments of pain where the customer gets to make a choice – is this amount of pain worth the effort or is there an easier way (path of least resistance) to accomplish my goal? If there’s an easier way somewhere else – you’re losing business.

This serves as a moment for libraries and vendors to think about not just our interfaces and the pain we’re causing (or keeping from) our customers but also how we make decisions, handle problems, and respond when the community reacts. Are we meeting our own expectations? Our customers?

possibly related posts:

1. on form and function
2. Book lending; Netflix style

over the holidays while trying to finish up a massive digitization project/present, i attempted to use my headphones in order to continue working while in the room with the family without giving away what i was going. I had only ever used the headset jack once but it had worked fine. not anymore. a few headsets ruled that it was the mac.

after backing up everything i took my macbook to the store to have them look at it. they replicated the issue and said it’d just need a new jack. okay cool. 2 days later i get a phone call to pick it up and i go in to get it. i go in and while they try to show me that the headset jack works now, things are slow to boot, load, and open. the trackpad is all wonky and it’s acting out of sorts. the tech says they’d like to keep it overnight to run some diagnostics again since it was taking it’s sweet time trying to do it then and it had just passed last night. she says she’ll be there until midnight doing repairs and i ask her (if she won’t get into trouble for doing it), if she could call me that night and let me know what the deal was. she agreed even though they don’t call people that late normally.

at 10.45pm that night i get a call. all is fixed (bad logic board) and i can pick it up in the morning. SWEET!

in the morning (today) i go before the mall opened (and learned about mom’s exercise groups who use the mall before opening hours) and the security guard lets me into the apple store (they were open for appointments). i get my mac back and turn it on to triple check it. good thing i did. it was slow to boot, load and acting wonky.

15 mins later i was walking out of the store with a new macbook. they had checked all their docs and saw that it had just cleared diagnostics again a few hours before. not understanding the problem, and in the interest of getting me back on the road with a functioning machine, they just gave me a new one and said they’d wipe my original one and send it back to apple DOA.

Poor thing. I didn’t think i was so attached to it until i had to let it go. The new machine acts just like the old one thanks to Time Machine but the keys and trackpad give it up as an impostor- we haven’t done the mileage together. i blame the legoman- he gave a persona to the otherwise faceless machine.

RIP: legoman 8/6/10-1/5/11

after determining that i was going home with a new machine, the guys at the store even spent a few minutes trying to figure out a way to salvage my decal. they may have been sadder than i that we couldn’t do it.

so that’s #1 why i ♥ apple. here’s #2 and 3:

within two days, i had two lovely experiences with apple support while trying to set up some things. important in the two phone calls is what i *didn’t* do:

1. I didn’t call them (they called me- first within 2 minutes, the second within the first 5 minutes of the scheduled appointment time window)
2. I didn’t have to navigate any inane automated phone triage (when the system called and asked if i wanted to speak to a rep, i pressed one and it rang)
3. I didn’t wait on hold. at all. (after i pressed “one” for a rep, it rang once and a rep answered)
4. I didn’t have to fight a language barrier (the reps spoke human, not tech support)
5. I didn’t have my guard up (aside from being helpful- i felt like i had just called my tech-savvy bff to help me) they were human and i didn’t feel like i had to prepare for battle. I learned from Rhonda that i had called Austin, a city she loves, and that both her and I tend to mess things up when doing things tired and late at night.)
6. i didn’t have to know what i was talking about (i did, but the guy on the 2nd call offered OPTIONS of solutions instead of just answering the question i asked instead of the question behind the words i asked (aka, can i? no.))

the two apple reps i spoke with on the phone were fantastic. helpful, human, and their tone was great – really just like i had called over my bff to help- NOT like i was calling tech support.

any anxiety i’ve had over my 5 month old macbook biting the dust without anyone knowing why is counteracted by the care and time that all the apple reps i’ve spoke with both in the store and on the phone have shown me. even the two guys at apple care who assisted me in switching the apple care from the old mac to the new one were infinitely friendly and helpful. the whole process took 6 minutes.

in my 20 years experience with microsoft products and various companies (micron, dell, etc) with their huge range of support successes and failures* and my 5 months of experience with apple (not including the year in elementary school when all the computers were macintosh’s), i am very happy with my choice to head over to apple. the dark side may have cookies but the apple side has superior products, fantastic customer service and has gained themselves one more mac-addict. my stories and their playing with the machine have already solidified my parents minds that when their laptops go, they’re going apple.

i suppose it only fair to also relay the two non-apple support stories i have that are positive- sort of:

1. at the turn of the millennium when i was heading off to college, my dad bought me a “flat screen” (HAHAHAHA) desktop for school. the micron rep had come to the house to deliver and install it. when it died immediately, micron delivered another one within a few days. I was able to start school with a new computer. i have no idea the number of times it took dad to call people to make it appear to happen so seamlessly.
2. later in life (say, 3ish years ago) my laptop hard drive died (computer #5 in my lifetime up to that point?). while it took many phone calls and many explanations to different people who’s first language wasn’t english… and who didn’t have a tech-to-english translation module, i was sent a replacement hard drive free of charge. sure, it was on the stipulation that i return the dead hd (which i still have in dumb hopes that i can recover it one day), but i’m pretty sure due to the number of phone calls i had to go through to get it, i just fell through the cracks (after being stalked)

thanks, apple, for making life a little bit smoother.

(now i just have to wait for my legoman decal so i can stop thinking of this machine as an impostor! haha)

my dead macbook, waiting to go away (in the new mac's box)

possibly related posts:

1. I’m being stalked by Dell
2. “you’re the 4th person I’ve talked to”

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)]

possibly related posts:

1. Foresight 2020- Scenario Planning: Learning to Think in the Future Tense
2. You are the Future of Libraries, no pressure (or Be the conversation people)

(c) Andrew Mason on Flickr

Why do we care about e-books versus “real” books?

I, for one, don’t.

“Tree*” books, “real” books or just plain “books” as they’re often called have been around for 5,000 +/- years and now i swear there are more “ebooks vs books” writings than curls on my head. Why is that? Why does anyone care what format our stories, facts, conversations, and fun come in? Why are we so worried that tree books might be going away? Is it because they are “tradition”? Is it because “books” are what libraries are known for and if they go away, we think we’ll disappear too?

I would like to take this moment to remind you that it isn’t the technology that is important but rather the information it is sharing or the problem it is solving. True, a book is very old “technology”, but that’s what it is- it is just another casing through which ideas, stories, facts, conversations, teachings, are shared. And it’s not the method of transmission that’s important- which is only as good as it’s content. Sure, perhaps you like the feel or smell of the book and it’s pages over a device- but don’t you like the story or knowledge ultimately more? Sure, i might be upset if the next generation doesn’t know what it feels like to read a paperback on the beach- sand between the pages and all- but i’m sure my mom isn’t distraught that i have no idea what an 8 track feels like or sounds like.

Perhaps you argue that we’ll be leaving people behind because not everyone will be able to afford an e-reader- well, you’re right. But I’d like to remind you that no matter how fast things seem to go- a 5000 year old technology is going to take a little more time than overnight to disappear- if it ever does. We will always have books- even if they’re in the archives and 100 years old instead of the library for circulation. If the world’s new normal are reading devices that aren’t today’s “book”, libraries will just change their model and loan e-readers. Because in a world of e-readers and no printed materials, e-readers are cheap like books and we wouldn’t care if they’re lost, stolen, or smeared with jelly.

That’s the point, though, isn’t it?- libraries provide ACCESS and COMMUNITY to those who want it. And neither of those things, along with learning, are dependent on a technology, a medium, or a casing. Yes, the hundred-year stereotype of the library is “book”- but that’s just because a book was the primary source of entertainment and education for so, so long. If our current and modern conception of a “book” truly does go away, i’m not worried- I know that society will still thrive on the transmission, creation, and sharing of ideas, facts, stories, and more. And Libraries will always have a place in that world.

e- or not.

==================

Additional Readings:

Bold Prediction: Why e-books will never replace real books. Jan Swafford, Slate.
Books versus documents: what’s wrong with so-called “e-books.” Jon Stokes, ArsTechnica
Buyers of E-Books Still Like Print Too, Survey Shows. Jennifer Valentino-DeVries, Wall Street Journal.
Will E-Books Really Destroy Libraries?. Charlotte Abbott, Follow the Reader.
The future of libraries, with or without books. John D. Sutter, CNN
Welcome to the library. Say goodbye to the books: Cushing Academy embraces a digital future. David Abel, boston.com

Footnotes

*first heard at #ALA10 as said by Dr. Marie Radford

possibly related posts:

1. “the knowledge moved”
2. try again, buddy. a note on libraries and books

(via Librarian by Day)

possibly related posts:

1. Not Interested: connecting to a librarian in social web spaces
2. the future of the library

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!

possibly related posts:

1. Shazam!: audio qr codes
2. QR Codes and libraries

I was already in town having spoken at the Princeton Public Library with Amy Kearns on Twitter. Thank goodness i checked my email before i fell asleep that night or i’d have gotten up early, headed back to Maryland and then kicked myself when i found out about it later. Amy blogged about the event over at Library Garden.

The first time i’ve seen him in real life, Jack Dorsey seemed the typical soft spoken nerd boy who could sit around drinking coffee and talk to you about code all day. And that’s what this talk felt like, like it was just you and him chatting about awesomeness and changing the world.

While i did take video, it needs editing for length and uploading. and my sound card has died so i’ll do that at a later date when i can actually hear out of my speakers again. In the meantime you can check out the video TCNJ captured (i just can’t embed it).

Jack spoke about the business side of things in terms of how the Twitter people worked well (or not) together and with their product. It was a very valuable talk and i highly recommend you take a listen to it.

My takeaways:

Start from a place of transparency and openness. It’s always better to be human and communicate with people and tell them what’s going on from the get-go versus locking everything down and wondering why there’s dissent. Be open to criticism. Inspire the same communication and sharing/openness in others.

Just Start! The hardest thing to do is start. But you have to jump in it and get going to know if things are ever going to work out. Don’t keep it in your head and work out all the details in advance. You’re never going to be able to anticipate all the issues without external input. You can have an idea you think is Ah-Mazing but until you get it out of your head, play with it, tweak it, talk it over with other people and let them play with it are you ever going to know if the idea has wings. If it doesn’t, you have to be okay with that and try something else. Nothing can kill something faster than expectations that don’t pan out. Get it out as fast as possible and start to play. Jack had the idea for what today is Twitter when he was 15 (1991ish if i did my math right). Some ideas take time. A lot of time. and as long as you’re still talking, conferring, playing, and tweaking, you’re going to know along the way if it’s time to ditch it or not.

Release unto the world and let things grow. The biggest lesson of Twitter is that they had no idea what it was or what it could do. @replies? user idea. RT? user idea. Jack even mentioned that the company was calling them “status messages” and not “tweets” up until a week ago. Letting things grow organically rather than forcing things into the box you think it should be in is much better for the growth of your idea/product. You may think you know the best use for something, but there’s 6 billion people in the world that will tell you you’re wrong. And that’s when you’ll fail instead of succeed.

Company as editor. With all this user input and ideas from outside (and in), you have to know where to draw the line. You have to be a good editor. When an idea isn’t good for you, your company, or your product, you have to be able to shut it down. When someone isn’t good for you, your company, or your product, you have to be able to let go. Even when it’s your own idea, you have to know when to say when. It’s like Bonsai (from my limited knowledge of it, earned by watching the Karate Kid movies)… you have to prune the right bits so it can grow to it’s potential. Or like carving stone into an elephant… First, get a block of marble and then remove everything that doesn’t look like an elephant. You have to know what’s not your elephant and get rid of it to let the elephant shine through.

Jacks talk lasted a little less than an hour with questions but i could have spent hours longer listening to him. I’m sure he’s perfected what he says over time and time again of speaking but his simple brilliance didn’t assume anything or come from down upon high. You could tell he was “just Jack,” doing what he loves, just happening to be uber successful and on the tip of everyone’s tongues. Rock on, Jack. Can’t wait to see what’s next.

possibly related posts:

1. the perfect help form
2. 23 Things: Week 1, Thing 1 & 2 (an intro)