A few hiccups

Apture seems to conflict a little bit with Snap shots, an application that I already installed on my blog that gives you a mouseover preview pages before you click on the URL. Of course, with Apture, there is no longer a need for Snap shots.

I also tried to set Apture up on my Facebook page--to no avail. But, Facebook tends to really restrict these types of aps.

And I tried to install it on the Blackboard wiki at my school through the html screen. Of course, I haven't even been able to install video links on Blackboard (even though there is a button to do it) so I wasn't expecting much.

Is there an easy way to integrate Web 2.0 technology?

The next few blogs will record my attempts to use Apture, which purports to be an easy way to create blogs and websites with embedded multimedia. You can create a blog or webpage, insert helpful links, and your readers do not have to leave your page to access these links. Seems like a great idea.

I've installed Apture on my Blogger blog. It is very easy to link to articles, definitions, etc. You can see that I have added a Wikipedia definition of Blogger. There are buttons right in the Blogger toolbar (once you install the application). Just click on the link and Wikipedia opens in a popup window.

Here is a quick overview of some of the things you can do--like embed video.



That is pretty cool. In the next few posts, I'll be exploring some of the ways this might be used. Then, I'll try to put it all together to see how this technology might benefit libraries.

Web 2.0 and Libraries

The Web 2.0 question for libraries is an interesting one. First, I highly recommend this article What is Web 2.0: Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software by Tim O’Reilly. Tim O’Reilly is one of the folks that coined the term Web 2.0. In my reading of this article, Web 2.0 is a service using a web platform, which allows users to share their own created content in a mixable, scalable way, where the collective action of an increasing number of users adds value to the service. Here is an interesting graphic from that article that illustrates the key concepts.(O'Reilly, 2005)

Now, in what ways have Web 2.0 services been integrated into library offerings? I would have to say in very minor ways but in my experience, more effectively internally than externally. For our patrons, my library has a Facebook page, a Myspace page, we have Blog a book where patrons can blog about their latest great reads. We have a social book network: My Next Good Book. We have the capability to push RSS feeds on various book searches so folks can keep track of new books that we receive according to their interests. Are any of these things well utilized? In a word, no. Internally we have probably 10 or 15 wikis. One of these, the Childrens Services wiki, is a great success and we were cited by pbwiki as a model. The Childrens Librarians use this wiki to coordinate programming, planning for the Summer Reading Program, sharing booklists, etc. It really cut down on email and made us much more effective as a group.

What is the difference between internal offerings and external offerings? First and foremost, the Childrens Services wiki tapped into a fairly vibrant, established community and gave more global access to activities that they were doing anyway. In the book, What would Google do? by Jeff Jarvis, there is an interesting story about a meeting between Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, and the head of a large news organization. The publisher wanted to know how he could start a community like Facebook, and Zuckerberg replied, “You can’t.” He said, that the publisher was asking the wrong question. “You don’t start communities, he said. Communities already exist. They’re already doing what they want to do. The question you should ask is how you can help them to do it better.”(Jarvis, 2009, p.48)

The libraries that I know want to put out blogs and Facebook sites, etc and expect users to do all the work without giving them any benefits. It was evident in the Glazer article that he put quite a bit of effort into the library’s Facebook activities. And, he was working on developing the community in other ways than through Facebook. A better approach, I think, is Penn State’s Tools and Widgets, where a student can place catalog searching and “Ask a librarian” chat widgets right on their Facebook page. Now that is a benefit! The Penn State library is starting to ask the question, “How can I help them do it better.” And the more things that the library provides that the patron can integrate into their daily lives, be greater the barriers to your competition. As O’Reilly indicated, Amazon started with a data dump from its vendors—the same data that its competitors like Barnes and Noble received. However, they have continually enhanced their database, with help from their users, creating a new database that cannot be matched by the competition. This is what libraries need to strive for to really adopt Web 2.0.

References

Jarvis, J. (2009). What would Google do?. New York: HarperCollins.

O'Reilly, T. (2005). What is Web 2.0: Design patterns and business models for the next generation of software.Retrieved 1/29/2009, 2009, from http://www.oreillynet.com/lpt/a/6228

Skills of the New Librarian

I have been reading about the Standards for the 21st century learner that children will need by the time they get through school and the impact that will have on librarianship. If we are demanding that our school children be able to not only use word processing, spreadsheets, publishing and presentation software but also blogs, wikis and other Web 2.0 social media, it seems to me that all librarians should also be expected to use the same tools. (Standards in Action Draft, 2008) Further, how will we be poised to meet the information needs of these technologically proficient children when they enter adulthood.. What tools will we need to "organize and effectively display" information to meet their needs (RUSA Behavioral Guidelines, 2004)? Will this be through chat, RSS feeds, podcasts, v-casts and twitter? I hope we will at least be more successful understanding downloads to e-book readers than we have been with mp3 players.

And what of the skills of the digital librarian? A recent study(Choi & Rasmussen, 2006) came up with the following list of training gaps that current digital librarians felt that they had.

• Overall understanding of complex interplay of software
• Lack of vocabulary to communicate with technical staff
• Knowledge of web-related languages and technologies
• Web design
• Digital imaging and formatting
• Digital technology
• Programming and scripting languages
• XML standards and technologies, and
• Basic systems administration.

These are all major skill sets that will need to be adopted by the average librarian. A number of our leaders have acknowledged this challenge and in my library we implemented Helen Blowers Library 2.0 initiative, where we used and blogged about 23 technology related things such as wikis, RSS feeds, social networking pages and the like. My observations during this process were that a few people dove right in and excitedly embraced the new social technologies. Most went through the process with distaste (or not at all) and often did not see the use of any of these new approaches.

My experience mirrors a study by Rabina (Rabina & Walczyk, 2007) who assessed the attitudes of librarians about adopting technology. They used an analysis of the diffusion of innovation in societies developed by E. M. Rogers in his book Diffusion of Innovations (Rogers, 2003). Rogers found that people fall into five categories in their approach to adopting innovation:

• Innovators (2.5%)
• Early adopters (13.5%)
• Early majority (34%)
• Late majority (34%)
• Laggards (16%)

This, like most things in a population, approximates a bell curve. But when Rabina applied this to librarians, she found the following percentages:

• Innovators (3.6%)
• Early adopters (24.6%)
• Early majority (17.2%)
• Late majority (37%)
• Laggards (17.7%)

The large number of early adopters and drop off in early majority population has several effects:

• The preponderance of early adopters confuse the early majority by running off in different directions adopting different things.
• The small number of early majority librarians are not enough to mentor the late majority into adopting new technologies causing a drop off in momentum.
• The momentum loss may cause the adoption of technology in unproductive ways.

So, what does this mean for the profession? I suggest the following:

1. Current leaders must at least develop at least intermediate level expertise (i.e., able to troubleshoot and coach) in all librarians in word processing, spreadsheets publishing and presentation software ( things that current high schoolers are expected to know). This will require more effort and time than usual due to the large numbers of late adopters and laggards.
2. All librarians should understand RSS feeds, chat, twitter and any other Web 2.0 information flow that develops, since information flow is fundamental to the profession. Again, this will take time and resources.
3. All librarians should have intermediate proficiency in hardware such as mp3 players, digital cameras and cell phones.
4. All librarians should be developing at least basic proficiency in (be able to readily use) collaborative software such as chat, blogs, wikis and social networking. Organizations should adopt one or more of these technologies now and incorporate them into normal operations so that librarians can get experience using them.
5. There should be a growing segment of the librarian population that can manipulate advanced forms of information communication and presentation: podcasts, website design, web languages etc.
6. There should be a growing segment of the librarian population with an understanding of information systems. Perhaps joint degrees would be desirable.
7. There should be a specific recruitment of librarian candidates who have a preference for technology, since we cannot afford to have a greater percentage of late adopters and laggards.

References

Choi, Y., & Rasmussen, E. (2006). What is needed to educate future digital librarians. D-Lib Magazine, 12(9) Retrieved from http://www.dlib.org/dlib/september06/choi/09choi.html

Rabina, D. L., & Walczyk, D. J. (2007). Information professionals' attitude toward the adoption of innovation in everyday life. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Conceptions of Library and Information Science--"Featuring the Future", , 12(4) papercolis12. Retrieved from http://informationr.net/ir/12-4/colis/colis12.html

Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations. New York: Free Press.

RUSA Behavioral Guidelines. (2004). Guidelines for behavioral performance of reference and information service providers. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 44(1), 14-17. Retrieved from Full Text HTMLFull Text PDF HTML: http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/jumpstart.jhtml?recid=0bc05f7a67b1790e1916ca00094d315af44ead79cfd5574583beed98dc22ac760596b6777653ce2e&fmt=H PDF: http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/jumpstart.jhtml?recid=0bc05f7a67b1790e1916ca00094d315af44ead79cfd5574583beed98dc22ac760596b6777653ce2e&fmt=P

Standards in Action Draft. (2008). Standards for the 21st century learner in action (draft 2) (American Association of School Libraries StandardsAmerican Library Association. (Standards in Action) Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/aaslproftools/standardsinaction/standardsinaction.cfm

The library as a great good place

I'm probably a little late on the uptake here but I just discovered Ray Oldenburg's 1999 book The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair Salons and Other Hangouts at the Heart of a Community. Oldenburg talks about the three places in a community: the first place is home, the second place is work, and the "third place" is the community hangout(s). Unfortunately, with the rise of the suburb, and the dominance of the automobile, these local hangouts--whether bars, barbershops, town squares, or cafes, are almost gone.

These third places are the bastions of informal public life; a place where you can meet neighbors from all walks of life, have discussions, blow off steam, escape family or work life and then return home. It is Oldenburg's hypothesis that communities without third places are impoverished. Third places are the places that create a sense of community; where

...people develop a fondness for each other and meet regularly...they will give each other things; loan tools, books and other objects, give of their time and labor on occasion and tell one another about useful sources of goods and services.

Lives without access to third places are not as happy as they could be because they are denied acess to an important source of support groups.

However, not all public meeting places are third places or "great good places". They must have the following attributes:

1. They are neutral ground. Individuals can come and go as they please and none are required to play host. But it is a place where people feel comfortable and at home.

2. Good conversation is at the core. Regulars keep the conversation flowing, but even the stranger may engage in the banter.

3. Regulars are crucial. Regulars set the whole tone, feeling and conviviality of the place. The regulars are more important than staff.

As Oldenburg says It is the regulars whose mood and manner provide the infectious and contagious style of interaction and whose acceptance of new faces is crucial. The host's welcome, though important, is not what really matters. p34

In fact, regulars are so important they may be extended privileges denied to other customers.

4. Plainness is important. That is to say that the decor of the place should discourage pretension and encourage a homelike environment.

5. The mood is playful.

6. All types of people are welcome. Although some traditional third places have excluded women, the whole point of a third place is one of inclusion, leveling and lack of pretension. The Midwestern German beer gardens of the early 1900, for example, included women and children!

So what does all this have to do with libraries???? Libraries may be the one local establishment left in suburbia where people can congregate. It is a place that has the potential to be a great good place if we allow it to be. If we

• encourage people to linger and converse.
• make things homey and not too pretentious
• take care of our regulars
• encourage a variety of people (including kids and teens)
• keep it playful!

Creating an avatar for Summer Reading

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Thing 33: Mr Picassohead

http://www.mrpicassohead.com/canvas.html?id=bca062b&skin=original

Well, here's my link to my picasso. It took about as long as his paintings did toward the last part of his life.

A nice little diversion.