A Wandering Eyre

I have been busy getting the Rochester household ready for our new addition and I have neglected to read the news from library land. I saw a few posts pop up about Swift when they first popped up, but I did not read them. I think maybe I should have because I would have seen that Swift, which has been denounced as a waste in different ways by many people I respect, was created by the Otter Group.

This Otter Group.

I believe in giving people second chances, but it seems to me that this company has learned nothing in the two years since they were last on my radar. I suppose this just goes to show you that companies will pay money for anything. Crap, libraries and our organizations do it all the time. I know not all online tools are “free” but Karen makes a great argument about what we would like our organizations to be spending money on and this is not it.

I can see Swift being useful at a conference where the attendees and presenters are not Internet or technology savvy, but that is the target audience of ITI. People at CiL have some clue as to what is going on in the world. We already have a way to share the things Swift wants from us.

I want to know why ITI felt the need to use a product like Swift. How did they get bamboozled into that decision? Was it simply because the hive that usually exists around the conference (via Twitter, blogs, IM,etc.) can not be contained and thus can not be profited from? This whole discussion reminds me of a quote I use in presentations to talk about transparency and reputation:

“The reputation economy creates an incentive to be more open, not less. Since Internet commentary is inescapable, the only way to influence it is to be part of it… Putting out more evasion or PR puffery won’t work, because people will either ignore it and not link to it - or worse, pick the spin apart and enshrine those criticisms high on your Google list of life.” –Clive Thompson

We, the librarians in the Internet Tubes, see through things fairly well because we are smart and often like to read the fine print. We spend our days looking for new things to serve the public better by saving money, not making it. Please do not be surprised when we look your expensive horse in the mouth and tell you that the reliable and cheap pony we already own works fine because we see only a shiny toy with no substance that you are offering. Beware of things that only glitter.

–Jane, ITI, we already have transportation to the Ball, we do not need another ride. Now can we talk about wifi?

The not so good bits being two things I did not see but heard a lot about about one thing for which I was present and accounted for.

Most of my complaints about ALA Midwinter are about things having to do with the division in which I spend most of my time: LITA. As we say down South, Bless your heart. Bless your heart, LITA, I know you try, but let us consider the ways in which the brain was left behind in the planning of some of the aspects of ALA Midwinter 2008 and how your members have lost touch with reality and the word leadership.

In the past, LITA sponsored a Blogger’s room, which has become more popular as more people found out about it’s existence. At Annual 07, there were always people hanging out in the room, chatting, blogging, and surfing the internet whenever I chanced by. The room had multiple tables, chairs, wifi, and many power strips. BIGWIG usually has its meetings in this room because it is available, convenient, and has all the equipment we needed (wifi and power strips). At Midwinter 07, the room was bumped back to only be a couple tables in the back of the ALA office, but it still included power strips and wifi. Members of LITA have been thinking of ways we could use this service of a plug and wifi as a way to market LITA as a technology provider guru to ALA at large. I think this is a wonderful idea and an even better service.

(As a disclaimer, I did not see said table, but I did hear about it from multiple people. I wanted a picture, but ran out of time on Monday. If anyone snapped a picture, please share it in the comments.) This year the idea of the room or properly equipped tables seems to have gone awry somehow. This year, we again had a Blogger’s Table at Midwinter in the ALA office. But it was one table with two chairs, no power strips, and no wifi. Welcome bloggers, you would be better off sitting on the floor by a plug in the hallway instead of using this service we have not put much thought into providing. I am not sure who thought this would be a good idea, but clearly it is not useful and a waste of space besides.

The Blogger’s Area should be something, by now, that LITA leadership and admin have realized is a “good thing” for their image, but BIGWIG has to ask and advocate for it before every conference. It should be something that LITA wants to provide, not something they must be cajoled and prodded into doing.

At Annual, LITA, I will not be there to enjoy it, but please provide a real room, with numerous tables, chairs, power strips, and wifi . We know it costs money, but think of it as much needed advertising to all the techies hiding in other ALA groups that see you not as a technology leader or innovator, but as an innovator and leader that has forgotten what it means to do so.

I again must write a disclaimer as I was not present at the following meeting, but I did hear about it after the fact from multiple people. At Midwinter, the Top Tech Trends Panel holds an open discussion meeting in which they throw out ideas about new trends and the audience is able to comment on the panel’s assumptions. Other then the President’s Program, the TTT Panel at both Midwinter and Annual are the most popular LITA events. The thing that makes the Midwinter program stand out is that, instead of the panel talking to the audience, as they do at Annual, the panel talks with the audience about tech trends in libraries.

You would expect that such a largely attended and well received program would not have the problems getting the right room and equipment they need from LITA to hold their events. Indeed, they should not have the kind of problems a little IG would have, say getting a blogging area, but the TTT Committee had similar connectivity and set-up issues. It is possible that these issues were a problem with the conference staff and not LITA. If I am wrong in my assumption, I want to be corrected. Someone, please correct me!

Instead of a large room, set up for a lively discussion and debate, the room TTT was given was small and set up for a traditional committee meeting with a table in the center and chairs around the table. The chair of the committee, Maurice York, had to run around, fetching as many extra chairs as he could cram into the room. During the discussion, the room overflowed into the hall. LITA - we do not have room for you.

The connectivity in the room was not wonderful. One of the committee members, trying to participate virtually on Skype, had issues connecting to the group because of the wifi. Wifi can be problematic, so I am hesitant to really lay that on LITA’s door. I applaud the committee for trying Skype. Who says ALA does not have virtual participation?

Lastly, the LITA Town Meeting ended in a debate over which we should be: Innovative Leaders of Technology (in which we often blaze the trail as the first) or Leaders in Technology (in which we do not care about innovation but instead create best practices and know the best tools in hopes that others will seek out our expertise). The conversation made me want to cry, scream, and rip my hair out. It is the conversation I hear repeated in MPOW and in libraries all over the nation. It is the reason a lot of libraries talk about doing something but never actually get around to doing anything at all and thus never lead anyone anywhere.

Why try to be first, when you can be last? I have a news flash for the people in LITA who think we should give up trying to be first and be the ones who make great policies and practices. All those groups who blazed the trail we are sauntering down, already created all the policies and best practices they need because shortly after being first, they realized they needed some guidelines. When you wait for others to do all the dirty work and then step in later to save the day, you only look like an attention grabber and no one believes you have anything to contribute that is worthwhile. If you did have something meaningful to say, you would have said it at the beginning, when the innovative group was hacking through the jungle, not later when the road is built.

I am not bringing this up to say that age is the factor, but someone asked all of us under 30 to raise out hands and there were less than 5 of us in a room easily holding about 60 or 70 people. I know LITA used to be the leader back when they had the Internet room for people to use and you were all young. I know because you tell us about it all the time. I am proud you blazed that trail and it is part of our history. You know what though, you are the only ones who remember that and that remembrance is not enough for the rest of ALA to keep believing you are a leader of anything. One good idea will not ensure your status as an innovator. It just means you had one good idea.

People no longer see LITA as a leader in technology because we are not. Not in innovation, policies, or best practices. If we really want to reclaim our position as a leader in technology we have to actually lead the way to be taken seriously. I want LITA to be great. I want us to blaze a technology trail others can walk down. I want us to partner with other divisions who are also using technology in innovative ways so we can be leaders again. We do not always have to be the first ones down the trail, but we should try to be in the lead group, leading.

–Jane, not ready to sit back and let others have all the innovative fun

This is the round-up post minus the soapbox elements. In this post, I write about the things I liked about my trip and the things that made me feel good about ALA. There were, of course, some not fabulous things about Midwinter, but I am putting those in their very own post. Just for you, readers, because I know how you sometimes like a good bitch.

ALA Midwinter was fun, if very quick, for me this year. I flew in on Saturday and left Monday. Philadelphia was a nice city to visit, even if I left one rainy cold city for the same weather at home.

The best meeting I attended by far was the Jim Rettig Presidential Advisory Board Meeting. It was a good meeting for two reasons:

First, it was very well run and efficient. Second, at no time during the meeting was any idea turned down with a no or dismissed. We instead discussed how to make each idea feasible, even if it meant giving the idea to a group who could handle it better. I left feeling positive about the possibilities for the group’s initiatives and it was the best meeting I attended all conference, including the one that I helped run. It affirmed my belief that there are plenty of people in ALA who want to try new things.

The ALA Publishing Reception was at the Mutter Museum at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. I liked the babies in jars and fetal skeletons displays the best followed closely by the syphilitic skulls. I have not seen so many cool skulls since Physical Anthropology in college. Fabulous. The Terminal Street Market was wonderfully full of delicious food, spices, fruits, vegetables, and handmade items. It was a feast for the eyes and the belly. I had some veggie samosas from Nandi’s Kitchen that were fantabulous.

This is likely be my last ALA until Annual 09 because I plan on staying home from traveling for a year after Baby Rochester arrives. I still have virtual commitments to several committees and that will continue. It made all my meetings with friends bittersweet, knowing I would only see people online for a large amount of time until I start the conference circuit again. It was nice to see old friends and meet some new people, as always.

The Blog Salon was fun, as usual, and was in a wonderfully large room this year. Sadly, there were no shower caps, but I did see a group in Second Life off to one side. I also met the creator of the “March of the Librarians” video, Nick Baker, who is a lovely person.

As I was uploading pictures to Flickr, it dawned on me that I take less pictures when I am not drinking. My set for Midwinter is very small as a consequence of my being in Philadelphia for a shorter period than normal and for the distinct lack of alcohol consumed. I still have a handful to get online.

The wifi, though occasionally spotty (as wifi sometimes is), was usable in most areas of the conference center. Thank you, ALA. It is much appreciated and was noted by this blogger. I hope this is a precedence that only improves.

–Jane, it’s raining in Houston today

On the heels of Meredith and Jason, I have to throw my hat in the ring.

Jason describes a conversation we had at Internet Librarian in which we hatched the most brilliant of all schemes ever. Well, we think so anyway.

Jason describes very well the meat of our plan: ALA should offer a virtual conference at the cost of the profit they would normally net from physical attendance.

One added benefit Jason did not mention would be far fewer physical rooms and hotels needed for conferences. It is possible ALA could actually have the conference someplace nice, during a nice time of year. Milwaukee in Summer or anywhere north of the Mason Dixon line for that matter when the rest of us are boiling. We might even be able to do away with Midwinter. Oh, be still my heart!

I would only add to his description this: ALA not allowing true virtual membership and using revenue as an excuse is not longer a reason. You can not hide behind money anymore. Stop trying to do it. We all know that this is simply an excuse not to look for alternative revenue streams. In less then 24 hours, you have now had three independent members offer you alternative revenue. Think out of the box and stop torturing us with F2F meetings that are unnecessary, not to mention personally, blindingly expensive.

I also would like to take the idea a step further by wedding it to Meredith’s post. She talks about online ads and sponsorships. Not only could ALA charge the amount they would normally net from physical attendance for online participation from members, they could also pimp the vendors with everything from banner ads to sponsoring talks and themes. As Meredith said, this does not mean letting the vendors talk, it means letting them be sponsors, much like NPR does on the radio with a short little commercial blurb that does not interfere with content.

Online ads are big money and so are online sponsorships. MySpace will make over a billion dollars in ads this year. Why can’t an organization of smart professionals figure out how to do what the twenty somethings have already figured out?

The great thing about a conference with virtual content is that many, many more people will have access to it and would be willing to pay for it. I know so very many librarians who can simply not afford to go to an ALA conference, but they could afford $50 of their own money to attend a virtual conference.

Bless your heart ALA, we love you, but you really need to consider these things. Seriously. And you should do that now. Not with a million committees that will mull over it for years only producing a useless report. We are asking for some action. I believe our future is riding on the decisions that get made about this issue. Please make them soon.

–Jane, please keep in mind Jane is not very patient

Joe Janes
Reference 2.0:Ain’t What it Used to Be… and it never will again

[My comments in brackets.]
[He is doing this without slides! Coolio.]

Mr. Janes self identifies as a Lackluster Enhancer [from Rainie’s talk yesterday].

First article we know of that talks about reference is from 1876. The primary motivation for helping people is that there is too much information and people find it difficult to find it because the subject headings do not help. We, librarians, should step in and help people. [Seems like nothing much has changed. It makes me wonder if we ever learn as a profession or a species.]

Reference manifests itself in different ways and different settings.

Now there is a lot of stuff and people can find it or they can find something. There are lots of ways to get help. Traditional reference is not going to work. [Mr. Janes is exceptionally humorous, but he is right. Traditional reference is not going to serve the needs of our users.]

Someday we will come to the time when everything is digital. We have an evermore digital world. Horizontal searching and federated searching is where everything is going. There are a lot of ways to find everything. We are increasingly looking for wholes and parts of things in digital form.

How do we insert reference services there?

Quoting a 1930’s article about the reference interview: “They will choke and die before they tell you what they want.” [This gets huge laughs. We all know exactly what this librarian is talking about.]

We can take on Wikipedia. If you are griping about Wikipedia and you are not editing it, you have no right. [Amen. If I hear one more professor or librarian harp about the information on wikis I am going to poke a pen in my ear. It is like voting. If you do not vote, you have no right to complain about the state of this country.] Blogs, wikis, podcasts, we have to be doing that. [Yes, we do and how many of us are not?]

We have to explore our areas of strength and the niches where what we do is unique. [What is the library long tail?] We have the skills to respond to people’s needs and the help that people need. There are people that need us in the digital realm too but they do not know where to look for us.

It is easy to look at those [the digital visitors] and then look at all the people we will not be helping, but look at all the people we are not helping now. We will never be able to answer all the questions Google answers everyday. This is the question of levels of service and we were always taught to do that.

People living online is just the idea that people want to be heard. Every book, movie, song, poem can be reduced to “I was here.” A handprint on a cave wall is, “I was here. I had a life. I mattered. I want to be heard.” Now it happens on facebook. It is the same thing. [To me, this is the most powerful thing Mr.Janes said. Where is your cave and what is your handprint?]

There is no end product to Wikipedia or LibraryThing. There is no finish; the point is the participation and figuring out how to make them better and bigger. The process is the outcome. If this is the environment that half to a third of our communities are living in, we have to be there too. We have to be heard and seen.

The exciting thing about librarians in Second Life is not reference, it is creating. You have to create everything. You have to create your life! Everything is about creation. If we could get librarianship back into the idea of creation, that would be wonderful. What if there had been a librarian around when the http protocol was built?

We have to be more easily found. Without throwing out the idea of being a librarian. Get out of the freakin’ library and stay in the library. What you really gotta be is somewhere and everywhere as every library should be. You have to be somewhere. You have to provide the 3rd space, the physical space and you have to be everywhere else as well. It is the concept of the library leaking out of the building.

It is easier to use the library from home. You do not have to get dressed.

If you do not know how many people are using your webpage and downloading stuff from your databases, you can not ask more money to support it. That is an open scandal.

You have to be in and out of the library at the same time. You have to be here and everywhere. The communities online are helping each other and they are asking us questions at the reference desk less.

We were made for better things then standing behind a reference desk waiting for people to ask us dippy questions. [like where is the *insert noun here* or I need three articles on gun control.]

For now, print is our secret weapon. But as the years go by, print becomes less worthwhile. The role of print will decrease and reference collections will go into the general collection. Grieve and move on. [I think I may be in love with this man, sorry Mr. Rochester.]

“Method over material” quote about reference in 1909 [In the digital wars going on in our buildings, this idea has been lost.]

We have to help people tend the networked communities. Individually and collectively, we should be on the networks. Slam the Boards project is awesome. Be a role model about how to make things more useful.

Market. Tell people what you do. Tell them you save them time and money.

It is unrealistic and illusory to think that the old days are going to come back. The service we provide to people in our physical buildings is phenomenal. Whatever services we provide people online have to be better. When they visit you online, they can be gone in a heartbeat. It has to be better online than in person.

[Wow. I am cleaning these notes sitting in the San Jose airport waiting for my flight. The words are just as strong now as they were two days ago. I wish that every librarian could have been in the room to hear this. After I post this on my blog, I am going to share this with my department.]

–Jane, posting this before going to work today

1385 people at the conference

Lee Rainie from Pew Internet and American Life Project
2.0 and the Internet World

[my comments in brackets]

[Lee always opens with humor and he goes through some things that have been blogged about him.]

[I can never keep up with Mr.Rainie when he talks. Everything he has to say is so interesting. Someone should podcast his speeches.] The Internet is the new computer. People do everything online. Half the population has broadband at home. Wireless users are different then other internet users.

Blogs have been built so seamlessly into social networking sites that teens do not think of the writing they are doing on their profiles as blogging.

19% of online young adults have created an avatar that interacts with others online

All content creators have an audience.

44% of young adults seek info on wikipedia
36% of adults use Wikipedia

34% of online young people have tagged things, though they do not often think of what they are doing as tagging

Americans can customize their online experience with Web 2.0 tools.
40% of younger users customize news and other info sources. [Though they often do not know it is RSS which makes that possible.]

Internet User Groups
Omnivores – 8% high end user group, have the most gadgets, late 20s, male dominant, students, wireless, racially diverse, broadband users

Connectors 7% - do not do nearly as much stuff as previous group, email, IM, cell phone, female dominant, diverse, believe that their gadgets can do more than they use them for

Lackluster Veterans 8% - use stuff at same level as Connectors, older, trending white, 40ish, tech is necessary but not exciting, do not like being “on” all the time [You could call these the technology grumps. They use it but they grump about it all the time.]

Productivity Enhancers 8% - workers, 40ish, like it because it helps them be efficient at work and shopping, no gender difference (like all all previous groups upscale in SES), no blogging really

Mobile Centric 10% - early 30s, minority rules, middle income, love their cell phones, only 37% have broadband, texters and photos with phone

Connected but Hassled 10% - high level of broadband, female, mid 40s, being online is a hassle, do so less frequently, complain of Information Overload

Inexperienced Experimenters 8% - no broadband older, but will try stuff, late adopters

Light but Satisfied – 15% - fine with what they have, mid 50s, do not need more, you have to call them to tell them to check their email, below national average SES, love tv and radio, only 15% have broadband

Indifferents 11% - 40s, “I do not like this stuff” most have cell phones and the internet but do not need it, proud to tell you that they do not need it

Off the Network 15% - no cell phone, no internet, 60s+ female dominant, poorest group, largest group of African Americans, they think the internet is full of porn and badness [It’s not?! ]

49% of pop is a low tech crowd, technophiles are only 8%

suggests a book entitled Smart Mobs by Howard Reingold

We have become grazers of information. [I agree. Not only do we have to because there is so much, but RSS encourages grazing instead of in depth reading.]

–Jane, grazing

Cool Tools for Webmasters

Originally uploaded by Wandering Eyre

This is a rough blog of the afternoon session from today. It is mostly a list of tools, so I figured you, dear readers, could live with this.

Cool Tools for Webmasters – IL2007
Frank Cervone and Darlene Fichter

Communicating Ideas
Sketchcast.com – a cast of you drawing and talking
JingProject.com – capture and share images or small screencasts, when showing works better than telling
Picnik.com – has Firefox and IE plugin, will capture the full web page, instead of only what you can see without scrolling, will send to flickr
Kerpoof.com – create online storybooks, comics, or movies

PPT Tools
Slideshare.net – shares PPT and Keynote
Scribd – supports keyword searching
SplashCast – supports PPT, MP3, Images
ZohoShow – allows editing
SlideAware – best stats, limited access

Thumbalizr.com – capture screen or image, can set custom sizes
Visual Page Rank

Utilities
DiffDaff.com – graphical interface alternative to a unix dif command
Tucows.com (Log View) –

Development
SOAP Sonar – testing and analyzing Web Services (http://www.crosschecknet.com)
Evolved (http://www.home.no/evolved/) adapts to a large number of programming language and will break out elements of a program, ex. Breaks would be blue, tags would be red
Perl express (perl-express.com) – integrated development environment for Perl, syntax highlighting, will help you run database queries and test things on a server

Fun with Images
Photo slideshow – (flash.dvd-photo.slideshow.com) – creates a monie from a series of pictures
Flashgallerygenreator.com/main.aspx – uses XML

Search and Indexing
Google SiteMap Builder (sitemapbuilder.net)– XML file that will allow Google to index all the things on your site

Google.com/coop/cse – will now integrate directly into webpages and make it look more seemless then before
OpenURL Referrer Toolbar – openly.oclc.org/openurlref – user can download and use it to access your open URL resolver to connect to your resources
FlogBlog – apps.facebook.com/flogblog – integrates blog content onto a facebook page

Freedom - USB
Portable Firefox – bundled with portable apps to take bookmarks, extensions, passwords and will run on a USB
Asterisk Logger v1.02 – reveals passwords behind passwords
Undelelete – recovers deleted files
Unstoppable Copier – recover all bytes from scratched CDs
Simple File Shredder – securely delete files so they can’t be restored
KeePass – store all your passwords in one database, locked with one master key

The Future is Not Out of Reach: Change, Library 2.0, and Emerging Trends

Change affects each of us in different ways. Sometimes libraries change like turtles. We are the lucky ones. LITA, the techno geeks.

Social networking has been taking off in the last 2 years. Our patrons are using things like YouTube, but not all of us are.

Comments allow people to hold conversations on the web. It is like having an open meeting on the web.

Friending on the web is different then what it means in person. You can be friends for life. The web allows you to keep track of people much easier then before the web. Friends lists are a trusted list of people.

Content: Before the web it was books on a shelf and electronic resources. Someone else’s content arranged on a shelf. Now there are RSS feeds, original staff content, and patron generated content.

Web as Platform: The PC is no longer the platform. Old models, patrons visit the library to do stuff at the library. New Model, people go to the library to do stuff outside of the library, on the web. We are the launch pad not the destination itself.

Why do we need to participate?
To be relevant to the next generation. All our younger people are using IM, why aren’t libraries using that?

What are YOU doing at your libraries?
Gaming, SecondLife, podcasts, interactive art galleries, flickr photos

What are we teaching the current generation?
Information literacy is no longer just about reading. Information Literacy is also about teaching grandma to use flickr to look at her grandkids pictures.

How to make time for new stuff?
The problem is not finding time; it is changing your focus and priorities. Sometimes we have to do something scary to stay relevant.

One thing David can promise is that there will be change.

–Jane, great presentation

Today started a string of travel for me. I am in Denver until Sunday to attend LITA Forum. I will be giving two talks:
David and Goliath take on Social Tools and Learning 2.0 on a Dime.

Monday, I leave Denver for Virginia Beach to talk to the public library there about Web 2.0 and how it can help them engage customers. I created an outline and entitled it Making Your Patrons More Than the Audience. I got an email back from Nancy, who has been working with me for the trip, saying that they refer to their patrons as customers. I gladly changed the wording of my presentation. It is nice that the mentality of patrons as customers is already in place in Virginia Beach.

I have long thought it short sighted of libraries not to admit that we are competing for people’s attention and that makes us like a business. If you follow that logic, our patrons are indeed customers. If we really planned things this way, would we offer different services?

I think that we would move a lot faster and keep up with demand better. In the real world, companies that do not keep up, go bankrupt and fail. In the library world, this does not happen, but you do become obsolete in your community. I think the ability of libraries to survive despite a lack of innovation has hurt our culture. I believe that is beginning to change because we are competing for people’s attention and money, but oh, the change is so very slow.

We need to start thinking like businesses and get over our hang-ups about that.

–Jane, well that post went off on a tangent!

I am on an ALA LITA Committee that is trying to design a better technology conference. We want to know what you liked, did not like, or would like to see at a technology conference in the future.

If you have ever attended a technology preconference, session, conference, or you simply have an opinion, please take this survey. Feel free to spread the survey far and wide. We would like to have feedback from as many people as possible so that we can create something that will serve you better.

–Jane, thanks!

updated: the link should now be working!