School Boards Report

The National School Boards Association (NSBA) has published a short but fascinating report on how students are using social networking sites. If you're expecting a hatchet job, you'll be sadly disappointed!

The NSBA report provides an overview of statistics compiled by Grunwald Associates for a longer report, which is available commercially from Grunwald. The report documents the high level of usage of social sites by students. OK, that's not headline news, but what might be is the frequency (59%) of students who say they use social networking to discuss educational topics, "including college or college planning; learning outside of school; news; careers or jobs; politics, religion or morals; and schoolwork" (page 1 of the report).

Even more interesting to me was the research into what the report calls "Nonconformists." These are the students who, according to the report, are more likely to influence other students about what software and sites to use; to recruit new users; and to organize events online. These students also tend to have score Bs and Cs in school, probably because they'd rather be networking than learning about the Peloponnesian War.

It seems to me if libraries (all types of libraries) made a concerted effort to recruit these kids to work in libraries, and actually empowered them to do what they do best instead of just having them shelve books, we might be on the cutting edge once in a while, instead of always playing catch up. Just a thought...

R.I.P., Times Select

Another experiment in paid content on the Web bites the dust at midnight tonight (Tuesday, September 18) as The New York Times discontinues its two year old experiment, Times Select.

Instead, the Times will open the last 20 years of its archive, and will also put its pre-1923 content online. The newspaper of record has been published since 1851. Selected articles from 1923 to 1987 will also be available.

See the official announcement here. The Times also issued an open letter to its subscribers here.

Ohio Library Council Conference

Here's a shameless plug for the upcoming Ohio Library Council (OLC) conference. The conference will be held October 10-12 in Columbus.

OLC frequently takes a different tack in its conferences, and this year is no exception. For one thing neither of the keynote speakers are from libraryland. Bill Strickland has developed a successful model for arts, education, and training organizations. Judson Laipply’s illustration of change in America, “Evolution of Dance,” is one of the most viewed videos on YouTube.

The conference has some interesting tracks, too, including "Organizational Redesign" and "Market and Products." When I was working for the Ohio Library Association (as OLC used to be called) in 1991, the president, Steve Wood, nearly got impeached for using the theme "Let's Hear It for the Customers!"

On Thursday during the conference, I will be introducing a program about the Underground Railroad Bicycle Route. The speakers will be OCLC's own Chuck Harmon, who got me interested in this thing in the first place, and Mario Browne, Project Director, Center for Minority Health, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.

I hope to see you there!

A Sheepish Apology

The other day, the unthinkable happened on my personal "My Yahoo" page. Under "It's All Good," I saw the message: "No items in past 7 days." How could we have let this lie fallow that long?

It's not like there isn't anything happening. IAG colleague Alice had her baby last week, for example. Mother and child are doing fine, Dad is doing well too, apparently. I had my first chance to be on a program with Jay Jordan, Cathy De Rosa, and library rock star Lorcan Dempsey, courtesy of Pam Bailey and the OCLC Western Service Center's Directors Days programs in the Seattle and Los Angeles areas. My wife and I hosted a visiting Ukrainian social entrepreneur for two weeks. Walt Crawford had a birthday. I've read a pile of great stuff recently. The one thing I haven't done is blogged about any of it.

So, faithful readers, please accept this apology, with the promise I'll try to do better. Several posts will follow shortly!

socializing is fundamental

When I was in library school, I read The Social Life of Documents (published in the first issue of first monday, May 1996) and it changed me.

[from the introduction]: Seeing documents as the means to make and maintain social groups, not just the means to deliver information, makes it easier to understand the utility and success of new forms of document. This social understanding of documents should better explain the evolution of Web as a social and commercial phenomenon.

I started to think about librarians (as people) and libraries (as institutions) not only as archivists, collectors, organizers, retrievers, and deliverers of information, but also as facilitators of social engagement; building capacity in individuals (not just knowledge) and building communities (local and otherwise) through connection between those individuals.

My colleague Andy Havens recently reminded me where it had all started for me when he pointed out some very interesting historical data on library circ numbers (his words), recently published (in Book Circulation Per U.S. Public Library User Since 1856) by Douglas Galbai, a senior economist at the FCC. Mr Galbai's research indicates that "historically established institutions (libraries) significantly stabilize borrowing behavior." But why?

[from the conclusion]: Borrowing books from public libraries is well-connected to a variety of institutions and values. Much of the pleasure from reading may be derived from discussing a book with friends who have also read the book. The desire to discuss books among friends may constrain the rate at which individuals will read books. At the same time, persons may value going to the library as an activity in itself. Borrowing library items may be in part a by-product of interest in those visits.


Coincidentally, our upcoming survey investigating privacy and information sharing on the web indicates that people who engage in social networking actually read more than those who do not. Really? Coincidence?

Could it be, asked Mr. Havens, that social networking could be one reason that people read more? When I have people with whom I have enjoyable book and reading discussions, would I tend to read more?

Ya think??

More than a decade has passed since the publication of The Social Life of Documents. But discussions around the social nature of our work seems to only recently be getting recognition in the professional library discourse. Sometimes I'm encouraged and engaged by the conversation. Sometimes I think to myself: why are we disconnected from this history? And why is this taking so long?

BookSwim

For months, I've been suggesting that libraries adopt the Netflix model to get rid of their overdue fines: library customers can keep out a certain number of books or other materials for as long as they want, no fines required. If you want another item when you are at the limit, return something. The library could recall the book when it's needed by someone else.

Instead of a library offering this service, welcome to BookSwim, "the Online Book Rental Library Club Netflix-style," to quote their banner. For about $24 a month, you can have up to five books on loan from the club for as long as you want.

How many libraries get $288 per capita annual support? As the person who pointed me to this site noted, "Like a library. But less free. Possibly more convenient..." Time is the new currency, even in this topsy-turvy economy. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

The Sweet Smell of eBooks

At least, if you get them from CafeScribe.

Apparently they plan to issue scratch-n-sniff stickers with their eBooks?
Read all about it in Wired Campus.

Also in today's NYT. If you think library fund-raising is bad, at least we're not cleaning bleachers. (At least, I hope you're not having to clean bleachers to keep the doors open!)

And good news for Jackson Conty, OR: looks like the may get to re-open after all. With shorter hours and less qualified staff. Hmm. What I didn't realize, was that Jackson County would be joining a group of libraries already under management by LSSI:

Arlington, TN Bee Cave, TX Calabasas, CA Chatham College, PA Collierville, TN Fargo, ND Finney County, KS Germantown, TN Hemet, CA Jackson, TN

Lancaster, TX Leander, TX Linden, NJ Malcolm Pirnie, Inc., NY Millington, TN Montgomery College, MD Moorpark, CA Red Oak, TX Redding, CA Riverside County, CA San Juan, TX

Anyone from these places want to comment on your experience?

Greetings from South Africa!

This week, I am attending the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions World Library and Information Council meeting in Durban, South Africa. This is the premier annual gathering of librarians with an interest developing the international library community. More than 3,000 people are registered, and there are about 100 exhibitors.

Sunday morning, the opening session was nothing short of amazing --- an exciting amalgam of music, dance, video and two outstanding speakers. Dr. Z. Pallo Jordan, South Africa's Minister of Arts and Culture, spoke on the growth of education and libraries in the country since democratization in 1994. Dr. Jordan is an intellectual and writer, who served the ANC in exile during the 1960s and 1970s. Justice Albie Sachs, of the Constitutional Court (roughly equivalent to the US Supreme Court), spoke movingly about how books helped keep him emotionally whole during his solitary incarceration in the 1960s for fighting apartheid. He also lost an arm and an eye in an assassination attempt.

It occurred to me as I listened to these men that South Africa is in a unique position: its George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Sam Adams, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass are all still alive. The men and women who moved South Africa from its racist roots to a progressive democracy are still here and active, in many cases. (South Africa is the only place in the world where two Nobel Peace Prize winners live on the same street.)

It will be libraries and archives and museums that will preserve their memories, their artifacts, and ensure their impact on the future. I've never been quite so sure of the importance of the library mission as I am on this trip.

Books on your iPhone

I don't have an iPhone yet, although it's way cool they want to hear from me about it if I did have one. I would love to have one, but so far the price is too high for my budget.

I'm sure there will be library users in your area--yes, even your small, rural public library--who have them and are intensely devoted to them.

Here's another reason to love them: now the phones enable eBook excerpt-browsing. Called HarperCollins Browse Inside, you'll be able to see it at the Frankfurt Book Fair Oct. 10-14.

In the meantime, it might be worth checking out the LibreDigital Web site to check titles and see if you have the full title available--whether in e or p form.

Related note: I did see, in the July/Aug 07 print issue of Information Today, that eBooks are making a comeback. New technology like the iPhone and Sony's Reader is credited with some of the renaissance...of course, libraries have been there, all along!

Libraries are Getting Cool Points

It's not just my rose-colored glasses. Libraries and librarians have been getting GREAT press lately, in terms of shifting the general public's perceptions of us being irrelevant, old, dusty, bun-wearing, shushing places or people. Name your stereotype and the mainstream press is starting to help shift things. See my latest case in point (thanks , Eric) from the San Francisco Chronicle, "San Francisco libraries have become neighborhood best-sellers."

And you know the funny thing about it. Whether or not it is *actually* true in your particular library, you can start living it like it's true (not that you haven't been already, for years) and it can become a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Hope you are having your own "running of the bulls" each morning as you open the doors of your public library. You academic librarians, enjoy the back-to-school bustle that's starting up!

My Hero!

Chuck Harmon finished the Underground Railroad Bicycle Trail ride last weekend, and he has written a series of blog entries about it. I really admire Chuck for his determination in completing the ride, as well as for his work in planning the Ohio section of the route.

He also had the inspiration of tying public libraries into the trail, so you have to love the guy!

Crazy Guy on a Bike

Several months ago, Chuck Harmon got me interested in the Underground Railroad Bicycle Route, a bicycle route that runs from Mobile, Alabama, to Owen Sound, Ontario, following one route used by escaping slaves to find freedom in Canada. Chuck, a colleague at OCLC, is an avid cyclist and he laid out the Ohio section of the route. He is also an avid library user.

Chuck and I fleshed out ways public libraries could be involved in the route as "conductors," helping individual riders with a place to get out of the weather, find information about the area through which they were traveling, maybe even check their e-mail or read the day's newspaper. He and I started a message board on WebJunction about the route. One excellent entry from this site traces how the Erie County (Pennsylvania) public library has incorporated the route into their outreach.

Now, Chuck is on a one-week ride of the final lap of the route, from my old hometown of Buffalo, New York, to Owen Sound. His journal is on a site for cyclists called "Crazy Guy on a Bike," and he's doing a wonderful job talking about the ride. (Full disclosure: Chuck invited me to ride along, but my schedule at work has prevented me from getting away. Besides, I am bone idle.)

The route is a collaborative effort of Adventure Cycling Association, The Center for Minority Health, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, the National Park Service's Network to Freedom, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, and WebJunction.

Is listening to a book cheating?

The New York Times seems to be on a tear with articles of interest to librarians recently. Today's entry, "Your Cheatin' Listenin' Ways," focuses on the controversy in some book clubs over listening to audiobooks as opposed to reading the text.

Before I go any further, full disclosure: NetLibrary, an OCLC division, currently markets Recorded Books products to libraries.

That being said, I am an unabashed fan of audiobooks. I was an audiobooks reviewer for AudioFile and Booklist for many years (until OCLC, NetLibrary and Recorded Books got together), and I find them to be a wonderful way to find new material, gain new insights on the written word, and hear wonderful performances by terrific voice artists and actors. Hearing Frank Muller read Pat Conroy, or Jim Dale read JK Rowling, or Barbara Rosenblat read anything this side of a grocery list, is a transcendent experience.

But stay away from the abridged books, OK? Even a pragmatist like me has to draw the line somewhere!

socializing the social

I was at the Dublin office all of last week and although I was working rather hard, I had a lovely, lovely time. I spent my time there in three ways: first, working on wireframes for the new social networking features that will eventually show up on WebJunction; second, doing a series of meetings with other OCLC product managers and their friends to find out which, if any, of those features might be useful to their services and/or community building efforts; and three, working closely with my WJ colleagues Dave Ungar, Michael Porter (libraryman), Clayton Wood, and our Seattle-based colleagues on the future direction and strategy for social networking at WJ. LMTU, jam-packed fun and excitement.

First night, libraryman and I were blessed with the opportunity to connect up with Jasmine & Bob (OCLC Social Networking) along with Lorcan, Thom, Stu, and Eric (OCLC research) over dinner. The bulk of our conversation fell on the topic of the relevance of emerging social tools to OCLC services and the cooperative at large. Later, over a makeshift bar (with contributions from Stu) at Lorcan's house, we meandered around current implementations and process, as well as discussed the im/prudence of "disruptive" technologies and "subversive" processes in the context of a much larger organization. We left with varying degrees of agreement on the extent to which both patron and library staff services should be "socialized" but we sure had fun dreaming up new ways to get stuff done that's not just cool, but ultimately supports the cooperative on the whole. BTW: Lorcan pointed to this cool list of tools yesterday. you may have already seen it, but I was wowed by it and wanted to pass it on here, just in case.

Next few days we rocked the WJ wireframes process, although we didn't quite get them into full draft (yet). As soon as they and initial design drafts are finished, we'll take them out to our community for initial review and feedback. Preview: what are you and your friends doing (in libraryland)? ;) Please leave comments, email, directmail, or whatever your preferred method of contact if you're not a regular WJer and you'd like to be involved in this feedback!!

Mid-week I spent a (too brief) lunchtime with George, whose careful leadership and trusted mentoring are always welcomed. If only he'd move to Seattle. This in between non-stop (literally) meetings with everyone from WorldCat.org to Delivery and Collection Analysis. I know there are those who like to refer to us as the "Anchor People" of libraryland (nice!) or to our OCLC headquarters as "the Deathstar" (not so nice, but funny!), but when you take a step back and think about it - we do some fairly mind-blowing things together as a cooperative.

By the time Friday rolled around, having spent nearly every waking hour in conversation with one or another of my colleagues about social networking, some things started to gel for me that hadn't before. Ideas are still marinating, but so far, here's how it goes:

-social tools are useful because they connect people around shared information, activities, or interests
-social tools might be efficient augments to online delivery of both tools and content (or data) because they can facilitate support, deliver news and documents, and connect people who work w/ the same stuff
-depending on what my role is in libraries, or how broadly I like to get involved or connect, I might want to have a fully integrated social experience (lots of people, lots of tools, lots of content) or very narrowly defined social experience (only people I work with, only content I care about, only the tools I use)
-if we could all get together on a shared platform (a single portal?), we could deliver the range between these extremes to "everyone" without their having to move from place to place on the web, and according to their preferences
-although i think primarily in terms of services to library staff, since that's where i spend most of my work time, consumers probably could benefit from exactly the same sort of thing - everything you can do with libraries, all in one place, and it's social

ideas are cheap, i know, but this is where my big giant dreams are starting to settle.

Encore t-shirt contest

Innovative Interfaces has a fun Flickr contest up, to see where their Encore t-shirts have gotten to. If you have an Encore t-shirt, upload your photo! I like the way they're using Flickr's ready-made tools to drive their own customized marketing campaign...

New study about youth and tech assumptions

Andy has again ferreted out more interesting stuff. This time it's a new global study from MTV, Nickelodeon and Microsoft about how kids and young people interact with digital technology. The study "challenges traditional assumptions about their relationships with digital technology, and examines the impact of culture, age and gender on technology use."

The press release is a good summation...if anyone can find a link to the real study, post it in the comments. Here are the highlights of the study, from the press release:

     -- Technology has enabled young people to have more and closer
     friendships thanks to constant connectivity.
  -- Friends influence each other as much as marketers do.  Friends are as
     important as brands.
  -- Kids and young people don't love the technology itself -- they just
     love how it enables them to communicate all the time, express
     themselves and be entertained.
  -- Digital communications such as IM, email, social networking sites and
     mobile/sms are complementary to, not competitive with, TV.  TV is part
     of young peoples' digital conversation.
  -- Despite the remarkable advances in communication technology, kid and
     youth culture looks surprisingly familiar, with almost all young
     people using technology to enhance rather than replace face-to-face
     interaction.
  -- Globally, the number of friends that young males have more than
     doubles between the ages of 13-14 and 14-17 -- it jumps from 24 to 69.
  -- The age group and gender that claims the largest number of friends are
     not girls aged 14-17, but boys aged 18-21, who have on average 70
     friends.

Also, Microsoft has pulled out a few verbatim quotations on the study.

There were also really interesting global differences noted. One that stuck out for me was China. Because of the one-child rule in China, many kids reach out to online friends for companionship much more than in other countries where they may have siblings at home. It's such an interesting mix of culture, social norms, tech and gender!

If you remember our Symposium from ALA MW 2007 (scroll down), some of the privacy/parental controls situations that danah boyd described are now evident in the research.

New Metrics of scholarly authority

Did I mention we are suffering under summer's mandate to slow down and enjoy the view, here at IAG? I have spent the past three weeks in hectic report-writing and budget-reconciling land, but have emerged relatively unscathed now that both have been submitted to higher powers.

I have been attending to civic matters, and busy catching up on correspondence. One of which was a message from (gulp) more than two weeks ago about an interesting blog topic. I flagged it at the time and now am finally returning to it.

Andy suggested it from a Chronicle article about Web 2.0/3.0 methods of establishing relevance and authority. Here the draft list the author, Michael Jensen, presented that Andy circulated as brain food with commentary:

• Prestige of the publisher (if any).
• Prestige of peer prereviewers (if any).
• Prestige of commenters and other participants.
• Percentage of a document quoted in other documents.
• Raw links to the document.
• Valued links, in which the values of the linker and all his or her other links are also considered.
• Obvious attention: discussions in blogspace, comments in posts, reclarification, and continued discussion.
• Nature of the language in comments: positive, negative, interconnective, expanded, clarified, reinterpreted.
• Quality of the context: What else is on the site that holds the document, and what's its authority status?
• Percentage of phrases that are valued by a disciplinary community.
• Quality of author's institutional affiliation(s).
• Significance of author's other work.
• Amount of author's participation in other valued projects, as commenter, editor, etc.
• Reference network: the significance rating of all the texts the author has touched, viewed, read.
• Length of time a document has existed.
• Inclusion of a document in lists of "best of," in syllabi, indexes, and other human-selected distillations.
• Types of tags assigned to it, the terms used, the authority of the taggers, the authority of the tagging system.

The items I noted in red are ones where social networking systems would play a fairly obvious role in establishing or enhancing authority under these systems. The things noted in green/italic are somewhat secondary qualifications; i.e., the other social-y stuff will contribute, over time, more and more to, for example, the "prestige of the commentors and participants." That is, if I don't do the other things, my prestige will go down. They are (again, over time) likely to become effects as opposed to causes.

So... from a library perspective, does this mean that:

A) There should be a way for libraries to catalog/reference/rate scholary authority in some way? If the "old way" was to provide access and metadata for materials that had been conferred with authority by being in certain publications or by certain authors... how do we provide discovery/delivery for stuff where the authority is vested in a much less central way? And...

B) Should libraries seek to influence this "new authority" in any way, or simply promote its effects and/or best-in-class systems. That is, should librarians seek (in an organized fashion, and/or more than other users) to impart authority on various materials? Or should the task be to provide access based on authority.

He's asking great questions. What do you think?

Disaggregated Education

There was an interesting article in the Chronice of Higher Education last week (brought to my attention by the redoubtable Andy Havens) about iTunes U, and a course on the future of the internet which has been rapidly moving up the iTunes U best-seller list.

It seems to me that in the future, disaggregated education is going to grow in popularity and facility. Imagine if you could take courses from the world's best teachers, regardless of where you or they wanted to live or who wanted to tenure them or even if they were still alive. (My favorite professor of all time, Dr. Milton Plesur, should have been recorded and saved for posterity. That man could make American history come alive like no one else.) Then you could sit for examinations based on the canon of knowledge needed in that field (law, biology, English literature) to gain your own accreditation. Yes, it would be harder for The Ohio State University to organize its football team under these conditions. (The "OSU World of WarCraft Buckeyes," anyone?) However, there are certain advantages that seem apparent.

The Noblest Taboo

“If I tell you how I feel,
Will you keep bringing out the best in me?
You give me, you give me the sweetest taboo.”

“The Sweetest Taboo” -- Sade (Website ; WCid ; Wikipedia ; composed by Sade & Martin Ditcham)

A very happy Fair Use Day to one and all (and thanks to Aaron for alerting me via twitter). 11 July has been designated as Fair Use Day by the folks at Fair Use Day

Fair Use (Wikipedia entry) is a concept in U.S. law that effectively provides a limited, legal defense against liability for copyright infringement if the use of the copyrighted content is for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, and the use meets a four point test as specified in 17 U.S.C. § 107.

Like almost anything in the copyright arena, there are nuances, and one can expect to find significantly differing opinions about what does and does not constitute “fair use” under the provisions of U.S. law.

Here is a sample of potentially useful resources:
o Fair-Use: Overview and Meaning for Higher Education (Copyright Management Center)
o Copyright and Fair Use (Stanford)
o Highlights of the Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia (Penn State) [ppt]
o AALL Guidelines on the Fair Use of Copyrighted Works by Law Libraries

Nice to see Fair Use Day earn a mention on several high-profile blogs including:
o boingboing
o ars technica

It should be noted that this general concept of educational and similar uses exceptions to copyright is also present in the law of other nations; for example, in Commonwealth nations there is a kindred concept called “Fair Dealing” (Wikipedia entry).

So, dear readers, know the law, and help your users make full use of the privileges it accords. And celebrate Fair Use Day every day!

More (non)stereotypes: runner librarians

Having followed the NYT flurry about hip librarians, here's a fun correlation that the general public also might not naturally make--libraries and running.

But the Kennebunk Free Library in Kennebunk, Maine is doing just that to celebrate their 100 year anniversary.

It's a 5K planned for this Friday, with free massages and free meals for the runners. There will also be concerts, food and a raffle. Check out their sponsorship section! This library has definitely reached out to the community!

If you're in the Northeast (and it's not raining!), come show off your sporty side and work off your angst (if you have it) about the Times article.

Much Ado about Shushers

Is everyone else sick to death of discussing Sunday's New York Times article, "A Hipper Crowd of Shushers"? Sorry...I'm going to put my two cents in, too.

I have been absolutely amazed and dismayed by the reaction in some of the library community to the story. This was a "Fashion & Style" section article...you know, about how some people dress and where they hang out and what kind of clothes they wear. But from the tone of some of the reactions, you would think that this was a serious sociological dissertation about the entire profession. The NEWLIB-L listserv has been all a-twitter (no plug intended) about this article for three days now, and at least half a dozen people have sent me the link. (Why is beyond me; no one has EVER accused me of being hip.) (Oh. Maybe that's the point.)

The reaction on The Annoyed Librarian is what really floored me. It opens with the anonymous Annoyed's screed against the story, "Take the 'Hip' Librarians, Please." Ordinarily, I would assume that any blog post that riffs a one-liner from Henny Youngman couldn't be all bad. This is a rule of thumb I will need to reconsider. But then, as of this morning, there are 36 additional comments, many even more vituperative in their comments about the article, about the people profiled in the article, and about the state of the library world in general.

I don't understand. We get furious when the media offer images of us as repressed spinsters and/or prissy confirmed bachelors. We get furious when they write about as young hipsters. When will we not be furious? And why do we waste so much time being furious?

The victim mentality in this profession needs to have a wooden stake driven through its heart ASAP.

One of the Wonders

“They say I must be one of the wonders,
Of God's own creation,
And as far as they see they can offer,
No explanation.”

“Wonder – Natalie Merchant (Website ; WCid ; Wikipedia)

I suspect many IAG readers may have seen references to a recent article in the New York Times (“A Hipper Crowd of Shushers” – [Note: may require registration to access]) that follows on the heels of a piece in the New York Sun (“For New-Look Librarians, Head to Brooklyn”) which also seems to have been picked up by the New York Press (“Too Cool For School”) and is garnering attention in various blogs and other outlets (see below).

The subject of the pieces is, in large part, a group founded by Maria Falgoust and Sarah Murphy, the Desk Set (myspace), "an informal group of librarians, archivists, library science students and other individuals who love books," which periodically has social events in bars in Greenpoint or Williamsburg (i.e. New York City area). The articles focus on the librarians being young, hip, technologically savvy, and contemporary-culture literate. It seems to surprise the press that librarians could indeed be cool, and this issue of journalists' persistently errant standing perceptions (i.e. librarians all wear hair buns and say “shush” a lot) is earning the press a bit of umbrage from libraryland – at least as I judge by reactions among my friends on twitter and in the blogosphere – no doubt for statements like:

“And, in real life, there are an increasing number of librarians who are notable not just for their pink-streaked hair but also for their passion for pop culture, activism and technology.” (NYT article)

Silly made-up words like “guybrarians” (I’m male and a librarian, but I’m not a “guybrarian”) aside, I find the overall flavor of the coverage rather pleasing. Librarians, archivists, and museum folks are cool – probably have been to varying degrees for the life of the profession, but it’s nice to see it recognized in words and pictures. And frankly, I think we are seeing a bit of a sea change (and yes, I was in library school in the 80’s – love my classmates, but Rick Block is right: the library science students then weren’t as interesting as they are now) – this new cohort is much more a “let’s try it” crowd versus a longstanding, well-entrenched “let’s wait till we’re sure” attitude that has pervaded the profession for too long.

Coverage in libraryland and the blogosphere I’ve spotted (oh, and you may want to follow some of the linked sites – interesting stuff):

librarian.net
LJ Insider
Suggested Donation
Gothamist

So, we each must be one of the wonders. (Myself, I wonder if IAG can get an invite to a Desk Set gathering and maybe try a few of those Dewey-numbered drinks? I’m guessing the drinks are all good!)

Canada Day

“I believe there is a distance I have wandered,
To touch upon the years of,
Reaching out and reaching in,
Holding out, holding in.”
“Elsewhere” – Sarah McLachlan (Website ; WCid ; Wikipedia ; Encyclopedia of Music in Canada ; myspace)

1 July is Canada Day (Fête du Canada) [Wikipedia] a national holiday [Canadian Encyclopedia] – formerly known as Dominion Day – that commemorates the establishment of Canada as a dominion (i.e. a self-governing country that retains close ties to the British monarchy) on 1 July 1867.

We extend warmest greetings and best wishes to all of our Canadian readers, the wonderful folks who work in the thousands of cultural institutions across Canada – with a special shout out to our OCLC participating institutions and the WebJunction institutions in Canada – and our colleagues at OCLC Canada. (For more information on libraries in Canada, see, for example, the “Libraries” article in The Canadian Encyclopedia, or do a search in the WorldCat Registry).

Happy Canada Day!

Traveling traveling

So now that everyone else is finally home from ALA, I am still on the road. I left DC on Monday and have since been in Wichita, Kansas; Huntsville, Alabama and Minneapolis, Minnesota. (with airport stopovers in St. Louis, Missouri; Memphis, Tennessee and Dallas, Texas...) We fly to Chicago, Illinois tonight.

Have I signed up for a new position as a Quality Assurance tester for the airline industry?
Not quite, but it's starting to feel like it! We're actually working on the creative concept possibilities for the library advocacy marketing program we're working on, and testing them with consumers in focus groups.

We've heard a lot of inspiring reflections and ideas from these consumers. At this point, ideas seem to be around a combination of thoughts about what your libraries are like now, what people's perceptions of others of what your libraries are like now, what the other infrastructure elements are like in your town (police, schools, fire) and what's been going on in the local media.

For one community, the idea of upgrading your library with newer buildings and materials is really appealing. In another, the libraries are perceived to be already beautiful and the notion is that "they must have enough money, they built a new building last year."

All very very interesting. People DO CARE about what's going on in their libraries in their towns and neighborhoods. But sometimes the caring only comes out, once you ask them if they care.

I WILL post my notes and photos from the Symposium and other associated OCLC at ALA events...plus it was AWESOME to see so many people in person at the Blog Salon!!

i'm @ ur blog salon

the blog salon always brings new friends, new conversation, and new innovations to my work in libraries. i am so proud to be working with you all in libraryland - to create change in our profession and enhance the experiences of our patrons and communities. yes. i feel lucky to be here and be a part of this.

Posts from the Blog Salon

As always...thoughts brought to you from the OCLC Blog Salon 2007, in revelers' own words:


First post of the night. Stay tuned. (tinfoil+raccoon)
Beer is better on the West coast. (eclectic librarian)


Great party, all - next time save the name tags so you have a big old list of all the bloggers who came and drank your beer (Erica, the un-cool librarian - http://www.uncoollibrarian.blogspot.com/)

How about I just save this and then it will not lock? Everyone else, save after adding, Thanks. The room is bigger and we are still packed in and do you want to know why? Bloggers are awesome. Tonight, I have talked about kids, merging a reference desk and circ desk, managing ALA programs, and people's lives. Where else can I do that (with drinks?) - Cheers and thanks OCLC, Michelle Boule (Jane)

Thanks for one L of a party! (LisforLibrary.wordpress.com)

OCLC Rocks! Thanks for making my first ALA conference a great one!

i<3>
Thanks all! A great time, as always! (photos coming soon, or on Flickr...)

Blog Salon starts in 11 minutes...or so, room 176

Hey bloggers. The blog salon is queued up and almost ready to start.
We have a BIGGER ROOM this year, so expect to have a bit more breathing and elbow room this year. The veggies are coming in, the pretzels and chips are ready and the beverages are abundant.

The Blog Salon is in the Grand Hyatt Hotel, 1st floor in room 176. Otherwise known as the Congressional Suite! Come hang out for a blog salon congress!

Starts in half an hour!

See you there...with paper in hand. Apparently because the hotel designers did not think you'd need internet access, they also did not think you'd need to plug in. I saw absolutely ZERO power outlets, although I didn't case the joint completely.

FYI, and sorry about this...

OCLC Symposium: Privacy in a Networked World

The actual title is "Is the Library Open?" and it promises to be a very engaging session, as always. What I discovered, upon making my arrival in the room, is that there is no Internet. No wired, no wireless, no mobile phone (except Verizon), and no blackberry service. I had small heart palpitations, we checked with the hotel and it's physically not possible. A connection was not to be had, for any price. Wanted to warn you now. Plan to post after...as will I.

So we will be very private at this Symposium! It is being held from 1:30 to 4:30 at the Grand Hyatt Washington, Independence Ballroom A. Which you get to by going to going to the Metro Center stop on the blue line, walking in the front door and taking 3 escalators down. So we are down somewhere close to the earth's mantle or something! But deep enough that wifi signals are not getting through.

The speakers are eager to hear what you have to say, and I know they've got the clickers set up for audience feedback again. Seems like I always leave with my head stuffed full of new ideas!

BIGWIG is cool

If you haven't heard about it, BIGWIG is ALA's blog / wiki / social networking interest group and they're doing a pretty cool program at the conference this year - bringing content and presentations to the web like never before. Yay! I just blogged about it over here and so I won't go on and on, but OCLC's very own Michael Porter (aka libraryman) just did one of the presentations (about the facebook developers platform) which you'll find hosted on WebJunction, here.

Thanks to Michelle (wanderingeyre) and others for putting this together. I'm excited to participate in the conversation on Saturday (1.30-2.30, Renaissance, Mayflower Rm), but also very, very happy to see this type of content reaching beyond the conference and onto the web in a dynamic, participatory way. Nice work!

WorldCat Lists

WorldCat.org now has list-making functionality! I have been excited to see this feature go in--and now it is available. I did a quick list search for "book" and it looks like 47 lists have already been created since Friday. And judging from the titles and descriptions, people are finding lots of creative ways to use lists. Awesome! I feel like it's like my own personal cataloging ability, powered by WorldCat. I will resist the urge (for now) to go through my entire bookshelf.

A few additional creative uses I'd thought about:

• I could see bookclubs or reading groups using the list functionality to keep track of what they've already read, and to solicit potential new titles from the members.
• For the academicians among us, you could load up the required readings from a syllabus into a WorldCat list--students could see at a glance which editions/articles were available at the library, what was checked out already, available as an eBook, etc.
• Maybe a family could track their library-movie-watching together, through a WorldCat list. Or a teen could post out the coolest sounds s/he has heard from the library's eclectic music collection...

I am sure other people have more ideas, too. How do YOU think you'll use WorldCat lists?

When in Washington on Tuesday...

If you're going to ALA and you'll still be in town on Tuesday (unfortunately, I will not be...), the ALA Washington office has organized the opportunity for Library Day on the Hill. Now before you start envisioning Jack and Jill fetching a pail of water, this sounds like a great way to join forces with other librarians in your region and make your voice heard.

At the very least, it is a chance to remind your national elected official that you indeed have a voice. Here's the PDF letter you can use to invite your elected official to go to the Gold Room, see the bookmobiles or--this seems pretty cool--have their own READ poster made. Now if you could work a deal, where your elected official would ALSO provide a copy of their unique READ poster for your library...what a better way to give them a spotlight in your library, with constituents, and help remind them of why your library is so important and needs their support.

Speaking of library support, I just saw the LJXpress about the House Subcommittee slashing LSTA and IMLS funds. Not exactly a rosy outlook. But at least you'll have something to talk about, when you're on the Hill.

Serious game-playing and privacy

A quick shout out to Wandering Eyre for the Chronicle mention on gaming and libraries. Whoo-Hoo!

Speaking of serious game-playing, now that OCLC is seriously researching privacy, it seems like I can't turn around without seeing an article on privacy or hearing a radio report on a new threat. Danny Sullivan was on NPR's Marketplace tonight, talking about our relative lack of privacy in the Web world. (The Privacy International report sparked a lot of the talk, I'm sure. Matt's response.)

And thinking about privacy in the Web world leads me to thinking about privacy in libraries. One of the tenets we've been talking about with the advocacy research we're doing, is how U.S. libraries are seen (at least in some consumers' eyes) as a democratic institution, a part of the fabric of life as ingrained as voting and representative government. (Motherhood and apple pie? Death and taxes?) I started to wonder about how private our political lives are--and/or how much they should be. Certainly my vote is private (at least until I slap on a candidate sticker) and perhaps my IRS return is semi-private. What else is? What is not? Why and why not? And how did library records get mixed up in the middle of it?

These are questions that I have no idea if they'll be addressed in the privacy report or not. But I can tell you that once your consciousness is raised about it, privacy concerns are everywhere. My shredder is busy.

Trendwatching for June

The latest issue of Trendwatching is out, and it 's all about how you can have an impact in your community by staying well-rooted. From the blurb, "(This) brings us to the (STILL) MADE HERE trend: the comeback of all things local, all things with a sense of place, and how they're surfacing in a world dominated by globalization."

If you haven't subscribed yet to this newsletter, you really ought to consider signing up. It's free, it's informative, and it has a wealth of information from around the globe about how civilians (that is, non-library workers) are responding to the networked world. This is news you can use, if you're willing to do a little mental translation from the retail environment to the library world.

Well-spent time

Nice tidbit of a story from Lisa Belkin on the NYT's list of most e-mailed stories:
"Time Wasted? Perhaps It's Well Spent."

If you, too, wish you could have accomplished more with your 8 hours on the job, then read this article.

Now *that's* edutainment!

Had enough of your iPod yet? Me neither. However, now you can get something new through the ubiquitous white buds: an education.

In a news release dated May 30, Apple announced that they will be making lectures, lab demos, language lessons, campus tours, and other information available on iTunes U, a dedicated area within the iTunes store. Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Duke University and MIT are among the universities involved at the outset.

Maybe I can slide a little Lester Thurow between 5 Chinese Brothers and the original Broadway cast of Avenue Q and finish learning what I should have studied 30 years ago in college!

Saugus closing

You've probably heard it already: the public library in Saugus, Mass. is closing. Close on the heels of the Jackson County public libraries closing... Media coverage includes:

• Library Journal
• Saugus Advertiser (local paper)
• LibVib (a library-focused podcast)

An April tax-override vote failed, and now apparently the city council must approve a trash fee in order to keep the library open and funded.

I wonder what the larger story is, behind the April vote. Did citizens not understand what was at stake? Or were they using the only poker chip they had--the vote--to send a clear message to city council that they did not approve of the way the city's funds were being handled?

In hearing from citizens who live in Medford and surrounding towns, the library's closing didn't seem quite *real* to people. Even as the doors were already closed, many people expressed an optimism along the lines of "some how, some way, truth, justice and rightness will prevail (and the library will re-open)."

I hope this is true in both of these communities. Situations like these are exactly what we're working on, with the Gates Foundation marketing grant.

Speaking of library marketing, have you read the Worth Their Weight report from ALC yet? I've sent away for it--still need to read it. It's all about demonstrating library ROI. Some comments from Brian about it.

May's a Blur

May is the busiest month of the year in OCLC Member Services. Over the past four weeks, we've hosted the IFLA/OCLC Early Career Development Fellows here in Dublin (and in Chicago, Urbana-Champaign, and Washington DC), a Members Council meeting, a meeting of the OCLC US network and service center directors, and the first meeting of the new Governance Study committee, and I had a couple of speaking engagements just to keep me off the streets. We also had a delightful social worker from Belarus staying with Joyce and me at our home for three weeks in May, but that would need to go into a personal blog, not IAG.

This year's Fellows were an absolute delight. We shared a lot of information about libraries, children's services groups, museums, and inter-agency and international collaboration, but it is the Fellows as people I will treasure most when I reflect on this class.

Kodjo Atiso, from the Animal Research Institute in Ghana, is a natural leader. He arrived in Columbus first, and assumed the mantle of unofficial tour guide. He spent hours talking to us about the wildlife and domesticated animals of his homeland, and his program for the staff stressed the beauty of Ghana.

Alicia Esguerra, from Bulacan State University in the Philippines, (everyone calls her "Alice") developed a love of garage sales and scared the heck out us when she disappeared just before a van pick up one afternoon. She just got interested in a tag sale and lost track of time. Her quick, disarming laugh leaves everyone around her feeling refreshed.

Pauline Nicholas, from the University of the West Indies' Mona Campus in Jamaica, has the soul of a poet and the voice of a singer; she regaled us at several gatherings by breaking out just the right poem. My guess is that she'll be a Members Council delegate from OCLC Latin America and the Caribbean some day.

Elisangela Silva (whom everyone except me called "Liz") was the cinematographer I took to calling "Spielberg;" her video camera was never very far out of reach. She's the librarian for the Abrinq Foundation for the Rights of Children and Adolescents in São Paulo, Brazil, so she and Elena, our Belarusian social worker, bonded instantly.

Nevena Tomić, from the University of Belgrade's Student City in Serbia, was the Fellows' thoughtful, insightful and calm presence. She asked great questions wherever we went. She's also a part-time theological librarian, working on restoring historic religious collections in Serbian church and synagogue libraries. Needless to say, she was the hit of our visit to the American Theological Library Association (ATLA) office in Chicago. (ATLA has been a co-sponsor of this program for several years, and we include a visit to their offices and discussions with their staff on our visit to the Windy City.)

Every year, at the beginning of the Fellows program, we tell them that we are going to learn more from them than they are from us. And every year, this is true. We now have 33 graduates of the program in 23 countries. Several are working on Ph.D.s. Others are moving up in their institutions and will be leaders in their national library and information communities in the years to come. The Fellows are becoming a cadre of men and women who will shape the future of library services around the globe.

If you, your state library, your library association, or some philanthropist of your acquaintance would like to sponsor a Fellow and be part of this exciting program the way ATLA has, give me a call (800-848-5878, ext. 5173) or drop me a note (needhamg@oclc.org). I'd LOVE to talk to you!

Touch Screens on Steroids

Have you heard about Microsoft's new Surface project? Imagine a coffee table with a built-in 30" horizontal screen that lets you manipulate data by touch. Then imagine that you can put a physical object on the screen and that the system will be able to incorporate that into the data. Then start thinking about ways you could use this in a library: Gaming? Digitizing local information? Space planning?

Al Gore at SLA

If you're headed to Denver next week, you're in luck!

Al Gore opens the general session on Sunday, and Scott Adams (creator of Dilbert) closes it on Wednesday. (Watch the Al Gore video from TED on SLA's site for a warm-up.) Lots of great sessions and conversations planned for in between those presentations too, I am sure.
The marketing and advertising division has events going on through Wednesday, as well. Check them out--it makes me wish I was going.

Speaking of conference events, make sure you've got the Blog Salon at Annual on your dance card for DC! Remember, it's at the Congressional Suite at the Grand Hyatt on Sunday, June 24, 2007 , right after Robert F. Kennedy (5:45pm - 8pm).

With all these political names appearing at library conferences of late--at least in the US, you'd think there was a movement afoot to align the profession with some powerful forces for national change...same movement going on globally?

Not-so-sunny CA

Here in Monterey, CA today. Have been in Southern and Central California all week and have realized that just because you pack like it's going to be sunny and gorgeous, do not mean mother nature will make it so. Cloudy, cold and chilly. It's warmer in New Hampshire!

But have been enjoying the West Coast, regardless. Am here as supportive companion for significant other, as he meets with researchers about his Ph.D. dissertation ideas. Luckily, with a laptop you can usually work from anywhere.

EXCEPT when there's no internet connections in your hotel room. "What?" you exclaim. "Are you staying in coastal monasteries, where they feed you only bread and wine?"

No actually, a really nice place in Marina, right on the ocean. But it turns out, this place is new enough that they haven't figured out how to relay the wifi signal out to the outlying buildings. So I am camped out here in the lobby for the past 7 hours. But you should have seen significant other's face drop, when he ascertained that no indeed, there was NO WIRELESS in the rooms. At the very least, they should put a sign up that explains they are working on it. Right now it looks like they remembered the fluffy bathrobes, the fancy folded towels and specially printed coffee napkins but forgot one of the mainstays of traveling life these days.

I had decided to go to the library to get online, but the branch closest to me did not have wifi enabled. The library was smart enough to let me know that upfront, so I didn't waste time driving around to find the location.

Will post photos of snoozing elephant seals, majestic redwoods and other novelties when I download the camera this weekend. For the time being, enjoy this article about the Four Habits of Highly Effective Librarians from Todd Gilman, a couple of days back in the Chronicle. His post reminded me of an insight I gained on Wednesday:

Many librarians do not feel qualified to do marketing activities, even when they know they'd like to (or need to) do them. My takeaway was to create more programs to help staff try things with little to no risk, to see successes and to devise ways to build on them. It's not so much a teaching and education thing, as a doing thing. I can read books about gardening all day long. It's no replacement for someone giving me a shovel, some seeds, and a pot to plant them in.

Just add sunshine. (Even in California in late May...)

Farewell, Alane

“Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone,
And she’s always gone too long.”

“Ain’t No Sunshine” – Bill Withers (Website ; WCid ; Wikipedia ; Soultracks)

Alane Wilson’s final post on It’s All Good noting her departure from OCLC exhibits what IAG readers have come to expect from her posts, Alane’s audiences from her presentations, and her colleagues from her interactions – an admirable eloquence, openness, and irrepressibly forward-looking view.

Alane, we shall miss your insights and voice.

I suspect that Alice, Chrystie, George, and I singly and collectively are at best only partially aware of the full scope and value of Alane’s dedication and hard work at OCLC, but first to mind is her work on the award- winning The 2003 OCLC environmental scan : pattern recognition : a report to the OCLC membership, and her follow-on work on later OCLC reports along with her many presentations about key trends and the future of libraries in so many settings. Indeed, this blog arose from the process of following up on the 2003 report. Alane has also been pivotal in the organizing and delivering of the well-received OCLC Symposium event at ALA Annual meetings, and our popular Blog Salons.

Alane, we shall miss your organizational skills and counsel.

As Alane notes in her post, Alane, Alice, Chrystie, George, and I have had more collegial contact in the last few years than we did prior. This has definitely been a good thing, and though we’ll keep the IAG co-blogger fires burning, Alane’s absence will be keenly felt – I fear the sun will shine a little less brightly on our all too infrequent gatherings.

Alane, we shall miss your comradeship and humor.

And if Alane’s work has been instructive in no other way, she has taught us that transitions are opportunities, and transitions are also needful things. Moving a continent’s width away to try something new is exciting and invigorating. Bravo for you, Alane. We’ll look forward to reading what you have to say about what you learn perched as you will be on the Pacific Rim.

Alane, dear friend, we send our best wishes to you and yours.

And so it goes; in the end, it all changes, but ultimately it’s all good.

Sunday Members Council

We shall all miss Alane, here at IAG. Especially me! But we do wish her the best and I am sure she'll have a blog of her own set up in no time.

Those of you attuned to the OCLC universe know that today (Sunday) was the opening session of the May Members Council meeting. Members Council is such a rich tradition and I won't go into it here, but I love the fact it gives us all time to reflect on what we're doing as a group, here in libraryland and beyond.

And it's the beyond that was the main topic of conversation this evening.

As you may know, OCLC set out a few years ago to move beyond libraries and include all sorts of information, knowledge and culture-related industries under the umbrella of "furthering access to the world's information." Cultural heritage institutions such as archives, museums, historical societies were the sorts of groups we (as librarians) wanted to fold into the knowledge-seeking experience of using a library.

You may also know that OCLC has been making great strides to put some significant emphasis on the "world" part of "A worldwide library cooperative" and "WorldCat, the world's most comprehensive bibliographic database." In other words, we've been working on being more global and less US-centric.

The discussion this evening centered around these topics, among others, as delegates contemplated what the organization's values were. What are they now? What do we want them to be in the future?

It was eye-opening to remember that words such as "nonprofit" connote very different things in different parts of the world. In the US, the fact that OCLC is nonprofit is a large part of our identity. When the word means something different in South Africa, for example, how do we describe it? How can we be flexible enough to make room for local variation while being defined enough to stay unique?

Dinner was delightful. I sat down with Jean, a NYLINK librarian from Cornell and found that she had grown up in the next town over from me! Small world. As we always seem to discover when international librarians get together...

And so it goes, and so it goes*

This is my very last post for It's All Good. It also happens to be my last day as an employee of the House That Fred Built where I've spent ten years. My husband and I are relocating to Vancouver, British Columbia (which is where I lived while I did my library degree twenty years ago) and I am going to take the summer off, and decide what I want to do next. I could have kept my OCLC job, because OCLC is a very flexible organization with regard to where employees do their work, and my boss is a flexible person who would have supported my move, as she has supported other changes over the past several years.

But I like change. I like the feeling of embarking on a new adventure, of starting things, and of new challenges. So, it just felt right to step through this particular door and close it gently behind me, as different ones open up.

I've had a terrific ten years at OCLC and had opportunities that I thoroughly enjoyed and from which I learned a great deal. I have worked with great people at OCLC and got to meet many more great people through workshops and presentations I've participated in. And my co-bloggers Alice, Eric, George and Chrystie have been a large part of my last few years at OCLC, and have been the best co-authors and pals a person could hope for. Thanks. And thanks to all of you in the biblioblogosphere, who have become friends and colleagues through this not-so-new publishing medium.

I am not going to write my final thoughts on libraries and their futures because I will be starting up my own blog as soon as I have a chance to do so, and I am sure one of my IAG buddies will blog about it when I do and so provide a link. Also, it would be sort of anti-climatic as I will be at ALA in June, stage-managing the OCLC Symposium and making sure there are anough pretzels at the Blog Salon. I hope to have a chance to see many of you there.

I am going to leave you with a quote from Miss Gratia Alta Countryman's 1905 address to the Minnesota Library Association because I think it's as "web 2.0" as anything written this week and so is a fitting coda to my IAG career.

“Many of our libraries are now housed in beautiful buildings, in which case, the building as well as the books become a means of social influence. The whole building at all times should be managed in the broadest spirit of hospitality…do away with all unnecessary restrictions, take down all bars, and try to put face to face our friends the books and our friends the people. Introduce them cordially, then stand aside and let them make each other’s acquaintance.”

*And so it goes, and so it goes. This is the title of a Billy Joel song (although my favourite version of the song is by Jennifer Warnes on The Well) as well as the phrase Kurt Vonnegut used like a litany in Slaughterhouse Five to denote transformation

Thanks for the fish.

The Twitterverse

I am not a Twitterer (yet?) but many people are, almost against their will, viz our own IAGer Chrystie who wrote recently, "I am as surprised by this as some of you. Me? On twitter? I checked this out as an experiment. I am the last person I ever thought would move into mobile online community. I like to read about such things, sure, but do it? And here I am."

And if you are like me, wondering why the heck you might want to get into "micro-blogging", here is "Your Guide to Micro-blogging and Twitter" from Mark Glaser at Mediashift.

There's also a Q&A with the UberTwitterers, founders Biz Stone and Jack Dorsey.

OCLC Symposium in Washington, DC

As we have done for many years, OCLC will be hosting a Symposium at ALA Annual in DC. It will be June 22, 1:30 – 4:30 pm, at the Grand Hyatt Washington, Independence Ballroom A and registration is here. The topic of this one is related to our forthcoming report Sharing, Privacy and Trust in the Age of the Networked Community.

Title: Is the Library Open?

Hear from three experts on the issues of information privacy law, copyright, digital communication, intellectual property and patron privacy rights in relation to library policies.

The speakers are:
· Marc Rotenberg, Executive Director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and professor of privacy law at Georgetown University Law Center. "EPIC is a public interest research center in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1994 to focus public attention on emerging civil liberties issues and to protect privacy, the First Amendment, and constitutional values. EPIC publishes an award-winning e-mail and online newsletter on civil liberties in the information age – the EPIC Alert."

· Siva Vaidhyanathan, a cultural historian, media scholar and an associate professor of culture and communication at New York University. He blogs at Sivacracy.net. A journalist before he became a professor, he has written several books (including The Anarchist in the Library: How the Clash Between Freedom and Control is Hacking the Real World and Crashing the System) as well as for many periodicals. And he's been on The Daily Show, but you can't see that clip on YouTube anymore because of the Viacom copyright claim.

· Mary Minow, a library law consultant with LibraryLaw.com, coauthor of The Library’s Legal Answer Book and a public librarian for 10 years. She is the coauthor with Tomas Lipinski of The Library's Legal Answer Book (ALA Editions: 2003). She blogs at LibraryLaw.Blog and says this about herself, "I studied library law, that is the combined study of First Amendment, Copyright, Local Government Law, Disability Law, Negotiations etc. Now what I care about is sharing the most practical parts of the law that I learned, the good, the bad and the ugly, with my former colleagues, the librarians of the world."

Blog Salon at ALA Annual in DC

Although it feels to me like mere weeks since our last Blog Salon, it is time to tell you about the next one. If you came to the ALA Midwinter Salon in Seattle, you can't forget it was very crowded, noisy and hot--all signs of a ripping good party, but not great for comfort.

So, we are holding this Blog Salon in a larger room, that isn't beside the bedroom of one of our conference managers who won't, then, be kept awake by carousing bloggers into the wee hours. We've chosen a time right after Leslie Burger's President's Program featuring Robert F. Kennedy which means you should be able to cross the street to the Grand Hyatt hotel, attend the Salon and still go for dinner afterwards.

Where: Congressional Suite at the Grand Hyatt
When: Sunday, June 24, 2007 , 5:45pm - 8pm
Who: Libraryland bloggers, pals of libraryland bloggers, bloggers-to-be
Why: Because it's such an interesting group of people
What: light snacks and adult beverages

See you there!

PS. I know this conflicts with the GLBTRT Social and I apologize to those wanting to attend this and the Blog Salon...maybe start with us and go on to the Social?

Prototyping the Future Library

Thanks to Darlene Fichter for pointing out* this really excellent video from the Aarhus Public Library in Denmark. "When everything is available online, why come to the library at all?" The video attempts to answer this.

It is in English and reports on a project they called The Transformation Lab that included the Literature Lab, the Music Lab (which included an Inspiration Zone), the News Lab, The Square, and the Exhibition Lab.

They present five lessons learned (and shown):
- flexible spaces are necessary
- open events are a good idea and well received
- the physical library needs to be augmented with interactive technology
- networking is critical among users, IT specialists, library staff, architects etc
- users need to have a more visible role inside the library

Simple techniques produced the greatest impact...the users like to become involved "as long as it was not too much trouble and providing it brings about an instant result."

The narrator comments that users have been forced to dismiss the book as library brand (makes me wonder if they've read The Perceptions report) and that they are co-creators of a new library space.

And reading the credits, I see the project was supported by the Danish National Library and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. So, are libraries in North America making grant applications for such projects?


*Darlene has other good videos noted at "Blog on the Side".

Warm summer days

We are having such a gorgeously warm day here. I couldn't resist taking a break from the task list to say hello and check in with IAG readers. Like everyone lately, I've been on the road.

I did a presentation on "How to Market the Archives" at the MAC/SOA conference in Columbus, OH last week. It was really fun to think about archivists for a bit (as opposed to my usual dominant thought-audience, librarians). Note to self: Archivists Do Not Necessarily Identify with Librarians.

The Brand is not necessarily the same, and the public's perceptions of the Archives are not necessarily the same. It sparked a really good conversation about what IS the Archive Brand, and how is it differentiated from libraries, museums or historical societies. And how is it relevant to today's users (esp. if the original source materials are NOT digitized!)?

Any archivists or would-be archivists, chime in here.

What else have I been doing? I spent about a week and a half crossing the country from east coast to west for our National Library Advocacy project, listening to people talk about libraries, their library experience and what they think about library funding.

The results have been very very interesting. We did indeed go to Jackson County, Oregon, to hear what people had to say. We also went to Minneapolis, Minnesota--because the library funding there has been a hot topic for the community and community leaders. We went to small towns, big towns, and many places in between.

In reflecting back on it, many people in this country deeply value what the Library has to offer, and the richness that librarians bring to their knowledge-seeking endeavors. Of course, many people wonder what the right answer is, for library funding in their communities, too.

Next week I am off to Dublin and then Maryland, to talk about DataSPIKE and more DataSPIKE with the UpCounty Libraries. Should be fun!

Lovin' the Legal Stuff

“Am I the only one who hears the screams,
And the strangled cries of lawyers in love?”

“Lawyers in Love” – Jackson Browne (Web site ; WCid ; Wikipedia)

In an thoughtful column, “Librarians and Licensing,” [excerpt] in the March 2007 issue of InfoToday, K. Matthew Dames (of CopyCense) discusses the surprising absence of offerings in library science programs of formal coursework in content licensing.

Dames laments “another yawning gap in contemporary information professional education: the lack of training in licensing electronic content.” (The “other” gap being a paucity of copyright education). Acknowledging that in the course of teaching independent content licensing seminars and a graduate seminar at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies Dames has never met a single librarian (other than those attending his seminars) who “has completed a class or seminar on licensing or content procurement as part of his or her library science education,” Dames asks:

“Assuming that the procurement mechanism for electronic content is a license, how can librarians fulfill the fundamental role of collection development in the 21^st century if they can’t read, understand, and negotiate those contracts?”

Overall he presents a well-rounded development of his theme, “Buying econtent is serious business.” Key points Dames makes:

• It is common for agencies to spend $ millions annually across their econtent portfolio
  
• Econtent procurement competence requires a varied skill set in privacy law, copyright law, digital rights management, and a grasp of the ever-changing publishing landscape and much more
  
• Expertise in e-content licensing is unusual as a procurement competence outside the information profession: for many institutions and companies, in-house counsel will not have this expertise – the responsibility for the institution’s legal and financial investment and risk exposure will often rest squarely with the econtent procurement staff member(s) at the library
  
• The position tasked with econtent procurement may have many names, but if “called a librarian, chances are it will not command the organizational respect, compensation, and resources it deserves.”

Dames offers suggestions for introducing the topic of procurement in far greater depth in library and information studies. I certainly commend the full article to your attention.

Thinking back on my own MLS, I had little graduate training in the legal end of librarianship. Yet looking forward through my professional work even unto now I have had to read, understand, and even help craft licensing agreements. Indeed, management of electronic products was assigned to me as one my first “duties as assigned” extras on my first day in my first professional job. From that point I have found myself studying and learning on my own by necessity, and I also have been fortunate to have persons with genuine expertise to coach me.

I think one might reasonably argue that librarians have long been “technicians of the intersections” – perhaps what distinguishes Librarian 2.0 from Librarian 1.0 is less the new tools applied and more the mix of new stuff. Econtent licensing expertise is surely one of the more richly textured intersections librarians must master. Are we giving the econtent procurement competency its due with respect to preparing professionals, or – as Dames asserts – is it something library science and information studies programs are failing to give the emphasis such deserves in a Web 2.0 world?