Props to a couple of our partner OCLC sites for major redesigns they've launched recently.
The OCLC Community site, which was mentioned earlier today as the source of audio files for the symposium as Midwinter, has been completely overhauled. It now provides easier access to information and tools you can use, such as our advocacy materials and OCLC reports. Previous features like discussion space and news from the rest of OCLC are still available as well.
And WebJunction has just freshened both its search functions and its home page. The new home page is much more graphical and it's easier to navigate. (For example, a direct link to "I'm Curious, George" is available right from the home page!)
Either or both of these will reward frequent visitors with tangible benefits they can apply to their work, and some pleasant diversion.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Amusing Ourselves to Death
Brokeback Mountain and Amusing Ourselves to Death. What does the Oscar-nominated movie and Neil Postman's seminal 20 year old book have in common? Perhaps for you, not much. But as I was driving to work I was listening to the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Company) on satellite radio and the news announcer reported the Oscar-nominated films for best picture, among which was Brokeback Mountain and Capote. She pointed out that the former was filmed in Alberta and the latter in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Not surprising perhaps, as many Hollywood movies have been filmed in Canada, and many which require mountains, sweeping views of sky and plains and space are filmed near Calgary where I lived for 12 years.
So, it was serendipity then to come across this USA Today article from yesterday reporting that Brokeback Mountain is boosting tourism inquiries about....Wyoming. Now, of course, this is where the events of the movie happen...in fiction. In reality, the landscape people are admiring and desiring in the movie is in...Alberta. But never mind reality!
I came across the reference to Neil Postman's book at Jay Rosen's blog Press Think. He's posted an essay by Postman's son Andrew which is the introduction to a new edition of Amusing...
The subtitle of Postman's book is Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. And this was pre-Jon Stewart, pre-Tivo, pre-Google remember. His premise was that in the "age of show business" everything--tsunamis, judges' appointments, hurricanes, highway chases, elections, missing white girls--has become entertainment. Never mind reality.
And how does this relate to the library nature of this blog? I suspect that chasm between entertainment and reality (whatever this is in a "stringy" universe) will have to be addressed by us all as we ponder the meanings of the data from the OCLC Perceptions report, from discussions about what is constituted by "Library 2.0" and what services and content libraries offer their communities. Will it be "Wyoming" or Alberta?
Not surprising perhaps, as many Hollywood movies have been filmed in Canada, and many which require mountains, sweeping views of sky and plains and space are filmed near Calgary where I lived for 12 years.
So, it was serendipity then to come across this USA Today article from yesterday reporting that Brokeback Mountain is boosting tourism inquiries about....Wyoming. Now, of course, this is where the events of the movie happen...in fiction. In reality, the landscape people are admiring and desiring in the movie is in...Alberta. But never mind reality!
I came across the reference to Neil Postman's book at Jay Rosen's blog Press Think. He's posted an essay by Postman's son Andrew which is the introduction to a new edition of Amusing...
The subtitle of Postman's book is Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. And this was pre-Jon Stewart, pre-Tivo, pre-Google remember. His premise was that in the "age of show business" everything--tsunamis, judges' appointments, hurricanes, highway chases, elections, missing white girls--has become entertainment. Never mind reality.
And how does this relate to the library nature of this blog? I suspect that chasm between entertainment and reality (whatever this is in a "stringy" universe) will have to be addressed by us all as we ponder the meanings of the data from the OCLC Perceptions report, from discussions about what is constituted by "Library 2.0" and what services and content libraries offer their communities. Will it be "Wyoming" or Alberta?
Symposium Audio Available
The MP3 files (one for each speaker) of the Extreme Makeover Symposium are available here on the OCLC Community site. The links are in the middle of the page. The AV version will be available soon.
Monday, January 30, 2006
Walt Crawford on Perceptions
Walt Crawford offers a thorough and balanced analysis of the OCLC report Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources in the new edition of Cites & Insights.
Friday, January 27, 2006
Living the Future 6
Marda Johnson, late of the OCLC staff and currently the Team Leader for the Technical Services and Archival Processing Team at the University of Arizona Library, brought my attention to a conference that looks like it will be very interesting. Living the Future 6 is, according to its web site, "a conference for collaborative thinking about the future. ... Participants will hear from those directly involved in planning, challenging, and living the future --- nationally known experts and creative thinkers as well as working library staff who are experimenting and innovating. The conference combines excellent weather, a celebratory, low cost venue, and a group of lively participants as the container for imaginative thinking. Join the conversations! Let us hear your voice!"
The schedule features a number of fascinating topics (including one of my favorites, disruptive technology and the library), and the closing keynote speaker is John Perry Barlow.
Combine that kind of a line up with the weather in Arizona in April, and this looks like a winner. Thanks for the tip, Marda!
The schedule features a number of fascinating topics (including one of my favorites, disruptive technology and the library), and the closing keynote speaker is John Perry Barlow.
Combine that kind of a line up with the weather in Arizona in April, and this looks like a winner. Thanks for the tip, Marda!
Thursday, January 26, 2006
New Pew: The Strength of Internet Ties
From the announcement:
The Pew Internet & American Life Project today [Jan25] released a report describing how the internet improves Americans' capacity to maintain their social networks and how they gain a big payoff when they use the internet to activate those networks to solicit help.
The report is based on two surveys and finds that the internet and email expand and strengthen the social ties that people maintain in the offline world. The surveys show that people not only socialize online, but they also incorporate the internet into their quest for information and advice as they seek help and make decisions.
Disputing concerns that heavy use of the internet might diminish people's social relations, the report finds that the internet fits seamlessly with Americans' in-person and phone encounters. With the help of the internet, people are able to maintain active contact with sizable social networks, even though many of the people in those networks do not live close to them.
The report, "The Strength of Internet Ties," highlights how email supplements, rather than replaces, the communication people have with others in their network.
The full report is available at: http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/172/report_display.asp
See some Scan trends here? Seamlessness, life online, collaboration, an " and/and" world, not "and/or." Here's a commentary on the report from Mark Federman's blog in which he suggests this report refutes Putnam's in Bowling Alone.
The Pew Internet & American Life Project today [Jan25] released a report describing how the internet improves Americans' capacity to maintain their social networks and how they gain a big payoff when they use the internet to activate those networks to solicit help.
The report is based on two surveys and finds that the internet and email expand and strengthen the social ties that people maintain in the offline world. The surveys show that people not only socialize online, but they also incorporate the internet into their quest for information and advice as they seek help and make decisions.
Disputing concerns that heavy use of the internet might diminish people's social relations, the report finds that the internet fits seamlessly with Americans' in-person and phone encounters. With the help of the internet, people are able to maintain active contact with sizable social networks, even though many of the people in those networks do not live close to them.
The report, "The Strength of Internet Ties," highlights how email supplements, rather than replaces, the communication people have with others in their network.
The full report is available at: http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/172/report_display.asp
See some Scan trends here? Seamlessness, life online, collaboration, an " and/and" world, not "and/or." Here's a commentary on the report from Mark Federman's blog in which he suggests this report refutes Putnam's in Bowling Alone.
Hill Country
While everyone else has made it home already from ALA, I am actually on vacation this week in the Hill Country. It means that all the wonderful Stephen photos of ALA MW 06 Blog Salon WILL get posted...eventually. For now, my main goal is to absorb all the sunshine and salsa possible, and hang out with my Dad a lot.
See you next week.
See you next week.
The Rise of the "User Class"
A couple of items on this theme of the shift of power from producers/distributors to users--something all librarians should be paying attention to.
Esther Dyson is a futurist and writer (daughter of Freeman Dyson, physicist and Verena Huber-Dyson, mathematician and philosopher, and also sister to George Dyson, whom I know of best for his expertise on baidarka). She hosts an annual think-tank kind of conference called PC Forum. The theme this year is Erosion of Power: Users in Charge and is most relevant to issues librarians are wrestling with. Esther's description of the theme (emphasis is mine):
"At this year's PC Forum, we'll examine the subtle but pervasive shift in control that's making these things possible. It's not - as some people think - that Google and search are taking over the world. Google's and others' tools are enabling me - and millions of other me's - to take over their own worlds.
In the end, I don't just want information; I want actions based on the right information. I want flights booked, appointments made, supplies ordered, inventories managed on the basis of information that is structured and actionable (and that reflects my own personal preferences)."
This might be a conference to attend to stretch the little grey cells. It's March 12-14 at La Costa Resort and Spa, Carlsbad, CA.
Related to this (and noted in today's issue of paidContent) is BBC Chairman Michael Grade's keynote speech at the NATPE conference (National Association of Television Program Executives) titled On Demand is the Future. Staci Kramer from paidContent interviewed him afterwards and provides this clip from Grade (the whole interview is available as a link from the post-- and my emphasis again):
"I also happen to believe, in the end, if we've learned nothing out of the last 20 years it's that the public don't want to be trapped by one piece of proprietary this or proprietary that. They're going to invest a lot of money in new kit as it comes along ... and they want to be sure that what buy, they can get whatever they want from whoever... In the end, consumers will tell the industry that's the way they want it to go."
I believe this is true for libraries too. Users and consumers will tell us where they want library services to go either passively, by disappearing from our libraries, or actively, because we've asked them.
And an hommage to Winston Churchill for ending two sentences in prepositions.
Esther Dyson is a futurist and writer (daughter of Freeman Dyson, physicist and Verena Huber-Dyson, mathematician and philosopher, and also sister to George Dyson, whom I know of best for his expertise on baidarka). She hosts an annual think-tank kind of conference called PC Forum. The theme this year is Erosion of Power: Users in Charge and is most relevant to issues librarians are wrestling with. Esther's description of the theme (emphasis is mine):
"At this year's PC Forum, we'll examine the subtle but pervasive shift in control that's making these things possible. It's not - as some people think - that Google and search are taking over the world. Google's and others' tools are enabling me - and millions of other me's - to take over their own worlds.
In the end, I don't just want information; I want actions based on the right information. I want flights booked, appointments made, supplies ordered, inventories managed on the basis of information that is structured and actionable (and that reflects my own personal preferences)."
This might be a conference to attend to stretch the little grey cells. It's March 12-14 at La Costa Resort and Spa, Carlsbad, CA.
Related to this (and noted in today's issue of paidContent) is BBC Chairman Michael Grade's keynote speech at the NATPE conference (National Association of Television Program Executives) titled On Demand is the Future. Staci Kramer from paidContent interviewed him afterwards and provides this clip from Grade (the whole interview is available as a link from the post-- and my emphasis again):
"I also happen to believe, in the end, if we've learned nothing out of the last 20 years it's that the public don't want to be trapped by one piece of proprietary this or proprietary that. They're going to invest a lot of money in new kit as it comes along ... and they want to be sure that what buy, they can get whatever they want from whoever... In the end, consumers will tell the industry that's the way they want it to go."
I believe this is true for libraries too. Users and consumers will tell us where they want library services to go either passively, by disappearing from our libraries, or actively, because we've asked them.
And an hommage to Winston Churchill for ending two sentences in prepositions.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
The Lost Post
Hmmm, I wonder what happened to the post that Alice opened at the beginning of the Blog Salon? I suspect we may have had some "technical difficulties" with our connections--the one to the Internet and the one between people and the computer. We all got sidetracked--or didn't. Last blog salon we h
ad the laptop in the middle of the room so it was easy for people to get to. This time it was in a corner and quickly got obscured by people.
Thanks to everyone who dropped by the Salon. We loved meeting you or getting reacquainted.
That's (L-R) "Jane Eyre", Walt Crawford and Andrea Mercado.
See you next time. Oh, and consider a vote for Heidi Dolamore, a student from my alma mater who's running for ALA Council. Having spent time talking to Heidi this Salon and the previous one, I'd vote for her if I was an ALA member still. I didn't take a picture of Heidi, unfortunately.
But here's three more.
Lorcan Dempsey and Suzanne Pilsk of the Smithsonian Institute Libraries. Suzanne is not a blogger but she works at a really cool place and is an old friend who helped us with a piece of theater we did pre-blogging days at ALA MW 2002, in New Orleans, a "playlette" called "Can This Marriage Be Saved?" about a cataloger and a reference librarian on the verge of divorce. It was an allegory--with light bulb jokes.
George Needham, wearing his BlogPerson band, and Rochelle Hartman (who is a delightful dinner companion.)
Eric Childress, Alice Sneary and Tim McCormick of OCLC Openly Informatics. 
ad the laptop in the middle of the room so it was easy for people to get to. This time it was in a corner and quickly got obscured by people.Thanks to everyone who dropped by the Salon. We loved meeting you or getting reacquainted.
That's (L-R) "Jane Eyre", Walt Crawford and Andrea Mercado.
See you next time. Oh, and consider a vote for Heidi Dolamore, a student from my alma mater who's running for ALA Council. Having spent time talking to Heidi this Salon and the previous one, I'd vote for her if I was an ALA member still. I didn't take a picture of Heidi, unfortunately.
But here's three more.
Lorcan Dempsey and Suzanne Pilsk of the Smithsonian Institute Libraries. Suzanne is not a blogger but she works at a really cool place and is an old friend who helped us with a piece of theater we did pre-blogging days at ALA MW 2002, in New Orleans, a "playlette" called "Can This Marriage Be Saved?" about a cataloger and a reference librarian on the verge of divorce. It was an allegory--with light bulb jokes.
George Needham, wearing his BlogPerson band, and Rochelle Hartman (who is a delightful dinner companion.)
Eric Childress, Alice Sneary and Tim McCormick of OCLC Openly Informatics. 
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Blog Salon in 18 minutes
Get ready blogsphere...the Blog Salon is about to get started in the OCLC Red Suite, 30th floor of the Marriott River Center.
Spotted by the ALA MW 2006 Library Fashion police
Eric has been wearing unusually interesting ties this conference. This one, I believe, was given to him by the National Library of Sweden.
OCLC Openly Informatics
Tim McCormick and Eric Hellman of the newly created division, OCLC Openly Informatics. (formerly Openly Informatics.)
Strong leadership in a time of transition
OCLC President and CEO Jay Jordan addresses the gathered OCLC cooperative at the Update Breakfast this morning, especially about the recent mergers and acquisitions of Fretwell Downing by OCLC PICA (the European arm of the cooperative), and Openly Informatics by OCLC (as a whole).
Good things come to those who get up early...
Blueberry muffins were one of the many good things at the OCLC Update Breakfast.
Update Breakfast, set and ready
WebJunction table awaits its OCLC Update Breakfast participants. Each table features a unique aspect of the cooperative, and members come for breakfast to discuss topics relevant to the community on that unique aspect.
"Power corrupts, Powerpoint corrupts absolutely."
A peek into the pre-Symposium warm-up: Omar Wasow and Alane Wilson run through the opening remarks together.
Post-Symposium dinner and discussion
OCLC Symposium speakers continue the dialogue at dinner that night. L-R is Omar Wasow, Alice Sneary and Patricia Martin. Far left (in the mirror) you see another speaker, Antony Brewerton. And Jennifer Rice, our 4th panelist, is also here...she's the photographer!
Saturday, January 21, 2006
OCLC Red Suite - 3040
The Blog Salon will be in suite 3040 the OCLC Red Suite in the Marriott Rivercenter.
And thanks to Alice for taking notes during the Symposium yesterday. I could see her across the room industriously transcribing, while I was watching the clock, keeping track of speakers' time.
And thanks to Alice for taking notes during the Symposium yesterday. I could see her across the room industriously transcribing, while I was watching the clock, keeping track of speakers' time.
Friday, January 20, 2006
Symposium questions
Questions for the panel:
How can we balance complexity and quality?
*Antony thinks it's an issue of segmentation...
*Jennifer says that people love to give back...how can we set up forums for people--connecting experts with learners. You don't have to do everything yourself!
*Patricia says check out the McKinsey report--transactional to tacit (You'll have to register...)
*Another question here that I totally didn't catch...*
Omar says go for the quick-wins first.
Patricia wonders if libraries and small businesses can do more work together?
Can we cut through the spreadsheets and go for gut responses from our stakeholders?
Thanks for coming! The audio will be podcast (we hope...just not from my laptop!)
How can we balance complexity and quality?
*Antony thinks it's an issue of segmentation...
*Jennifer says that people love to give back...how can we set up forums for people--connecting experts with learners. You don't have to do everything yourself!
*Patricia says check out the McKinsey report--transactional to tacit (You'll have to register...)
*Another question here that I totally didn't catch...*
Omar says go for the quick-wins first.
Patricia wonders if libraries and small businesses can do more work together?
Can we cut through the spreadsheets and go for gut responses from our stakeholders?
Thanks for coming! The audio will be podcast (we hope...just not from my laptop!)
Antony Brewerton
How I became an Outgoing Librarian.
Changing perceptions of libraries and information resources...
"Wear lipstick, have a tattoo, belly-dance, then Get Naked. The making of a Virtual Librarian.
The new Breed Librarian.
Example with railways: Railways declined because they thought they were in the Railway business--instead of the transportation business.
[Antony going over questions raised/users comments from the Perceptions report.]
3 big messages:
1. We're a community resources--but customers primarily think of us a buildings of books.
2. Customers have more positive than negative associations--but those are on traditional products
3. Opportunities to diversify and remove barriers to use but first must promote the riches we already offer.
We need to decide what our brand is...and market it.
Clicker question: Who has, in their institution?
35% A member of staff responsible for marketing the library
24% A group responsible
13% Both
28% Nobody
Oxford Brooks University
How they did it:
They formed Functional groups, Marketing being a central one.
The Marketing Group makes a strategic plan each year and an annual report.
Their budget is 600 Pounds Stirling. (About US $1,000)
First, start with the customer. Listen to them!
Clicker question: Who has
7% A regular customer satisfaction survey
5% focus groups
58% feedback forms
19% various of the above
none
What they did: hung tags that used LPs with Blondie and Meatleaf
They revamped their logo...
Revlon quotation: "In teh factory we make cosmetics, in the drug store we sell hope." Charles Revlon, Revlon Cosmetics.
Freshers Fair (College Freshman/1st years) Drinks campaign:
Had drinks posters with great headlines
Beer mats (coasters)
Gave out bottled water
They send ambassadors outside the library...with t-shirts that say "How can I help you?"
Do you regularly go outside your library to promote your library?
55% Yes
45% No
They revamped their Web site, significantly rearchitecting around the students' experience.
Next year Freshers Fair: "Inspiration, available now from the library." The apple was particularly difficult to photograph...
Used stickers with URL, apple, "be inspired"
Gave out apples...
Web hits show the proof: marketing works
From October 2000, they have 65,192 hits to their site
By January 2002, they had 228,201 hits.
Promotional campaigns and hits demonstrate that you can rebrand your library, you can reinvigorate.
They used their success stories and did a lot of PR around it, both inside and outside the library circles...
Changing perceptions of libraries and information resources...
"Wear lipstick, have a tattoo, belly-dance, then Get Naked. The making of a Virtual Librarian.
The new Breed Librarian.
Example with railways: Railways declined because they thought they were in the Railway business--instead of the transportation business.
[Antony going over questions raised/users comments from the Perceptions report.]
3 big messages:
1. We're a community resources--but customers primarily think of us a buildings of books.
2. Customers have more positive than negative associations--but those are on traditional products
3. Opportunities to diversify and remove barriers to use but first must promote the riches we already offer.
We need to decide what our brand is...and market it.
Clicker question: Who has, in their institution?
35% A member of staff responsible for marketing the library
24% A group responsible
13% Both
28% Nobody
Oxford Brooks University
How they did it:
They formed Functional groups, Marketing being a central one.
The Marketing Group makes a strategic plan each year and an annual report.
Their budget is 600 Pounds Stirling. (About US $1,000)
First, start with the customer. Listen to them!
Clicker question: Who has
7% A regular customer satisfaction survey
5% focus groups
58% feedback forms
19% various of the above
none
What they did: hung tags that used LPs with Blondie and Meatleaf
They revamped their logo...
Revlon quotation: "In teh factory we make cosmetics, in the drug store we sell hope." Charles Revlon, Revlon Cosmetics.
Freshers Fair (College Freshman/1st years) Drinks campaign:
Had drinks posters with great headlines
Beer mats (coasters)
Gave out bottled water
They send ambassadors outside the library...with t-shirts that say "How can I help you?"
Do you regularly go outside your library to promote your library?
55% Yes
45% No
They revamped their Web site, significantly rearchitecting around the students' experience.
Next year Freshers Fair: "Inspiration, available now from the library." The apple was particularly difficult to photograph...
Used stickers with URL, apple, "be inspired"
Gave out apples...
Web hits show the proof: marketing works
From October 2000, they have 65,192 hits to their site
By January 2002, they had 228,201 hits.
Promotional campaigns and hits demonstrate that you can rebrand your library, you can reinvigorate.
They used their success stories and did a lot of PR around it, both inside and outside the library circles...
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