Attendance at Library Camp NYC was quite large (100+ people!) which certainly tested the open spaces concept. The 14th floor of Baruch’s vertical campus building was well equipped to handle the crowd, however, and a number of really great sessions were spawned. The only drawback of the unconference format, I’ve found, is that I always find myself wanting to be in two or three places at once. You can take a look at how the final program evolved on the event wiki.

During the first session, I attended ‘Library 2.0 show and tell‘ which focused a lot on wikis and some other specific technologies. The group also touched on topics such as how to get staff/patrons to buy-in to new services. I also attended a session led by OCLC’s Eric Hellman on their grid services concept (xISBN, etc). I think I enjoyed the final session the most, however, which was a discussion about cataloging and Weinberger‘s Everything is Miscellaneous.

A great day, and I’m sure we’ll see more library camps in the future.

“Our chefs and managers cook and run restaurants as if the word of mouth spread by each and every guest today will determine how full — or empty — our restaurants will be tomorrow. We work hard to hire people whose emotional skills — even more than how they can cook or serve wine — make them predisposed to deriving pleasure from the act of delivering pleasure. Long after our guests have forgotten how much they did or didn’t like the turbot or the lamb shank, they’ll remember how we made them feel.”
- Danny Meyer, WSJ, 3Oct3006

I’m not sure I can add more more to that. How does your library determine who it hires? Conversely, if someone is let go, is it because of a mistake, or lack of passion?

Before you do anything, fill your library with workers who can’t bear to think about doing anything else. Be one of those people.

I have to confess I think he may be right, our library web sites are not places where you want to spend any time, and our OPACs are not fun places to be either. But then again, why should they be? Why should our library web site be a place where our students want to spend time? Is there something missing from their university experience that only our web site can provide? Why this fear, this sense that, unless we soon get up to speed we are all doomed?

First, I want to be clear that I don't think we are doomed if we choose not to implement social software in our OPACs. Libraries will not cease to function if we don't address the shortcomings of our online catalogs. It is very clear to me, however, that the OPAC is an empty vessel, waiting to be filled. Since their inception, OPACs have done the job intended by usurping the card catalog with stoic efficiency. Let's be honest, though and admit that something special slipped out into the ether when those large, cumbersome drawers were toted out and replaced by luminescent portal we now know as the catalog station. That's just the way it goes.

Much of what we lost was not due to function, but to form. Nothing will replace the look, feel, and smell of a dusty, old, age-cured card catalog, but it's been a decade, or two since we made the switch and I think it's okay to consider making our OPACs special. We've got a unique opportunity now as the planets of technology, internal discussion, and market penetration align. Perhaps now is the time to overcome institutional inertia and do something unexpected, if not radical. A social element belongs in the OPAC, our users are waiting for it and they'll soak it up like sponges if we give it to them. Web 2.0 provides both technology and a cauldron of ideas as to how to apply it. At the same time, a conversation that was once a distant murmur is gathering strength and it promises to disrupt policies and attitudes libraries have, for so long, conditioned themselves to be reflexive about. The public, meanwhile, has become inured with technology and complexity.

Let's not forget the role libraries play in a community. Perhaps the view from inside sometimes is only a view of ourselves reflected back at us, when in fact, the truth is that the public comes to us in need. Sometimes that need is small, casual. Sometimes it's the type of need that transcends record authority and can only be redressed by another in similar need. Are we really the final say on what the best resources are if someone wants help with teen pregnancy, domestic abuse, or cystic fibrosis? Can all of our collective training tell that needful person exactly what material best suits their situation?

Of course not. Our OPACs cannot be the golden kiosks we all want, but by inviting participation in the stewardship of a community resource, we can begin to build unique meta-collections that slide value, pertinence, and humanity into the search process. It may be that in that moment when a patron is about to turn away from the library, something catches their eye--a tag, a comment, some marginalia, perhaps, that puts the patron in front of the material they truly need.

The key component in growing social OPACs is community. Once you put the community you service into the process of delivering content back out into the very same community, you initiate a loop that will become exponentially richer over time as those neural connections glom on to each other. Findability is not the goal, but the activity and the experience which is why I say that OPACs have the potential to be fascinating places to visit and browse. They will not embody the comforting, muffled presence of the old card catalog. No, they'll be their own individual entities--borderless, shapeless creatures that somehow fit the people they represent.

That's a goal truly worth striving for.

[tags] library, librarians, library 2.0, web 2.0, OPAC, tagging, social software, search engines [/tags]

No? Okay, sorry.

In case you're wondering, no, Rapunzel does not have a fifth cat named "E".

Never mind that. In addition to all the techies that read this blog, there are a fair number of librarians on the other side of the "digital divide" who, in some cases, are trying desperately to reach across and learn more about technology--specifically, technology in libraries. I applaud them because by the very act of reading library blogs, they are doing what many library professionals do not: keeping up. Of course, it takes time to stay abreast of the daily machinations in the biblioblogosphere. I've been slacking this past week or so (well, not slacking, but doing my part to get a new branch up and running by March 20th--forgive me if I've let my duties here wane) and I just finished slogging through 300+ hits in my reader which were from the past day and a half alone. But it's worth it.
I try to maintain a balance on my blog between highly technical entries and open, accessible discussion because I think it's important that non-techies feel welcome and comfortable in technical dialogue. More importantly, I'd like to help those individuals gain a voice when it comes to contributing ideas. The same should be said for the librarians we work with.
One of the persistent problems facing the 21st century library is the culture gap between IT and librarians. Of course, the issue is even more granular than that when you start looking at the differences between the veteran, tenured staff and the newly minted MLSs--many of whom have already undergone the digital immersion but do not yet have a strong voice within their organizations. This culture gap is, in-and-of-itself, not necessarily a problem. Differing ideas and viewpoints make for interesting and enriching dialogue. The problem is that, in most cases, there is no dialogue. That problem has been weighing on my mind of late and I thought that it might be a good idea to brain-dump some ways of spanning the gulf. In an ideal world, these are the things I'd keep in mind as I approached the "other side".

Get the dialogue started. In order for anything to happen, someone needs to make the first move and approach the other side. This can be as easy as an informal email or chatting in the hallway. In fact, the biggest obstacle may just be the imaginary barriers that have grown up over time. Good fences make good neighbors, right? Not in this case. What's important is that a dialogue exists that goes beyond the obligatory machinations of daily library routine. Someone needs to talk to someone and get the discussion started. It might as well be you.

Acknowledge the dichotomy. Once you get a dialogue started, it's important that both sides recognize that there is a problem--or at least a gulf. Hopefully, both sides will agree that there is a disconnect and have a desire to make the situation better. Once that happens, you'll have some common ground to work with. It's at this point in the discussion where you might provide some concrete examples of what might be accomplished through a strong multilateral approach.

Make a peace offering. If things have been particularly tense, come to the table with something tangible the other side will benefit from. Not a buy off, but maybe an offer of time or a concession. This may not be necessary, but in some cases, the circumstances may merit coming off a little something.

Make the other party comfortable. Spend some time in advance deciding on language that will not frighten off the other side. Make sure they know that you value their opinions. Keep discussions informal but on-track. The last thing you want to do argue or create a rift, so make sure the other side knows your goal is to bring everyone together. Technology, to the uninitiated, can hold a frightening mystique. A librarian once referred to a wifi antenna as "that zappy thing"--language that betrays the trepidation (if not outright fear) this one individual has when it comes to tech.

Show them you are interested. People at your library may not know that you are interested in what they do. Of course, you genuinely need to be interested, or you're in need of some introspection. The goal here is to build common ground on which discussion can grow. Tell them specifically what parts of their job you find interesting. Ask questions, take notes, learn. Be honest. Let them know that you are always looking for ways to incorporate technology in the library in ways that are creative, useful and friendly.

Ask them how you can help. Get a sense from them what is bothering them the most. It's a good idea to ask them outright whether there is anything you or your department can do to make their life easier. If there is, try to get it done quickly and cheerfully. There's a good chance that something small and easy-to-fix has been bothering them for months. By saying, "Yah, we can fix that today", you might just illuminate, for both sides, the fact that these types of dialogues do, indeed, have a purpose. I've run across many non-techies who have developed magnificently complex processes in order to do very simple tasks. One person cried once I showed her how to do in one step what she had been doing in fifteen for years.

Show them how they can help. Let them know that what they do matters and show them how they can participate in new, interesting, and cutting-edge projects. Show (not tell) them how much their input and work can influence a final product. If possible, illustrate the impact they have already had. In our case, at AADL, many of the staff bloggers have no idea how excellent they make our web site simply by providing a constant stream of quality content. I'm truly proud to be working in the same organization as them, but they probably don't know it.

Invite them to learn and play. It's important that staff have the opportunity to get their hands on new technology as it comes out. The idea of letting staff play with technology has been proposed a number of times by a number of people and I agree. Getting people comfortable and excited about technology at the same time is a win-win prospect that will only benefit everyone.

Cross-train. Especially at the entry-level. If we start cross-training our staff when they come in the door, they'll be inherently more comfortable outside their zone of expertise. I've often been stopped by a patron and asked a reference question. I'm certainly no reference librarian, but I made a point of trying to help them if no one else was around. The unknown becomes a lot less frightening once you know even just a little about it. This is especially true with technology, which tends to have a very steep learning curve.

Make plans together. Come up with both blue-sky and concrete plans. Come up with ways that two departments can work together to accomplish something new and exciting. Something that will make all departments involved feel a sense of accomplishment. Non-techies often feel intimidated about asking their techie counterparts if something is feasible. As a techie, you may be able to suggest a solution they didn't even think possible.

Meet regularly. Agree to have formal or informal discussions on an ongoing basis. This is important. Consistent communication can and will solve most of the problems we find in any organization. It's important that each department have maintain their own identity and purpose, but there is nothing wrong with those departments letting each other know what they're up to. This happens somewhat when department heads meet, but there could be some benefit to bringing in other departmental members--maybe rotating them through these meetings so that familiarity is build, not just at the supervisory level. Use social software to interact and keep everyone up-to-date on projects.

I seriously need to go practice what I preach here, and I'm going to make a point of doing that. Of course, every library has its own idiosyncratic internal dynamics. That's what make any organization unique. I've worked in enough for-profit and non-profit organizations to know that many of the fundamental problems faced across the board are not about money, but about people and the synthetic cataracts we paint over our collective eyes in order to insulate the walls of our comfort zones.

[tags]IT Departments, IT, Library, Librarians, Geeks, Communication, Development[/tags]

The 2006 Library Camp will be held here at the Ann Arbor District Library. Programs and discussions will continue throughout that day and may spill out into the stacks, computing centers and wherever else the participants deem a good meeting place. Of course, all your geek amenities will be provided.

Be sure to visit the wiki or tune into Ed's blog for more information.

[tags]L2, Mash-ups, AADL, Superpatron, Unconference, Library, Librarians, Geeks, Library Camp[/tags]

technology, at least right now, is in an evolutionary phase, whereas only two or three years ago we were still in a revolutionary time period where new ideas were rocking the library boat on a regular basis.

I think he's correct here. If you look back at blog entries, seminar topics, and conference talks over the last few years, you'll definitely see their content trending from what technologies are available toward how do we use these technologies and now we're starting to see, look how we're using this technology. A natural progression, to be sure, but does it say anything about the nature of library innovation in 2006? I think the other side of the technology equation is, and always will be, the people.

Clearly we need to remove the expectation that technology will always offer sensational new tools that can be inserted into library operations and result in exceptional returns.

We cannot ignore the "people factor" -- that is, the librarian 2.0 element to all this. Without the dedicated front-line staff to whom we present these rapidly changing technologies, none of this would matter. We may provide the blogs, but it's our staff who are the bloggers. We may provide internet terminals and free wifi, but the desk staff always field the first questions about all of it. Communication, patience and gratitude are key elements in the synergy between IT and the librarians as they, more often than not, embrace these revolutionary technologies that are relentlessly foisted upon them.

And while the pace of change may sometimes seem insanely fast, the speed of progress may be infuriatingly slow--but bear in mind that it is progress. The construction of some of the worlds most magnificent cathedrals took lifetimes to complete.

[tags]Library 2.0, Librarian 2.0, Web 2.0, Libraries, Librarians, Technology[/tags]