Connecting Librarian

Michael Geist – Canada Research Chair of Internet and E-Commerce Law, University of Ottawa
“Unlocking access: in support of a hands-on Internet policy”

Early days of the web (90s) were seen as a hands-off time for government, leaving it to the practitioners and users.  However, government and policy have always been a part of the internet.

Internet 2008: World of blogs, podcasts, social networking which is enabling people to create, speak out, making their voices heard.  They can share experiences and find that they are not alone. Creation, using desktop software and distribution of video is also growing exponentially – eg. Star Wreck, Elephant’s Dream.  Public broadcasters are allowing their users (and funders) to do the same. (eg BBC)  Flickr with billions of photos now has over 100 million photos available under Creative Commons licences – enabling others to create with this content as well as millions of other online works.

Growth of the collaborative media – ie. Wikipedia – 2 million articles in english. Encyclopedia of Life aiming to catalogue all life on earth in 10 years – started last year.  OhMyNews – citizen journalism contributed by the person on the street, to a handful of editors.  Project Gutenberg, LibriVox (audio of it), MIT Open Courseware (7 years old) – online syllabi, course materials, powerpoint demos, podcasts and videocasts. Public Library of Science – open access peer reviewed scientific journal. Internet archive is good for more than the Way Back machine, it will host any content that the individual has the copyright to. Digitisation projects worldwide making previously unknown titles or those thought to be lost, now available to all.  Underlying a lot of this is open source software.

Internet 2018: Four pillars: connectivity, enhance participation,copyright, content
Price of admission for participation, lifelong learning, self expression is access. Connectivity – Broadband for all.
Muni wifi – market can’t do it all, there is a place for public utlities
net neutrality (not the Internet 2 model – pay for better service) – will help develop innovation – much would not be around today if it had not been in place ie. Google, eBay and Amazon.  Need legislation to ensure equity for all.

Enhance participation – intermediary liability issues – being blamed for the content of others and sometimes having legal action taken.
domain names
privacy – protections are often dictated by the policies of the sites they inhabit
trust
transparency

Copyright – anti-circumvention – trying to keep it away, but if not, then retain fair dealing rights
fair use – ensure robust enough to deal with the shifting landscape
term extension -
orphan works
WIPO -

All communities need to speak out so that our governments are truly representing the view of the people in international negotiations.

Content: Open access, digitisation, crown copyright sometimes used as a legal form of censorship, public broadcasting.

Alan Butters – Sybis
“New RFID technologies & standards: what does it all mean for your library”
handouts available from Alan’s website

Two ISO standards in common use – ISO 15693, ISO 18000-3 (newest).
Tag Data model and privacy and data security mechanisms are not prescribed in these standards.
Implications: no interoperability between systems, have to reprogram tags when changing vendors, difficult to mix and match equipment.
Standards work on the communication between the tag and the reader.  ISO working group is working on an international standard of data models on the tag – some debate over the format, been going on for over a year.  Compromise position adopted at a third meeting.

ISO 28560 to be structured in three parts: (standard aimed at libraries, but could be adapted to other organisation types)
1. General requirements and data elements ie. item identifier, call no, instituitional ID, title etc – approximately 25 items thus far.
2. Encoding based on ISO/IEC 15962 (as proposed by Standards Australia) – only item ID is mandatory, the rest is optional
3. Fixed length encoding – variation on fixed models already in place

Ultra High Frequency (UHF) RFID in libraries:
RFID operates at multiple frequencies, usually use Band 19 – high end of the frequency.
Frequency selected to match the application – read speed, distance and other performance criteria

Why differ? advantages for libraries – faster read rates, greater read distance, cheaper tags and readers, greater immunity to tag masking, compatability with supply chain initiatives. ie. Walmart.

UHF FAQ: HF is more mature and capable and can deliver to libraries.  UHF is still very new in libraries, limited suppliers.
Why not UHF? More info is needed on UHF libraries – works on mobile phones range of the spectrum.  Mostly used in warehouses, what are the implications for office type environments with people not just objects.  How long will they last?   Mainly used for short term use in warehousing.  Lose anything going to UHF? Less control, narrower product range, not interoperable with HF systems, suppliers are not library experienced.  Can’t mix HF and UHF.  Future is unknown, don’t know which will come out on top – might coexist or something new may come out.  RFID systems on the market now can deliver the benefits that libraries are seeking.

www.sybis.com.au – “RFID for Libraries: a comparison of HF and UHF options” – white paper

Kathryn Greenhill – Murdoch Uni, Constance Wiebrands – Curtin Uni
“Libraries Interact: collaboration and community in the Australian library blogosphere”

LINT is one of only two group library blogs in Australia.  Encourages contributions from anyone, as long as they are on-topic. Not aligned with any formal body.

200 hits per day and have 550 subscribers.  22680 hits in December 2007 – includes a lot of spam.  Visitors – 1/6 from Australian, most from US, also readers from Egypt, Netherlands, Canada, UK and Europe.

THALI – this helps all libraries interact – Indian dish with many different tastes.  Spread across the country and across the world.

Platform – self hosted Wordpress – $100 per year.  Plugins to control Spam, for editing, statistics, to apply metadata, backup.  Feedburner is used for RSS feeds and gives an email subscription option.  Tools for collaboration – 90% done using Google groups, PB Wiki for documentation. Social bookmarking using Connotea and CiteULike.

Tools for Australian libraries, based on the blog: Australian Library blogs list, Australian Library blogs search using Google custom search. Surveys. VLINT – Virtual libraries interact.  Frappr map of LINT’s readers.  Thali tags – hot issues in the Australian blogosphere – takes thali blog posts, sends them through a Yahoo pipe and generates a tag cloud. Professional reading room – a page on the blog, where we can put out a list of articles which we think Australian librarians should read – with an RSS feed.

Went live on 8th July 2006 – discussed for a month or so.  Established over the course of a weekend.  Jan 26 2008 – 313 posts, 557 comments.  Very informal group, not written principles.  LINT is a growing, evolving project.  An idea will work only if someone has time to do it, but everyone is available to bounce around ideas – fantastic professional support network.  No single person is in charge – can be a slight disadvantage, but all have a sense of responsibility for LINT.  No formal decision making process, done by informal negotiation and discussion – consensus is accepted by the group.  Assess situations and deal with them as they arise and we don’t create pre-emptive rules.  Highest return for lowest effort.

Community of practice – learning is not a separate activity, it comes from participation in daily life. (citation in paper – Lave and Venga).  Engagement in shared activity facilitates shared learning.  About: LINT is an ongoing process – its about a shared activity, continually negotiated by its members.  All tools we have used have improved our coding, writing and communication skills.  Function: social nature of LINT keeps us focussed, but adds an element of interest and fun to the process, no real difficulty in keeping motivated.  Capability: tangible aspect is the blog, plus the tools that have been created, but the intangibles are almost more important – development of the community, not just the technical community but a support network, which is extremely valuable.  Physical meeting of group members just confirmed the relationships that had been established online.

Survey Monkey was used in September 2007 to survey other group library blogs. 63 responses: uses – professional and was part of their job and was required – learning skills including writing, community – contributing to the profession, and other personal reasons.

Get involved – librariesinteract.info – read, subscribe, comment and write a post to contribute to the blog.

Future: we have a new look but the rest is in planning.

Ellen Forsyth – State Library of NSW
“Fancy walkie talkies: Star Trek communicators or roving reference? (2006 Travel Scholar)”

Travel Scholarship investigated roving reference using walkie talkies, wireless bluetooth, shelf end OPACs and more.  Roving reference in these instances also have a desk, although desks are changing also. Taking the services away from the desk involves changes to the service. Consideration needs to be taken of technology to help the librarian to help the user.

Low tech – OPACs at the extremities of the library, so its on hand when you are in shelves.

Vocera voice command system on a badge hung around the neck, used by some public libraries to assist with staff communication as well as reference.  Needs a good wireless network and was used mainly in very big libraries.  Most libraries have 50 devices, keyed into individuals and all had licences for more, mainly reference staff.  Staff are encouraged to stay logged in all day, but can put them on hold when you don’t want to be disturbed.  Very easy to use, library staff commented on ease of implementation and training.  System was trained in 5 minutes to understand your accent in relation to commands.  Incoming phone calls can be transferred to someone with a badge. Can call individuals, a group or all staff, for emergencies, or help required etc. Telephone reference is being redirected straight to the Vocera badges, instead of ringing a phone, it goes to the rostered reference librarian.  Reference desks are being rebuilt as smaller and less daunting.

Walkie talkies and headsets with earpieces are also being used at some libraries. Radio means you hear every single message, but it worked well at those libraries.

Schubert Foo – Vice Dean SCI Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
“Going virtual for enhanced library experience: a case study of the National Library of Singapore

His website – www.ntu.edu.sg/home/assfoo/

Was impressed with the developments in Librarianship in Australia, as evidenced by the papers and showcases at VALA. Encouraged the audience to share internationally and not think that the innovation can only come from the US or Europe.

National Library Board oversees the National Library and all public libraries in Singapore.

Singapore is a very IT savvy country. As young as 3 year olds are given mobile devices to play and learn with. Everywhere in Singapore, heads are down, using their handheld devices. Government initiative promoting Singapore as an IT island. Social and affluent society, cosmopolitan – coffee drinking is an experience in itself.

Singapore Libraries – brick vs click, collect-organise-store-access, mediator (source to user), authoritative, trusted content

Library users are in the minority and are scholars, researchers, library savvy.  Others find info needs met by search engines, see web info as legitimate and the only source, they think Google, Yahoo, MSN not library, expect instant gratification, find info until is downloadable, expect exception user experience (memorable, unique, exquisitely simple).  How do we find solutions to reach the majority and bring them back to our physical and virtual libraries.

What do hey do to close the gap? Delve into the information space of the users . Make resources more discoverable for them, thus bringing them back to the library.

Mobile phone penetration in Singapore 2007 – 109.1% of the population. SMS Nation – 3rd place afer Malaysia (210) and the Phillipines (846) – with a monthly average of 209 text messages per month.  Relatively cheap to send SMS and is often used to close business deals (no signature required).

Role of library – to connect users to resources that users need, for whatever purposes, in any format, from anywhere, using any device at the time (instantaneous for some) they want it.  Library as an info-concierge – individual info object is a self sustaining, self contained node unit, can be content or service, in any format.  Need to be inter-connected with multiple access points. Upon discovery, an information object becomes an info-concierge with ability to connect to other content (in library or outside) or other information seekers.  Connectivity can be achieved by hyperlinks, different platforms, pusing information – connectivity not necessarily one way.  Evolving a mesh (web) of information.

What’s Next? Browse by subjects, browse by format, recommended relational search, up and coming events, photos and stories to share. This content is harvested rom internal and external resources. Content can be released to spaces tousdie the library to promote discovery.(ie social networking spaces)  Residency in other spaces allows users to use them as best suited for their needs. If they don’t want the content, they can ignore it, but its there if they are interested or a need arises. Example: BookJetty.com.(like Library Thing) but will show if its in a local library or link to an online bookseller for purchase.

Library as a network of inter-connected info-concierges. Requires harvesting of other resources, selecting and authenticating contents, meta-tagging, creating, maintaining and growing taxonomies, information content organisation. Internal – NLS web content and subscribed databases. External – GYM, MICA, IDA, NAS.

Library as a network of true collaborators. Connectivity: content to content, people to content, people to people. Libraries are best placed to provide this. Dialogue/information sharing tools: wikis, blogs, social spaces.  Both library owned and other owned content.  We don’t have to own everything, we need to harvest content that is useful to our users, regardless of source.

In house exhibitions are rendered as far as possible to virtual exhibitions, once the physical one has ended.  National Library of Singapore is a smart building, approximately $300 million. ie. maximised airflow, use of sun and reflecting panels, trees on the 7th floor were chosen from thriving ones in the surrounding area. (book to be published on it soon).

NLS repositioned its reference service to meet users’ changing expectations and consumer lifestyles. Service within reach – SMS reference. Ask a librarian service by phone, one public library has a video conferencing service (no librarian in the branch), email and now SMS. 60 characters in Chinese, up to 160 in English.  Librarian resolves enquiry and enters answers via a standard template.  Reply with a direct answer or a URL. The URL gives more info, including more search terms to use, highlighted resources including notes on where to look in them, links to their availability.  At the end they include feedback questions which the user completes and submits. The answers are kept in a database as a future searchable resource.

Observations: overall positive feedback.  Various types of questions answered. Some users expect instant replies. Usgae rates averages 10-15 enquiries per day. Accessing NLS through Google, Yahoo and MSN. Created Infopedia – articles authored by NLS reference librarians about personalities, places and historical events in Singapore.  Use SEO to make sure it appears high on search engine results.  (infopedia.nlb.gov.sg)  Using Google based content (ie. maps) helps get links to your content. Content usage has increased exponentially with better exposure on the web – from 400 views to 63,000 views per month.  Other micro-sites are being explored.

Collaborative reference network. Making use of community expertise – librarians, researchers, community members. If questions can not be answered, referred to the network of specialists – who will then respond to the query which the librarian will then return to the user.  Uses forum for the discussions occuring over a query, can follow a thread.  Observations: still goes through the library, reference communities can included librairans, experts or others.

Challenges: requires support, experimentation, budget, time and innovation. Future promises excitement for librarians, managers, developers and vendors. Librarians will continue to grapple with constant flux of technological changes, users’ behaviour, users’ expectations and the need to reinvent themselves and continue instilling information literacy knowledge to users.  Need to continually learn about our users.  Referred to the JISC/British Library report on the Google Generation – Information behaviour of the researcher of the future.