Connecting Librarian

It was a great day. Even though I had wireless access, I was having too much fun in the sessions and too busy networking in the times between, to do any blog posting during the day.

An icebreaker activity of teams creating the fartherest flying missile got things off and running and the topics were quickly created and scheduled. And here they are…..

First thing I noticed was that it was a very different group to last year. There were a number of people who attended last years unconference, but at least 70% were attending their first. This means that the knowledge level and interplay with attendees is very different to last year - not bad, just different.

I nominated cloud computing as a topic and was lucky to have the wonderful David Feighan to help me facilitate it, as one of the first groups for the day. We had about 30 people in the room and I was pleased David and I were able to give a mini workshop on the topic, as most people did not know what it was or the implications for libraries, both positive and negative. Fortunately, as we were in the computer room, we were able to show them relevant links and examples that answered some of the questions they were asking.

After morning tea, a group of about 50 got together to talk about social inclusion, the digital divide and the challenges for libraries brought about by the fast changing technology and online environment. We didnt come up with any eye opening solutions to the issue, but it was a good time of revealing all aspects of the issue, including the many types of digital divide that still exist even in this time of high broadband penetration.

It was a beautiful day, so we took the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful food outdoors, along with some great networking with old and new friends.

The first session after lunch for me, was a leadership dynamics session the the days facilitator Ann. A group of 17 librarians became a business creating greeting cards, with different departments and the issues that came with fulfilling the order (and yes, we actually created cards - pretty badly, but we did make them). It was an eye opening session, giving us a great insight, not only into organisations, but also into leadership and even into ourselves.

The final session I again helped facilitate (I nominated one of the topics), this one on the interesting topics of open source, interactive media and mobile platforms. David Feighan (gotta love him), showed us some great things happening in interactive media - including the Portable Film Festival. As David pointed out, many millions are being spent on these websites, but we can still do some things that dont cost the earth, that make our sites more interactive.

With the introduction of the iPhone in Australia and its instant popularity, the need for mobile accessible content is becoming more important. Until phone plans come down in price in Australia, the demand wont be huge, but its something that libraries need to have on their radar. We also discussed QR codes and how libraries may be able to use them.

We also talked about open source software. Many libraries are using Linux on servers, some are even using them on some their public PCs. More than a few libraries offer open source software, such as Firefox, Open Office and the Gimp as well. A couple of libraries are looking at open software OPACs to sit on their proprietary ILSs and there has been discussion in some circles about creating consortia and moving to an Open Source ILS such as Evergreen or Koha, but no serious moves at this stage. It was interesting to hear what is going how and what people are thinking about.

Feedmate from colleagues who wouldnt usually attend such events, was that it was a great networking opportunity and they learnt and were able to share a lot about what we were doing in our libraries that was relevant to the discussion.

The day concluded with door prizes of an iPod and massive chocolate basket - which I unfortunately did not win, and drinks. It was a long day, but well worth it.

Congrats to Chris Mackenzie and the team at Yarra Plenty for another great conference - It was very much appreciated.

There has been a lot of discussion about the divide caused by the internet, with the terms digital native and digital immigrant coined by Marc Prenksy to describe it.

Now, a new study coming out Oxford University is indicating that another description that may work better may be digital residents and visitors.  Dave White posted to the TALL blog on the JISC funded Isthmus project which looks at how students are using the technologies, not at what they are using. The post “Not natives and immigrants, but visitors & residents” summarises what they are discovering in student use patterns.

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It resonates with me, although I don’t know that it is applicable to anyone besides students.  It could well be.  Either way, I consider myself more of a digital native than an immigrant, as I have discussed here before and I am definitely a resident.  What about you?

So what is Connecting Librarian all about?  My byline says it is about “Connecting new ideas and technologies with library service”.  Which it is, but it’s interesting to see whether three years of posts actually reflect this aim.

Enter Wordle.   “Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide.”  When it launched, it could only be used with text you input, but now it does blogs!  So below is the image generated by my blog.

Wordle.net

Interestingly, but unsurprisingly, Conference is very big.  Its not that I go to a lot of conferences, its just that when I do, I blog intensively.  Books is also large, which is very interesting considering that this blog tends to focus on technology.

Anyway, feel free to have a play with Wordle.  You can change colours, shape and more.

Speaking of conferences, I have finally posted my ALIA Dreaming 08 conference photos (maily from the dinner) to my Flickr account.  Feel free to check them out.

No, this is not another post about the conference, but it has been inspired by it, particularly inspired by the wonderful Stephen Abrams, who always manages to inspire.

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Basically, he told us that we need to be dreaming, about our current positions and about the future - our future careers and the future of libraries.  He told some amazing stories about how librarians have had a major impact in law, medicine, engineering, health and much more.  For example, hospitals with libraries have a 20% lower mortality rate!

It was a bit daunting to think of my being a librarian making such a momentous difference, but he had a point about having something to aim for, both now and into the future.

So its being mulling around in the back of my mind whilst we had a family holiday around the Alice Springs and surrounds after the conference.  It still is, because I don’t have a definite dream, just vague ideas of what I want to be doing in my profession, both now and into the future.  And I’m going to share some of those now!

So for now - I want to really push for my library to start doing podcasting.  That means that I will need to push for equipment and then do some training with staff. I’m happy to edit and upload the files, but I can’t be at every event that we wish to podcast.  It may not happen overnight, but I plan to make it happen.

Our website redevelopment has been postponed for a while, so now I’ll get back to working with our team on what we really want our website to include in terms of functionality as well as content, so will start pushing that process too.

Thats not to say that my workplace is not supportive of these things, they are - but like elsewhere, we all got sidetracked or distracted by other things.

For my own professional development, I want to keep presenting, writing papers and doing some more journal articles.  I like being able to contribute to my profession beyond this blog. And I seem to be much better at doing so these days.  This blog is still my focus, although there was a time in recent months when I wondered if I would continue with it, but I got over it and I’m here to stay.

As for the future, as with some things in the present, I’m still mulling over that.  Eventually, I’ll get back into full time work and some sort of more senior management position, although whether I will be looking at more technical services, or more customer services, I don’t yet know.  My passion is virtual services and it neatly straddles both those areas.  Maybe the job I want doesn’t exist yet.  I am pretty sure I want to stay in public libraries, although if the right job came along, I would definitely consider the change.

So that’s where my dreams are hopefully taking me at present.  Rejuvenating my focus in my current job and giving me some sort of direction for the future.  I think its important that we continue to dream and give ourselves a focus, both for the benefit of our libraries and users and for our own professional development.  To quote Kathryn Greenhill - Librarians Matter - as does the work we do and the people we serve.

Not only have the conference presentations been good, as will the papers Im sure, but I have to post about the social side as well. The networking opportunties have been great.

It started on Tuesday night with a welcome reception and the opening of the trade exhibit. Drinks and horses doovers met everyone who had mostly arrived on librarian full planes from all Australian capitals on Monday and Tuesday. We were entertained by Drums Atemwe – a group of young indigenous girls who captured our attention with their beats and smooth moves.

On Wednesday morning I attended the first-timers breakfast – with lovely food and new faces. Met some lovely people from around the country and across library sectors. I even met up with an old friend, who I last saw at our shared workplace 18 years earlier. For everyone who remembers who, Marita Thompson sends her greetings to all who used to be at DVRLS.

Wednesday night was Happy Hour followed by the Australian Premiee of the Hollywood Librarian documentary movie. Even though I had read reports and seen snippets from it I didnt know what to expect. Appropriately armed with popcorn, I was pleasantly surprised, it was an enjoyable, insightful and emotional look into the public library scene in the USA at present. Ann Seidl, the producer, director etc here and shared both with us on the night and with individuals at the trade exhibit the next morning. It will be screening in Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide in coming months, so check it out if you can.

Thursday morning I attended the ALS Breakfast, which I have already blogged about separately. Thursday night was the awesome conference dinner. About 600 people were bused 30 minutes out of Alice Springs to Ooraminna Homestead – most of that way on corrugated dirt roads. We arrived to find an open arena, with beautifully laid out tables out in the open resting on that amazing red sandy soil. We found out during the course of the evening that the buildings surrounding us were built as a movie set for a film which never eventuated. Our MC, the son-in-law of the owners, was friendly, irreverent and hilarious. The food was BBQ style with the option of steak or barramundi – the steak was mmmmmmmm! We did some star gazing which was amazingly easy in the middle of nowhere, led by an amateur astronomer, learnt some line dancing and boogied away to live music. It was a great night.

Friday morning was a late start fortunately. We finished the day with farewell drinks and a visit from some of our reptilian natives. It wa very amusing to watch as several people bolted as the handler brought out the python for a look see. A large group of Victorian public and other librarians went out for dinner in Alice to finish off a great social time.

I was fortunate to spend most of my conference time with two good friends, inspirational to me in their own ways. Thanks Melissa and Glenn for helping to make it such a good time.

ALA and the intersection of indigenous library services and values - Dr Loriene Roy - University of Texas

As ALA president, you get money for assigned tasks, an assistant etc ($250,000) and then $100,000 for programs. Routine duties include communications ie. presidential message quarterly reports and much more such as greetings, blogs, messages, cards/greetings. It also involved talking to media - she gave 150 interviews and did a media day amongst other things. Did 60 presentations worldwide and innumberable national presentations,including state and national organisations, as well as selected local events.

Chairing the executive board, the executive council, ALA council, ALA-APA executive board, ALA-APA council. Made more appointments than the speaker of the house - 250 in all. Appointments to ALA committees as members and chairs and task forces. Then there were ALA Presidential initiatives which included an Indigenous project.

Workplace wellness included a website, a wellness passport, workplace wellness inventory, tips for health conference travel and a workplace wellness fair with a wellness pavilion where they taught seated exercises.

Supporting LIS Education through practice include education forums, a book - Service learning and meetings with relevant organisations.

CIrcle of Literacy - Gathering of readers with schools from around the world in April 13-19 2008.

Indigenous writings were highlighted through writers, teen graphic novels, many voices-many nations performance event at the ALA conference.

Demonstration projects included National Library Camps - got grant info to develop this, Capturing our stories - developing a national oral history program of retiring librarians, Meeting effectiveness - tip sheets and podcasts on how to improve your meetings - also has a website.

Fun stuff included handing out gaming awards, gave out citations on innovation in international librarianship, had a theme of celebrating community, collaboration and culture.

It was a year of gifts - the dance of Honor, the Inauguration event, tribal community connections, renewing friendships.

Now - member of ALA Council, Executive Board and Committee. Chair of some committees and liason between ALA and other organisations. She is doing work for IFLA and will return to teaching at UT. Gets to be past-president forever! Check her out on Facebook.

Not been easy to stand in front of rooms, but it has been well worth it , both personally and professionally.

I was fortunate enough to be invited by Patricia Genat to attend the ALS Breakfast during the ALIA Dreaming 08 conference. Over a lovely pancake breakfast we had a casual conversation with Margie Seale from Random House on publishing trends and the scene in the Australian industry.

Margie began by saying that she was impressed by our library websites and what we do with them, that they are not just about information.

The retail market for books has 3 major segments: discount department
stores like Kmart and BIg W, with 22% of the market, chain bookstores like Dymocks, Borders and A&R with 50% of the market and independent bookstores with 25%. The latter is a fast disappearing breed in the US, due to price competition, which has also resulted in a lack of diversity. In Australia, our markets is very vibrant, generally successful and still very diverse.

The Book Scan service has helped suppliers and publishers to recognise
trends and ajdust their business strategy on the fly as the trends are revealed.

The 2008 top sellers in Australia so far are: Ingredients, Underbelly, Change of heart by Piccoult and Breath by Winton. Last year it was The Secret, ahead of the adult edition of Harry Potter and the deathly hallows. For childrens books, this year so far has been Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyers and last year was Harry Potter. Interestingly, many of the attendees
were not aware of many of these titles, because they were mainly managerial staff.

At present, the big sellers in each of the markets are; Breaking Dawn in the chain bookstores, Very hungry caterpillar in the discount department stores and Gallup in the independents. The US top titles at present are New Earth - a republishing of Eckhardt Tolls book an the Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. The same titles will follow here as our markket is similar to the US. In the UK, the top titles are A thousand splendid suns and the latest Delia Smith cookbook.

Across all 3 markets there are only 3 books in common in the top 10 bestsellers - Atonement, Kite runner and A thousand splendid suns. Australia and UK have 5 titles in common, Australia and US have 8 in common and the US and UK only have those 3.

The Australian market leans slightly towards the US in trends. If a title is going to work here though, it does so quickly. However, UK covers and formats work better here. Why? Margie believes because it is better quality, more stylish, more anglo is design. Our covers are more subtle, not so blatant.

An issue of interest to the book industry at present is the 30/90 rule, which is under review. The rule was introduced in the 1990s to allow certainty of copyright and to provide consumers with titles in a timely manner. Publishers buy rights for a territory so only they can bring the title in. This means that publishers had to publish that title within 30 days of it being
published in English anywhere else in the world. If it goes out of stock, publishers have 90 days to restock. If neither of these conditions is met the copyright is lost and the title goes back to the open market.

The government is reviewing this and looking at making Australia a totally open market, where anyone can bring in titles from anywhere at any time. The UK and US markets are not considering doing this at present.

Booksellers say that it will bring book prices down. Publishers are concerned that they will not be able to invest in new authors, because they wont have the certainty of their protected business to support the risk. It may also put Australian book printers out of business.

Drivers for this change? US currency makes US book prices look cheap. The
Australian Booksellers Association is in support of the change, although not necessarily all of its members. As for the book printing business, although colour printing is done overseas, 50-60% of Random Houses black and white printing is done in Australia. The rule has been reviewed several times over the years, so this is only the lastest in a series. It will be interesting to see what develops.

Margie Seale was an engaging speaker. It was interesting to hear the publishing perspective and see how it matched with the borrowing behaviours we see in our libraries.

Changing library types - the journey from joint use to public library - Kimberley Hargrave

In SA, community libraries were established in the 70s and 80s. Of the 142 public libraries in SA, just over 1/3 are joint use. There is an agreement in place outlining the responsibilities, funding etc.

The Two Wells library operated at the Primary School since 1983. In July 2006 the Council opted to have their own library, which was launched in 2007. It opened in the Two Wells Institute. Such a split is a rare occurence in SA.

In 2004-2005 a new joint use agreement was being negotiated and that was the time for reassessment. A new agreement was finalised in 2006, but was reviewed in May 2006 and a statistical snapshot was conducted. In July 2006, Mallala Council opted not to renew the agreement. August the library staff visited their future home and vision for the library was defined.

September 2006 they developed change management tools, purchased the Spydus system. October 2006 they reviewed magazines coordinated the asset division and received donated shelving.

November 2006 they undertook training, management committee had last meeting, resources reviewed. December 2006 - joint library closed, moved resources and had broadband installed. Jan 2007 - the move, but without a phone for 2 weeks.

Feb 2007 - opened to the public, promoted and worked without computers. March 2007 - trained on Spydus, which finally went live in May - when the library was officially launched.

Library open 28.5 hours per week, with other branches open very short hours. Slight reduction from the joint use library, but open longer on school holidays. Good reception to the hours opened.

Challenges - design and fitout of the library was limited due to preexisting bookings of the facility, the heritage nature of the building and budget. Donations assisted with the budge restrictions, with more than half the shelving and the circulation desk being donated.

Higher loan figures in many collections, reference requests, internet access, access to Council services and more. Very positive feedback on the new library.

Review the change process regularly, celebrate achievements, list all tasks and network with local colleagues. Dont implement a new ILMS, dont be afraid to ask for help, dont paint laminate, keep participating in your profession. Remember to maintain a good work life balance, take more photos, provide recognition, include everyone in the journey.

The future: increase and improve marketing, stocktake, development of the local history collection, review library policies and procedures.

Question: what was the schools response to the change. Mostly positive as they were happy to get the extra space, have the security of school attendees only and they were able to take their library in a new direction, not problem free, but handled well.

Question: how using volunteers. In move, packing and unpacking. Now general circulation and currently writing job descriptions for them.

Libraries to 2025: turning dreams for new public libraries into reality - Carolyn Robertson

Greater Christchurch area is expected to grow by 50,000 in the next 20 years. They have 18 community libraries an 2 joint use libraries, with 70% membership. Over 1.1 million items, 6 million loans, 3.8 million visits.

The plan began in 2005, at the completion of a 10 year library development plan, but no new libraries were identified and no capital funding assigned for the next 10 years. In early 2006, surburban libraries and a mobile were identified for potential closure due to budget restrictions - was overturned.

Library planning proper didnt restart until 2007. It is not an asset management or refurbishment plan or facility plan. Built within the framework of local government, educational and national strategies, both government and library.

Collaboration and consultation with local governments, the public and staff. Partnership was a guiding principle. Used an external working party which gave them a cross section of representation, included key stakeholders and gave them Council and community buy-in at an early stage in the process.

The plan - criteria for future library planning (effectiveness, efficiency, affordability, equity), size-function and range of services, options development, identify priority areas. They modified their hierarchy of libraries to metropolitan, suburban, neighbourhood and rural outreach and other. Priority areas were identified, by looking at growth, community need, asset condition, resulting in the 51 options reducing to 28.

Stakeholder engagement also undertaken through meetings, newsletters, market research, online surveys, targetted community events survey and staff workshops. Asked the same questions of all groups.

Public participation included public forums, public participations, one on one and group invitations, public hearings and feedback, which ended in the final plan.

Plan supports options for a new central library, recommends 3 new libraries (1 a larger replacement), replace a current library due to poor condition. More projects other than the capital developments are also outlined, which include 7 day opening, a library cafe, review of services in smaller libraries and volunteer library arrangements. Partnerships will also be reviewed in line with criteria established.

Adoption of the plan is no guarantee of funding - which is being developed at present along other Council budget reviews. Final sign off will be in June 2009.

Have learned that the Working Party was a successful model, lots of work to support this though, use of language is important (dont use closure), repeat key images continuously, make connections. Overall has been a very rewarding experience.

Redevelopment and reinvention: rethinking reference services at SLQ - Vicki McDonald and Sandra Duffield

Planning framework was service delivery groups - had to rethink current services,how they were delivered and how they could be delivered in future. This included client empowerment and encompassed service delivery and building design.

The Info Zone was developed and is distinctive in its lack of shelving. Staff rove and provide assistance at point of need. Talking and eating in this space are allowed here. Clients are able to access the catalogue and the internet without authentication in stand up and sit down system and uses a queueing rather than the booking system which is used throughout the rest of the library.

One of the most successful services offered was wireless - which is available 24/7 without authentication. It will extend to the whole building soon and will comprise a separate network for staff and clients.

e-services card is available for clients to book a PC on upper library levels, call slip an item, access databases- both done remotely and locally, copy, print and more.

Once in the new library, the review continued but moved away from building considerations. They undertook a value management study and surveys. The study reviewed teh delivery of reference services to individual clients. The study recommendations confirmed earlier study as well as NSLAs strategic plan. The survey was client exit from upper levels only and mystery shopper and onsite only. Survey found that staff skills, behaviour, knowledge an experience and clients satisfaction was based on the entire experience of the library and resulted in a 80% satisfaction rate.

Latte Librarian was trialled at the Library Cafe - with a coffee and a laptop - highly desired slot, but finished early due to the low uptake of service and the instability of the wireless access. Once wireless is expanded, the trial will be continued.

IM reference is being trialled during business hours, using Meebo from the Ask Now page and no results page on the catalogue. They have been very happy with the response so far to this offering.

Convict Transportation Registers database is now available to all web users - the result of 12 years of volunteer work. Much international recognition for this. Can be accessed via Google.

Re-imagining library services: a new collaborative vision by Alan Smith - NSLA

NSLA comprises the Australian state, territory, national libraries and the national library of New Zealand. They are working to build the next stage of libraries for our users. The 4 key points and 10 projects are making way and getting librarians out of the way.

One library, transforming our culture and accessible content are the core of what they are trying to achieve. 5 year plan with a central office to help push it forward.

Do it now - SLV - opening up services
Access now - NLA and NLNZ - one library card
Virtual reference - SLV - next generation of online reference - not looking at the next version of Ask Now
Delivery - SLWA - being able to deliver content into peoples hands, wherever they are
Community created content - SLQ and NLNZ - communities of geographic and interest, being able to create their own digital libraries
Creating culture - SLSA - organising and storing
Collaborative collections - SLNSW and SLQ - trying to limit duplication and improve resource sharing - consortial arrangements
Flexible cataloguing - improving access to content - reengineering cataloguing
Scaling up digitisation - industrialise it, working on business case for significant national investment
Connecting and discovering content - NLA - improve coverage and quality of data, partnerships to improve discovery - a common catalogue interface and a national metadata store.

Big Stuff - Library Challenges - Stephen Abram - Sirsi-Dynix Institute

We need to tell good stories - tell each other about the good things that happen, not the bad, which is what we usually do.

Stephen said that our stuff is awesome, we are in good standing amongst the libraries of the world. We need to let go of the nostalgia. Change has been really slow relatively speaking, especially compared to the baby busters. Big changes coming, which will be fun if you like riding a roller coaster.

What are we going to do to get good results for our users - how can we negate the skewed results of search engine optimisation - where anyone can make sure their content, true or not, lists high in results.

Some people have 40 year careers. Ensure it is 40 years of incrementally better years, not just the same thing year after year. Choose to make the difference. You need to put your meat in the game = professionals commit.

Libraries matter - the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation grants is just one example. Stephen gave a long list of examples where librarians are making a real difference, doing things that get people connected to the net and to the information they need, saving money, saving lives, saving our culture and our history and so much more. We need to tell our government about the competitive edge that libraries give Australia. Who do you think built Yahoo - librarians were pulled in to make it work.

What is the competitive advantage we have in our environment? The difference between us the internet is us - sensitive, intelligent, helpful - we are not a list. Put ourselves out there, with photo and social networking profile. Show who we are as well as what we can do.

DREAM BIG - start small, but dream big.

We dont know every little moment of truth that happens in the library. We can be the human touch for people. We may never know the difference we make to each individual.

Democracies persist because of libraries. Its not coincidence that libraries are often the first casualty of war. Librarians protect freedom of information, giving access to all, regardless of what our opinion of it is - we are truly bipartisan.

We have to learn the things that are making a difference, improving service to our users. If you dont want to learn, then get out of the profession.

We are a global profession, a bottomless network. Every librarian has hundreds of moments of truth, where we fight for our freedom, save lives, cure disease, challenge poverty and ignorance. Not dreaming 08, but dreaming big. Say yes every chance you get, encourage others and dont get discouraged. Those who say it cant be done, get out of the way of those who are already doing the impossible.

We are about books, we dont have to advertise that, what we do need to advertise is that we have people who can help you with just about anything. Show who we are and what we can do.

Web 2.0 is about things you can do and people you know. When you go online do you see people you know. You need to be where your users are, otherwise you are on a march to irrelevance.

Stuff will change faster now - by 2020, all content ever created will fit on an iPod. Video games outsell most content combined, ringtones are huge! Pocket size devices will dominate, the devices coming out are about having ubiquitous access on your person.

New? Semantic web, the cloud, no choice search engines, GIS oriented search, virtually unlimited fulltext books, streaming media and spoken word search, personalisation 3.0, microblogging, registries and so much more.

Normal now is RSS, blogs, YouTube, social networks tagging, wikis, SEO and GIS. If libraries arent involved in that, then they are behind. Resist the library culture of poverty, victimisation, risk aversion and passive resistance. We have to pass the chasm of early adopters and into the space of early majority. We have a technology lifecycle, we have to get on the curve early and stay there.

If we dont get into social networking, then we are going to miss it when they progress to the next stage - this is just the tip of the iceberg.

So what should libraries be paying attention to? The user-centred universe, be more open to users paths. A few things to do right away - the time is now! Need to play, pilot, trial, experiment. Mobile is important, confirm your presence, be where your users are, how your presence appear - personal,, professional; get good at the cloud (where users are going), play at e-books, get serious at literacy (dont use that term for users) and check out XML, get serious about e-learning, care about our cultures, just expand, know that most physical objects are dead, get real about influence, the next generation content.

Humans are our competitive edge. Be open to lifelong learning, our careers have seasons, need to have reciprocal mentoring - peers, be important, we can invent the future and make a difference. Just have some fun! Dream big!