I had the great pleasure of attending the latest stop in the Shanachie Tour down under, held today at the State Library. I introduced myself to them before we started, and as expected, to be absolutely delightful and a joy to chat with. I looking forward to seeing them also at NLS4 on Friday.
So heres my live blogging of the event.
They showed us part of a video of the LBI Shanachie tour of the USA, which told stories of innovation in libraries in the USA, as discovered on tour in 2007. Eric spoke about the need for libraries in the future, for the benefit of our grandchildren, against the expectation that libraries will not be around in future, because the internet will be all everyone needs.
DOK is looking for partners in innovation – have already established a partnership with Darien Library in the US. Looking for a library in Australia to have a concept centre – in partnership with DOK.
They spoke about how the tour started – by being thrown out of the Internet Librarian International conference. You will have to check it out. They highly recommended the conference (I would love to go sometime).
They then showed a short interview with Jenny Levine – the Shifted Librarian, on gaming for a gaming conference they were involved with in the Netherlands. (DOK has been lending games since 1996)
Their videos are at http://www.vimeo.com/shanachietour.
Libraries should be involved in gaming, as at least 30% of the population is involved in it.
Showed a video on Kankakee Library and their gaming program. They used gaming as part of a program which helps teens to develop their social, cooperative, negotiation and other skills – much needed skills for the future workforce. Kankakee has found ways to slide technological skills, reading, writing and more into the gaming they offer.
Their interview with Michael Stephens from Tame the Web talked about how Web 2.0, gaming etc, if used within the mission of the library, can be very powerful. They are tools to be used by libraries for a purpose, not to be used for coolness sake. Libraries can level the playing field, by giving people a place to try new technologies, use fast internet access and more.
Everything is subject to change!
This first trip with Jenny and Michael on gaming, led to the idea of the full Shanchie tour, which they started 7 months after the first one week visit to Chicago. This tour expanded the focus to Web 2.0 and took them across the country, doing video interviews as they went. They would edit their videos whilst still travelling and then find a park for their Winnebago where they could upload the edited content from the day.
They started in New York City. (I love how they do their videos, theyre awesome). Quote mentioned by Eric in the video – the Universe is made of stories, not atoms. Wow! You have to watch this video inteview with Paul Holdengraber – he has great ideas and is inspiring as to what libraries can and should reach for and achieve.
The first question asked of an audience member was about whether libraries should be taking over some of the education that schools undertake. Should libraries be encouraging imagination was asked next. How can it be achieved? – by relaxing rules, creating spaces and giving potential for creativity to happen. Is the librarian in Australia ready to do this – in general no, but there are leaders in the field who are paving the way for this to happen.
After New York, they went to PLCMC and the Imaginon Library, where they spoke with Matt Gullett about the future of libraries and technology in them. Spoke of containers holding information and culture and which form, whether its print, video, online or other and determining the best form for that content. Sees libraries as becoming more community, learning areas – where innovation can be learnt about and also created. Pointed out that the book is one of the best technologies ever created.
The PLCMC visit inspired them to look at portable gaming and they created a portable gaming unit. They showed a video on it. Cool! And its controlled with a remote – the flatscreen monitor rising out of the box is a beauty to behold! (should have been accompanied by the them from 2001: a Space Odyssey) There is definite interest in getting them in Australia, so the DOK guys will be looking at the possibilities of doing this.
The next round of questions was about gaming in Australia. Not much at moment, but its starting to happen. YPRL has started with 2 Wiis at Lalor Library, where they have just started running gaming nights, which they will hold monthly after the library closes next year. Teens were keen, but pizza and manga are great motivations. For some libraries, dealing with Council IT departments, finances, space and other restrictions, is a barrier to having gaming in our libraries. Convincing the public is also a problem, when they dont understand the benefits of gaming and dont see why libraries should be offering it.
Another problem is that a lot of our staff have trouble dealing with young people. Need to see how young people use technology, so we need to change our setups to suit the way they work, whilst still meeting the needs of other users. Gaming is not just about the electronic, its also about board games, lego and more.
They showed another video, this of Michael Stephens Dominican University students and what their hope for libraries of the future. Michael sees the library of the future as encouraging his heart, inspiring and encouraging him and he prompted his students to go and run with their ideas. We should do the same.
After Michael and his students in Illinois, they went to Salt Lake City. Andrew from Salt Lake City Library shared that the library of the future will be more interactive, where people can come together in a neutral playing field, where discourse will be elevated, opposing viewpoints will be respected and heard. The future librarian will be very different to that of the past – we should keep looking to the future, in our own communities and in the wider world and keep responding to our user needs, whist always staying tech savvy.
What skills should librarians of the future have? Willing to make partnerships, work with opportunities that arise – in next 5 years we will be able to work with young people – eg. early childhood literacy, gaming programs and more. Libraries will be important with civic engagement – we need more great people to do that. The library of the future will continue to need to be a welcoming place for all, where people can do what they wish to do. Need to also remember the baby boomers, not just the very young – we have the staff to do it, just need the ideas.
They finished their USA tour in Monterey.
After a short break, where I caught up with a few library friends I hadnt seen in years, we watched a short video interview with Stephen Abram – VicePresident for Innovation at SirsiDynix. Stephen summarised his presentation as our profession being in a renewal, a renaissance in preparation for a future where information is unlimited, but it is not only in print. We need to be open and flexible to different learning styles. He has discovered that people go into libraries for learning and community, which we need to be open to. He said a lot whole more, all of which is well worth watching. We need to be experiential and learn by playing.
The next tour was Jamaica (lifes tough) and we watched a short video of whats happening there.
We then watched a virtual tour of DOK. He showed us a great tool called PicLens from CoolIris, which does fun things with your Flickr images – cant wait to play with that!
Check out nearly 3500 photos of DOK Delft on Flickr.
DOK is in Delft, with a population of 96,000. The library is in an old supermarket and although it has been renovated, amny architectural features from the supermarket remain.
DOK has free wifi, with no login required. They have signage on the their wooden floors – very colourful and very obvious. (way cool) All collections are on wheels, giving the whole library great flexibility. The shelves are organised so that the bottom shelf can be used as a step up to reach the top shelves. Shelving is made from recycled wood and was cheaper than conventional library shelving and are slightly inclined so that books dont fall off. They have a staff member dedicated to applying for grants and seeking sponsorship. Some of this money was used to purchase sonic chairs, where you can listen to music with your whole body! Whole building is wireless and they have internet telephony – 155 megabit speed – as a result, they can live stream music and videos to the sonic pod.
Lighting is very important, as are the comfort of library users and this is reflected in the seating and the architecture.
They lend art, with the option to buy. They have built their own ILS. The consult to other libraries – wow!
They are fully RFID with their 240,000 items. Self serve checkin and checkout. Checkin is one item at a time, checkout can be multiple. They have a pay station on hand, for coffees as well as library charges. Get a recipe from their website, go to the supermarket on site, pick up the ingredients for it from a special display, scan their library card at the checkout and get a 25% discount on those ingredients – omg!
Using Wiis for narrowcasting on 12 big screens around the library, pushing out information. Can also be used for gaming. Have a coffee corner and no restrictions on food and drink in the library. Have a portal for downloading content to mobile phones, using bluetooth – including audio books, music, online magazines. Portals will be able to be installed in community locations. Next iteration of the portal will use touch screens.
Quote = Life is all about having more fun than you can think and it starts at the Library.
They are lending games, including Nintendo DS games and iPod touches. Will have a shop next year which will sell technology and LBI T-shirts as well as library souvenirs.
Finished with a 5 minute video on DOK – a library concept centre. Quote – the most important collection – people.
Question: do DOK staff do outreach to the community – do a summer camp in the country with about 150 kids where they do workshops on creating video, art etc. They have a partnership with health services. Library is used 5 nights a week for programs.
Question: is there a music compilation available? Not at this stage. Different music on the DVD (with the book) to that which we saw on the digital videos.
Question: whats the rest of their trip? Going home on the 7th. At SLV tomorrow and then NLS4 for rest of Friday and Saturday.
Question: what do you look for in staff? Their staff reflect their users, women in their 30s and 40s.
And that was it, a wonderful afternoon. Look for more over the next two days from NLS4.
