Connecting Librarian

Today I spent a half-day completing my Level 2 First Aid Course – an update from having learned it a couple of years ago, after a very long separation in time before that.

Wow, how things have changed, both since I first completed the course in the 90′s and even to two years ago.  Not only were the changes interesting, but what humanity has learned about the human body and has therefore impacted on our ability to provide improved First Aid, is amazing. (if you ever see me, ask me what I learned about potential spinal cord injuries – very interesting).

It was also great to reinforce things I have already learned, especially when it has not been used, but you want to be able to access the information from somewhere in your memory when the need arises.

Which just reminded me that is becoming so much more difficult to function effectively in our world today, without being on a continual lifelong learning track.

I am fully committed to ongoing professional development in librarianship and regularly plan, attend, provide and seek out new learning for myself and staff at my library. But I had not really thought of a personal development plan.

Of course that means that my reading/training/seeking (at least in my own time) is going to broaden quite dramatically, but I am always keen to learn, regardless of what it is, so I am sure I will come up with a way to make it happen. Having inquisitive kids is very helpful for this, as is being a reference librarian, because if I don’t have the answers to the questions they ask, I will find one.

So my personal learning program may be distinctly more casual than my professional, but it will definitely be worth the investment.

Do you have a personal learning plan, totally separate to your professional one?  I would love to hear about it if you do.

I normally don’t weigh in with a blog post when there is a heavy topic in library blogging, but am going to on this one because of my own particular interest and experience of late.

If you haven’t already caught the discussion on libraries, their mission and 3D printers, I recommend you do so first.  In particular:

• Hugh Rundle: Mission creep – a 3D printer will not save your library (http://hughrundle.net/2013/01/02/mission-creep-a-3d-printer-will-not-save-your-library/)
• R. David Lankes: Beyond the bullet points: missing the point and 3D printing (http://quartz.syr.edu/blog/?p=1567)
• Phil Bradley: 3D printing – is it for libraries? (http://philbradley.typepad.com/phil_bradleys_weblog/2013/01/3d-printing-is-it-for-libraries.html)

First off, I want to say I agree with a lot of what these guys are saying and I cheer them for having the conversation and making me think about where I am on this particular topic.

So, 3D Printers and libraries.  Where am I on this issue?  Firmly on the side of I want one!  But of course, for myself personally I will have to wait until the technology becomes mainstream enough that I can have one on my desk at home.  The whole idea of 3D printing just fascinates me.

Where does that leave my library.

Technolust? – I can be blinded by this as much as anyone. But my technolust is not going to get me the funds needed to buy a 3D printer for my library.  My management team does not have the same affliction as I do, so it will take good reasons and a well presented case to justify such an addition to our library.  And I would not present such a case to them, without knowing whether it is something our community wants or needs and that we can sustain over time. Grant money for such things is well and good, but you need to have the funds available to maintain new technology, once the grant monies disappear.  With the current financial situation, there are no excess funds to be spent on what some would consider to be trivialities – so something else would likely have to go to enable such an addition to be purchased. 

Lifelong learning?

My library’s mission statement:

Imagine:        Library services that encourage creativity and growth.
Explore:         A pathway to a worldwide range of knowledge and information
Understand:   High quality resources to inform and support life-long learning

The vision statement is: To inform and inspire our community. 

Funnily enough, nowhere in there does it say anything about books or any particular format at all.  We run seminars that are hugely popular and involve no hard containers whatsoever, just the spoken words of the presenter. Experience is, after all, just another form of information communication. Being a highly visual person, I find experience is a just teacher and invaluable for helping me to remember things. How much more valuable would it be for people to be able to use these new technologies, such as 3D printing, in a safe and open environment. They can learn, they can explore, they can discover.  So many libraries now have tech tool kits which enable library users to borrow (either in the library or to take home), to experience using such devices.  I wouldn’t suggest lending 3D printers at this stage, but couldn’t it be an expansion of such a kit?  Isn’t that what our users want?

Community?

This is one I had never thought of until one recent night.  I ended up going to an open night (with hubby of course) run by Connected Community Hackerspace group (http://www.hackmelbourne.org/), where they were demonstrating 3D printing. (check out the photos on Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/tang02/sets/72157632510795414/). It was fascinating.  They had about half a dozen printers of various vintages and types, with three beavering away at creating things.  Nothing mind blowing, but the process was rather hypnotic and we caught ourselves several times just watching the printers at work.

Also had a chat with a few members of the group about the printers, (some had been built from scratch – most had been ‘hacked’ to a certain extent), how they were used, the advances in 3D printing and more. My epiphany moment however, came at the end when I was talking to the group’s president Andy.

We got talking libraries and this sort of tech and it seems that the State Library of Victoria had already had discussions with him. (Go SLV!).  He could see definite possibilities for libraries in this tech space, because of their locations, good reputation and accessibility to all.  He described a vision that I found intriguing and could see the potential for.

His vision was one where there were specific libraries, say four around Melbourne, that were set up as community Hacker/Maker spaces. They had the 3D printing, the laser cutters and all the other equipment that you read out in existing library and/or community hacker/maker spaces. They also had people there to run classes and assist the community with their projects in these spaces. He also saw 3D printers in most libraries as manufacturers move to a future, where replacement parts are printed on demand. So for example, if your oven dial was to break, instead of ordering a new part, you would be sent the plan, take it to a library, where they would use the 3D printer to print a new one for you. Quicker for the consumer, no need for stock control for the manufacturer.  And this was just one small example.

This idea intrigued me and got me thinking. It would take a lot of funding and staffing (neither of which is in ready supply at present) to make this ideal a reality. What could make it happen in the shorter term, which would meet the needs of all involved?

One of our libraries has space within our building for a family history group.  They have all their collections/resources/equipment housed there and members can access it anytime the library is open (which is 61 hours per week).  They also open to the public several sessions a week, asking only for a gold coin donation.  Could a similar model work for a maker/hackerspace?

There are maker/hacker groups out there, looking to expand, looking for space, looking for members and more.Could this type of arrangement work for the groups, for the libraries and for their communities?   Could we find space in a few of our libraries for these groups to set-up, on the proviso that they have publicly available time and give access to their equipment? I like to hope so, but I don’t know if it could and what sort of model we would need to make it work. And even if there is, I don’t know if my library is the one where it could/would happen.  But I aim to keep investigating. 

3D printers – they are about technolust, but they are also about lifelong learning and they are about community. That’s worth looking into.

I love learning new things.  These are just some of the reasons:

• I’m curious
• I like knowing things
• I like knowing answers to questions people ask
• I like knowing something about things people are talking about
• I’m a sticky beak (some people might say a know-it-all)
• I’m a librarian – that’s what I do!

I learn from doing – I’m very task oriented.  I learn from reading – I am doing a lot of catching up at the moment, of reading of articles that I thought were important at the time I saw them, but didn’t have time to read at the time.  I also like reading fiction – from which I also learn a lot. I learn from watching TV, especially from dramas, comedies, mysteries and many more non-documentary shows. I learn from listening to the radio, from listening to others, from emails, blogs, Twitter, Facebook and so much more online……

But what is all the point of this learning……  Could it be learning just for the sake of it?

No, I discover I like learning, so that I can teach.

So that I can have the answer, or know where to find it when someone asks the question. To be able to help someone when they don’t know there’s an easier way to do something.

I have a young colleague that I do a monthly weekend shift with. She has told me on numerous occasions that she considers the day is truly useful if she comes away from the day having learnt at least one new thing from me.  I am amazed and delighted to admit that she has not had many disappointing shifts in that respect. We almost always find something new that I teach her – some not so important, some time saving, some very useful to her work, but something new nearly every time.

What we learn is most valuable, when we can teach it to someone else.  It can be discovering facts for your manager who needs it for future planning.  It can be finding a new way to complete a task more efficiently in the library.  It can be what the weather is doing on a stinking hot Melbourne day and when the cool change is coming through…….

Learning is important ALL LIFE LONG, for personal knowledge, but also for teaching – for sharing with as many others as would like to learn or who need to hear.

And that last part is a lesson to be learnt all in itself – how to teach to those who want or don’t want to be taught……..

I like being made to think. I like having to answer questions and reconsider how things are happening or how they could be done. Or who I am and what I do.

But I also like routine. I like going about my usual tasks and doing things and knowing what I am doing. And being questioned on any of these things can be a challenge.

Notice the dilemma?

Today I have been challenged in my thinking and in my processes in a few different ways.

First off, was my annual appraisal. As expected, it went pretty smoothly, but what was unexpected was a few words of caution on some things I have done or do. As I have noted in an earlier post, its sometimes hard to hear criticism, but fortunately this wasn’t. It was good advice from a good manager, advice which I plan to and hope to be able to take and make work properly.

Second was a seminar we had at our library tonight, which I chaired. It was about children with learning difficulties. It made me think about the issues that not only children but adults with the same difficulties experience. And the fact that we will have those people in our libraries everyday. And that without knowing their backgrounds, we have to provide good customer service to them, as we do with everyone else who comes through our doors and that this may take more patience and perseverance that we usually require and may need us to look at things in different ways. What a challenge.

Third was a new TV show I watched tonight, which made me think about what I am getting from the television that I watch. Ironic I know.  But maybe now I’ll watch TV with a bit more thought and investigate a bit more fully before taking on board what they say is happening. Its not like we’re lacking in the resources to do that anymore.

So its been a thought provoking day. It doesn’t happen everyday and for that I am a little bit thankful as I don’t know if I could handle that much introspection.

Ever have days like that? 

Just getting a few things done before heading off to do a late shift and visiting a few of my regular websites that I go to for information on a regular basis.  Yes, amazingly I still use the Internet for more than social networking, banking, photos, communication, game playing and fan fic reading, etc etc.

My most commonly visited information websites are:

• Bureau of Meteorology – which I read recently has taken out a number of national and international awards – deservedly so
• Google Maps – for those new places I need to visit
• My Library website – including the catalogue
• Herald-Sun newspaper, just to touch base with the news of the day, especially if I miss the radio in the morning
• Libraries Stack Exchange
• A wide range of blogs
• And of course, if its the weekend, its the AFL website to watch the footy scores.

What are your most visited information websites?

Online learning: eMpowering eFutures through developing staff capability at Monash University Libraries – Lisa Smith and Steven Yates

Monash University Libraries has 6 libraries in Australia and 2 overseas, with 260+ FTE staff, including casuals. They work in partnerships with faculties and other areas of the university. They offer increasingly interactive and engaging resources, services, tools and spaces.

Program was founded on both the unversity’s and the library’s Digital Education strategies, which has a blended learning approach.

The library’s strategy is underpinned by a research approach, which consists of four areas – methods and approaches to development of self, develop staff capability, identifying content and exploration of tools and learning environments.

Capability: training, providing tools and standards, consultation.

The aims of the course were toe develop the knowledge and skills of Library staff to create e-learning tutorials using Adobe Captivate and to create several useful online tutorials (some of which are created by staff).

Course was run in Moodle, using a constructivist learning approach and involved 12 task based activities and 3 workshops, with real life outcomes which matched up to important milestones and was a blended learning course. Most took place online, but also involved face to face.

Mostly doing stuff, but also evaluation. Involved higher order thinking from creation to assessment. Used multiple methods and design experiments for the learning experience, with the emphasis on qualitative feedback and tasks artifacts.

There were 12 course participants, 2 expert reviewers and 1 participant observer.

Course was developed using mindmapping, then was storyboarded, from which it was developed.

Course commenced in June 2011 and was designed to run for two months, but ran to 6 months due to work commitments. Three projects were completed.

Evaluation determined that the course was effective as they all produced effective e-learning resources, with minimal technical expertise. Participants gave a good rating, but there were areas to improve, including improving clarity, reduced workload, software practice, negotiating time to complete tasks.

Next steps: consider next and ongoing interactions, improve submission process and documentation, confirm staff development process and time allocation, improve evaluation, increase collaboration, include staged reporting and enhance the staff e-learning development process.

Playing at professional development? – Ellen Forsyth

How much do you play how much do you work.

92% of Australian homes have electronic games devices. 59% play for an about an hour a day. (only 3% for five hours or more).

Ellen joined up to World of Warcraft a few years ago and is now involved in training in the library in that space. The library is in a public space, but the interaction between participants is restricted to the particular guild. Transcripts are saved to a wiki. Ellen has been running these professional development talks in this space for 12 months.

Even though presenters kept presenting and people kept attending, it was still hard to know whether it was working. She went back to the participants to find out how it went.

Speakers are speed typists. Questions from attendees are best as YELLED out. And it is up to the speaker to acknowledge and respond.

Talks have been about using games in the library, reflections on play – pedagogy and World of Warcraft, WOW in schools, how children learn from computer games.

Presenter feedback – thought it was good, but they have to be a fast typist and fast reader. All presenters were game players, but not all had been WOW players, but they adapted well. It was more relaxing and they enjoyed it more. It also involved trust – on the Internet, no-one knows you’re a dog. They found it easier to engage with the attendees.

Results are skewed because it only involved participants. They came from the US and Australia – from ages 20 to 50 and from across library sectors  etc. You could participate even if you couldn’t play. They came because they thought it was the right environment in which to learn about this. The cost entry was low, allowing them to tap into international knowledge for the cost of a WOW subscription. Transcripts were useful for picking up on things they missed.

Series of talks is just the start of exploring the use of games into libraries and for players to be involved in professional development in the games environment. Implications for bringing in reluctant potential participants are still being explored.

I’m well and truly in middle age now, so am watching the older generation to see how to age gracefully. Unfortunately, all too often I see older people for whom everything is too much to learn. They can’t learn how to use things because they are ‘too complicated’ and sometimes that is the case, but quite often you can see that they just don’t want to. I have noticed that those are the people who age more quickly.

We have all seen the stories of older people doing amazing things – skydiving, completing university courses etc in their 90s. I really admire them – they are grabbing every bit of life and draining it for all its worth. That’s what I want to be like when I get to that age. I want to leave this world, kicking and screaming, because I have more to learn before I go.

But it doesn’t just happen overnight. You don’t just suddenly want to stop learning, (barring exceptional circumstances) I think its more of a change of attitude and a gradual transition. Which means that if I want to be a true life-long learner, I need to be laying the foundation for it now.

We have two streams of focus in our library – reader development and lifelong learning. They both go right through the life cycle and I plan to make the most of both.

So what are my plans? I learn something new pretty much everyday, through my work, through my family, through everyday life. But I think lifelong learning needs to be more than incidental learning. So every now and then I plan to learn something new. My next learning project is going to be Drupal 7 – the most recent and very changed content management system. We are using Drupal 6 for our library website and a community group site I administer, but I know enough to get by with the day to day. With Drupal 7, I hope to learn more about how the thing works properly, so I can get our websites updated to it and be able to do more with them.

That should take the rest of the year at least, lol. After that, I’m sure I’ll find something else to keep my mind well and truly focused and engaged.

What about you, what are you planning in your lifelong learning journey?