Connecting Librarian

I have been thinking about this subject for weeks, longer probably and I’m not the only one. There’s been a lot of discussion about what social software people are using, people stopping blogging and some restarting and more. In the light of this, I thought it was about time I sorted out all the myriad of thoughts and ideas that are going around my head and totally confuse you about it too.

I have been exploring lots of social software online in the past 3 years or so and I think I am finally settling into a few selected ones that I am enjoying. The places I spend at least a little time everyday are Twitter (feel free to follow me - tango2), Facebook and a gaming site Gold Token, besides the several email addresses I monitor for myself, my work, hubby’s business and my church. I also believe in this blog still, although I am not posting as often, probably for a couple of reasons, which I will go into later.

http://oedb.org/blogs/ilibrarian/2007/11/

I tried Library 2.0 on Ning, but there’s only so much you can do online and I find that most of the people I want to be in contact with are on Facebook. I never registered for Linked In, never felt the need because of my Facebook connections. And Facebook has great word games, although I could do without the vampires, zombies, knights etc. I use IM mainly at work, but not much at home, probably because I don’t have many addresses yet, so that could change. I love del.icio.us, but at home I am using it more as ‘I want to know where these websites are when I need them’ account. At work however, I am having a ball, using it for our Olympic Games links. And don’t get me started on podcasts and RSS feeds (both of which I love).

I want to do more with my Library Thing account, maybe integrating it more with my blog, like I have with Twitter, the same with my Flickr account and I haven’t gotten into YouTube or any equivalent yet, except as a regular viewer. We’ll see what happens though. Still that’s a lot to be using and trying to keep up with on a regular basis.

I have a feed from my blog going into my Facebook and I have integrated my Twitter feed into my Facebook and my blog because I don’t want to be concentrated in one spot. I like the idea of being able to be seen and heard in a number of places. Exhibitionist maybe, or maybe just a librarian to the core, making it as easy as possible to find that information. Dispersing my twitter feeds means that have to open them up, which for some people is a legitimate privacy concern, but I can live with that. Again, I guess its the librarian in me that just wants as many access points as possible. On the otherhand, it means that I can’t discuss everything that I may want to (ie. the odd rant), as it would viewable by all, including those about whom I am ranting, but that’s the price you pay.

So why 2008 in the title? Because all this will change. Two years ago I just had the blog, email and a bit of IM. Delicious was something new on the radar for me then too. Its only in the last year that I have really got immersed in Twitter and Facebook. So who knows how the landscape and how I choose to use it, will change in the next year.

So I guess I’m saying, that I plan to be found online in these places: my blog, facebook, twitter, delicious, flickr, library thing (getting there anyway) and that’s enough for now. I like being in all those diverse places, but I also like my content coming together in one place, to give a big picture view, so that’s where this blog will still play a big part.

The blog as I said earlier has been quieter, for a number of reasons. Firstly, because I am spending time in the other places I have mentioned, secondly because I have been doing some presentations, writing papers and have just finished a couple of articles (waiting to hear if they will be published). Thirdly, the big changes that seemed to be happening and happening fast with Web 2.0, seem to be slowing down a bit. Comes from being on the cutting edge I guess, we are now just waiting for everyone else to catch up a bit before we move onto to the next big thing - or maybe we’re just waiting for the next big thing to appear? Or is it just me?

So how do I manage to keep up with all this. I don’t know really. But Clay Shirky, author of “Here comes everybody“, has some thoughts on that. I really recommend you take the time to watch this video, where he explains where the time comes from. Its worth the 15 minute investment (and I really must get the book and stick it on Library Thing).

Anyway, so now you know where to find me. And wherever you go looking for me, you can be guaranteed that you’ll be able to find out what I’m up to. Whether or not you want to, is entirely up to you!

Today is Anzac Day, a public holiday in Australia to commemorate the men and women who fought and those who died for our country in armed conflicts around the world. Its a time of reflection, of thankfulness and of gratefulness and I truly am grateful for what those men and women gave - not only those that died, but all those whose lives were changed dramatically by being involved in these events. They have made our country a better place to live and I am one of the beneficiaries, with opportunities I could never have imagined otherwise.

Jerry Segraves, of http://jerrysfoto.com

So I felt it appropriate, to stop in the middle of all the busyness which is my life at present and reflect. Its funny, my husband and I were commenting the other day, that things have been a bit off lately - things weren’t disastrously bad, but they weren’t going right either, in pretty much everything except our family (thank goodness). We have recently celebrated our 15th anniversary and I am grateful for this strong, supportive and funny man who is my rock, my anchor, often my small still voice reminding me of what’s important and who is so supportive of all the things I have been doing and wanting to do, moreso in the last year with all the opportunities that have arisen. The rest of the “off” stuff we will work through as best we can.

Work is also getting exciting. We had 2 meetings this week, with the first we have now expanded our main library blog team to 5 people, with contributions to come from 2 of our senior managers. I’m really excited about this for a few reasons, one is that I don’t have to try and come up with something myself all the time, two is that we will have a range of voices and viewpoints, with more content coming on a regular basis and finally it is good to get some concrete support for what I think is becoming more important to my library.

The other meeting was about a prototype teen blog, which has been taken up enthusiastically by 3 of our youth services team, with news, reviews, plugins and lots of widgets etc. A couple of our young library officers have provided some great feedback and we will work with them to finalise the blog before we go live, using the blog to replace our static and little used or updated teen webpage.

I was also inspired by an interview of Helene Blowers (as I usually am by Helene) about some of what she is doing at Columbus Metropolitan Libraries. The thing that really stood out for me was having a focus for their virtual services in the coming year - they were going to be particularly aiming at power users, young people and the general public. It made me realise that it may no longer be enough for virtual services to be a focus of our Information Services, but that it is now big enough in itself to have its own strategy.

So that’s my ramble and my recent reflections. Things can change quickly in a few days. For the last few weeks I’ve felt tired, discouraged and sooo busy to the point that I wasn’t even interested in blogging or much else in professional development. I’m not so tired anymore (sleep-in today helped), I am more encouraged than I have been for a while and although I’m still sooo busy, a time of reflection and those elements of encouragement have brought me back here, just a little more fired up. We’ll see how long it lasts and where it will lead!

I am so excited.  Just as well, because I was very sad about not being in the thick of things at Computers in Libraries this year, after the awesome experience I had there last year.  Its great to be already reading all of the blogging reports coming out of this year’s conference. Thanks all!  Keep ‘em coming!

The reason I am so excited is that the mailman has just delivered my book!  Well its not just my book, I am just one of 19 contributors, but still excited anyway.  I’m a published author!  In a book, not only a journal!  Information Literacy meets Library 2.0 ‘addresses the impact of the adoption of these (Web 2.0) technologies on information literacy teaching’.

I wrote Chapter 5 - “Information Literacy, Web 2.0 and public libraries: an exploration”.  Most of the content came out of my study tour last year and coincidentally from what I learnt at last year’s Computers in Libraries conference.  For Australian readers, Judy O’Connell from Hey Jude authored Chapter 4 - “School Library 2.0: new skill, new knowledge, new futures”.  I am honoured to be in such great company in this book, with not only Judy, but 17 other great library experts.

I was surprised and delighted to also discover that it is a hardback edition.   I really like the cool cover (although this image does not do it justice) and the detailed information (including the list of contributors) on the back.  Thanks to the editors Peter Godwin and Jo Parker for inviting me to be involved.

Peter and Jo are following up the book with a blog - Information Literacy meets Library 2.0 where both the editors and the contributors will be able to continue to update the contents.  Also hope to do some related podcasts.  Come check it out!  I’ll just go back to exploring the crisp white pages of my book!

After two weeks of various technical difficulties, I was finally able to join in on a session of Uncontrolled Vocabulary, a “weekly live interactive roundtable discussion of all things library”. Hosted by Greg Schwartz, Library Systems Manager for the Louisville Free Public Library, it is held most Wednesday nights at 10pm, US Eastern time, which made it 2pm AEST.

Uncontrolled Vocabulary uses Talk Shoe to host the live discussion and to record the hour for dissemination through podcast. The discussion is on newsworthy library-related items that have arisen during the week and are often suggested by listeners, through the use of an unvocab tag in del.icio.us. Greg has an Uncontrolled Vocabulary blog and also a Facebook group which sends out reminders about the upcoming episode.

It is 32 episodes strong now and I have been listening in since the 1st episode. It is entertaining, informative and a fun way to keep in touch with library news, whilst also doing some professional development activity.

So this week, I finally got onto the call - Uncontrolled Vocabulary #32 - Cranky people make good audio. The few communications issues I had encountered in the previous 2 weeks were finally bypassed through the use of Skype. I had a great time being a part of the call, even if I didn’t contribute all that much and I am looking forward to joining in again where possible.

If you haven’t listened to the podcasts, I highly recommend them. Greg is a accomplished moderator, there is a great group of regular callers and some very interesting topics arise, with conversations sometimes taking unexpected turns or presenting points of view you may not have considered.

Thanks Greg, from grateful listener and now participator. It is a lot of fun and I appreciate what you do to make it happen (nearly) every week.

I have been so busy lately, surprisingly so, but in a good way.  After doing a 10 minute showcase at VALA, I have done a presentation on Web 2.0 for Innov8 - a vendor organised information seminar. I also have coming in the next few weeks “Beyond blogs and wikis” at the ALIES conference and a lecture to post-grad students at RMIT on what my library is doing with Web 2.0 tools.  On the off chance you are interested in any of these, click on the Presentations tab at the top of my blog and you will find them  embedded there (after they have been presented).

Not that this post is about self-publicising, because its not.  The feedback I had from  Innov8 was that attendees had already heard about a lot of things that I had presented on, but that my presentation helped them understand what they are, in an straightforward manner and in a context (libraries) that they could relate to.

It made me realise that when you are on the cutting edge, things that are old news to you are still very new to most others.  Which leads to the question - how long until everyone (or at the least the majority - in particular our users or potential users) understands this new technology and how can we speed up the process?

I guess I am doing my bit professionally by doing these presentations.  We are doing the same at my library by running Learning 2.0 for staff and offering public seminars on eBay, online image sharing, downloading music etc.  We are also utilising the technology - we have 2 blogs, a Flickr account, are using del.icio.us links, Google maps, web polls, offering RSS feeds and more.  We are getting interest in these initiatives, but take up is relatively slow in relation to home PC internet access, so is it because we are not offering the right things, or because people aren’t aware of or know how to best use these tools?  If its the latter, what can we do to inform them? (if its the former, we’ll do something about that too - our web polls will help us to figure out which it is, if not both)

I guess another question is why would our users want/need to understand these things?  I don’t really have a good answer to this one - just 2 thoughts. I think this is the way of the world now and more and more of our users and potential users will be expecting their local library to be doing it.  And as communities are spending more time online, this is an even more important service that libraries should be providing to best serve our users.

Am I expecting too much? Not everyone is  a techie of one degree or another, but although Web 2.0 is technology based, its more about collaboration and contribution, so I don’t think so.  Technology fear could be hampering, as we found out as a result of my library’s  Learning 2.0 program.  Some staff who had been reluctant of, or not interested in using Web 2.0 tools have taken to them and are using them in library services with great enthusiasm.  A little familiarity in this case breeds improved library service!

In the meantime, I would really appreciate your feedback on these questions.  Your responses might just help to solve some of these challenges for me and my library.  In the meantime, I’ll keep plugging away, in my professional development and in my library service.

I was very happy to be able to attend a day of presentations by Michael Stephens of Tame the Web today. I met Michael for breakfast one morning towards the end of my study tour last year, so it was wonderful to renew our acquaintance. Although the time was all too short, it was great to catch up.

Anyway, here’s the notes I took - Michael will post the slides to his blog - Tame the Web.

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Suffering is optional in this session.

Jesse Hauk Shera quote - “that society will determine what the library of the future will be.”

World has shifted in the last few years, beginning with the dot.com bust.  Web rebooted itself, more interactive and social.

Recommended “Cluetrain Manifesto” which is available online for free.

Continous computing - Roush “Social machines” - Web as platform, wifi is ubiquitous, devices are converging and connecting.i

Time Magazine - “You control the information age” - not libraries.

Recommended “Everthing is miscellaneous”.

Many descriptions of Web 2.0 - 2 Michael focusses on - harvesting collective intelligence and rich user experiences.

Web 2.0? - Live Web or as Michael says “Find others like you”.  Friending etc.  No 1 social site that Michael uses is Flickr - he is an image based person, so he loves it.  Can track his travels from his Flickr account.  Can also find him at Last FM - tracks what he is listening to on his Mac.  Michael has also has a Facebook profile.

Can make anything you want with image generators.

This is where we live - people are spending a lot of their social lives online - not just for the internet addict.  Lots of these sites, more and more being created every day.
All these sites are open, participatory and are about access.

Shared the Library 2.0 definition by Casey & Savistinuk - most important “physical and virtual services” and “consistently evaluating”.

Check out the Perceptions of Libraries and Information Sources and Sharing, privacy and trust in the networked world reports from OCLC.
96% of people had walked into a public library at least onece, 51% used IM and 30% had never heard of databases.  Users want seamless service and self-service options - think Google. They want seamless - not silos. Our websites are little versions of the library - they shouldn’t be.  “Books” are the library brand.  Only 1% surveyed used the library as their search starting point.   Why not visiting the library website - didn’t know it existed, other sites have better info, can’t find the site.Brian Mathews - social network will be ubiquitous - will expect it everywhere they go online - be able to tag, leave comments or reviews, wherever they go.

Pew Internet found that 36% of adults used Wikipedia. 8% were on it on any one day.  Make sure your library is on Wikipedia, including in the geographic area entries (ie. Council, suburbs, town etc). Add content, links - give it more value.

ACRL - put out a report (check slides) - need to do 3 things:
Evolve - reference signs have gone - welcome, ask here (Allen County), round tables for collaboration, transparent reference desk, with comfy chairs and flat screens and also IM service (NC library state uni), (MSN most popular in Australia). Dublin Library used PageFlakes to create a portal with feeds to the information you give it.  Georgia Tech Library did a welcome celebration free pizza, speed dating, music, poker, games, DDR, drama and more. (again Brian Mathews)  Didn’t talk about library resources, want them to find the library on their own.  YPRL using tablets for reference.  LC launched The Commons - a project with Flickr - hosting photos and inviting comments and tags.

Let go of control - (used the warning sign generator). If we don’t, we could lose both users and staff.  What stories are these libraries telling?   Showed signs banning phones - we should be banning the more concerning bad behaviour, not the technology.  Things we do can now go around the world - with a phone and a quick picture, then to Flickr and a blog and its publicised wider than your local library. PLCMC - Rules for the Loft - Respect yourself, respect others, respect the space.  Casey and Stephens - understand the people who are breaking the rules (Transparency column).  Walk through the library with users eyes - a teen even.

Be visible - Wyoming mud flap girl - caused controversy but was aimed at getting truckers in to borrow their audio books. Laptop Librarian - offers assistance in the dining hall. Librarian visits Panera cafe and offers library service, signs up members etc, answers questions.

“Cluetrain Manifesto” published in 1999, but foretold the advent of social networking. We can rally together online, make changes together online, share and discuss content online.  Cluetrain says Markets are conversations, Hyperlinks subvert hierarchy - and can go around the chain of command, get information out to people - ie. hacks to DRM.  Libraries can now communicate directly with teir users. Web is a little bit broken - hyperlinked organisation can be the same thing. Learn who to go around to get things done.

Organisational Chart - the hyperlinked library is more team based (although still need leadership), but it is focussed around the user, not a pyramid.

Technology is just a tool it is not going to save your library.  We need to understand technolust and should not be putting resources into things are users don’t want or will not use.

Transparency: technology storm - ie. locked down library website, technology plans without staff buy-in, siege mentality due to concerns about privacy, security etc - NO LONGER FLIES!

People want to talk to each other - open and honest conversations, open and honest decisions, speaking in a human voice.  Conversations among human beings sound human- we recognise PR speak. Make the library as flat as possible - Darien Library circ staff are blogging and buying for the collection - they know what the users are borrowing and requesting - even sending them to the Book Expo.  Going to the field - visit the front lines, examine different staffing models, develop big picture understanding (management). SJCPL has 30 bloggers contributing content to their blog, AADL website is blog based, State Librarian of Kansas is blogging her travels around her state.  Outside eg. Chief of Police in Nebraska is blogging - talking about crime, but in a human way and responding to comments, having a conversation.

Most important - Say Yes!

The Library tell stories:
Look for stories about the library and also give your users the chance to tell their stories. Gwinnett Library “Rock the Shelves 2005″ on Flickr. National Library photos on Flickr. Storypalooza - make a video about the library and reading, put the video on the library website. (Gail Borden Library).
“Participatory Culutre” - Jenkin quote “consumers are transformed into participants”. Ohio Uni library tour podcasts, done by librarian and another by a student. Hennenpin County Book Space.

The Library is user driven:
Get out of the users way - don’t create problems.   Karen Schneider - The user is not broken. Our systems are a little bit broken when it comes to engaging the user. They want the information in the easiest way possible.  User driven service is user-centred, can involve the users, ask them what they want (link on website - prizes offered.  Listen to your users and to your front-line staff - they know the story of the library.  5 Factors to Consider - does it place a barrier between the user and the service, is it born from complaints from librarians or users, does it add more rules, does it make more work for the user or the librarian, does it involve damage control begin you even begin? eg. SJCPL Subject wiki - public can’t edit but can sugest. Biz Wiki - Ohio U.

Engage your users: Facebook search box - UIUC and Hennepin. Comments on the catalogue (Hennepin) and also Book Space.

Let them drive, let them participate, let them create.  Amazon now has user generated video reviews. Competitions on your social networking space.  Pew Internet study showed that 57% of US teens that created content online. Rest don’t have the technology at home to be able to do this. Might be well serving our users to come and create content to put online.  ie. podcasting station, place to blog etc.  AADL Tag Cloud shows the most popular searches on their catalogue. Hennepin County - images of reading Harry Potter.  Privacy concerns allayed by agreeing to terms of use and having it as opt-in.

Library uses trends as opportunities: social network federation - networks will be converging, be able to talk between networks - may come from one of the social networks or from a third party. Choosing among trends: good signs are that everyone is doing it, its being asked for, most importantly its fun!
Trendspotting - hand out current magazines and ask staff to look for trends that we may be able to tap into.  Our jobs are changing - both in content and in title.  Trend: citizen journalism - mobile phones and blogs can spread news which in turn can change everything.  Challenge of how these tools are challenging privacy, reputation and more. There are legal implications which are still being explored.  We can be educators in how to deal with our online presence - if its out there.  Google your library or chedck Technorati to find conversations about your library that you may not know is happening. Open source software is a trend, but its free as in kittens,not free as in beer - need resources to adapt it and keep it going.  Emerging Tech Group - group of staff who regularly meet to discuss new tech and how it may be used in the library (use a blog for the group).  Check out the books he recommends on the slides.  Are we failing to innovate because of fear. (Kathy Sierra)

The Library has presence: library is out in spaces where we might not expect it to be. Buckland quote “There is much greater opportunity to bring service to potential users wherever they may be”.  YouTube video puts the library out where people may see it.  Use profiles on social networking sites to give more background - make it a miniature website which then links back to your library website.  Google SMS service - text a message to Google.  Libraries using twitter to do current awareness on book titles, events etc, then has RSS feed which you can add to your website.

Library learns, plays and innovates.  Learning should be part of staff development, throughout the staff structure. Everyone should be experimenting with new technology. Well trained staff are a great marketing tool for your users.  Get sandboxes for staff, both virtual spaces and physical - where you bring the gadgets in for staff to play with. Best thing to do for staff is getting them set up with an RSS reader.

Discover and experience the new tools: Learning 2.0 program - can be scaled and adapted for users. (offer it for users?). Check out Hey Jude’s blog on learning 2.0 and schools.  Second Life - shopping, events and a library presence - what does it mean for libraries?  We are still finding out.  Ning - do it yourself social networking site - users get blogs, forums etc. Golden rule of innovation - say YES - encourage people to play.

Encourage the heart - we get into libraries because we care.

The Library knows me - personalisation is the big trend coming - other sites have been doing it for years and users will come to expect it from libraries.
The Library is human - use Flickr to show this.  “Bring your heart with you to work”. (David Warlick)
Throw out the culture of perfect - trial and error is OK, it might not work but that’s OK too, there are still thing learned.
Open Libraries - control fades, communication is up and down.
Create a culture of trust - trust your users, trust each other.

Everything we have talked about today is about a cultural shift, not just shiny new toys.  To move forward, ground them in the mission of your library and your long term plans.  Be selective, choose the tools that work best for your library and your user, use evidence to decide which ones.  Be sure to balance innovation with ROI.  The next big step is how we evaluate these Web 2.0 tools in our libraries.

Five things you can do now:
Be a trendspotter - Form an Emerging Tech Group - Try Learning 2.0 - Create a What’s New blog - Explore presence (ways in which you can put your library out in social networks).

IMPORTANT:
Learn to learn.
Adapt to change.
Scan the horizon.

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I’ve been thinking about this for quite a couple of months, probably since I started getting queries from other librarians about virtual services after doing my study tour. Its been further churning away in the back of my mind since not long before the VALA conference, as besides the showcase session I did there, I have another 3 presentations coming up on Libraries and Web 2.0 - one of them a day long workshop!

So how did I come to get these ‘gigs’ - what makes me the expert?

In my case its a combination of things. First off, I know a bit about Web 2.0 and libraries. After all, I have been reading about, immersing myself in it and blogging about it for over 2 years. Which is more than most people in libraries. So my expert status comes from having a degree more knowledge than my audience.

But there are many librarians who know more than me on this subject, so what else is there? Another important consideration is geography. Two of the upcoming presentations are in Melbourne, the city I live in. Always easier to get a local - cheaper too.

However, the workshop I am doing is in Sydney - so that limits geography a little. I say a little, because there are some great Library 2.0 experts in the US - I read their blogs regularly - but again there are limits to what people and organisations will spend, especially if expertise can be found more locally. (and Sydney is only an hour’s flight away).

So, I know a little more than my potential audience, I have geography on my side - the more local the better. Then there is another issue altogether. Availability. The Sydney thing again - I was not the first person asked. From what I can gather, I was at least the fifth person asked (if not further down the list than that). So even considering all that’s come before, you have to be willing and available to be that expert.

Now that’s a personal decision. I don’t know why the others asked before me didn’t take up the invitation - could be many reasons: time, priorities, not interested, etc, etc - it doesn’t matter really. The opportunity came to me and I decided to take it - which makes me the expert in this particular situation, regardless of how far down the list I was.

And how did my name come up to be asked (even down the list) - somebody was kind enough to recommend me. I don’t know who, but I thank them for this opportunity.

Its been an interesting journey already this year for me, as I have never considered myself to be a public speaker - in fact the only other presentation I did before all this was at a conference in 1999 and I was so nervous - got through it by will alone I’m sure. But I have done 2 presentations since my study tour, (and 1 before) with 3 still to go and I am getting more confident each time. Maybe its because I am older, know my stuff a bit better, know myself a lot better and have a real passion for the subject. Maybe I’m just a late bloomer.

Whatever it is, I think it finds its roots in something that Kathryn at Librarians Matter blogged on not long ago in “My raucous week of putting my meat in the game” - its about putting yourself out there. I have been blogging about these things for going on 3 years, have been initiating them in my library and have been encouraging others to look at them for their libraries. I haven’t been worried about putting my name to any of this, but neither have I been seeking anything, except the chance to share my experience.

So what makes an expert? Someone who has learnt more than most about a subject dear to them (its easier when you have a passion for it), in a good location, who’s available, recommended and putting themselves out there.

But an expert is not what I planned to be - all I planned to be was a librarian loving what she is doing - which happens to be Web 2.0 and Libraries. If people want to hear what I have to say - then I am happy to go and share that with them - not for my benefit, but for theirs. I have learnt a lot from other people’s experiences, so its only fair that others may be able to learn from mine.

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.

I have finally caught up on all my reading, amongst which was a very thought provoking post by John Blyberg entitled “Library 2.0 Debased“, which in turn was inspired by Kate Sheehan’s post “Are librarians culturally self-aware“. I recommend you check out both posts as well as the comments, there is some interesting reading there.

Anyway, the biblioblogosphere was buzzing over John’s post and I had read quite a few posts about it before I actually read the original. Normally I wouldn’t necessarily blog about the same thing, especially when there are so many others who have already done so, but after reading the post for a second time, then on reading some indirectly related content and mulling over it a bit more, I felt I had something more to contribute to the discussion.

Just as I was getting started, more came in that added to the mix - The essence of Library 2.0 from Meredith Farkas at Information Wants to be Free, Web 2.0 and Library 2.0: Its’ all about the stuff from Philip Bradley at Phil Bradley’s Weblog and Nobody ever said from Walt Crawford at Walt at Random. Again, I recommend you check them all out.

As a result, I am rethinking my whole attitude to Library 2.0. There has been a lot of difficulty in defining it, mainly because the term and the attitude it is supposed to define (user-centric, meeting them where they are at, etc) has come at the same time as the tools and many have been unable to separate the two or see that there has been any distinction between them. My overriding thought is whose fault is it that the message got lost? I know that I have been leading that bandwagon from my small perch and so I have some responsibility in that blame.

It has become cool, hip, its cutting edge, so if you are a happening library, you are doing Library 2.0. Understandable. The tools are ubiquitous, easy to use, are being used by our users and are mostly free. How can you not want to be all over them?

A lot of talk in the above mentioned blog posts is about vendors jumping on the bandwagon - which is understandable from their viewpoint - they’re giving libraries what they are asking for, whether they really know what they want or not. Is this a bad thing?

John Blyberg talked about how SOPAC hasn’t worked as he planned, but that’s part of being in libraries and in cutting edge stuff. As he says, we have to take risks and try things, some will work, some won’t and we will learn and move on to other things. Doesn’t mean we stop experimenting. As Meredith points out, just because it doesn’t work in one library, doesn’t mean it won’t work in another. Unfortunately, it usually takes time and resources which are in short supply in most libraries, making them reluctant to allocate them to things that may not work. Which makes me think that is why library vendors have such interest in their new Library 2.0 services - pay someone else to do all the work, cheaper and quicker. (questionable, but I am sure there are people out there who would think that way).

Which brings me back to the heading of this post. Ryan Deschamps at The Other Librarian posted We asked for Library 2. 0 and got Librarians 2.0. At the time I posted on it - Library 2.0 - its far from over, but now I think Ryan was right, to a certain extent it is, even here in Australia where it is still relatively new. If we want to stop the bandwagon leading our libraries astray and see them focussed on users and services, then maybe as individuals we need to drop the Library 2.0 and focus on being Librarian 2.0’s - at work and outside of it and just help our libraries to utilise and adapt the Web 2.0 tools that are appropriate for our users and our services. Our libraries should always have that focus anyway - regardless of what tools are available - its not one size fits all.

So my part will be to drop Library 2.0, but continue to be a Librarian 2.0, instituting Web 2.0 tools in my library as our users needs are assessed and I find that Web 2.0 is the best option. If Web 2.0 tools are not the best option, then we wont’ go there - at least I will try to make sure that doesn’t happen. As Phil Bradley said, they’re just stuff.

These are exciting times, with exciting new tools to play with. So I will continue having fun with them, inside and outside of work. However, I will also keep my focus on our users and do my best as a public librarian to provide them with best service possible - whatever means that will require - Web 2.0 or not.

There’s more in this discussion, but can’t get my head around it all at this time. Would love to hear your thoughts on it. For those of you going to VALA, hope to see you there!

“Promoting “2.0 Training” with “Fantastic Freebies” and other innovative programs. Janie & Bob from Princeton whom I spent time with last week.

Inspired by Computers in Libraries 2006. You can do more than basic tech training. Several easy to implement paths to grow at Tech training program - low cost in money and staff time.

Position yourself as Tech Gurus. Get involved with local users groups, present for local groups, develop and/or join technology mailing lists, create a tech training blogs, sell up at each and every class, tease with new content. Never underestimate the power of a full colour poster.
Databytes program - brown bag session for an hour at 1pm, each librarian takes a turn at it, open to staff and public.

Bringing them in - 15 freebies in 15 minutes. Locate freebies through PC Magazine, SEOmoz’s Web 2.0 awards, Time Magazine’s 50 coolest websites, Filehippo. Constantly scan tech blogs, library blogs, tech news sites and the popular media. ie. Slashdot.

Text editing freebies - Google Docs, YourDraft, Ajaxwrite
Organisation freebies - Tadalists, Cozi Central, Google Calendar
Productivity freebies - LogMeIn (control a remote computer), CCleaner
Photo and Video freebies - GIMP, Everystockphoto, Flickr, OneTrueMedia

Future class plans at options. Photoshop to GIMP and Pixer/Picnik. Blogger to Wordpress. Bloglines to Google Reader. Social Bookmarking. Podcasts. YouTube/OneTrueMedia/SplashCast. Digital scrapbooking. Classes are alway in constant beta, keep things fresh and keep innovating.

Slides will be on Library Garden Blog.

Tech Freebies Program Ideas - Matt and Robin who I will see at Charlotte tomorrow!

People are coming to us, wanting to create. Kids are Media Snackers (check their website).
Make it happen from painting to pixels, from crayons to cameras. Use what you already have - ie. Office suite. Use Freebies - ie. Tux Paint - basic painting program for kids.

More - Game Maker, Architect Studio 3D, Google Sketchup, YouTube, Picasa, GIMP, Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust, flickr, Audacity, MySpace, Second Life and Wink (debug mode). Do some simple things to address the interests of kids.

Purchased software and activities - Youth Digital Arts CyberSchool, iMovie, Garage Bank, ACID Music Studio, pinnacle, Stop MotionPro, Fraps, Kudlian Soft, Digital Storytelling.

Robin explained all about ImaginOn - more about that after I visit it tomorrow. In house creation, including animation using Stop Motion Pro, Pinnacle Studio, Sony Acid Music Studio, Garage Band (Mac) and Final Cut Studio (Mac). Have a portable animation station. Next steps - “Participatory culture shifts the focus of literacy from one of individual expression to community involvement.”

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