To blog or not to blog….

In theory, this is my second blog holiday, and I will be taking advantage of it, but I also find that I have something to say, so…

Although I found the course well rounded, and even though I was familiar with many of the social media tools that we explored, the readings did often point out aspects that I had not considered before, so they were useful. I would, however, like to suggest another weekly topic to replace one (perhaps the repeated one from last week). There are so many social media tools springing up, constantly. It would be really interesting to have a list to choose from one week (with no duplicates allowed) that we would then explore in depth individually and blog about what we discovered. I am thinking of things like Gloggster, Pageflakes, NING, Prezi and so forth. By doing that, and then all of us reading the individual posts, we would be introduced to a wealth of new tools that otherwise might go unnoticed.

Other than that, thank you one and all, it has been a virtual blast learning with you. I wish you all well as you “go confidently in the direction of your dreams.” (hokey, I know, but I like it). This is my last comment on my last course as I head out into the MLIS world.

All the best and happy holidays!
Peggy

Taking a break

on a blog holiday!

Pondering policies

While I understand that policies are important in maintaining the norm of an organization, and that consideration must be given to how an organization will be perceived by how they communicate (or represent themselves), sometimes creating those policies seem to take on a life force of their own. I was especially overwhelmed by the Seattle Public Library policy for staff. The first startling thing was the fact that nothing could be posted online without the approval of the Chief Technological Officer. What a thankless job that would be, essentially proofreading the work of others. I imagine this would be a high-ranking and high-paying job. Is that what you really want to pay someone for? Presumably, you have hired someone capable of doing so much more than that. Additionally, one of the magical things about social media is the immediacy of it. It could take days for the approval to come about. If you place trust in your employees to conduct themselves with propriety when dealing face to face with a patron, then you should be able to extend that trust to an online presence.

In another post there was also the comment made about the policies (for staff and patrons) that off-topic comments would be removed. What constitutes off-topic? While I can fully understand racist, demeaning and off-colour comments being removed (but here again, what constitutes those things? Everyone seems to have a different tolerance level for that type of thing), being off-topic hardly seems like a problem.

So, while I do understand the need and drive towards policies, my thought is to keep them simple, enforceable and easily understandable. Otherwise, you are merely creating a situation that is unwelcoming in a world that is relying more and more on a virtual presence for a profile in the community.

Wish I could see clearly now….

I am familiar with the term mashups as it applies to music, collage art and the way that teens aggregate ideas, visual depictions and music to create something new. What I had never considered was the idea of the mashup as discussed in this week’s readings, and quite frankly, I am not sure that I get it yet. I can see the benefit of combining two information sources to get the combined results, but I cannot see my way clear as to how this can work in terms of a library and library website.

So maybe you techies out there can help me out with this one. For instance, I have long wondered if it is feasible for individual patrons to have and maintain their own research portal within the library website, with saved lists, links to websites of interest, shortcuts to databases that will fuel their research and an area for blogging or other content creation that can be open to others with similar interests to comment and collaborate. I can see how an aggregator or mashup might be very useful for the individual here, combining news sources, for instance that will alert when news stories of interest to that person are published.

And I suppose in the same way, a library website could have a news feed through a mashup that would be of interest on the website for a library, but what I cannot figure out is how it will appear on that space, how it will be embedded (you should have seen me this summer as I grappled with web design…anyone who witnessed that will not be surprised at my inability to grasp this concept). Does this mashup live on its own, or on the website that serves as a portal for the library information? Can you link through a mashup so that when a person is searching for a book, a YouTube video book talk of the book could appear? It seems after this week’s readings that I have more questions than answers.

the sixth sense

Today I had lunch with a friend who happens to be the CEO of Stratford Public Library. We were talking about new directions for libraries – what will the library of the future look like. That is when several things clicked for me. The technology that we read about and saw in the “lecture” this week could have some interesting applications.

One of the interesting things about Dewey as a means of organizing resources is the serendipity of finding one resource and then browsing around that resource for other similar items. Now imagine a Google street view like application for libraries, where someone online can search the OPAC for an item and then call up a view of the shelves that allows you to search the shelves and up and down the stack for other titles that might be of interest. If the books are also encoded with the barcode technology, you can also call up the records and see what information that affords (subject headings, in some cases, chapter headings etc.). You could essentially visit the library remotely and have a very similar experience to an actual visit.

This technology could also include links to other resources that are electronic (databases, websites etc) and perhaps ideas that we have not considered yet. The possibilities are without limits, actually, except for funding and housing a server that could accommodate the traffic.

And that leads me to the question of how can Google afford to offer cloud computing without charge? Certainly, if an organization is going to use cloud computing extensively there would be a charge associated with it. Does anyone know the answer to this?

And for another thrill, check out the TED seminar on the Sixth Sense (http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/pattie_maes_demos_the_sixth_sense.html), I could certainly see some interesting impact on the library with this technology.

I tweet, therefore I am

I have not indulged in Twitter. I know many others who do so, religiously, but so far, I simply have not been intrigued. I do have one colleague who uses a Twitter feed to keep current professionally, and depending on who you follow, I can see this as a relevant and useful tool.

I was struck, however, by the article “How your library may not be using Twitter but should “by David Allen Kelley. The obvious use of Twitter to invite people to attend an event or happening is one that I had considered for libraries (and libraries in all silos, actually, which is rare). It is another way of inviting people in to experience what the library has to offer. It could also be used to invite people to outreach activities that the library is partnering. What I had not considered is the other uses for Twitter that Kelley outlines in the rest of his article.

I like the way he subtly promotes resources in his Tweet Style 2. Making connections between what is in the news and what the collection has to offer patrons to further their understanding of an issue is brilliant. I had no idea that a direct catalogue link to the resources could also be embedded in a Tweet. That provides a whole level of interactivity that makes the social media so much more relevant.

I was aware of Tweeting about events as they happen. In actual fact, the landing of the airplane on the Hudson River first hit the airwaves via a tweet sent by a passenger on the ferry that took part in the rescue. While using this method may not immediately impact on attendance at an event, what is does do is follow up on the announcement made earlier, and perhaps bring in a broader audience in the future.

I also liked the idea of broadcasting events via Twitter that are not necessarily library events. What that says, very clearly to patrons, is that your interests are our interests and we will attempt to keep you as current as possible. It puts the library squarely in the patron’s court.

The last example in this article talks to what Amanda had on her video this week that someone posted online a question about returning a resource to the library, but not the branch, in DC and was this possible. While the tweet was not directed to the library, by using the search function, the library was able to tweet back. Again, this  builds the library’s patron service profile which can only benefit the library in the long run.

So, even though I have not used Twitter to date, I now have a different perspective on it and see the value of the microblogging site. I will be looking into further, for my personal use as well as the functionality of it for professional use.

Final Project Proposal

Final Project Proposal:

Having been very active in both the Ontario School Library Association and the Ontario Library Association, I have long grappled with the need to collaborate across both time and space. While wikis are good, and do have their place, there is no way to personalize the individual contributions and no way to collaboratively create a presentation that is worked on in real time.
For my final project I would like to look at both Prezi (www.prezi.com) and Ning (www.ning.com) for using in this particular way. The Ning product allows collaborative building of ideas, individual blogging and sharing of documents, as well as other possible uses. Prezi is an interesting software that allows you to prepare presentations online and edit them collaboratively in real time.
I propose to look at these two social media tools with the idea of creating an advocacy piece for public libraries to use for early learning in Ontario, a particular program currently in flux within the provincial government. The report that launched this new approach to early learning, “With our best future in mind”, examined the chaotic mix of the ways that literacy learning was being supported for children from birth to age six. The decision was made to centre early learning within one ministry, education, and have schools as a hub for learners from birth to 12 years old. This has led to the beginning of full day learning for 4 and 5 year olds as well as the proposal to have Best Start Child and Family Centres, preferably in the schools, but definitely linked to the schools. Interestingly, the public library was not seen as intrinsic in literacy learning within this report, however there are definite consequences and impacts on public libraries due to this migration of resources and implementation of full day kindergarten.
The need, therefore, exists to create an advocacy campaign for the Ontario Public Library Association (OPLA) to use on a twofold approach, with the Ministry of Education and within the individual municipalities which will be charged with the oversight of the Best Start Child and Family Centres and will locally directed. This campaign will need to be both distinct for the local needs and have an overall theme and consistency throughout the province. It is the perfect vehicle for OPLA to direct and drive.
The Ning will provide the group meeting space to exchange ideas, post documents, organize material and allow for individuals to address local issues through the blogging function on the site. Prezi will allow the collaborative building of presentations for the furthering of the campaign.
The final project will be in the creation of both the group space and in the beginning of a presentation that can be used across the province. A written component of the final project will be in a blog format discussing both the positive and negative aspects of using these two products.

just being social

Considering the trends in social networking, the buy-in and popularity of these sites, to ignore them in the library world would be to limit your scope and reach to potential patrons. That being said, there are certain realities that need to be considered.

Both Facebook and MySpace are driven by interest of individuals already using the site. It is doubtful that by having a presence on either of these sites that you will make contact with anyone outside of those who prefer to interact with “friends” using this tool. So the reach is well defined, it is those who feel comfortable with social networking. This is not necessarily a bad thing, just recognition of a limitation of the community being established. The question that needs to be asked here, though, is “are these potentially new library patrons?” or merely another way to maintain contact with already established users?

A second aspect of developing a Facebook presence is the need to have a staff member dedicated to keeping the page current, reflective of the organization and in tune with the desired audience. In order to be effective, the content needs constant updating and responses to posted comments need to be considered.

As well, the fact that Facebook has a right-hand advertising stream that is not controlled by the user, is there any concerns with conflict to the organizational values? Additionally, the question must be asked if the Library Board is in agreement that this is an effective outreach tool.

And finally, the interactive Web is constantly evolving. To stay current the library needs to constantly review whether or not the use of the social networks that they choose are still relevant with the target audience. Facebook reigns supreme at this moment in time, who knows what the next two years will bring?

Assignment: Social Bookmarking and Crowdsourcing

I have used Delicious before, not as a tagger, but to look at what others have tagged, specifically one person who is actively using the web as a professional development tool on 2.0 applications for teaching. So I came to it with certain expectations: that it is practical, easy and readily applicable.

Setting up my account was straightforward, and the initial bookmarking was without a hitch. The problems arose when I tried to return to the work that I had done. At first, Yahoo would not recognize my sign in, and continually directed me to try again. I had to enter through a circuitous route, each time re-establishing my password. So this counts against it as a useful tool in the long run for me unless these issues can be resolved.

When I attempted this assignment, I was looking for particular social media tools that could conceivably be useful for a library, whether as a link on their webpage or for a specific use within the library staff. I also wanted to find items that were not necessarily well known. I did add some links that were universally used (i.e. Facebook, YouTube and TED) as well as some links that I thought were not as visible (Gather – a news aggregate that encourages responses, Scribd – a reading suggestion site that uses the Facebook interface and StumbleUpon – that gives a magazine like reading experience linked to your personal preferences).

Also included in my list are several sites that either directly address library issues (Boing Boing – which includes Cory Doctorow’s insights on copyright issues) or demonstrate the changes happening to library services as impacted by technology (YOUmedia and Imaginon).

What surprised me, when I accessed all of the tags with lis9763, is the proliferation of sites that were more library responses to web 2.0 ideas, more article driven than social media sites per se. It spoke to me of the reality that we are all operating with different needs, definitions and approaches. So, in a sense, crowdsourcing is a way of harnessing the collective intelligence, but not necessarily the collective you were thinking of at the outset of the activity. One must be very careful, when using the “hive mind” that the intent and destination is what was envisioned in the first place. We are using tags that are personally significant (except in this case, where we were directed to use one tag in particular for an assignment) and that significance can and will be different for each individual. So we may achieve a collective list, but will it be a collective wisdom?

Six of Nine

It is 3:30 in the morning and since I cannot sleep, I thought I might as well get some work done. There is a certain “science fiction” element for me in the way we express the ideas around collective intelligence. Doesn’t the “hive mind” bring up images of the Matrix or the Borg?

That aside, as I have said in previous posts, there is a need to build a navigation system to be able to effectively and efficiently steer a course through the myriad of ideas and information available on the Web. Yahoo tried in the beginning of the Internet to impose a controlled hierarchical system, much like we are used to having in libraries. Google did it a different way. Which is the most popular today and why? These are pertinent questions to the discussion at hand.

The way ideas, content and information is presented, created and compiled on the Internet defies the controlled vocabulary approach to retrieval on the Web. Tagging, while offering a natural language approach, is only so effective in retrieving information. As discussed in several of the readings this week, it can be spammed and/or it will only retrieve the items that are tagged exactly as the search terms (i.e. cat, not cats – and there is no function for cat*). For some, this will not be a problem; do you want a million hits for cat? Will 10,000 retrieved images of a cat suffice? The answer is likely yes, for some purposes.

Where it becomes complicated, though, is when you are searching for the best information or the most reliable. While I see no easy route to that best information on the Internet outside of relying on subscription databases that have peer reviewed journals and the skills of “expert searchers” (i.e. librarians), the question persists. That is where instruction in critical literacy becomes valuable, building in a critical understanding that all information is not created equal, so that eventually, everyone becomes an expert searcher for their purposes.

What I did like was the tag clouds that Library Thing offers on their interface. I am familiar with BiblioCommons, and am a huge supporter of Beth Jefferson, the creative spark behind it, the tag cloud of Library Thing is more representative of what Internet users are becoming used to having at their fingertips. Either way, it is an opportunity to see how the two ideas, controlled vocabulary searches and the collective intelligence can and do work together in an OPAC. The question remains, though, is this able to translate to the Web at large?