#23

What is there left to say?

I hope that I will feel the desire to update this blog now and again in the future. I'd rather not let it just sit around and dry up, but I suppose time will tell. It's hard to know if I will have any worthy insights into the relationship between the web and the library until I am actually a working professional (a part time library job doesn't quite count, I don't think).

The considerable breadth of topics covered over all of the "things" and the fact that the source from which these assignments were culled is already growing a bit stale demonstrates just how quickly the profession is moving. I am definitely not advocating a need to scramble and upend the way everything is done. Instead...patient vigilance and the willingness to change. The willingness to improve by abandoning the old and / or extraneous, the willingness to be unsure of one's self because of, you know, trying something new. And the willingness to share, both for the benefit of one's co-workers and for the profession at large. That's what I'd be advocating.

I think that does it for now.

You've been a wonderful audience, tip your waitress, etc...

#15

Hitting reverse a little before wrapping things up...

Hmm nope. Not keen on Rollyo at all. At least as far as personal use goes, I would never spend time finding the right specialized search engine and then trying to use that. I don't know if other people are a lot more willing to search and play around with tangentially related resources, but I usually have a pretty good time of typing what I'm looking for into Google, and it comes up without too much effort or it doesn't (this is with regards to personal use, mind you). This to me seems like just another tool that tries to dance around getting a task done in some clever way. I admire that it's trying to give users control of their search resources but...I don't need it.

However, this isn't to say that Rollyo is useless. I can see how you might use it to build specialized engines for patrons to utilize, and build a hub of not only links but entire search engines (both ones the library compiled and ones they found on Rollyo already set for use). I do wonder if patrons would even be interested in this kind of resource or if they'd just proceed directly to Google because they are used to the results that it provides and their degree of good enough-ness. And with so many user-generated engines, how do you determine which ones are good and have a thoughtfully curated bunch of resources? Rollyo has possibilities for use in the library, certainly, but not without some hitches.

#22

One of the best ways I can think of to keep up with trends is to follow blogs or join mailing lists that deal with your specific area of librarianship (along with a few general interest ones as well). I don't think one can be expected to be always scouring for the latest trends and developments, but if a blog or mailing list makes getting news related to your field a part of your routine then it's not so much of a chore. I think it is important to also not overstuff yourself with input. If you get your information from every last resource available then nothing will stand out and you'll hardly be able to read for information, you'll only be able to skim in order to keep up. Knowing your limits and where the reach of your knowledge and expertise ends is something I'm not sure people consider too often.

I think it's also the responsibility of library administration to make sure their staff is getting periodic professional development related to web trends and tools. This could either be in the form of periodic required development during the work day, or making sure staff is aware of seminars, webinars, and classes that could be of use. Also, encouraging dialogue between staff members might be a good idea as well.

How to best keep up with all these changes is probably going to change as well. I don't think people who have been working in the profession for 15, 20+ years could have fully predicted the changes they've had to ride out and what they would have to do to keep abreast, but it seems like they've managed. As with so many other parts of doing a librarian's work, the ability and willingness to adapt will allow one to keep up with what needs to be kept up with.

I know I fully intend to keep up with things in whatever sort of position I land in. I would feel like I wasn't really completely doing my job if I was lax about it.

#21

The RPC, along with the teacher's guide materials, seems like not just a great set of resources to use when thinking about how to guide the structure of student research, but also a great way to guide time management. By setting non-official deadlines, the RPC (and the Assignment Calculator) would help to keep a student on track with the amount of work they should be doing while also providing a structure to assemble the work by. It could be conceived of as a lot of "hand-holding," I think, in the sense that the student doesn't need to struggle with creating a research model for themselves, but for so many students, the work just has to be done and these tools make for one less thing to worry about and devote attention to. The same goes for the additional teacher's guide items: more nudges, which means possibly less thought devoted to the process.

Now, this isn't to say I wouldn't use these kinds of tools on projects of my own. Now that I know they exist, I just might in the future. And you might be able to use it for library projects: for planning an important presentation to the board, or maybe timing out a complex grant proposal.

I think these are just good tools to have on hand even if you aren't doing any instruction and a student wants to know how to conduct this or that part of their research or how to put this or that kind of a presentation together.

#20

Books are still circulating quite regularly where I work, and I can't imagine that changing anytime soon. At this point it's still a matter of convenience and cost (or lack therof) for patrons. If every patron could have an ebook reader of some kind, and be able to download everything they need from the library, then they would do it. Wouldn't you? I would.
Obviously, the infrastructure (legal and otherwise) is not in place to do this yet, not to mention that ebook readers are still prohibitively expensive for a number of people (although, as with all technology, things are slowly leveling off). Will the library of the future just have shelves full of ebooks pre-loaded with entire collections? Not until they become durable enough to handle public abuse for years and / or be mended whenever the need arises.

Now, I am a huge fan of books as a physical object, but I think unless something about the presentation or formatting is particularly unique (think Mark Danielewski, or the 21 x 16 inch Kramers Ergot 7), the book is just a text vessel. It's just a matter of time before we figure out what the superior vessel is: paper or a screen.

I really enjoyed this piece from earlier this year about how good design will keep books relevant by taking advantage of their physicality, and allowing the iPad to take advantage of it's digital-ness.

This "thing" was a little thick and I didn't really want to wade through all of the different sites listed. I'll try to rip through some of it at least.

-Who on earth would want to read whole books (and by the looks of it, only public domain books) on their regular, tiny-screened phone?

-If you begin looking at / for reader's advisory sites, you will never stop. I tend to prefer sites that have actual lists rather than clever ways to try and lead the user to new books. Just give me some recommendations and send me on my way, don't make me jump through hoops for it! To look up books in a series I use Fantastic Fiction and it works quite nicely.

-I admire the motivation behind that LibriVox thing but I wonder how (or if) they vet the volunteer readers? Without some kind of screening / quality control you could end up with some really terrible audio versions of some books.

-I came across a book swap called Yours Mine Ours not too long ago, which I like because it is focused on art and design books, but I don't like it because the layout is kind of sterile and uninviting. A bit too...arty. Figures.

#19

I think that the motivation behind "specialty" social networks is noble, but I think to a large extent it's just another example of web developers not often thinking through what exactly they are creating and just ending up with services that are redundant, poorly designed, and choked with advertisements.

I have visited last.fm a few times but never seen the necessity to join (I don't really get why I would want to share my music play counts with other folks, or what that would do...).

I wonder how many people still utilize the lowly forum / message board, and if that is considered a primal form of "social networking." I suppose Ning allows you to create a forum section on your site, but I'm talking about sites that are only a forum. (The forums on Ning sites seem pretty poorly organized anyway)
There was a forum that some acquaintances made just for their general group of friends, and that was a lot of fun (it doesn't exist any more, unfortunately). There is a forum I frequent that centers around the sort of music I enjoy, but there are sub-forums on that site to talk about other stuff that is non-music related, but of course it is with that same group of like-minded folks. I don't know, I feel like all of these different social networks (which can really be created by anybody with only a modicum of effort) are trying to pull people in by dazzling with sight and sound and screaming "This is a way to meet people who like the thing you do!" and all the while ignoring (or at least making secondary) actual dialogue and interaction with other people. It's not like I am engaging in life-altering conversations of incredible depth at the forums I browse, but I think it's more fulfilling than these sites where it just ends up being a way to share statistics.

Like robots. Social robots. "I'll show you my data if you show me yours, let's calculate our compatibility."

#18

I've had Facebook and MySpace accounts for quite a while. I recall being decidedly skeptical of the utility / necessity of both when they were first becoming popular during my undergrad years, but I signed up for accounts anyway.

Using MySpace always felt like a bit of a chore, and I rarely visit my own MySpace page anymore (maybe once every few months?). No matter how many redesigns they have attempted the interface at MySpace has always been so clunky. Also, spam via MySpace was pretty irritating (spam messages being left on your page or spam friend requests). The main reason I ever started using MySpace (and the only reason I visit any of its pages at all anymore) is because of the ability to hear songs that are posted by musicians I like. It's still good for that, even though the MySpace music player has never been ideal either.

I was really happy right away with how Facebook put me back in touch with high school friends that I either had not spoken with for a few years, or it just made it easier to keep up with good friends that happened to be at different schools. The exclusivity of it (how it was just for college students) was sort of neat. Clearly now Facebook has become a behemoth, but, for me, it still does a good job of serving that original purpose of creating a common ground by which to communicate and share with friends. Now, though, it is a common ground for communicating with family, artists, musicians, and, for better or worse, corporate entities of all kinds. In my mind it has succeeded because it does what MySpace tries to do but in a cleaner, more accessible way. Sure, you can't deck out your Facebook page with goofy decorations and backgrounds that make it chug along at a snail's pace, but, with that customization aspect lacking, Facebook is a far sleeker and easier to use. Everything feels more integrated in Facebook whereas MySpace feels very piecemeal.

I'm not aware of many libraries actively trying to reach their user base via MySpace anymore. It's much easier to do this on Facebook now, and I do think it's a great way to show patrons "Look at this thing we just did yesterday / right now!" and to keep them updated on upcoming events, new arrivals, etc. It could also be a good way to solicit feedback (although folks might not be comfortable with the fact that their comments wouldn't be anonymous on Facebook). And when / if Facebook falls out of favor with the general public, librarians will just migrate along with everyone else.