Hip to be human

Remember that New York Times article “A Hipper Crowd of Shushers” that came out just over a year ago?  It’s been on my mind lately, and I’m not sure why.  Anyway, I finally realized why I don’t like the article and why I still walk away from it with a sense of discomfort.

I think many of our institutions (and maybe even we ourselves) are becoming cold, lifeless, and untouchable.  With the sweeping rise of blogs and wikis and with even more specific technologies like RFID and SMS, libraries are becoming too reliant on automation and digitization to provide library service.  And to put it mildly, we’re losing some of the human touch that makes library service so important and so exciting (and which was the reason I got into this profession in the first place).

I’m not discounting the value of technology in and of itself.  On the contrary, I think technology is great if it’s used in the right contexts and for the right reasons.  Digital and distance technologies can bridge gaps of geography, but these technologies are most (or only) effective when those gaps actually exist.  (For example, I could not be working toward my master’s without distance education, since there were no MLS programs in Georgia when I started applying for grad school.)  In effect, if we rely too much on digital services, we will assume that gaps exist where they don’t and risk widening the ideological, technical, and economic gaps that already do exist.

Which brings me back to the New York Times article.  “Hip” should be the least of our concerns, as long as some of us treat our customers and our coworkers (and sometimes, again, ourselves) as less than human.  Rethinking librarianship means rethinking the higher purposes of our profession and how we should therefore interpret our brand of customer service.  While this sometimes means establishing IM reference or an online book club, it also means training staff to be friendly and professional, and our buildings should be inviting and welcoming as well.  And even if Web 2.0 technologies do invite and foster user participation, a human element is still required to give true value to that participation.

We can even take this humanizing process a step further.  As professionals whose ultimate goal is community-building, we are in a unique position to remarket and rebrand ourselves, even as individuals.  We have families, we get tattoos, we’re wine connoisseurs.  Do these things make us hip?  Not necessarily; I don’t think that having a kid or getting inked or liking wine are automatic tickets to cool.  But these things do make us human, both in appearance and in actuality, and that’s something that we should let our public glimpse and appreciate every now and then.  In the same way that we make information easily accessible, we must work just as hard to make ourselves easily accessible.

If Library 2.0 is about creating user-centered environments and services, then Library 3.0 will be about building, fostering, and cherishing the connections that these trends enable.  Our libraries must become places where technology and humanity mesh, where our higher purpose is to connect our users with information and with each other.

Back to school

My fall semester of grad school starts today.  I’m both really excited and really worried, since I’ll be taking three classes and still working full time.  While this will let me graduate in May rather than August, I’m  nervous about how well I’ll manage the courseload.  A coworker of mine did the same thing and advised me that it’s doable, adding “but I was on a lot of anti-anxiety meds toward the end.”

Anyway, I’m looking on the bright side and trying to stay positive.  I’ve managed straight A’s (with one A-minus) for the first three semesters, so taking three classes instead of two shouldn’t break my back or fracture my sanity. I’ve already ordered most of my textbooks and printed most of the articles for class (that purple folder on top is well over two inches thick now).  And I really am looking forward to what I’ll be studying, especially for my Information Needs of Young Adults class.  Most of those books are included in the picture, although I also chose to read Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist for a reaction paper on young adults and intimacy — mainly because I saw the preview for the movie and didn’t even know it was a book until I saw it on a list for class.  For the first time in a while, I actually want read the book *and* see the movie.  (I didn’t even want to do that with Atonement.  Reading the book was amazing, but I heard not-so-great things about the film and didn’t want to ruin it.)  So a trip to the movies will probably be a mid-semester reward for me, even if it’s a quasi-bubble-gum / teeny-bopper movie.

And here’s a question for my distance education colleagues — do you know if attending graduation (i.e., the physical event with the caps and gowns) is even an option for us?  If possible, I’d like to be able to attend and party down in Tallahassee with some friends and family.  Even if I’m getting my degree online, I still feel like I put just as much (read, “a hell of lot of”) work as the people on campus, and I’d like to be recognized, too.

Rock out @ your library

Check out this computer user rocking out to her own private party at the library.  It’s making the blog rounds, and I have to admit, it’s awesome, and I wish I had that kind of self-abandon in public places.

My favorite comment on the video comes from LISNews:

… just because you’re amongst all those books, doesn’t mean it has to be boring. So next time you feel the onset of yawning and fatigue, remember the patron in the video. You too, can get on down @ your library.

And as a bonus, if you start the song “Shake It” by Metro Station at just the right moment, it kind of synchs up with her rockin’ out.

Discovered via Jessamyn.

Learn & Play @ the CML

Jennifer of the Columbus Metropolitan Library in Ohio filled me in on their exciting “Learn & Play @ CML,” a Web 2.0 learning program similar to the 23 Things program at PLCMC developed by Helene Blowers.  Since digital literacy is one of those spaces where public libraries can truly excel (and so few libraries are even making an attempt), I’m beyond thrilled.  I love CML’s promotion, too, with an awesome Bob Dylan / Chemical Brothers video mash-up:

Video discovered via Michael Stephens.  Helene herself has also taken notice, and she’s pretty excited, too.

(Edited 08.04.08 - I was very mistaken and thought that this was in Columbus, GA as opposed to Columbus, OH.  I’ve corrected the text and the links so that they’re accurate, and I’m grateful to Joy from CML who caught my mistake and to whom I’ve apologized.  For what it’s worth, the Columbus, GA library is an amazing facility as well, and I took an unplanned trip there a few weeks ago — thankfully, Mel brought her camera and Mel’s mom was willing to play tour guide, so expect a full road trip report within the week!)

“OurSpace, TheirSpace”

I finally decided to upload one of my conference presentations to SlideShare.  This particular presentation (”OurSpace, TheirSpace: Libraries, Young Adults, and Social Networking”) was given at the Georgia Public Library Service Teen Conference in December 2007, and it was essentially the result of a semester’s worth of research about the subject.  Please note that the Creative Commons credits for the images are placed at the end, along with special thanks to the librarians I interviewed.

It was my first talk at a library conference, and I was beyond nervous.  I was pretty much wanting to throw up the entire night before and the morning of, but once everything started I was fine, and people seemed to think the presentation was really helpful and interesting.  I realize that there’s nothing too groundbreaking here, but I do think it’s a decent guide for public libraries that are thinking of getting into social software as a marketing and communication tool.  Anyway, it was my first one, and I’d like to think that it came out pretty well.

“The Disconnected”

There’s a downright important article in this month’s Library Journal that everyone — and I mean everyone –  should read: “The Disconnected: Who these 3.8 million people are, and why libraries need to help them”

From the article,

Ultimately, these factors create insuperable economic and social challenges for this group that we, as librarians, cannot ignore. Beyond the core humanitarian issue of helping a person in need, we work in one of the last great democratic institutions and are likely to be serving these customers every day. Every public entity, but particularly a library, is positioned in the community to touch the lives of these adults.

If nothing else, this article should inspire some librarians to take action on a lot of the social issues that we’re actually equipped to tackle.  Whether you work with young adults (and part of the article addresses that demographic specialty) or with adults or with the general population, the library, as a public institution, is in a unique and powerful position to help these people.  If libraries of all stripes don’t start accepting and embracing some kind of identity as a social hub, then I worry about the future of our institutions and whatever shred of relevance we might be able to maintain with our communities.

While we have phrases in our culture like “A little information is a dangerous thing” or “Knowledge is power” — both of which seem like negative ways to frame knowledge and information literacy –, both of these phrases illustrate a universal truth, that underlying almost any capacity for independence and self-responsibility is access to information.  If someone needs assistance finding a job or is seeking free ESL courses or needs information about their pregnancy (whether they’re researching abortion or alternatives), the public library (along with other information organizations) is equipped and (dare I say) obligated to help these people.  It’s not just what we can do — it’s what we should be doing all along.

As an aside, I’m curious about what possibilities exist for academic libraries to partner with community groups, government agencies, and even local public libraries to provide outreach and assistance to the disconnected, especially the unemployed, LGBTQ individuals (especially young adults), single mothers, and linguistic minorities.

Any thoughts?  Jason?  Brian?  Mary?  Bueller?

For the love of lo-tech

I firmly believe that the post-it note is one of the single greatest inventions of the twentieth century, if only because I couldn’t make it through a normal workday without them.  I scribble — notes, call numbers, library card numbers, to-do lists, personal reminders — all over them, both at home and at work, and I sometimes find myself using various sizes and assorted colors for different purposes.  While the post-it’s versatility (easy attachment, easy removal, attachability to almost anything) makes it a miracle among office supplies, it’s also a great example of how lo-tech solutions often ended up being the most useful and the most, dare I say, timeless.

This past week, I put the post-it’s lo-tech innovation to work, and in a pretty ironic way.  Here’s an image of how a coworker and I ended up outlining a draft for the library’s technology plan.  It’s three sheets of simple white paper, with boxes in blue ink drawn to represent categories for the plan’s goals and objectives.  To start, the goals and objectives were all written on post-its and attached, without any regard to organization, to a plain sheet of paper and then moved to the other sheets to the appropriate categories.  Some further shuffling and revision took place (include the creation of some subcategories), but all in all, the post-its nicely sum up what areas we want to see covered in the next technology plan, and their arrangement on the sheets should make writing the draft much easier.

I’m still a little giggly that we used something as basic yet ingenious as post-its to summarize some pretty high-tech goals and objectives.  It might not be that surprising, but it definitely makes me happy.  Sometimes the simplest solutions really are the most effective.

Can you think of any other lo-tech solutions in your workplace?

Road Trip! - Hall County PL

About a month ago, my friend Susan and I paid a visit to the newly-built Spout Springs branch of the Hall County (GA) Public Library.  In terms of design, it’s a very impressive building.  The library manages to incorporate a number of features, including study rooms, a fireplace, an expansive quiet reading room, and what is essentially a screened-in patio (very much a tribute to the porches you’d find in a number of Southern homes).  Observing that the patio even includes comfortable chairs and tables, Susan and I both agreed that even on the most humid evenings, the patio would be a great place to read a book and enjoy whatever breeze happened to be around.

Like most other public libraries, the Spout Spring branch includes areas dedicated to children (both preschool and school-age), teens, and adults, along with computers dedicated for use based on age. I did find myself wishing that the Young Adult area was a bit better developed, but it’s nice to see that they provide a healthy collection of YA fiction materials, as well as dedicated computers and graphic novels collection targeted to this demographic.  (I’m also guessing that the branch, since it had just opened, still has some growth to go through, so HCPL is off the hook for now.)

The preschoolers’ section includes a number of fun and beautiful features, including a downright massive mural drawn collaboratively by a handful of local artists, dedicated kids’ computers (managed with PC Reservation), a fun-house mirror (supposedly a “magic mirror,” ala Snow White), and a beautiful story time room.

For your viewing pleasure, the rest of the pictures are available here.

TV and the Internet

“If television’s a babysitter, the internet’s a drunk librarian who won’t shut up.”

– Text of a sticker available through the Cat and Girl webcomic store.

I also like the one that says, “My other car is a Pynchon novel.”

Privacy 2.0

I love it when blog posts incorporate video!  I don’t think I’ll ever get into exclusive vlogging, but I do enjoy the YouTube videos or blip.tv clips that people sometimes include with a blog post.

Anyway, Jessamyn West got snagged by Library Journal and was asked some questions about privacy, the (to some people) fetishization thereof, and the role that librarians can play in handling, protecting, and (perhaps) rethinking how we approach privacy and privacy concerns.

I really, really like what she says, especially the part toward the end about moving toward a new consideration of privacy and how we as librarians can approach it.  (Although I’ll be honest, I shuddered a little when she used the term “two point oh,” if only because the term seems so ubiquitous these days. But thankfully, she uses it  — as far as I’m concerned – in the right way and in a different context than what I’m used to.)  I really wish I could have heard what Cory Doctorow and the rest of the panel had to say.  Thankfully the blogs that I follow have been providing some excellent feedback on the ALA conference for people like me who wish we were there.

And as an aside, I really like how podcasts and videoblogs can humanize simple text.  For example, librarian.net is one of the blogs that got me into libraries and blogging, but I never really thought about what Jessamyn’s voice sounded like.  Of course, I’m also one of those people who can’t help but hear someone’s voice when I read what they write, which is, of course, the case with other bloggers that I’ve already met, whether through work, class, or something else. 

I know just about everyone hates the sound of their own voice, but it does make me wonder what some of you other bloggers out there sound like.