Library Revolution

Here is a great article on Wired techbiz. At the heart of the discussion is this quote from Tim O’Reilly:

One of the big changes at the heart of web 2.0 is the shift from the creation of software artifacts, which is what the PC revolution was about, to the creation of software services. These are services that ultimately, if they are successful, will require competencies of operation, of scale, and the like.

He goes on to talk about 2.0 really being about the control of data, not the interfaces, saying:

We’re still trying to move people toward really understanding what that new world looks like. I don’t think a lot of people are there. A lot of people still think, “Oh, it’s about social networking. It’s about blogging. It’s about wikis.” I think it’s about the data that’s created by those mechanisms, and the businesses that that data will make possible.

If that isn’t at the heart of the challenges libraries are facing in the attempt to adapt to a 2.0 world, then I don’t know what is.

When we talk about the challenges of implementing (and inventing!) this so-called Library 2.0, I think we need to put a lot of thought into what we’re really struggling to deal with. Is it the emergence of new technologies and interfaces or is it really the uses to which the technologies are put and the way we define, use, and control information?

Food for thought.

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This week I attended an extremely interesting all-day Web Usability workshop given by Steve Krug. It was one of those programs where everything he says is really common sense, and you spend the whole time saying, “well, of course!” But sometimes the common sense stuff – the stuff right there under our noses – needs to be pointed out to us so that we really see it.

There was a ton to take away from the session, but here are some of the important points I took with me.

• Test. With real people. Get some real users (and not just librarians!!!) to use your site in front of you and really watch and analyze what they do. There’s more to it than that (outlines in his book, Don’t Make Me Think), but that’s the gist. You’d be surprised what you can learn… and how incorporating the feedback can improve the experience of your site for your users.

• Spot jargon… and start speaking English. This is so important for librarians! We all assume that everyone knows what “Virtual Reference” or “eAudiobooks” are… but if you’re not a librarian, it might a well be gibberish. Sure, with some thought users might decode what the jargon on your page means, but the whole point is that they shouldn’t have to. Because they won’t. Web users don’t read- they scan. And if the links on your page aren’t obviously meaningful, they’ll get skipped.

• If something doesn’t work, fix it. When things are difficult to use, I find that Librarians love to write a brochure to explain it. Why not just make it easier to use? Duh.

• Do as little as possible to fix it. Yes, yes, yes. It’s like Occam’s razor of Web design and usability. Little tweaks are often all that is necessary to make a big difference in the usability of a site. If someone can’t find your catalog, don’t throw in the towel on the whole site design – just make the button bigger. Or move it a little to the left. Or make it red. Couldn’t that also apply to “fixing” a lot of other library services?

• Accessibility is necessary – and doable. It can seem daunting to tackle the issue of creating a site that is accessible to patrons with disabilities. But it’s the ethical thing to do…. and the legal thing to do. And there are resources out there that make accessibility achievable. So use them!!

Oh, and did I mention listening to the input of real people, not just librarians???

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How does your thought process work?

Do you ever start thinking about something and then, before you know it, you’re on to something else entirely… and before another blink of an eye, you’re two steps beyond that? Ever end up with an idea that seems completely random to anyone else, but to you seems like the natural conclusion of your thought process?

This video illustrates my point exactly.

Now, if that looks familiar to you (it does to me!), maybe it is something we need to keep in mind when we think about the “next generation” of library services and technologies.

How can we design our library services, spaces, and technologies to accommodate the complexities of our thought processes as we search for knowledge? How can we design interfaces that are more intuitive for use by people who do not necessarily think in cut-and-dried flow chart form (like those they show you in library school!)? What about our physical spaces? And is this something we can keep in mind more as we conduct face-to-face interactions with patrons whose questions and information needs may not be as simple as a straight question and answer?

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Is being “free” enough of an incentive to make libraries competitive in the current marketplace?  Libraries seem to love Return On Investment studies lately, showing their patrons just how much value they potentially get from their taxes. But in an economic and social environment where people are purchasing things they want rather than just things that they need, I really think free might not be enough.

People are not just buying stuff that they need, but also stuff that they want. There is a thriving market for totally unnecessary items like frozen pizza ovens, ringtones, and baby wipe warmers (completely unnecessary, let me tell you!), it becomes quite obvious that folks aren’t shy about spending a little money if there is something that they want.

I think ease of use is a huge part of this. Time is an extremely valuable commodity these days, and I know that I for one am willing to shell out a few bucks more if there is a level of convenience involved. If it’s easy to just buy what you want, and people seem inclined to do just that, then where does that leave libraries?

It leaves us with the problem that being free is not enough any more. We also have to be easy because potential customers count ease as an extra cost associated in getting what they want. That means easy to use, easy to access, easy to understand, easy in every single way. And news flash – libraries, for the most part are not easier than Google and Amazon. For consumers with money to spend and ease as a top priority, that’s HUGE.

I think that beyond making libraries easier, we also need to be sure that we are offering value added services to attract users. What makes the services offered by libraries special and worth consuming? The social value of a personal interaction? The library experience? A feeling of community gained from participating in the library? Expertise in finding, evaluating, and using information?

If you answered yes to any of those suggestions, you had better make sure that it’s really true… and then make it even more indisputable. Then communicate it to your potential users and make it easy!!!  (Not too tall an order, right?)

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When I saw this film several weeks ago, I was struck by something….

While the field of librarianship has undoubtedly changed in innumerable ways in the last 60 years, I find it interesting that the way we categorize library positions has undergone very little change. Most libraries I interact with still have the same basic categories of library employees, and generally define their duties in the same way, if in an updated form.

I wonder, though if this might be a case of trying to fit an increasingly square peg (our changing positions and responsibilities) into a hole that remains just as round was it was in 1946 (the general job categories).

Something I am always struck by in libraries is how the more departmentalized the library, the more difficult a time they seem to have when adapting to change. In libraries where circulation doesn’t speak to tech services, who has nothing to do with reference or children’s, when new services come along, they have a hard time figuring out who in the organization assumes the responsibility. When traditional services change, they have a hard time changing with them, as sometimes the changes defy the traditional categories.

The result is often frustrated employees, and new services being treated as afterthoughts not getting the attention they deserve. All of which does nothing to meet patron needs and expectations, help professionals to adapt to change, or encourage further innovation down the road.

I wonder if the first step in combating this downward spiral is to reassess the traditional categories of librarianship and how they are reflected in our libraries. What has your library done to break free of the traditional categories of librarianship?

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… or costly, or even time consuming to create a web presence for your organization and its services. This is something I try to explain to librarians all of the time, and usually get a blank stare or a glazed over look in return.

Look, I know that the Internet is a big, bad place that can seem completely overwhelming. But it doesn’t have to be if complicated isn’t what you need.

Seth Godin, (whose books and blogs I totally love) posted a very common sense approach to building a web presence for small local businesses. Read it.

Now, how can libraries put this sort of approach to work in promoting themselves and their services, programs, and so on? Come on, it’s not that great a stretch.

And the best part is that Seth’s suggestions are cheap, easy, and quick. So I don’t want to hear any excuses, OK?

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OMG this is awesome.

It’s a cool book vending machine used in Portugal. Watch the video!

It seems really similar to Red Box, which I use a lot for DVDs. I love Red Box because it’s convenient (in the grocery store), cheap ($1/day) and totally easy. In sum, that makes it closer than the library, cheaper considering my fines, and more user friendly. And I’m sure the people waiting in line with me would agree.

So I really really love that the public library of Batalha, Portugal has been taking advantage of a similar produlct to promote library use! Bravo!

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There was an interesting post on the site DadLabs today. It’s a bit long, but the gist of it is that we parents put up with all sorts of crap in an effort to foster a sense of community in our kids.

Libraries talk a good game about being community centers, and in many ways, they are. But sometimes I think that libraries could do a little more to reach out to their communities… I’m not talking about regular outreach or publishing a newsletter, but really going out there and participating in the local community. And doing it in such a way that community members feel like they can participate in the library without going through a lot of crap. More community involvement and visibility can only be a good thing for patrons and the library alike, right?

Let me tell you a story. My husband, son and I recently attended a huge parade in my community. We had heard from our neighbors that this was THE event to be at, and they were right. The local paper reported the next day that more than 40,000 people attended, and that didn’t count all of the people actively participating in the 3-hour plus event (we left after 3 hours and it was still going strong as far as the eye could see!)

Who was there? Local businesses, 7 fire departments that I counted, the schools, local civic organizations, charity groups, musical groups, local politicians, regional politicians, and state politicians. Chuck Schumer was there, schmoozing with everyone he could shake hands with. The local media was out in force. It seemed like everyone who lived in the area was either in the parade or by the side of the road, where people were tailgating with big campers, picnicking, and socializing with their neighbors.

As someone new to the community, it really gave me a sense of belonging and I learned new things about the area where I live. (Who knew the Gyro Palace was so popular? I’ll have to try it!) We left the parade feeling like we had really been able to participate in something that gave us a sense of local identity, and it was great, especially for bringing that sense of community to our son.

But I left with one question: Where was the library?

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Michael Casey at Library Crunch posted the other day on a topic that is near and dear to my heart… or should I say one that completely irritates me and is 100% guaranteed to send me into an instant, prolonged rant. He very diplomatically phrases it as “Passive Aggressive Behavior.” I wouldn’t put it so nicely… Both as a library patron and a professional librarian, I’ve encountered such behavior many times. And it doesn’t sit well with me at all.

Take the time that a librarian I know was told by her supervisor that she wouldn’t need to ask so many questions if she were more resourceful. The poor woman was new in her library, and had some questions about how things were done there… so she asked. I’ll bet she never made that mistake again. Meanwhile, whenever I deal with the staff at that particular library, it’s always obvious that internal communications are non-existent. I wonder why???

It’s even worse when the nastiness is directed at patrons. Like the time that my husband sent our local library an email asking if they were going to order a particular book. In response, he got a very terse email informing him that they couldn’t take the time to answer such a question for him unless he provided his library barcode as part of the email. What??? I’m sure it took them longer to write that nasty little response than it would have taken to just tell him yes or no. And what were they planning on doing with his barcode, anyway… especially since it takes no longer to look up a patron by name than by barcode. Now he doesn’t want to ask them for information ever again. Way to go alienating a good patron, library!

Rude. Arrogant. Condescending. Not to mention counterproductive.

What about treating one another with some respect? Would it be so terrible to be nice to our coworkers? Would it be the end of the world to show our patrons some respect? My Mom would never let me get away with treating people so poorly!

Oh, I know full well that most librarians are friendly and helpful, both to one another and to their patrons. But there is enough of a segment of radical rule-following enforcers out there (see this post form yesterday!) for us to take a good hard look at how we phrase our responses and conduct our interactions.

It’s often said that our best, cheapest, and most effective marketing tool is customer service. Don’t let passive aggressive nastiness undermine that!

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Lifehacker posted in interesting question about the things we do each day… and the things we shouldn’t do (originally posted at Productivity501). The suggestion is that we can be more productive in our daily lives if we cut out some of the things we don’t need to be doing… or that we can do more efficiently by another means.

 In light of all of the “I have no time to do that” comments I hear from library staff when I suggest trying new things, this might be worth some serious thought. What are you doing that you don’t need to?

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