Library Revolution

A Friend of mine (talking about me): Books? Oh, no! Em isn’t that kind of librarian!

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I do a lot of griping on this blog about the things I don’t like about libraries. Although I am much more positive in real life, sometimes it seems here like all I do is complain.

So I’d like to dedicate this post to the things I am thankful for in LibraryWorld. While I may sometimes seem pretty negative about the state of libraries and library service, this isn’t really the case… we have a lot to be happy about and thankful for!

• My job, my profession. When I decided (not too many years back) to leave my first career and try something new, there were several things I was looking for. I wanted to work in a professional environment with intelligent people. I wanted to be able to put my skill set to use in a way that would actually help people. I wanted to find myself facing intellectual challenges and work in a potential growth industry. My, did I find all of these things and more in librarianship! Not only that, I was able to find a job in that profession that fits me perfectly and that I love. Not everyone is nearly so lucky in their professional lives.
• Library Professionals. It’s all about the people. I really think that the professionals I come in contact with every day really make libraries the valuable entities they are. And not a day goes by that I don’t feel lucky to deal with the talented, intelligent, dedicated folks I encounter, no matter what library I seem to be visiting. Library and Information professionals always seem up for a good debate, a stimulating conversation, and a bad cup of coffee. They are always ready to go the extra mile to help their customers and their colleagues, and I am so fortunate that I can interact with them daily!
• Public Support. Sometimes, while having conversations with librarians from other parts of the country and the world, I am reminded of hoe fortunate I am for living in an area with such strong public support for libraries. In general, the patrons are very good to us here… which makes it a pleasure to do my best to be good to them in return!
• Exciting Times. I think we can all agree that we live in very interesting times when it comes to working in an information industry. While it can sometimes cause headaches, I’m so thankful that the way we handle information and provide services are in a constant state of flux. Change means never being bored, never getting into a rut. So bring on new ways of handling information, new technologies, new users with new demands!
• As A Patron… I’m so glad that I have access to the kinds of library services available in my area. Sure, I complain a lot (A LOT!) about what we’re not doing for our patrons. But I’d like to think of that as constructive criticism that can (hopefully - unless I’m just on a rant!) be used to make the already excellent services we provide even better for more people in our communities. Underneath it all, I love my library, and I’m so thankful for the benefits I can get from it, especially since I did not grow up with access to this level of library service.

Now, back to complaining.

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A wonderful colleague of mine said something very interesting (and very true!) over lunch a few weeks ago: “Librarians like to provide services for the people that they know.” She said this with a sigh, going on to point out that this is all fine and good, but that sometimes it leads us to neglect services for other segments of the population we serve just because they’re not already coming in the door.

Please read David Lee King’s excellent post about the dilemma this puts us in.

In one sentence: “Stop ignoring your library’s rapidly-growing digital community.”

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Unnamed vendor to a room full of librarians: “How many of you still use paper journals to do your ordering?”

(Every single hand in the room goes up.)

Vendor: (blinking, taken aback) “Oh.”

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I saw this tool on several blogs, so I thought I’d try it out on my blog and find out the reading level I’m writing at.

Actually, I’m pretty pleased with this. As a former writing teacher who has long tried to hone my writing style, there is one thing that I have definitely learned. The simpler the language, the “tighter” I can make my pieces, the better my writing is. Pare it down whenever possible.

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I love the basic theory - free Wi-Fi for everyone, wherever you go.

But I’ve been really skeptical of all of the hot air being blown around for a while by Suffolk County politicians about really making it happen here.

And now, they’re starting to test…

I don’t know. Something just isn’t right here. I guess I’ll  believe it when I see it.

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From the great blog Customers are Always, here is a terrific article about using a blog as a sort of a newfangled, interactive version of a F.A.Q. page. I really think that libraries could put this suggestion for corporate blog use to work for them in very effective ways.

The article comes at it from the perspective that companies can use a blog to communicate with their customers with the answers to the questions they are always being asked… in a way that invites participation, promotes that idea of “corporate transparency”, and will also serve as another line of advertising as the blog gets crawled and linked to on the Internet.

And all of that is fine and good for libraries. On a FAQ blog, we could start by answering questions about our hours, our facilities, our loan policies. I’d actually be pretty interested to see any comments our customers might leave regarding these topics… call it an online suggestion box. Then start answering questions about the library as they come in and watch the resource grow into something that patrons and staff alike can refer to.

But that doesn’t have to be the end of this idea… After all, we’re in the business of answering questions.

With the proliferation of library blogs, I’m always surprised to see how few libraries blog their reference questions… especially the common ones. Instead of a library blog consisting of a list of library events or books to read, why not show the world what we really have to offer?

A common theme I keep hearing lately from the public library Reference librarians I know is that they are getting fewer “easy” ready-reference type questions nowadays… and more really tough, time consuming, reasearch intensive ones. Which, in the words of one of my colleagues, means “More of the interesting stuff.”

Why not keep an ongoing blog where your reference staff can contribute some of the common, interesting, or downright bizarre questions they have worked on recently – with the answers and links to the resources that finally answered the questions? I think this would make another great, valuable resource for patrons to consult, Web surfers to trip over, and librarians to look to when faced with a similar tough question. And it’s one situation where I think comments would really work – conversation enriching the content of the post as folks share additional resources, tips, and feedback.

I can really see this sort of a blog becoming a real resource adding a lot of value to the library Web site. Posts that include actual information that people (or at least one person!) really want? This kind of content has value. And value attracts readers, comments, and customers.

Are we concerned with patron privacy on this one? I think there needs to be some judgment used when deciding what questions to include and how to phrase it – you obviously don’t want to share any personal information that the customer might not want “out there.” But I can’t imagine that this would be too hard to overcome, if even in conversation with the patron: “This is such an interesting question! Do you mind if I write about it on our library blog?” and with some internal policy about how and when (if ever) patrons are identified or discussed.

All too often, I don’t think that the public really knows much about the wonderful set of professional skills we librarians have to offer. Sharing the questions, the process, and the fruits of our efforts in a public forum like a blog would be great advertising for what we have to offer at the library: skills and information, not just books!

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OK, OK, OK.

In my post yesterday about “Going Green,” I made a passing reference to knitting:

“My son now has several new knit caps that he can refuse to wear this winter.”

Since then, I have had three emails asking about the caps I made for him. So to satisfy the emailers and anyone else out there who is curious, here are a couple of pictures of two of the hats I knit for Robert while I was home sick last week:

Of course, Robert’s best friend, Bobo, has to have a matching version of every hat… that’s what friendship between a boy and his bear is all about.

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Can someone please answer a very dumb question I have about Second Life?

Why are there so many chairs? 

I guess I’m just showing my complete lack of understanding, but I really wonder that. I mean, I was just exploring a little in SL and couldn’t get over the number of places there were to sit. Funny thing is, I am feeling pretty comfortable in my recliner right now. My little avatar isn’t tired in the least.

I guess I still don’t get it…

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Roy Tenant has posted his Library Software Manifesto, which is an excellent document for all of us to review.

In my line of work, I hear a lot of complaints about ILS vendors and what they should be doing for us. What I think is really important about Roy’s manifesto is that it reminds us that we have responsibilities, too, when it comes to working with software vendors to provide our customers with the service they deserve.

Pay special attention to the points Roy raises about our responsibilities as consumers:

Consumer Responsiblities

• I have a responsibility to know the needs of my users.
• I have a responsibility to put the needs of my users before my own.
• I have a responsibility to communicate my needs clearly and specifically.
• I have a responsibility to verify that the enhancement requests I make are really what I want.
• I have a responsibility to assign enhancement priorities fairly. — Not every enhancement request can be top priority.
• I have a responsibility to realize I’m not special. — Therefore we should try to come to agreement on how to do the same things so we can minimize the investment in writing software to help us do it.
• I have a responsibility to select software using a fair and reasonable process. — Specifically, can we all agree to stop the pain of the RFP process? Please?
• I have a responsibility to report reproducible bugs in a way as to facilitate reproducing them.
• I have a responsibility to report irreproducible bugs with as much detail as I can provide.
• I have a responsibility to view any adjustments to default settings critically.

It’s all good and fine to be critical of your ILS, but you have to accept some responsibility as well and be willing to meet them halfway. Only then can you really complain about what the vendor isn’t doing.

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