Library Revolution

Keynote: Lee Rainie from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

For full notes on the presentation, see the following excellent recap form Nicole Engard.

For more Pew Internet use information see the reports here and here.

He made some very relevant points during this talk, and there are a lot of conclusions one could draw from the statistics he presented. But here’s what stood out to me… forgive me for putting my own spin on things.

• Wireless Internet. Cell Phones. Pay attention folks. This is where we are headed, and libraries had better be ready to ask the necessary questions about where we fit in.
• Education level is a good predictor of library use. Should this make us worried that the people who may be the least likely to use the library may be those who need us the most?
• He spoke about community evangelism and the value of giving your zealous patrons access to and training in Web 2.0 tools so that your happy customers can sing your praises to the larger community. I often think that the only marketing tool more powerful than an happy customer is a happy customer given a voice and a platform for spearding the word!
• Lee Rainie: “Aspire to be a node in people’s social networks.” For everyone out there who is unsure about libraries becoming engaged in online social networking initiatives, I think this statement comes pretty close to pointing the way. Unless you work in a library, nobody’s life revolves around the library. But if libraries are there as part of someone’s social environment, they become a likely resource someone may turn to when a problem needs solving. I guess it was always that way… but now many of us have moved a good amount of our regular daily lives online, and libraries need to be part of that landscape as well.
• People who don’t use the Internet when solving problems usually don’t so because they aren’t really aware of what is there to help them. Are non-library users similarly unaware of what the library has to offer? I say hells yeah. Rainie suggests that “Gen Y” users are so much more likely to use the library when trying to solve problems in part because they have the most recent “forced” experience with what the library has to offer (through school).

There was a lot more food for thought in this session… and he started to get to a slide looking at different types of literacies (graphic, navigational, contextual, etc) when the session was brought to a close for time. But maybe all of this is fodder for another day.

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I have recently been involved in several conversations about Internet use where the folks I’m conversing with seem to bring a very strange (to me) assumption to the conversation. They seem to think that the Internet is somehow antisocial and isolating in nature.

This comes as a bit of a surprise to me… I feel like almost everything I do online has a strong social component these days. To me, the Internet is incredible because of the way it is populated by real people with whom you can interact.

Reading a book, on the other hand, strikes me as pretty isolating.

But some of my colleagues disagree. One person I was recently talking with had volumes to say about how using the Internet too much threatens to completely remove the human element from your life.

Which makes me ask, “What Internet are you on?”

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My husband and I recently took our son to the Bronx zoo, where we were in for a treat – se got to see an Okapi up close and personal. Apparently, even in the zoo it is rare to see an Okapi up close – they usually hide in the back of the exhibit. But that day the Okapi was interested in being social and was right there up by the glass.

After talking to one of the zoo guides about this interesting and unique creature and the fact that it is unusual to get such a good look, I was curious. So when I got home I took a few minutes to look up the Okapi online. I just wanted to get a little bit information, so I ended up on Wikipedia, of course. There I learned a few facts about its habitat and behavior, including the interesting fact that they like to eat the burnt wood left over from a lighting strike.

And that was enough for me. It’s all I wanted or needed to know.

So when I have conversations with librarians concerned that people are using the internet to get fast, basic information instead of coming in to the library for “real” research, I have a hard time thinking that is always a bad thing.

Don’t get me wrong. Students need to use good, reliable sources for their research, and a quick Wikipedia reference just isn’t going to cut it. Medical questions, financial questions, and other really important topics should be handled carefully and researched in much more depth. Ther eare plenty of times when there is just no replacement for good, solid library research with the help of an information professional.

But this wasn’t one of them. And there are lots of instances when basic information gained quickly is more than sufficient. I didn’t need (or want) to delve into great tomes of zoological knowledge to learn detailed Okapi facts. I didn’t need to access scientific journals via complex databases or double check the citations and cross references for multiple sources.

And I’m so glad that I live in a world where the kind of basic information I wanted was so readily available. A single search query and two clicks gave me enough to sate my curiosity and make me that much more knowledgeable about a topic that, only a few years back, I would have gone no further on – it was just not worth the effort required pre-internet to get information about something that was of moderate passing interest to me. The benefit didn’t outweigh the cost… but it does now.

But I’ve had many conversations with librarians who seem to think the availability of “quick and dirty” information online is the evil of our age. One person I was talking to lately expressed her deep concern over the “epidemic” of “shallow information” she saw sweeping across her library’s patrons. She told me (and I’m paraphrasing here) how awful it was that nobody seemed to want to become experts in anything anymore – they just wanted to get a few facts and move on to the next thing! They want a little knowledge about a lot of things, and that was, in her opinion, only resulting in “dumbing everyone down.”

This isn’t the only conversation I’ve had like this lately. And I have to say, I just don’t understand what’s so bad in wanting to know a little bit about a lot of things. Isn’t that part of what can make someone a more well-rounded person? Isn’t that the basis for a liberal arts education?

I don’t know about the rest of the “general population, but for me, I really enjoy being able to gain a little information about a lot of things with a minimum of effort. For me, It makes me feel well-read, even if I don’t spend a lot of time reading actual books. It gives me a greater sense of context in the rest of my life experiences to have a broad store of knowledge to draw from, and in some cases, even gives me the opportunity to become a little bit of a “Renaissance Woman.”

Still, other active reference librarians I talk to seem to feel that their jobs are more rewarding nowadays, as the regular “mundane” sorts of reference questions they get are disappearing. Folks can get a lot of the info they used to ask for themselves. As a result, at least two reference librarian friends of mine have recently commented to the effect that the questions they get have gone down in quantity, but up in “quality.” They don’t have to answer as many questions, but those they are approached with are “meatier” and require much more work and research - which they have time to do because they’re not so bogged down with quick lookup questions.

I don’t know, but that seems like a good thing to me! What’s so horrible about letting people, or even teaching people to answer simple questions on their own with the readily available information they have such unprecedented access to – and taking on the role of information expert and advisor for the trickier questions only?

Of course, what this boils down to (at least in my mind!) is a real need for promotion of information literacy initiatives – to help folks learn when “quick and dirty” will suffice and when we really need to do “real research.” And that’s a tall order. But more and more I think that this is really at the heart of what we need to be doing as twenty-first century information professionals.

I, for one, look forward to teaching my son the difference between wanting to know where an Okapi lives and conducting research for a paper. And I really hope that I can encourage him to go for the quick, dirty, basic information whenever it is appropriate and will satisfy his curiosity about the world around him.

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With libraries venturing into the world of “official library blogs” left and right, there is a persistent theme I hear emerging from the behind-the-scenes discussion of these blogs. I can’t even count the number of times that I have heard library staff and directors comment that their blogs don’t get any comments.

 “You know, we’ve been working so hard to keep up our library blog, but nobody leaves any comments!”

In response, I would like to offer a bit of unsolicited advice to frustrated library bloggers who are upset over the silence they get in return for their blogging efforts.

1. First and foremost, write something worth commenting on.

A lot of library blogs I read feature posts that go something like this:

 “Please join us next Tuesday for an art exhibit opening. We are so excited about this event, and there will be food!!”

OK, so you got your announcement out. Mission accomplished on that goal. If you want to use your library blog as an e version of your newsletter, you’re in business. But do you really expect anyone to comment on that? What are your users supposed to say, when your posts are structured like a broadcast? Thing about broadcasts is that they don’t really encourage commentary.

Comments take effort. Not much effort, but in the world of the Internet, effort is effort. I’m not taking the time and effort to leave a comment unless there is something interesting an engaging to comment on. Otherwise, I skim my eye across it, read half of the words (maybe!) and move on.

How about a post discussing the artist whose exhibit is opening at your library? Or the type of art being displayed? Or a more general discussion of the kinds of events that go on in your library (with a not-so-subtle plug for this one)? Sure, those are a little more difficult to write, but if you’re looking for comments, they’d be a much better bet than a bland, uninteresting announcement.

2. Get Linky.

Blogs are about conversation. Community. Interaction.

If you’re looking for comments, I’d like to think you’re looking to foster conversations, community, and interaction. So what better way to encourage dialog than to join in on or continue a conversation already in the works?

By linking to other blogs, you encourage comments on your blog in a couple of different ways. For one, you’re attracting readers by getting yourself out there in the blogosphere. Whenever someone links to my blog, I go and read what they have to say, and I often comment or link back. The conversation can really get going… and spread!

Besides attracting new readers, linking to other sites gives your blog posts context, and maybe even more legitimacy in the eyes of your readers. Hey, look! What we’re doing here in our library is relevant in the larger scope of the world! What we’re doing is interesting to people other than us! We are relevant!

Get more readers, join the conversations already out there, and give yourself some context, and you may see more comments coming your way. Bring on the links!

(And for God’s sake – if you’re going to blog about the materials in your collection, PLEASE include links to the materials in your catalog! It’s all good and fine to recommend a book, for instance, but without a link into the catalog, I’d have to go to way too much trouble to place a hold on it. Put the resource right there where I can make an “impulse purchase”!)

3. Make people feel comfortable

Does you library’s tone make readers feel comfortable enough to comment? Is your voice friendly and approachable? Do you give the impression that you genuinely want to hear what people have to say?

As I’ve discussed before, I tend to have a pretty negative view about the impersonal, “corporate persona” type library blog. Sure, it works OK in some cases, but in general, I’m among the segment of Web users who tend to be really cynical about blogs that seem too official. To me, it just reads as phony.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t project a professional image whenever you represent your organization. But I just don’t see what’s so bad about librarians projecting their true individual personalities. To me, and to a large segment of blog readers (as L’Oreal found out the hard way!!), official corporate personas or made up characters read as fake, and they’re a huge turnoff.

I actually think it’s a measure of respect to your readers to be honest with them, and as a blog reader, I definitely feel disrespected and condescended to by corporate blogs that are too impersonal or that I feel aren’t really being honest. We want some measure of authenticity.

If your blog reads like a press release, good luck getting comments.

If it reads like a cold, impersonal institution, don’t bet on replies.

If it sounds like a naggy old lady with a bun, I wouldn’t comment on it. Would you?

4. Actively Invite Commentary

Besides developing an authentic, inviting voice, I might also suggest taking David Lee King’s advice and creating posts that actively invite readers to give their input.

If you really want comments, it’s simple. Just ask.

His tips:

• Think like a dj: You know - you’ve all heard a dj at a radio station announce “be the 10th caller and win a [fill in the blank].” While I don’t think we should give away cars and trips to Japan, I think we can adapt that mentality of dangling carrots in order to gain participation.  Even simple things, like asking people to click a link, read a short article, or to watch a video are great ways to “direct” customers into participation.  And a blog is the perfect place to do this.
• Figure out the goal for your post: What do you want the customer to do after they’ve read your blog post? Why not tell them what they should do to make that thing happen. An easy (well, maybe not TOO easy) way to do that is to figure out what the end result of your blog post should be, and then write the post to support that goal.
• Ask for Opinions: Opinions are always great, because people are more willing to share… so ask for them! Ask things like: what’s your favorite movie/book?  What’s your favorite genre? Why? Asking these things is a great way to start a discussion.
• Use polls and surveys: Not really sure why (other than referring to my last point on opinions), but people tend to fill out online polls and short surveys - especially if they’re about more trivial stuff. You can simply do these within a blog post.
• Use props: When supplementing the text in your blog post with images and links, make sure to invite readers to click on them. This tells readers “ooh - I can click on this!”

Actually, read his whole series of posts about inviting participation in Web 2.0 projects. Great ideas!

I couldn’t agree more. What are some ways you can invite participation in your blog? 

5. React to Comments

If you do start getting comments, I think it’s really important to encourage the comment train to keep on a-rollin’. When someone takes the time to comment, try to acknowledge them and respond. I’m not personally as good at this as I should be… I really hope that everyone who comments here knows that I really appreciate them taking the time to do so!!!

But if you have a whole team of librarians working on a collaborative blog, I don’t see why it should be so hard to respond regularly. It’s just one more way to seem less like a cold, impersonal institution and more like a group of real people who genuinely care what their patrons have to say.

Again, it’s about respect. If I feel strongly enough to take the time to put a bunch of words together in a coherent way and comment on the library blog, then I deserve to be heard. And letting people know that they have been heard and that their input is respected and appreciated is an excellent business practice.

6. Embrace Negative Comments!

If you’re in the habit of responding to comments, you’ve put yourself in a great position to deal with negative comments… and come out the better for it!

Many would-be library bloggers have mentioned to me their fear of getting negative comments. We’re so used to closely guarding our library’s public image and keeping a tight reign on anything that is said about the library in a public forum that it’s really hard for many librarians to imagine just letting go and seeing what people really have to say.

The thing I always remind folks about, however, is that it is your blog. So, if you get a negative comment, it’s on your terms and it can really give you a great chance to react to the comment on your own terms. Responding to negative comments can actually put your library in an extremely positive light. It shows that you are really listening, that you’re happy to discuss complaints, and often an honest, well thought-out response to criticism may bring out library supporters who have been lurking.

I was talking to a friend whose business blog (non-library) received a whole slew of negative comments at one point. He took the bull by the horns and posted a few well-written, well-argued replies. BAM. Suddenly his supporters came out of the woodwork to back him up. Not only because they agreed with him, but also because by addressing the bad comments openly he proved himself as an honest, conscientious person who doesn’t blow off complaints. His business has benefited from the experience immensely.

Need more evidence? Read this.

Don’t overmoderate comments- let folks express their disagreement or disapproval. Then be sure not to blow off these comments. A bad comment sets you up to deliver a good response. This is a winning proposition, and a positive response to a negative comment will put both you and your library in a good light.

Actually, there are a lot of good posts out there with good ideas for handling negative comments. For example, here, here, here and here.

The last thing I’d like to say is that library bloggers really shouldn’t rely on comments alone as an indication of total readership. Librarians love use statistics – but don’t misuse comments in this way. Comments are a very important aspect of blogging because in the end blogs are really all about conversation.

Without that conversational quality, it’s just a bunch of press releases. Don’t call it a blog. Call it an online newsletter.

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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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