The Ubiquitous Librarian

CeLIBration 2007 – recap (Diddy ain’t got nothin’ on us)

On Saturday we kicked off our welcome event from 7 – 11pm. If you read my blog, I'm guessing you've seen my past posts on this subject. We hit over 700 students, far exceeding my expectations. This event is targeted toward freshmen (our incoming class is typically around 2,000) however, open to all students.

PROMOTION

If you're planning some type of event I highly recommend aligning yourself with the undergraduate/orientation/student success/freshmen Office. We were able to generate large attendance by not competing with other “official” campus events. Furthermore, we gained free publicity by becoming an “official” event.

We also handed out event flyers at incoming-student orientation “marketplace” sessions throughout the summer, and pushed the event (and other library info) at a Residential Assistant/Housing Retreat. I posted a Facebook flyer ($5 per day) for several days leading up to the event, however I don't think those are very effective. I also invited members of the Class of 2011 group . During orientation sessions, most students registered for classes in the library—so we made sure that CeLIBration information was visible to them.

Here is a sample of some of our advertising, courtesy of Dottie Hunt:

We had these around the Library and students received smaller B/W copies too.

All-purpose flyer.

Each event had it's own poster.

FOOD & DRINKS

Every group on campus is giving away free food this week. It's a draw, but you need more than that. We gave away 100 large pizzas (I would tell you company, but they wouldn't give us a deal, so no free publicity) and 50 batches of movie theater style popcorn. We also had an assortment of refreshing Coca-Cola beverages.

ACTIVITIES

Doors opened at 7pm and we didn't schedule any activities until 8. We wanted to give everyone the chance to grab some food and wander around. Our objective was to fit 30-60 people in different areas throughout the library. This gets them in and around the building.

• Board games were very popular, as was DDR. Retro video games (from the 1980's) were not so much, but that's because Macs suck we had some computer problems with our non-Windows operating system.
  

  

  

• Speed-dating was a success. Several librarians from other schools have laughed at me for this—and that's fine, go on hating. We had 3 full sessions, again. We moved it into our gallery, added tablecloths, small mirrors, and flowers, together with a small floating candle—it was very classy; many people called it Parisian. We also raffled away several pairs of movie tickets to female participants to help get things started. Nice work J.S. Shout out to Mr. Hines on the mic.
  

  

  

• Improv Comedy is not my really thing, but the students loved. They had a big audience (50+) for two performances. If you have performance groups on campus you should invite them in from time to time.
  

  

• Ninja Tag was wild. I watched one round and was worried someone would get hurt. It was fast and violent—so hence, very cool. The pictures don't do justice to how dark it was. There was also loud music blasting. This year we doubled the playing space (got rid of some antiqued books!) and I hear we added an extra round. This event was in great demand. The setup was very labor intensive otherwise I'd advocate we do this monthly on a Friday night. Essentially it is a game of team tag played on a darkened floor with black lights. Ninja t-shirts were given to winning teams. Nice work B.T. (Stay East)
  

  

  

  

  

• Poker was packed. I had space for 40 players, but there was greater demand. I had to turn a lot of disappointed people away and felt bad. Never underestimate the appeal of gambling. I bought 800 chips (20 for each player) and several decks of cards. We gave away a rad trophy along with a $100 prize. Because of campus regulations, I could not give a gift card, but had to award a “real” prize, therefore I asked the champion to select something from Best Buy / Amazon to be sent to him. Custom prizes are better anyway. Thanks for the help C.B. and the Security Team.

We had refreshing Coca-Cola products plentifully available throughout the night, however for the championship round I wanted to kick it up and so I provided the gentlemen with Red Bull Energy Drinks to help vitalize the mind and body. (I'm still seeking sponsorship for my Halo 3 event on September 25th.)

• The Ice Water Challenge wasn't something we planned, but once the sodas were gone students challenged each other to see who could stand in freezing pools of ice water the longest. Gotta love Georgia Tech!
  

  

 

We also had a DJ from our campus radio station spinning CDs outside of the library, t-shirt giveaways , and the Outdoor Recreation club messing around in our water fountain. Overall it was a cool event. I was stuck in the poker pits most of the time, but it seems like the people enjoyed themselves.

 

CLOSING THOUGHTS 

• We use to hold our welcome event on the first Saturday after the semester started, however turnout kept declining— so last year we switched to the Saturday before school started and had over 500 in attendance. We have compete with some casual sorority/fraternity rush events, but several hundred students is a huge success in our eyes. Besides, Greek stuff probably doesn't really get going until 11pm anyway.

 

• We benefited from a central coordinator—keeping everyone on track and handling the larger details. Lori Critz did a great job again this year. We also had event coordinators who handed the dirty details of each activity. This works so much better than planning-by-committee. We each had a set budget and the freedom to develop our events as seen fit, meeting occasionally to bounce ideas. We also had a large pool of volunteers. I'd guess between 15-20 library staff members helped out at the event, including our Director, an Associate Director, and at least 2 department heads. I think it's important for Admin to participate—however, we also pulled widely from several departments, which was a great benefit. I also think that these types of events are better for staff bonding/morale building than any type of contrived gathering. (Thanks to everyone for helping out, although no one in my library reads this blog.)

 

• I've been learning so much about textured experiences lately. Lighting is everything. I heard many students remark favorably about the space. We could differentiate the activities/areas based on color. Varying table shapes and sizes are incredible. Portability. Personalization. I was always an early believer in modularization, but now my faith is confirmed. Atmospherics are powerful, whether you are designing space for studying or for poker—set the right mood. Now if I could only get someone to listen to me about the importance of a signature scent.

 

• I am 100% against library staff being required to wear any type of official attire. Jeans and a black t-shirt is appropriate. (Come on Jon!) However, my opinion is often wrong. A few people (5-6) asked me who was hosting the Poker Tournament, as in they thought it was a frat or the housing office, etc. While we were able to get people into the library, I am not sure it was clear that it was us who organized the event. That's something for us to discuss next year. We definitely want to take credit for something successful—if it's a flop we'll blame someone else, like the Admissions Office.

 

• It doesn't always have to be about the library. That's the key really. We're not blasting them with Boolean or databases or policies. We want to get freshmen in the door, showoff our space, and hopefully make them feel comfortable. Let them see that we are approachable and not stogy. We want to set the bar high and raise their expectations of what the library is or can be. We also want to tap into their minds early on—before they even step foot in the classroom—they all know where the library is now. We really need to do this type of thing (library branded entertainment activities) more often, I'd say at least twice a semester. If we can offer a mixture of fun and academic events geared freshmen throughout the first semester—I think it would pay off in the long run. Just a theory.

• Set up as much as possible the day/night before.

All photos taken by Katie Gentilello.

Introducing TUL – library news & gossip

FAIRFIELD VIDEO PIC LEAKED!
We've got the scoop! The Library World is eagerly anticipating the release of Fairfield U's hot new instructional video. Inside sources tell us “it's like choose your own adventure” but in an “academic setting.” Hmmm, sounds like they are embracing the “library in the lifestyle” advertising approach – finally, someone is listening! Our “Laguna Beach but in a Library” proposal failed miserably, so we wish them well.

The yet-to-be-titled video is expected to hit the web later this year, but we've obtained this leaked photo from behind the scenes. You heard about it here first!

DUKE TRASH TALKS UM
The heated rivalry from the hardwood has spilled over. The Duke Libraries blog heckles the U of Michigan stating:

“at least we don't have an East Section of Level 1 A North.”

Damn Dude! Is Big Blue just gonna go out like that? All they gotta say is 0-12, baby! 20 game losing streak! Better watch out before both libraries start boosting about the size of their institutional repositories.

NCSU'S “COMPETITIVE” ADVANTAGE
NCSU takes competition seriously. How do you think they went from the ARL's basement to the Top 30 in just ten years?

R1, R2, L1, CIRCLE, LEFT, DOWN, RIGHT, UP, LEFT, DOWN, RIGHT, UP << cheat codes>>

Just take a look at their Vision Statement --- The Libraries: NC State's competitive advantage. That's right folks, NCSU is building a gaming empire. Forget about books and journals, that's so 1.0. The NCSU Libraries “learning commons” provides the resources and tools that students really need to succeed!

It takes more than study space (you stole our curved walls!) and computers to generate a 1.5 million gate count per year. The secret is the Wii! Embrace it!

 

STANFORD'S REAL ESTATE FLOP
The Stanford U Libraries recently purchased a large plot of land--- and haven't done a thing! With the Fall semester approaching, students will surely be confused by the large vacant lot. Our reporters found that all outsiders are barred from the propriety-- but we captured this excusive photo:

What gives Stanford? Are us State Schools not good enough to step foot on your hallowed lands? That's that liberal, left coast, Starbucks-drinking, Google-searching, Terminator-voting, elitist attitude for ya. For shame!

[Note: Ok. So maybe I've been reading too much TMZ lately? This post is just a joke. I figured these are all big schools/libraries and that they can handle a little end of summer mock-gossip. Well, except for Fairfield. ((Who's Fairfield ?)) The real Ubiquitous Librarian will return next week with posts on proactive library instruction, a Library Poker Tournament Recap, and probably something about facebook too. I'm off to visit INLAND EMPIRE , catch ya later.] [PS: Don't hate.]

Post #100 - A Recap

Post #100. Not bad for a year and three months, however I know many other bloggers hit that number every other month. So, if you've been around since the beginning, I thank you for sticking with me. If you are a new reader, thanks for checking this out. And… if you are a random web searcher who stumbled in—sorry to waste your time.

I decided to change the look around a bit— fresh things up. And since this is a milestone, I offer some of my favorite posts. Let's stroll down memory lane:

Am I Too Commercial?
You get an ALA book deal and they call you a sellout. Ya gotta love the wannabes and the never-beens.


Library Closing Announcement
Hands-down the best closing announcement in the ARL. You disagree? Post yours.


Charging for overdues is insulting!
The age old question—should or shouldn't libraries charge overdue fines? The highlight for me was being called “a lazy, irresponsible git.” Ya gotta love those Canadians!


The CeLIBration Posts (multipart series)
The Georgia Tech Library's annual welcome event.


The LibQUAL+ posts: satisfaction tool (free download) & ARL Analytics (my review) & niche


When Hollywood takes over your library
Shannyn Sossamon, enough said!


Sin, Death, and Resurrection
An epic tale of redemption from the land of facebook.


Modern Knowledge Spaces (video)
A student documentary about our commons. I was very impressed by their sophistication and perception.


US vs. UK Libraries
Round 1: (patron satisfaction) goes to the colonies. Next up we battle Canada . Coming for you Paul !


Second Life: Lessons from Woodbury
Featuring the screenshots that I must have stolen from The Chronicle

So there you have. Thanks again for reading.

And oh yeah, Elsevier— I'm still waiting on that check . Maybe you guys should donate it to worthwhile charity instead?

Netflix’s Wack Collection Management Policy and their Devolving Reference Services

I really like Netflix, even though they throttle me from time to time. However, their collection development policy is very poor. There are tons of movies that are out which they do not provide, films like The Emperor, Conan the Barbarian, Twin Peaks season 1, Gleaming the Cube, and Wild in the Streets.

It would be one thing if they implied, this movie is out but we don't have very many copies, therefore you might have to wait a while to receive it —but they don't. Instead they list it “release date unknown” which is the same language they use for movies which have not been released on DVD yet.

I really want to watch Twin Peaks . I noticed last year that Season 1 was available, but Season 2 had not been released on DVD yet. Season 2 came out this past spring and Netflix automatically pulled Season 1 from circulation. I emailed them and received this response:

"I can understand your confusion regarding " Twin Peaks : Season 1" not being available in your queue any longer, and I will do my best to assist you with this. Unfortunately, on rare occasions titles may need to be removed from circulation. Either the titles were out of print and we could not replenish our stock to meet demand, or the DVDs continued to experience high breakage or defects. In unusual circumstances such as these, we do need to remove the titles from distribution.   Due to the subsequent long waits and inconveniences this situation presented to our customers, we decided that until a workable solution was reached, it was best to remove these problem titles from our inventory."

This was more than six months ago and Twin Peaks season 1 is still unavailable.
(Anyone out there have it?)

I guess this is the equivalent to a book being “lost” or “missing from shelf” – I hate when someone calls or comes in and I have to try and explain that to them, but at least our patrons can try other lending options. If we suppressed those records, people would probably look down upon us, oh your library doesn't have this? So we mark it unavailable effectively stating, well we used to have it, but we don't anymore, sorry.

Netflix also applies this strategy to series as well. Imagine reading War & Peace or Brothers K and several of the chapters were missing—that's essentially what Netflix does:

GETTING HELP

Another issue that I have with Netflix is that they've abolished their email customer service: it's all done via phone now. For an online business, you'd think they would provide online assistance, but the world really is flat and it's probably cheaper to export questions abroad. I am sure that it will greatly reduce the influx of questions/comments because “problem customers” like me won't bother to call and ask about Twin Peaks , season 1. Email emboldens people, and that's the problem, it costs too much to deal with them. More discussion on phone-only service here .

Maybe we should consider desk-only reference help? If students prefer face to face— why bother with all these newfangled technologies? Come and ask us your questions the old fashioned way!

Raising our Game – ideas for the next phase of Gaming @ the Georgia Tech Library

If you are a librarian with a blog then you have to mention gaming from time to time. This is my obligatory post. Here are a few upcoming projects -- a peek at what's on my drawing board.

POKER

Many librarians have expressed interest in our CeLIBration event. We're gearing up for this annual “welcome” event the weekend before the start of the Fall Semester. (Aug 18) This time around I am hosting a poker tournament (and we've still got ninja tag , speed dating , retro video games, board games, ddr , improv, and pizza.)

Poker, Round 1 begins at 8pm. 10 tables, each with up to 5 players. Participants are given 25 chips at the start. After 1 hour of play, the top chip-winners at each table will advance to the championship round starting at 10pm. Those 10 battle it out for a trophy and a fabulous prize.

I'll post a follow-up review of the event later this month, along with our advertising strategy.

HALO 3

Harry who? Halo is the gaming equivalent to Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings or Star Wars for you old timers. People will camp out at Best Buy in order to purchase this game. Halo 2 sold over 7 million copies -- we're talking $125 million on opening day. Epic!

This is a great opportunity for all types of libraries (academic and public) to be a part of pop-culture, or at least geeky gamer culture. I am going to try and talk our admin and commons coordinator into letting me host a Halo 3 party on Tuesday , September 25 (the release day.)

We have an 80 inch screen with surround sound that would be awesome. We can dim the lights or illuminate that particular area, pull up couches and comfortable chairs and really offer a unique gaming experience. Something like this in our East Commons:

 

If it goes forward, I might put in some calls to Red Bull or Monster (coca cola), GameTap (Turner), and Microsoft (xbox) to see if I can get a few giveaways. Maybe start at 7pm and roll until whenever (we're 24 hours so…)

It's something you should think about too; I highly recommend you take advantage of the opportunity... you could probably easily find an enthusiastic gamer (use your online social networking connections for more than chatting with other librarians) and invite them to bring their friends, xbox 360, and halo 3. You give them space and a big screen and maybe invest $100 in food or try to get it donated.

GAMING THE WALL (like gleaming the cube, dude!)

This idea developed today on the reference desk with Dottie Hunt – the last hour on the last day of the summer semester. We were talking about the “halo 3 experience” and she suggested that we project a game outside on the wall of the library. This conversation evolved to “gaming the wall” on a Saturday after a football game. We have thousands of people walk by the library in route to their cars—so why not offer a distraction? It would be cool to have an ncaa football video game projected on a huge wall, hooked up to speakers. Or maybe a battle royal type game? This could be a big payoff in terms of street cred.

We could do it Sept 29 (vs. Clemson) and develop that week into some type of gamer's heaven (remember Halo 3, Sept 25), but I like November 1 (Virginia Tech) better because it's a Thursday night game and it's Va Tech vs. Ga Tech -- outdoor gaming fits nicely into the “techie” stereotype. Plus it will be televised on ESPN. I would love to take on Herbstreit and he can even play with his gator bait team . Perhaps this is something we could tie in with Homecoming too… I'm sure we could get funding from someone somewhere? Obviously there is still a lot to be worked out, but I just like the idea of gaming on the wall.

For more info on gaming @ GT, check out Lori Critz's presentation . We don't mess around in our library: