The Ubiquitous Librarian

Computer Availability @ the GT Library: a status map

Last week I mentioned the computer availability function on the NCSU Commons website. We launched our version of that yesterday. It looks like this:


Essentially a map displaying which computers are open (or in use.) We have this on a screen that is visible to students waiting in line.

Thanks to Cari Lovins for making this happen.

Via Cari:
Much of the credit for this project goes to Leroy Campbell, who is now working as a Tech Temp for ATS at Technology Square. Additional thanks to Chris Helms and Heather King for help in moving to the Library Web server and configuring for the Commons Web site. And finally, thanks to Kyle Koza and Dustin Shiflett for their assistance in setting up the display in the LWC.

Here is the live version:
http://librarycommons.gatech.edu/cms/

A few thoughts about NCSU’s Website: icons & waitlists

The last two posts have been kind of ranty – so here is something positive.

I really like a subtle change that NCSU made yesterday by adding icons to their Learning Commons page. Earlier in the week I spoke with a web design class and we reviewed 5 websites. (I’ll post more on that later when I get copies of their assignments.) One of the themes that the class mentioned was that instead of just a list of products/services, to add small graphics/icons. An image makes a faster impression than text-- it is also more intuitive and attractive.

I received an email from someone in the class who mentioned that NCSU had added icons the following day and he felt as if his class had something to do with it. I didn’t tell him it was a coincidence because he seemed proud and inspired.

Additionally, we also talked a bit about ideal interactions and functionally of a library website. To use NCSU again, they loved the “availability of computers” feature, but wanted to see that concept embedded throughout the page. For example, on the pages describing the equipment (cameras, calculators, gps, etc) they wanted to know how many were available.

I know that we run into this problem from time to time in which all of our “gadgets” are checked out. This functionality would let students know that 2 cameras are available right now… or if they were all checked out, they wanted an online waitlist feature so that they could place a hold, just as they could with a book.

Most librarians only think of entering the classroom to teach information literacy, but going in as a guest lecturer can lead to real insights.

John Berry sets libraries back 50 years; or Elsevier Editor complains about the profession and tells us how to do our jobs (glad he’s not my boss)

John Berry is so 1950. He'd probably only be happy if we unplugged the computers and brought back the card catalog. Seriously, this dude is so McCain in an Obama-world. He's one of those people who loves to complain, criticize, and toss around monkey-wrenches—without offering any SOLUTIONS. It's time to wake up Mr. Van Winkle-- the revolution has passed you by.

His latest column tries so hard to be relevant, it's just so sad. I can just picture Berry and Gorman sipping tea at ALA conference talking about the glory days of the profession—back when it was noble and respectable.

I have to disagree with him on pretty much everything– in fact, I feel that my library is more humanized now as we have become user-focused / user-driven. I hear over and over again from students saying that the library inspires them and makes them more productive and creative due to the changes we've made… but John Berry doesn't care about that--- he only wants a big dusty book collections and an army of librarians sitting behind a giant reference desk shushing patrons.

Final Thought:
There are those who “teach” and those who “do”--- John Berry is obviously a teacher.

Furthermore:
What it comes down to is that Berry is an elitist, trying to perpetuate the divide between the have/have-nots. This is fitting for someone who hasn’t seen the frontline in probably 30 years. We have many staff without MLS degrees that make significant contributions to our organization everyday. What I really think it comes down to is that Berry has lost touch with the modern patron.

Consortium Loan Still Failing

I did a similar post on this topic last June—but here goes another trip down memory lane.

I requested a book from another library in my consortium and received this email:

Dear:   BRIAN SCOTT MATHEWS
 
The Item you requested from another library is not available. 
 
Reason:   INA - Item not available; please request again
 
Call Number:   Z682.4.C63 B4 2007
Author:   Bell, Steven J.
Title:   Academic librarianship by design : a blended librarian's guide to the tools and techniques / Steven J. Bell, John D. Shank.
Location:   Law General Stacks
Enumeration:   c.1
Request date:   2/13/2008 01:14 PM
 
Note from the Library: 
 
If you need to reply to this message, reply to: xxx@yyy.zzz 

I can’t blame Georgia State University here because this sort of thing happens all the time. BUT… instead of sending me a rejection notice (we can’t find it on our shelf—good luck!) why don’t they just pass my request along to another library? I see two other schools in our system have this title available for checkout. If I order something from Netflix and warehouse A doesn’t have it in stock then they’ll send it from warehouse B or C.

Wouldn’t it be better customer service to help the user instead of bailing on them? And look at that email address-- am I really supposed to reply to that if I have questions? I imagine this must frustrate patrons. They go through the process of identifying a book they want, place a request for it, and then get dropped with no real explanation. This can really create a bad impression for the user-- the library is too much of a hassle-- and it makes us look bad even though it's not our library. It seems like there should be a better sense of accountability. I'd like to see stats for the number of failed requests.

And here is the kicker. When you look at the catalog it still indicates that the item is available for checkout.

You’d think that if someone could not find the book on the shelf that they’d report it missing. (???)

Oh well, I’m sure Steven Bell would just say "buy the book."

Social–enabled Library Websites? The Post-It Note Concept

I pitched an idea last week that didn’t meet resistance, but didn’t have a big bandwagon either. Here is the gist of the story.

Last year when we did the Exam Cram one of the things that we wished we had was an online message board so that students could form their own study groups, share notes, etc. We compromised with a whiteboard solution.

Presently we have a big push to gather student feedback for a small renovation we’re planning. There are several metrics that we’re using, but I really want to also offer an anonymous forum style message board so that we can ask questions and get feedback about furniture, layout, design, function, etc.

This led me to think about a wider need for social interactions throughout our entire website. NCSU has a nice forum which they embed on their Commons site. I’d like to take it a step further and embed “talk” pages throughout a larger portion of the library site. Here is a conceptual drawing:

Basically you take your mega forum, which works like all other message boards with threaded conversations all on one page—but then also embeds select threads or topics onto appropriate web pages. Students have questions about the equipment we rent out, here is a way they can post questions, get answers, see what others have said, etc. Or what about printing or events or workshops? Everything would be more social and at least there will be an offer of interaction.

Another example: With a recent environmental display in the library, a student used a post-it note to comment about the information on the wall. We took it down, but this type of interaction would be ideal for a message board environment because individuals could have a dialogue about the display materials and it could result in a larger community discussion.

Yeah, I know there are issues with “appropriateness” and “security” and “identity” and “moderation”—that’s all to be worked out over the summer, but I think the concept is worth a shot. Imagine a pile of post it notes neatly arranged in a digital format expressing opinions and feedback relevant to the web page they are viewing… we’ll see what happens.

Second Life Revisited – are we ready to provide classroom support?

I attended an AIMA event this week about Second Life. The presentation, How Virtual Worlds are Impacting Interactive Marketing , featured an all-star panel with reps from major companies. Below are some highlights. Also, some thoughts about the role of the librarian within the virtual world.

InterContinental Hotels Group - Del Ross

• Real world hotel corporation that offers virtual rooms in Second Life. Just as you might have a business meeting in the real world, they can also provide space for virtual meetings.
• Right now it is free, but planning to charge in the future. 100 – 500 Linden dollars, which is a little less than 1 dollar real money.
• They provide rentable space that offers privacy, security, suitable space, and support (audio, video, PPT, etc)
• Online Room Reservation form and tons of other info.
• If you don't own land in SL, no place to meet, conduct business—they are trying to fit that need—their slogan is “the place to meet”
• Informal space, convention space, lounge, executive board room – space can be configured depending upon the need.
• SL showcases their “real” world value—virtual space mirrors the physical spaces that they make available to customers. They are in the business of “business environments” regardless of the location.

Weather Channel - Paul Greenberg

• Major theme of weather channel is to show how weather connects to your life—more than just the science, but also the psychology of how weather has an impact on us.
• Wanted to build a Second Life space that supports TV programming
• Stay. Play. Watch.
  (stay = community areas for shared experiences)
  (play = do stuff, interact)
  (watch = video programming)
• Hurricane environment – witness & experience what a storm is like, virtually
• Sports activities= surfing, biking, skiing – all with variable weather conditions
• Has improved the impression/perception of the Weather Channel
• The numbers are low, compared with TV/Radio/Print/Web—however SL provides an engagement experience that is more valuable and memorable

Turner - Rhonda Lowry

• Rethink spam = Socialization, Participation, and Motivation (SPaM)
• The “real” CNN has iReport, basically citizen reports. They started a Second Life iReport program—basically correspontants reporting on the news that happens in SL. CNN provides them with tools and training (one hour weekly training sessions in-world about taking photos, shooting video, interviewing, writing copy, etc) teach them how to be reporters—they report about SL, CNN provides them with a sense of legitimacy / authenticity -- in return, CNN gets to expand reputation as THE news provider. More info here.  

Kaneva - Chris Klaus

• Kaneva is a virtual world similar to Second Life, however they emphasize being yourself (as opposed to dragons or super models)
• Emerging trend is watching TV online in a virtual world with your friends. They have experimented with the show 10 items or less by having cast join fans in the virtual environment to interact, ask questions, and hang out.
• Also stream behind-the-scenes at tv sets / awards show. Screen Actors Guild Awards had extra cameras, could watch crew setup and take down set—and talk with others online while watching.
• Interior designers can work with clients –use virtual space to model rooms—see what colors and furniture will look life before purchasing.

Coca-Cola - Mike Donnelly

• Before Coke got involved they went to the “leaders” of Second Life—the major blogs, the virtual citizens with power and popular land, etc and talked with them about how Coke might fit in. When entering a new territory or using a new technology, need to listen and learn, don't think you know what they want—ask advice, council, and even permission.
• They didn't want to buy and build up an island. Lots of companies did that and are stuck with empty islands—Coke rented land, but ultimately try to embedded themselves within community (people wear coke clothing)
• Virtual Thirst contest – winner – objective was to design virtual coke machine—however not necessary a literal vending machine—but some type of experience that captures the essence of Coke. Design and build the vending machine of the future (not necessarily about bottles of soda though)
• Once Coke decided that they wanted to participate in Second Life—discovered that the brand already existed—people has used the logo
• Wanted to build on the idea of “quenching” thirst = knowledge, experience, entertainment, communication, inspiration

Second Life, Classroom Instruction, and the Role of the Library

Fittingly enough, I received an email the evening of this event from a Georgia Tech faculty member. He is an English instructor wanting to include a SL component to his course. This includes several in-world meetings along with virtual space and support for his students to develop a small project.

What's the role of the library here? I mean, if a professor asks for face-to-face classroom support we provide that. If they ask for web support via WebCT or via an online service like Horizon Wimba, we'd most likely provide that too. But what about Second Life? How many of us are ready to offer services there?

I feel that librarians can benefit from a basic understanding of virtual worlds for cases just like this… and this example is going to become more common. Imagine the possibility of say a physics class in which you have a lecture, a lab, and a virtual world homework assignment (3 distinct components.) Maybe an aerospace class conducts experiments in zero gravity. Maybe a class of civil engineers and a class of architects have to work together on building a structure, just like in the real world.

SL has a lot of info for educators . Are you ready to help them? If the classroom and the curriculum are heading into a virtual environment, shouldn't libraries follow? Or even better, shouldn't they lead the way? The idea of setting up a virtual reference desk and waiting around for patrons is preposterous, but collaborating with faculty and creating engagement experiences is the future of education.

Some of my other SL posts:

Augmented Reality – the Georgia Tech model

Second Thoughts – the Woodbury Model