The Ubiquitous Librarian

Back In My Day: Emory Professor Complains

We have a speaker scheduled this afternoon who exuberates elitism-- an English professor from Emory hyping his new book that complains about the kids today. You know the story, they don’t read books, texting has killed grammar, facebook has replaced real conversations, video games and TV are bad, and so forth.

I’m all for the open exchange of ideas and I think it fits with our desire to be a public forum, but I worry about the message. I think he is off-brand. Our goal is to empower students, not insult them. I mean, The Dumbest Generation, seriously? Looking at his work, he seems like a character out of conservative talk radio, or one of those traveling campus preachers crying out about how sex is sin. I actually feel sorry for the guy.

I thought about organizing a public response, something flash mob style where you fill the room with students and then ten minutes into his talk they all pull out their cell phones and start texting each other, but it takes a lot of energy and effort to pull off something like that; maybe I’m getting too old for such shenanigans? Besides it’s summer and there is no one here.

I can’t speak for Emory, but Georgia Tech students are wicked smart and wicked industrious. Dr. Bauerlein, don’t worry man, the kids are alright.

A side note:
Personally, I don’t see the library as being in the information business. In fact, I don’t see us in the service business anymore either. We’re in the inspiration business, and everything that we do should drive their success.

Georgia State University Library – a few observations

Two weeks ago I visited the GSU Library a few blocks down the road from us. They recently completed a $23 million renovation and I was curious what they did with the space. Charging students a $35 fee per semester gets you a lot of change to work with—I wish we had a $5 library fee so that we could develop new spaces every few years.

Overall, the building felt very open and featured a lot of natural light. They are located in the heart of downtown ATL, so there are lots of interesting skyline views from all directions. The furniture and décor felt a little 50’s retro to me—I guess if you like that style that's one thing... most of our furniture on the upper floors is genuinely from that era, so I was hoping to see something fantastically contemporary. (Something fly!) Oh and the marble coffee tables seemed a bit gaudy, sorry, but with the trend toward flexibility I’m not really sure that fits.

Overall the place was great. I was impressed. It was clean—even the stacks seemed to sparkle. It had a very new feel. They say that the students love it, so that’s all that matters—they paid for it! And they’re the ones using the space.

A few photos:

Near the entrance they had these weird chairs. My colleagues loved them, but I don’t know.

I really liked how they used the walls as signs near the elevators and in the stairway. Very bold and effective.

You can see the mass of computers, looks like Herman Miller desks (?)--- but what I really like is the printer sign – it stands out when you are in the space.

I like this posting framework.

The kids section featured imprints on the stacks—this really stood out. I’d like to see that theme spread throughout the entire library: a chemist in the QDs; an accountant in the HF, etc.

Booths appear to be one of the hottest trends in libraries right now. I’ve tested the concept in focus groups and received mixed review—students seem to prefer the double horizontal benches, but GSU’s booths are nice and cozy.

They have a XL instruction room—something like 50 computers, along with this room equipped with laptops that fold under. I like the duality of both a lecture room as well as computer lab.

The real jewel of the library are the seemingly endless number of group study rooms—most of them with windows, whiteboards, power and data. It seemed that everywhere you turned there was another one.

Playing with Thunder

 Today I got a peek at Thunder from Polyvision (Steel Case) – they spin it as a “real time global collaboration system” – it’s an interesting way to share and create information. It pushes the boundaries of the desktop and/or wall space.

Their brochure will probably explain it better than I can, but a few highlights:

• It’s like having multiple whiteboard/flipcharts -- except digital.
• It displays anything you have on a computer: web, video, software, etc — as well external devices, such as DVDs, cell phone or on a document camera.
• It removes the barrier of space—people can connect, share, and control remotely.
• It support voice—via phone, Skype, microphone
• It looks cool!

I saw a demo at their headquarters, but Miami University (in Ohio, not the Hurricanes) offers Thunder in their library: read about it here.

While it might be a bit much for a group study room setting, it definitely has potential for the distance learning marketplace. And if you opt out of the projection system, it could be an interesting (but pricey) collaboration tool for library staff or campus wide. Add it to the wish list.

  

Phantom Spills at the UGA Library

The University of Georgia has placed me in an indefensible position. They claim that I damaged a book.

“The book was returned to us with extensive liquid damage, stained and still wet leading to mold damage.”

I disagree! The book never left my office and never came into contact with any liquid. However it doesn’t matter-- the fault is always on the user. This situation always favors the House. Anything that I have to say is irreverent. They are right, I am wrong. Your $97.30 is in the mail.

Interestingly enough, the item shows up as available in their catalog. Don’t you think they should have marked it in some way to let patrons know that it is not on the shelf?

Here is a blast from the past. How about them dawgs?

End of the Spring Semester - riding the M Train

Today is our last day of finals. Campus is clearing out quickly. Time to prep for a new batch of incoming freshmen.

My manuscript is due to ALA in Sept and the book will be out in Feb-- so that's where I'm at right now. It's been an interestingly fun and frustrating experience and the last few chapters are shaping up nicely.

Something a little light for today. Here is a great promotional video that some students produced for the College of Management. Don’t waste your time on science and engineering, ride the M-train.