Peddling Influence

I found an intriguing idea in “The Influencer“: Dr. Mimi Silbert, founder of the Delancey Street Foundation,  has been successful in rehabilitating over 14,000 homeless, mentally ill, and addicted people by changing two vital behaviors. The only two rules for her residents are:

1. Each person must take responsibility for someone else’s success. After a person enters Delancey, he is coached by a resident in a skill, such as setting tables in the restaurant.  After a week or so, the new resident then becomes the coach for a newer resident.  The focus is thus changed from how you are doing to how your crew is doing.  It cannot be all about me at Delancey.
2. Each resident must speak up to people who are breaking rules, drifting off, becoming verbally aggressive and otherwise behaving badly, every single time. For many people, breaking the street code that says take care of yourself first and don’t rat on anyone is very hard; learning to confront problems and abide by norms is essential to working well together and becoming a functioning member of society.

Imagine if we applied just the first rule to library staff: each person must take responsibility for someone else’s success.  What would that look like in terms of teamwork and staff cohesion? No one would be working in a vacuum, and every one would be personally responsible for the success of the organization. What a concept!

More About Wave

I’m feeling a little better about Wave, now that I’ve been trying things for the past week. There’s a problem with lag, and many of the folks in the waves I’m following are not online when I am, so I have yet to see any real-time chat going on. I think, too, that a lot of folks jumped in like me, and now that they’ve looked around a bit, they’ve jumped out again.

I’ve created and participated in polls, and I added my location to an embedded map. I’ve uploaded a photo and a document, but the only way to collaborate on editing a document is to have its text as a blip on the wave. An uploaded document can only be shared by viewers downloading it, so – no real time collaboration.

So – is it useful? Probably, when the lag issue is resolved. Others are saying that G-mail integration would improve it, as well as some way to follow the threads as participants add comments. I would love to have work time and interested colleagues to experiment with it some more, but for right now, my learning is confined to after-hours at home.  There is also little documentation, but that is changing, and I’m adding some how-to links to my Delicious as I come across them.

I have some invitations – anyone want to play?

Waving

I received an invitation to Google Wave this morning. I’m frustrated that IE required a Chrome plugin and I can’t install it due to lockdown, nor does it work with Firefox Portable or Google Portable (no Flash).  Which means I’m up until ungodly hours at home working on the laptop.

I only know one other person with Wave – any of my colleagues out there Waving? I’m tired of having a conversation with myself.  It actually looks like it has some potential for meetings and collaborative projects, and I need someone to play with.

The Rest of the Mobile Track

I know it’s way past IL2009, but I want to publish these last few notes.

The rest of the mobile/handheld track was like attending a MLM meeting.  All these presenters showed how YOU TOO can achieve mobile market penetration for your library services, and demonstrated some very slick applications.  Many were developed by academic libraries to entice students to use library services. We don’t have enough of that demographic group captured in the public library setting yet. And yet, I walked out of the sessions all pumped up with a MISSION to learn about mobile applications, CONVINCED that a mobile library world is inevitable, and that we’d better be READY with the supply when our public announces its demand.

Numbers were liberally sprinkled throughout the presentations, but basically showed that cell phone use is still a very small part of library service, ranging from 0.05% to 11% of patrons.  It is growing, though, and the trends indicate that in a few years, virtually everyone will have a smart-phone.

The general advice dispensed was to know how our patrons are using their phones, what they do on their phones, and then decide which library services should be adapted for mobile.

But the projects were prime! Shoutbomb works with your ILS (III’s Millennium was specifically mentioned, and that’s what we’re using) to send notifications via SMS to patrons’ cell phones.

Too 2.0

This year, Sacramento Public Library, my employer, is breaking out 2.0 tools and services big-time.  Like most large organizations, it took the library a long time to acknowledge the sea-change and mobilize its staff. The library is now tweeting, has a Facebook fan page, a blog – and that’s just the library; some staff are also doing all those things individually, as well!

Part of our ongoing effort to remain relevant in a more independent – yet social – environment is offering computer classes for our library patrons.  These are always popular and often filled to capacity.  It doesn’t seem to matter much what we offer, people will sign up for everything!  Most government services, employment applications, shopping sites, and travel sites  now require people to communicate via a web site and have an e-mail address.  We are helping our patrons to acquire these services and skills in order to remain functional.

The next big change will be library services delivered to mobile devices: your library on your cell phone, so to speak. to that end, there’s a new mobile interface under development, and we are participating in a text reference pilot.

I’m helping to plan the second Handheld Librarian Conference, scheduled for February 2010.  This two-day online conference sponsored by Alliance Library System and Learning Times will feature keynote speakers and panels addressing all things mobile as they relate to libraries.  The first conference was amazing!, and this one will be even better!  In prep, I’m looking at all kinds of mobile services and mobile apps offered by libraries for their patrons and staff -  it’s like a smaller, parallel universe! One that is growing very fast as more people switch to their handhelds with the expectation of getting good service.

Mobile + Ability = Mobility

Kristen Yarmey-Tyluutki, University of Scranton, says of students: only 11% of students with web-capable devices use them for course-related activity. Here’s what students do, and what we need to provide:
1. students explore for background info: dictionary.com; iphones do it fine; but which sources will be used? We need to know what apps are available and recommend them to students. We need to find a way to subsidize the cost of some apps, just as we pay for databases.  We need to identify authoritative ones and recommend them. (world factbook)
2. know what you need, construct effective searches. These tools (QR, photo, locations, sounds) enable us to create specialized searches for students; taking notes (Margins – book id, comments, quotes; delicious, facebook apps) – we need to let students know about these tools.
3. extracting information: will students be capable of deep reading, and not be interrupted/distracted by incoming textx, calls, etc.?  Web sites need to be optimized for mobile; especially the small print (contact us). Synthesize ideas into new concepts; small screens chunk info – some concern that students may not see the big picture, and come away with only a superficial understanding. Course management software needs to be optimized for mobile (blackboard)
4. Students need to manipulate info and move it from one platform to another.  Dropbox can sync between phone and computer.
5. etiquette, ethics, integrity, plagiarism – we need to teach students to manage their online identities. Students are constantly communicating with others, not just students and faculty. It’s so easy to manipulate info -makes it harder to identify what’s yours.

New themes in info lit: Collaborative work – standards focus on individuals, but students work in groups.
Integrated literacies: original standards separated techlit from infolit; we need to integrate them with soclit, and medialit into multi literacies. Include IT staff and student services staff into our work.
Continuous partial attention: we need to acknowlegde it and look for ways to deal with it: how technology affects us.

Some things we can do with an idea, a plan, and a smartphone:

Greg Cunningham, CEO and Technical Lead, Boopsie: Don’t think just about putting your catalog on a mobile platform; think about what people want to do and program for that. They don’t have a lot of time, you don’t want to lose them.  85% say they’ll try 2 times or less, and if unsuccessful, will never come back. This is a “native” phone application, not a dumbed-down web application.  It’s faster and finds books in WorldCat using a mobile interface. http://worldcat.boopsie.com/phone/

Nancy Dowd Director of Marketing , NJ State Library, says of mobile marketing vis SMS: By registering a shortcode, developing a list of keywords and crafting autoresponses, library patrons can text the library for information on a variety of topics: calls to action, publicizing programs, hours and locations, and more. There are some obstacles:  sign-up resistance, parental filters that prevent teens from signing up, need for constant reminders and incentives. NJ uses Gold-Mobile for its text marketing service, and responses can be exported for reports.

IL2009 – Wednesday Keynote: Teen Panel Interview

This keynote was the pivotal moment for me at Internet Librarian. Stephen Abram interviewed three Monterey teens and Ben, Montery Public’s Teen Services Libarian. He asked standard questions from an Information Futures Institute survey, but the kids didn’t know ahead of time what the questions would be.  He mentioned that the State of Idaho has a video of similar panel with 10 Millennials.

I thought this was an important meeting because it brought home the points that generalizations are both useful and useless, that there are as many similarities between “boomers” and “millennials” as differences, and that acknowledging the similarities will help bridge the age gap and allow more honest communication between generations that are traditionally defined by their differences.

Here are the questions and the combined responses, as well as a summary by Abram at the end.

Q. What’s in your backpack?
A. phone, ipod, camera, usb, textbooks

Q. How important is brand? (ex. designer clothing)
A. Quality and price are more important, especially if you’re buying your own.

Q. How do you use your cellphone?
A. Call friends, not parents; text; check in with parents; text, keep in touch with family members who live elsewhere; use as camera, take funny videos.

Q. How do you know what time it is?
A. (only one wears a watch)

Q. What do you do on Saturdays?
A. Music, homework, tennis lessons, sometimes movies/beach
connect with texting – twitter was never alive
sleep in, check email, play it by ear
start planning Wednesday – dress up in themes, go out to  open mic at East Village (poetry, songs,)

Q. Do you create things?
A. Compose and record music; compose poetry; play sports

Q. Do you expect to achieve the same standard of living as your parents?
A. Potentially – everything is much easier now; everything has to do with education, which makes more options available; there’s lots of good info online for career information; school counselors are connected. There are more opportunities now; but technology is a distraction, need to use it correctly.

Q. For homework – how do you start your research?
A. Voice recognition on computer to write essays; research online, go to the library for older texts, Google and Bing and interning at the library; Homework Help Now service at the library.
Textbooks – stay far away from the computer to avoid distractions – school has a database: type question and it adds info from colleges across the states – a professor who is online will answer, share books via ILL.

Q. When you find information, how do you judge its quality?
A. Wikipedia is accurate for some kinds of information; some teachers are stricter than others.
I’ve never had a teacher say “go ahead and use wikipedia,” but you can use the article footnotes to judge quality.
Teachers are familiar with web cheats and recognize copied work.

Q. Have you gone online to find info about uncomfortable topics?
A. We prefer to talk to someone we know – friends, or if that’s not enough, would look it up online or use local resources: library, safe places, AA meetings, like to talk to a “face.”

Q. What’s the last book  you read?
Physics of the impossible; Catcher in the rye; Phantom tollbooth

Q. What videogames do you play?
A. Videogames? No computer games; friends do WOW, Halo, and they’re dressing as game characters for Halloween.
My last gaming device: Nintendo 64; I’ve played Guitar hero; my friends have LAN parties sometimes.

Q. When was the last time you were in a bookstore?
A. A long time ago. My friend collects antique books – I go with my friends to shop second-hand bookstores often.

Q. Do you read online?
A. No – I like to highlight and annotate, so I prefer print.  I’m  looking into e-book readers, may be using them soon.
For online e-books, sites that require passwords are more valid; I still use sites from my old school; I try to back up what I find online with a book, or find multiple sites with similar information.  Blogs are opinions, I don’t use them for research, but go through to the original site.  I don’t use pages that anyone can edit; I prefer print references for research, or to use the school’s databases.  To check authority, I look at the reference pages to see where they are getting their information from; from database; I use facets to filter for peer reviewed articles, opposing opinions.

Q. What do your teachers tell you you can and can’t use?
A. It varies, depending on the class and the purpose of the assignment.

Q. Would you consider yourself Republican, Democrat or Independent?
A. I don’t know enough to choose; my opinions overlap with all; I’d need to review the issues.

Q. What worries you about the world today?
A. The environment; the unequal distribution of wealth around the world; I find it bothersome that some would rather keep all their money than give some of it back.

Q. Have you been bullied online?
A. It happens with IM, but  not as much as on Facebook and Myspace.  There’ss a lot of “he said … she said,” and  even though you can delete the comments, they stay with you.

Q. Where do you volunteer?
A. Ecuador – doctors volunteer to do surgery in poor areas, and I went with  my father to help; intern at the library – I like to see community involvement, youth services, and a place that welcomes everyone; I help at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, at marathons, and my friends and I knit for charities.

Q. Ben, do you have any insights to share?

A. Monterey Public has a strong  focus on high school – we’re a couple of blocks from Monterey HS, and we need to make that group feel comfortable. We also do a lot with middle school students.  All the students have diverse interests and talents. Some of our more successful programs were technology fairs, but there are always going to be too many groups to find something that will grab everyone.  We try to provide opportunities for people of all ages to interact with each other.  You’ve seen that each teen on the panel has at least one thing in common with people in the audience. Monterey County is trying to help its teens become culturally aware, and supports ethnic programming and festivals.

Steve: The PEW reports  there is a 70% overlap between millennials and boomers in their ideas and values.
Millennials are smarter than boomers, articulate, volunteer at 4x rate of boomers; they are engaged in issues, not politics.

I feel better, knowing these young adults are thoughtful and practical.  And fun-loving – they were not above delivering a few pokes to the audience!

IL2009 – Tuesday Keynote: Libraries of the Future

Paul Holdengraber, Director, Public Programs, NYPL, interviewed by Erik Boekesteijn (ShanachieTour)

Quotable statements I saved to clarify my thinking, grow ideas from, and trot out later as needed:

The library is a place where ideas are exchanged.

I believe in the friction of dialogue.

Schools are overrated; teachers don’t get to the button of curiosity, otherwise they might turn it off. Most of what I learned, I learned outside of school.

Cognitive theatre – inspire others to read more.

I want to make the library irresistible.

Live from the NYPL – Previously, average age of program attendees was 63; wanted to attract younger people – “I want to do …”  “At the library we dont … ” – Just do it! (and get forgiveness later.)

Flash Rosenberg (artist in residence at NYPL) – conversation portraits -

Q. (Erik) How can  you make something surprising and entertaining?

A. (Paul) Why would you want to make an event people don’t go to? It’s hard to get the great authors, politicians, artists, etc. to come to the library; it’s a struggle to do what i do every day – to make it all happen at the library; the resistance can be tremendous. Get to know your audience, what they want, and then give them something that surprises them and, if your’re lucky, surprises you! Make it an event; and less desperate than the other things the library has been doing.

Q. (Erik) Should the users rule? or the library dictate?

A. (Paul) A dialogue. It may not be wise to try to get a younger audience at all costs – gaming – does it lead to anything else?

I love the privacy a book affords you in the company of no one else but yourself and the pages – you and the work, not just the entertainment factor.

IL2009 – 23 Things in the Community

Last month, Sacramento Public completed what we felt was a successful “27 Things” program for our staff, and will soon be planning something similar for our public. So I was surprised to learn that only a handful of libraries have tried it, and with only limited success.

The four presenters, Jennifer Koerper (Boston Public Library), Bobbi Newman (Chattahoochee Valley Libraries), Rebecca Ranallo (Cuyahoga County Public Library) and Sean Robinson (Allen County Public Library) all had similar comments.

The major issues they mentioned included:

• Consider scalability (if you have huge participation, will you have the means to provide a prize for every finisher?) Experience shows, no prize, no participation. Will you have the available staff to spend the time needed to comment on blogs and keep track of progress? Time required is significant.
• Screen for previous skills. The public will have a  w-i-d-e  range of abilities, and the program seems to work better in one-on-one or very small group settings. Group people of similar abilities together.
• Target the “things” to specific audiences, for example, grandparents and Flickr; businesses and Twitter; moms and Facebook.  People are more apt to succeed if the “thing” meets their specific needs.
• Some libraries are exploring other venues, such as wikis, in-person class sessions and screencasts to ease the load for library staff.
• Unlike staff who are around during the day, it’s harder to nudge and motivate the public if individual momentum begins to flag.

Recommendations for libraries who still want to try it:

• Seriously limit the number of “things” you offer to the most essential: e-mail, blog, facebook/linked-in, etc.
• Consider a series of weekly in-person classes, one for each “thing”, and targeting a specific audience.
• Consider using a wiki instead of a blog, where each participant has a page instead of a personal blog – only one place for staff to check.
• Find out who else in the community is helping people, and partner with them. Move outside your library and into the community.

Based on these recommendations, we will need to re-think our public program, and we could also use some of these considerations to shape the requested continuation of the staff program – several wanted to continue learning about new things, but at a slower pace -  maybe one new one per month.

Digital Photography Preconference Session

Since we’re working more and more with images and video, I wanted to get some guidelines for taking good photos and also some information about legal issues such as copyright and photo releases.

The most important thing to remember about taking visually interesting and balanced photos is the “rule of thirds”, which basically states that the most important elements in the photo should be placed on lines that divide the picture into thirds, or at the intersection of those horizontal and vertical lines.

Secondly, learn to use the histogram feature of your digital camera.  (Mine is so old, there is no histogram function – I have to open the photos in an editing program to see the histogram, which provides information about lightness/darkness and proper exposure.) The histogram will give you clues about how to edit the photo for the best effect.

And third, it makes sense to store your photos online at a site like Flickr, where you can set the kind of Creative Commons licence that works for you. With a Creative Commons license rather than a copyright statement, you can set the level of permission other people can have to re-use your photos.

Generally, if you are taking the pictures in your library, because it is a public space, people can have no reasonable expectation of privacy, and releases are generally not needed. People are on camera daily everywhere they go (ATM, retail stores, library security systems), so photos showing people enjoying their libraries should be ok.  It’s courteous to ask, though, “do you mind if I take your picture while you [enjoy the storytime, practice knitting, ...] for our [blog, web page, press release]? And a verbal answer should be fine.