Hyperlinked Libraries - Context Book Assignment - Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformedby Social Technologies

Li, Charlene & Josh Bernoff. Groundswell, expanded and revised edition: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies

This book was first published in 2008, and both authors were analysts at Forrester Research. This gave them both the technical background, and the user stories, to bring to life the topic of businesses reacting to increasing customer involvement in social media. I like user stories!

I also particularly liked the steps that they suggest for evaluating new technologies:

• Does it enable people to connect in new ways?


• Is it effortless to sign up for?


• Does it shift power from institutions to people?


• Does the community generate enough content to sustain itself.


• Is it an open platform that invites partners?

This doesn't mean that the technology (or your involvement with it) is going to be a guaranteed success - but it definitely helps to reduce the risk of failure.

The book examines how businesses (and I would definitely include non-profits) need to connect with their customers via social media, because that's where the customers are. If organisations want to stay relevant (and profitable in the case of businesses), then they can't ignore the groundswell of involvement that is happening around us. People don't want to be passive consumers of products and services - if they are happy with something, they are willing to let others know. If they aren't happy, they REALLY WANT to let others know! Some of their examples of what not to do make this excruciatingly clear.

This book has some very useful planning tools including the POST framework. POST stands for People, Objectives, Strategy and Tools – and when considered in that order, the authors suggest they give you the most chance of a successful foray into social media. The focus should always be on people, not technologies. The authors advise tying any moves into social media into the objective/mission of the organisation as well as working out who is ultimately responsible. If the buy-in from above isn't there, try to get it or you will have constant roadblocks.  They also recommend starting small - quick, simple, staged deployments, then reviewing reaction and responses. This links in beautifully to Week four's 10 steps for Planning.

The book also looks at different types of what it calls users or fans. It divides them into the following groups:

• creators,


• critics,


• conversationalists,


• collectors,


• joiners,


• spectators, and


• in-actives.

I found this helped me to clarify why responses can be so different - and also very interesting to see where I fitted on the spectrum. These different types of members will be most comfortable with different tools, so this should be examined when looking at the range and type of connections that we make.  Also, it is worth putting in extra work to connect with the relatively small number of members in the first groupings because if they are engaged,  they will often run with the idea and create content that will truly be participatory, rather than simply one way communication.

The issue of openness and honesty with those with whom we are interacting was also a key point. This links back to the discussions on transparency from Week five. Also, the fact that really knowing your community and their needs is key (which links beautifully to Weeks two and three.)

So, what does this all mean for libraries? My takeaway would be - Be quick on your feet and willing to change/adjust. Be open and honest with those with whom you are interacting. Listen more than talk. And be willing to be involved even if it means time, effort and moving out of your comfort zone.

Hyperlinked Libraries - Weeks five to seven summation

Another quick post with some of the key things that 'hit me' whilst watching the videos.

Week five's video lecture was great in that it discussed some issues that have been of interest/concern to me for some time. At MPOW we do have transparency in some ways - photos of librarians on libguides,  people wear name labels (we get a choice of first only or full names). But in an internal site set up for discussions about some proposed changes, there is no real discussion because (and this is my impression of course) staff don't feel that they know what use will be made of their comments. The trust isn't there - there is a feeling that it has been put up simply to tick the box on a change management plan with regard to consultation. I also found the discussion about social media being a public space interesting, both because we need to encourage  our members to take this into consideration, and also that the library in this space can inadvertently be the host to some potentially destructive behaviours.

I found Aaron Schmidt's Intro to Library UX a real eye opener. I have  been following some discussions in this area, but my knowledge is pretty limited to usability testing for websites etc. I really want to lean more -the methods that he discussed such as Journey maps and Contextual inquiry really made sense to me. At MPOW my team member and I are going to start some User interviews soon in a fairly low key way as I have felt for  a while that we are drifting from where we need to be.

I've been fortunate enough to be (slowly) working through the #anz23mthings program, so Jan Holmquist's lecture didn't present new concepts, but I did love his concept of people needing to work out the appropriate diet for themselves off online and Offline life. And Michael's point about a library's unique collections needing to be online so that they are accessible  was a bit of a 'of course - why haven't I realised this before' moment...

Hyperlinked Libraries - Weeks two to four summation

Ah, I feel like so much information is going in, creating lots of ideas and thoughts, but with limited time to reflect at the moment.

These  weeks presentations have been very interesting. I'm really pleased at how  much of this material resonates with me - in part due to my life experiences, in part due to my recently completing the New Librarianship masterclass. However, I must say that I really found myself nodding my head in excitement when  listening to the guest lectures in weeks two and three. Sarah, Monica & Gretchen's practical experiences gave me a real feel for what is possible, rather than the theoretical (which is of course very important, but I don't always 'see' it as clearly as I would like). Some of the things that really stood out to me were:

Sarah Ludwig - We need to select tools where we feel comfortable enough with so that we can present an authentic voice. But that the needs of the community come first so if they are in a particular space, then you need to learn that tool rather than try to impose something new.

Monica Harris - wow, I was just inspired by the concept, how it has been carried out, and the way things are captured and assessed.

Michael Edson - I was fortunate enough to do a MOOC introducing data science that gave me a better understanding than I previously had on big data. But Michael's presentation took that to a new level on the Scope, the Scale and the Speed of changes. I was particularly struck by his point that need is not just in third world countries - there are libraries closing now that will mean that poor kids don't have access to material to help them develop to their full potential.

Michael discussing the Techno's (Technolust etc.)
I've also shared the "As much chaos as we can stand" quote from his week four presentation a couple of times at MPOW in discussions with colleagues.