Hyperlinked Libraries - Char Booth is inspirational

I've just finished listening to the lectures for Week 10, and I'm feeling really inspired. Char Booth laid out very clearly so much that I've been trying to learn piecemeal (and I'm grabbing her book on Monday to reinforce what I've learnt). In MPOW I'm involved in instruction for information literacy - it is a core part of my role. And yet, possibly because I've come to this role in a roundabout way, I have felt that - although I try my best - I'm just not doing it well at all. And felt overwhelmed when I have looked to increase my knowledge and skills in this area. It just seems so huge.

This session reassured me that I do have more knowledge in this area than I had given myself credit for, that there is indeed a huge amount to learn, and that it is do-able with the right guides and resources. So, book is sorted, blog is subscribed to via RSS and Char is followed on Twitter (sounds very fan-girl I know).  I will branch out from there.

Oh, and I loved her quote from John Dewey:

Education is a social process.

Education is growth.

Education is not a preparation for life;

Education is life.

So, who (or what) are we? And what does that mean for the future?

A few things I've been reading/listening to this week (and yes, some of this is rather old - takes me a while to catch up on my professional reading sometimes and then I get taken on a tangent!) have been raising the question of whether libraries and librarians are about a physical space, a specific service or program (and specific processes to support them), a specific format in which information is provided, or something more nebulous.
Of course, this is not a new question and not one that will be answered in the short term even with the interesting conversations already taking place in print, in blogs, at conferences etc., but I wanted to put down some of my thoughts...

• Our customers are moving online, but they're not all there yet. It may be another generation (or maybe never!) before we have a customer base who is comfortable with all things electronic. I'm amazed sometimes when young (to my eyes) Uni students want me to help find print materials rather than electronic (and are quite adamant in their belief that print is superior). My sister travels most months and remotely accesses many of her work tools, but finds technology too difficult/complex/frustrating to invest her private time in learning. She's smart and savvy about many things, but this is not a priority. And don't get me started on my Dad!
  We shouldn't assume that there won't be a need to continue to provide existing materials and services for the foreseeable future.

• The library as a collaborative space is very important to many people. But many people still crave a quiet space too. A place for research or just some peace. Sometimes these competing needs are from the same people with differing needs at different times. Juggling continues, particularly for Academic libraries!

•  Yes, there are many processes that we have done because they used to be needed, but may no longer be the most appropriate or required at all. Ongoing reviewing of our services/programs/procedures is healthy. However, communication of the aims of any review must be clearly communicated (and repeated as necessary) as otherwise staff may experience natural concerns about their future resulting in uncertainty. Not good for the health and vibrancy or teamwork of a library team. And review after review without benefits clearly being seen can lead to inertia or resistance (passive or aggressive). Ongoing dialogue is key to ensuring staff feel that they are an active part of the process rather than being steamrolled.

• A recurring (and rather important I think) theme is  “If we built it today what would it look like?” (Nussbaumer and Merkley 2010) This seems to be a good way to review our services and do some future dreaming.

• Dorney and Frierson (2011) have an interesting discussion of plans for reference service provision when there is no physical library (at least, not with reference librarians in situ). The librarians will be in another physical space altogether, but moving around campus and possibly logging their locations via social media. Most 'just in time' reference services will be provided remotely.
  This has relevance for Murdoch's review of service delivery (with specific emphasis for me on the reference service - I may be out of a job that I really enjoy, very soon!). Millerville's 'experiment' in alternative reference provision is certainly one to watch - nothing particularly new in the proposals, but the fact that they are not running it alongside a 'traditional' service means that the results will possibly be more meaningful.

In summary? We need to ensure that changes and 'moving with the times' are not at the expense of those who don't or can't move at the same pace that we want them to. There may need to be parallel services for some time yet (with cost implications of course) and above all, communication and education to help along those (patrons and staff) who just find the changes a little difficult but will get there in time.

Dorney, E. and E. Frierson. 2011. "Renovation as a catalyst for change".  In the Library with the Lead Pipe http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2011/renovation-catalyst/ (accessed 3 December 2011).

Garrison, J.. 2011. What Do We Do Now?: A Case for Abandoning Yesterday and Making the Future. Reference & User Services Quarterly 51, no. 1, (October 1): 12-14.  http://www.proquest.com/ (accessed December 3, 2011). 

King, D. L. (2005). Website as destination.
http://www.davidleeking.com/2005/09/22/website-as-destination/#.Trqe_PLeIhE (accessed 3 December 2011).

Lankes, R. David (2011) A New Librarianship for a New Age. http://vimeo.com/32400532 (accessed 3 December 2011).

Nussbaumer, Alison and Merkley, Wendy. 2010. The path of transformational change. Library Management 31, no. 8/9, (October 10): 678-689.  http://www.proquest.com/ (accessed December 3, 2011).

LibCampOz September 19 2011

Written fairly late at night...
Stimulating, tiring, horizon expanding, pushing me out of my comfort zone, challenging... These were all things that I expected from my first unconference, and it delivered. It was a good experience.
But I also had reinforced what I'd heard about this format - you really get the most out of it if you give freely of yourself, and throw yourself into the process.
In many ways I was more of an observer than a participant - not what I'd intended.
However, I found that I had few relevant experiences to offer on the topics discussed. But I figure that is partly because of where I'm at in my life/work journey and partly because of the topics which were chosen to be discussed. And that's ok, because I learnt and was challenged and stimulated and made some interesting people's acquaintance and discovered some resources that I want to follow up, and there is (hopefully) next year!

Keeping up with the Jones's

I'm trying to catch up on some of the readings I've been doing lately, and keeping my information in the one place. So, here's another one. Thanks to Kathryn Greenhill for pointing me towards it.

Sheehan, K. (2010, August 3). Keeping Up with Keeping Up. ALA Techsource. Retrieved June 20, 2011, from http://www.alatechsource.org/blog/2010/07/keeping-up-with-keeping-up.html

Very interesting article - clarifies some of my thoughts and gives guidance on what really are appropriate actions to do to try to keep up with technology and changes. It can feel so hard with limited time. And I feel like I'm really not doing very well compared with the people who's writing I follow. I need to target my work/reading/development because I can't hope to do it all (as Kate Sheehan points out clearly).
However, when I compare myself with many of my collegues (not that I intentially try to benchmark, just what comes up in conversation) I realise that other people are struggling even more than me, or have less interest/see it as much less of a priority. Again, as pointed out by Kate Sheehan.

Soooo, how will I implement this new knowledge? Well, although my current work is in Higher Education, I still have a passion for public libraries, and a growing interest in school libraries.
The areas that I find easier to keep up with and most interesting are more social networking - Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, etc. The areas that I find more difficult are the issues around DRM, ePortfolios and some of the content creation areas (Vimeo etc.). So the areas that I am less confident with are probably the ones which aren't focussed on in public and school libraries as much (although of course they are still relevant). And I do read enough to know of the basic issues/that there are issues with DRM, that there is a variety of ePortfolio platforms and software and that there are some absolutely amazing content creation applications out there.And where to go or who to talk to, to get more information. Which means that (according to Kate) I'm doing ok.

So I will leave you with my new favourite quote:

“Keeping up with technology” seems overwhelming and huge and ridiculously hard if it’s presented as a monolith that must be scaled. Keeping up doesn’t mean knowing every single tech trend that’s out there. It means being engaged with your community and knowing what your patrons are using. ... Just like the rest of librarianship – it isn’t about being an expert; it’s about knowing where to look.

Technology and Learning

I really enjoy reading blog posts by Judy O'Connell and others working in the Education system. Having a sister who is a literacy consultant to small independant schools (and who finds technology frustrating) and also having two children now in Primary school, I find myself viewing it with different perspectives. So it's good to see someone championing technology and using it in innovative ways.
Today I read in one of her posts:

We use technology to think and learn.  We don’t use technology because it’s a cool tech tool, and because our syllabus says we need a certain percentage of technology in the curriculum. http://heyjude.wordpress.com/2011/06/25/leaders-can-make-magic-happen-too/ Accessed 25 June 2011

 I like the concept, but I don't think we are there in my children's school, or in the schools where my sister is an educational consultant.
In the former, the Library Officer (untrained but fantastic) is also expected to assist teachers with the bank of computers in the library. These are (to my knowledge) the only bank in the school, although there are individual machines in most classrooms, and electronic whiteboards in a few. The teachers and other staff are moving on the continuim towards using technology as a basic part of their toolkit, but for many there is a long way to go.
And in my sister's schools, many are remote and have limited net access, and very few staff  at each location. If the teachers aren't passionate about using technology, then the machines will sit in the corner and gather dust. It's all just too hard, just trying to teach the kids the basics of literacy and numeracy with all of the issues of ESL, cultural issues etc.
Hmm, now I'm slightly depressed. BUT it is a continuim, and as new teachers move through the University system we should continue to move to Judy's world!

And this is my problem....

"It’s very easy to buy all the bestselling business books and read everything novel that comes up on Twitter or your favorite blogs but, your competitors probably do the same and… this will only lead to information overload.
The real goal with knowledge – and where you can out-learn your competitors – is to internalize learnings and let things you learn change you. After all, you can know the name of all the tools in the shed but, if you’ve never learned to use any of them, your knowledge isn’t worth very much.
By actively seeking opportunities to learn, absorb and reinterpret knowledge, you build the thinking that will allow you to out-learn and, eventually, out-teach your competitors.
Make sure you have the best learning process in your market. Reading is only half the battle."
 How I Managed to Out-Learn the Competition. (n.d.). . Retrieved June 23, 2011, from http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/how-i-managed-to-out-learn-the-competition.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LifeHack+%28lifehack.org%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

Although I am not in a competitive situation in a business sense, I am trying to compete with my memory! I tend not to internalise the information that I take in or, when I do, I don't keep appropriate or detailed enough records. So, yet again I am planning to come back to this blog to keep myself on track.

Future job musings part two.

Whilst thinking about what area I would like to head into, so that I can get my skills together in that area, I thought I would keep an eye out for relevant job specifications with interesting bits. And pull them together here, in the one place. So, in no particular order, and in the knowledge that this will be added to and modified over time, I present:

• Investigation of emerging technologies relevant to materials' management and customer services.
• Improved awareness and use of a wide variety of technological solutions by library staff and customers.
• A planned and integrated approach to the use and deployment of technology that will enhance library services and facilities in conjunction with corporate strategies.
• Proven expertise and experience in the application of information technology in the library environment, including the ability to develop and implement innovative programs, effective actions within broad policy guidelines and a commitment to quality improvement practices.

My dream job...

I've been thinking that I need to get more organised with regard to my Professional Development. So, the first step I'm undertaking is completing the PD kit from ALIA (available for ALIA members from http://membership.alia.org.au/lib/pdf/education/pd/kit.fulltext.2005.pdf)

The first thing that I decided to do is to look at what is my "dream" job... This is something that I've suggested to other people, but not recently looked at for myself. And it has changed since the birth of three children! So, here goes (and not in any particular order)...

• Flexible hours (both the number and the timing)
• Decent dollars (money is not a major driving force but I'd like to be paid what I'm worth, and enough to be able to justify working :))
• Constantly learning/challenging myself (but self paced)
• Helping people (that's part of my job satisfaction)
• Using 'new' technologies (and having decent technology to work with)
• Working in a team but responsible for my own 'stuff'
• Passing on knowledge/adult education
• Recognition by peers would be nice, but from 'clients' is more important
• Flexible location (ie possibilities of telecommuting) would be nice :)

I'm sure there are more things that should be here and that I'll be adding to this list but that's what springs to mind right now.

Interesting that there isn't anything that screams 'library' as such. But that's still where I feel drawn to be, if possible. And my current weekend reference shifts at Murdoch University library tick quite a number of these boxes - just not all :)

23 Things - first musing!

I'm really looking forward to this program. After four years out of the library world (apart from trying to keep pace a little through personal reading and elists in between changing nappies & bandaging knees) I am really looking forward to having a chance to learn some of the key technologies that are coming forward and being used in our library world.

I've always enjoyed learning new things, but find the amount of 'things' out there at the moment a bit overwhelming. So to have had someone select some good examples of emerging technologies is making it all seem much more do-able.

From the video:

Which habit of lifelong learners is easiest and which is hardest for me?
Hardest would be habit 7 - teaching/mentoring others - partly because although I enjoy sharing information with others, I don't always feel best qualified to do so (it's such a big responsibility) and partly because at this point in time I don't work closely enough for long enough with other people who have less skills in this area than I do :)

Easiest - habit 2 - accept responsibility for my own learning. In my last 5 working years (ignoring the four year hiatus) I started 7 different jobs (lots of contract work in Darwin :)). These were generally in quite different workplaces with different systems, software and different political environments (including local government, state government, university and non-profit). I didn't always get a handover with previous staff but I found it a real challenge to learn as much as I could and to become as productive as possible in as short a time as possible. I suppose I just like learning new things :)

My goals for the 23 Things?
Generally, a greater understanding of some of the new and emerging technologies, how they can be used, and how they may/will impact on our service delivery now and in the future.
Specifically, I am interested in learning more about Twitter, del.icio.us, Flicker and Second Life - these are the things that I hear people talking about but I don't feel like I 'have a handle' on at all.

What I need in my learning toolkit to achieve these goals?
Thankfully, I know that many of these things are available already.

• Good net access (more of an issue at home potentially)
• Digital camera
• Headphones and microphone
• Time - an issue for everyone, but working 10 hours a week I expect to be doing some of this at home so that I can really explore and understand