See full article here.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Librarians as __________: Shapeshifting at the periphery.
Tremendous post by Char Booth from in The Library with the Lead Pipe.Librarians as __________: Shapeshifting at the periphery.If you haven't added in the library to your RSS feed/Google Reader you should, they are pretty awesome.
Libraries bigger than cupcakes?
According to an NPR article, libraries are quickly becoming the new crazy. Once upon a time, there was the rebirth of knitting, then, a surge of ironic t-shirts and tattoos, next, a love of hyper-decorated cupcakes, and now, finally, libraries? Perhaps I have noticed it because I am studying to be a librarian, but libraries are in the public eye more often lately. From protests of impending budget cuts to quirky videos like Mr. New Spice here: libraries are cool (again).
For the full NPR article, click here.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Good news for Brooklyn Libraries
Amid much concerned over the proposed $20 million cut in library spending there is some good news. Read the article here.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Metadata standards
For the truly nerdy (obsessive?) librarians in my reader base, here is the best article/chart/explanation of metadata standards I have ever seen. I actually got goose bumps. Click here for the full article and high res versions of the image.
Nerdy stereotypes
This is not entirely library related, but I found it fascinating. A group of seventh graders were asked to draw what they thought a typical scientist looked like. Then they were taken on a field trip...see the results here.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
The eBook problem in libraries
Ebooks borrowed from libraries? It sounds intuitive, right? I can stream video online at Hulu and Netflix, so it should be a given that I could borrow digital content from my library. The concept is solid and perfectly executable. The problem? Vendors. Read a great blog post about Overdrive frustration by David Lee King here.
Friday, June 11, 2010
The technology behind preservation
Ever wonder what the librarians at the Library of Congress do to keep Jefferson's books in tip top shape? Well, find the inside scoop here!!
Thursday, June 10, 2010
What happens when old librarians retire?
Here is an interesting article about the age demographics of librarians. This truly is an aging profession.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Visual Information
I have found another amazing example of visual information (a concept known to the nerdy as data visualization). Doug McCune has created a map that shows crime in San Francisco as elevation. The higher the peak, the greater the rate of that particular crime. You can see for yourself at his blog.
Besides being generally awesome, why is this so important?
Human beings process visual information faster than they process any other method of communication. How often do you look at the icons on your desktop and actually read what program they open? Probably rarely. Your brain attaches meaning to the image and acts accordingly. Companies have long understood this and work hard to establish a distinct logo that represents and becomes synonymous with their product. Think about the Starbucks siren, the Nike whoosh, the Apple apple, or the BMW propellers. Even if you didn’t know that the woman on the Starbucks logo is a siren, you know exactly what she looks like, what she represents, and, probably, what her coffee tastes like.
If this is the way our brain works, why do information professionals not take advantage of this more regularly? As providers of information, we should probably be doing more. However, as traditionalists, we do not know how. When we think of information whether on your computer screen or on physical paper, we think of words first. This bias is why I have a traditional blog format and not a visual one such as tumblr. In a world where those who can get the most information the fastest are the most productive and most powerful, I think our profession should embrace visual information. Unfortunately, we have no idea how and partnerships with the business world will be vital in moving us along.
I leave you with my favorite use of visual information--a pie chart of bars and a bar graph of pies via How I Met Your Mother:
Besides being generally awesome, why is this so important?
Human beings process visual information faster than they process any other method of communication. How often do you look at the icons on your desktop and actually read what program they open? Probably rarely. Your brain attaches meaning to the image and acts accordingly. Companies have long understood this and work hard to establish a distinct logo that represents and becomes synonymous with their product. Think about the Starbucks siren, the Nike whoosh, the Apple apple, or the BMW propellers. Even if you didn’t know that the woman on the Starbucks logo is a siren, you know exactly what she looks like, what she represents, and, probably, what her coffee tastes like.
If this is the way our brain works, why do information professionals not take advantage of this more regularly? As providers of information, we should probably be doing more. However, as traditionalists, we do not know how. When we think of information whether on your computer screen or on physical paper, we think of words first. This bias is why I have a traditional blog format and not a visual one such as tumblr. In a world where those who can get the most information the fastest are the most productive and most powerful, I think our profession should embrace visual information. Unfortunately, we have no idea how and partnerships with the business world will be vital in moving us along.
I leave you with my favorite use of visual information--a pie chart of bars and a bar graph of pies via How I Met Your Mother:
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
QR Codes in books...could this be the future of publishing?
A new version of Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days has been published, complete with QR codes that take the reader to websites that provide sidenotes or historical information. Could this be the future of publishing? Is context as important as content in fiction works? Nonfiction?
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Thumb prints to check out library books?
Amazing technological innovation or unnecessary invasion of privacy?
Read the article here.
Interactive World Map!
This website is not exactly library related, but it presents fascinating visual representations of information about the world, including GDP, illiteracy, religion, and barbecue festivals. Have fun!
Sunday, May 30, 2010
A world without books?
As a follow up to my recent posts about the growing need of the library profession to embrace new knowledge media, I thought I would post something about the downside of losing books. Aside from their longevity, books provide a tangibility and personality that cannot be mimicked by technology.
A note about personal notes by the New York Times.
A library without books?
I first encountered Cushing Academy while researching the use and effect of e-readers in public and academic libraries. This private school has embraced new technology, by requiring e-readers for their students, and consequently put books, an "outdated technology," on the back burner. Since the inception of this idea, the Cushing Academy Library has cut its book inventory by more than half and plans to diminish the collection even further. This begs the question: Are books such an outdated technology that we don't need them in secondary schools?
See the latest Boston Globe article here.
See the latest Boston Globe article here.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Miss Manners' choice words to cranky librarians
Today, while I was reading the American Libraries Direct, the e-newsletter from the American Library Association I came across a link to this article by Miss Manners in Mercury News.
As much as I would like to think public perception of librarians is changing, I must reluctantly admit that many current librarians are actively enforcing the stereotype of the dour, cranky woman behind the reference or circulation desk. The official ALA interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights includes a section on the importance of patron privacy, stating that “Privacy is essential to the exercise of free speech, free thought, and free association.” Since 1939, the ALA has recognized that protecting patron privacy is an integral mission of libraries. That is, patrons must know that the questions they ask, the books they check out, and the information they pursue will not be a matter of public record or scrutiny. This nosy librarian, in addition to perpetuating an unflattering stereotype, is actually violating a core principle of the American Library Association.
Miss Manners’ response, however, provides a glimmer of hope. She recognizes that the library profession is one that increasingly requires technological skills and the ability to ferret out information regardless of medium. However, in her own glib way the maven of etiquette tells her reader that librarians (or at least this one in particular) don’t fit their market. They are still dowdy, cranky, nosy, and inhibited. If the public perception of the librarian profession has changed enough so that a Miss Manners in San Jose, California has recognized its need for technologically savvy professionals, when will the perceptions of librarians change? Moreover, when will the librarian who perpetuate these stereotypes change?
As much as I would like to think public perception of librarians is changing, I must reluctantly admit that many current librarians are actively enforcing the stereotype of the dour, cranky woman behind the reference or circulation desk. The official ALA interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights includes a section on the importance of patron privacy, stating that “Privacy is essential to the exercise of free speech, free thought, and free association.” Since 1939, the ALA has recognized that protecting patron privacy is an integral mission of libraries. That is, patrons must know that the questions they ask, the books they check out, and the information they pursue will not be a matter of public record or scrutiny. This nosy librarian, in addition to perpetuating an unflattering stereotype, is actually violating a core principle of the American Library Association.
Miss Manners’ response, however, provides a glimmer of hope. She recognizes that the library profession is one that increasingly requires technological skills and the ability to ferret out information regardless of medium. However, in her own glib way the maven of etiquette tells her reader that librarians (or at least this one in particular) don’t fit their market. They are still dowdy, cranky, nosy, and inhibited. If the public perception of the librarian profession has changed enough so that a Miss Manners in San Jose, California has recognized its need for technologically savvy professionals, when will the perceptions of librarians change? Moreover, when will the librarian who perpetuate these stereotypes change?
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Beyond Web 2.0
As an addition to my previous post, a discussion on where technologies and libraries are headed. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, Web 2.0 means internet-based technologies that facilitate user interaction and user publication of information. That is, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and any site where a user can leave comments about an article, video, or other posts.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Why loving books isn't enough
Over the past few weeks, I have encountered a spectrum of opinions on the future of libraries and librarians.
Much to my surprise, many people newly entering the profession are doing so because “they love books.” Some have chosen the path of the librarian because of a love of knowledge. However, precious few entered the field because of the changes imminent in the library world.
Why, you may ask, am I surprised that so many people enter the world because of a love of the written word? After all, working in a library is every 14-year-old bookworms dream--to be surrounded by the quiet, but faithful friends, one’s favorite books. However, in 2010, this is a romantic ideal. The library still holds books but they are no longer the primary source for information. The internet is brimming with useful (and useless) information. A website can be updated instantly, whereas the information in a book can become outdated the minute it is published. Fiction and philosophy aside, books have lost their status as the primary medium of information.
Because of this shift, those who have chosen the library field because of their love of knowledge are better suited to the profession than those who profess a love of books. Books were, generally, safe information. That is, if a manuscript made it through the screening, editing, and printing stage, the information it contained had a high chance of being accurate. Obviously, this was not always the case, but 40 years ago, a librarian could hand a patron a book with relative confidence in the content without having read it prior. Now, since the internet has become a primary medium of information, a librarian must know how to determine accuracy and reliability of a source. Those who love knowledge have the motivation and drive to become information guides--people whose primary job is not to catalog information, but to determine its reliability.
Increasingly, however, this role as an information guide requires technological skills not currently taught in many information and library science institutions. In order to determine reliability, accuracy, and relevance, one must be able to investigate the source of the information as well as analyze the information itself. Sooner than many people realize, this skill will involve understanding basic coding. As the population becomes more dependent on computers for all media consumption, the language of computers will become increasingly important to librarians. While librarians may not need to write code fluently for a while (if ever), very soon they will need to be able to read code. Currently, only the nerdiest of librarians (yes, there are some librarians even nerdier than average) will be able to fill this role.
Digitally born information is the future of libraries and both librarians and the schools training them need to recognize this. The role of librarians as organizers of and guides to information resources will never become obsolete. However, unless the profession embraces technology and all its languages and components, librarians, as we know them, might become a thing of the past.
Much to my surprise, many people newly entering the profession are doing so because “they love books.” Some have chosen the path of the librarian because of a love of knowledge. However, precious few entered the field because of the changes imminent in the library world.
Why, you may ask, am I surprised that so many people enter the world because of a love of the written word? After all, working in a library is every 14-year-old bookworms dream--to be surrounded by the quiet, but faithful friends, one’s favorite books. However, in 2010, this is a romantic ideal. The library still holds books but they are no longer the primary source for information. The internet is brimming with useful (and useless) information. A website can be updated instantly, whereas the information in a book can become outdated the minute it is published. Fiction and philosophy aside, books have lost their status as the primary medium of information.
Because of this shift, those who have chosen the library field because of their love of knowledge are better suited to the profession than those who profess a love of books. Books were, generally, safe information. That is, if a manuscript made it through the screening, editing, and printing stage, the information it contained had a high chance of being accurate. Obviously, this was not always the case, but 40 years ago, a librarian could hand a patron a book with relative confidence in the content without having read it prior. Now, since the internet has become a primary medium of information, a librarian must know how to determine accuracy and reliability of a source. Those who love knowledge have the motivation and drive to become information guides--people whose primary job is not to catalog information, but to determine its reliability.
Increasingly, however, this role as an information guide requires technological skills not currently taught in many information and library science institutions. In order to determine reliability, accuracy, and relevance, one must be able to investigate the source of the information as well as analyze the information itself. Sooner than many people realize, this skill will involve understanding basic coding. As the population becomes more dependent on computers for all media consumption, the language of computers will become increasingly important to librarians. While librarians may not need to write code fluently for a while (if ever), very soon they will need to be able to read code. Currently, only the nerdiest of librarians (yes, there are some librarians even nerdier than average) will be able to fill this role.
Digitally born information is the future of libraries and both librarians and the schools training them need to recognize this. The role of librarians as organizers of and guides to information resources will never become obsolete. However, unless the profession embraces technology and all its languages and components, librarians, as we know them, might become a thing of the past.
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