librarianship

Six very bad reasons to have a library branch in Second Life

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Yesterday I outlined Ten very good reasons why your librarians should be in Second Life.

I think it is a fantastic idea for many Real Life libraries to have a library within Second Life, but I don’t think a Second Life branch is useful for all libraries and get a bit worried when I hear people using the reasons below to justify it.

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1. It’s where the users are.

Uh-uh. No way. Not yet.

2. Dell. Adidas, Disney, Toyota, (insert company name) are there.

So?

3. It’s so Library2.0

The whole point of Library2.0 is to take new web tools and tailor them to your clients’ specific needs. Would a Second Life branch do this?

4. It provides access for more people

Yes it does. If they have the high end video card and broadband required by Second Life.

No service that aims to be equitable, should be offered in Second Life unless there is access also via another medium. Sometimes the interface and environment of Second Life do have great advantages over tradtional interfaces.

5. It doesn’t take much time or skill to run a branch in Second Life, so it would be easy to set up and run.

No comment.

6. We need a separate service in Second Life just for our users.

Are you sure? Maybe Second Life libraries would offer your users a better service if you put your energies into an existing Second Life library services like the genealogy library, or the children’s literature island, or the gothic manor, or the science ficiton portal, or a writer talk, or a book display, or the replica of the Globe Theatre, or staffing the reference desk.

AND ONE VERY GOOD REASON TO HAVE A LIBRARY BRANCH IN SECOND LIFE

We have the resources and time to establish and maintain a project in Second Life, we will provide workstations and training for clients wanting to experiment with Second Life, we are willing to see this as both an experimental and a production environment, and a branch in Second Life will meet our users’ needs and matches the strategic goals of our organization.

Is that right? Then go for it!

Ten very good reasons why your librarians should be in Second Life

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I’ve been experimenting with providing library service in Second Life for about 6 months. In the last 12 months, the Second Life library has moved from a shopfront on someone else’s island to a 19 island archipelago staffed by over 500 librarians.

There are great benefits to librarians in getting a Second Life. There are limited benefits to our parent organisations and to our users – at the moment. The same thing happened when librarians first authored web pages – the first stage was learning how to do it, the second stage was others accessing our output.

With Forbes.com reporting last Tuesday that Gartner Says 80 Percent of Active Internet Users Will Have A “Second Life” in the Virtual World by the End of 2011 , we need librarians with the skills to understand virtual worlds.

Here’s my top ten list. Many of them depend on creating and maintaining social networks within Second Life.

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1. Learn a new interface

Web browsing in the future won’t be identical to being in Second Life. It will probably have elements very similar to the 3D, social, immersive environment of Second Life. Learning how to put out objects, create environments, navigate and interact socially within this environment gives your librarians an edge to learn new web interfaces.

2. Learn to relate to your PC like our users who game.

Second Life – without rules, points, objectives and strategies – is not a game. It has many elements of gaming, however – you control a 3D representation of yourself that has an inventory and interacts with the environment and other people. We all have clients who game. Gaming can be used for recreation, leisure and – increasingly – to provide information. It is an alternate literacy that we should understand.

3. Fun and creative expression

I’ve had several librarians remark to me in Second Life , “I’m having the most fun I’ve ever had in my professional life”. You can build your ultimate library service. Don’t like something? Zap it and start again.

4. Break down professional isolation

Second Life librarians who are geographically isolated, work in one-person libraries or have highly specialised positions can go days without contact with another similar librarian. In Second Life, you can meet other professionals every day.

5. Increase coding skills

You can create a book, make the pages move, make it give out some written information when touched, or force someone’s web browser outside Second Life to a specified web page. There are people around to help and example scripts that you can use, but ultimately it becomes a fun challenge that increments your scripting skills without you even noticing.

6. It’s a collaborative learning community

There’s lots of librarians there. Via meeting in Second Life, the InfoIsland blog and the google group, we share ideas and work together on projects, such as a package of useful bits and pieces for people brand new to Second Life.

7. Networking about non – Second Life library matters

There are official programs about topics like MySpace and book discussion groups and author visits. Dave Pattern and I were chatting one night in Second Life about user ratings on OPACs. I sent him a link to our OPAC and after half an hour of coding, he’d coded a similar facility for his OPAC too.

8. Access to a host of experts – not just with Second Life skills

Within Second Life, I’ve met people who are experts in podcasting in libraries, and single person libraries and library instruction. It’s a helpful kind of place and it’s like having a panel of experts to call on if you get stuck at work in Real Life.

9. It’s free, we can access it now and it has first mover advantage

The Second Life interface is clunky and the environment boring to people used to gaming. There are better online virtual worlds. Second Life does have critical mass and is where you’ll find the most librarians experimenting. It’s free and we can get on right now.

10. Flexibility of thought and learning

Once the tools of librarianship, like AACR and LCSH, were standardised, and could be taught in library school. Our toolkit is now rapidly evolving to include blogs, wikis, multimedia and social software tools. We need people with nimble, exercised minds who are able to adapt to a new environment. There are a hundred different ways to join people with information within Second Life. To do this successfully, librarians need to decide what they need to know, work out how they are going to learn it and find the resources available – including other people – to create the tools they need. This assessment and assimilation of new tools is a transferable, valuable skill that applies beyond the PC.

To give a bit of balance, my next post outlines six very bad reasons to have a library branch in Second Life.

What libraries don’t do anymore

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I’m a Philosophy Subject Librarian, I’m supposed to know about existential angst.

In the last week, I’ve been obsessing about what libraries and the profession will look like in 30 years or so when I retire. I’ve been wondering what we should do now to shape that.

OK, I’ll start with what don’t we do anymore.

  • We’re not only about books. And haven’t been for decades
  • We are no longer gatekeepers of knowledge, popular and obscure. Public libraries are reducing their non-fiction and reference collections. Not only are undergraduates using information from Google Scholar as the basis of their assignments, but academics are letting them.
  • We aren’t “halls of shush”. Unless your library has a silent floor, there is no longer an oasis of peace and studiousness in our buildings.
  • Archives and libraries of deposit have become representative rather than comprehensive records.
  • Not all of our collection is contained in our buildings anymore.
  • Our clients can use our services without direct contact with any of our staff.
  • Most of us do very little original cataloguing.

This destabilizes me a little. Back when I was 8 or so and catalogued my Enid Blytons, I knew that when I grew up and was a librarian, I would work in a quiet library looking after books, cataloguing and processing them and helping people find information. It was what librarians DID.

I think tonight’s bout of “I don’t know what we do anymore”, was partly prompted by reading Karen Schneider‘s rant on ALA Techsource, Dear Library of Congress…. where she suggests that instead of loooking at bibliographic control as a major issue, the profession is in a state of emergency and we need to address what we are selling out, to whom and what that does to our basic tenets – one of which is the right to read.

Here’s a chunkette that I found particularly relevant. (By the way, I hope “rant” isn’t offensive – ranting articulately and effectively is a talent I wish I had).

It is both ironic and poignant that librarians are still worrying about “bibliographic control,” after ceding so much of the same to the companies that now rent them journal access per annum at usurious rates, digitize their book collections into DRM obscurity, or sell them ponderous, antiquated “management” systems that on close inspection do little more than serve as storehouses for the metadata specific to the formats of bygone eras, bold days when we saw our central roles as defenders and curators of our cultural heritage.

We have moved from the librarian as information artisan—a professional creating and using tools to manage information—to the librarian as surrogate vendor, facilitating what is essentially the offshoring of thousands of years of information into private hands.

UPDATE 10.03.07: CindiAnn was also was struck by this passage in Karen’s post and her response, Library Agitprop , presents 7 theses about the future of libraries. Worth checking out.

Spot the librarian

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No, I’m not talking about this:

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…but about our visibility in our own buildings.

With the push to meet our users where they are, both online and in our communities, we need to take a look at how close we get to our users in our own buildings. It affects how well we serve our customers and how well people understand what we do.

In most places I’ve worked, the majority of library staff who were in the front line and greeting people each day weren’t librarians. Well – they weren’t librarians to those of us who know that a librarian is someone with a formal tertiary qualification in librarianship. But – to our customers, I’m sure that they were the librarians. Not us. We were probably “the bosses”, or – even worse – they didn’t even know we existed.

Yes, some libraries had a reference desk with a librarian sitting at it, ready to use that degree to provide tip-top 100% certified researching accuracy. But did the customers know they were any different to the staff elsewhere? And – here’s the clincher – did it matter? Is it actually important that our customers know the difference?

Probably not for many simple enquiries. Most libraries have clear guidelines about when a question gets redirected to a “professional” (a term I HATE ). Most clerical staff I’ve met are caring, intelligent folk who would redirect sensibly. Do we need our customers to know the difference for any other reason?

Well, yes. If we want political support from our users to ensure that our jobs are funded, they should understand what we do. If we want them to understand that our back room is full of people with different and useful knowledge and skills not possessed by the intelligent, caring folk they interact with each day.

We are paid to know about new web tools, children’s literature and the best way to retrieve an item. We can purchase items on their behalf, are able to design programs to suit their needs, can arrange outreach services for parts of the community to which they belong and are able to partner with them to provide mutually beneficial services. We can create resource guides or training classes. We can redesign areas of the library to better meet their needs. We can act on the changes they want in the services.

How can we ensure that a customer on the floor of our library, playing “spot the librarian” actually sees some of us? It’s hard to come up with any ways, because so much of what we do is back room work. I’m disallowing moves like “keep a blog outlining what you do”, or “put events on your website” or “write an Ask a Librarian column for your campus newspaper”. How about locating some of our offices near where the users are and putting a “please ask me a question” sign on our doors? How about an “open house” kind of class where people know they can get help with web tools at the public PCs during certain hours a week? There must be more, but I’m baffled if I can think of many.

If people think of libraries as “places where books are”, then with the shift in definition of content, our libraries may be in trouble. But, if our customers define libraries as “places where librarians are”,  then libraries may survive longer.

Please explain…market researcher and librarianship.

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I should be so happy…so why am I rather uneasy?

I’m not looking for another job…but I’ve been watching to see when Australian Libraries will start incorporating full time Library 2.0 positions. Now it looks like the University of New South Wales Library has restructured, with an eye to possible future library services, and is recruiting for some interesting positions. Finally there is a full time position advertised in Australia for someone to look at emerging technologies and suggest ways that a library can use them…hooray….but….

It’s time to play “what’s wrong here”. Here’s some extracts from the job description for the Information Service Industry Researcher. The first bit sounds really exciting…although the dry and obsfucating management-speak did have me wondering a bit…..

The Service Innovation Unit of the UNSW Library Information Services Department is an innovative response to the changing environment in which the Library operates. Through the integration of market intelligence and data analysis, the Unit investigates emerging trends in technology and specifies Library service innovations and enhancements which demonstrate best practice in support of research and learning & teaching.

JOB PURPOSE
Provide input to the specification of novel and innovative UNSW Library services by sourcing, analysing and evaluating high quality market intelligence and best practice exemplars relevant to the development of world class information services in an academic environment.

DUTIES

    • Working in a small team of experts, provide input to the development of detailed proposals for innovative information service provision.
    • Consider a range of market intelligence to contribute to the identification of the most appropriate information services (current or potential) to be offered by UNSW Library.
    • Communicate nationally and internationally with other libraries, consortia and commercial service providers in order to gather relevant information and benchmarking data.
    • Contribute expertise and knowledge to UNSW Library planning processes.
    • Proactively provide current and trend data to facilitate planning and resource allocation.
    • Take part in the UNSW Workplace Planning and Career Development Scheme.
    • Other duties as required appropriate to the level of this position.

    …
    REPORTING RELATIONSHIPS
    This is one of two positions reporting to the Manager, Service Innovation, the other being
    1 x Statistical Analyst (HEW 6)

OK..so even if it’s a bit dry..I think they are asking for someone to keep up with new trends, make some suggestions about new technology, do some collaborating and communicating with other librarians and help plan new services. Sounds like they need the type of librarian I’d like to be.

So….if Iwas interested, where would I flash my Librarianship qualifications?…..hold on…let’s read more….

SELECTION CRITERIA
Essential criteria
Degree in market research with relevant experience, or an equivalent level of knowledge gained through any other combination of education training and/or experience.
Proven ability to effectively analyse, evaluate and report on market intelligence, and qualitative data and to relate it to the needs of stakeholders.
Demonstrated ability to understand statistical information and statistical concepts
Excellent communication skills and an ability to communicate with internal and external stakeholders at all levels.
Demonstrated ability to successfully explain complex concepts to non-experts.
Proven ability to work in a small team of experts to deliver concrete outcomes
Demonstrated ability to seek and evaluate a range of innovative service options
Proven ability to contribute effectively to policy and planning
Capacity and willingness to take part in the UNSW Workplace Planning and Career Development Scheme
Knowledge of OHS responsibilities and commitment to attending relevant OHS training.
Knowledge of EEO/AA principles.

I’m sure you spotted the M word there instead of the L word. Even without this, I’m really disturbed by the tone and wording of the advertisement. It looks like they are trying to justify funding from library administrators, rather than attract applications from switched on, enthusiastic, knowledgable librarians.

I see a request for “experience with market intelligence”, but not a passion for serving clients or the interest and skills in new technologies. Libraries are now seeking to be more user driven, so maybe this is one way of finding out what users want without existing biases from practitioners getting in the way.

Maybe they will ask that the supervisor, the “Manager, Service Innovation”, has the passion and the library experience. I can’t see it coming from the other member of the unit, the “Statistical Analyst”. Maybe they have a super-duper fantastic person already in mind, and they wrote the job descrition to fit that person’s specific skill set.

So…is there anyone out there with a friend of a friend at the University of New South Wales Library (where I will probably now never be able to get a job) who can enlighten me about where this positon fits with the other changes happening in library services …and where it fits into the new social nature of libraries ?

Watch out! Reading books can kill you.

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….if they tell you how to kill yourself.

BACKGROUND

Australia’s Federal Attorney General is appealing a decision by the Office of Film and Literature Classification to allow the sale in Australia of Philip Nitshke‘s new book, the Peaceful Pill Handbook.

Dr Nitschke is a prominent voluntary euthanasia campaigner notorious for inventing the “suicide machine“. This includes software to ensure voluntary consent from a terminally ill patient and then allow self administered lethal injection. He has been working toward finding a “mix it yourself” cocktail of drugs to create a “peaceful pill”, which can be used to end life.

The book, which looks like it has very specific factual information about means of death, is being sold online through Exit International: a peaceful death is everyone’s right.

According to Exit,

In December 2006, the Office of Film and Literature Classification decided to provide The Peaceful Pill Handbook with a ‘Restricted Class 1’ Classification. This meant that althought the book was still a Prohibited Import and subject to seizure by Customs – the book could be published and distributed in Australia under strict controls.

The International Edition, which is for sale in US and Canada is in its third print run. He again works with Dr Fiona Stewart, who co-authored his earlier book: “Killing me softly” voluntary euthanasia and the road to the Peaceful Pill, available through Amazon.

MY DILEMMA

I’m a philosophy subject librarian in a university that teaches an Ethics program, so I’m asking myself whether I’d recommend it for our shelves. My cop-out answer is that like all purchases, I’d check with the course controller, and then if I was still unsure, I’d ask my supervisor. OK – but what do I REALLY think?

CON

Our university is full of people in a turbulent time of their lives. Young males have the highest rate of suicide, and they make up a high proportion of our students. I know that traditional Australian media usually don’t report suicides (murder/suicides excepted) in fear of copy cat deaths. Maybe a book like Nitschke’s could be used for murder as well as suicide?

PRO

I believe part of my job involves protecting the right of my readers to make up their own minds, by offering all sides of the story – even those I don’t agree with. People are scared of suicide to an extent that they possibly block out signs of likely self harm in others, and this book might create understanding. Nitschke has stated that his position has been influenced by Dr Peter Singer, and this would illustrate a practical extension of the arguments of someone who is required reading by our students.

My mind weighs on the side of the PROs and my gut on the side of the CONs. Given my doubt, I’d purchase the book…we’re not a public library and what else are university libraries for if not to provide greater understanding? (But I wonder how I’d feel if I found it on one of my boy’s bedroom floor?)

Speaking in tongues: Libworm and VLINT

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Two new library resources:

1. Libworm: describes itself as:

“the librarian RSS engine
over 1000 RSS feeds go in
exactly what you need comes out!”

I still subscribe to feeds for individual blogs, rather than feeds for searches. I’ve noticed that some more techno-savvy bloggers are tending toward the latter. This may just be the tool that makes me switch – but I doubt it, I’m too attached to connecting with people’s voices and their individual lives

2. VLINT (Virtual.librariesinteract.info: blog central for Australian Libraries in Other Worlds)

Since Lorelei Junot very nicely offered me a building in Cybrary City for Australian Libraries to share, we’ve been pottering about the building. VLINT started as a place to record the nuts and bolts, daily operations of the project. This gives whoever takes on the project (soon I hope) a history to work with.

snail suggested that we could broaden it to include Australian Libraries in all “Other Worlds”. Great idea. I really hope someone interested in virtual library branches or gaming in libraries starts posting.



TODAY’S HIPPIE CARD: Let go of the past

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