Leadership and Administration of Public Libraries

E-book FAQ

2011-06-29T13:41:00.000-05:00

http://librarianbyday.net/2011/06/29/ebook-faqs-36-most-common-questions-answered-by-the-oitp-ebook-task-force/

Trustee topics

2011-06-06T10:42:00.004-05:00

The module for week 3 was "who manages the public library?" and the topics was public library boards and their responsibilities and library law. Several students contributed helpful links that I will share here:

http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/governance/policymanual/updatedpolicymanual/section2/51fedlegislative.cfm

Ethics

2011-05-13T14:59:00.004-05:00

I had to fail a student this past semester. He faked an interview assignment and did it so well that had I not be familiar with the librarian he interviewed, I would have missed it. I have no idea how many other assignments (attend and review a library program, interview a board member about library issues, etc.) he had faked.

This struck me as particularly egregious, because he was a library school student about to enter into the profession of librarianship. And whatever criticism of our profession, one that you rarely -if ever- hear is that we fake the information provided to our patrons.

What would happen if librarians were slippery with the truth or not quite accurate with the facts? What if sometimes we cut corners and made up the answer rather than research it? In short, our profession - and possibly our libraries- would fail.

We can be irreverent or we can be too serious....but it's vital that as librarians we are always truthful.

Random interview of a librarian

2011-05-13T14:56:00.000-05:00

Interesting random interview by Sean Lovelace......http://htmlgiant.com/random/interview-of-a-librarian-2/

Marcia Mardis Rolls Out MARC in a Minute

2011-04-22T17:34:00.000-05:00

Marcia Mardis Rolls Out MARC in a Minute

Interesting article on information today....

2011-04-20T19:35:00.001-05:00

Interesting article about information.....

http://chronicle.com/article/5-Myths-About-the-Information/127105/

Please autograph my digital book?

2011-04-15T06:30:00.002-05:00

I just knew someone would figure out how to get an author's autograph on a kindle book!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/14/fashion/14NOTICED.html?_r=2

Find the Future!

2011-04-05T21:13:00.000-05:00

Interesting idea..http://game.nypl.org/#/menu

Tweet this!

2011-04-02T11:36:00.001-05:00

Tweet me (Librarylover) at Teachlibrary......

IMLS

2011-03-18T17:13:00.000-05:00

file:///Users/jcbrandau/Desktop/IMLS-Overview-for-International-Visitors-18March2011.ppt

Organizing the Bookcase

2011-03-10T09:24:00.000-06:00

Library Ireland Week 2011

2011-03-10T09:23:00.000-06:00

E-book Bill of Rights

2011-02-28T10:23:00.000-06:00

http://librarianinblack.net/librarianinblack/

Becoming A Librarian | American Libraries Magazine

2011-02-09T18:40:00.000-06:00

Becoming A Librarian American Libraries Magazine

The future is here: library apps!

2011-02-06T14:47:00.000-06:00

Library Launches Mobile App

Your library is now more convenient and user-friendly – if that’s possible – when you download the “Topeka Library” mobile application.

Access the latest books, DVDs, music and games; place a hold on desired items; renew your stuff; and find a bookmobile stop and book drop wherever you are. Have our social media pages and a calendar of library events at your fingertips.

User-friendly and convenient, this app could come in handy for a myriad of reasons.

You realize the books in your car are due today. Where is the closest book return? Look it up on the app. It is possible to renew the books you want through the Topeka Library app. The ones that can’t be renewed can be put in the book return.
You hear about a book on the radio and want to read it. Look it up on the Topeka Library app to see if the library has that title. If they are all checked out, you can place your name on the list for a copy.
Someone asks a question in your carpool group. You can use the Topeka Library app to contact the library to get the answer to the question.
You are at the bank and want to get cash to pay your late fees at the library. Look at your account on the Topeka Library app to see how much you owe.
Your wife or child has wanted to read a book and can’t recall if she placed a request. You connect to your account on the Topeka Library app and see a list of items your family has on hold. It’s not in the list. You search the catalog, find the title and place it on hold – all in about one minute’s time.

Download the library’s app, try it and tell us what you think. You can send feedback via the app in our “What’s Missing?” section.

This app complements the digital offerings at the library, including our website or Digital Branch. Key parts of tscpl.org’s content are available through the library’s app, providing access in a quick and convenient manner to our website that’s designed to be viewed on a larger screen. If a member needs to use aspects from the full Digital Branch, it is easy to go there.

“As a local leader in technology and ease-of-use concepts, it simply makes sense for the library to have our own mobile phone app. Not everyone will use this, but for those who do, I predict it will be very popular,” Deputy Director Rob Banks said.

The app is free and powered by Boopsie. It runs on the following systems: Windows Mobile, palm, BlackBerry, iPhone, Android, Symbian Series 60 3^rdEdition and Java J2ME CLDC/1.1 MIDP/2.0.

The Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library is a 21st-century, landmark library, and features the Alice C. Sabatini Art Gallery, the Millennium Café, Chandler Booktique, meeting rooms, and free computer and Internet access and training.

Library hours are Mon. through Fri. 9 am to 9 pm, Sat. 9 am to 6 pm and Sunday 12 pm to 9 pm.

Leave the libraries alone.

2011-01-26T11:38:00.000-06:00

Leave the libraries alone. You don’t understand their value. | Blog | False Economy

Serious renewal notices :)

2011-01-18T18:09:00.000-06:00

Love this cartoon:

http://comics.com/pearls_befor

e_swine/2011-01-16/

comics.com

Welcome to LI 863 XI!

2011-01-12T09:04:00.000-06:00

Welcome to LI863XI: Current Issues in Management of Information Organizations for Spring 2011!

I use this blog to "park" interesting articles or thoughts about the management of public libraries. Feel free to suggest content or to comment on the entries.

I love the idea that the class is asynchronous! The wikipedia definition of asynchronous is a "student-centered teaching method that uses online learning resources to facilitate information sharing outside the constraints of time and place among a network of people"...

I'm looking forward to a great class!!

Libraries...a little history

2011-01-01T21:30:00.000-06:00

Picked up this interesting post to publib from Sara Weissman of the Morris County Library. Thanks, Sara!

Public Card Catalogs

You know you've been a long time in libraries when:
-your childhood catalog was index cards written in copperplate hand, with
steel nib pens and ink wells. Colored stars--red, gold, silver,
green--indicated collection level (Juv, Ref, Adult, etc.) Typewriters
were considered shocking modern technology (far too noisy to disrupt the
silence of the library).
&
Your tech services course in "book school" prepared you to type catalog
cards (five rows down, seven spaces over for first entry). Carlyle Frarey
taught the class.
&
Your paraprofessional job was checking the above-the-rod filing of the
student employees. Something very satisfying about pulling the rod and
dropping/patting those cards into place?!
&
Your first professional position included filing new cards when subject
headings changed, as Rumania to Romania, among others.

Many (most?) of our patrons would be delighted to have card catalogs--the
visual, tactile experience--back again. There was something about the snap
of the card corner under your finger ... They'd just miss the online
renewals and holds!

The picture is of a small New England town library, run
in the 1950s by "Miss Emily" and "Miss Susan", neither of whom were
librarians. Maiden sisters, they lived across the street and the library
was open when they felt like it. Often not when it rained, but always when
it snowed. Their sister-in-law was Chairman of the Board of Trustees until
she was 100 yrs old and had to argue down the younger trustees (those in
their 50s), who didn't want audiobooks. "You young people!" Harriet Haynes
snapped "don't understand that your elders can't read the way they used
to!"
The only sounds you heard in Miss Emily's library were the tick, tick,
tick of the grandfather clock and the muffled "thump" of a stamp quietly
plonking a return date on a book being checked out. In the 1970s, when a
professional librarian was finally in charge, a roof leak required
checking the cupola of the building where were found, in their original
brown shipping wrappers, the volumes of the official history of the Civil
War, authorized by Congress in 1866. A set had been sent to each town that
had a significant number of veterans who served. The town Civil War
obelisque is just outside the library door.

http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/sources/records/about.cfm

The Board of Trustees, over some strenuous objections, opted for the future
over the past and sold the set to help raise money for the first-ever
addition to the library, completed in the late 1980s.
I became a librarian because in this my childhood library reading was
reverenced and "nerdy" was very, very cool.

Assure library visitors access to the digital age

2010-12-29T14:16:00.001-06:00

Good guest editorial written by Sandy Dixon of the State Library of Iowa.

To view the contents on www.desmoinesregister.com, go to:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/201012290405/OPINION01/12290326

Freedom to Read Foundation Offers Free Memberships to New Library School Graduates | American Libraries Magazine

2010-12-16T08:38:00.000-06:00

Freedom to Read Foundation Offers Free Memberships to New Library School Graduates | American Libraries Magazine

"Pimps make the best librarians. Psycho killers, the worst."

2010-12-03T07:25:00.000-06:00

"Pimps make the best librarians. Psycho killers, the worst."
This is the first line of a new book called Running the Books: Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian.
I think I'll have to read it. The scariest and most bizarre libraries I have ever visited have been in prisons. Kudos to those librarians who choose that venue for their work!

(Thanks to Katherine Stecher for sharing the book info on FB....)

Booking to the Future | American Libraries Magazine

2010-12-01T20:38:00.000-06:00

Booking to the Future | American Libraries Magazine

If you want to work in libraries

2010-11-08T16:41:00.001-06:00

Do you already know this?

If you want to work in libraries

View more presentations from Ned Potter.

Which do students read more: online or print documents?

2010-09-14T08:53:00.000-05:00

Interesting study done at U of M on use of online resources versus print: http://www.arl.org/diversity/lcdp/projects/look.shtml

SLIM Poster Session at KLA!

2010-02-25T08:35:00.000-06:00

Watch a fun video with the info on the SLIM poster session at KLA in April!!

Library marketing links

2010-02-22T18:48:00.000-06:00

The "M" Word - Marketing Libraries (blog): http://themwordblog.blogspot.com/
Marketing (wiki): http://libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Marketing

Social Media Cards: A 2.0 Type of Business Card

2010-02-21T08:55:00.000-06:00

Saw this article on 23 Things Kansas:

Social Media Cards: A 2.0 Type of Business Card

Welcome to LI 863 XI!

2010-02-20T17:37:00.000-06:00

Welcome to class! I look forward to teaching and to learning from you as we dive into the world of public libraries!

This is a practical, real life course in the leadership and administration of public libraries. The course will cover issues relevant to public libraries today and help prepare the future public library leader for managing those issues.
The goal of the course is to introduce you to a number of current issues in public librarianship in order to acquaint them with the expected and unexpected….and provide the tools and information to handle both.

Many of the posts on this blog are archived and were posted in the past three years. They may or may not be applicable to class. I will occasionally post new entries that I hope you will find interesting. Also, I'm open to suggestions for blog content.

Thanks for taking this class, & let's enjoy it!

ALTAFF |

2010-02-06T10:45:00.000-06:00

ALTAFF |
Great info for trustees!

Media Specialist or School librarian? Finally the answer!

2010-01-20T17:06:00.000-06:00

ALA | AASL votes to adopt the professional title school librarian

Introducing: Perpetual Beta | American Libraries Magazine

2010-01-12T15:33:00.000-06:00

Cool new feature in American Libraries:

Introducing: Perpetual Beta | American Libraries Magazine

Posted using ShareThis

The future of library reference?

2010-01-12T14:17:00.000-06:00

Interesting stuff.....the future of library reference?

2010-01-05T16:23:00.000-06:00

(Found in American Libraries Direct, Jan. 6, 2010

by Andy Woodworth)

5 Universal Truths That All Librarians Can Agree Upon Right Now

January 3, 2010 by Andy

Over the last couple of days, I have been reading a flurry of “end of the year” posts. These end of year reflections (and the end of the decade that people had a hard time naming) have made me think about my own reflection of these time periods. It was only within this last past year that I really delved into the library and librarian blogosphere. During this time, what has really captured my interest in the library oriented blogs is the spectrum of beliefs that exist when it comes to where libraries are going and where they should be heading. In thinking about the wide range of perspectives, the different library theory approaches, and the variety of libraries that exist, I believe there are five current universal truths that will be the basis for any discussion about the library in the future decade.

Without further ado, here they are.

1.) Perception of information is changing

Information is now an instant gratification commodity, capable of being gained through a multitude of means (especially computer based). For libraries, this requires us to be flexible with our interfaces; whether it is face to face or with our customers accessing our resources, there has to be an eye towards the least amount of steps from an inquiry to a result.

2.) Literacy is changing

What it means to be literate twenty years ago is but a part of the greater definition now. The ability to read and write information on computers now shares with its print brethren. The integration of technology into our lives, for better or worse, is inevitable as we move more information into digital formats.

(For more on this, be certain to check out Bobbi Newman’s Transliteracy page.)

3.) Libraries are now part of greater information chorus

This aspect is two fold. First, there are the plethora of non-library internet based websites which provide accurate information on specific subjects. (Think more Mayo Clinic, less Wikipedia.) Libraries are now just one of many potential end points for a inquiry. Second, there is an explosion of user generated content. There are individuals who create pages and sites about topics that are extraordinarily niched (such as local history, family history, and local specializations). They represent a small but important information resources for inquiries that in the past would have been relegated to the vertical file and/or genealogy room.

4.) Communication is our friend

The world communicates on a myriad of levels, from the tweets of Twitter to the web published academic papers. On the one hand, these represent new and different ways to connect to our customers and to communicate with them on the mediums they are using. On the other hand, the technology exists to make communicating between each other (read: libraries) easier so that a catalog no longer needs to be held in relative isolation. And not simply catalogs, but there can more contemporary sharing of policies and practices that been successful.

5.) The underlying philosophies of the library have not changed

As much as the information revolution has swept through the profession, the commitment to academic freedom, intellectual inquiry, and act as a community resource (whether you are serving the public, a school, or a company; a space for all, if you will) are still intact. It is the common bond between everyone in the profession; and while we may not agree on how best to serve the spirit of these, they still represent basic elements that are universally embraced. This central dogma is what gives us common cause to provide information to those who seek it.

In closing, I am reminded of a quote spoken by the character Don Draper in the television series Mad Men. I think it will serve us well in the decade that is to be.

“Change is neither good nor bad. It simply is.”

Blogs to Read

2010-01-04T17:41:00.000-06:00

Interesting reading - a top forty list from Blake Carver in the blog LISNews Librarian and Information Science News

Bumper Sticker :)

2010-01-01T17:00:00.000-06:00

Bumper stickers seen recently:

"If knowledge is power, become a librarian, and enjoy the ultimate power trip!"

"Saint Melvil"

"Be a librarian...live the dream!"

"When all else fails...a librarian won't"

And one non-librarian bumper sticker...but funny!

"Honk if you love Jesus; text if you want to see him today"

Resume

2009-12-14T06:27:00.000-06:00

Christie P. Brandau

Education
Master of Arts, Library Science, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 1988

B.A. Sciences and Humanities – Political Science, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa

Experience

June 1, 2009 – present: Retired
February, 2005 –June, 2009: State Librarian, State Library of Kansas, Topeka, Kansas

March, 2000 – 2005: State Librarian, Library of Michigan, Lansing, Michigan

1991 – 2000: Deputy State Librarian, State Library of Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa

1984 – 1991: Assistant Administrator, North Central Regional Library System Mason City, Iowa

1976-1984: Osage Public Library, Osage, Iowa

1975-1976: Director, Riceville Public Library, Riceville, Iowa

Library Affiliations/Memberships

American Library Association (Member since 1991)

President, ASCLA, 2000

Chief Officers of State Library Agencies 2000-2009

Legislative Chair 2003-2005
Liaison to the Federal Humanities Council, 2006-2009

Public Library Association (Member, 1994 - 2008)

Chair, Committee on Recruitment of Public Librarians, 1999-2001
President’s Events Committee 1999
Legislative Committee 1994-1997

Kansas Library Association (Member 2005-2009)

Kansas Library Education Foundation (Member 2005-2009)

Kansas Association of School Librarians (Member 2005-2009)

SLIM National Advisory Council (Member 2006-2009)

Kansas Humanities Council (Governor Appointee, 2005-2009)

Michigan Humanities Council (Served on Council 2003-2005)

Wayne State Library & Information Science Board (Served 2001-2003)

Iowa Library Association (Member 1984-1999)

President of ILA 1991

Special Affiliations/Memberships

United States Commissioner to UNESCO 2005 - present

Appointed by Sect’y of State Colin Powell

Kan-Ed Advisory Board 2005-2008

Cyberstate.Org, Ann Arbor, MI (Executive Board 2001-2004)

National Historical Publication and Records Commission

Governor appointee 2001-2004

Awards
2003 President’s Award for support and advocacy, Michigan Association of Media Educators

Ethics Sin List

2009-06-01T20:51:00.000-05:00

The list of "ethic sins" that should be avoided by librarians includes:

wearing the "lemon look" while serving patrons (sourpuss staff syndrome)
borrowing a controversial book via ILL rather than buy it for your library.....or not getting it at all to avoid controversy
not permitting young people to access materials or use services provided to others

From the Ethics Committee of ALA

Library use in the 21st Century

2008-01-22T13:53:00.000-06:00

The library world recently got some pretty encouraging news from a Pew Internet & American Life survey and report documenting that members of Generation Y (age 18-29) are leading the pack in using libraries! In the report summary, it states that “the survey results challenge the assumption that libraries are losing relevance in the internet age. Libraries drew visits by more than half of Americans (53%) in the past year for all kinds of purposes. Young adults in Generation Y (age 18-29) are the heaviest users of libraries….and the most likely library visitors for any purpose”.

The report goes on to say that most Generation Y members who visit libraries for “problem-solving information” are very satisfied with what they find and they appreciate the resources available there, especially access to computers and the internet.

An interesting compliment to the Pew study is a recent IMLS-funded study done by the Idaho State Library on the perception of libraries by “digital natives”(age 12 – 25).
This group of young people place a high value on learning and education, but in general believe that libraries are “for young children and older adults” and think of libraries as “an old-fashioned and cumbersome way to get information”. They think a bookstore is a good place to hang out with friends – but not a library! A few of the suggestions offered for making the library more appealing to digital natives include:
• Make library service convenient; searching the internet for information is easier and faster than heading to the library;
• Offer a range of services, activities and environments;
• Advertise programs and services;
• Involve the community when designing programs and events, not just people who currently use the library.

Both studies support what front line library staff have been saying: more people are coming to the library! But in order to keep that trend going, we need to listen to what our community – including young people – want and need from the library.

Bibliomulas??

2007-08-06T13:48:00.000-05:00

Check out how books are shared in rural areas of Venezuela!
http://tinyurl.com/2ekfxj

What pattern is your brain?

2007-08-04T14:02:00.000-05:00

I can't imagine that this is based on anything scientific, but it's fun to take: http://www.blogthings.com/whatpatternisyourbrainquiz

Youtube and the presidential debates

2007-07-29T20:13:00.000-05:00

I caught a rerun of the Democratic presidential debates last night, and was surprised by the effectiveness of the YouTube format! I had expected the event to be gimmicky, but discovered that YouTube actually added a very interesting dynamic to the debate. Instead of a moderator asking all the questions, people from all over the U.S. took part via their homegrown videos. And people were not shy about making their points, including one woman who emphazied her distress about the U.S. health care system by pulling off her wig to show the results of recent chemotherapy. It was dramatic, entertaining and more than a few differences among the candidates were highlighted.

A new form of participatory democracy? Maybe. To submit a question for the Republican debate go to http://www.youtube.com/republicandebate. Maybe your library could offer to help people do YouTube videos for the next debate???

Too scary to ignore

2007-07-28T16:10:00.000-05:00

Picked this up at Ramblin Librarian's blog; it's a clip from the old series "The Twilight Zone", and it's kinda scary....

Learning Spanish?

2007-07-20T16:18:00.000-05:00

I'm really proud of the statewide collection of digital books and music purchased by Kansas libraries and the State Library of Kansas. If you live in the state, and you have a Kansas library card, check it out. Audiobooks are not just about best sellers. Download and check out a Spanish language course!

The Open Library

2007-07-20T09:43:00.000-05:00

Check out the Open Library; very interesting!

Happy birthday, WebJunction Kansas!

2007-07-17T17:09:00.000-05:00

One year old and busting with business! Thanks to Cindi Hickey's creativity and management, Webjunction Kansas is going strong!

Librarian crimes...?

2007-07-15T16:36:00.000-05:00

I'm amazed at the number of library-themed videos that there are on youtube. Check out the Librarian.

Good thoughts for a wild day

2007-07-13T16:45:00.000-05:00

The Peace of Wild Things
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Dewey or don't we?

2007-05-31T10:48:00.000-05:00

An article about a library in Arizona "dropping" the Dewey Decimal system for their new library is....thought provoking.

From the Arizona Republic:
"The demise of the century-old Dewey Decimal system is overdue, county librarians say: It's just too confusing for people to hunt down books using those long strings of numbers and letters. Dewey essentially arranges books by topic and assigns call numbers for each book".

This strikes me as an idea not completely thought through. For one thing, why would a patron have to know the classification system in order to find a book? Can't they just a) jot down the location given in the catalog or b) ask someone to help find it? It's not like they have to memorize the system in order to find anything.

And I'm thinking that this library may have some problems locating and shelving books in the future. Plus, I pity the poor library user who has to sort through all the books lumped into the "cooking" section in order to find the particular one they want.

Appreciation for librarians

2007-04-24T09:20:00.000-05:00

Suzanne Arruda wrote an article (and gave us permission to reprint) about her attendance at the Authors Banquet sponsored by the Kansas Center for the Book at the State Library of Kansas:

April 15-21 is National Library Week, a week to toast one of the last great egalitarian systems and the people who staff them. I met many of these Kansas librarians at a recent Library Conference Author's Banquet. They are a far cry from the stern, steely-eyed stereotype. They're fun people who love books and, during the dinner, they regaled me with anecdotes. To quote humorist Dave Barry, "I am not making this up." Three different librarians told me that their books on training puppies routinely come back all chewed up. The most stolen audio tapes are those of the Bible. Said the librarian relating that last fact, "Apparently they didn't make it through the Ten Commandments." One patron had borrowed a copy of a book on teaching your child responsibility, and lost it. Another librarian topped that tale. In her library, someone had lost a book on teaching values to children, but flatly refused to pay replacement costs. Maybe they should have read those books. Stories of returned romance books sent my table into hysterical laughter. One woman returned a romance and sternly announced that the book was smut and she marked every page where she found offensive material. A second librarian said a woman slammed a book on her desk and pronounced, "This is the filthiest book I've ever read, and I read it twice to make sure." In the 2001 movie, "The Mummy," Rachel Weisz stands up in the Egyptian desert and proudly proclaims that, while she may not be a gunslinger or an adventurer, she's proud of what she is. "I am a librarian!" Not long after that incident, she uses her librarian skills to defeat a living mummy. Sound a bit over the top? Judging by the men and women I met at the banquet, I would have to say, "No." A lady told about the two young boys who brought in a shoe box, opened it, and dumped out a little snake on the desk. They were concerned that it might be poisonous. Now the librarian recognized it as a harmless little ring-necked snake, but she seized the opportunity to teach some good researching skills. Picking up the snake, she told the boys they would find out together by checking at least two references. The best story was when a man phoned in, asking for a definition. Someone had called him by a rather colorful metaphor. The man thought he had been insulted, but he wasn't sure. Would she please give him a definition? She did, citing the title of the dictionary for his reference. Had he been insulted? Let's just say that if dueling was still in fashion, someone would have been slapped across the face by a glove followed by pistols at 10 paces. So pour a ginger ale, raise your glass and toast the brave men and women who staff the libraries. Pay them a visit, tell them how much you appreciate them, but leave the wildlife at home.

Books Brothers

2007-04-24T08:55:00.000-05:00

We look soooo good!

Staff from the State Library of Kansas showed up in costume at the KLA "trivia bee" in April to support their trivia team, the Books Brothers. Standing (from left): Shannon Roy, Christie Brandau, Cindi Hickey, Marc Galbraith, Anne Damme, Tom Roth, Eric Gustafson; seated (from left) Cindy Roupe, Bonnie Keim, M. Damme, Toni Harrell.

Ranting with David

2007-04-23T14:47:00.000-05:00

David Lee King does a rant on How We Can change the Unchangeable , talking about the brick wall that many technology-minded library staff are up against when they take their ideas to administration.

I can’t say it often enough: things will continue to change and the good old days are not coming back… period! The opportunities we have today for reaching people and providing library service are greater than ever before because of technology and social networking tools. There is no monetary excuse for a library to not employ marketing and communication strategies in order to connect with people.

My suggestion is for staff to continue to press/teach/share about social networking via technology. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that your administrator will say no. And even if they do say no, they are one conversation, one meeting or one conference away from hearing about Library 2.0…. after which they will probably seek you out to say “tell me about that again?”

Elections and technology

2007-04-14T06:08:00.000-05:00

I recently talked to a librarian who said that they used short videos (using storybook and delivered by email) to get out information about their library bond issue. And the bond issue passed! Add to that a recent post from Stephen Abram, and you can see how technology and elections are increasingly intertwined.

From Stephen:

Here is a list of the key technologies that are predicted to materially influence the current U.S. elections.
* YouTube
* Second Life
* Myspace
* Facebook
* Wikipedia
* Ning
* Twitter
* Mozes
* NowPublic
* MyBlogLog

Libraries and the Homeless

2007-04-02T11:43:00.000-05:00

Rhonda Machlan of our staff recently directed me to an article by Chip Ward, a recently-retired assistant director at Salt Lake City Public Library. Chip has a sobering post on serving the chronically homeless population in his library:

http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=180836

A quote I like

2007-03-31T16:47:00.000-05:00

Sometimes it helps to remember why we do what we do:

There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the Free Public Library, this republic of letters, where neither rank, office, nor wealth receives the slightest consideration.

Andrew Carnegie

Emporia State University

2007-03-29T14:57:00.000-05:00

Emporia State University welcomed new president Dr. Michael Lane with a week of inaugural activities. The first day was sponsored by the ESU Library and the School of Library and Information Management (SLIM), and I had the honor of speaking at the last event. I was asked to post my speech, so here 'tis....

Emporia State University 3.26.07
William Allen White Library, Room 319F
4:00 – 5:00 p.m.

A Vision of Libraries, Technology and the Future

I. Introduction

It is my honor to speak to you today during the inaugural week for Dr. Michael Lane. Dr. Lane has had an impressive career and I believe ESU has a bright future as he takes it to the next level of service and achievement in higher education.

One thing you will discover about Kansas, Dr. Lane, is that its residents are readers and they love their libraries. In fact, Kansas has the fifth highest usage of public libraries in the United States. Many, many communities across the state boast of a public library, and of the 327 in Kansas, 80% are in towns of under 2500.

I am not an academic librarian, but Kansas has some of the best academic libraries in the nation. I have great respect for the library professionals at ESU, and great respect for the School of Library and Information Management. This school has turned out some of the finest librarians in the United States.

My background is in public, system and state libraries, and I started my career in 1976 at a small public library in rural Iowa close to where we farmed at the time. I think back with fondness at the simplicity of providing library service there. It was a very small library; I knew all of my patrons; and I could report any discipline problems directly to the parents.

Today I would like to talk about how things have changed since I became a librarian; discuss some of the challenges that libraries face today, and the opportunities that we have. I’ll offer ten suggestions for change as we explore what is at stake in the 21st century for libraries.

II. Library challenges today

Library service in the 21st century is not as simple as it was in 1976, and librarians face many more challenges.

· One challenge we face today is relevancy. In 1976 we rarely, if ever, heard anyone ask whether libraries would continue to be needed in the future.

But in the past ten years we’ve heard that question a number of times as computer and internet technology has become more sophisticated and internet search engines like Google more prevalent. Why should we support libraries, some ask, when everything is on the web?

We need to ask ourselves whether these opinions have any validity. Could it happen that libraries fade away? Could it happen that libraries become part of the romantic history of the United States…a nostalgic relic, like the family farm, that is as much folk lore as reality?

There are certainly some indications that that could happen.

· For example, it is not as rare anymore to hear of a school library being closed down. I am astounded that despite all the well- executed studies proving the connection been school libraries and student achievement, we are regularly hearing about k-12 libraries being downsized and/or phased out.

· Another indication is the economic pressures being put on libraries of all kinds. Spiraling periodical costs, computer equipment that is out of date within three years, offering materials in many different formats…the list goes on and on. In public libraries there are some that are hanging on by a shoestring financially, and directed by staff that are paid less than the kid working at burger king. And I believe that this is the last generation of librarians who are willing to work for few or no benefits and low salaries. And those librarians are the only reason that many rural libraries in this state are able to keep their doors open.

· Our buildings are another challenge. Unless your library was built or remodeled within the last 5 – 10 years, it is not equipped to handle the needed technology. A letter to the editor in the Lawrence Kansas newspaper last fall voiced the opinion that public libraries are inefficient and not the right space for the service. I do wonder if he wrote that letter as a deliberate provocation as the newspaper published rebuttals for three weeks after his letter had been published.

· 30 years ago there was little if any discussion on digital books and I certainly heard no talk about the book as we know it being phased out. As librarians we used to be comforted by the thought that not all books are on the web, but that may not be true in the future. A few years ago a prominent librarian predicted that it would take roughly 300 years to digitize everything in libraries. That was before Google began digitizing library materials at lightening speed.

Do all these indications mean that libraries are on the road to extinction? Anything is possible. Do we have to go down that road? No. My opinion is that we should view all of these signs as a call to action and a time for transformation.

III. Opportunities

So what are the opportunities that we have for change?

· Librarians have the opportunity – and the tools – in 2007 to create a truly student centric library. Dr. Lane refers to ESU being a “student centered institution” and this concept can be no more evident than in libraries.

Let me read you a quote I read recently: “New technology has wrought subtle changes in our behaviors, language and thinking. Plotting our own random paths around the internet has made us think more fluidly, as has setting our ipods on shuffle and skipping randomly from track to track. The result is that we’ve become more individualistic and open to change”

There is a monumental change in our culture that is taking place right now. We serve people who will not seek or use information in the way that libraries currently provide it.

A freshman student coming to ESU today will never have lived in a world without computer and internet. They are “digital natives”, while most of us in this room are “digital immigrants”.

You may have heard about web 2.0, which is touted as the next generation of web usage. This phrase was coined to describe what has become a turning point of the web to becoming a more user friendly access to information, more of a social network, and more individualistic and consortial content sharing. For example, in web.1, we talked about personal websites, Britannica online, and publishing. Web 2.0 is blogging, wikipedia and participation. It’s all about us as the users of the web – what we think, who we want to interact with and what we want to find.

In the same way, there is a movement called Library 2.0 which is patron or student centric in a way we have never been able to be.

Let me read from the September 1, 2006 Library Journal article by Michael Casey and Laura Savastinuk: “Library 2.0 is user centered change…a model for library service that encourages constant and purposeful change, inviting user participation in the creation of both the physical and the virtual services they want, supported by consistently evaluating services. …What makes a service library 2.0? Any service, physical or virtual that successfully reaches users, is evaluated frequently and makes use of customer input is a library 2.0 service.”

IV. Ten commandments for providing student centric or library 2.0 service

You may have heard about the church sign that said, it’s Ten Commandments, not ten suggestions. Well, I have ten suggestions that may sound like commandments, but aren’t really.

The first one is:

1. Thou shalt take library service to the student rather than waiting for the student to come to thee.

Delivering service to the customer: taking the library to the students is vital. They need information services at all hours, and if the library doesn’t provide it, someone else will. The same goes for faculty – at every turn find a way to be responsive to what they need and deliver it.

We can have friendly and knowledgeable staff behind the reference desk, but that does little good to those who cannot or do not want to get to the library.
Be where the students are. And where are they? They are on facebook, myspace, second life..on their ipods or on their cell phones.

A librarian told me last fall that she can accept student’s text messaging their information requests to the library reference desk, but she will not tolerate mis-spellings on text messages. No “ lol” or r u bzy for her. I can imagine the laughter behind her back about this by anyone staffer under 30. we cannot and should not try to make the new culture play by our rules

We don’t have to throw out grammar or libraries as we know them. We just need to refocus our services, making use of new technology, and returning to student centric service.

2. Thy services shall be available on the web.

This goes along with the first suggestion. Look at your website. Make sure there are no barriers to service on it.
I have a good example of a barrier that was on the State Library’s website. We offer a service called the Kansas library card which allows access to statewide online information resources. How cool: get a card and then you can get access. But…we said you had to go to your library to get that card... And then we said you had to renew every year. We are in the process of changing that, and now you can get a Kansas library card online and soon will be able to renew online. But we’ll change again in the near future as IP addresses are now readily available, and we could authenticate that you are in Kansas just by zip code.

Barriers are fairly meaningless today to students who play computer games, or who collaborate on projects, with students from different countries. We cannot put barriers in front of our customers, and we MUST be convenient.

3. Show that you are relevant to today’s students.

Lots of ways to seem relevant. If you aren’t already doing it, offer reference through instant messaging. Use youtube for orientation; try a new format. Last may we launched a statewide library of audio books that could be downloaded any where in the state, any time. It has been a huge success, with our turnover rate at currently 10 (which mean that each title has been downloaded on average 10 times).
This has been a great project, but what were the reasons behind doing it? Well, many reasons, including providing access to audio books for Kansans. But another reason was to send a message that libraries in Kansas are relevant; that we can provide service “to your door.” This project has generated a lot of press and good will.

4. Go that extra mile. There is no such thing as a boutique service anymore; all service requests should be taken seriously. If you can’t provide it, well you can’t. But be open about suggestions for service.

5. Review your policies. We need to look at every one of our policies – if your library don’t have as lenient a policy on food, drink and cell phones as the local book store, you need to rethink them. I know that’s a hard one, but if I’m a student and I have to ditch my coke before coming to the library, I might not come to the library.

6. Point out that getting answers can be one click to your library rather than many clicks to relevant and sometimes irrelevant (and downright wrong) information.

I read an article by Katherine Mossman in the July, 2006 Library Journal in which she says that libraries will regain market position in reference when we deliver information more reliably than and as conveniently as Google.

7. Be open to the creation of content. That is one of the biggest changes in today’s information world and that is that everyone can create content and many do via blogs and websites.

I was taken aback recently when someone encouraged us to allow mashups on the Kansas digital library, with pictures of everything from museum artifacts to early Kansas communities. My first reaction was “what?” my second was “sure”

8. The eighth one is a commandment: thou shalt market. think about opportunities for marketing that were never there before, and free marketing. The state library has a presence on second life; many libraries have a myspace account.

And Blogs and wikis give an opportunity for real customer input; many libraries are offering book reviews online with the opportunity for patrons to write their own review. Just like Amazon.

And wiki have become the online tool for cooperative projects. In Tanzania, activists are working on a new constitution using a wiki. The idea is that citizens can collectively create a compelling enough document to force the national political power.

9. Goes back to the basics.

State and restate the obvious – we have books, we do reference, we have good hours, we are free for you. Amazing how that can surprise people.
We need to go back to the basics as to the original reason we were created: the academic library began in order to support the curriculum; provide information and foster democracy.

10. Ten is also a commandment. Thou shalt be flexible, nimble and light on your feet; if you can’t handle change, get out of the library because it is only in constantly reinventing and transforming itself that libraries will remain relevant. We aren’t going back to the good old days, period.

V. What is at stake

So what is at stake if we don’t embrace library 2.0?

· I don’t believe there will be a time in my lifetime that libraries don’t exist. We have a tremendous impact on our institutions, our communities and our country; in order to understand that, you only need to think about what would be missing if libraries did not exist.
· If libraries didn’t exist, collected and recorded history would be lost; knowledge would be severely limited
· Research would be do-it-yourself (scary)
· There would be no depositories. The majority of federal depositories are academic libraries. For more than 140 years, depository libraries have safeguarded the public’s right to know by collecting, organizing, maintaining, preserving and servicing information from the Federal government. This would be lost.

· The Free press would be severely hampered.
· If we didn’t have libraries we would not have the Democracy we have today.

Before you think the last two are too melodramatic, let me tell you a story. I am honored to have been appointed as a United States commissioner to UNESCO. It’s been a very interesting term and I’ve felt like the country mouse as I’ve rubbed shoulders with members of Congress, cabinet members, and the Librarian of Congress and others. One of the commissioners is a representative of the associated press, and we had an interesting discussion at the last conference. The assignment for our group was to make recommendations as to how to promote democracy in some emerging African countries. The person from the associated press said that the very first thing needed was a free press, and that without a free press the country would never achieve democracy. I argued that a library was the first step, and that without a designated space to store that emerging government’s documents and make them accessible to people….to store the history of the country and make it accessible….to provide a place for the citizens of the country to read and learn…..there would be no democracy.
Well, after I said that you could’ve heard a pin drop. And finally after a long silence, the associated press person said….I never, ever thought about that.

I believe that our great institution of democracy would not work without the truth being widely available through a free press and libraries

VI. Conclusion

ESU is embarking on a new journey, with a new president. The
history of ESU will be different because of this new president. There are opportunities and challenges ahead, and the history of ESU will be impacted by Dr. Lane.

Libraries have challenges like at no other time in history. And they have more opportunities than any other time. There is a lot at stake as we determine how we will serve in the next decade.

But I believe that we can be flexible, we can embark on the journey to library 2.0 service. And I believe that because most librarians got into this business because they wanted to connect people with information.

And if we do that, our impact on the students, this institution and the world will be immeasurable and the library’s future secured.

One-question survey?

2007-02-20T15:42:00.000-06:00

In the latest version of NextSpace (from OCLC), there is an article about Fred Reichheld's book, The Ultimate Question. Reichheld says that the most important question you can ask in a survey, and the one that gives the most information, is "would you recommend us to a friend?" The answer gives a insight into the quality of service and the perceived value of the organization.
Again we return to the importance of a customer-focused library; that's what L2 is all about, and that is what the "ultimate question" is all about.

Funnies

2007-02-20T15:29:00.000-06:00

I love imagegenerator.net! It makes it fun to relay a message in an entirely new way. I'm using it to create images for a power point I am doing on L2. Try it and see what you think!

http://www.imagegenerator.net/

Blogging and RSS by Michael Sauers

2007-01-02T21:02:00.000-06:00

I'm flattered to be mentioned in Michael Sauers new book, Blogging and RSS: A Librarian's Guide . Even if you skip the part about the blogging done by this State Librarian (recommended!), it's a good guide to the basics.

Happy 2007!

2006-12-31T19:00:00.000-06:00

A new year, and a good time to look forward to what we want to accomplish in the next twelve months! Libraries are changing rapidly as we strive to keep up with the needs of our patrons; one thing I want to do is to watch even more carefully for trends and services that can enhance library service. I recently read on CNNmoney.com about a book vending machine that is going to be released in 2007 called the Expresso . Here's a little about the Expresso:

The machine can print, align, mill, glue and bind two books simultaneously in less than seven minutes, including full-color laminated covers. It prints in any language and will even accommodate right-to-left texts by putting the spine on the right. The upper page limit is 550 pages, though by tweaking the page thickness and type size, you could get a copy of War and Peace (albeit tough to read) if you wanted.

Wouldn't that be something?

Staff Meeting...in Second Life

2006-12-17T19:54:00.000-06:00

I recently invited the Library Management Team of the State Library to meet at the virtual branch of SLK. After we discovered who was who, we had a great meeting!

A quote I like

2006-11-19T20:45:00.000-06:00

A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.

Goethe.

State Library of Kansas on Second Life

2006-11-14T21:00:00.000-06:00

Thanks to SLK librarian Bill Sowers, the State Library has a new branch on Second Life! It's located in Cybrary City; bring your avatar over and take a look!

Library Directors Who Blog

2006-11-07T19:21:00.000-06:00

I'm all for librarians utilizing blogs for communicating....as are lots of other directors!

http://www.blogwithoutalibrary.net/links/index.php?title=Library_director

Creative libraries!

2006-10-31T18:36:00.000-06:00

Creative library stuff:

A readers advisory wiki from Iowa: http://iread.pbwiki.com/

Super librarian video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu-TijjVs_g

Tasty Choices @ Your Library video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMSk5zFVH4s

Library Aerobics

2006-10-28T22:27:00.000-05:00

Check out this funny tape from the 80's on library aerobics!

This is a problem?? :)

2006-10-25T15:07:00.000-05:00

Amy Brownlee, K-12 Library Media Specialist from Sterling,Kansas shared this funny on the KASL list-serv.

LITERATURE ABUSE: AMERICA'S HIDDEN PROBLEM
SELF-TEST FOR LITERATURE ABUSERS
How many of these apply to you?

1. I have read fiction when I was depressed or to cheer myself up.
2. I have gone on reading binges of an entire book or more in a day.
3. I read rapidly, often 'gulping' chapters.
4. I have sometimes read early in the morning or before work.
5. I have hidden books in different places to sneak a chapter without being seen.
6. Sometimes I avoid friends or family obligations in order to read novels.
7. Sometimes I re-write film or television dialog as the characters speak.
8. I am unable to enjoy myself with others unless there is a book nearby.
9. At a party, I will often slip off unnoticed to read.
10. Reading has made me seek haunts and companions which I would otherwise avoid.
11. I have neglected personal hygiene or household chores until I have finished a novel.
12. I have spent money meant for necessities on books instead.
13. I have attempted to check out more library books than permitted.
14. Most of my friends are heavy fiction readers.
15. I have sometimes passed out from a night of heavy reading.
16. I have suffered 'blackouts' or memory loss from a bout of reading.
17. I sometimes read without a donut in one hand.
18. I do crossword puzzles in pen when there isn't a pencil handy.
19. I have spent hours trying to program TiVO in order to record Oprah when it's her book club.
20. I eat biscotti at Borders, even though it tastes terrible, so I can disguise my reading habit. 21. I have wept, become angry or irrational because of something I read.
22. I have sometimes wished I did not read so much.
23. Sometimes I think my reading is out of control.
24. Amazon knows my credit card number.

Little Rock

2006-10-24T16:58:00.000-05:00

COSLA (Chief Officers of State Library Agencies) met in Little Rock recently. In addition to meetings, we toured the Clinton Presidential Library, which was really special. Pictured: a table of State Librarians, including Patti Butcher; Sharman Smith, State Librarian of Mississippi and me; and Nancy Robertson, State Librarian of Michigan and me. I always enjoy meeting with my COSLA friends!

Meeting library patrons where they're at!

2006-10-24T16:56:00.000-05:00

I heard a speaker recently who said that she had solved her email overload problem by creating a controlled list of subject headings. Staff and others who wished to contact her were asked to choose the subject from the list when they sent an email, thus making it easier for her to organize her in-box. Would you believe that the speaker was a librarian?

Whether we like it or not, we can do little to stem the tide of emails, or of change of any type. But librarians can utilize new technologies to do what we’ve always done best: provide excellent service to our customers.

I’ve been playing with the virtual 3-D world called Second Life (www.secondlife.com). Although I’ve never been very interested in computer games or avatars, Second Life is fascinating! There are over one million folks who participate, and it is being taken very seriously by a number of commercial and educational groups. Consider these recent events on Second Life: the American Cancer Society held a version of the Relay for Life national fund raiser; Toyota created a virtual replica of the Scion; Reuters has opened a news bureau in Second Life; and MTV held a fashion show. And one of the most creative ventures is being undertaken by librarians who have made virtual resources available in an area called “Info Island”. Think this sounds like science fiction? Think again; it may be the way we help our patrons find resources and learn information literacy in the near future.
The heart of the new librarianship is to meet patrons where they are, and not where we think they should be. Maybe they will be on Second Life, or MySpace, or on a computer at Starbucks. But I’m pretty sure they won’t be sitting at their keyboards perusing a controlled list of subject headings in order to send email!

A whole lot of shakin' going on!

2006-10-23T21:32:00.000-05:00

I just returned from meeting with my Western Council state library colleagues in Honolulu. The meetings were great, and the Hawaiian hospitality shown by State Librarian JoAnn Schindler and her staff was outstanding. But the most memorable event was the 6.7 magnitude earthquake on Sunday, October 15! I really wasn't too disturbed by the quake itself, which felt like a gentle swaying in my room on the 23rd floor. What was disconcerting was the following 14 hours without electricity! I've gone without power at home before, but what does one do without electricity in a big city hotel? Imagine thousands of travelers with no water, food or lights, and you get the scene. Sort of like a camp of rich refugees in a gorgeous environment of sun and surf! Lights eventually came on, and life resumed. And t-shirts saying "I survived the quake of 2006" were available almost instantly!
A trip to remember.

Travels in the great south west!

2006-08-10T15:35:00.000-05:00

Emily Sitz, Carolyn Guernsey and Charlene McGuire sped me around South West Kansas Library System (SWKLS) two weeks ago for a tour of libraries. Despite a temperature of over 100 degrees, the libraries we visited were cool and welcoming!

We began the tour with cinnamon rolls and coffee at the Fowler Public Library. Shirley Randall and her board president, Marilyn Dewell, gave us a tour and described the weeding project being undertaken.

Next was the very busy public library in Meade, directed by Linda Kobs. This is a library with a L2 attitude and has wireless internet and circulating laptop computers. Linda told about a very successful summer reading program for adults that had just recently been completed. I also had a chance to visit with board member Pastor Susan Greene, and Banny Orme, the Meade County Governor's appointee to the SWKLS board.

Kismet was next on the tour, and Dave Reed showed us around the library and the good collection of accelerated readers that they stock to supplement the school library. Pictured with Dave and me is Louise Wyrick, board chair.

At Sublette, Jamie (and their library cat!) gave us a look at the library that had formerly been a church. She led us to the basement in which there was a treasure of movie memorabilia that had been donated to the library. Although not documented, the collection included the actual vestments worn by Father Mulcahy in the movie M*A*S*H, and a slip worn by Marilyn Monroe in the Seven Year Itch.

At Montezuma, Sarah showed off the wonderful children's mural painted by a former librarian, and talked to us about her collection. Sarah is a young librarian with a great attitude and good ideas.

Next was a visit to the Lane County Library in Deighton. This library is the only one I have ever visited that was actually located in a county courthouse! Ruby Martin does a great job of serving her customers. Her library may be getting one of the 15 enhanced video meeting room grants. In the picture, Ruby and I are looking at one of the displays at her library.

Last but not least was the Ness City Library. Jean Schagel showed us around and described the services provided. I love the decorating that Jean has done; for example, on the shelves above the section of medical books was an old doctor's bag!

RAGBRAI

2006-07-29T21:11:00.000-05:00

My husband John spent several days in July riding a bicycle across Iowa! He was part of the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa, or RAGBRAI, an event that involves up to 15,000 riders who pedal from the Missouri River to the Mississippi River during the third week in July. The ride is a week long and the trail is different every year, traversing through both large and small towns and in beautiful countryside. Little towns especially make it a big deal to welcome RAGBRAI as the riders come through their burg, and many hold special events to entice riders to stay awhile.

Along the route, John told me about two libraries that he went by on his travels. The first library closed for the day that RAGBRAI came through. The second library was not only open, but expanded its hours to accomodate people who wanted to check email, use the restroom, or just look around.

Now there are lots of good reasons for a library to close when they learn that thousands of people on bicycles are coming through town. But I like the attitude of the little library that stayed open. They sent a message that said "we're a library and we're part of the community...and you are welcome here".

Kansas sunflowers?

2006-07-22T22:07:00.000-05:00

Just a picture to enjoy!

sun gleams over the sea
Originally uploaded by batintherain.

Not sure this is taken in Kansas, but it looks like a field I've seen in my travels.

Some quotes I like...

2006-07-21T20:07:00.000-05:00

"Patience is vastly overrated. Librarians love to process stuff to death, and are often all too willing to spend way too much expensive staff time deliberating very tiny matters in lieu of getting to "go." "(Karen Schneider)

"(One of the )Basic Tech Competencies (is the) ability to embrace change: Our patron populations are rapidly changing as are the technologies for serving them. We need to be able to look at how we are serving our patrons and to change our strategies if what we are doing is not working (or is not the best we could be doing). Change should be looked upon as an exciting thing — as a positive thing. We should fear not providing the best services to our patrons much more than we should fear change". (Meredith Farkas)

"We have this absolutely unique moment in time…to transform the way the world perceives us, to build on the things that we do so well and set the stage for the next century of library service to the communities we serve". (Leslie Burger)

Visiting the library at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility

2006-07-20T08:33:00.000-05:00

My hat goes off to librarians who work in correctional facilities! They are certainly courageous and deal with issues that the rest of us will never face. In addition they operate on the most frugal of budgets and with the most limited internet access.
Kate Field invited me to tour the corrections library at Hutchinson this week, and it was an experience that I will not forget. The sound of bars slamming shut after us as we entered the prison was disconcerting to me, but Kate took it all in stride as we talked and toured the facility. Because of many rules about what certain prisoners can read, she has formidable collection development challenges. There were computers in the library, but none could access the internet, and Kate has to enter a locked office in another part of the prison in order to do email or interlibrary loan. The bulk of her materials budget goes to an intranet version of Lexis-Nexus developed by that company specifically for prison access. The library was airconditioned, but the majority of the prison is not, which was quite noticeable on the 105 degree day we chose to tour!
Despite the challenges she faces in providing library service, Kate has a great attitude and is upbeat. And it was evident that the library is one of the most pleasant places in the facility, and well used. Thank you, Kate, for the tour and for your outstanding library service!

Webjunction Kansas!

2006-07-18T21:41:00.000-05:00

Today we cut the virtual ribbon on Webjunction Kansas! I predict it will become a very important tool for Kansas librarians and trustees as they discover the resources available to them: workshops, discussion, sample policies, and so much more! Check it out at http://ks.webjunction.org/do/Home

My appreciation goes to the coordinator of Webjunction Kansas, Cindi Hickey, for her hard work and dedication towards making this project a reality!

Old rules and new rules

2006-07-17T05:25:00.000-05:00

An article in the 7.24.06 Fortune magazine by Betsy Morris describes how the rules for business have changed in the last five years. She contrasts the "old rules", as set by GE magnate Jack Welch with the new realities of today, and there are some startling similarities to the Library 2.0 philosophy! For example, the author says the old rule was that "the big dogs own the street", and the new rule is that "agile is best.." This is also the new rule for libraries. Even the smallest library today can have a branch via a website; can publish (via blogs and wikis) and can market (via a website or even myspace.com!). Also, I think that connections to statewide library information databases (via the State Library) and a statewide library catalog, the playing field has leveled and small libraries, if they are agile, can give their customers access to services far beyond their local economic resources.
Another old rule, says Morris, is that "shareholders rule" and the new rule is "the customer is king". This is the heart of the Library 2.0 philosophy.
And according to Morris, the last old rule, "admire my might"is replaced by the new rule, "admire my soul". Well, in libraries we can easily follow the new rule, as we've always
had as much (or more!) soul as might!
Interesting stuff.

Internet connectivity

2006-07-10T20:53:00.000-05:00

"Today, nearly all Japanese have access to "high-speed" broadband, with an average connection speed 16 times faster than in the United States -- for only about $22 a month. Even faster "ultra-high-speed" broadband, which runs through fiber-optic cable, is available throughout the country for $30 to $40 a month...

The United States has dropped from 4th to 13th place in global rankings of broadband Internet usage. Today, most U.S. homes can access only "basic" broadband, among the slowest, most expensive, and least reliable in the developed world, and the United States has fallen even further behind in mobile-phone-based Internet access...the United States is the only industrialized state without an explicit national policy for promoting broadband. " (Down to the Wire by Thomas Bleha From Foreign Affairs, May/June 2005).

All I know is that I heard today about a small library in western Kansas that is trying to upgrade to high speed internet, but can't afford the $538 per month it will cost.

Internet, constitutions and library policies

2006-07-10T20:29:00.000-05:00

Thumbing through the July 10 issue of Fortune magazine, I came across an article by David Kirkpatrick called "Life in a Connected World". In it, he discusses the revolutionary changes to business and society occurring as a result of the 700 million users of the internet. Kirkpatrict includes politics as an area that has been profoundly changed by the internet and says that "...Some of the most cutting-edge uses of technology can be found in places like Tanzania, where activists are working on a new constitution - using a wiki". He continues by explaining that a wiki is online software on which anyone can add a contribution, with the idea being "that citizens can collectively create a compelling enough document to force the nation's political power".

Wow! Think of the opportunities for democracy if every citizen with internet access can help shape a country's constitution! And if Tanzanians can craft a constitution with a wiki, we can certainly craft strategic plans and library policies using the same vehicle. What an opportunity for input and consensus!

Book Love Affair

2006-06-27T13:46:00.000-05:00

There is no Frigate like a Book To take us to Lands away, Nor any Coursers like a Page Of prancing Poetry...Emily Dickinson

Books! They are such an integral part of my existence that I cannot imagine life without them. I had a bit of eyestrain a few days ago, possibly due to too many hours at the computer. When I had to take a night off from reading, I felt lost!

If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads...Ralph Waldo Emerson

Books! As “library people” many of us read books continuously for information, inspiration and pleasure. Bill Sowers, the intrepid editor of our internal newsletter The Grapevine, needed a filler for a recent issue. He asked SLK staff to share what they were reading. The response was overwhelming. The June Grapevine was one of the biggest issues ever as staff shared page after page of books and audio-books!

Books are the quietest and most constant of friends: they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers... Charles W. Eliot

Books! They are going to be the major part of libraries for a long time to come. I would say forever, but I learned an axiom years ago: “never say never or forever”. We will continue to purchase, organize and provide access to them through our libraries for the rest of our careers. Decades from now, kids will still read books, students will still study books and grandparents will share them with beloved grandchildren.

Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house.. ....Henry Ward Beecher

Books! We love them and we use them. I have some books that I intend to keep on my bedside table for eternity and others that I use to level up the bedside table! The books we love can be big books, little books, fat ones, skinny ones, leatherbound or paperback!

A book is like a garden carried in the pocket - Chinese Proverb

Books! If you feel as I do about books, help celebrate them by joining the Kansas Center for the Book ( http://skyways.lib.ks.us/orgs/kcfb/ ). And certainly you should make plans to celebrate books at the very first Kansas Book Festival. It will be held in Wichita on September 29 and 30.

Libraries 2.0 Interview by Dayna Williams-Capone

2006-06-27T08:27:00.000-05:00

I had the privilege of being interviewed by Dayna Williams-Capone from the Parsons Public Library about Library 2.0. She is part of the Library 2.0 Bootcamp created by ALA. Check it out at http://daynawilliamscapone.alablog.org

Good work, Dayna!

Learning, experience and 3D

2006-06-10T05:09:00.000-05:00

I attended the Kan-Ed conference in Wichita this past week, and it had a number of good sessions focused on current and future technologies for education. The one that blew me away was a presentation by representatives of a company called 3DH. 3dh Communications is a Georgia company that has developed a software for creating ultra realistic 3D "holographic - like" images.

I wasn't expecting much as I walked into the presentation and was handed 3D glasses to wear(just like you see from 50's movies!) But what I saw had revolutionary implications for how we could "experience" education in the future. The speaker emphasized the importance of experience in education, and the example he gave was of a parent telling a his child 30 times to be careful not to trip on a cord in the living room; it is only after the child experiences a fall as a result of that cord that learning takes place.

The presentation - using what the speaker called "standard" PC equipment (it's all in the software!) - had the audience experiencing tornadoes and an unbelievable tour of the Golan Heights in Israel. The visuals were so real that many of us flinched as a sleek airplane nearly flew into our faces! It was pointed out that there are as many education applications with 3D as can be conceived, from presenting ultra-real information on planets to demonstrating coaching principles. The applications for medicine are also tremendous and provide new visualization for medical diagnoses.

Implications for libraries? I can't quite get my mind around that yet, but I'm sure that training for staff and library users could be enhanced with 3D. And there may be other uses we discover as more applications for education are developed. It's an exciting prospect for learning...but I hope they can ditch the 3D glasses!

UNESCO

2006-06-05T19:42:00.000-05:00

I have the privilege of serving as a Commissioner on the U.S. Commission to UNESCO, and have just returned from our second annual meeting in Washington, D.C. In addition to hearing some great speakers (including Mr. Norman R. Augustine, Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Lockheed Martin Corporation! ), I participated in discussions on major UNESCO intitiatives. One of them is the World Digital Library, an online collection of information on countries and cultures. Another discussion centered around the importance of the free flow of information in emerging democracies. It's an exciting commission to be on, and heady stuff to attend the conference.

Required reading for librarians!

2006-06-05T19:30:00.000-05:00

Karen Schneider has posted an entry in her blog that is bound to become a classic! Read it, discuss it...and think about it!

The User Is Not Broken: A meme masquerading as a manifesto
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All technologies evolve and die. Every technology you learned about in library school will be dead someday.
You fear loss of control, but that has already happened. Ride the wave.
You are not a format. You are a service.
The OPAC is not the sun. The OPAC is at best a distant planet, every year moving farther from the orbit of its solar system.
The user is the sun.
The user is the magic element that transforms librarianship from a gatekeeping trade to a services profession.
The user is not broken.
Your system is broken until proven otherwise.
That vendor who just sold you the million-dollar system because "librarians need to help people" doesn't have a clue what he's talking about, and his system is broken, too.
Most of your most passionate users will never meet you face to face.
Most of your most alienated users will never meet you face to face.
The most significant help you can provide your users is to add value and meaning to the information experience, wherever it happens; defend their right to read; and then get out of the way.
Your website is your ambassador to tomorrow's taxpayers. They will meet the website long before they see your building, your physical resources, or your people.
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than to find a library website that is usable and friendly and provides services rather than talking about them in weird library jargon.
Information flows down the path of least resistance. If you block a tool the users want, users will go elsewhere to find it.
You cannot change the user, but you can transform the user experience to meet the user.
Meet people where they are--not where you want them to be.
The user is not "remote." You, the librarian, are remote, and it is your job to close that gap.
The average library decision about implementing new technologies takes longer than the average life cycle for new technologies.
If you are reading about it in Time and Newsweek and your library isn't adapted for it or offering it, you're behind.
Stop moaning about the good old days. The card catalog sucked, and you thought so at the time, too.
If we continue fetishizing the format and ignoring the user, we will be tomorrow's cobblers.
We have wonderful third places that offer our users a place where they can think and dream and experience information. Is your library a place where people can dream?
Your ignorance will not protect you.
Posted by K.G. Schneider

DOPA?

2006-05-23T16:44:00.000-05:00

Dopa is the "Deleting Online Predators Act" (H.R. 5319) and it has been introduced as an addition to the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA). The proposal would require schools and libraries to block access to "commercial Web sites that let users create web pages or profiles or offer communication with other users via forums, chat rooms, email or instant messaging".

Yikes - that's wikis, blogs, MySpace, and online email!

Libraries and MySpace II

2006-05-21T15:01:00.000-05:00

Browsing through the sites of the Kansas libraries that are on MySpace, I stopped in my tracks at a message sent to them from one of their "friends":

our library is the american answer to the european central square; le centre ville--la piazza: a place deliberatly designed with community in mind, where people spend evenings and weekends and gather regardless of age or income. it unites members of our shared community. it's a place where pedestrians rule. modern urban planning has decentralised our american cities, forcing us inward. turning walks into drives, we shuttle to and from. libraries privde a needed break.a library is a remarkable place; untouched by commerce and available to anyone, it is democracy in action. take advantage. preserve it. it is one of the last free and open environments left, and it brings us together on a level playing field.i love my library.

Wow. What insight, and totally spontaneous! Who knew that MySpace could not only be a gathering place, but a place for free speech and opinion. You can't get much more democratic than that....except in a library!

Libraries and MySpace

2006-05-21T14:42:00.000-05:00

Take the library to where the people are! And with an estimated 70 million people on MySpace, that's where they are! I think it's a great idea to put your library on MySpace; the site has a mixed reputation (because of careless account holders), but it is no doubt the new teen hangout. And certainly libraries will be an example of good things that can be part of MySpace.

Brenda Hough emailed to tell me that at least five Kansas libraries are on MySpace. Kudos to these enterprising librarians!

Check out their spaces:

Carbondale: http://www.myspace.com/carbondalecitylibrary
Lyndon: http://www.myspace.com/lyndoncarnegielibrary
Tonganoxie: http://www.myspace.com/tonganoxielibrary
Topeka: http://www.myspace.com/tscpl
NE Kansas Library System: http://www.myspace.com/nekls

Digital audio books and standard digital audio format

2006-05-19T18:19:00.000-05:00

There was a nasty email sent to the State Library recently, accusing us of bigotry (that's the word that was used!) because we have launched a statewide digital audio book project...and the books are not compatable with iPod.

The project is called Audio Books, Music and More, and it's powered by a company named OverDrive. This company offers statewide access to it's materials, and usage is based on the model of a library in which one book is "checked out" at a time and the book is virtually "returned" after fourteen days. The reason these books don't work with the iPod is that the formats are not compatible. Apple has one digital rights format and Windows has another, namely WMA (windows media audio format) which includes copyright protections. When we were putting together the project, we looked at a company that offered digital audio compatible with iPod (Audible.Com), but they were not interested in populating a statewide project. It's a problem of standardization of formats reminicient of the old VHS and Beta wars. See the following article on the dilemma: http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=14645

I own an iPod. So do millions of other people. And I would LOVE it if the audio books in our collection were compatible with iPod. But it ain't gonna happen unless corporate minds change and a standard digital audio format is chosen. In the meantime, I'm using my iPod for iTunes and a Dell MP3 player (about $60) to listen to digital audio books.

So I'd like to ask iPod owners who feel personally slighted by this project to please be patient. We will add iPod compatible books and music as soon as they are available for a statewide purchase. Meanwhile, celebrate the project: since it was launched on May 1, every single book in the collection, and most of the music, has been checked out. Now that's a success!

Cerritos, California

2006-05-18T20:59:00.000-05:00

What a thrill to visit the "experience library" in Cerritos, California! I was there this past week with my "homies" in Western Council (State Librarians from states west of the Mississippi). Director Waynn Pearson and staff gave us a grand tour of the beautiful library from the titanium-clad exterior to the million dollar aquarium! There is much to learn from that library, although I don't know if it could be duplicated elsewhere with success - it seemed a good fit in California. The building was wonderful and the service provided by the staff was impressive!

The highlight of the trip was spending the evening with a couple of interesting fellows named Ray and Marty.....author Ray Bradbury and Disney legend, Marty Sklar. Waynn had arranged a dinner at the library and an informal chat with these two legends. Both gentlemen told fascinating stories and entertained us for several hours.

A unique library and a memorable evening - what an experience!

Visiting the KSU Veterinary College Medical Library

2006-05-07T19:25:00.000-05:00

Gayle Willard invited me to tour the Kansas State University Veterinary College Medical Library; it turned out to be so much more than a library tour! First, I lunched with the library staff, which was a great chance to hear about some of their services and projects. After a look at the library, including viewing the extensive collection of human and animal medicine materials, Gayle introduced me to the Dean of the college. Dr. Ralph Richardson gave Gayle and me an energetic and enthusiastic tour of the amazing facility that is KSUCVM. There are so many facets to veterinary medicine that I wasn't aware of, including a wholistic emphasis on pets and their owners.

For me, it was the first library tour that included seeing horses, cows, dogs, cats and various other critters! Fantastic!

Gas prices and libraries

2006-04-26T21:05:00.000-05:00

Someone I was with today said that there seemed to be more cars abandoned on the side of the road; she speculated that it was because the cars had run out of gas! With $3.00 per gallon fuel, it could be that fewer people are filling up at the gas station and more are just putting in what they think it will take to get to their destination and back.

Will skyrocketing fuel prices affect libraries? Probably. It could be that more people will be frequenting the public library because money once used for a bookstore purchase is now used for gas. Or perhaps we will have fewer visits from patrons who live very far from the library and need to save car trips. And it could be that folks who used to take a family vacation in another state will now ask library staff for information about what sights they can see in Kansas.

In any case, our libraries will be there for Kansans whether the price of gas rises or falls. And to quote Martha Stewart, that is a good thing.

p.s. A website to recommend to patrons wanting to find the cheapest gas in their area is http://autos.msn.com/everyday/gasstations.aspx?zip=&src=Netx. The site says it is updated daily.

News aggregators

2006-04-23T09:45:00.000-05:00

Have you seen the quip on t-shirts and book bags, "too many books, too little time"? Well a 2006 version of that is "too many blogs, too little time!" After several attempts at self -education about news aggregators, I finally asked my valued friend and tech guru Brenda Hough for advice. She told me to go to Bloglines or another aggregator, and just start messing around. So I did, and now I have a very efficient and useful way to get the information I want.

What did I include in my aggregator? Well, of course I started with Jenny Levine's blog; next is the Free Range Librarian blog by Karen Schneider; and of course, I have to see the daily Unshelved comic! I like to read a variety of news, so I've got the BBC website, the Wichita Eagle blog and the Daily Kos. That, along with my daily NPR radio fix, and I think I have a fairly balanced view of what's going on in the world!? I've also got some personal feeds that I won't bore you with (quilting, Lutherans, and other various topics!) as I enjoy seeing what is new in those areas also.

I encourage you to try out this time-saver; you'll wish you could get all your web information this way!

A shelf in the back room

2006-04-22T20:01:00.000-05:00

One of the first public libraries I worked in over 30 years ago had several shelves in the staff workroom where "dirty" books were housed. These books were ones that the library director deemed important enough for the library to own, but objectionable enough to not shelve in the stacks. I innocently asked the director once about the circulation of these materials. She replied that the books were hidden in order to protect patrons and that "people who want to read those kind of books can ask ME for them".

That seems like an almost quaint practice now. The world has changed since 1975 and today people of all ages are exposed to "dirty" television programs, computer games, radio disk jockeys and even news reports. Rather than hiding books, librarians have been careful to separate children's materials from adult materials. We protect the right to read, but we also make common sense decisions as to the location and age suitability of certain materials. But can we turn the clock back in time and isolate materials that may be objectionable? And can we really identify what is considered objectionable to the satisfaction of all? The Oklahoma House of Representatives thinks we can.

The Oklahoma House of Representatives passed a bill recently that is designed to protect children from being exposed to sexually explicit library books. House Bill 2158 states: “The Oklahoma Department of Libraries Board shall not grant or distribute any state funds that are allocated to libraries on a formula basis to any library, library district, or library system unless the library has taken action to place all children and young adult materials that contain homosexual or sexually explicit subject matter in a special area of the library which is separate and apart from the children and young adult sections of the library and the library has a policy in place to limit distribution of the material to adults only.”

Will this legislation protect children from a world that is full of "sexually explicit subject matter"? No, but it may marginalize and embarrass patrons looking for legitimate sources of information at the library.

Just as parents are responsible for exercising controls over what their children view on television or connect to on the web, they are equally responsible for knowing what books their children are reading. And even if every library book with objectionable material were separated from the other materials, it will not be the world it was 30 years ago. There are many problems in today's world, but a shelf in the back room of the library is not the answer to them.

Board meeting day

2006-04-21T19:22:00.000-05:00

Today was the regularly scheduled joint meeting of the State Library Advisory Council and the Kansas Library Network Board. It was the last meeting for Dr. Stella Bentley, KU Dean of Libraries, as she is retiring at the end of this month. She's been an inspiration to me, and a wonderful support during my first year in Kansas. The Board presented her with a certificate honoring her service to SLAC and the library community.

The Abilene Rotary

2006-04-15T19:14:00.000-05:00

Deb Duckwall invited me to speak to the Abilene Rotary on April 14. It was a fun group, full of questions about libraries and the future of libraries! After the meeting, I was priviledged to tour the Dwight D. Eisenhower archives at the museum. What a fascinating place! They house and organize nearly every piece of paper that was generated during the Eisenhower presidential era, down to the letters sent by children to the President!

What is the State Library staff doing?

2006-04-10T20:38:00.000-05:00

Are the staff of the State Library out for some fresh air? Enjoying a day in the sun? No, it was a fire alarm that initiated an evacuation of the Statehouse. No fire damage or injuries; just a good reminder that every agency needs to have a plan and staff know what to do if a disaster happens.

My first podcast!

2006-04-08T20:24:00.000-05:00

Tri-Conference!

2006-04-07T20:06:00.000-05:00

What a great library conference in Wichita! There were many highlights, and one for me was hearing technology educator Alan November speak. He discussed the explosion of learning opportunities now available via the internet, but the vital importance of discriminating between valid and invalid sites. His example was www.martinlutherking.org. This site is prominently displayed when Martin Luther King is googled; however, the site is actually done by a white supremacist group! He determined this by checking the site on www.easywhois.com.

What I learned was that we need to learn (and teach) the architecture of online information and how to determine the validity of online resources.

Travels in March

2006-03-31T18:40:00.000-06:00

I started out the month of March in Great Bend and ended in Kansas City! On March 1, I spoke at the annual meeting of the CKLS. While at CKLS headquarters (also the Great Bend public library), I toured the talking books program and met the good folks that run that program; I also saw the wonderful and extensive collection of youth services materials assembled by Marquita Boehnke.

During the month I attended the KASL Council meeting near Wichita, took part in a two-day retreat with the Kansas Humanities Council in Lawrence, took part in the Kan-ed UAC meeting in Girard, attended the SLIM advisory council meeting in Emporia, and ended up the month speaking to the health science librarians at KU Med in Kansas City.

Playing catch-up!

2006-02-13T15:52:00.000-06:00

It's been quite a while since I updated my
travels in Kansas!

On January 11, I was on the agenda for the quarterly SCKLS meeting which was held at the lovely new library in Augusta. I love the castle scene in the children's section of the library. Look closely because there is an elevator hidden in the painted scene!

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The next day I traveled to Rose Hill to visit Teacher/Librarian Janie Barnard at the Rose Hill High School library (see below) and had a tour of her library.

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On February 3, I was invited to attend the meeting of the Private Academic Libraries (PALS); what a great group of librarians! The meeting was held at Ottawa University in Ottawa. Library director Gloria Creed-Dikeogu gave me a tour of the library, but alas, I didn't have my camera with, so no pictures!