Radical or just catching up?

http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2012/12/software/academic-consortium-makes-radical-shift-away-from-ils/ (viewed 21 Dec 2012)

Old habits die hard and when I saw this article I just felt that I needed to comment on it. I am late coming to library studies having spent over 20 years working in the business world; but one thing I know works is centralised offsite storage for computer programs and records.

The agreement between Ex Libris and the Orbis Cascade Alliance to shift resource management from individual locally-based systems to a shared cloud-based system takes the libraries in the consortium to the forefront of technology. Resource sharing is the obvious benefit, but opportunities for collaboration and enrichment of systems and technologies should not be ignored.

Business systems have long benefited from increased functionality in one area due to technical work undertaken in another area. When the same system is available to everyone, collaborative work between staff is facilitated and everyone benefits when the results are made available.

The new cloud-based LMS should offer these same opportunities and benefits to the consortium libraries where circulation and collection data is available to all. Technical collaboration between staff should be easier as their knowledge expands and opportunities to develop the functionality of the system will present themselves in the future.

While libraries are lagging behind business with this innovation, they will not take long to catch up as other consortia see the benefits of centralised resource sharing. The advantages of being able to share expertise, workflow and collection management will persuade other groups to move to the cloud and the next generation LMS platforms.  

Latest Read

Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

I was excited to pick up this book from my local Library, as I had really enjoyed Wolf Hall a couple of years ago. Someone from work lent me their copy of Wolf Hall and I was so interested in Thomas Cromwell that I bought Robert Hutchinson’s biography, just so that I could learn more about him. Hilary Mantel’s imagined Cromwell seems a bit more human than the Cromwell described in the biography.

Bring up the Bodies did not disappoint. I was taken straight back to where we finished up last time and immediately drawn into the problem of how to give the King what he wants. I was taken straight back to the ambiguous nature of Cromwell’s place at court and his treatment at the hands of various courtiers.

One of the things that I loved about Wolf Hall was how Hilary Mantel gave depth and character to Thomas Cromwell, usually reviled as a villain. He seemed to be at war with himself for much of the book and even when he was remembering the past, there was some conflict between actuality and reminiscence.

The second instalment in Hilary Mantel’s imagined life of Thomas Cromwell is much more contained given that the events take place over a relatively short space of time. In Bring up the Bodies, we see less of Cromwell’s accumulation of wealth and property as he concentrates on the task at hand. The fraught relationship with Norfolk is still there, as is the friendship with Chapuys.

I look forward to the next story as Cromwell becomes more and more embroiled in the king’s business and as Hilary Mantel continues to imagine a much more rounded personality for him than the one usually portrayed.

Recent Reads

So now that I've finished blogging for my LIS course, I thought that I might use it to review some of  the books I have read recently. I like to watch "First Tuesday Book Club" and often make a note of books that the panelists have read or are reading. My first review is one of those books, while the second review is the latest from one of my favourite Aussie author.

HHhH by Laurent Binet
I have just finished reading this one after waiting nearly two months for my reservation at the local library to come through. Just as well the wait was worth it.
I really enjoyed the almost chatty style of the book. I liked seeing into the author's processes and I liked how the central story was never far away despite the various digressions and flights of fancy.
At no time did I feel that the author was going to disappoint me by going off on one of these tangents - that he would get side-tracked and tell a different story. He always pulled himself back to the main story of the assassination attempt.
I gave it 5 out of 5 on Good Reads.

Unnatural Habits by Kerry Greenwood
I have just finished (this morning) the 19th adventure featuring Phryne Fisher and a romping good one it was. I love Phryne and all the characters who inhabit her world and enjoy all the twists and turns in the story - the adult equivalent of the Saturday matinee serial at the pictures.
I always appreciate the amount of research behind each book and the use of genuine Melbourne landmarks - extant or not. I hope Phryne has a very long career.
And thank goodness, reading the latest adventure has brushed away any lingering horror from having watched the TV series and seen Phryne and a much too good-looking Jack Robinson flirting!
Also rated 5 out of 5 on Good reads.

Paper books vs. ebooks

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/gruenplanet/pages/s3598460.htm

Last week, I missed watching Gruen Planet as I was busy elsewhere. No big deal after all - it's just a bit of comedic spin on the advertising industry.

But imagine my surprise when I got an email from the ALIA Students elist with a link to last weeks segment "The Pitch", where two ad agencies were asked to present an ad that would persuade us to abandon our ebook readers in favour of old fashioned books.

It constantly amazes me that the ad agencies always manage to come up with widely varied "pitches" and this time was no different. One ad aimed to highlight a simple benefit of paper books, and showed a story being played out until the battery ran out at the critical moment, whereas paper books are "powered only by your imagination". The other ad looked at issues of trust and whether or not your ebook had crucial facts changed, because "you can't hack a paperback".

The panel thought both advertisements were "seriously...brilliant" but had to make a decision about which one they liked best. In the end they voted 3 to 1 for "powered only by your imagination" because the ad showed excellent insight into what drives us to read and was selling its products (paper books) against an obvious weakness of ebooks.

I agree with the panel - I would hate being part of the way through reading a story on my e-reader only to have the battery run out where I cannot recharge. We like to interrupt our reading at a natural break in the story, like the end of a chapter, not at some arbitrary place mid-sentence dictated to by a machine!

Reflections on Work Placement

I was not very confident going into my second stint of work placement, this semester at a secondary school. I was worried about how I would relate to the the students, not having had much experience dealing with teenagers.

Well, I need not have worried. Contact was minimal during my week at the school - lending out laptops and two (yes, two) inquiries for books. In fact, the worst problem I had all week was trying to hear them giving me their student code to input into the computer - because very few students actually carried their student cards with them!!

The whole experience was very different from working at the public library in the first semester. Mostly lending and returning the laptops, plus a bit of shelving. The other differences were lending out electronic resources (cameras, videos, etc) to teachers and putting together class sets of books on specific topics.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the breadth of topics in the reference section and the fairly substantial fiction section, including what I would class as adult fiction. Unlike the public library, there was no large collection of graphic novels.

Staff were only busy with circulation duties if there were classes being held in the library, otherwise they were occupied with other matters (including teaching) or backroom work. During my week there, staff were also putting together the school yearbook as well as revamping the school website.

Trust Me ........ really?

http://www.goscl.com/survey-reveals-librarians-second-only-to-doctors-in-publics-trust/
(viewed 2 Sept 2012)

According to a survey commissioned by the UK Society of Chief Librarians, "80% of the users surveyed ..... said that the support provided in libraries improved their level of understanding of online information and 70% said that it had improved their online knowledge and skills. Users said they would overwhelmingly recommend their public library’s online information to other people."

That seems to be a ringing endorsement for UK librarians - but the survey was conducted for a library organisation, by the government about a government initiative, the “digital by default” online services.  A bit iffy????

Probably not, if UK librarians are being trained like they are in Australia - with the emphasis on information literacy and IT skills. In fact, I think that they are ahead of the game, and that the government is now playing catch-up. 

Librarians have known for a long time that the digital age is upon us and have been busy acquiring the necessary skills in order to cope. They are now passing on those skills to library users. Trust a librarian .... sure can!

Defining Information Literacy in the 21st Century

http://archive.ifla.org/IV/ifla70/papers/059e-Campbell.pdf
(viewed 27 August 2012)

I seem to have spent nearly all day on the computer putting my information literacy (research) skills to use - so I thought "what better subject to blog about"! Then of course, I had to find something to read and comment on without making my eyes bleed from reading reams of scholarly text.

Luckily, I found this paper presented at the IFLA Conference in 2004 - not too out of date and containing some interesting concepts about information literacy. I will start as Sandy Campbell did by quoting the ALA's definition:

To be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate and use effectively the needed information.

A fairly straightforward definition which she then demonstrates will also cover occasions where information is obtained by means other than in a library or via the internet.Should we perhaps change the name to information fluency or information competency? Personally, I rather like fluency - it does not have any of the stigma attached to words like literacy or competency.

The paper then goes on to look at what libraries and librarians can expect in the future, including that libraries are no longer the primary source of information, and the loss of face to face contact with their patrons as they use the internet and databases. A complete set of skills will involve critical thinking, interpreting data and using data appropriately.

And libraries should focus on teaching people how to use the information that they can access readily and regularly. Forget the fancy tools and whizz-bang sites - the buzz word should be APPROPRIATE. Appropriate for the user depending on what tools they have access to and appropriate depending on why they need the information.

Glutton for Punishment

Broughton, V. (2012). Essential Library of Congress Subject Headings. London: Facet Publishing.

I've decided that I am a glutton for punishment - not only am I reading this book but I am quite enjoying it. Thus, another blog the day after the usual weekly one!

I am only up to Chapter 7 and about a third of the way through the book, but I am learning lots about how to read and use the "big red books". Thankfully it is written by a Pom (sorry, British subject) so there is some humour and a slight dig at the american-ness of LCSH. The other thing the author did was to give a simple explanation of Cutter's Rules - something I was looking for when we had to do the Cataloguing Timeline essay.

I am probably getting a bit ahead of myself with the Cataloguing class this semester but I thought a bit of extra reading would not hurt. And it hasn't! I now know why the subjects are arranged in word by word filing and have learned more about controlled indexing and how to analyse the content of books.

I probably should not read much more or I will get too far ahead of what Chris wants to teach us, but I will definitely be getting the book out of the library again. And, I am looking forward to doing more work on LCSH and SCISSH as the semester progresses!!!!! Sick aren't I?

Library Terms for Web Sites

http://escholarship.org/uc/item/3qq499w7#page-1, viewed 19 August 2012
Kupersmith, John, "Library Terms that Users Understand"

I found this article through the A.L.I.A. PD Postings email, which each month lists suggestions for Professional Development activities for A.L.I.A. members. These suggestions include professional reading, so the monthly email will be a useful resource for me in this subject.

This particular article summarizes research from usability studies undertaken at many University libraries, and it is meant to help "library web designers decide how to label key resources in such a way that most users can understand them well enough to make productive choices".

Library web sites should avoid terms that can be misunderstood, instead they should use natural language. The example given was to use Borrowing from other Libraries instead of Inter-Library Loans. Confusing terms should be enhanced or explained using mouse-overs or tool tips. Web sites should have a glossary of library terms.

They should provide alternative paths to reach information by putting links in other areas. They need to avoid cognitive dissonance by using terms consistently throughout the web site, and even in the Library itself with signage and printed materials.

The article also details the types of testing done as well as showing results by institution,. I found this to be quite revealing where library web sites often did not use words like book, newspaper, article but instead preferred ambiguous terms like items, resources, or specialized terms like serials. At some institutions, even the term database was unfamiliar to study participants.

When the average success rate for finding journal articles is only 52%, libraries obviously cannot rely on their students being "information literate", particularly first year students. Libraries need to design web sites which use natural language and simple target words, like Find .... They need to avoid acronyms, brand names and jargon (including Library jargon like periodicals and serials - the rest of the world calls them magazines). They also should "provide alternative paths where users are likely to make predictable wrong choices", e.g. a link to article databases from the online catalogue and the Find Journals page. Above all they should remember that not all students are familiar with libraries or their resources and at the risk of shooting myself in the foot by using an acronym, they should KISS (keep it simple stupid)!!

The Purpose of Libraries

Henry, Robin, "Have We Lost Our Way? Examining the Purpose of Libraries in a Post-Literate Society", Library Media Connection, Vol. 28 No. 1, p. 30-31, Aug/Sep 2009, viewed 7 Aug 2012.

I downloaded and read Robin Henry's article as part of an exercise given to the class by Maria, looking at the philosophy and purpose of libraries. Although I did not use the article as part of my answer to the exercise, I was interested in what the article talked about - the dumb acceptance by people that the Internet has all the answers and the current lack of critical thinking and discussion.

Ms Henry contends that there is a difference between knowledge and information. Knowledge requires us to inquire, to think critically and to judge the accuracy and value of the information. Information is merely data with no particular use until placed into context.

Reading is the foundation skill for gaining knowledge and libraries need to emphasize their expertise in helping patrons to successfully search for information and in teaching them to evaluate and use that information, i.e. knowledge. Ms Henry wants libraries and more importantly, librarians to go back to their core purpose by offering services related to personal growth, education, searching skills and interpretive skills.

The printed book may be declining in use (or not) but there will always be other technologies to replace them (or not), and libraries and librarians need to be at the forefront in using those technologies and showing the way, so that knowledge skills are not lost.

Reviewing Hugh Rundle blog

http://hughrundle.net/2012/05/28/a-failure-of-imagination-the-problem-with-format-neutrality/
Viewed August 3, 2012

Hugh's blog looks at the problems of access to information - not just about the content but how to access the content. Focusing mainly on problems of using ebooks and the internet, which were supposed to give us easy access to information, he looks particularly at the differences in technology between devices which makes them incompatible and therefore stops us from accessing information. Whether it is the incompatibility of some websites to iPads or the fact that eBooks will not download to all eReaders, the way that information is presented is not necessarily giving us better access.
Things which have worked like Wikipedia and Facebook should be emulated for their ease of use and universal availability, and he talks about making services available on existing technology, not inventing new technology to provide the service. We need to stop reinventing the wheel and to stop trying to fit new technology to old methods and philosophy.
Summing up, Hugh wants to see "the perfect model of access, under imperfect conditions" so everyone can get information whenever they want and wherever they are. I enjoyed this blog because it explored our preconceptions of what comes first - technology or information and has a bit of a dig at "old school" librarians for trying to fit new technologies into old models of lending and library practice.

Setting up this blog

Well that was fun.....NOT!
First of all I forgot my gmail password - so that had to be reset. Then I had to think of a name for me and my diary.
I dont have access to photos and things here, so I will have to customise at home.
Still I imagine things will get easier as we go along.