Going Mobile

This week's question is what mobile services should a library offer?

For me, that answer is contingent upon price.  If you'll allow a brief tangent...one reason I'm back in school after slogging through 10 years of post-graduate work on a PhD in English is that the mission of the library is to serve everyone.  Not to get too political, but (especially here in California) our public universities are becoming prohibitively expensive while at the same time relying more and more on the relatively inexpensive labor of lecture faculty, adjunct faculty, and graduate students.  These people can be wonderful instructors but are often overworked and underpaid, so students are paying more but getting less.  And, because of the costs, universities are only able to serve a select group of the populace.  Unlike the university, one can enter a library and access information and professionals for free.

While more and more people have mobile devices, a large population still does not.  I think we should do all we can to meet people on their mobile devices, but we must balance this against the services we offer to people who rely on the brick and mortar library.  If we become entirely virtual, we become accessible only to those elite enough to connect to the Internet from their home or phone.  Especially in times of economic trouble then, I believe libraries should be going mobile as cheaply as possible.

Having said all of this, it turns out not to be that difficult to go mobile on the cheap.  Sarah Houghton's 2012 article "Mobile Services for Broke Libraries" has 10 suggestions.

Here are a couple of highlights.

1) Houghton suggests making your website mobile-friendly.  But first you should check to see if it already is.  She notes that you can check at http://validator.w3.org/mobile/.  Validator will give you a breakdown of just how mobile-friendly your webpage is.  An ideal solution would be to make your standard webpage mobile-friendly instead of having separate versions that require updating and upkeep. 

A screen shot of validator.w3.org/mobile/ results

2) Houghton suggests offering a mobile Online Public Access Catalog.  Since the OPAC is one of the most commonly used features of a library website, making it mobile makes a lot of sense.  And making the OPAC mobile isn't as hard as you might think.  Houghton points to a couple of open source OPACs that are mobile friendly: SOPAC, Evergreen, and Koha.

3) While e-books and audio books seem like obvious arenas for taking your library mobile, Houghton does offer some words of warning.  She notes that 

Most e-audiobooks are provided as WMA files, with a smaller selection available as MP3 files. Text e-books are provided in a plethora of formats—the three most popular being PDF, EPUB, and Mobi.  (317)

It's useful to be aware of the formats of your e- and audio books.  WMA files will only work on a computer running Windows Media Player, while the more universal MP3 will run on most audio devices.  The producers of E-Readers are not in the business of open-source DRM-free altruism.  There are a plethora of e-book file types -- many are device specific.  Apple has iBook, Amazon has AZW and KF8 and currently doesn't support EPUB.  Libraries should offer e-books and audio books, but it's important to keep in mind that offering e-books isn't as simple as offering corporeal books.  If the real thing is in English, all readers of English can read it.  If the e- thing is offered in AZW, only Kindle owners can.  So be aware and be smart about format.

The rest of Houghton's essay is equally worthwhile.  Track down a copy if you're thinking about going mobile or reexamining your library's mobility.

References:

Houghton, S. (2012). Mobile Services for Broke Libraries: 10 Steps to Mobile
Success. The Reference Librarian. 53(3), 313-321. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02763877.2012.679195

Crowd Sourcing or Crowd Surfing

Crowd sourcing is typically supposed to tap into the wisdom of the crowd.  In the case of many library initiated crowd sourcing ideas it seems that crowd sourcing is intended to take the pulse of your local community.  In his 2009 post, Libraries and crowdsourcing -- 6 examples, Aaron Tay lists some common uses of crowdsourcing for libraries:

1. Digitisation of newspapers and correction of OCR errors (National Library of Australia)
2. Tagging of photos on Flickr (Library of Congress)
3. Rating,tagging and contribution of user reviews of books (via Endeca, Encore, Aquabrowser, Koha and other next-generation OPACS etc)
4. Frequently asked questions (Social reference tools like LibAnswers)
5. Comments and suggestions (GetSatisfaction , UserVoice etc)
6. Collaborative Cataloguing (Library Thing, Biblios.net and Open Library)

Half of these uses (uses 2, 3, and 6) are basically folksonomies (a kind of group tagging popularized by the site delicious.com -- formerly known as del.icio.us).  There are definitely advantages to this kind of cataloging.  Massive numbers of resources can be tagged in far less time than it would take a diligent S.W.A.T. team of librarians to do it (in the case of the Internet, assigning your library cataloging task force is almost akin to giving them life sentences).  And so things are allowed to take on a kind of organization that wouldn't be possible otherwise.  But the trouble with folksonomies is that they aren't thorough or consistent.  Casual taggers aren't following Ranganathan's faceted colon classification system; they're developing something much more complex and infinitely less searchable.  They create subjective cataloging.  While Ranganathan might praise the way in which this system divests hierarchy, he'd probably be pretty dismayed when he went to search Flickr for pictures of Russian Blues and found that no one had used that tag.  And in fact that there was no consistency to the language or spelling of the tags that had been used: "cute cats," "kittens," "qt kitty," "meows," or whatever other variations you can imagine.  It's nice that things are getting classified, but it's not useful.

                   Here's your Russian blue S.R.

Another type of crowd sourcing Tay talks about is the use of comments. Allowing comments and suggestions in your OPAC can mimic Amazon reviews -- a popular element of that website.  They give voice to your community and make it feel like a conversation has started.  But there are major disadvantages to this as well.  One only need look at a handful of poorly designed products on Amazon to discover that sometimes manufacturers, authors, and publishers post their own misleading reviews.  Furthermore, these kinds of reviews are typically only written when the customer is very satisfied or very disappointed (just look at a site like Ratemyprofessors.com to see an example of the way in which including only the most effusive and most vitriolic reviews can skew one's perception of an instructor); they don't actually benefit from the aggregation present in typical crowd sourcing -- like the Google rating algorithm -- because they aren't drawing groups that are actually representative of your constituency.  Finally, Amazon reviews are useful for one reason: they help buyer's beware.  Libraries have less need of this.  Our patrons aren't spending hard earned cash.  They can take more chances.  If the book they pick up at the library doesn't catch their interest after the first 50 pages, they can bring it back and pick up another at no cost.  Granted, sensitive patrons might care to know if a book is particularly gruesome or sexually explicit, and these reviews could provide that kind of information, but, for me at least, libraries are about discovery and about being exposed to new ideas.

There are two major problems with the types of crowd sourcing Tay discusses.  First, as Derek Powazek suggests in his article The Wisdom of Community, the best crowd sourcing is done by reducing the task to its simplest parts.  He warns

Conversational inputs are too complex for Wisdom of Crowds systems. Online discussion systems do not lead to wisdom on their own.

And he goes on to explain exactly why:

One of the reasons discussions do not lead to wise results is that there’s no aggregation—the conversation just happens. But WOC systems are there to produce a result. This requires an aggregator (like you) and an algorithm.

The benefits of crowd sourcing, he argues are only visible after aggregation.  Folksonomies and comments resist aggregation.  Even a site like rottentomatoes.com, which attempts to aggregate subjective movie reviews is only helpful to a point.  Skyfall, Lincoln, and A Royal Affair (all movies which came out this week) received a 91%, 91%, and 90% respectively.  But that doesn't suggest that people who enjoy the new James Bond movie will also like the romantic costume drama of A Royal Affair.  These kinds of qualities resist being made objective.

A further problem with crowd sourcing is the possibility that it can become crowd surfing.  Kristina Grifantini, in her article Can You Trust the Crowd Wisdom?, cites evidence from Vassilis Kostakos from the University of Madeira in Portugal that suggests that small numbers of users can distort the overall pictures.  While you may think a whole crowd is working on your projects, it may in fact be a handful of web savvy patrons.  If you put a lot of stock in the crowd sourced material, you may unwittingly be raising the profile of just one or two web savvy patrons.  They now surf above the surging masses (your other patrons) like a kid at a Pearl Jam concert in 1996 (or two young girls at Relient K.  You know, whatever you can find on youtube.)

Here's a screen cast I made touting the benefits of LinkedIn.com's profile page.  The video shows my clear ignorance of how to use most of the rest of the site.  [Please note: I actually do recognize how interesting and important it is that my extended network includes people who work on the Kindle; my comments are meant to suggest that knowing that I am somewhat connected to this critical content provider and knowing how to make use of this network are different things.  My ignorance comes in knowing how to use these network contacts.  Clearly the Kindle and the digital content loaded onto the Kindle are of utmost importance to libraries and librarians.  Working with the people who provide this content could be hugely beneficial to libraries everywhere.  I just don't know yet how to leverage my LinkedIn extended network to bring about such an effort.  Maybe I should be talking to my cousin more often.]

Skokie Public Library Screencast

tag= blogposting week 11

I'm trying to get away from always looking at New York Public Library on my blog, so this week I've decided to take a look at a screencast done at the Skokie Public library in Skokie, IL.

I decided to comment on the library's screencast on finding obituaries precisely because it was their shortest video -- best practice dictates that a screencast ought to be short.  (In fact, 4 and 1/2 minutes is pushing it a little bit.)  I felt that looking at a shorter video would provide me with a better list of best practices. 

The video definitely starts off well.  The opening screen has a clear logo for the library and features both the name of the narrator/librarian and his email address.  This is an appropriate way to begin because it clearly shows the librarian's enthusiasm about following up with patrons.  The narrator/librarian Toby Greenwalt also has a clear and pleasing voice.  This is important not just for understandability, but also approachability.  If the narrator sounds bored or speaks too quietly, it sends the message that s/he is not really that interested in the topic.  (Greenwalt does clip somewhat on his plosives -- especially "p"s and "t"s.  I don't know what kind of microphone he had access to, but perhaps a pop guard would have helped eliminate those brief moments of harsh sound.)

The tutorial begins at the library homepage.    It's interesting (and I choose this word precisely for its ambiguity) that the homepage is so colorful.  This doesn't seem like an aesthetic choice on the part of Greenwalt; he's clearly using the page as it existed at the time he shot his video.  It has many colorful rectangles for navigation and a happy looking ginger bread man peeking out of the lower right hand corner.  The choice may seem overly positive to some looking for obituaries or it might set a welcome uplifting tone. Either way, it's a good choice to begin at the homepage; it's important to start your screencast somewhere your patrons can easily navigate to.  Also, starting at the homepage can give a user who's not familiar with the library's web presence a sense of where else they might be able to go once on the homepage (in the case that perhaps the video has been emailed to a patron using email or text reference).

I also applaud the choice to make the video real time as opposed to a narrated series of screen shots.  In this way the video can serve a dual purpose as a bit of information literacy for patrons not familiar with web tools.

As Greenwalt navigates, he is careful to point out the other options available on the website.  This may be an unnecessary tangent for the patron desperate to get to the obituaries, but for the casual patron a brief explanation of the other genealogical resources is likely welcome -- perhaps their obituary search is merely the beginning of an exploration of an entire family genealogy.  Knowing what other resources the library site offers may bring them back to the site later.  Greenwalt discusses icons showing three main types of resources outlined on the site: web resources available to anyone with an Internet connection, resources that require a library card (but which can be accessed remotely), and sources available only in the library.  Again, this is important for giving patrons a sense of what the library provides and possibly drawing them into the physical location.

Greenwalt's choice of search term is masterful.  He selects a former mayor long dead.  This connects the library to the local community and to local history.  It also makes the process less emotionally charged than it could be (using a recent death could have been seen as too macabre or insensitive).  It highlights the library's collections of local Skokie newspapers.  Finally, because the newspapers are held on microfilm, it highlights a library resource, welcomes patrons into the library, and allows Greenwalt to show off the fact that, via the Ask a Librarian link, patrons can request items on microfilm and have them emailed to them.  This is a wonderful service that some patrons may not be familiar with.

Greenwalt also shows off a resource that has an electronic version of the obituary, which is useful for patrons not willing to wait for an email or a trip to the library.

The presentation ends with Greenwalt's email again.  This is the best way to end the screencast -- as it reaffirms Greenwalt's interest in following up with patrons.

It's hard to fault any aspect of the library's screencast.  There appears to be a rather long list of resources, so a person might be disappointed that Greenwalt doesn't cover more sources, discussing strengths and weaknesses.  But, the video is already 4 minutes long and provides a hurried or impatient patron with enough information to get started.  Also, because it encourages emails, the video can get away with not explaining every single source; interested or lost patrons can email Greenwalt.

Greenwalt is clear, concise, and hits all the right notes.  His is a fine model for any screencast.

Flicking or Pinning

tag=blogposting week 10

As I've worked my way through this Web 2.0 class, I think I've become a cheerleader for the New York Public Library.  I've never been further east than Springfield, IL in my conscious life (I was born on an air base in Germany when my dad was in the US Air Force and stationed in Bitburg; I spent a glorious six months on European soil, turned 1 in New Mexico, but made all of my memories west of the Mississippi -- primarily in SD, WA, and CA), so I've never set foot on a single step of a single branch of NYPL.  I've never tried to ride a stone lion or tried to recreate scenes from Ghostbusters in the reading room.  But everytime I go to look at how libraries are using social media, NYPL seems to be absolutely on point, doing everything so right that it seems natural.  That's true also of their use of Flickr and Pintrest presences.  In the interest of not just promoting NYPL, though, I've decided to discuss a series of libraries here (in addition to NYPL). 

[Tangentially, my wife and I have not yet gone on a honeymoon -- we just celebrated our 3rd anniversary this week.  We want to go to Scotland.  But Maybe we need to go to NYC and spend a week at the library on our way.]

Flickr:

Okay, so as you can tell from the ringing endorsements above, the logical place to start talking about Flickr is the site of the New York Public Library. NYPL is just so astute at their use of images across their Internet presence.  They typically reserve themselves to posting images from their archives and they typically curate their posts well, presenting the most attractive photos.  One easy mistake to make would be to just throw all your photos on the web and force your community to slog through blurry pictures or shots that may as well be doubles.  We have to be constantly cognizant of the purpose of our online presence.  It's not just a place to unload our pictures and say, "see we're on the web."  NYPL's Flickr seems geared towards drawing patrons into the library to scour the archives for various research projects.  People interested in the history of auto companies, early modern dance, or cyanotypes of British algae may look at the page, realize that NYPL has images of these things in their archives, and run to the library to check them out (or find images they need right on the Flickr page).  The other thing that NYPL does as well as anyone could expect is that they fully dedicate themselves to their social networks.  In the case of their Flickr page they have some 30 albums, many with more than 100 pictures in them.  It's easy to immerse yourself in their pictures and spend some quality time on the site.

With their page Sacramento Public Library also highlights history.  In this case it's more local.  They have some archival photos of the library's book mobile.  It's not a terribly exhaustive set and it's probably not as useful to researchers as the photos on NYPL's site, but it's fun.  And Sacramento hits a few things that NYPL doesn't.  They have some photos of a program called the Read and Feed Garden.  They also have a photo set called Book Spine Poetry -- a fun idea whereby stacking books lines up the titles into a kind of found poem.  Photos of outreach and programming events is a great way to develop interest in your library.  The only knock against Sac Public's efforts is that their page seems a little skimpy.  More photos of more events would help make this page as amazing as NYPL's.

Combining the kinds of efforts seen on NYPL's page -- revealing your archive -- and Sacramento Public's -- showing off your programming efforts, developing fun photo project like the book spine poetry -- can provide a good model for a Flickr presence.

Pintrest:

Today is actually the first time I've really looked at Pintrest.  I'm actually not thrilled with it.  It looks like an enormous glossy catalog.  Check out the presence of Westerville Library or Muncie Public Library, for instance.  In the first few lines of images on both pages, it looks like they are advertising products.  The cover photo for Westerville's A is for App album looks like an add for the iPad.  Muncie's page currently has an overturned bottle of red nail polish as the cover of their Go Cardinals! album that looks like it was plucked from a L'Oreal advert.  Very few of the pictures or album names seem specifically connected to the individual libraries.  Contrast that with New York Public Library.  The photos they've placed as the covers of their Pintrest albums and the titles of those albums are much more frequently connected to the library: What NYPL is Reading, NYPL loves U, Little Lions (a reference to the big stone ones out front of the physical library; the album is pictures of housecats looking lionish), NYPL Photos, NYPL Collections, and NYPL's Current Events.  Even when their Pintrest explicitly advertises products, they are connected to the library: NYPL Gifts.  To my mind, the lesson here seems to be that if you want to promote your library, it might be best to upload your own photos to the site instead of using public domain images that look like inadvertent advertisements and to be careful about naming your albums.  Connect them to your library.  It seems like Pintrest makes it easy to accidentally advertise other products; think carefully about what you want your Pintrest to say about you.

BTW, here's my entry for NYPL's little lion.

That's my cat: Syd Vicious.

Online Community

Tag=blogposting week 9

I was just lamenting to my wife last night that with the ability to so carefully choose our media landscape and our physical and electronic communities that I feel like my online experience is stagnant.  It's easy to hide yourself in a world of what you like.  You can watch Star Wars movies, tv shows, listen to Star Wars podcasts, and engage in Star Wars friendly web communities.  And that's -- all of it -- wonderful if that's what you want to do.  But -- sometimes, not all of the time, but sometimes -- I like to be challenged or exposed to a range of view points.

For me that means I'd appreciate having experiences -- online, via the media -- that aren't simply entertainment.  My assignment this week in library school is to discuss online communities and how they are moderated though.  And while it seems tangential to my ennui, I think there are some ways in which carefully moderated online communities can both burst the insular post-modern existentialist consumer entertainment bubble and create safe spaces for challenging view points.

The typical -- and by typical I mean careless -- model of online community can perhaps be typified by the users on Yahoo News Articles.  Here are a few comments from a recent article about President Obama's stance on immigration.

These kinds of comments are of absolutely no substance.  Yahoo, which doesn't carefully moderate their comments section creates a morass of vitriol.  It's a perfect landscape for Trolls and flame wars.  Furthermore, even though people offer dissenting opinions in these threads the histrionic tone is typical.  And that elevated tone means that people aren't being persuasive.  There's no actual cultural exchange here.

As Scott Rosenberg argues in his article Online comments need moderation, not “real names", these problems are typical of under-moderated threads.  They don't result in real community.  Even John Grohol in his article Anonymity and Online Community: Identity Matters, which as its title suggests implies that anonymity is part of what allows such horrifying comments, also argues that moderation and establishing a relationship with your members is key to developing an actual community -- a space where we could imagine dissenting opinions being stated tactfully.

If you're about to launch an online presence in the hopes of attracting a community.  Don't just turn on the message boards and the let the comments fly.  Be ready to actually talk to your commenters and moderate your boards.  Anonymity can breed a culture of whispers and deceit, but it doesn't need to.  If you engage your anonymous users and your lurkers (people who are members of the community but choose not to post) in actual conversation, you can keep things civil and develop a fulfilling community that introduces Star Wars fans to The West Wing or the Jim Lehrer News Hour.

Wiki Applications for libraries

tag=blogpost week 8

Reading through the chapter on wikis in  Meredith Farkas' Social Software in Libraries, I was struck by her initial suggestion for how to use a wiki in a library.  She discussed setting up a wiki with information about the local community -- where to get your car worked on, where to catch local sporting events, etc.  I thought, "Gee, that sounds like the Davis Wiki."  I flipped the page, and there was a screen shot from the Davis wiki and then a description of it.  Having lived in Davis for the past decade, I wouldn't have even thought of hosting such a wiki on a library page or having librarians involved in its launch because I took for granted that it ought to already exist.  But libraries do seem like ideal sources to help spark such information, whether they ultimately only launch it or whether they monitor and maintain it.  It makes sense for libraries to make such connections because they are often already collaborating with many local organizations -- schools, local government, social services, police departments, businesses, etc.  Such a wiki also shows that the library is interested in and integral part of the community.

Farkas also suggests using a wiki to provide more information about library holdings.  I like the idea very much and want to call it The Illuminated Catalog.  Patrons could provide information about the books or dvds they check out including the edition, the readability, the utility of the information, the wear and tear on the item, etc.  Furthermore, such a wiki could aid the library in determining book orders, programming, or services as it would create another portal for patron feedback.  Librarians could see what was being read (at least by the web savvy, wiki editing crowd) and address complaints or provide further service.

Farkas mentioned that some libraries use a wiki as their main web presence.  I think this is also a great use for a wiki.  The ease of use of wikis can allow the library's webpage to shift and grow quickly as all members of staff can easily update or change the site.  It's a wonderful solution for a library that wants to reflect the ever shifting nature of library services on their webpage.  And the library can look more engaged if its webpage is always up to date.  Some consistency will of course aid the patrons in their navigation of such a site.

Another great wiki use suggsted by Farkas is to create a fount of collective reference knowledge.  This is especially useful in libraries where reference professionals have different areas of expertise, but can be generally useful to.  This kind of wiki includes resources for particular reference questions.  The clear upshot of this is that patrons don't necessarily have to be directed to a particular librarian.

In "Refresh for Success," Sally Jones discusses a wiki based training program for the Moonee Valley libraries in Victoria, Australia.  While she doesn't go into full detail about the nature of the wiki, it seems that the site covers the library's online resources.  She suggests that the use of the wiki -- which allowed employees to complete the training anywhere and anytime at their own pace -- was quite successful.  I'd want to know more specific information about the training itself before endorsing this kind of wiki use, but more importantly, a wiki that describes library resources for library staff could be quite beneficial.  It might have a slightly different focus than a wiki designed to inform patrons of library resources.

All of these uses can have great impact on library services, but they also require a collaborative environment.  The wiki itself isn't enough; you have to have the community and sense of community to edit the pages.

References

Farkas, M. (2007). Social software in libraries. Medford, NJ: Information Today, Inc.

Jones, S. (2011). Refresh for success: Moonee valley libraries online database training wiki. APLIS, 24(2), 91-93.

tag=blogpost week 7

After reading several articles about online collaboration tools in the business world I began to wonder if or how such tools could be implemented in a library setting.  Many of the articles discussed the benefits of such tools for telecommuters.

My initial thoughts were that telecommuting seems like an inefficient model for most library employees.  Much of the work of the library is about connecting in person with people -- at least traditionally.  And while it might make sense for libraries to expand their reach to virtual worlds, which would facilitate telecommuting, the basic model -- at least for public libraries -- is that funding comes from the country or local municipality and thus the target patron ought to be local as well. 

There may be some library positions that could accommodate telecommuting (perhaps catalogers, for instance), but I think that the online collaboration tools are perhaps more useful for knowledge sharing, meetings, and external collaboration.

In his article, "Corporate Culture not Technology Drives Online Collaboration," Will Kelly talks about the construction of knowledge archipelagos, where certain employees have more institutional knowledge than others and either hoard it or the company fails to make the knowledge accessible to everyone else.  If you've ever worked somewhere and felt like you didn't know the most basic procedures and your co-workers scoffed at your ignorance, you may have been experiencing something like a knowledge archipelago.  I've encountered such situations in each of my last two teaching jobs.  I wasn't informed about procedures such as reporting tardies, submitting grades, accessing institutional email, or accessing (ironically enough) the centralized drive with all of this information on it.  Kelly argues that centralized drives are essential to bridging archipelagos; they certainly seem like useful tools for bringing new employees up to speed on institutional culture.  Such a tool would be useful in any job and would ease a new library employees orientation.

Simon Mackie, in "Invest in Collaborative Tools, Get More Than Double Return, Study Says,"virtual business meetings can be effective ways to bring people face to face.  I've found that, with some droning exceptions, virtual meetings with strict agendas can move faster and more efficiently than face to face meetings.  If your county library district is wide ranging and all employee meetings require excessive travel and extensive library closures, such meetings might be ideal.  Certainly if you are trying to team-build such meetings might not work.  But if you want to make a weekly or monthly address, such meetings might be money and time savers, which also help create a culture of open conversation.

Finally, I think that tools such as Facebook and Twitter can help create external collaboration.  In a recent conversation with a librarian about Teen Advisory Groups, I learned that one of the major benefits of organizing such a group was that they could help inform librarians about purchasing.  Certainly virtual patrons could also assist such purchasing on a much larger level, and could incorporate wider swaths of your patronage than simply teens.  Such collaboration could also help build loyalty in your clientele.

Running Libraries like Start ups?

tag=blogpostweek6

In his white paper, Think Like a Startup: A white paper to inspire library entrepreneurialism (2012), Brian Matthews takes (academic) libraries to task for what he perceives as stagnation.  He argues that libraries need to adopt the attitudes of start-ups and entrepreneurs.  His suggestions would lend a certain flexibility and agility to libraries and their services.

While he certainly has many wonderful ideas, Matthews ultimately left me a burning question: "are entrepreneurial or market ideas fully appropriate for libraries?"

Matthews frequently touts the culture of the startup yet notes that 9 out of 10 start-ups fail.  They offer high levels of risk and with a few monolithic exceptions to date (Google, Amazon, Facebook) even the successful ones don't necessarily have a long life.  This is probably partially due to the ephemerality of Internet culture, shifting tastes, or the inability to keep up with technological change.  Myspace, Netscape Navigator, Alta Vista, and Pets.com were once all high profile start-ups, but in retrospect all seemed to burn the candle at both ends (or be crushed by monoliths with more money).  Matthews argues that we can avoid these failures by being constantly iterative as the best start ups are.  Though I wonder how much the success of our flagship start ups has to do with iterative design and how much has to do with stamping out competitors.

Furthermore, start ups don't tend to have a thousand year history.  Libraries can't (and shouldn't) just shrug off their legacy in favor of new innovation.  Certainly, there are things that libraries do now that others won't.  That's why there is still a need for libraries.  Going back at least to Carnegie, part of library culture is a kind of altruism.  Altruism has never been friends with market ideas.  If we start to think in more enterprising terms, it's important that we don't lose sight of our public service attitudes. 

Ultimately, I think Matthews tempers his argument by talking about the need for both microscopic and telescopic thinking.  But I think it's important to remember that the market thinks in terms of consumers, while the library thinks in terms of people.  Matthews suggesting expanding R&D and worrying less about assessment -- but we must remember that R&D is about artificially stimulating consumption.  R&D gave us Legos for girls (as though Legos didn't already appeal to girls) and new Coke.  Again, I don't think that Matthews is wrong, just that we need to temper R&D with assessment.  I think the key through all of this is balance.  The paper tends to get overly excited about possible innovation and often leaves care behind.  It's understandable why it would do this: if we're too careful, we may not make the leap towards introducing 3D printers in our libraries and running along the cutting edge.  But some care is useful.

Yes, there are wonderful ideas to be pulled from the world of Internet start-ups, but we need to be careful about how pick and choose.  We need to remember that start-ups are more likely than us to get investors and I think we need to remember that we are not an enterprise but a public service. 

Update: Well, scratch that last statement.

Exercise 2

tag=Exercise2

1. In the Library With the Lead Pipe, winner of the best blog title I've seen recently, reads like a journal or magazine. Its articles even come complete with reference sections. 2 of the 3 posts also include a small heading titled "In Brief," which summarizes the salient points of the post. Presumably, this will save time for overworked library professionals. Indeed, the posts are lengthy by blog standards. The most recent post, "Running the Library Race" is a dozen paragraphs long and lists 15 references. It's a well written, highly readable piece about the need for work pacing. But whereas many blog posts seem to assume their reader has only a few minutes or seconds to spare, this post requires a dedicated 10 minutes to read. That may not be terribly long to most people, but if you are trying to keep pace with a dozen blogs, a handful of journals, do a full day's work, and have a life after work, it can add up quickly.

The blog's focus is pretty broad. It appears to write toward all types of libraries. Clearly, then the actual posts will necessarily have a more general appeal. "Running the Library Race," for instance is general enough that if one removed the occasional references to libraries and inserted references to teaching or video game design or farming, the article would still feel relevant. In other words the issues at play in the post aren't strictly tied to one type of library, and aren't even strictly tied to library work, but would speak to anyone working in a busy profession.

To get the magazine feel, In the Library with the Lead Pipe has 6 permanent authors and several guest authors. They appear to post only once every couple of weeks. This means that the lengthy posts are more understandable. They aren't filling RSS feeds with dozens of long articles a day (as blogs like Boing Boing or io9 do).
_________________________________________________________________________________

2. The Librarian's Commute, in contrast, is written by a single author: Olivia Nellums. She works in a community college library in New Jersey. Nellums posts roughly once a week, and her posts tend to run between 2 to 5 paragraphs. Her posts tend to ruminate more than In the Library with the Lead Pipe, and they tend to be more open ended. Instead of relaying a thesis, Nellums seems to offer commentary that implicitly or sometimes explicitly questions the reader.

Her blog feels at once more ephemeral than posts from In the Library..., but also more conversational -- and thus more community oriented. What In the Library gains in journalistic glossiness, it loses in dyadic conversationalism.

In her most recent post, Nellums ponders the notion that a community college library ought to have on hand most of the textbooks the teachers are currently using (a notion that rings true for anyone who's been affiliated with community college; text books are expensive and community college students are often on a tight budget, so lack of access to books can cause a huge learning gap). Here are her last two paragraphs, which offer a particularly conversational tone:

But this is radical, no? To spend what would amount to thousands of dollars on resources that often become obsolete within a year, and in the best (history, English) cases might last for 10? On the other hand, didn't we used to do that with a print reference collection?

I would fight harder for this, but textbooks seems to be moving online anyway. Meanwhile, the textbooks we do have on reserve are flying on and off the shelves.

Nellums literally asks questions of her audience, asking us to think about the issue as much as she has. And ultimately she doesn't provide a clean answer -- this is where the posts feel the most ephemeral. Her last two sentences, while not dismissive of the topic, are certainly not conclusive.

Where In the Library is for a general audience, Nellums often speaks pretty clearly for community colleges.
_________________________________________________________________________________

3. Like the Librarian's Commute, The Distant Librarian, is the work of a lone blogger. This blogger writes from Canada and many of the issues he writes about are Canada-centric. For instance, his more recent blog post was about the Calagary mini-maker faire. This suggests that he is interested in hackerspaces and the maker movement -- a rather innovative movement that some libraries are taking part in by setting up hack spaces or maker labs. As with Librarian's Commute, Distant Librarian's post are rather short and the blog is updated every other week or so. As the blog's name and most recent blog post suggests, Distant Librarian is interested in the Internet and new media. The author has posted on social networking, distance learning, and the 6th Canadian Learning Commons Conference.

_________________________________________________________________________________

4. At least in the most recent posts, Librarian by Day is interested in digital literacy.   In her most recent post, On Remixing and Resharing Online – I Do This for the Money, Prestige, and Power. Said No Librarian Ever., Bobbi Newman (who runs the blog solo á la Librarian's Commute and Distant Librarian) discusses issues of Internet authorship.  Where Distant Librarian seems interested in new media and the DIY culture of makers, Newman is interested in issues of attribution and literacy.  Her posts appear to come sporadically sometimes as frequently as three in a week and sometimes with a gap as long as two weeks.  Her posts are short (3 to 5 paragraphs).
_________________________________________________________________________________

5. David Lee King also posts solo.  He appears to update the blog every few days.  As you might imagine, one man with frequent updates tends to write short posts or upload short videos.  His posts are highly link heavy -- in stark contrast to Librarian's Commute.  His link-happiness alone suggests how web-centric his blog is.  A recent post, Starbucks Cards and Libraries -- Would it Work?,
considers free download cards and whether or not libraries could use them to raise awareness of sites like Project Gutenberg.   His blog seems very much about brainstorming ideas and trying to spread them.  He seems interested developing online communities and promoting online resources -- particularly those which are already free (these are the ones that much more easily develop online communities and promote access).
_________________________________________________________________________________

While I enjoy the journalistic quality of In the Library with the Lead Pipe, it does go somewhat against my online reading.  I have a tendency to interface with the web with a short attention span.  Perhaps it's a kind of hyper-link knowledge.  The web offers so much breadth that I find when I'm online, I want to jump from idea to idea.  It would feel more natural to me to read In the Library on an e-reader, so I could find a comfortable seat and hold it in my hands -- perhaps web browsing on a tablet would be very different (I haven't tried it).  This means that for me the shorter posts are easier (as a reaction to this I've chosen to break this post into clear sections separated by lines).  The ones I liked best on my superficial readings are The Librarian's Commute and David Lee King.  I find these sites particularly engaging because of the dialogue each author strikes up with their audience.  I think it makes the most sense to have a blog develop a sense of community.  Both authors seem to suggest their readers think about or try new things and report back.  I didn't really find a particular focus more engaging -- perhaps because each of these sites deals with things I'm interested in or concerned with.
_________________________________________________________________________________

I chose to subscribe to Public Libraries, NYPL Wire, and San Jose Public Library.  While I love academic libraries and the amazing breadth they offer (I just went to Shields at UC Davis yesterday, partly for an assignment, but mostly because I wanted to start reading the Anthology of Concrete Poetry put together by Emmett Williams in the 60s; it's not easily available online or at the public libraries nearby.  I don't have lending privileges, but that just means I have an excuse to explore the library and find interesting places to site and read), the reason I want to become a librarian is because of the public service aspects of the public library.  I chose these, then, because I hoped they'd deal with pertinent public library issues -- I chose San Jose because that's where the SLIS program is; I chose NY Public because it's sort of the benchmark for an urban public library.

On Public Libraries every post, dating back to June, is about ebooks.  The "about" section of their site indicates that their web presence dates back to the 1997; it also indicates a list of libraries who they serve.  Most of the posts seem to be about Amazon.com.  The authors deliver fire and brimstone sermons about the dangers of the e-tailer.  I won't argue that Amazon's goals run counter to many libraries' goals.  It feels a bit like preaching to the choir. 

NYPL Wire is a great, concise blog.  The posts are small blurbs promoting awareness about libraries or library content or upcoming events at NYPL.  Today for "Flashback Friday," they posted the album cover for R.E.M.'s Best of the IRS Years.  It's a kinetic, eye-catching album cover.  There is a small note about how even though R.E.M. has broken up, you can listen to their album.  There is a link to the library's Overdrive account, where you could borrow the album.  By far, the most common posts are quotations from famous authors about how wonderful libraries are.  It's quick, fun, and colorful.

San Jose Public Library appears to have filled my RSS reader with updates on what has entered their catalog -- video recordings, sound recordings electronic resources, etc.  It doesn't appear  to be a blog in any traditional sense -- with the exception that they allow RSS subscriptions.  It's potentially useful to know what resources the library is adding, but it's overwhelming to see every single source.  I'm not entirely sure what the intentions of this RSS subscription are.  I sort of doubt that it is intended for the general public.

Of the three sites, NYPL Wire offers the most best practices of library blogging by far.  It's fun, frequent, and colorful.  Its posts -- like the R.E.M. one -- remind you that libraries are about more than books.  They approach libraries in a playful way, making it seem like hanging out in the library is great fun.  They also do a great job of choosing compelling or intriguing pictures to promote their upcoming events.  I think, if done correctly, an update about what items the library has just added could be quite useful.  It would make more sense though if it could be catered to a patron's interests.  If they tagged authors or genres or formats that they wanted updates about, it would be a lot more useful.  I think what makes a blog successful is an upbeat tone, blurb-like posts, great pictures, and frequent updating.  (Basically, everything this blog isn't.)

In brief: NYPL Wire is a kind of paradise...which reminds me of a wonderful picture a friend took of my wife and I at the Denver Library on our recent trip:

The quotation reads: "I had always imaged paradise as a kind of library -- Jorge Luis Borges"  Apologies for pulling a funky smile.

Facebooking

tag=blogpost week 5

I have accounts on Google+, Facebook, Twitter, ReverbNation, and LinkedIn, but I only use Facebook with any regularity.  Since the inception of social media, I've always been a late adopter and have always been compelled by friends to set up a page.  I've never entered any of these sites with excitement or alacrity.  And it's always taken me a long time to comprehend the usefulness of these sites.  It was just this year (about 6 years after joining) that I started to understand the usefulness of Facebook.  Maybe it took a number of my friends moving out of state, but now I check the news feed as often as I check my email.  Mostly I see it as a great way to keep up with my friends, see what they are up to, and, very occasionally, comment or make a post.  I can count on both hands the number of times I've logged into any of the other social networking sites, and I've never used any of them for business.

This all makes me sound like a disengaged or disinterested observer.  However, I do think that libraries should have social networking presences.  When I think of the goals and purposes of libraries, I immediately begin to see possibilities for social networks that I don't always see for myself.  Libraries are communities (kind of in the way that people will insist that a church isn't a building, but people; I think we can think of libraries in a similar way: they can do little without their patrons).  The bigger their community, the bigger their impact.  Social networking sites can expand that impact so easily.  It's simple to set up an account, to update a page, and many patrons are already online.

If you couple that ready audience with useful services, the library may find their patronage rising.  Facebook can offer some wonderful services too.  With chat and messaging, the library can offer reference services.  Once they land in patrons' newsfeeds, libraries can push interesting, relevant links.  Libraries can post photos of successful programming.  Libraries can keep patrons up to date on upcoming programs -- even sending out invitations.  In their article, "Apps Integrate OPACs with Facebook", Michael Kelley and Meredith Schwart discuss ways to link library OPACs to Facebook pages; patrons can browse the catalog, put books on hold, and pay fines.  If a library can provide all these services on their Facebook page, they can make Facebook a one stop shop for online patrons.  I know that as the Internet grows, I find myself using fewer and fewer pages.  If libraries can link all of their services on the sites their patrons are already going to, they don't even need to entice them to their homepage.  If the Facebook page serves as more than just a portal leading to the libraries "real" website, if the library can serve all of their patrons needs on Facebook (or other social networking sites), then social networks can prove essential components in a library's Internet strategy.

Are blogs old hat?

Tag =blogposting week 4

Blogs are only as effective as you make them.  They can prove a useful tool, but you have to put in the effort.

Updates

In their essay "Podcasting initiatives in American research libraries," James Bierman and Maura L. Valentino survey 112 academic libraries searching for their podcast presence.  They note that most libraries aren't posting regular podcasts.  Irregular updating of social media -- be they podcasts or blogs -- decimates their usefulness.  If you're not posting regularly, patrons aren't going to be inclined to check your site.  If you have no readers, you have no purpose.  The main blogs I read are updated multiple times a day.  That can be an unrealistic commitment for librarians, whose sole duty is rarely drafting blog posts.  Some regularity of posting, though, must be established.

Accessibility

Bierman and Valentino in their study found that podcasts were an average of 2.3 clicks from the homepage.  It's important that whatever social media you employ is easy to find.  If your readers can't fine you, then it doesn't matter how great your content is, no one is going to read it.  Any blogs should be easy to get to from the home page -- ideally they'd be on the homepage as a widget or a prime destination on their own.  If you can't update more than once a week though, it's unlikely patrons are going to be seeking out the blog on its own.  If it's linked with the rest of your web presence, it'll be much more accessible.

Readership

The most important aspect of any blog is its readership.  You have to find a way to get people reading your blog.  Advertising the blog, providing it with a prominent position on your website, and updating it regularly is just the beginning.  These are the common courtesies of blogging.  The success of a blog, then, relies upon meeting the needs of your patrons.

The best blogs have a clear focus.  And this also suggests another difficulty for local library blogs.  The best blogs are often global in reach.  The former 'zine Boing Boing works well as a blog in part because it isn't limited to a regional readership -- there are only so many geek culture aficionados in a given regional area, but nationally and internationally their target audience numbers in the 1000s.  Before starting a blog, then, you should ensure that there is a readership available at all.  If your library serves a large population without regular access to the web, then it doesn't matter how often you update, how easy your blog is to find, how exciting your writing style, or how relevant your posts are, your patrons won't be reading it.

Even though the utility of a local blog may be much more limited, it can still be effective as long as you remember that social software is meant to develop a community.  This means not only finding topics that interest your readers, but also encouraging and promote conversation.  You have to get your readers talking.  That requires a certain level of skill.  What ideas do you have about what makes a blog effective?

References:

Bierman, J. , & Valentino, M. (2011). Podcasting initiatives in american research libraries. Library Hi Tech, 29(2), 349-358.

Zappos & Social Software

tag = Exercise 1

At first I thought about looking at how Coca-Cola uses social media.  But after looking at a few of their tweets and Facebook posts, I found their social media presence to be pretty carefully groomed so as to present a packaged image.  Their facebook page claims to share "stories" of customers, but the posts weren't really stories, so much as carefully selected marketing strategies.  Like this "story":

Perhaps real users sent the picture in, but the message is just "Coke" over and over again.  There wasn't really any substance.  I decided to look instead at Zappos.com, because I've read that they have a particularly strong web presence.

Indeed, the first tweet on Zappos' official feed contained this tiny url linking to an email that CEO Tony Hsieh had just sent his employees: bit.ly/KH5sTm 

To spare you the link jumping, Hsieh informs his employees that Amazon will be overseeing the company's business in Kentucky.  I think it's pretty compelling that the CEO of Zappos shares corporate decisions with his Twitter following.  That's a pretty open way of doing business.  It's definitely still controlled, but unlike Coca-Cola's carefully groomed page which asks people questions like "What gave you your biggest grin today?" that are essentially empty, content-free attempts at looking personal, Zappos feels more off the cuff: more casual, but at the same time more interested in delivering information. 

Furthermore, the context in which the "regular people" of twitter write about Coca-cola is very different than Zappos.  A lot of the tweets containing the word "coke" were jokes about people ordering double cheeseburgers and a diet coke.  And of course there are the inevitable uses of the word "coke" to indicate that other highly addictive substance.  It's makes Twitter scouring even more of a chore than it sounds.

Zappos on the other hand is a fairly unique name, so scouring for Zappos is likelier to return relevant hits.  And they are fairly compelling hits; many discuss (or link to discussions of) Zappos corporate culture.  Here are three tweeters with links to different articles on the web presence of Zappo.

First I followed a link posted on Twitter by Deirdre Breakenridge.

The article Deirdre is linking is found here.  The article itself doesn't have much to say about the individual blogs it's touting.  It's merely an aggregation of a so-called top 40.  But they do provide a link to Zappos' main blog.  I clicked through to check the comment threads.  The first page had 8 blog entries and only one user comment: a thread of vociferous unprompted praise that was entirely unrelated to the content of the blog post.  User Dieuvens171440 said: " I have never seen such a great customer service. I am extremely thrilled about my whole experience with zappos. I have never been so satisfied. From placing the order to talking to the customer representatives,the service exceeded my expectations. I will definitely refer this website to my friends. Thanks!!!"  Page 2 had 8 blog entries, and zero comments (that ratio might look familiar to the reader of this blog).  Page 3 of the Zappos blog is fairly similar to page one.  Most posts have no comments at all.  Of 8 posts, 3 have comments.  One is very similar to Dieuvens171440's post -- an unrelated, all-caps praise fest.  One appears to be poorly translated spamming.  But the third is definitely of interest.  It's starts with a complaint:

There are three things that are important to note here.  First of all, the complaint comes at 3:29 pm and the response comes at 3:31pm of the same day.  Someone is clearly carefully monitoring this blog space.  Second, the response appears to come from an actual person.  The user name is Hannah E. and her avatar appears to be her own picture.  What a humanizing way to clear up a complaint.  Third, Hannah offers the user multiple ways to take care of the problem.  So, while it doesn't look like many people are taking the time to read and comment on the Zappos blog, it is clear that their posts are carefully monitored.  This makes the blog itself look more like another customer service access point (albeit one wrapped in full color advertisements; let's be honest, the blog posts function as little more than product pushing).

This tweet from Jim Stroud caught my eye not so much for its mention of Zappos, but for its mention of Sodexo, who are not traditionally known for social responsibility.  Stroud's hashtag wasn't immediately recognizable to me.  I followed and realized that Stroud was probably live-tweeting in time with the 2012 Premiere Mobile Recruiting Conference.  So, I wasn't able to track down the actual comments about Zappos or Sodexo because the only available video was a live stream.

It's most likely in this case that the mention of the two corporations was merely a way to plug the conference.  This kind of appropriation is obviously commonplace on the Internet, so much so that the Rick-rolling meme can be seen as a parody of it (it's not really a rick-roll if I warn you, but for those of you who are now craving Astely's baritone, I'll oblige).  It is worthwhile to note though that Zappos' name carries enough weight that Stroud thought it might pique the interest of potential conference goers/watchers.  Zappos didn't respond to Stroud here, but it also doesn't seem to be necessary to respond.  Even if this is an appropriation, it mentions the company in good terms.  If anything, it shows the weight that the company name carries.

Finally, retailgeek linked an article about Zappos' use of Pintrest.

The article is rather short and can be found here.  But the salient morsel of the article is that Zappos is trolling Pintrest and suggesting products to users based on what they've pinned to the site.  Zappos actually has a page dedicated to this process called PinPointing.

From sending out corporate emails via Twitter to translating their users Pintrest desires into product reality, Zappos is clearly using social media in an innovative, proactive way.  The fact that regular Twitter users were posting about Zappos Pintrest presence (retailgeek wasn't the only user to point to this article) shows that Zappos is engaging people in corporate conversations.  This is very different from the careful grooming of Coca-cola where the message is essentially "Coke: drink it."  Zappos has interested its customers in its corporate processes.  It's clearly an effective strategy because the conversations are about so much more than shoes.  This is important for the e-tailer because they don't even produce the goods they hawk.  If they get people fired up about the process and the customer service, they can more readily build up a grassroots following. 

There are definitely strategic takeaways for libraries in this too.  An open, frank conversation about library processes on an official Twitter page could make patrons feel more engaged in the everyday decisions of their local library.  I might not personally be comfortable scouring Pintrest and recommending books and websites without an invitation, but there may be something of use there too.  Unasked for reader advisory might be the wave of the future or it might not, but certainly Pintrest can be used to determine the needs and desires of your patrons.  This in turn could lead to programming, book selection, or outreach opportunities.

What should librarians be doing to manage their brand?

Tag: blogpostwk3

The web offers unique ways for libraries to connect with users and thus manage their image or brand.  As Aaron Tay, Senior Librarian at National University of Singapore points out in his blog Musings about librarianship, scanning Twitter, Facebook, and Google can help you provide even better service to customers.  He notes a number of occasions in which unhappy library patrons took to the interwebs to voice their displeasure.  By scanning for mentions of the library, Tay was able to resolve the situations -- even when the users weren't directing their comments to the library's Twitter page. 

Tay's experience highlights an important point: many negative comments never filter down to an organization itself.  I know that often when I'm angry about poor customer service, I'll grin and bear it as it's occurring and then rant for two weeks to all of my friends about how terrible my experience was.  Twitter and Facebook offer larger platforms for such rants.  If, by scanning, libraries can amend for or workaround people's unpleasant experiences, they can repair damage done.  And if they proactively offer great virtual services that can present an impressive brand.

Another important lesson can be learned from poor brand management.  In 5 Social Media Disasters, Sebastian Barros writes about Honda execs posting positive comments about their own products in an attempt to manipulate public perception or -- even more underhandedly -- a Belkin employee paying people for positive reviews.  The best lesson to be learned here for librarians is that the activities that fall under "management of your brand" should be drawn from the same list as your best service offerings.  Tay's scanning of Twitter leads to what librarians might just think of as follow up.  He notes that patrons haven't received the service they were hoping for and he makes adjustments.  This is already a practice we're taught is necessary for great service.  He's merely taken a best practice and applied it more broadly.

Instead of trying to color public perception through sly manipulation, librarians should be looking for ways to offer the best of their services on the web and to engage patrons in conversation.  By offering the best possible service in all places -- the library or the cyberary -- we send the best possible branding message: our brand is service.

Is it important for libraries to employ social software?

Tag=Blogpostwk1

Web 2.0 is obviously about technology.  But that's not why libraries should be interested in it.  The more I hear the terms Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 thrown around, the more I start to wonder if the proponents even know what they are talking about.  Simply touting technology without an eye to what you hope to do with it can have you looking like the parody of Hewlett Packard in a recent Onion video.

 

But Web 2.0 social software tools can be incredibly useful.  There are many important reasons that libraries should be adept with social tools.  For one thing if librarians go where their patrons or potential patrons are, they will find new marketing opportunities.  Meeting Millennials at Facebook, Reddit, or Pintrest can paint librarians as approachable and interested in the kinds of sites that potential patrons are using.  Approachability and interest happen to be two of RUSA's categories for effective reference services.  And certainly once libraries have a presence on these sites, they can offer innovative ways of providing services such as reference.  For instance offering chats with reference librarians on Facebook, tapping the easy user participation of blogging sites like Tumblr, or creating a library wiki with entries about programming, services, collections, reference, etc.  

Furthermore, in my experience, as the Internet grows, my exploration of it shrinks.  I've noticed that over the last couple of years that I tend to tread the ground of only a handful of websites.  My RSS reader means I don't have to stray too far into the jungles of the Internet.  I only need to check my Gmail, my Google Reader, and my Facebook page to get many of the updates I'm interested in.  It wasn't until I started to really cultivate my interest in libraries that I began to look at library webpages.  If my use is exemplary at all, meeting patrons where they are may be the only way to bring many of them to library webpages.  Furthermore, librarians can employ their skills to trailblaze the web.  Librarians have long been leaders in aggregation: finding sources and contextualizing them.  The web is certainly a shaggy world in need of such aggregation and social software offers intuitive and easy access points both for the trailblazers and users.  Social software tools mean that librarians don't need web programming skills to curate the web.  And our users don't need to scour the web far and wide to find our information -- we can link it to them where they already are Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr,  via RSS feeds, etc.

But the biggest reason that Web 2.0 has received so much hype is that it creates a level playing field.  Anyone -- not just programming gurus -- can create content with 2.0 tools. Take for example the difference between Lead, South Dakota's Phoebe Hearst Library webpage and their Facebook presence.  (after the jump)

Do you have what it takes?

According to SDCCD I do.  I scored a 45 out of ?? and was given a message indicating that I was prepared for online courses.  I feel pretty comfortable with the technology and am pretty confident that I'm proactive, independent, and determined enough.  I was worried that online courses would feel isolating, but so far that's not the case at all.  (I spent two years writing a dissertation and already feel less isolated - and have gotten feedback much more promptly -  than I did during that entire process and the semester hasn't even officially started yet). 

I'll be curious to see how group work feels.  I think having watched the two presentations (especially Dr. Haycock's) should help us all.  Now we can identify when we're in the forming and storming stages and try to skip to the performing.  (The whole online element should help too.  Not being able to comment on our ironic T-Shirt designs and recent hairstyles - it was haircut day for me today - should cut down a little on the lengthy forming/storming stages).  What are your fears about distance learning?  Do you fear isolation or difficulty collaborating?  What are some early guidelines you want to throw down for your first group?  Plentiful Coke Zero and the Replacement's Let it Be blasting in the background?  Or are you more of a Smiths fan?

I've already started a folder on my desktop for LIBR 203 with subfolders for each unit.  I think knowing that having our files cleanly organized will help us create the final portfolio was a really good motivator for setting up a clean organization system.  I'm not much of a calendar person by nature; I usually just go where my wife tells me to (occasionally with good humored color commentary), so I'll see if I can make that adjustment.  I think I may be well suited to courses like this, where everything is laid out and I can work at my own breakneck pace.  Please tell me there are one or two other courses like this out there?

What's it all for?

I've wondered on a number of occasions what the best use for a blog is.  I've tried my hand a few times.  What I knew I didn't want to do was update my personal life journal-style for the whole world to see.  I'm not that exciting and there's a reason diaries come with locks on them. 

My first blog had two posts - each, in essence, an essay.  They were short essays: one considered the relative merits (minor as they are) of a Natasha Bedingfield song that was pulled from the U.S. release of her sophomore album (my inner librarian was probably seething at what I perceived as a form of censorship), the other was about a song by Public Image Ltd.  But even short essays in the blog format felt like a slog to read.  The one thing Twitter understands about online reading is that pithy is often better just because it's more digestible.

My second blog attempt was to riffle through my record collection alphabetically and post short (though far more than 140 character) reviews for each album.  I think I was hoping for a Julie/Julia miracle with music writing.  But after 21 posts, I hung up my blogging shoes.  I didn't (don't) know how to garner a following.  If you aren't writing to a community on the internet, you're writing love letters to the abyss.  I like the abyss as much as the next anonymous internet user, but it can feel exhausting - like you're spinning your wheels.

So what makes good blogs successful? [Seriously, I'm asking.  Post a comment and let me know what you think.]  One of my all time favorites was Carrie Brownstein's blog for NPR called Monitor Mix.  (It's defunct now b/c she has Wild Flag and Portlandia to keep her busy.)  What I liked about that blog was how she often threw out questions to illicit response.  Of course blogging for NPR means you have a kind of built in community.  NPR's done the grassroots audience building for you.  Plus Brownstein was already famous as the guitar player in Sleater Kinney.  That means it's difficult to follow her model.  Although, trying to make the blog about dialogue instead of soliloquy is commendable and repeatable.

The Living Brick is a blog that I think works well.  Each post is a Lego creation that the proprietor has either made himself or found in the vastness of the seedy Lego underworld.  Posts are beyond pithy, but more importantly the posts are always centered around a picture.  The same holds for Strange Maps.  Each entry is centered around a map.  And even though the actual posts are essays (complete with foot notes).  The artifact at the center is so special that it's a joy to read long winded prose.  Perhaps one aspect of a good blog is that it curates something you are interested in, but not likely to find sitting on a shelf in your living room.

The final model I want to discuss is Friends with Boys.  Friends with Boys is a graphic novel by Canadian artist Faith Erin Hicks.  It's set to publish later this winter, but first she's serializing it via the web, with blogish commentary.  The serial nature of blogging is a perfect venue for a comic - comics were originally serial to begin with.  And the running commentary offers wonderful insight into the creative process - great use of blog.

What are great uses of blogging you've found?  What are some of your favorites?