Saturday, September 29, 2012

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.

Friday, September 21, 2012

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).
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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.
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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.

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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 รก 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).
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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).
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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.
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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.









Sunday, September 16, 2012

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.

Friday, September 14, 2012

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:

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.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

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.