PVLD Director's Blog

Comments on Library 2.0

Thanks Jeff Scott of Gather No Dust and Helene Blowers of Library Bytes for their comments on my post about their recent posts about Library 2.0.  Both Jeff and Helene pointed out that we need to take a two-pronged approach - continuing to use our traditional service models while developing new "Library 2.0" models.  I agree with this as a practical way to meet the dilemma of serving our current array of users some of whom grew up and feel comfortable with traditional library service models and others who are increasingly used to getting their information, and living much of their lives, on what has been called the "social web". 

As a 40-something who went to library school back in the early 80s (when we accessed the new online services like Dialog by dialing a number and then placing the receiver of the phone into the modem, and when the public library I worked in still had a card catalog and checked out books by hand) but is trying to learn to swim in this new world of information I personally feel the dilemma!  I do worry, though, about how difficult it will be to know when to let go of an old way of the old way of doing things and fully embrace the new.  I wrote a few days ago about Joan Frye Williams' comments about the difficulty of letting go of the old, and I know how right she is.  It feels a bit like some of our old models are like training wheels.  Useful now....but irrelevent at some point in the future.  The challenge will be to know when we take them off.

Of orange juice and information – or how to lose control by trying too hard to maintain it!

This morning I was on an early morning flight to Sacramento for the California Library Association Legislative Committee meeting and took the opportunity to pick up reading Everything Is Miscellaneous where I had left off a couple of weeks ago. Shortly after takeoff the flight attendant served me a cup of orange juice along with a little napkin. I set the orange juice down on the napkin on the tray for the empty middle seat next to me, and realized the napkin had folded over, tilting the cup. When I picked the cup up to unfold the napkin some of the juice splashed out and onto the tray, my jacket, the empty seat, and the very nice woman in the window seat. Embarrassed, I set the cup down on the now flat napkin, got some more napkins from the flight attendant, wiped up the mess, and picked the cup up again carefully. When I lifted the cup the napkin was stuck to it, and the bottom of the napkin must have gotten stuck to some of the previously spilled juice and somehow (I'm not sure how!) that caused me to tip over the cup. More juice splashed everywhere it had splashed before. The flight attendant brought some paper towels, we wiped everything up, and I apologized profusely to my fellow passenger in the window seat. I gave myself a few seconds to de-stress, and then VERY carefully picked up the now ½ empty cup of juice. This time the cup slipped out of my hand and flew towards the window, emptying the entire remaining contents over my seatmate. She was very nice about it, but I was mortified.

Coincidentally immediately before and after the orange juice incident I was reading a section of Everything is Miscellaneous called "The Conundrum of Control" in which the author, David Weinberger, was talking about how the organization of information is becoming a social act, rather than the purview of "authoritative" organizations and institutions whose commercial and/or societal value is derived from their ability to control how information content is organized and made available. Weinberger uses the example of the Multiple Listing Service of the National Association of Realtors, which has historically protected the commissions of realtors by controlling who was able to list properties for sale and locking discount brokers out of the MLS. That model has been blown out of the water with the advent of websites like PropSmart.com and Zillow.com which make real estate listings readily available and allow potential buyers to sort the listings in the ways that best suit their needs – for example by distance from schools or crime safety statistics.  There is no need for a broker unless the property someone ultimately wants to buy has been listed by one, at which point the broker's role is merely to facilitate the transaction. It's hard to justify a 6% commission when you have done very little work to make the sale! The traditional real estate industry is fighting back hard, but it is hard to see any viable response to the threat short of a radically different and as yet unidentified business model.

Weinberger then goes on to contrast Wikipedia, the user-created online encyclopedia, with the Encyclopedia Britannica. He notes that Britannica gets its authority directly from what he terms its "grip on knowledge", touting the Nobel laureates and other experts who contribute articles and serve on its editorial board. It is that control of its content that in the past enabled it to sell encyclopedias for $1,000 or more a set. Wikipedia, on the other hand, has "no official editors, no well-regulated editorial process, no controls on when an article is judged to be ready for publication. Its authors need not have any credentials at all. In fact, the authors don't even need to have a name." Despite this Wikipedia is one of the most used information sources on the Internet, and its contents are increasingly viewed as reputable by those in a position to judge. In fact, a study reported in the journal Nature found that science articles in Britannica and Wikipedia are roughly equal in their accuracy.

Weinberger relates a fascinating anecdote about how for four months in 2005 Wikipedia contained an article that respected print journalist and editor John Seigenthaler was implicated in the assassinations of both John and Robert Kennedy. As soon as Seignethaler discovered the vicious lie and told a friend about it, the friend corrected the Wikipedia entry. In response Wikipedia changed its rules so to require that anyone initiating new articles register with the service, although unregistered users can continue to edit existing entries. This was widely reported as a victory for those who take the view that real knowledge is the purview of recognized experts. But, as Weinberger points out, that change actually increased the anonymity of Wikipedia. To register at Wikipedia you need to make up a username (Weinberger calls it a nickname) and a password. That is the only information Wikipedia knows about its registered users and it cannot identify them further, while for unregistered users the site at least notes the unique Internet Protocol address of the computer being used.  As Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia's founder, says "We care about pseudoidentity, not identity. The fact that a certain user has a persistent pseudoidentity over time allows us to guage the quality of that user without having any idea who it really is." To quote Weinberger "At Wikipedia, credibility isn't about an author's credentials; it's about an author's contributions." Wikipedia's goal is to harness the input of anyone who is interested to ultimately provide neutral information, free of bias. Because anyone can weigh in on what is the "truth" about a given subject, it is the back and forth between contributors that ultimately results in content that has been burnished to the point that it stands as neutral….and credible.

So what's all of this got to do with my spilled orange juice?

This morning, it seemed that the harder I tried to control that darned cup of juice the worse the ensuing spill. At the National Association of Realtors, efforts to fight the creation of web-based information sources that empower buyers and sellers to bypass the traditional role of the broker are met with the multiplication of sites such as Zillow that have found the ubiquitous and miscellaneous information on the Internet fertile ground for new business models that dramatically devalue the traditional role of the real estate broker. At Wikipedia efforts to return control of content to known and reputable experts had the unintended consequence of doing the opposite…and Wikipedia's popularity continues to grow while the traditional encyclopedias like Britannica seem to be losing their struggle to maintain relevance and commercial value.

Digital technology is enabling a fundamental shift in power…from individual "experts" to collectively-generated knowledge, and from authoritative institutions (encyclopedias, newspapers, the multiple listing service, and yes libraries) that control how information is organized and presented to a sea of miscellaneous information that individuals can organize and display to meet their unique needs at a given point in time. As a profession librarians are engaging in a great and important debate about what all of this means for us, our institutions, and our communities. The lesson I took from this morning's spilled orange juice and from my morning reading is that if we struggle to resist or control the power shift we may very well die trying - just as the more I tried to control my cup of juice the more I spilled. I love to bodysurf and long ago learned that in the face of a big wave it is safer to immerse yourself in it and let it take you where it will than to try to stand your ground. I think we need to do the same with the wave of change that is engulfing us now.  This means being willing to give up control, experimenting with ways to empower users to organize (and even create!)information for themselves, recognizing that we don't know exactly where the wave will take us, and relaxing and enjoying the ride!

Library 2.0 - again!

This was on the "Gather No Dust" blog today - http://gathernodust.blogspot.com/

http://gathernodust.blogspot.com/2007/09/so-what-would-20-library-look-like.html

I loved the ideas for how to put control into the hands of our customers!

In a similar vein Helene Blowers of the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenberg County passed on an great comment about the learning libraries at http://www.librarybytes.com/2007/09/more-thoughts-on-learning-libraries.html

Yesterday at our Peninsula Center Library Advisory Committee ( a group of community members interested in the library)  One of the committee members, a retired librarian, made an eloquent plea for us not to abandon the systems and structures (her example was the structure of a catalog that can be searched very much like a traditional card catalog) that older adults are familiar with.  This generated an enrgetic energetic discussion about the challenge of serving the needs, skills, and learning/information seeking behaviors of our older community members  vs the very different needs and behviors of other groups such as kids and teens.  In this context I particularly appreciated the comment from Helene:

"A learning library should empower users to achieve their goals, not provide libraries with a means to push forward our own personal objectives (and yes, admit it... every organization has personal objectives that sometimes counter customer's needs - it's only natural).

I think the challenge here for many us in libraries is to realize that when we can abandon our own personal agendas in favor of our user's needs (and put them first at the top of the pyramid), we not only make our libraries more valuable to our community, but we also create a cascading effect that saturates the insecurities that drove those personal agendas in the first place.

BTW: The pyramid I see here is inverted with users filling up the the top plateau and library staff at the tiny pointed base, supporting this huge community through a flexible and adaptable balancing act that allows everyone to achieve success."

Now there's a challenge!

More on Change

Thank you Joan Frye Williams for your comment on my post on change. Joan points out that in their podcast she and George were focusing not on adding new activities and services but on the difficulty of getting people to let go of things "with which they are familiar, comfortable, and confident". I guess the fact that I missed this point proves that I am truly a visual learner who has difficulty absorbing information if it is presented only verbally – and then I compound the problem because I can't just sit and listen - I have to be doing other things at the same time.

Anyway, I think the point is well taken and I agree with Joan and George that it is more difficult to get people to leave behind something they are currently doing than to get them to add something new. As Joan wrote in her comment, "adding new offerings, unless resources are very short, seems to go much more smoothly than subtracting or retiring formerly "best" practices."

I had a recent reminder of this with our Circulation Department at the Peninsula Center Library. Last week we transferred responsibility for signing people up to use our always popular study rooms from the Reference Desk to the Circulation Desk. While there have been a few minor hiccups, and the Circulation staff has identified opportunities to improve procedures, overall the transition has been smooth and the Circulation staff members have accepted the added responsibility willingly. Within a few days of this change I had a conversation with the Manager and Assistant Manager of the department about how we handle items placed on hold for customers. As background, at least 4 years ago (before my time!), PVLD moved to "self-service" holds. When an item is placed on hold for a customer it is labeled with their last name and placed on publicly accessible shelves. The customer can come into the library, pick up the item that is being held for them, and take it either to the self-checkout machine or the Circulation Desk to check it out. While there are occasional glitches, the system largely works well and the feedback I get is that customers like it. A couple of years ago during a staff workshop the Circulation staff asked if we could move the holds back behind the Circulation Desk. Rather than just saying no, we formed a team of Circulation employees who evaluated the entire holds process, conducted customer surveys, and based on the data recommended that we retain the self-service holds. When I was talking with Eve and Melissa last week they said the Circulation staff had asked again whether the holds could be moved behind the desk! Old, comfortable practices sometimes die lingering deaths…especially when the original change was mandated from above.

That said, my experience is that letting go of any particular practice is usually part of a broader cultural change within the organization, and cultural change is evolutionary and adaptive. The old culture never entirely disappears (witness the persistence of ancient pagan celebrations and symbols as reflected in 21^st century Christianity!) but new elements are added or old elements are adapted over time. As with any evolutionary process change takes time, and some new elements fail to take root. To me, the fact that PVLD staff have been willing to initiate and embrace new programs and services, even if we haven't always been as good at letting go of old ones, is a sign that overall our culture is changing for the better. I also see many instances where in fact we have been letting go of old traditions and ways of doing things - some of which I have blogged about in previous posts. The key has been that many of the changes we have made have come originated from the staff.

So…I agree with Joan and George on the basic point that letting go of the old and familiar is harder than adding something new and exciting, but I'm not too worried about it. I think that as long as our PVLD staff continues to be open to new ideas, willing to try new ways of doing things, and willing to view things through the eyes of our customers and our community they will also be able to identify and accept the times when we need to let go of the things that no longer work for us. The changes may not always play out exactly as I would have mandated, but they usually turn out better than I hoped!

I guess what I originally reacted to in George and Joan's podcast was the implication that there is some kind of "change model" that dictates how people will react to change – whether it is doing something new or abandoning something old. In a previous life I was heavily involved in Organizational Development, so I know the temptation to try to find a model or theory that can be used to predict behavior. The problem is that I seem to have lost my faith in models! Organizations and the people in them are complex, and like snowflakes no two are alike. Often the ability to implement change depends on unique and non-replicable interactions between a large number of variables including the personalities and backgrounds of the people within the organization, the leadership style that is brought to bear, the external environment, etc. etc. etc. Do I agree that in some organizations in some circumstances people will react to change as if they were reacting to pirates storming the ship? Of course. Do I believe that this is some kind of normal, predictable human reaction? No way!

Web 2.0 – from knowledge to understanding

I've been intrigued me for some time with Web 2.0 -- the interactive, "social" web -- and its impact on libraries. To date, however, my interest has been at an intellectual level, and apart from this blog and my devotion to Bloglines and RSS, my knowledge has been based more on what I have read and observed than on actual participation. This weekend I had a couple of experiences that took me from "I know I should pay attention to this stuff" to "I actually get it" at an emotional level.

First, I finally got around to signing up for Facebook. I did it because I had read some blog postings and articles about how libraries are using Facebook to reach out to new users and to deliver library services (e.g. virtual reference, links to the catalog, etc.). I'd tried to have a MySpace page before, but found it unrewarding.  With Facebook I quickly discovered is that it is going to be a fabulous way to stay in touch with family and friends. As soon as I set up my account up popped a list of people from my contact list who are already on Facebook, and a prompt asking me if I want to invite them to be my Friend. Among them was my niece, Rachel, who just started college and is living away from home for the first time. I've sent her a couple of emails to see how she is doing, and got either a cryptic response or none at all. On her Facebook page I was able to learn about some of the classes she is taking, and exchange messages using her "wall"…a much more rewarding way of staying in touch! Rachel must have let my sister know I was on Facebook, because the next day I got a Friend request from her…and through that connection was able to add my kid brother as a Friend. Jonathan is terrible about staying in touch through phone and email, but since he is a budding technology entrepreneur and already had a Facebook page I know that Facebook is going to be a great way for us to stay connected.

Then on Saturday my husband saw a news headline on our shared "My Yahoo" home page about a major fire in Tasmania, where we lived for two years. He was disappointed in the online news coverage, and then decided to check YouTube. Sure enough, there were already at least a ½ dozen video clips about the fire, with real time commentary. It was almost like being there.

For me Web 2.0 and social networking have gone from being important things to track professionally, to tools that are making a real difference in my ability to maintain connections with people and places I care about. I believe more than ever that libraries need to understand the power of these technologies and the way in which they are transforming the way people connect with one another. At PVLD we say we are "Connecting People, Information, and Ideas" – we need to understand and use the power Web 2.0 as a fundamental part of achieving this.

Value Without Involvement

I am at a conference for volunteer leaders in Chambers of Commerce today thanks to my position on the PV Chamber of Commerce board.

Some of the information is specific to Chambers but there have been some nuggets that are more widely applicable.

One of the issues the Peninsula Friends of the Library has been dealing with is the issue of whether they are fundamentally a fundraising organization or a volunteer organization. The question came up when the Friends were developing their new membership brochure. The old brochure had lots of information about volunteering. The question was raised as to whether this was discouraging people from joining as it implied you not only have to give money, you have to give time. In the end the Friends decided to remove the volunteer information from the brochure.

That's why I was interested to hear that Chambers of Commerce, which also rely heavily on volunteers to get the work done, wrestle with the same issue. The advice from one of today's presenters -

"members want value WITHOUT involvement"

In a world where time has more value than money we need to be making sure we deliver great value without expecting people to contribute their time. The old saying "you get out what you put in" needs to be re-thought in the context that people are putting in money and expect value for that investment and are likely unwilling and/or unable to put in time.

As our Friends of the Library continue to transform themselves into major fundraising organization one of the questions will be what value are we giving people for their membership and donation funds. The more value we give, the more we will get!

Volunteering will always be the engine that drives the Friends but we need to recognize that members/donors are not the same as volunteers and we need to find ways to reward the contributions of both.

Change

I took a few minutes this afternoon to listen to the latest Joan Fry Williams and George Needham podcast – this one on "change" - 09-19-07_gandj3.mp3

Joan started the discussion by comparing the new leader who comes into an organization with a goal of making changes as like a pirate boarding party – likely to be greeted with fierce resistance. The rest of the podcast seemed premised on the generalization that organizations can be divided into two camps – those driving change and those resisting it...and that furthermore wherever there are drivers of change there are resistors. As I listened I got increasingly uncomfortable with this generalization – largely because my experience here at PVLD has been so different.

When I look back over the past 3 ½ years I am amazed at how much change has occurred – and how, with very few exceptions, employees have either taken the lead to implement change, have embraced the changes as they have happened, or at worst have willingly taken part in implementing changes in their work area. Just in the past couple of months we have –

• Rolled out our new Intranet, trained all employees in its use, and began loading it up with information
• Introduced a new "At the Branches" blog
• Selected our new Integrated Library System and begun implementation
• Upgraded all employee computers to Office 2007
• Shifted the study room reservation process from the Reference Desk to the Circulation Desk
• Rolled out a new Young Readers staffing model that has our Young Readers Librarians moving between the branches instead of being assigned to a single location
• Begun making changes to how our Branch collections are developed and organized
• Introduced our new OWL (Older Wiser Livelier adults) programs at the Annex
• Designed a new "Books by Mail" service for the homebound
• And I'm sure more that I can't even think of right now!

Some of these changes came from our strategic plan and many were initiated by employees. All have been implemented with good will on the part of employees.

While there have certainly been hiccups along the way, and we are still on a learning curve with some of the changes, after listening to Joan and George I feel more privileged than usual to work with the PVLD staff. They are really amazing!

One of those weeks

It's been one of those weeks – you know, the ones that prove Murphy's law. I've had strange little problems with everything from the kitchen sink (I'm not kidding!) to my computer, and so many meetings and appointments that I hardly have time to take a breath. That's why I loved this little reminder that I saw in someone's blog (apologies – I don't even remember where I saw it…as I said it's been one of those weeks). Apparently this is part of a public art project to put creative instruction signs in subway cars. I think I might have to make a print out for my office wall!

Ahoy There Mateys!

PVLD celebrated international Talk Like a Pirate Day today. The idea to celebrate originated from the Malaga Cove and Miraleste libraries and they had the biggest celebrations with staff in costume, games and prizes, and lots of nautical language. The pirate theme was less obvious at Peninsula Center, but still had pirate-themed story time and at least one piratical librarian. Thanks Jennifer Addington and branch staff for coming up with this idea. We hope the idea will catch on and more people will participate next year..and hopefully my day won't be so full of meetings outside the library that I can join in the fun! Stay tuned for Tattoo Day – coming soon!

Here are Branch Operations Manager Jennifer Addington and Young Readers Assistant Manager Kathy Buchsbaum –

Happy Birthday to the Annex!

Annex Birthday Party - big crowds
Originally uploaded by pvldteens.

It's hard to believe that a year has passed since the Annex opened! Yesterday the Annex staff celebrated with a birthday party - and I got the following email from Ali Orr last night -

"FYI today’s Annex Birthday Party was a huge success. We had 61 attendees! They ate 10 pizzas, played lots of games, 4 of them won cool prizes and (the best part of all) they even helped us clean up the popcorn which was *everywhere*. There were two boys who wanted to use the vacuum. We had to have them alternate so they both got to do it!

We also had quite a few new patrons – I would estimate around 10-12. I talked to a few parents who were quite excited to learn about the Annex and 3 seniors who said they had heard about the Annex and wanted to check it out. (Of course, I encouraged them to come back tomorrow morning for the OWL event.) "

As you can see from Ali's email older adults also think the Annex is cool! Today we are having our third event for OWLs (Older Wiser Livelier adults) at the Annex.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to making the Annex a success - especially the Peninsula Friends of the Library for providing funding and being willing to take the risk of a new venture, our partner Freedom4U who does such a great job of running the Annex on the weekends, the Annex staff past and present (Ali, Justin, Kristen, Kali, Ji, and Melanie), the Facilities staff for not only doing the construction work to create this fabulous space but also keeping it clean, and the Adult Services staff who have created the OWL program (especially Debra and Louise). THANK YOU!