PVLD Director's Blog

From the "world wide web" to a "web of one"?

This TED talk by Eli Pariser is a scary view is happening as the role of filtering information shifts from humans to algorithms:

Librarians have long played the role of "information curators", helping ensure that our communities have access to a balanced and broad array of information.  The question now is "What does that mean in a world of filter bubbles?"

To me it means -

• Continuing to fight like hell to maintain our place in the school/education community where we can help give future generations the skills to navigate and evaluate the sea of information bubbles in which they will be swimming.
• Find a way to embed ourselves into the commercial entities that are developing the algorithms that determine who finds what so we can nudge that development in ways that foster transparency and a diversity of viewpoints.
•   Become the creators of algorithms - offer something better, without a commercial agenda.

None of these pathways are easy, and they require skills that we may not have today...but what an opportunity to cement ourselves into the foundations of the new digital infrastructure.

Getting the best answers

A couple of days ago the Fast Company blog posted this article about the relaunch of Ask.com.  In its new incarnation people will be able to post questions and Ask.com will crawl the web to compile answers from other sites that connect questioners with human "experts", like Yahoo Answers.  If no good match can be found on the web the question will posted for response by any member of the Ask.com community.

Leaving aside the issue of how a questioner would verify the qualifications of the human responders, I thought this statement was particularly telling -

"Ask.com can't compete with Google on sheer algorithmic muscle; nobody can, really. But there are chinks in Google's armor, chinks Google itself is perfectly aware of. Google knows that curated answers can often be more useful..." [emphasis mine]

Librarians may not be experts in a particular specialized field of knowledge per se they are experts in finding, validating, and curating information.  Curating answers is a large part of what we currently do, and maybe an even larger part of our professional self-identity. 

The challenge is that to date, at least as far as public libraries are concerned, we mostly provide those curated answers to people who walk through our doors, or maybe call us on the phone.  A number of libraries, PVLD included, have experimented with other channels such as websites ("Ask A Librarian"), instant messaging/chat, and text messaging but everything I have seen or read indicates that the volume of questions through these channels is a very small proportion of the total questions that we answer.  Not to mention that the total questions answered is on a long-term downward trend.

It seems to me that if libraries and librarians want to hold on to providing curated answers as a key part of our value proposition and professional identitiy we nee to establish ourselves on the Web as a trusted source of answers, something we have not managed to do after many years of trying.  Ask.com says that it has 90 million visitors monthly...that is nearly 3x the total number of reference questions answered by California libraries of all types through all channels in a year!  And what about the people who go to Yahoo Answers, ChaCha or other online sources of curated answers.

What would it take to get even 10% of the people who use commercial "answer" sites to turn to libraries instead?  Some of the things that come to my mind -

• A single web-based portal for all libraries (or at least all public libraries) designed by people with real consumer user interface experience, not librarians (we tend all too often to design things the way we think they should work!) and that can be easily accessed by mobile devices, tablet computers, etc. as well as traditional computers. This probably also means development of apps for a variety of platforms as well.
• Effective use of search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to ensure that when someone searches Google, Bing, or any other search engine the library website is near the top of the list. This probably requires employing SEO experts on an ongoing basis.
• Investment in consumer marketing including web advertising (such as becoming a "sponsored link" on Google), as well as in other forms of advertising and marketing.
• A way of harnessing the collective knowledge and skills of librarians across time zones to provide extremely prompt, succinct and high quality answers (actual answers, not bibliographies and references to where to find information!) to questions as soon as they are posted...live and in real time.

In other words, it will require a significant investment of hard cash and time, the engagement of a whole set of non-librarian professional skills (e.g. user interface design, app design, SEO, consumer marketing) and a level of collaboration (even to agree on the design of the system) that is rare. 

Is it possible?  Maybe.  Should we hang our hats on a future where providing answers remains at the core of our value proposition?  I'm not so sure....

21st Century Literacies

Thank you to Helene Blower of LibraryBytes for pointing me to this thought-provoking video of social media educator Howard Rheingold talking about 21st century literacies.  My past couple of blog posts talked about the challengethat people who don't have basic computer skills face in navigating our increasingly digital world.  Mr. Rheingold talks about how the challenge goes beyond skills to literacies, which he defines as the coupling of skills with using them in a meaningful way within a community.    

The video iteself is about 45 minutes long,  but for those who are interested in this subject it is a worthwhile investment of time.  In the library realm we have tended to focus on what we call "information literacy", and what Mr. Rheingold calls critical consumption or "crap detection", as the key 21st century literacy. This is certainly important, but I was intrigued by the other literacies identified in the video - 

• Attention - in a world of multitasking and myriad distractions, how do we make judgements about what to pay attention to?
• Participation - how do we use technology and social media to participate in the wider community
• Cooperation - how do we use technology and social media to engage others?
• Network awareness - how do we identify/build/participate in networks and recognize how our social media actions are transmitted via networks?

With regard to the "attention" literacy I was particularly struck by Mr. Rheingold's comment that the world of social media is "not a queue, it's a flow" - that unlike the world of email and other "point to point" messages which can be processed serially and need to be managed, the world of social media demands that we accept that we will not view or receive every message, and that we need to learn how to "sample" and perform a form of triage so that we get a feel for what is happening and respond to the important stuff without getting bogged down.  This is definitely an area where I am only semi-literate!

Mr. Rheingold questions whether the traditional educational environment is, or even can be, the place for developing these literacies...which of course made me wonder whether/if libraries could play a role.  Given that we struggle to be recognized even as a resource for the information literacy/critical consumption literacy that we see as core to our mission and have not yet come to grips with how to effectively help people build even basic computer skillsand comfort levels  I'm not sure how - but its something I want to spend some time thinking about.  It seems to me that starting with encouraging/helping our staff to gain these literacies is a starting point, though.

Anyway - here's the video (if it doesn't display click here for a link)

(and if you want to dive a little deeper into how to become an effective "crap detector" I recommend this article)

 

More on bridging the digital divide

My two last blog posts about our increasingly digital world, and the challenge of serving both "digital natives" and people who may have limited ability and/or interest in carrying out their affairs digitally seems to have struck a chord judging by the thoughtful comments on the blog, the emails from colleagues both within and outside PVLD, and the verbal comments I have received.

I got a long and thoughtful email from Genesis Hansen of the Newport Beach Public Library (which in many ways is the California library most like PVLD) outlining the ways they have tried to meet the challenge of serving their less computer-savvy customers, including re-introducing "snail mail" notifications when they abandoned their telephone notification system.

Genesis concludes her email with the following -

"...Which brings me back to the idea that for many of our customers, it might be better to offer a service that is geared towards “let me help you accomplish a specific task” rather than “let me teach you how to do it yourself.” There’s a significant portion of our user base for whom the second option is just not a realistic goal. And I think you are right that this type of help or training doesn’t require an MLS – I don’t think that’s the best use of our resources. Our local senior center has a computer club, and I’m thinking of ways that we can connect them with some of our customers who need a lot of hand-holding – I think it’s actually really possible that we could make this work on a volunteer basis, where we provide the facilities and schedule the appointments, but the actual training is done by tech-savvy volunteers. It’s one possibility, anyway…

And on a lighter note, my 89-year-old grandfather is on Facebook – he hasn’t really taken to it the way he took to email, but I love his attitude and willingness to try new things. He plays around on his computer and gets himself stuck sometimes, but it doesn’t stop him from trying to learn. He and his golf buddies go online to set up their tee-times, send each other dirty jokes and track their stock portfolios. He’s found a way to use the computer and internet to enhance his life and make it easier to accomplish some things he’d be doing anyway, and I think that’s so cool!"

Over the weekend I also saw a couple of newspaper articles that made it clear that libraries are not the only organizations struggling with how to take advantage of the efficiencies and benefits of the digital era offers without alienating customers who are not comfortable in this new world.

Sunday's New York Times had this article about T-Mobile's aborted attempt to charge customers more to receive paper rather than online bills; while Monday's LA Times ran this story about a move by some grocery stores to stop accepting paper checks.  Both highlight the difficulties inherent in asking people to put their faith in digital processes.

Plenty of food for thought, although I keep coming back to the Sacramento Bee article about the 98-year old Facebook user and to Genesis' description of how her grandfather uses Facebook.  My own grandmother has been dead for nearly 10 years, but a few months before she died at age 80 she got her first computer and learned to use email.  She was delighted by this new way of keeping in touch with people, and I know she would have loved Facebook.

I also think about how digital technology has enriched my relationships.  Whether its getting glimpses into the lives of my nieces and nephew via their Facebook pages, hearing from Friends about what is new in their lives via Twitter, or playing games online with my sister in Canada I am connected to far-flung family and friends in ways that feel more like living near them than the letters bearing old news or phone calls that were limited by time zone differences and cost of my years in Canada and Australia.

I wonder if part of the solution to encouraging those who are reluctant to enter the digital realm is to help them discover these "soft" benefits.  it won't work for all, and I keep coming back to the idea that one-on-one coaching would be most effective, but it seems to me that being able to play games with distant grandkids, or as one of my friends does, play online bridge with far-flung siblings while videoconferencing on Skype (which she describes as being just like sitting around a table together) would be a real draw.

Keep those comments coming!

Web 2.0 and Social Media - Not Just a Fad!

Are "social media" like Twitter and Facebook a fad, or has the Internet ushered in a social and cultural revolution to rival the industrial revolution? 

Thank you to Stephen Abram for sharing this YouTube video that attempts to answer this question using data (with citations!)..watching with the sound off is recommended!

The video demonstrates how the Internet has grown much faster than media like radio and TV did.  What it doesn't address is how, unlike using a basic radio or television where the only skills required were turning on switches and changing channels or adjusting volume, the Internet requires a raft of skills from basic literacy to data entry to establishing and maintaing passwords to screen-based navigation.

I've been thinking about this alot as PVLD is experiencing first hand the challenges some (mostly older) customers have navigating the process of setting up their user accounts in our new SOPAC online catalog.  Our Digital Services Manager, David Campbell, is providing a lot of one on one coaching through this process and as he does he is hearing that these people also have a lot of difficulty with online activities like buying books from Amazon, or booking travel online.  In his experience they need more than classes or written instructions, they need someone to hold their hand and guide them as they use these new tools.

It seems to me that this is both a challenge and an opportunity for libraries.  On the one hand, we need to keep developing services and products that engage those who are comfortable in the online world of the "social web", and at the same time we need to support those who are not. 

I jokingly told David this afternoon that in his individualized support for people struggling with the new system he is the equivalent of an old-fashioned travel agent.  Thinking about it further, it strikes me that this is not just a funny comment, but a service model that we need to explore further....

Legitimizing social media/"Web 2.0"

How do you know that social media are now truly maintstream?  When use of social media is recognized by academic institutions as a valid criteria for gaining tenure.  The University of Maine (my husband's alma mater) recently adopted guidelines for giving academic recognition for contributions to social media  - a sign that even tradition-bound institutions like universities are recognizing the legitimacy of social media.

Another sign?  Encyclopedia Britannica's decision, reported in the Boston Globe, to allow subscribers to edit its contents along the lines of Wikipedia.

When even tradition-bound institutions like universities and 241-year-old encyclopedias (which, by the way, makes Britannica much older than our treasured Dewey Decimal system!) are using social media to transform concepts at the heart of their institutional identities it's a pretty clear signal that libraries should do the same...

The "Sixth Sense" - the future of information

PVLD volunteer extraordinaire Gene Roeder forwarded me this video from Ted.com.  It's a stunning example of how the way people interact with information may be transformed in the not-too-distant future, and has profound implications for libraries. 

Watch the video, and then imagine a world where people go to the shelves, pick up a book, and immediately see how closely it matches their personal likes and dislikes.  Or where there is no such thing as a "computer" that sits on a table because everyone is wearing all the computer capacity they need.  Or where no library cards are needed because people's account information is automatically transmitted to our systems when they approach the Circ desk.  Or where micro-GPS information enables people to select an item from our catalog by typing it into the catalog screen projected on their hand, and then be guided to exactly where that item is located on the shelf.

 

Amazing!  Now let your imagine run free and think about what libraries will need to do to serve people in the world of the "sixth sense"!

The Future of Education - What does it mean for public libraries?

PVLD has worked hard to develop a community awareness of the role public libraries play as a partner in education, and to develop active partnerships with local schools.  As the current economic crisis unfolds and our public schools are forced to lay off school library staff, technology aides, and teachers  our PVLD staff have been wrestling with how best to support students, parents and teachers within the constraints of our own limited resources.  Through the current strategic planning process we've also been wrestling with developing a vision for our future in the face of technological and societal changes.

One of the things that seems certain is that we are almost certainly, as David Lee King put it in a recent blog post, at "The Beginning of a New Normal".  David's post was primarily about the restructuring of our economy with the potential for entire industries to disappear (print media? American automotive manufacturing?), an acceleration of the shift from physical to digital channels of distribution of content, and the growing importance of the "long tail"...and the implications for libraries.

All of that is of great interest, but what grabbed my attention was a link that was somewhat buried in the body of the blog post that triggered David's thoughts. The blog post that got me thinking was Hacking Education (continued) by New York Venture Capitalist Fred Wilson.  It reports on a conversation among a number of leading entrepreneurs and education thinkers on the topic of how education needs to be "hacked" (i.e. broken into and reconfigured).

In the blog post Wilson summarizes a number of trends that I think have significant implications not just for schools, but for libraries.  How will we -

• Support an array of alternative forms of education from home schooling to online learning?  We do some of this already (for example the information literacy class one of our librarians taught to a group of homeschoolers the other day) - but as these forms of education become more popular we probably need to look not just at the services we provide, but the design of our facilities and technology.  At a minimum I can see a need for more computers and more bandwidth, more "learning lab" environments where learners who aren't part of a formal school setting can come together, and staff/collections to support these new forms of education.
• Understand, educate our communities about, and make use of technologies like open courseware, lesson sharing, social networks, and lightweight/public publishing tools that will become an increasingly important part of the education infrastructure?  We need to be better than ever at learning and applying new technologies

In a world where the line between student and teacher is increasingly blurred, we'll need to figure out how to provide the tools for people to develop and publish content and learning (e.g. podcasting, webcasting, courseware etc.) not just get information from the Internet. This probably means moving from computer workstations out in the open to self-contained and sound-proofed learning/production stations.

As education and learning moves from classrooms to home- or office-based and/or online environments, it also will become a round-the-clock activity.  This will increase the pressure on us to uncouple access to our resources and services from our physical facilities.  We'll need to continue to find ways to answer questions, deliver information and content, and provide support to people who aren't at the physical library, and to do it 24/7.

These are challenges for sure, but they may also provide a real opportunity to engage with our local schools in a much more meaningful way to help them navigate these changes and to integrate our respective activities to provide seamless support to the learners in our community - wherever and whenever they need it.   Food for thought....

The Importance of School Libraries

Yesterday my husband emailed me this story from Sunday's New York Times about the changing role of school librarians and the role that a qualified school library media specialist (a term that usually refers to someone with both a teaching credential and a Master's degree in library/information science) can play in teaching the information literacy skills that are so important in today's digital age.

The NY Times story particularly resonated for me because our local school district just announced the layoffs of all of the part-time library aides who run the school libraries at all of the PV elementary schools. In practical terms this means that effective April 1st the elementary school libraries, which like those in many California schools have long been staffed entirely by part-time paraprofessional aides rather than professionaly qualified librarians, will either be entirely unstaffed or staffed by parent volunteers.

The announcement of the layoffs was accompanied by a statement from the School Superintendent (whom I like and respect, and who is having to make very difficult decisions in the face enormous fiscal challenges) to the effect that school libraries "are not core to the educational program".  Ouch!

There is a very large body of research that demonstrates a direct correlation between access to good quality school libraries and educational achievement, and that demonstrates the educational value that a qualified school library media specialist can provide in terms of curriculum support and information literacy education.  Properly staffed and funded, a school library can be at the very heart of the educational program.

I have no criticism of the soon-to-be laid off library aides in PV - they are talented people who do a great job encouraging reading and providing access to books and other educational resources with little training, limited access to professional support, and scant funding.  I've thought for a long time, however, that much more could be achieved if they were supported by a qualified school library media specialist at the District level.  Now it is clear that even that will be a distant dream.

In the meantime we are expecting that our usage will go up as students and parents turn to the public libraries for homework support...we just wish we were better equipped to help.  Our staff resources are already stretched with current programs and rising library use, and while our librarians are outstanding they are not trained educators and lack the pedagogical knowledge that a school library media specialist brings.  We also lack the relationships with individual teachers and the "on the ground" knowledge of what is being taught in the classroom that are a product of daily interactions on the school site.

While I fully understand the fiscal crisis facing the schools, I can't help but wish that something other than the school libraries were the first vicitms.

Connected Learning

Michael Stephens posted this video on his Tame the Web Blog last week:

It's a fascinating description of the new world of learning.  While the focus is on a college student taking a formal class, a lot of the concepts resonated with me because they reflect how my own experience of learning and professional development have changed as I have become more comfortable using some of the "Web 2.0" tools.

It was interesting that the only mention of libraries was a brief reference to conducting research using "Google Scholar and the library's databases" while at the same time talking about how the "connected student" needs to learn to evaluate information and verify its validity (what librarians often call information literacy) and to develop skills in the "organization of knowledge"...both subjects that librarians think of as core to our profession.

What is the role of the librarian in a world of connected learning?  Is it merely, as the video implies, to be a research source? (And you have to wonder how long that role will last given all of the alternatives to proprietary databases accessed through libraries). 

The superficial reaction is that maybe librarians aren't needed in this new world of learning, but I think that's wrong! 

In a public library setting we could play the role that the college professor plays in the video -teaching, coaching, and guiding people in our communities to become networked learners by exposing them to and helping them use social networking tools, teaching information literacy skills, and  providing mechanisms to connect people with other community members with similar interests.   An example of this is PVLD's current project to build a social networking site for local busineses, which will enable them to use web 2.0 technology to share information and learn from one another.  The work some of us are doing on developing social catalogs is also a way of facilitating networked learning by enabling people to share learnings via the library catalog.  Of course to be effective in these roles, we also need to be effective networked learners ourselves, which is why efforts like the Learning 2.0 initiatives that we and other libraries have undertaken are so important. 

One thing's for sure, though - providing library services to support networked learning will require fundamental changes in how we do things.  Certainly staking our professional identity on answering "reference questions" would be a big mistake.....