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Month January 2008

more thoughts on a cafe branch

In my last post, late night wifi, an opportunity for libraries?, Eric Frierson comments that he liked the idea, but also that he’s

…not sure why it should be a *library* venture if the purpose is to provide coffee, free wifi, and non-circulating magazines.

The more I think about it the more I’m convinced that the concept of a cafe branch is a great idea. Libraries are doing the reverse and putting coffee shops in libraries, why not go all the way and put a library in a coffee shop? The idea doesn’t seem that radical to me. Here are some characteristics of my hypothetical cafe library branch:

→ provides access to information
→ has some computers available
→ provides help finding things (if asked)
→ provides access to content (magazines, newspapers, some books strewn about)
→ is a community gathering place
→ holds some special events
→ has reservable group study space

Pretty traditional stuff, right? People might bristle at this idea not because of the traditional services it would provide, but what it would lack. In particular, a collection of books.

Now before anyone gets bent out of shape, let me be clear. I’m not saying that all libraries should be like this, just that this model is an option. Libraries can certainly be much more than what I’m describing here, and they should be. However, libraries don’t always have to strive to be their full incarnation 100% of the time. Just like a small neighborhood branch probably doesn’t have an extensive collection of periodical back issues, so my hypothetical cafe library could shed some library baggage to free it to explore new territory. The geographical language is appropriate. Without large collections to house, the relatively small cafe library can fit into spaces that other branches couldn’t. (Wouldn’t it be great to have space for picking up and returning holds though?) This might allow it to be located in vital and busy areas with tons of foot traffic.

I know you didn’t get a Masters degree to serve coffee. No big deal, it wouldn’t be part of your job. The “shift supervisor” could be a “for real librarian,” managing staff and doing other librarian work like monitoring the library’s IM reference service.

I’m not convinced this idea would work in every context or community, but sitting here in Little Beirut where many people are fueled by their neighborhood coffee shops, I can think of a number of cities where this would work.

This library cafe branch would not just be a means to the end of getting people to use other library resources. It would be legitimate on its own, but wouldn’t it do a good job marketing the larger library too? Among the locally made art on display there would be adverts for relevant library events. Each time someone logs into the wifi network they’d be greeted with list of library resources and be authenticated into library databases. Oh, and how about this? People don’t need a library card to access the wifi, but customers get a 50% discount on coffee and food when they sign up for one. And a 10% discount on each transaction when they present the card.

In a certain sense, a cafe branch would be for a niche market. This is a good thing because we know that niche markets can become obsessively enthusiastic about their interests. Because they’re often concerned with trying to be many things to different people, libraries often miss out on capturing this passion. Last time I checked, we want people passionate and excited about libraries. Having a narrower focus might be one way to cultivate more use and zeal for the library.

late night wifi, an opportunity for libraries?

From the Portland Mercury’s Blogtown PDX: Late Night WiFi in Inner SE?

There are lots of coffee shops in my ‘hood during the days and evenings with wifi, but I’m specifically looking for a place I can go on a Friday night that’s open at least until midnight, and won’t be so cacophonous and crazy that I’ll have to worry about either not having anyplace to sit down, or having some staggering drunk spill beer on my keyboard on their way to the blasting jukebox.

I still think that the neighborhood cafe complete with wifi, magazines (for browsing, not checking out), a jukebox and attractive librarian baristas is a totally viable service opportunity in many places. It would be a natural space for community events and book groups. Perhaps even more natural than newspapers and bars hooking up and hosting movie discussions. Come to think of it, running a library branch like that would be really fun! Any takers?

information behaviour of the researcher of the future

Here’s another report to read. It was produced by the British Library and the Joint Information Systems Committee. It is on my reading list for this afternoon but I’m recommending it now because when I scanned through I saw some interesting statements like:

CIBER’s considered view is that the real issue that the library community should be concerned about is the rise of the e-book, not social networking. It should certainly continue to experiment and to keep a watching brief on these tools, especially for examples of best practice from serious business use (e.g. in marketing) and in course delivery. [p. 17]

Another reason I’m writing about it is so that I can show you the cover of the report.

scary cover

Woah! That is intense.

Ars Technica has an article about the report titled The “Google generation” not so hot at Googling, after all in which they list some findings about people born 1993 or later.

  • They like to cut-and-paste. “There is a lot of anecdotal evidence and plagiarism is a serious issue.”
  • They prefer visual information over text. “But text is still important… For library interfaces, there is evidence that multimedia can quickly lose its appeal, providing short-term novelty.”
  • They multitask all the time. “It is likely that being exposed to online media early in life may help to develop good parallel processing skills.”

this big library called barnes & noble

In preperation for a workshop I’m facilitating at the PNLA conference I watched a DVD titled “Idaho Digital Natives Focus Groups 2007.” It is a selection of footage from work done by the Idaho Commission for Libraries through an IMLS grant.

The full report is available here: “Perceptions of Idaho’s Digital Natives on Public Libraries”[pdf]. I haven’t read it yet, but considering how blown away I was by the video, I’m looking forward to it.

It might be easy to look at this comment from one of the digital natives and think “Young kids LOL they don’t get it” but that wouldn’t be fair and it isn’t my intention. Knowledge about libraries isn’t something that people can just intuit. The existence of libraries is not an a priori truth, right? When people mistake Barnes & Noble for a library it says more about LibraryLand’s marketing efforts and people’s expectations than it does of their intelligence.

Expect some more great quotes as I delve a bit deeper into the video!

this big library called barnes & noble

In preperation for a workshop I’m facilitating at the PNLA conference I watched a DVD titled “Idaho Digital Natives Focus Groups 2007.” It is a selection of footage from work done by the Idaho Commission for Libraries through an IMLS grant.

The full report is available here: “Perceptions of Idaho’s Digital Natives on Public Libraries”[pdf]. I haven’t read it yet, but considering how blown away I was by the video, I’m looking forward to it.

It might be easy to look at this comment from one of the digital natives and think “Young kids LOL they don’t get it” but that wouldn’t be fair and it isn’t my intention. Knowledge about libraries isn’t something that people can just intuit. The existence of libraries is not an a priori truth, right? When people mistake Barnes & Noble for a library it says more about LibraryLand’s marketing efforts and people’s expectations than it does of their intelligence.

Expect some more great quotes as I delve a bit deeper into the video!

bisson & blyberg on the state of social libraries

I haven’t been treated to two thoughtful, synchronous posts like this in a long while. They don’t say the exact same thing but they’re complementary and there’s some overlap. Gobs worth thinking about.

Is Facebook Really The Point? by Casey Bisson

It is essential that we build social features into our libraries. Comments, easy linkability (short, sensical URLs), and findability in search engines are must haves in our systems. But that isn’t enough. We also need outstanding librarians to breath life into them.

Library 2.0 Debased by John Blyberg

Of course, that means we have to have a working framework to begin with that compliments and adheres to our tradition of solid, proven librarianship. In other words, when we use technology, it should be transparent, intuitive, and a natural extension of the patron experience. If it can’t be transparent, then it should be so overwhelmingly beneficial to the user that it is canonized not by the techies, but the users themselves.

One thing I’d like to highlight is that both posts seem to be begging libraries to provide authentic online social experiences for patrons. I don’t think John’s idea of offering technology that is a “natural extension of the patron experience” can occur without the use of technology being a natural extension of Casey’s “outstanding librarian.” The outstanding librarian can’t just understand the importance of the read/write web on a theoretical level. The outstanding librarian must be a participant.

“This stuff can’t be faked” is another way to state this. Faking it, like dabbling with a social networking site (“simply thrusting a MySpace page in their face”), doesn’t recognize the deep and disruptive nature of social technology that John mentions in the beginning of his piece. He doesn’t explicitly mention this disruptive nature again, but make the implication when he raises the issue of “thorough recalibration of process, policy, physical spaces, staffing…”

Like a wise man once said, “Let’s get serious!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/d_vdm/509996632/

bisson & blyberg on the state of social libraries

I haven’t been treated to two thoughtful, synchronous posts like this in a long while. They don’t say the exact same thing but they’re complementary and there’s some overlap. Gobs worth thinking about.

Is Facebook Really The Point? by Casey Bisson

It is essential that we build social features into our libraries. Comments, easy linkability (short, sensical URLs), and findability in search engines are must haves in our systems. But that isn’t enough. We also need outstanding librarians to breath life into them.

Library 2.0 Debased by John Blyberg

Of course, that means we have to have a working framework to begin with that compliments and adheres to our tradition of solid, proven librarianship. In other words, when we use technology, it should be transparent, intuitive, and a natural extension of the patron experience. If it can’t be transparent, then it should be so overwhelmingly beneficial to the user that it is canonized not by the techies, but the users themselves.

One thing I’d like to highlight is that both posts seem to be begging libraries to provide authentic online social experiences for patrons. I don’t think John’s idea of offering technology that is a “natural extension of the patron experience” can occur without the use of technology being a natural extension of Casey’s “outstanding librarian.” The outstanding librarian can’t just understand the importance of the read/write web on a theoretical level. The outstanding librarian must be a participant.

“This stuff can’t be faked” is another way to state this. Faking it, like dabbling with a social networking site (“simply thrusting a MySpace page in their face”), doesn’t recognize the deep and disruptive nature of social technology that John mentions in the beginning of his piece. He doesn’t explicitly mention this disruptive nature again, but make the implication when he raises the issue of “thorough recalibration of process, policy, physical spaces, staffing…”

Like a wise man once said, “Let’s get serious!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/d_vdm/509996632/

multnomah county learning 2.0

Multnomah County, my home library(!), just launched their “MCL Learning 2.0″ initiative. It is worth clicking through to see the long list of blogs that staff have already created. Over 300 I’m told. I have a special interest in their progress not only because I’m a MCL patron, but because I have the honor of keynoting their upcoming Staff Day!

iPhone/iPod touch webclip icons

One functionality that yesterday’s iPhone software update added is the ability to bookmark webpages by adding “webclips” to the home screen. By default, the web clips are a very miniature version of the page but there is an easy way to make your webpage display an icon instead of an illegible blob.

The process and concept is just like creating a favicon. Making one for the NPPL took me about 6 minutes, start to finish. It look me at least twice as long to get a decent photograph of it!

Here’s a tutorial: HOWTO: iPhone Webclip Icons

How many users will be bookmarking library websites on their iPhones? I would guess a very small percentage of the 4,000,000 iPhone users. But just in case, spend a few minutes and make a web clip icon!

walking paper scraps

Happy 7th Birthday to Wikipedia
A commonsensical article is maybe a great birthday gift.

Little Concrete Hotel Spaces
I’m into them.

How to Make a Disco Ball With CDs
Something useful to do with those dusty discs.

The Mutual UFO Network’s OPAC
Sorted by title.