Make mine a mashup!

I just listened to a great podcast from the Sirsi Dynix Institute (a great technology updating tool, by the way) by Darlene Fichter on mashups (check out the PDF of resources and listen to the podcast yourself).

What are mashups, you may ask? Mashups are combinations of data from two (or more) different sources to create a new resource or service. For instance, the BBC News Map combines an RSS feed of stories featured on the BBC with Google Maps. The result is a visual representation of where in the UK recent news stories have occurred.

Libraries are trying to use mashups to enhance services to their users. Darlene notes some interesting examples in her PDF file and presentation. One that I found useful is Libraries 411, which identifies your location from your IP address and then shows the locations of nearby public libraries. Another mashup by Edward Vielmetti combines Amazon book covers with links from the Ann Arbor District Library's catalog to create the Wall of Books.

I have been messing around with Yahoo Pipes to make some mashups. It's a very nice click and drag way to visually construct a mashup. A very simple one I have working so far is this one, which combines recent news stories from the Association Press, the BBC, and World Press Review, and sorts them by title. Is this useful? Well, maybe. But it's a start. I'll let you know as my mashup experiments continue.

Survey says . . .

Here is a link to a survey on Technology Innovation in Academic Libraries: https://surveys.montclair.edu/survey/entry.jsp?id=1170955344511. While it has an academic focus (it's for a panel session at the upcoming ACRL conference at the end of March), the questions may be food for thought on how you and your library are using technologies, seeking to innovate, or perceiving disruptive technologies in your setting. I'll post the results of the survey once they become available.

Quick CSE Search Update

I know it's been a while since my last post. Here is a quick update on my CSE topic (see below). Bill Drew (SUNY - Morrisville) posted the following Google search which results in CSEs that are related to libraries or librarians in some way: http://tinyurl.com/39hco7 will get you there.

It doesn't include my still-in-progress Ohio academic library CSE, and others may also be left out, but it's an intersteing look at what people are doing with this in libraryland.

Library 2.0? Come again?

You can hardly turn around in the world of library technology without running into mention of Library 2.0 and its impact on today's libraries and their services. I thought I'd put a brief post together linking you to a lengthy definition and a shorter interpretation of it, and an interesting meme map that brings together many of the concepts behind Library 2.0 in a single diagram (my thanks to David Rothman and Meredith Farkas for posting these links to the Web4lib discussion group). Of course, here is also the link to an evolving definition of Library 2.0 at Wikipedia.

Sneakily, I have failed to offer my own sense of Library 2.0. I am still working on that and will share my thoughts here as they coalesce. And, for truth in advertising, the term "Library 2.0" does not appear in my book, but I would say that a lot of the concepts and technologies wrapped up in the term are addressed quite well in three of my chapters (and piecemeal elsewhere). Chapters 9 ("A is for Amazon, G is for Google: The Internet’s Impact on Finding Information"), 10 ("Universal Design and Adaptive/Assistive Technology: Meeting and Supporting Patron Technology Needs"), and 11 ("Virtual Reference, Blogs, and Usability: Library Web Sites and Web Services").

Balance and innovation

Two articles in the January 2007 American Libraries caught my eye. "Balancing the Online Life" (pp. 42-45), by Meredith Farkas, introduces a new AL column of hers called "Technology in Practice" -- highlighting stories of technological innovations and success stories from libraries. The article itself is a good read on the current state of Web tools that many in the library community have brought into our daily lives (and she also touches on the issue that while we may have a generation divide in these technologies, that may be narrowing).

Also, Stephen Abram's short piece "20 Tips to Inspire Innovation" (pp. 47-48) is a quick read of thoughts on approaching changes in your library. Not all of them are technological in nature, but I think they can be applied to the larger picture of our library services. Three, "1. Good not perfect," "3. Prefer action over study," and "17. Cheap is expensive," really spoke to me.

The virtual presence of libraries

In case you missed the Fall 2006 netConnect supplement to Library Journal, let me recommend Karen Coombs article "Planning for Now and Then." It's a great (albeit short) introduction to the concept of Library 2.0 and some of the tools that libraries are putting in place to enhance their virtual reach. Links to a variety of existing projects and discussions are provided.

Alas, poor NOTIS! I knew him, Horatio . . .

Marshall Breeding's excellent Library Technology Guides site offers a visual chronology of library systems and mergers and acquisitions in the industry. It does give one some pause as you consider the possibilities of choosing a vendor (for library systems or anything else) who may not be around for more than a few years. NOTIS was around for nearly twenty years and now is ten years gone. On the other hand, a some of the vendors have been around in some form for 20 or 30 years.

Longevity of any technology provider, let alone the technologies themselves, is something of a crap-shoot. This state of affairs does show the importance of flexibility in technology planning and adaptation. We need to go into any new system or service with the idea that future events could alter them entirely, staying aware of those events and being prepared to shift when the time comes. As well, existing, foundational pieces of our library services must also be viewed with question.

The chart shows that predictions are few, changes are many, and that yet, somehow, libraries and their technologies persevere.

Books: Print 'em as you need 'em!

As will soon become obvious, I am catching up on a few topics that I meant to get to in December. First (well, maybe second after the CSE update): the Espresso Book Machine from OnDemandBooks. A
story from CNN provides the details, and the vendor's site includes some further links and a video of the machine in operation.

Fast facts: Two books, printed and fully bound, created in seven minutes. The New York Public Library will receive one in February. You can have one of your own for $50,000. 2.5 million books are currently available (1 million in English, all in the public domain).

So, does this mean that providing printed books on demand is a viable concept in libraries? Well, not exactly, at least until the number of books expands and the entry price goes down. But for the moment, it is an interesting possibility for a library to use to expand its collection without expanding the required space for printed copies. Small libraries could expand their collections exponentially for a $50K investment. Larger libraries could avoid using interlibrary loan to track down public domain materials; just print them in house. There's quite a move on now to just buy inexpensive copies of ILL-requested items from Amazon.com auctions and then give the book to the patron. Isn't this much the same?

Well, there are obviously a lot of holes here. But I am interested to see NYPL give this a try and watch how the idea expands. I hope we'll hear more about this in the months to come.

A CSE attempt

As a follow-up to my post on CSEs, I have created one (almost two, but I haven't had the time to finish the other). I set up a CSE that searches the websites of Ohio's twenty-three regional campuses. I know what you're thinking: "how can I advertise on this search engine?" 8-) Is this a useful thing? Will this help anyone? Why would I make my own search engine? Well, I am trying to answer all of these questions, and I am about to announce this search engine to a wider group of people to see what might come of it. I'll let you know. Oh, and if you'd like to see it yourself -- here it is: Ohio Regional Campus Search.

The Year That Was . . . 2006

If you're looking for a quick wrap-up of stories and activities from the library world of last year, check out the LIS News Ten Stories That Shaped 2006 . There are a goodly number of technology-related happenings to take note of (or that update ongoing issues noted in the book). I especially liked the bonus quote in #6, and the link to a discussion of barriers that tech-savvy library staff.

Digital Divide: The Three Stages (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox)

A very interesting discussion (and recasting) of the digital divide (which I cover in Chapter 10) by Jakob Nielsen - usability and web design guru. He brings in further issues that separate people from using computers and the Internet at all, or even if they have access, from using them fully. Aside from the economic and usability barriers, his comments on empowerment and individuals' lack of intiative to fully participate in the digital world are worthwhile to consider. Check it out!

Read more at www.useit.com/alertbox/...

So what is a CSE, anyway?

There has been a bit of discussion lately on whether or not enough librarians have been blogging about the relatively new Google Co-op project (http://www.google.com/coop/), which gives users a chance to create Custom Search Engines (CSE). In response, I thought it was time for me to say a little something about CSE and the opportunity they present for libraries and library users.

CSE's have the potential of creating more focused, topical searches of the Google database. The CSE creator (anyone can play) chooses URLs to include in the search. What you end up with can be a search engine limited to sites that you expect will return great results on your topic. And, as you create the CSE, you can still choose to include general Google results in your CSE results (but with primacy given to your chosen URLs).

An example of a CSE is David Rothman's "Consumer Health and Patient Information Search Engine" (http://davidrothman.net/consumer-health-and-patient-education-information-search-engine). It's a great collection of sites, pretty well fine-tuned to provide health and medical information for the average Joe from respected government agency and health organization sites.

A potential fear to have here is that, since you are choosing the sites, you might miss out on information on sites that are unknown to you or from newly created sites. One man's focus is another man's having blinders on, I guess. Anyone who has used Google knows that searching the full swath, even with a well constructed search and the relevancy sorting of the search engine, can be improved on. This might be a good start. I'm going to give it a try, and I'll post my results here.

The Library as Place: The changing nature and enduring appeal of library buildings and spaces

A two-part, September 2006 collection of summaries related to library space and building planning at UI Current LIS Clips: A Current Awareness Service for the Library and Information Community. The summaries of the articles and links to additional resources would be a quite helpful addition to my Chapter 15 on "Ergonomics, Infrastructure, and Space: Building the Library Technology Environment." Not every detail is technology-related, but a good number of them are.

Of security systems and RFID

I recently toured a newly renovated academic library (very impressive: over 130 workstations plus wireless laptops to checkout, plus a Starbucks). The materials had never been stripped for a typical electromagnetic security system, and the staff had considered adding that or an RFID system. In the end, they opted to budget to replace any items that disappeared, and see just what the lack of a system would cost them.

It's an intriguing idea and question: just how much does the average library lose (without a system), and does the system pay off? I know what the industry will tell you, but the truth of the matter could be quite different. And again, situations differ, but I wonder if anyone has really established such a record of loss to absolutely justify adding a system.

Audio e-books: choices, choices!

I have been looking into audio e-books for a while now, experimenting a bit to see what might work best in my library setting. I have been unable (long story I won't go into here) to get into the downloadable models offered by Overdrive and NetLibrary (where patrons can download audio- or text- e-books to view/listen to on their PCs, PDAs, or MP3 players -- or in some cases burn them to CD). I've been looking at Playaway as a possibility. Playaway sells audio books as little MP3 players loaded with a single book. You can circulate them as single item (much as you would a print book) or you can also provide patrons with headphones or FM transmitters.

I see the plus with Playaway in that patrons who are not already comfortable with MP3 players do not have the hurdles of a) downloading the title, b) then getting the title onto their MP3 player, and c) getting the title to play correctly. Even with MP3-friendly folks, there are real technical support issues to consider on getting all the pieces to work together. With Playaway, though, will each title get enough use to justify purchasing it? The device is not reloadable at the library level, so if I really wanted three copies of Memoirs of a Geisha, and no one ever checks out How to Prevent a Robot Uprising (great read/listen, by the way), I can't wipe out the latter to accomodate another copy of the former.

Or, should I give up on any of these options because the titles are not the best fit for an academic library setting? We buy a fair amount of fiction and rent McNaughtons for popular reading, so this might not be that different. What do you think?

Disruptive Innovation and the Academic Library

Presentation materials from David W. Lewis, who spoke at the OhioLINK Annual Directors' Meeting in March 2006. I think this PowerPoint captures the elements he spoke about regarding the transition in libraries from physically-owned and licensed electronic resources to open web and open access resources over a 25 year span. He analyzes libraries and their provision of information using the ideas developed by Clayton Christiansen in his "Innovator's Dilemma" and other books.

I apologize for being somewhat academic-focused, but does the sort of transition Lewis forsees for academic libraries have relevance for public libraries? Can public libraries continue as more (though not all or, in time, even majority-) print focused institutions when compared to academics?

E-resources, front and center!

For the past month (and for two months to come), my library is in an intriguing situation. After a lengthy addition of a new roof during the spring (the smell of tar does get to you after a while), we have been forced to abandon the library for the summer while we get a new HVAC system and a new ceiling (all new ductwork). We've set up a small library access center in a room just off of our main computer lab (which is on the lower level of the library, but they have their own HVAC system - go figure).

Anyway, it brings our e-resources front and center, since there is no "library" to browse around in. We're still accessing the collection twice per day (so the ability of patrons to self-request items to be pulled from the collection has been huge) and shelving periodicals (they have to go somewhere). But everything is under plastic sheeting, and the library staff are camping out in a trailer.

We're just out back of the library (so it was easy to run networking and phone lines out to us), and we can still get into our back workroom for the bathroom. We'll be happy to have it over, but it will be worth it.

It has been interesting to let people know about upcoming changes and see their reactions. Many users already access our resources remotely, and so there is no big change. A few patrons (even though it's summer) are really dependent on the "in-person" experience and drop by the assistance center quite a bit. Most common are folks who are used to accessing us from home or their offices on campus, but every now and then just like to drop by to browse or grab a particular periodical. Everyone is surviving, but it does give me a new perspective on what the library might become (everything physical in storage; some sort of place for people to gather and interact with library staff; vast amounts of use of e-resources as a first choice. Maybe that's already happening.

It's the end, or is it?

A great presentation by Thomas Dowling of OhioLINK at the May 3, 2006, Southwestern Ohio Council on Higher Education (SOCHE) Library Conference: "Academic Libraries in a Googleized World": "Imminent Death of Libraries: Film at 11"

One interesting part of Thomas' presentation involved the need for a single search box (whether a meta-search or a site search option) on every library web site. You can see what I'm doing at our library site. Does everybody have one of these? Should we all?

Anybody remember floppy disks?

A column on information storage formats going obsolete from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Anybody remember floppy disks?

For me, I'm ready to see floppies die. We have patrons dropping in all the time who saved documents to a floppy, and now cannot get it to work on any machine on campus. I know they're not exactly dirt cheap (or as cheap as a floppy yet), but I wouldn't trust my data to anything other than a flash drive.

TechEssence.Info | The essence of technology for library decision-makers.

This is a new blog that could have some very interesting discussions on it, given the list of contributors TechEssence.Info | The essence of technology for library decision-makers.