Friday, December 7, 2007

Impress Your Professor: Virtual Reference as Lesson

In the December/January Bulletin, Joseph Janes discusses the history of digital/virtual/electronic reference. While the majority of the article simply recaps the growth of technology and how it has affected the reference interaction, Janes does raise some rather interesting questions.

Early in the article, he states how many libraries and their librarians have jumped at the chance to try out new technological resources in their library. But he also adds a cautionary statement: "With scarce time and resources, however, it is not prudent, not to mention maddening and counterproductive, to be forever chasing new technologies." An interesting perspective to say the least, but how does one determine the good and useful technologies from the bad? While it is certainly not prudent to chase all technologies, I would argue that we librarians can't wait around forever. That Golden Idol of Reference Technology Greatness is not going to arrive with our morning cup of coffee. We have to go out and find it ourselves.

Librarianship, in all it's forms, is about looking - looking for the answer, looking for a book, and looking for that new technology or resource that helps our patrons find the information they need. The art of reference has undergone numerous changes and will certainly undergo more in the future. Who knew that one day the ideal of the ancient library of Alexandria might become a digital reality? Technological change is not something to be afraid - it should be embraced whole heartedly.

I'm reminded of an interview I conducted earlier this year for class paper. My interviewee was a reference librarian at a local public library. She had many things to say and I learned more than I had anticipated, but one statement has stood out in my mind more than any other: "Do you learn or are you trained?"

If nothing else, librarians are life long learners. They take a new experience (or technology) and learn from it - then they teach others.


On that note, this will be the last Impress Your Professor for the year. Good luck to everyone with the end of the semester and Happy Holidays.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Last Day to Register

Please join us for a social networking dinner! This is the perfect opportunity to learn about other information professional organizations in our area! Details are below.

What: Social Networking: Information Professionals Meeting other Information Professionals
When:
Thursday, December 13th at 6pm-?

Where
: : Zack's Taverna, 305 Pennsylvania Ave, SE (Capitol South-Blue or Orange line)

Cost:
Pay for your own food or beverage

RSVP
: : via Survey Monkey by Thursday, December 6, 2007


Click HERE for menu information.


To learn more about ASIS&T, ARL Diversity Initiatives , and REFORMA, please read below.


ASIS&T
has been the society for information professionals leading the search for new and better theories, techniques, and technologies to improve
access to information. The local professional Chapter, the Potomac Valley Chapter of ASIS&T, has members are primarily located in Washington DC, Northern Virginia, and Southern Maryland.

To learn more about PVC-ASIST, please contact Jeff Prater at jeff.prater@yahoo.com

ARL
is a nonprofit organization of
123 research libraries at comprehensive, research-extensive institutions in the US and Canada that share similar research missions, aspirations, and achievements. The Association's importance and distinction is born from its membership and the nature of the institutions represented. ARL member libraries make up a large portion of the academic and research library marketplace, spending more than $1 billion every year on library materials. To learn more about ARL Diversity Initiatives, contact Jerome Offord Jr. at jerome@arl.org

REFORMA
i is committed to working toward the recruitment of bilingual, multicultural library personnel; promoting public awareness of libraries and librarianship among Latinos; advocating on behalf of the information needs of the Latino community; developing Spanish-language and Latino-oriented library collections; and acting as a liaison to other professional organizations. REFORMA is an affiliate of the American Library Association.

If you are interested in learning more about REFORMA, please contact the DC-REFORMA Chapter Secretary, Michelle Hinojosa Melencio, at michelle.melencio@discovery.com.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

YouTube Tuesday

Since it is crunch time, instead of our usual "smart" video and "fun video, we present you with two "study break videos." Enjoy and good luck with the rest of the semester!



Thursday, November 29, 2007

Annoyed Librarian, or, where's that cuppa??

I know that we here at ASIS&T are very very pro technology and innovation, and I am too. But I wanted to take a break from that to mention, for a moment, the Annoyed Librarian. Have any of you read his site? I guess recently he was unmasked, after months, (or years, I'm not really sure) of speculation in the blogosphere, as Michael Gorman. Some people think he is snide and snobbish, but I think he can be quite funny and a good reality check at times. His latest blog is about putting the MOM factor back into libraries (as opposed to the WOW factor). I think he makes some very good points about remembering the library's mission, in a tongue and cheek kind of way. Although, the last line of the blog made me think of a relatively new library phenomenon - the library cafe. When I was an undergrad the thing that kept me from studying in the library (besides that it was quiet and I always fell asleep on top of my books) was that there was no way to easily access caffeine! Of course I snuck in thermoses and bottles of diet coke, but it just wasn't the same as the university's cappuchino bar, on the other end of campus. I wish we could have a cappuchino bar in Mullen and I'm wondering how many other people feel the same. My Mom's never made a cappuchino in her life but on her first trip to Europe she got hooked on them the first day.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

YouTube Tuesday

Turn On Lights
Discover what it means to be information literate.



Coming Soon To a Theatre Near You
Concessions are not available...

Friday, November 23, 2007

Impress Your Professor: Keep on bloggin' on

On a quick note, I've been home to visit my parents in northern Illinois for Deep Fried Turkey day and imagine my surprise when, on the train, I overheard one couple talking at length about "HCI" (Human Computer Interaction), yet another couple talking about usability testing and a group of teens discussing the viability of the Facebook model over Myspace. It was as if everyone was discussing just about everything I've learned in the last year at SLIS and the relevancy of my degree hit me right square in the face! Very exciting and at the same time a little weird.

Anyhoo, at the last event it was announced that the Potomac Valley Chapter of ASIS&T has started a blog as well so I thought this a great opportunity to plug that AND to point everyone to this nice little slideshow on the topic of blogging communities from the ASIS&T Annual Meeting. It's short and to the point for all of us OD'ing on tryptophan!

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Event! Event!

What: Social Networking: Information Professionals Meeting other Information Professionals When: Thursday, December 13th at 6pm-?
Where: Zack's Taverna, 305 Pennsylvania Ave, SE (Capitol South-Blue or Orange line)
Cost: Pay for your own food or beverage

RSVP: via Survey Monkey by December 6, 2007

For menu information, please click here.

To learn more about ASIS&T, ARL Diversity Initiatives , and REFORMA, please read below.

ASIS&T has been the society for information professionals leading the search for new and better theories, techniques, and technologies to improve access to information. The local professional Chapter, the Potomac Valley Chapter of ASIS&T, has members are primarily located in Washington DC, Northern Virginia, and Southern Maryland. To learn more about PVC-ASIST, please contact Jeff Prater at jeff.prater@yahoo.com

ARL is a nonprofit organization of 123 research libraries at comprehensive, research-extensive institutions in the US and Canada that share similar research missions, aspirations, and achievements. The Association's importance and distinction is born from its membership and the nature of the institutions represented. ARL member libraries make up a large portion of the academic and research library marketplace, spending more than $1 billion every year on library materials. To learn more about ARL Diversity Initiatives, contact Jerome Offord Jr jerome@arl.org

REFORMA is committed to working toward the recruitment of bilingual, multicultural library personnel; promoting public awareness of libraries and librarianship among Latinos; advocating on behalf of the information needs of the Latino community; developing Spanish-language and Latino-oriented library collections; and acting as a liaison to other professional organizations. REFORMA is an affiliate of the American Library Association. If you are interested in learning more about REFORMA, please contact the DC-REFORMA Chapter Secretary, Michelle Hinojosa Melencio, at michelle.melencio@discovery.com.

Whoops Wednesday

What happens when Meghan forgets to update on YouTube Tuesday because she's home for the holidays? Whoops Wednesday occurs.

Also, I apologize for the links instead of the regular format. My computer at home apparently doesn't like to embed videos.

One Way To Scan Your Reading
Ever wonder how printed books are scanned at so high volumes... here ya go!

One Thing to Be Thankful For
We love our library.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Impress Your Professor: We Are All Lab Rats

First of all, I wanted to apologize to everyone for the tardiness of this submission. Due to confusion on my part, I did not know it was my turn to write the weekly “Impress Your Professor” piece. For some reason, I thought my turn was in December. So please forgive me if, despite my belated publication, I fail to impress any of you.

This week, I decided to read Characterizing Web Users’ Online Information Behavior. It appears in the November 2007 issue of the “Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology.” Now, I will be the first to admit that this article was not the most entertaining read. However, it is an extremely useful article for those of us who haven’t realized just how scientific information science can get.

The authors of this article are particularly interested in one thing: Is it possible to characterize individuals and their underlying motivations for seeking information on the basis of their activity on the web? Can you tell if someone is an experienced web user or if someone is just browsing or searching just by looking at the web pages they visited and seeing how long they spent on each of those pages? These guys seem to think so.

The authors gathered the clickstreams of 2,022 users and broke down the data primarily on the basis of three dimensions: number of categories of websites explored (width); number of sites visited per category (length); and number of pages downloaded per site (depth). They then analyzed the data to see if they could find any discernable relationships. They did.

The three dimensions are positively correlated. The more categories of websites a person visits, the greater the number of websites within a category they will visit, and the greater the number of pages within a website they will visit. Did you get that? It’s not supposed to be poetic. It’s supposed to be scientific.

The dimensions are negatively associated with the tendency to use search engines. Roughly speaking whenever we use search engine sites, the set of websites we look at tends to be less diverse, the number of websites for any particular category we look at tends to decrease, and the number of pages we look at for any particular website we visit also tends to decrease. The theory seems to be that when we use search engines we have a better idea of what we’re looking for. Once we find our answer, we tend to not look any further. When we’re browsing we’re more likely to explore a little deeper.

The study also seems to suggest that people who use the web more frequently (i.e. those who “consume more information”) are more likely to explore more website categories, navigate more sites within a category, view more pages within a website, not use search engines, and spend less time viewing each page. Experienced users, it seems, know how to glean information more quickly from web pages and don’t depend as much on Google or Yahoo! to find websites. Just so you know: I used Google to navigate my way to this website. Now, is that because I’m an inexperienced web user or because I happened to be searching? I guess I’ll have to analyze my clickstream.

Finally by comparing overlapping usage between different individuals, it was possible to identify a set of “core” websites (i.e. popular websites) and a set of “peripheral” websites (i.e. unpopular websites). It seems that typically the majority of people visiting these “peripheral” websites are browsing rather than searching the web. The periphery tends to attract users whose web usage has greater scope and greater depth (typically heavy web users).

If you’re curious why anyone would be interested in this sort of thing, other than librarians, consider that there’s a lot of money to be made in the online advertising business. Internet advertising earned $15.2 billion in the first 9 months of 2007. Based on the research from this article, you could conclude that banner ads are generally better for reaching heavy web users than light web users.

Why don’t we have banner ads on this web site?

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

YouTube Tuesday

Turn the Page
See a brief clip on the British Library's digitization project.



More Ninja Librarians?
Of course!

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Presentations Posted!

Thanks to everyone who came to our event this past week-you all made it very successful and I love meeting people from around school! As requested, and also for those of you who couldn't make it, here are the presentations in .pdf. Enjoy!

Youngok Choi, "Searching for Books and Images in OPAC: Effects of LCSH, TOC and Subject Domains"

Ken Fleischman, "Digital Libraries and Human Values: Human-Computer Interaction Meets Social Informatics."

Paul Jaeger, "Social Capital and Information Science Research (SIGS IFP, SI, CRIT, HFIS)"

Christina K. Pikas, "Personal Information Management Strategies and Tactics used by Senior Engineers"

Nancy Roderer, "Introduction: I am an Information Professional"

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Impress your Professor: I am an Information Professional!

I have a friend who is very wise. She has a Masters degree in Social Work, but in the course of talking about grad school she gave me a new definition. She says that her degree is actually in people, and mine (as a MLS student) is not in Libraries but in Information.

This Wednesday at our event "Brining it All Back Home" with the Potomac Valley Chapter of ASIS&T we heard many presentations from the National Meeting. For me one of the most memorable was a talk by Nancy Roderer who is now the National President. Her presentation implored all of us to take the title of Information Professional with pride.

We live in an economy that is slowly being taken over by service and information professions. But the titles of Information Professionals are still looked at with a bit of mystery. Are we the IT guys, CIO's, knowledge managers, or librarians. Nancy Roderer stated that all of these people should consider themselves as information professionals. And we need to dialog with all the people involved in information professions and work together to promote our profession.

This will be one of the goals of Nancy Roderer's tenure as President of ASIS&T and we here at CUA - ASIS&T wish her luck and can't wait to see what happens!!

There is more information on the other presentations on the PVC website. These include presentations by our own Dr. Choi!

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

YouTube Tuesday

Caught In Your Web
Social networking online explained.



Defender of Books!
Ninjas make great librarians.


Monday, November 5, 2007

Register Now Before It's Too Late

Come and learn the latest in information science research!

Please join the Potomac Valley and Catholic University of America Chapters of ASIS&T for our next exciting program!

"Bringing it Home: Highlights from the ASIS&T National Meeting"

WHEN: Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Light supper and snacks provided 6pm, the program will run 6:15 - 8:30pm.

WHERE: May Gallery, John K. Mullen Library, Catholic University of America

Click HERE for registration and more information

See you on Nov 7th!

Friday, November 2, 2007

Impress Your Professor: There's No "I" in "Team"

Google is like The Blob out of one of those early horror movies. It just grows and grows and grows, consuming everything in its path. Soon, nothing will be safe from its evil clutches. The Google Blob will just continue to grow until it covers the planet in its amoeba like form.

Or at least that's what most people think. And, with Google's current efforts to scan every book known to man, that is what many librarian's think.

What does Google think about all this: Meh. They're ambivalent.

In this month's Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, author Sawne D. Miksa breaks down the Googlization of the world (or at least how it impacts libraries) in her article "Them! Google’s Ambivalence toward Library and Information Science." She states that, "It is a bit extreme to paint librarians and Google locked in the same battle." When Google set out to create their Book Search, they were not seeking to put libraries and their caretakers out of business. In fact, Google does not even consider libraries their competition. Google states, "We consider our primary competitors to be Microsoft and Yahoo."

So why the disconnect? If Google is not trying to swallow up the job of libraries, why are librarians so afraid?

It looks like another case of popularity versus relevance when it comes to cataloging material. Librarians have typically relied on human judgment to create a top down hierarchy of classification for their materials. Google, on the other hand, churns everything through an algorithm that spits out which pages are most popular. Google's theory is that "a page is important if it is pointed to by other important pages."

Librarians fear that such a popularity contest is not the best method of information organization. Just because a page is popular does not mean that it is the best resource available.

So we've found the disconnect, now what are we going to do about it?

Google is not going to disappear anytime soon. Libraries are not going to disappear anytime soon. Instead of butting heads, the two groups should work together. Cooperation would be beneficial to both parties.

Google writes: "Much of the highest quality information in the world may be found in tens of millions of books tucked away in libraries and on publisher's shelves. These books can be tremendous assets - but only if people know that they exist."

As an example, I've been looking to get my hands on Paul Watson's Where War Lives. The university library does not have a copy, the WRLC consortium does not have a copy, my local library system does not have copy. But, I know where to find a book (at a library!) thanks to Google books. Google has worked with OCLC WorldCat to offer a "Find this Book in a Library" feature. Now I know that I just have to go through the Prince Georges' County Library system to get my greedy little hands on Watson's book.

Google is not "out to get us." Libraries should work with Google to make their materials more widely and easily accessible. And maybe, find a way to incorporate some good ole classification rules to the material while their at it.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

YouTube Tuesday

Librarians of Second Life
The second part of the series. You can see the first part here.



52 Book Pick-Up
I wonder who had to reshelve these?


Monday, October 29, 2007

Impress Your Professor: What if there was a library that held every book on the planet?

or, The End of OCLC?

Often when I'm doing research I do a keyword search in the library catalog, a really good boolean search, with AND and OR and w/5, and I get a list of 15 hits or so, scroll down, look at the titles, and wish I had more information than the OPAC record give me before I go hunting in the stacks.

Open Library may be the answer to my problems, and the true Library 2.0. Open Library wants to give every book on the planet a web page that collects all the information known about that book - library records, publisher information and promotional materials, scans, full-text PDFs, reviews, links to buy, borrow, or download each book, and anything else that is relevant. The book pages are "structured wikis." According to the Open Library website, the library catalog and content will be created and curated by anyone who wants to contribute.

The site will store all the different category systems and let people choose what they want - LOC, Dewey, tagging, as well as the different ways to categorize books - ISBN, OCLC.

They want to do a "scan on demand" feature that would be a way to pay for the digitization of out-of-print books.

Aaron Swartz is leading the Open Library team. Most of their funding comes from Internet Archive. Currently they have about 10 million catalog records, mostly from the Library of Congress and the University of North Carolina. Publishers have also been very cooperative in giving records. OCLC has refused to give their records to the project, since they profit from cataloging records. Swartz claims that Open Library is "...an OCLC killer."

I am excited about the possibility of doing a keyword search in the Open Library catalog and coming up with a list of titles linked to reviews, author information, a list of libraries in my area holding a copy...

What will become of OCLC if Open Library takes off? What will become of libraries? Is this the face of the real Library 2.0?

I hope we can talk over all of these things at our wonderful event on November 7 with our distinguished panelists who have just returned from the National ASIS&T Conference. I am sure that each one has a very interesting opinion on this matter. Please join us at 6:30 pm in the May Gallery of the Mullen Library on the campus of The Catholic University of America. If you haven't already registered, please do so by November 6!

Registration ending soon for CUA and PVC ASIS&T Program

Please join the Potomac Valley and Catholic University of America Chapters of ASIS&T for our next exciting program!

"Bringing it Home: Highlights from the ASIS&T National Meeting"

WHEN: Wednesday, November 7, 2007 (Light supper and snacks provided 6pm, the program will run 6:15 - 8:30pm.)

WHERE: May Gallery, John K. Mullen Library, Catholic University of America

Click HERE for registration and more information.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

YouTube Tuesday

Ipod, Powerpoint, and Libraries
Some libraries are allowing students to borrow iPods to take audio tours of the library. Now, with video iPods, PowerPoint shows can be downloaded by students to their own iPods. Here's a quick tutorial on what works and what doesn't on the small video iPod screen.



A (Remade) Oldie But Goodie

Has anyone actually met a librarian named Marian?

Friday, October 19, 2007

Impress Your Professor: Image Indexing...to control or not to control

Images are multiplying by the billions on the internet and it's folks like us who must figure out how it is, exactly, that we are to retrieve all of this information! Images, however, pose a unique challenge of context: cultural, visual, linguistic and otherwise. Dr. Choi, illustrates the complexity of the matter with this picture:



To control or not to control the vocabulary...that is the question.

This summer, the Wall Street Journal featured an article on the subject: Computer Scientists Pull a Tom Sawyer To Finish Grunt Work (June 27, 2007; Page B1). The gist was that computer scientists have come up with a new way to tackle the massive task of classifying images in large databases by making a game of it.

In this game, two random users are shown one image and are asked to type in words to describe it. When their words match they "win" and the word is chosen as a descriptor on the assumption that there is at least a certain level of congruency. This is called free indexing and is based on the Web 2.0 (see Flickr) concept of collaborative tagging.

This method leads to a lowest common denominator situation and the classification will tend to remain relatively basic.

(For instance, it wouldn't really work for images of, say, the medulla oblangata, because who knows what the heck THAT looks like, and we'd all just end up tagging a picture of it as 'brain'. or perhaps 'mushy sponge'.)

Labeling images is not a process so easily resolved by games but the idea is extremely interesting and of course not without its detractors.

In the October/November edition of the ASIS&T Bulletin the debate over how to classify images continues as Elaine Ménard asks Image Indexing: How Can I Find a Nice Pair of Italian Shoes? She makes a case for traditional controlled vocabulary indexing and argues that there is no evidence that there is a "reason to consider collaborative tagging as a replacement solution to traditional indexing with controlled vocabulary". She argues that indexing is best left up to the experts....

and the debate rages on!

On November 7th, in the lovely May Gallery at Mullen Library, come see Dr. Youngok Choi present "Searching for Books and Images in OPAC: Effects of LCSH, TOC and Subject Domains" a study done by Dr. Youngok Choi, Dr. Ingrid Hsieh-Yee and Dr. Bill Kules of SLIS.
Admission if free for students with registration!




Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Registration Now Open!

Registration now open!

"Bringing it Home: Highlights from the ASIS&T National Meeting"

WHEN: Wednesday, November 7, 2007 (Light supper and snacks provided 6pm, the program will run 6:15 - 8:30pm.)

WHERE: May Gallery, John K. Mullen Library, Catholic University of America

THE PROGRAM:

"Bringing it Home: Highlights from the ASIS&T National Meeting"

Come and hear area presenters from the National Meeting discuss their research and contributions to information science! ASIST National President Nancy Roderer will discuss her goals for the upcoming year. Attendees will have a chance to ask questions and
mingle with our presenters and President.

The presentations…

Nancy Roderer - 2007-08 ASIS&T National President, will speak about her goals and vision for the upcoming year. She is currently the Director of the Welch Medical Library and the Division of Health Sciences Informatics, Johns Hopkins University

Youngok Choi - "Searching for Books and Images in OPAC: Effects of LCSH, TOC and Subject Domains"

Ken Fleischman - "Digital Libraries and Human Values: Human-Computer Interaction Meets Social Informatics"

Trudi Bellardo Hahn - "Patterns and Outcomes of Federal Agency Funding for Libraries and Information Science"

Paul Jaeger - "Social Capital and Information Science Research" (SIGS IFP, SI, CRIT, HFIS)

Miriam Matteson - "The Impact of Group Interaction on Shared Cognition: An Analysis of Small Group Communication"

Tiffany Smith - Highlights from the Classification Special Interest Group

Stay tuned, more speakers may be announced

LOCATION: May Gallery, John K. Mullen Library, Catholic University of America
METRO: Brookland/CUA station, red line. (From the metro, walk up the road past the guard station. The Mullen Library is the large white building. Go around the building to front entrance. Tell the attendant you are here for the ASIS&T Event. The May Gallery is directly to the right after passing the attendant. We advise attendees to take the Metro. Limited parking is available in front of the library.)

The Catholic University of America: Getting to Campus
CUA Campus Map Directory (See sectors 14-15)

COST: $ 15 Members, $ 20 Non-Members, Students free with registration

FOOD: Light supper with vegetarian options

THREE WAYS TO REGISTER:
1) Online
2) Fax Registration Form
3) Mail Registration Form

YouTube Tuesday

iBook or iRead?
Is this just another iPod accessory or is this YouTuber actually onto something big?



Dewey Decimal = Laser Vision

I thought there was a rule about there being no capes...

Friday, October 12, 2007

Impress Your Professor: The Fascinating, but Perilous Road to Web 3.0

Considering the medium for this discussion, it’s hardly necessary to point out that many of us are acolytes of the Web 2.0 phenomenon. We’re fascinated by the democratization of the internet and our increasing ability to create, exchange, and most importantly shape online content. One doesn’t have to go far in library-land to hear discussions on social-networking sites, wikis, folksonomies, podcasts, RSS feeds, virtual worlds and blogs. And, the trend is not limited to libraries. The growing participatory nature of the web is creating an explosion of new communities worldwide. People are coming together as never before.

And yet, Web 2.0 is also a divisive force because it encourages social fragmentation by increasing competition in the information market. Given greater choice, people naturally select those information sources that best reflect their own views and interests. In other words, people start separating from larger groups and merging into smaller ones they find more attractive. The problem is that many of these smaller groups are actually quite large. Facebook, for example, has around 34 million active users. Over time, this separation leads to polarization. Through continuous interaction, members of these groups begin to develop their own sets of beliefs, norms, and values. They start to view the world and its problems differently. Falling back on the strength of their groups, people feel less inclined to compromise. Finding a middle ground becomes much harder for society.

This development is part of a larger trend that has serious implications for how human societies function. Moisés Naim, the editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy, emphasizes the growing ability of the “little guys” to take on megaplayers: Wikipedia can compete with Britannica, and Google (formerly a “little guy”) can threaten Microsoft’s dominance. Ambitious and talented people will appreciate this new reality, but Naim warns us that it comes at a price – stability. Central banks have to contend with hedge funds for control of currency markets, and the US has to struggle with ragtag militias for control of Iraq. Some like John Rapley suggest we are entering a new medieval age. Globalization, of which Web 2.0 is one aspect, is allowing for the emergence of multiple, overlapping sovereignties and identities. Knowing who we are and where our ultimate loyalties lie becomes exceedingly complicated.

I bring up these issues because I think we as librarians have a stake in promoting a common discourse. As things stand, the information market is devolving into an information dump. Without the efficient free exchange of ideas human progress will slow or worse retreat. How do we do promote a common discourse? I’m not sure. But I do think this is something we need to be figuring out, especially considering that our world is about to get far more complex.

Businesses, seeing a potential for profit in the merger of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) information and the internet, are spending billions of dollars investing in digital maps and GPS technologies. According to Peter Morville, they believe “people will want to share their whereabouts and profiles with family, friends, co-workers, friends of friends, and potential friends, so they can stop in and say hello.” In fact, some businesses have already put their models into practice (e.g. Meetro). More importantly, consider what will happen when this emerging geoweb begins interacting with the growing presence of RFIDs, the semantic web, and the internet of objects. Generating and browsing internet content will no longer require conscious effort. The simple act of existing will be sufficient (see Socialight).

Will this world-wired web lead to further social fragmentation? Will it lead to a mounting expectations gap between what states can offer and what citizens demand? Who would fill this gap and what impact would it have on our societies? Most importantly for us, what can librarians do to promote a common discourse so as to confront emerging fundamentalist movements that threaten the continued free exchange of ideas and the existence of the democratic process as we know it?

If you’re interested in life beyond Web 2.0, consider registering for Peter Morville’s seminar on Information Architecture 3.0. Among other things, he will discuss some of the challenges and opportunities presented by ambient findability and the emerging internet of objects.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Save the Date! CUA and PVC ASIS&T join forces for a terrific program!

Please join the Potomac Valley and Catholic University of America Chapters of ASIS&T for our next exciting program!

Bringing it Home: Highlights from the ASIS&T National Meeting

WHEN: Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Light supper and snacks provided 6pm, the program will run 6:15 - 8:30pm.

WHERE: May Gallery, John K. Mullen Library, Catholic University of America

SPEAKERS:

Nancy Roderer, 2007-08 ASIS&T National President,
Director of the Welch Medical Library and the Division
of Health Sciences Informatics, Johns Hopkins University

Trudi Bellardo Hahn, University of Maryland

Ken Fleischmann, University of Maryland

Miriam Matteson, University of Maryland

Paul Jaeger, University of Maryland

Tiffany Smith, Catholic University Alumni


THE PROGRAM: Bringing it Home: Highlights from the ASIS&T National Meeting


Come and hear area presenters from the National Meeting discuss their research and contributions to information science! ASIS&T National President Nancy Roderer will discuss her goals for the upcoming year. Attendees will have a chance to ask questions and mingle with our presenters and President.

The Presentations:
Ken Fleischman - Digital Libraries and Human Values: Human-Computer Interaction Meets Social Informatics

Trudi Bellardo Hahn - Patterns and Outcomes of Federal Agency Funding for Libraries and Information Science

Miriam Matteson - The Impact of Group Interaction on Shared Cognition: An Analysis of Small Group Communication

Paul Jaeger - Social Capital and Information Science Research (SIGs IFP, SI, CRIT, HFIS)

Tiffany Smith - Highlights from the Classification Special Interest Group

Stay tuned! More speakers may be announced.

LOCATION: May Gallery, John K. Mullen Library, Catholic University of America

METRO: Brookland-CUA station, Red Line.

From the metro, walk up the road past the guard station. The Mullen Library is large white building. Go around the building to front entrance. Tell the attendant you are here for the ASIS&T Event. The May Gallery is directly to the right after passing the attendant. We advise attendees to take the Metro. Limited parking is available in front of the library.

The Catholic University of America: Getting to Campus
CUA Campus Map Directory (See sectors 14-15)

COST: $ 15 Members, $ 20 Non-Members, Students FREE with registration

FOOD: Light supper with vegetarian options

THREE WAYS TO REGISTER: 1) Online, 2) Fax Registration Form, 3) Mail Registration Form. Check back soon for registration information!

For more information, map, and the registration form, please visit the PVC ASIS&T Website.

See you on Nov 7th!

Jeffrey R. Prater
Potomac Valley Chapter of ASIS&T

and

Nora Daly
Chair - Catholic University of America Chapter of ASIS&T

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

YouTube Tuesday

Librarians Online
The first video in a two part series following librarians in Second Life.



Talk About Harsher Overdue Policies

If you had a viking walking around the library, fewer books might disappear.

Friday, October 5, 2007

Impress Your Professor: More About Social Computing

Hello Everyone,

Because, well, I am boring I am going to piggyback on Meghan's lovely post last week. I too am obsessed with Facebook [yes, its sad - but I am ok with that] and blogs [this blog has become a started drug - I am now up to 3 blogs].

But Facebook, blogs, and multi-user visual environments (such as Second Life) can become important tools in communicating with patrons.

In a very interesting article in the current issue of the Bulletin there is an article about Second Life, Serious Leisure, and LIS - if you are having problems go to page 38.

Another interesting blog that is relevant is this: Library Crunch. The author of the blog came up with a concept called Library 2.0. While I cannot find a good succinct definition of Library 2.0 on the blog I am going to break a reference rule and link you to Wikipedia. Library 2.0 is derived from the ideas of Web 2.0 and Business 2.0.

This is going to be a very short entry, but I want to hear your opinions. Are we moving way to quickly toward technology and integration in our libraries and will this alienate some patrons who will not want to deal with blogs ect. ?

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

YouTube Tuesday

Efficient Procrastination
If you visit a lot of websites on a daily basis, you may benefit from RSS feeds.




Cookies and Books - The Perfect Combination
If only the Cookie Monster's Library had a Starbucks...

Friday, September 28, 2007

Impress Your Professor: Librarians in Your Face(book)

Raise you're hand if you spend too much time on Facebook.

I freely admit that I probably spend far too much time on Facebook. Then again, that's because my friends spend a lot of time on Facebook. Also, many of my colleagues have profiles there as well.

All of this means that most of the patrons who come to the library probably have scrolled through the social networking site at some point. While many fear the privacy issues associated with the website, many others see only opportunities for library outreach. In the article, "Reaching Students with Facebook: Data and Best Practices," the authors discuss why and how librarians should reach their patrons through this online utility.

First, there is the obvious allure of being "Friended" by all the undergrads on campus. Once a library creates a profile, any updates to that profile will be added to the news feed that users see on their Facebook homepage. If librarians are proactive about announcing events, changes, and opportunities at the library students will see these occurrences as soon as they log on.

Secondly, Facebook offers it's own e-mail application and discussion board space. Students can easily submit their reference questions online. Since Facebook may be accessed from any computer, these questions can be answered at any time of the day from anywhere on or off campus.

Thirdly, Facebook is beginning to add applications that are not only for library related groups but also those that actually aid reference. JSTOR has created an application where users can search the database from their Facebook profile. iLibrarian recently listed an article about the Top 10 Facebook applications for librarians and another article posts the top groups for librarians on Facebook to join.

CUA has a rather active library group. The administrators update the profile with information about library activities and the availability of new materials. They also referee questions posted by their patrons in the discussion board.

While I am an avid fan of using Facebook to be proactive toward patrons, I do still hesitate at the supposed reference benefits of using the website. I ask this because in today's Google culture, I wonder if this encourages patrons to find information that is "good enough" as opposed to going after the right information. Can social networking sights actually help patrons with their reference questions, or does it merely encourage people to go for the easy answer?

For those of you able to attend this year's annual ASIS&T Meeting, there are a few discussions that may touch upon this social computing trend:

The Social Web, Social Computing and the Social Analysis of Computing (SIG SI)


Social Information Architecture Workshop

Opening Science to All: Implications of Blogs and Wikis for Social and Scholarly Scientific Communication (SIG STI, SIG BWP)

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

YouTube Tuesday

Bookmarking the Web
Social bookmarking is gaining in popularity. It's easy to use, can be accessed anywhere, and encourage collaboration.



Library Stereotypes Can Be Funny
What happens when Mr. Bean visits his local library?


Friday, September 21, 2007

Impress Your Professor: Computing in Sub-Saharan Africa

So, I was clicking through the ever so interesting ASIS&T conference presentations and came upon this little number on the emergence of internet cafe usage in Johannesburg, South Africa. The hypothesis: internet cafe's are actually used most regularly by locals (as opposed to backpackers) and are typically their primary means of access to the internet.



It got me wondering about what sort of internet access the library systems throughout Sub- Saharan Africa have and why so many folks are flocking to pay for internet usage at cafe's instead, so I did a little investigating...

Well, in the city of Johannesburg, turns out the library requires an annual membership fee of R30 a year ($4US). With internet cafe rates ranging from R5 ($0.67) to R30 an hour, it should still be far more advantageous to join the library, no? What's the draw for the cafe's? How is the library not able to tap into this network of eager users? Perhaps it's a capacity issue? Money? Both? I don't know.

Then you've got the oh-so-glam city of Cape Town which was awarded the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation Learning Award for their Smart Cape Access program. This program has essentially provided free public internet access at all public libraries throughout the city.

And somewhere in between you've got the city of Bulawayo Public Library out in Zimbabwe which opened up its OWN cyber cafe. They charge for usage like any other internet cafe but at a much cheaper and more competitive rate and use the fees to sustain their internet access.

At the National ASIS&T Annual Meeting coming up October 19-24 in Milwaukee there will be a session on Sub-Saharan social computing and its effects on culture and society. One question they will seek to answer is: In what ways are the new trends in social computing affecting information science education in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

YouTube Tuesday

Search the World
What if you could search everything from everything at anytime?



Mullen Looks Easy in Comparison
And you though the "A" floors were bad...

Monday, September 17, 2007

Register NOW before it's too late!

Registration closes Thursday for ASIST/PVC Event at Library of Congress.

Limited space remains for free, private tour of Library of Congress and ASIST/PVC first event of the year!

What: "Working Together, Working Differently: How millennials are changing the way other generations learn, interact, and do commerce."

Where: Whittal Pavilion, Jefferson Building, Library of Congress

When: September 24th: Tour 1-2, Event 2-4, reception 4-5

Click HERE to register and more information. Space for the tour of the Library of Congress is limited and is going fast.

Friday, September 14, 2007

Impress Your Professor: "Tomorrow's Accommodating Computers" or "How Computers Will Conquer the World"

This week’s “Impress your Professor” takes inspiration from two articles appearing in recent editions of the Economist: “There’s life in the old dog yet” and more importantly “The trouble with computers.” They discuss changes occurring within the computer industry that will likely influence how libraries use technology to provide future services.

Both articles acknowledge that computer manufacturers owe their unprecedented earnings over the past 25 years to three factors:

1) Computers are increasingly powerful – they are capable of handling a greater number of complicated tasks simultaneously.
2) Computers are increasingly cheaper – the growing efficiency of manufacturers has made their products affordable to both rich and poor countries.
3) Computers are increasingly easier to use – as programs become more accessible, the productivity of individuals and organizations increases.

However, as the authors point out, the first two factors are beginning to matter less to consumers. It seems that people expect only so much functionality out of computers and that demand for computers (whether they’re laptops or cell phones) becomes less elastic once prices fall beyond a certain point. The best way for computer manufacturers to compete is to make their products more stylish and more user-friendly than those of their competition.

This change in emphasis is bringing a dramatic roundabout in computer design. Historically, programmers have attempted to include as much functionality in computers as possible and expected interface designers to invent the best means for using them. The trend is now the reverse; interface designers will increasingly expect programmers to accommodate them. Using computers should become easier than ever.

The second article describes some of the changes we should expect in coming years. First, be prepared to say good-bye to your mouse and keyboard. The most promising interface designs rely on “gesture-based” and “multi-touch” systems. “Gesture-based” systems allow people to operate computers using hand gestures detected by sensors (think of Tom Cruise in “Minority Report”). “Multi-touch” systems” also rely on physical gestures, but can sense more than one movement at a time. Such concepts are not so far-fetched. In fact, variations of them have already entered the market (e.g. Apple’s iPhone).

Second, expect computers to become better at anticipating and meeting our needs. The growing field of HCI (human-computer interaction), which focuses on improving interface designs is dedicating much energy to the development of “context aware” systems. The idea is for computers to interpret available information and use it to present users with the options most relevant to what they are doing at any particular moment. Imagine a computer automatically searching a library’s catalog to request a book that its user, a high school student, is expected to write a report on within a couple of weeks.

All of this presupposes a future in which computing devices that collect, interpret, and share information surround humans everywhere. Whether this world of “ubiquitous computing” is something we should fear or welcome depends on how one looks at it. It is clear however that librarians need to be aware of these changes and learn to adapt to them. The alternative to evolution is extinction.

To learn more about HCI join ASIS&T’s related special interest group. Also, consider attending ASIS&T’s annual conference in Milwaukee. On Tuesday, October 23rd researchers there will present their findings on a number of recent HCI studies.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

EVENT UPDATE!

"Working Together, Working Differently: How millennials are changing the way other generations learn, interact, and do commerce."

Where:
Whittal Pavilion, Jefferson Building, Library of Congress
When: 2-4pm, September 24, 2007 with a reception to follow 4-5.

Just added!

Docent led tour of the Library of Congress, available from 1-2 for 40 registered guests. (Please state if you wish to join the tour when you register)

Register HERE!

*********

The Program:

Roberta Shaffer will highlight The Pew Research Center’s Report “How Young People View Their Lives, Futures and Politics A PORTRAIT OF “GENERATION NEXT”

Roberta Shaffer is the Executive Director of FLICC/FEDLINK at the Library of Congress. Her research interest include generational use of information and information technologies, management, leadership, strategic planning, competencies, and Users and information use.
Following the talk, there will be a panel discussion of how different generations learn, interact, and do commerce differently.

Costs:
ASIST or SLA Members $10
Nonmembers $15
Students free (Registration Necessary)

Note: Please identify if you are SLA or ASIST Member when you register. Students identify where you attend. We will notify you about the tour details. We will notify you about the tour details.

Metro: Blue or Orange Line, Capitol South. Enter the Jefferson Building at the carriage entrance 1st Street Se, between Independence and East Capitol Streets. For additional information, http://www.loc.gov/visit/maps.html

THREE WAYS TO REGISTER
1) Online
2) Fax Registration Form
3) Mail Registration Form.

Registration ends September 20th.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

YouTube Tuesday

I Am a 2.0 Librarian!
Technology changes things. Some people adapt faster than others. While we all recognize the changes that Web 2.0 has brought to the library, we have to remember that everyone takes change differently. This librarian has put together a 2.0 Manifesto.



It's That Video You've Been Hearing About

In case you missed it, here's the "March of the Librarians" video that took the reading world by storm. Just remember, without coffee, there is no library.

Friday, September 7, 2007

Random comment

So I couldn't post without leaving you something fun. This article from the Guardian newspaper is about the 15 most popular websites or "Websites that changed the World." What do you think o f this list? I find the findings really interesting.

Impress Your Professor: Information Architecture

So in the spring semester I did a report for 551 about Information Architecture. It sounds easy right? So I spent about 15 minutes fumbling in front of a class talking about the metaphor of Architecture and how it applies to Information. How we "build" and "structure" information to make it easily acceptable. Needless to say, this was not the most articulate or accurate report ever given in 551.

But Information Architecture is very important to the development of our profession. According to KM Column, "Information architecture is the term used to describe the structure of a system, i.e the way information is grouped, the navigation methods and terminology used within the system." Obviously, because this describes ways to structure information, there is on going research into improvements in IA. In the current issue of the ASIS&T Bulletin there is an article about the future of research into Information architecture.

In this article the author identifies several questions for the future of IA Research.

  • What should information architecture research be doing?
  • What should the research track be encouraging?
  • What should we be asking for in our call for papers?
This might be one of the more interesting ideas, for me, as a student. It is our profession that will be directing the future of research. So start thinking!

Also in this issue there is another article about serving communities and how Information Architecture effects the creation of an information commons in the library environment.

These articles are a nice way to begin thinking about Information Architecture and its applications. So I encourage you to take a look!!

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Will work for FREE registration

If you're interested in attending this year's main ASIS&T Conference but can't quite figure out the economics of the trip to Milwaukee, there is a way! Student members have the opportunity to receive FREE registration in exchange for helping run the program. (Please note, transportation is not covered.)

How the Program Works

In exchange for complimentary registration, we'll ask you to help us run the conference. You'll serve as a room monitor for about three sessions each day for three days. In addition, you'll help out either at our registration desk or conference headquarters for a 4-hour period on one day of the conference. We've listed below the activities that you are expected to perform as part of the program.

1. Monitoring Sessions
We'll solicit your choices of sessions, by time period, and try to schedule you into the sessions you prefer wherever possible. Monitoring involves assisting the speakers and moderators, checking for name tags at the door, ensuring that the necessary AV equipment is on hand, encouraging participants to complete evaluation forms, and generally helping makes the session go smoothly. (Additionally, you will be expected to SMILE AND BE FRIENDLY!)

2. Registration
Registration assistance involves facilitating the registration process, keeping a record of registrants, handing out materials, etc.

3. Headquarters
The Headquarters office is kept open throughout the meeting for the convenience of ASIS&T Committee members, members of the Board of Directors and members of the Conference Committees. Your function will be to ensure that everything runs smoothly and to assist where needed.
How to Participate

If you would like to be considered for this program for the 2007 Annual, to be held October 21 - 24 in Milwaukee, WI. Please forward your name, address, phone, fax and e-mail numbers to:

American Society for Information Science & Technology
ATTN.: ASIS&T 2006 Annual Scholarships
1320 Fenwick Lane, Suite 510
Silver Spring, MD 20910
FAX: (301) 495-0810
e-mail: cjohnson@asis.org

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

SLA Technology Day 2007

Technology Day 2007 - Working in a Virtual World
Sponsored by the Maryland Chapter of SLA

Date: Thursday, 4 October 2007
Time: 8:30 AM - 4:15 PM PM
Location: Kossiakoff Center, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory [Laurel, MD]

REMINDER - EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION ENDS SEPT 10 - This is a reciprocal event, ASIS&T members receive SLA member rates.

http://units.sla.org/chapter/cmd/events/techday.htm#program

JOIN US! You've heard the terms before, maybe even attended talks on these topics in the past. Here's your chance to get the latest updates on these fast-moving technologies. Listen to vendor updates and have the opportunity to ask pointed questions. Get practical advice on how to apply new technologies in your organization in our TechTalk sessions. Exchange success stories and lessons-learned with colleagues. PROGRAM UPDATE - Ran Hock on Search Engines, Session 4.

A full day of state-of-the-art technologies & discoveries awaits you!

For more information, contact Susan Fingerman.

YouTube Tuesday

The Library of The Future
This video is a nice news clip about Stanford and "The Library of the Future." The video focuses on digital collections and discusses how the library is no longer just a physical entity, the library has moved online.



Library Tech Service of the Past
We've all been there.

Friday, August 31, 2007

Impress Your Professor: Tag! You're it

While I was perusing through the archives of the ASIS&T Bulletin, I came across an article about a subject that has come up a number of times recently. Apparently our Chair found this story first - but I'm going to attack it from a slightly different angle.

FaceTag: Integrating Bottom-up and Top-down Classification in a Social Tagging System discusses the pros and cons of folksonomy or "consensus" tagging. These are the tags that users add to their blogs and websites like Flickr.

Facetag
is a program that combines the fluidity of folksonomy tagging with the more structured and cohesive aspects imposed hierarchical tagging. In the article, the authors state:
Usability studies show that information seekers in domains with a large number of objects prefer that related items be in meaningful groups to enable them to quickly understand relationships and thus decide how to proceed.
Essentially, users want a mental map of not only where they've been, but also a path to the roads not taken - just in case they want to make a U-turn. Facetag is structured in a way that allows users to have a multi-dimensional view of their searches. It's a hybrid system that combines the fluidity and casual nature of folksonomy tagging with the structure and relevance rankings of the more academic Boolean or catalog search.

While this new program seems to work well for digital resources, the article reminded me of another attempt of combining consensus tagging with a more structured catalog. The Danbury, CT public library system has recently incorporated LibraryThing into their online catalog. Users can also add their own tags and information to the items in the catalog.

The question that keeps popping up in my head is this: What does this mean for the catalog? Is adding the user driven folksonomy tag to the catalog a good thing or does it complicate the search process since their is no imposed structure and oversight?

I'm interested to hear what you all think.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Another Radio Segment

Hi All!!

Well, it seems to be my job on this blog to direct you to NPR segments. This one comes from WAMU's Kojo Nnamdi Show. On today's Tech Tuesday there is a segment that deals with children and how they interact with technology. One of the commentators is the head of the Human Computer Interaction (HCI) Lab at the University of Maryland.

As Librarians, specifically dealing with technology, it is important for us to understand how different generations interact with technology. This means not only understanding how younger children change interaction patters, but also how older generations want to approach technology.

Ok, enough lecturing from my soap box.

Here is the synopsis of the segment:

Kids today rarely think of 'technology' as something separate from themselves. Rather, technology is infused into everything they do and see. So how can grown-ups rethink design ideas based on what the next generation is thinking? Tech Tuesday explores the intersection of technology and child development.

YouTube Tuesday

What's in a Wiki?
One bit of Web 2.0 that is growing leaps and bounds in popularity and importance is the Wiki. From the world wide Wikipedia to internal company programs, wikis are taking over as the way colleagues share work and disseminate information. A CUA library science student has even created a wiki so that students may help each other study for the Comprehensive Exam.



Disney, please don't sue me...
One intrepid YouTuber has created an entertaining and informative mash-up about Copyright Law.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Save the date! — ASIST/PVC Announces First Event

Please join the Potomac Valley Chapter for our first event of the 2007-08 year!

"Working Together, Working Differently: How Millennials are Changing the Way Other Generations Learn, Interact, and Do Commerce."

Where:
Whittall Pavilion, Jefferson Building, Library of Congress
When: 2-4pm, September 24, 2007, reception to follow 4-5.
Docent's Tour: Starting at 1:00pm (Space is limited)

Cosponsored by Fedlink and Library Associates

Check back here for future announcements for registration information.

Hope to see you there!
Jeffrey R. Prater
Chair, Potomac Valley Chapter of ASIST
Email: jeff.prater@yahoo.com

Meeting everyone!

This Friday, Nora and I were privileged to attend the orientation for SLIS. We met a lot of nice people, many of whom promised to read this blog and comment (hint hint wink wink)! This has made me incredibly excited about this coming year and all of the interesting things we will do! I feel like I am lapping into Dr. Seuss territory (Oh The Places You Will Go) so I will wrap up.

But I want to leave you with some food for thought. This link is to an episode of Talk of The Nation, an NPR call-in show. This segment is all about Libraries and the digital age. Mainly they are talking to the people at Google and Project Gutenberg. It is a nice introduction to some of the issues involved in Digital Libraries. So enjoy and have a good year everyone!!

Friday, August 24, 2007

Impress Your Professor: MUVE

Ah acronyms. We at ASIS&T (pronounced ay-cyst) know a lot about crazy acronyms. In the current issue of the ASIS&T Bulletin, Richard Urban throws a new one at us: MUVE, or, Multi-User Virtual Environment.

In his article "Second Life, Serious Leisure and LIS", he discusses the intersection between communities engaged in "serious leisure" activities in virtual worlds (MUVE's), and library services and information.

Urban's article and this one from the spring bulletin describe how libraries have been experimenting with using MUVE's such as Second Life, a completely 3-D virtual world made up of millions of "residents", for both distance education programs as well as a platform for extending library and information services to virtual patrons.