The Razr of Laptops

OK, I so want one of these.

Interesting new video explaining social networking. The guys at The CommonCraft Show also offer videos on wikis and RSS in plain English. Cool stuff!

When in Washington…

On Sunday evening of the ALA conference, I decided to take a stroll to find a place to eat dinner. As I walked toward E Street near Hard Rock Café, I noticed that there were several streets blocked off and a large police presence. The further I walked, I also noticed the shiny, black cars parked all along the road and crowds gathering at the corners. I stopped and asked someone, “What’s going on?” A guy standing nearby shared, “The president is in Ford’s Theater.” Curious, I decided to keep walking. I went around the block to the other side across from Hard Rock Café. Again, large crowds had formed on the corners near Ford’s Theater and Hard Rock Café. I stood with a group for a while, walked over and called my mom to tell her what was happening, then came back to wait. I figured, I was here, I might as well try to catch a glimpse of the president, IF it was actually him.

After some time, and many directions to move back, the tell-tale black presidential limousines were readied. The "decoy" limo backed in front of the white tent, which was set up in front of Ford’s theater. (I found out from my husband later that this second limo is actually a back-up limo for the president and first lady in case the real limo breaks down or if something goes wrong with it.) Eventually, the motorcycles were revved up, the police cars lined up, and the motorcade procession rolled by. It was something to see. Most (if not all) of those standing around were tourists. We were all pretty excited by the idea of the president coming so close and getting to catch a glimpse. When the cars passed by, the best view we got was actually of Laura Bush, and then the massive arsenal that followed in the SUV behind her car. I don’t know if George was in the car with her or not, but it was still pretty neat to see her. Kind of appropriate that several of us librarians got to see such a great advocate for libraries. A nice surprise for the ALA conference. :0)

ALA—Sunday June 24
Bookcart Drill Team—Somethin’ to see!

This was my first ALA Annual conference. I had heard a little about “THE” events to attend, the socials to make an appearance at, the booths I must visit, the swag I must carry off. As I was standing in line to get my badge holder, how could I miss the sign for THE event not to miss? I had heard about the bookcart drill team, (heck, they had their own spot in the Program Guide’s Table of Contents) but I confess I didn’t really know what that meant. Even the young girl doing the splits over the bookcart on the sign didn’t give it away. So, I decided what the heck? I was here, I might as well be able to answer yes to people when they asked me, “Did you go to the bookcart drill team?”

As I sat down and waited for the event to begin, I couldn’t help but think that the guy walking around on the stage looked an awful lot like Mo Willems. The other guy looked familiar, too, but from a distance, I couldn’t be sure if these were the famous children’s authors I thought they were. (Why would these children’s authors be at an event sponsored by DEMCO?) Surely that couldn’t be them. Not Mo and Jon Scieszka. I had certainly not associated these guys with the bookcart drill team.

As soon as I heard him speak, I knew that voice. It WAS Mo. It turned out that this bookcart drill team thing was going to be way better than I’d even thought. I still wasn’t sure what to expect, though. I guess I assumed there would be some books involved. (Please don’t laugh too hard at me…see above reference to no idea about what the heck a bookcart drill team event was.) Anyway, these people were all decked out in bling. Four teams from different libraries twirled none other than bookcarts and performed well-choreographed dances to various music, right down to including signature “moves,” which Mo and Jon highlighted before and during the routine. Those two guys were absolutely hilarious. Their commentating truly made that event what it was. The winner was decided by three judges who gave scores similar to an Olympic event (8.5, 9.7, etc.). The competitors had obviously worked hard on their routines, though I couldn’t help but wonder just where and when you practice such a thing? Does your library director really let you use your library’s book carts to practice with? Or, do they just kind of walk/dance through it without the carts until they get to the conference and practice when they get there? I was trying to imagine me and some of my colleagues doing the bookcart drill team…now there is an image! :0)

It was definitely a sight to see! I hope I can bring my video camera next year so I can show some of the staff back at the library. Who knows? Maybe it can inspire us to put together our own bookcart drill team! (Um, just kidding…)

Evaluating the Quality of IM Reference Service Through Transcript Analysis

Sarah Maximiek and Erin Rushton

This was one of several presentations that were part of “The 13^th Annual Reference Research Forum” sponsored by RUSA. This particular presentation focused on an effort by two librarians to evaluate the quality of their IM service. (Um, thus their title, right?) They used to participate in a VR service (QP, I think) but now use free a free IM aggregator to staff six accounts at their two libraries (main library and a science library).

Some highlights:

• IM is staffed at reference desk. Interestingly, they acknowledged how busy their desk was, but planned to continue this staffing model.
• n=248 transcripts (June 05-June 06)
• 76% of questions answered in one minute
• saw a lot of business on weekends, especially Sunday
• chat traffic patterns mirror their walk-in patterns
• 23% of questions demonstrated instruction
• 22% were research/quick reference
  

One idea I will certainly borrow from them is gathering info on what resource(s) the IM staff person used to answer the IM user’s question(s). I think that could be useful information for our IM service.

ALA Conference: The Ultimate Debate: Do Libraries Innovate?
Stephen Abram (SirsiDynix), Karen Schneider (Free Range Librarian), Joe Janes (UW), moderated by Andrew Pace (NCSU)

Great panel discussion! I had to walk forever to get there, but it was worth achy feet to hear the lively debate. Some highlights:

• Stephen Abram pointed out that people are innovators, not the institutions. Gave the NCSU catalog as the example.
  
• Followership is very slow: example of libraries putting up MySpace accounts. This is proving to be a popular trend with library users, particularly teens. Why haven't more libraries added accounts?
  
• Karen Schneider emphasized that we can't be afraid to fail. The example of the birth of the Mac computer was given. If Apple had given up after the Lisa (sp?) had bombed, there would be no Mac as we know it. Karen pointed out that we are not staffed to fail; we don't have built in to our library budgets the ability to fail. It is a sad reality, but true, I think. I believe this is one way we are fortunate at EKU. I am not sure that we have the finances to fail, so to speak. But we certainly have all the support we need and the room to spread our wings and try. We have no excuse not to!
• Risk aversion theme was brought out. We are a field of people who almost doom ourselves to failure. I really liked the point, however, that Joe Janes brought out about library school applications. When he was reading applications for library school years ago, the typical applicant's reason for wanting to be a librarian? "I want a quiet place to hide and read books." An audience member who is a current LIS student responded to Joe by sharing that the reason she decided to go to library school was because she was tired of hearing complaining and she wanted to do something about the problems that she saw. She wanted to be an active member of the library community. She was applauded by the panel and Joe Janes encouraged library recruiters to seek that student and her peers (who were sitting on the back row) after the discussion. Those were precisely the kind of students who needed to be working in libraries.
• Another interesting point was brought out during this discussion of innovators, however. An audience member shared that librarians don't typically wear the hat of "innovator." This was connected to the whole shy, hide out in a library and read image brought out earlier. A good point, but also one that was refuted by the library school student mentioned above.

Final points shared by panelists on the vision for future of library innovation:

JJ: The piece that hasn't come out yet: lots of good things are happening that we may not know about. We need to tell our stories, get the word out.

KS: There needs to be a culture of entrepreneurship and risk-taking; more merit-driven in terms of innovation.

SA: Believes that we need to get out and understand where are users are, "do the research first," know how end users behave; OCLC report on social networks (vast majority of libraries said we shouldn't!!).

KS: shared the Danbury Connecticut Public Library example; when someone does something innovative, when need to not trash them.

I hope this prompts further discussion within libraries and within the larger organization.

ALA Bound: Googly-eyed and Mystified

I confess I am a bit overwhelmed though also excited at the thought of the upcoming ALA conference. With so many vendors, program, authors, exhibits, etc., I don't know how I will keep it all straight. I am excited to experience it all, though, and very glad that I have a few colleagues to share it with.