Thank You

I want to express my sincere appreciation to Michele for a such a wonderfully enlightening and fun class. I have learned a great deal about these amazing new technologies. I am certain that I will be able to utilize this knowledge very productively. I want to thank my colleagues for enriching the class and sharing their experiences and smarts.

There is so much to consider as librarianship is changing rapidly before our very eyes.  Several of the last readings really brought to the forefront of my mind some of the major issues involved with the impact of the Read/Write Web. With all these exciting challenges and opportunities facing librarians, I wonder what will our role(s) become as technology continues to transform our profession and the world.

Social Directory

I would use a wiki and blog about the library and its collections, specialists, and services and invite patrons to add tags, comments and reviews, and make suggestions for additions, deletions, improvements, enhancements, and what is working and what is not. I would see this resource as a collaborative effort between patrons and staff to build a user-centered directory of the library. The patrons tagging, blogging, and contributions of ideas for new and enhanced services and materials would essentially be a user’s vision and conception of the library. The library’s patrons would provide their collective perspective on the library and would hopefully gain a real, constructive partnership with the staff and management. This resource would be a representation/description of the library parallel to the library’s conceptualization of itself as seen in the design and layout of the library’s virtual (website) and physical spaces.

The directory would include entries by subject and types of services and collections. For example, a subject entry would include descriptions of the library’s print and electronic resources that cover the topic and reviews by staff and patrons of them. I would include video and audio to create a type of virtual tour of the library by topic and provide examples and samples.

I would also establish parallel or mirror sites on Facebook and/or MySpace to widen and expand the scope of the project and to open up the virtual reach of the library.

Facebook

I had taken a relatively quick look at Facebook, MySpace, and related sites. Then a couple of friends asked me to join their Facebook accounts. I have been somewhat active on the site. So far I have enjoyed the features I have utilized. Many types of libraries appear to be using the capabilities in many innovative ways. There is great potential for forming and/or strengthening connections and enhancing communication/interaction/engagement with patrons. One can establish interest or user networks with the group function and exchange ideas, pictures, information about events, and more.  There are great ways for promoting the library’s collections, resources, services, and programs.  There is a distinct benefit to demonstrating that the library is open to new technologies and is exploring their potential.  Many library patrons are using these sites, and libraries need to show that they want to meet them where they are. A library may not have the means to create the most elaborate presence on these sites, but the library should at a minimum be willing to start learning about them.

Social Networking

I would foresee several issues in proposing the implementation of social networking technologies. I would thoroughly research any proposal, fully develop my arguments about the benefits to patrons and the library, and document a plan. Preparation would be key. I would start with my immediate supervisor with a proposal. If I did not receive support, I would seek alternate routes while keeping my supervisor informed. If I could persuade a major figure in the library that such a proposal would be beneficial to patrons and the library and that it would entail little or no expenditure of financial and staff (other than myself) resources, there would be a much greater chance of succeeding. I carefully pursued this strategy before to get several films posted on the library’s website. An advocate at higher levels of management would be crucial. In a large institution, there is often competition among ideas and layers of review. I would need to demonstrate how patrons would gain from such technologies and how social software would enhance the library’s mission and add to the library’s array of services. Planning and preparation would be central to the outcome. There is always too much work for too few staff members to accomplish. I would have to convince the decision-makers that these ideas would produce positive results and not consume more than they would generate. I did it before and could do it again.

Bookmarking: An Old Title for a New Technology

del.icio.us certainly lives up to its name. The site is a very powerful tool for organizing and finding resources on the web. One does not always have to retrace the fingersteps of those seeking the same or similar information which I need or want. The tags and the various means of manipulating them allows one to share the discoveries of others and to make one’s own contributions. The open form of the tagging system allows everyone to offer their insights into the utility and essence of sites. The tagging system’s straightforwardness and flexibility encourages a high degree of participation. As is abundantly clear, it would be impossible for any single entity to manage the knowledge and organization of the infinite web. Taking advantage of the generosity of the web community as a sort of extended staff is obvious and necessary. When the library’s constituents contribute tags as their own knowledge, expertise, and experience to a library’s resources, they are engaging directly with the library and establish and/or deepen their commitment to the library through a two-way partnership. I will use del.icio.us to structure my explorations of the web.

As an adult services librarian, I would utilize the site to set up subject/research guides that patrons could subscribe to as feeds; establish web navigation paths; readers’ advisories alerts; supplementary notices for events and activities that tie in with programming. It could be a very useful means of creating and extending a client connection with patrons and researchers by demonstrating that the initial reference interaction does not end with the person leaving the library or my sending the email with the information they sought. For all of these activities, I would ask that patrons add their own tags to enhance their discoverability and the richness of the library’s resources.

I used LibraryThing on a small volunteer project for an organization that wanted to create a database or list of their small book collection. It took me just a short period of time to create the catalog for their library. I emailed them with information on how to use the catalog on the site and also exported and emailed them an Excel file of the catalog. These resources met their needs. I had started by using WorldCat but soon realized that LibraryThing was a much easier and effective route. The readers’ advisory features of LibraryThing are extremely helpful. As an adult services librarian, patrons ask for specific kinds of suggestions for books on which traditional advisory resources are not focused although some like the online resource NoveList do address them to a great extent. Patrons request titles that are like their favorites or other books they have enjoyed or been moved by or titles that are similar in style to such and such a work. The LibraryThing features are really effective in these and other respects. As I searched through LibraryThing, I sensed a similar situation with traditional library catalogs related to editions, reissues, reprints, versions, and other manifestations of the same title, and variant records for them. I understand FRBR is intended to address that.

Flickr is very cool. I really liked the mapping functions, for example pinpointing the location where a photograph was taken. These are the types of information which patrons request. As the examples show, the site is a very effective and fun way to promote and show off the library and its activities. The tagging on Flickr and these other sites are so appealing and productive because they are in the language people use and which we can basically share. The terms drill down into the details of a resource to a depth which traditional library subject cataloging, especially for books, does not. Of course, there are very important exceptions, such as The Thesaurus for Graphic Materials. The situation is akin to the relationship between indexing and cataloging. This and other library subject access systems, such as LCSH, are collaborative to a certain degree, as librarians can make recommendations and voice their opinions to the bodies that govern them, and they have become more responsive to the library community and receptive to facilitating change and updating. Of course, they cannot work in the same way as user-generated taxonomies. People want to exchange ideas, reviews, interpretations, viewpoints, and social bookmarking and tagging systems are very powerful means of communication.

Feeds Impressions

I have used feeds for awhile, and they are incredibly productive. They can push a great deal of information instantaneously. They can save on resources, such as on mailings and event announcements. They save so much time; I do not need to revisit the same sites repeatedly and remember to bookmark numerous sites. With the massive volume of information channeled by feeds, I do find myself being highly selective in reading articles, posts, etc. I spend some time in managing and monitoring them. I have tended to focus on more specific topics and to narrow the parameters of the feeds to which I subscribe.

I liked the cool advanced features of LibWorm. The subject lists and tagging formations are especially helpful in navigating huge topic areas.

Depending on my specific goals, I would use feeds for the purposes detailed in the syllabus and readings. As an adult services librarian, I would utilize feeds to inform patrons of acquisitions of new materials with reviews or recommendations and new databases with guidance on their effective use. Feeds could provide reminders or refreshers on how to take advantage of library resources, services, and programs. I might start a sort of reference column which reports on a research scenario, the steps the patron and I took to find the materials they needed, and further techniques for continuing and expanding the search. This could be a jumping-off point for introducing or re-introducing research methodologies and promote library resources. I would also include suggestions of other institutions in the community to tap into and new technologies and developments that patrons might find effective in their work.

Blogs for Libraries

I found Blogs for Libraries by Greg Schwartz to be a concise and informative introduction to the topic. I agree wholeheartedly with the author that libraries must utilize the power and flexibility of blogs as they are a fact of everyday communication. So many of our patrons have made blogging a part of their daily lives that if libraries do not incorporate blogs into their missions, that means they are missing out from that important interaction with their constituencies. I see these technologies as very much within the library tradition of making resources and services available to patrons. The tools of the Read/Write Web expand exponentially the ability and capacity of libraries to open their doors and share their treasures with as wide a public as possible.

About Me

Hello, All,

My name is Stephen Kharfen. I live in Boston, MA. I have been a librarian and archivist for over twenty years. I have held positions in several different types of institutions, including academic, public, and federal libraries, and in several areas of librarianship and archival practice, such as cataloging and reference services. I have lived in Chicago, Washington, DC, and Boston. I have worked with archival film and television collections and have had additional related experiences, such as programing film series at a public library and co-producing a DVD of early films of Boston and Massachusetts.

Recently I completed a contract project in which I evaluated a television/radio station’s archive of media assets and production resources for use by college and university students, professors, and researchers. The ultimate goal of the project is to make these materials accessible in a digital library.

I am taking this course because the Read/Write Web is the wave of the present and is one of the driving forces transforming libraries. I need to know more about these tools and learn how they are changing what I do as a librarian. I find the opportunities to be incredibly exciting and challenging.