HTH?

How the heck did this thing end up lavender??? What was I thinking?

Tinkering with the Template

My new template looks a little sorry at the moment. I have hopes of getting back in to tinker with it sometime soon. My CSS skillz are in pretty bad shape.

Five Non-Librarian Blogs I Read

I never get "meme-tagged," but I'm going to just camp on to this one because I think a) it's interesting and b) it's easy.

So, here are five non-librarian blogs I read:

1. 43 Folders : I don't care if Merlin Mann is a Mac-aholic, I love his blog and all its accoutrements. This is honestly the only podcast I always listen to. 43F introduced me to GTD productivity and to the idea of getting over my personal suck, of which I have several, unfortunately.

2. The Chief Happiness Officer : reminds me that how work gets done is as important as if it gets done.

3. Slow Leadership : I'm the turtle, reinventing reference is the mountain. It's a slow, slow process.

4. Engadget : look at all the shiny things!

5. I Will Teach You To Be Rich : I have several personal finance sites that I read, but Ramit Sethi--of PBWiki fame--usually has the best links. A close tie is Get Rich Slowly. I don't have any intention of being either an entrepreneur or rich, but I'm also not planning on being elbow-deep in debt for the rest of my life. These two bloggers seem to have the right idea.

So, the blogs I read also seem to be a little peek into my mind: be productive, be the best manager I can be, keep up with the toys, and don't be poor. I will admit: while I clean out my library-related posts about once a week, I go through my "fun" blogs almost every day. I live and breathe library work, but I'm a human being, and keeping in touch with my personal needs helps keep me balanced.

All library and no fun make Whitney a dull girl.

The Grump Who Stole Libraries

Go now and read "The Grump Who Stole Libraries," by Andrew Pace.

Of course, now that I'm firmly enrooted in reference, I assumed that when the Grin...I mean, the Grump...took away the computers, the librarians would actually look things up in books, and I was disappointed to realize that wasn't exactly the point. I then realized that Pace is talking about the OPAC, in which case it is funny just as is.

I'm working on Toastmaster's speech #2, and this one is going to be about the future of reference. I'm excited, and hope to get to work on it as soon as I'm done with the January schedule. Also, for anyone who was there at speech #1, I promise not to cry at the end of this one.

If you had asked me a year ago, is it in your career plans to be a reference department manager, I would have laughed. I DID laugh when it was suggested to me. Reference is DEAD, man! But here I am, and it's good--even when I've got five weeks of schedule staring me in the face.

Reference services, creatively imagined, is the place where people and information meet. It can happen in a kaleidescope of ways, in physical and cyber space. It happens over thick reference books or quick, quirky chick lit titles. It happens in person, and it happens on the phone. It happens in ways both serious and fun. Reference is dead! Long live reference!

Time Keeps On Ticking, Ticking, Ticking, Into the Future

November 14 is a bit past, but I am just now getting around to updating the name of the blog. Thirty-two is by no means old, but I can definitely tell that I am moving into a different demographic.

What Does Web 2.0 Taste Like?

So, I'm reconsidering the whole likelihood-of-first-heart-attack-before-age-50 thing, and thinking that I've gotta start eating healthy. Really. Soon. Via a wandering path, I discovered The Daily Plate, which is a pretty robustly featured online food diary.

However, I think it's both appealling and appalling that you can share your food lists and your food diary with others. Do I really want to hook up with someone who has also eaten a Wendy's Mandarin Chicken Salad today? Would we be some kind of soul mates or just conincidental strangers? Maybe there is some kind of support group development there, but I...just...don't...know.



One thing that I do think we could do more of at my library is to serve as a focal point for actual people making actual, physical connections. Why not have a long-term weight loss program going on here? Why not OA meetings, AA meetings, business plan development groups, and on, and on? I know that we are almost maxed out on programming, but one thing that Web 2.0 tools do is enable a sustained interaction as well as one-time-hookups. Our programs are one-time-hookups in many ways, when we could be working to build relationships.

Back in the Blog of Things?

I haven't posted in what seems like forever, but I have been adding comments to other people's blogs; it finally occurred to me to just use the TrackBack feature, post my comments here, and "light two candles with one match."

So, here's the first comment-cum-post, on TScott's post referencing a Krafty post about change management.

I have gotten the chance recently to both encounter the kind of barriers TScott, Krafty (and Michael Stephens before them) describe, and to be perceived as the barrier myself. The simple fact is that everyone has a logical reason for their behavior. Now, that reason may not be a good reason, but it is on some level important to them.

The key to success in navigating the barriers desribed is to a)uncover the reason behind the barrier and b)address the reason itself insead of the barrier, which is just a symptom. Bashing the barrier will only make your head hurt.

Now of course, my reasons for being a barrier are all good, and noble, and have nothing at all to do with my ego or other personal issues. Ha ha. But, for example, my staff is having some serious issues with a new scheduling system I've created. Unfortunately, their repeatedly saying, "We don't like this" doesn't provide me any incentive to change it. My job isn't to make my staff happy; my job is to successfully create a structure that allows flexibility for change and adaptation. I've told them, if you can provide alternatives that still meet this underlying need (successfully create a structure that allows flexibility for change and adaptation), then I'm all ears. Otherwise, I'll continue to be an annoying "barrier" saying, "This is the way it's going to be."

Where's the barrier in your life? Is this person or group acting as a barrier "on purpose," or because they "don't get it"? Or, is there something else going on there? Look for the "something else," and see if you barrier doesn't become a little more manageable.

My Big News

Well, there have been no posts recently because I've been unable to think of anything other than my big news: I was interviewing for and have been offered the Information Services Manager position at the Johnson County Public Library. I am, as one of our delightful assistant librarians puts it, "out of my body with excitement." My last day here will be June 2, which seems a long, long ways off. I'm sure it will come soon enough.

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end, yeah."
(Closing Time, by Semisonic, a little blast from the late 90's, boy, I love that song.)

Today's Horoscope

This one is for me, but it could be for you, too--

The term 'creative type' doesn't even begin to do you justice, you know. You are more of an 'incredibly productive super generative creative type.' You take every bit of raw material the world throws at you -- paints, paper, digital tools, happiness, pastels, sadness, tragedy, comedy, mud, clay, rock -- and you make it sing. This is a real gift -- don't forget to be grateful for it.

What a beautiful thought. Go forth and make your raw material SING!

It's Raining Thesauri, Hallelujah!

(Today's title with apologies to The Weather Girls. Also, try not to think about thousands of copies of the LCSH falling from the sky.)

All of a sudden, I am dealing with not one, not two, but three major classification/indexing/thesaurus questions.

The first is a revival of a project that has been dead for almost a year, as the SOM is finally ready to start indexing their materials for the new curriculum. I'm putting the final polish on what I suppose you could consider a baby thesaurus based on the USMLE subcategories. The next step is getting enough stuff actually indexed to determine if it works or not.

The second is a project with the hospital to write a thesaurus to form the backend of their content management system for their website. I'm having quite the time wrapping my mind around this, but I am learning a LOT. This project absolutely feel out of the sky and into my lap, and I am so thankful. Oh, yes, Lord, let me read ANSI/NISO standards on thesaurus development. That's the KIND OF NERD I AM. I'm also enthused about this because I'm hoping to port it out to another project that needs a consumer health information thesaurus (shh!).

The third item is in the same vein although of a different type, as I am perplexed about the proposed changes to MEDLINE subheadings. On first blush, I would have to say I agree that 83 subheadings is too many. However, I am tending to agree with real reference librarians like Cindy Schmidt that the choices made for removal are not necessarily obvious or useful.

What I want to see, and what I have requested from NLM, is data supporting their proposal. I'm sure they've looked at the same questions I've been looking at: how much is enough? What kind of search is happening, and how can we best facilitate that? I'm hoping to get some good, solid answers to these questions, as I certainly hope the decision process was not, well, we need to get rid of some subheadings and these seem the most likely candidates. Some hard data will go a long way towards informing my decision.

So, it really is raining thesauri, and my nerdy, nerdy soul is all set to get soaking wet!

The Library of Babel

I'm awash in thoughts of indexing, and searching, and finding today. In a very-random-Vannevar-Bush-kind-of-way I came across a reference to The Library of Babel, and in a very Google-uber-alles-kind-of-way I followed the first link to the first reference to discover the tale.

I have a sneaking suspicion that in an alternate universe, I teach cataloging. I use this story to illustrate a number of my points about the organization of information. The students give me bad reviews because I don't talk enough about authority control.

"We also know of another superstition of that time: that of the Man of the Book. On some shelf in some hexagon (men reasoned) there must exist a book which is the formula and perfect compendium of all the rest: some librarian has gone through it and he is analogous to a god."

Learning a New Language

I've always had an interest in programming. When I was with the RML, I started learning PHP as part of my job duties and found it fascinating, but I didn't get very far as it required time and quiet--both practically nonexistant when working with the RML.

However, I'm thinking again about the benefits of knowing a language, probably because I really am tipping over into insanity. I personally would like to do some of my own mucking in our DSpace instance, although this will be mostly handled by our Internet Development department, so Java seems a good answer. XML and XSL are everywhere these days, so that seems to be a good possibility, too. PHP and MySQL seem so darn handy, and they pretty much run the web these days, so that's always a good option.

The key to learning a language is then regularly using it so you don't forget it. Which would I be most likely to use? Probably XML because it's an area of lack in our otherwise fantastic Internet Development department. I got a great suggestion for Visual Basic as well, and that seems like a great idea for a manager but maybe less useful for a repo rat.

Part of me also says, you know, this really isn't necessary and I could focus on more concrete things. Is this a "moneymaker"? Or a distraction from things I don't want to do?

My Pirate Name

Thanks to InfoCommuner for this bit of humor. Arr, call me Annie, matey.

My pirate name is:

Captain Anne Vane

Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. You tend to blend into the background occaisionally, but that's okay, because it's much easier to sneak up on people and disembowel them that way. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

T Scott "Bridges the Gap"

T Scott has an thoughtful post about an upcoming talk he will be giving to the good people of Elsevier.

I applaud the effort, and as T Scott points out, I appreciate the efforts of Elsevier to recognize that librarians are one of their core market groups. It makes sense for them to play nice with us.

However, as I am REPEATEDLY told, I am young, and headstrong, and naive (gentle reader, you may or may not have caught these threads in my blogging, ha ha).

I believe, I think, I feel in my 31-year-old-anything-is-possible bones that the time of publishers as we know them is passing, just like I believe, I think, and I feel that the time of libraries as we know them is passing. Our fates are intertwined (like Gollum and the Ring, but that may not be a positive metaphor).

Information wants to be free. Institutional repositories, run by librarians, can help make this happen. NIH can make this happen. The whole Open Access movement can make this happen.

I am not saying that it will happen tomorrow, primarily because many of the researchers and most of the librarians of today are Baby Boomers. They grew up and made their places in the world based on the old model. Today's smart PhD students want to get into PLoS or PLoM, and they want their articles in DSpace so they're findable in Google Scholar. Flexible librarians are making this possible.

At some point, the entire process will reach critical mass and the world as we know it will be gone.

Now, as we walk away from high journal prices, we also to some extent walk away from the peer review structure, the permanent record of research, and in many cases, the concept of "authority" as we know it. This is scary, and problematic, but the fact is that peer review is flawed in a variety of ways and authority can be conferred through other means.

To come back to T Scott: I wish him well. I'm sure he'll speak fairly and eloquently about the issues that face publishers and librarians alike. In my dream world, Scott speaks and the Elsevier folk look at each other and say, wow, we can do so much more together than we can apart. A new day dawns where we all work together to face the new reality, and we usher it in on golden wings instead of fighting it--and each other--all the way.

Reading the Headlines: Insights from 20 Minutes of Blog Skimming

I've streamlined my daily activities to some extent and now only actually READ a few blogs each day (a few being less than 10, depending on who has posted). That means when I have a slow time on the desk or a half hour set aside for "professional reading," I'm essentially skimming a couple hundred headlines and summaries, primarily from library science and technology blogs.

Today, this is what I see (I'm not saying any of this is deep or new, just that it literally JUMPS off of the screen at you after a bit):

• The digitally-induced identity crisis for libraries and librarians is deepening. Best quote (lost the source, sorry): "The librarian's new role is to help people build their own libraries." I absolutely love this idea.
• I perceive a growing divide between the blogging librarians and what I consider "the rest of the profession." Among bloggers, knowing a programming or scripting language is like music catalogers knowing at least one foreign language, but to expect or even suggest that this should be a standard for librarianship is a pretty big leap. How's your Italian? How's your PHP coding? Can you do the funny voices for storytime? Can you do all three? No? What kind of librarian are you???
• Rules are always an issue. Schools won't let kids access MySpace accounts. DRM makes videos useless. Censorship continues. Check-out times are too short. The need to focus on the service and forget about unnecessary restrictions popped out again and again.
  

So, that's the zeitgeist according to Whitney. Distilled down even further, it's obvious that these aren't new ideas at all:

• First item above: save the time of the reader.
• Second item above: respect diversity.
• Third item above: service with a smile.
  

A Lovely Online Memorial

http://www.erinsunshine.com

This is a lovely memorial site for a woman I don't know; I work with her brother-in-law and although we work well together, we don't work closely. "Erin Sunshine" was just 29 and died suddenly. This online memorial shows how many ripples a life can have; and now there's another ripple, because I've shared it with you.

Erin's family has kept her passing so positive; I think it's an inspiration to face life rather than an acknowledgement of death. They're having a party tomorrow, not a memorial. How lovely.

My dad wants a lot of beer and a New Orleans-style band at his party; I want Pachabel's Canon and lots of chocolate. No matter what, party is the operative word.

My thoughts are with Mike, his wife, and their family.

That Moneymaker-Shakin' Thing Again

From User Education Resources for Librarians, a pointer to a terrific item on working smarter, not harder.

The juiciest part (as far as I'm concerned):
The 80/20 rule says that 80 percent of your results come from just 20 percent of your efforts. Companies find most profits come from a few customers. And you'll find most of your output comes from a few of your tasks. So what? Well, look at the math. If you double the time you spend on real-output-producing activities and stop doing the others, you'll double your output and spend 60 percent less time! If you started with a ten-hour workday, you'll get twice as much done, working just four hours.

This is not just limited to profit-making ventures; 80 percent of the benefits of what libraries do comes from just 20 percent of our efforts. The trick is figuring out which activities are REALLY those 20 percent and focusing on those.

Consuming Podcasts

OK, here's what I've learned about listening to podcasts so far: Apparently my podcast attention span is about 15 minutes. During my listening times, I was perfectly pleased with the shorter items but then found that I'd get to a longer broadcast and skip out at about the fifteen minute mark.

I don't have this problem with audiobooks; I have even extended my walk a couple of times so I could hear a little more. However, the podcasts I'm subscribed to are all entertainment, and so I think the issue is that if it's not entertaining, I can always skip to the next item to see if it's better. And frankly, if I run out of content while I'm walking, I can take the darn earphones out and listen to the birds, or the cars, or whatever's around me. That's more entertaining than an hour of blather. It's a pretty high standard for a poor podcast to live up to!

If you listen to podcasts, what's your favorite feed? I'm open to suggestions.

Podcasting, the Diffusion of Innovation, and the Miracle of the Global Web

I've had my little red MP3 player for some time now, and I can honestly say it has served its purpose well. Audio recording and playback is clean, crisp, and easy, which is the real reason I bought it. And, as I thought when I purchased, the built-in FM receiver really is about all I need as far as music goes. I've also listened to an audiobook, and I even used the device as a portable hard drive one day when I was in a pinch. I can definitely say I've gotten $59 of value out of owning it.

Of course, the obvious thing to do with an MP3 player is to listen to podcasts, and I have yet to do so. My main excuse has been that the learning curve is too steep for the eventual gain. I haven't felt that the time expended to get it working would be worth the value of the content available. There's definitely a lesson here about the balance between innovation adoption and percieved benefit. There has to be a benefit somewhere for most users to make the effort, and I am no different. I may adopt a little earlier than many people, but I'm not one of those folks who gets a new toy just because it's new and it's fun to be first. I'm most definitely second wave.

I have now reached the tipping point with podcasting; I'm in need of more mobile content, and there seems to be some decent stuff out there. So, the hurdle then becomes finding a easy way to work with a non-iPod player. A quick look at the Wikipedia and I found PodCatcher on a Stick, a stunningly neat little piece of software out of Bauhaus-University Weimar in Germany. Germany!

This little miracle completely installs on the MP3 player itself, so I can update my feeds at work or at home. I just plug my player in, open the directory, and start. There's even some configuration I can do to get it to work on its own but I don't think I need to go that far. It just boggles my mind that someone in Germany has so neatly and cleanly solved my little problem; that I can find and access the solution; and that it's free!

I picked out some feeds (from Odeo, home of the 43Folders podcasts), added them to my PCOAS, and poof! Mobile audio! Of course, my paltry 256 MB of space filled up fast, but it should be enough to get me through a few strolls around the block.

OK, and I have to admit--I don't adopt just for the sake of adoption, but I do get a buzz off of this kind of thing. I'll let you know how it works on an ongoing basis.

Scenario Planning: A Postscript

I've been thinking about my scenarios and how to apply them. Personally, I think it's glaringly obvious that the way to survive all three scenarios is to embrace the concept of transferable skills. Even in the worst case scenario, those with "transferable skills" survive (and I wasn't thinking of my ability to answer a phone with nine lines, although that has come in handy a number of times).

What this makes me think is that I need to learn some programming, and sooner rather than later. There's a great post on Caveat Lector about why librarians don't code and some good reasons why they should. According to this item, I would technically count already as I can "code" MARC 21, but I'm really thinking PHP/MySQL may be the answer.

However, I absolutely do not think that transferable skills have to be technology skills. In the worst case scenario (library closes), maybe a reference manager could move to managing the help desk or hospital information, or into something like alumni relations. In the middle-of-the-road scenario (variation but no major change), this same reference manager could be looking at integrating a BI class into every introductory course taught on his or her campus. In the best case scenario (radical change), a free-thinking reference manager could be finding ways to move reference away from the desk. Roving through the cafeteria? It might work!

Finally, and any of you who read the scenarios probably realize this, but these came out to be more about scenarios for me than for libraries on the whole. To that end, it was a tremendously useful process. I don't know that I will ever be the director (here or anywhere), but I do know that I've pitched a new version of "federated" searching that pretty much exactly mirrors that in the best case scenario, and I think our users are going to LOVE it. It's what they have been asking for since I began asking them what they want. It will be long, hard work, but hopefully I'll be raising a glass to the "new catalog" in 2007 as well.

WDT