10 easy steps to a fantastic future for libraries

10 easy steps to a fantastic future for libraries.
If we can we be:
• leaders in our community
• leading by doing
• proactive and engaged
• listening and forward thinking
• open and communicative
• learning and changing
• trusting and tolerant of failure
• free to experiment and play
• sharing our knowledge and skills
• creative and connected

Maybe easy isn't the right word but IMHO I think it's what we could be doing to create a strong and vibrant future. These 10 easy steps can be applied to any library context and then comes the hard part - where you put it  into practice! This year I've been to a few events focussed on the future of libraries and the future of the profession and reflecting on those events helped me come up with this list. You may agree or disagree, I'd love to hear what you think?

The future of education

Vivid Sydney Lights - Customs House

Last night I attended a Vivid Creative Sydney event with @malbooth @bella1609 and @jemimaeve at the Opera House on the future of education. I wasn't sure what to expect really but I found the panel to have some interesting perspectives and ideas to share. I'll try to relay some of them to you here.  Some of the buzzwords flying around were: co-creation, game-based, connected, collaborative, visual, interactive, fun, social, creative, open experiential, technology. All great words! The 4 speakers were all from different areas of supporting education and were all very passionate. Most of the discussion circled around how to engage students for better learning outcomes that take into consideration the 'whole self'. That is not just reading, writing and arithmetic but also creativity, social and cultural aspects and mental and physical health.

The first speaker Raju Varanasi, talked about how he's been involved with using game-based learning to achieve this with the game Murder Under the Microscope. He said kids are spending a lot more time on it than any other homework and can't wait to come to school to share what they found out. The next speaker Phillip Cronin, talked about connecting every classroom in Australia and how this will level the playing field for socially isolated students in remote areas and those in low SES areas making do with less. The next speaker Chris Nicholls, talked about a school music program that started in Venezuela by one man who wanted to try to get kids off the streets and out of a future in crime. He now has about 350,000 students attending his program for 4 hours a day after school in Venezuela. With strong evidence that the program led to better school attendance, lower rates of crime, higher self esteem and better learning outcomes. Chris is now starting a similar program at a disadvantaged school in Melbourne. The final speaker was Sharon Clarke from NAB Schools First and talked about the importance of throwing open the school gates and letting the community in. She says in this world of rapid change, schools can't know everything, but they can use the expertise around them in their community.

They made some recommendations for the future: First of all embrace change and understand our humanity and not just come up with technical solutions. Find different ways to measure learning. Quantitative literacy and numeracy tests do not measure someones self esteem, tolerance, interpersonal skills and cross cultural understanding. We need to stop dumbing everything down to the lowest common denominator and allow kids to strive for something. The education system should question itself and all its assumptions. What is a school? What is a classroom? If every classroom is connected virtually imagine what could be possible! We need to open up schools to collaborating with the community and bring subject matter experts in. Businesses have a responsibility to give back and a great amount of expertise to share. Why not leverage their social and human capital for the greater good?

To finish Raju suggested a vision of the school of the future as a social learning space that looks more like a cafe. Where the teacher doesn't know all the answers but creates shared meaning through collaboration. If that all sounds a bit out there for you - they were saying that although the students want that now, the system and many of the teachers are slow to change. Baby steps I guess. It was an interesting panel and I was glad I attended.

Making sense of transliteracy?



A gift from my sister: owl glasses holder

 Information literacy dressed up in sheeps clothing?

I'm a sucker for buzz words and the new one in libraries is transliteracy, described as the ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media . AACL recently featured an article attempting to demystify the concept for those who find it difficult to grasp and not long after a witty response popped up via Twitter.

Some argue this new buzz word is just a way of describing what libraries have always called information literacy because it basically means using new tools to understand, find, evaluate, use and create information. In many of my blog posts and papers written this year I’ve talked about the need to support 21st century learners and therefore build 21st literacies. My focus has been on supporting the physical, digital and mobile worlds of our clients including making use of social media to connect with them informally in their online communities. Some might call this Library 2.0 but I  think it's just common sense to understand your clients and support them accordingly. This year I've been involved in many projects to reinvent our information literacy programs with a Fun Day, new workshops, treasure hunts, games, and mobile technology. This has taken considerable effort from a team of keen librarians who are committed to experimenting and playing with new technology in order to understand the information worlds of our clients and develop new services and support to meet their needs.Transliteracy seems to be the answer some people were looking for to make this easier and I wonder if it's already happening intuitively without the need for a buzz word?

A recent PEW internet report describes 21st Century learners as ‘networked learners’ who embrace new technology, mobile devices, gaming and social media as part of their information landscape. Obviously these people are making use of multiple platforms to read, write and interact. Is this transliteracy? Since Web 2.0 has created a blurring of the lines between work and play, we now use these platforms in multiple contexts of everyday life. I wonder if we are supposed to be transliterate at work or play or both?

I think in an everyday life context, transliteracy is easy to grasp – basically you get the main idea of something and apply it to other platforms. For example, in a previous post I wrote about a radio interview by Kathryn Greenhill who spoke about transliteracy in terms of the way her kids make sense of their world. They read Harry Potter books, watch Harry Potter movies, play Harry Potter Lego, play Harry Potter video games, dress up as Harry Potter – what more can there be? I’ve also spent too much time with friends drawing Hogwarts and dreaming Harry Potter dreams. This isn’t necessarily reading and writing but it is interacting across a range of platforms and making sense of information by embodying the experience. To me this seems like a better way to understand transliteracy - the ability to interact and make sense across a range of platforms.

I think transliteracy is harder to define in an academic context. Does it mean students can effectively use collaborative tools like Google docs to work on group projects , share files using Dropbox, find scholarly information such as books, journal articles, videos on YouTube, images on flickr, journal articles, webpages and create interactive multimedia presentations? How is this any different from what’s already happening? Perhaps it is more to do with the ability to find information in books, ebooks, journals, websites, blogs, video, images, social networks, and friends to effectively filter and evaluate that information and then create new information using appropriate tools and media? Is that any different? This second scenario places more emphasis on evaluation rather than just using the tools which has long been considered the more important of the two.
Another option is to harness the networked learner idea and combine it with the idea of Web 2.0 blurring the lines. Can we combine the work and play context to have one everyday life context that makes use of new technology, old technology, mobile devices, gaming and social networks to read, write, interact and make sense, therefore creating the ultimate transliteracy? ELT – Everyday Life Transliteracy? No more separation between how I make sense of the world at work and play. Worlds are merged and transliteracies are merged. This is what I think the 2010 ANZ Horizon report is getting at when it describes supporting students as they move from study to the workplace: (sorry for the long quote)

The need for formal instruction in key new skills, including information literacy, visual literacy, and technological literacy, poses a continuing challenge to educational programs. As noted a year ago, students need — and often lack — a strong understanding of content and media design, the ability to interpret advertising and other media, and the capacity to create multimedia messages that demonstrate visual fluency. A handful of institutions have begun to integrate the teaching of these skills into a standard curriculum, but the practice is not widespread and too many students remain unschooled in this critical area.

In today’s networked world, learners are placing greater value on knowing where to find information than on knowing the information themselves. The ways we learn are changing. The amount of knowledge collectively held by humanity is staggering, and being able to find, evaluate, and synthesize material from a variety of sources is arguably more important than holding much of that knowledge oneself.

Young people beginning postsecondary study — and those entering the workforce — are accustomed to constant access to a network of peers on whom they rely for knowledge, expertise, and mutual learning. This cohort may well expect to be able to make use of their own personal learning and social networks, and the technologies that support them, in their places of work or study. Their world is open and mobile, and they expect access to it constantly.

I think this extract emphasises that support and instruction is needed for students to develop a strong understanding of how to build transliteracies. Libraries are well placed to  provide training and support through traditional face-to-face and online modes but we also need to think of new ways of supporting students through social media and mobile technology. I also see an opportunity for us to share our expertise and collaborate with academics who are interested but not experts themselves in these areas. The extract also point out the need to prepare students  for the future workplace. Students need to seamlessly move from study to the workplace with the ability to read, write, interact and make sense across a range of platforms. Whether or not we call it transliteracy is irrelevant. If we don't get to know and understand our clients we/they don't stand a chance. We're hearing it all the time - they want flexible, open, spaces with ubiquitous access and support. So for one last time this year, I encourage you all to experiment and play in order to understand your clients and develop new services to meet their 21st century needs.

What I learned at Library Camp

from aliaaccess flickr group: snail's trail

On the last day of ALIA access 2010 I joined fellow campers in a great day of participatory library fun. ADHD_librarian, snail and the many other people involved did a fine job of running this unconference and my first ever library camp. They got me in simply by calling it a camp and creating expectations of fun, laughter, noise, stories, games, singalongs, dancing... there was no dancing but I wasn't disappointed. There were very few sit and listen sessions and from the start people were freely calling out thoughts, ideas and opinions. I loved the structured unstructure of it all. The camp wiki was our program for the day and I love that it changed and morphed as ideas for breakout sessions ebbed and flowed. I loved the beanbags but I agree with @dendrea that the room was a bit restrictive and didn't allow much moving about and getting comfortable, camp style. All in all it was alot of fun and there was a great buzz in the room all day. I was telling a friend about library camp this week and they asked 'did you actually camp there'?

So what did I learn at Library Camp? I loved Stephen Abram's presentation "Not the Keynote" (on slideshare) which described the internet and ebooks as in their 'infancy'. Such a good analogy. Both still have such a long way to go to reach maturity with great changes expected to continue for many years. There was alot of talk at the conference and camp about the future of reading and books with regard to personalisaton and digital rights management (DRM). 'Read how you want' was a trend that came up many times and applied to both print and digital formats. In Abrams unkeynote I tweeted 'we love books but we don't care about the container'. I also tweeted 'I'm excited about the 21stC book experience' with the possibility of Harry Potters spellbook becoming a reality! While I'm excited about how books will change and become more interactive, I actually do care about the container. I think it was flexnib and katiedavis who tweeted that they care about the container when they can't get the content they want on their container. I agree wholeheartedly, this is a very annoying DRM issue - which became a late addition to the final camp breakout sessions. You can have a great container but what is the use if you can't get what you want on it? Publishers need a more open and flexible approach that allows users to 'read how they want'. I was on a 'Loungin around' panel session after lunch and one of the questions was about print on demand books. I suggested that currently ebooks supplied to academic libraries are so restrictive that they can't be downloaded to a mobile device for better screen reading and often only one page or one chapter can be printed to allow mobility. This needs to change. However, this could take a while and in the meantime print on demand will allow users to print the chapter they need, 24/7 so they can read anywhere anytime. Printing allows mobility just like any other mobile device and until publishers change the way they allow their content to be used, print on demand will be necessary.

There's another reason why I care about the container. I recently acquired an iPad and really enjoyed reading on it however, I've discovered that I still desire of the object, I miss the physical book (I'm a bit of a collector). I love to hold the book, absorb the cover, and see it on my shelf as a reminder of how it affected me and shaped my thoughts. Now my ebooks are on my iPad shelf and it's not the same. So I think, if I'm reading something trashy that I don't really want on my physical shelf, I'll go for the ebook but if I think I'm gonna love it and want to hold it and gaze at it I'm gonna buy the paper book. So for me, the container does matter. IMHO I think it matters to other people too and I think ebooks and print books will coexist happily for a long time.

So that was one thing I learned at Library Camp and there were many others... I'll try to be more succinct. I loved that Abrams said we need to consider the community, learning, entertainment, social and research purpose of the library - it's not just about books. He also said we need to be present in social spaces of our clients so we can collaborate in their learning.

After Abrams we had a great talk by 2010 Library Journal 'Mover & Shaker' Paul Hagon from the NLA who debunked mobile myths and talked about that fast paced changes that have occurred in the online and tech worlds in the last 5 years. Interesting that only 4% of Aussie kids use a mobile to access the web (much lower than USA) and most of them are just accessing Facebook. Also interesting is that most people access the web on their mobile to find simple info such as directions, restaurants, weather, movie times etc. He noted that the NLA website gets only about 0.5% of its traffic from mobile devices. Best of all Hagon encouraged us all to think small, get dirty, experiment and play to learn about new tech and see what the potential is. I'm not being very succinct am I? There's more...

I loved all the lightening talks and found these little snippets really got the mind juices flowing and I was wishing I could hear more - so tantalising. I'm excited about the ALIA sustainable libraries group, enthused about social media in libraries, excited by the future of personalisation and impressed by the use of an iPad to give a presentation on how awesome the iPad is. That was my lightening paragraph on the lightening talks. I haven't even started on the breakout sessions! But me thinks that is enough for now. I certainly have a lot to ponder and will try to share more of my thoughts on Library Camp soon. Can't wait for the next one!

Response to @zaana's post on designing workspaces conducive to work

Does an orderly desk = an orderly person?

Like many libraries at the moment we are gathering ideas for a new library building and part of that is thinking about work styles and how that translates as staff workspaces. The google offices have been thrown into the mix and of course we all go why can't we have that? @zaana's post Designing workspaces conducive to work got me thinking. Do we really want that? I certainly like to make my workspace feel like mine by putting up pictures and having tea paraphernalia strewn everywhere but that's it and I think my space is conducive to work. Could it be more conducive? Seeing those google offices I think, what if we had a 'break out area', gym, chef, wii games, espresso machine, ball pit and fairy floss machine? What next? I want a pony! Don't stake me but I think I'd get really distracted by all those things and be a bit less conducive. I guess my work style is 'block out distractions cause you're easily distracted by flashing lights and a ball pit'. What's yours?

While the google example is a little bit overwhelming for me, I find the Macquarie scenario @zaana describes terrifying! Always competing for a space, not feeling like you belong anywhere. I understand the desire to be mobile but that's ridiculous! @zaana didn't seem too against it and I noticed in the comments that someone had tried it in their workplace and thought it really encouraged collaboration so I guess it suits some work styles?

Can we find a balance? I believe we need a flexible, creative workspace that is conducive to work without distracting us. Just like a library, our workspaces need to facilitate noisy group work and quiet individual work, encourage collaboration, innovation and lifelong learning. Just like a library it needs to feel like 'our' space where we feel comfortable and at home. It needs to inspire and motivate us to work and efficiency will follow. We need multi-media editing suites to be expert content creators and comfy places to contemplate new ideas. Recently the librarians here said they want space to 'play'... I guess the problem is finding a way to translate these things into physical space and not just by having colourful walls and funky furniture. I would really like to work in a tree house though...

Response to the future of libraries RN interview

Today I listened to the Radio National interview on the future of libraries with Dr. Ian McShane and Kathryn Greenhill. A few things stood out for me that I'd like to share with you (hope you don't mind me paraphrasing). Here's the link to the radio show.

Kathryn,
What the library opened up for me was boundless...

Ian,
The library did open a world for me that continues to fascinate and engage me...

Kathryn,
The real value of the library, just having a place to go and connect with your community is valuable

Ian,
The library model based on the concept of acquiring a collection has come to the end of it's life. At the same time the concept of the library is a very trusted one and not to be discarded lightly.

Kathryn,
The fundamental role of the library hasn't changed, "we connect people and information... You've got to love and know about people you've got to love and know about information and the cultural history and find new and different ways to put them together".

Ian,
Traditionally the measure of success for libraries has been gate counts and often directly linked to funding. The library of the future should have different measures of success: the extent to which they can demonstrate they're preserving the memory, the way they engage with informal education and literacy and changing literacies and finally the citizenship and community aspect.(great but how can these things be measured?)

Kathryn,
The new library aims to be the community lounge room, a space where you can be yourself.

Ian,
New technologies have led to a rise in the potential of peer-to-peer learning. Librarians can't be everywhere all the time and know everything about everything (although we try - sm).

Kathryn,
We need to understand transliteracy and the new way of understanding imagined worlds that have traditionally been available only through books. For example, the world of Harry Potter can be accessed through books, gaming, movies, online, Lego and more. Reading is only one part of this information/sense-making world.

Kathryn,
We need to position ourselves as an asset to our community when it comes to ebooks and related issues like copyright, formats, what to read, etc.

IMHO to conclude I think libraries are still boundless and continue to inspire and engage us. Libraries are now vibrant social spaces that are so important to the community they support. The interview  within the interview demonstrated some of the many social functions the library performs. A place to work alone while surrounded by others doing the same. A place to get away from distractions. A place to learn from others. A place for serious study. A place to have fun. Great interview!

p.s. the photo above is of a plane I jumped out of in April!

Scenario building for the Library of the Future

There is so much speculation about what the future will bring for libraries. Just last week this blog sparked a string of comments about the many optimistic/pessimistic views of possible future scenarios. I thought I'd look into it a bit more and here's a few things I found.

This article by Marcum from 2003 looks at the library of 2012. Only 2 years away and I think he's done a great job of putting a pretty out there vision of the future forward. Marcum thinks we'll be Cybrarians in InfoSpace which is dominated by 'multiple-media' and utilising video-displaying walls, situation room theaters, learning "cafeterias," dispersed, theme-centered constructions and multi-media "books". Does anyone else think 2003 sounds really long ago? Weren't ebooks on the horizon yet? I guess the vook has only just become a reality?

In 2004 IFLA published Defining Information Literacy in the 21st Century. The scenario they imagine is: Libraries are no longer the primary source of information, we will not be dealing with clients face-to-face, information literacy with be client driven which they see as point-of-need and just-in-time, and evaluation will become more important. At the time this was written it might have been considered radical? But I think alot of this is (and probably was) already the case. This scenario is now. We want to know what you think will happen next?

In 2006, Futurist Speaker put forward some suggestions for libraries wanting to transform with the changes that confronting us and recommends: evaluating library experiences, embracing new technologies, preserving the memories of our communities, experimenting and being creative with space and the role of the library. He emphasises the need for creative spaces and suggests: band practice rooms, podcasting stations, blogger stations, Art studios, Recording studios, Video studios, Imagination rooms, Theater-drama practice rooms (dancing rooms - Mal that was for you). Pretty good stuff huh!

This year at #plff2010 the State Library of New South Wales launched the Bookends Scenarios which goes into great detail about scenario planning and the process they went through in coming up with a matrix of four possible future scenarios for public libraries. I was at the panel discussion for the launch of the report and there was much disagreement over each scenario and the plausibility of each one. Pretty much all of them had both optimistic and pessimistic elements which I think is where the problems were born. The optimists couldn't imagine the negative things in the scenario occurring while the pessimists obviously felt the opposite. Can we ever bring the two together? SO what were they?

No.1. Silent Spring: Climate change has ravaged the world and due to resource shortages the only place people can access technology and resources is through the library. There is move back to print based products and a more local approach to community life. It' seems a bit like when your mum decides you won't have TV for a year when you're a kid and everyone bonds and reads books and feels better about themselves and the world. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! (oooh that sounded cynical!)

No.2. How Buildings learn: technology overload has created a fast-pased globalised world of digital everything. Information overload has made everyone uneasy (who?) and libraries have become community centres, cafe's gyms, etc and vital in helping navigate the information overloaded digital world... not sure how I feel about this one. It doesn't seem all that far away from what's happening now - except for some reason it makes me feel uneasy.

No.3. Neuromancer: The world  gone mad, everything is in short supply and prices are sky high due to big corporations creating, owning and controlling information! People have to go to the library because they can't afford computers or Internet access. I think this is the least likely of all the scenarios. User- generated content cannot be stopped and with open source, open content movements on the rise I don't think it's reasonable to think that big corps will suddenly create, own and control everything. Hang on... what am I saying... Google... Apple... etc...

No.4.  Fahrenheit 451: "A screenagers paradise" with physical books almost dead this is a post-literate world where digital is all. For some reason in this scenario libraries struggle due to funding cuts and in desperation they start mental health gyms, screening rooms and download centres... This one is just too disparate for me. I like the first part but predictably I don't like the second part.

What else is in the works 'out there'? ARL is embarking on a scenario planning project for research libraries and plan on releasing a report in Oct/Nov this year. They claim "Each scenario will tell a different plausible story that starts at the current state and takes the reader out into highly divergent future situations of research libraries". From what I can see this project looks really constrained. They refer the Bookends Scenarios and a UK project exploring academic library of the future scenarios. Can't wait to see what these projects come up with.

There are many blogs about the future of libraries and various aspects of the future such as information literacy, ebooks, mobile devices, etc.. etc... So what do I think? Well, in case you haven't seen it yet, check out my post on my presentation from VALA this year with Mal Booth and Belinda Tiffen. The most popular video from the presentation is above. We made it ourselves as an homage to the commoncraft videos. But on top of that, here are some general observations that I think will help people slide into the future... Don't get stuck on definitions or semantics. The future is coming no matter what you call it. Be prepared to constantly change and learn. Experiment and be creative. Staffing and spaces will be flexible and lines will be blurred between work and play. Services will be 24/7 and mobile. Library spaces will be social, comfortable, well lit, safe, full of facilities and tech know how. In other words - who wouldn't want to be there? It's not about the technology - which will always change. It's about the social practices of us 'humans' that determine the direction the future will take.

Response to the future of libraries and librarians debate

Yesterday all my posts about the future of information literacy seemed to come to a head and cause some heated debate in the comments of yesterday's post. Two opposing sides seemed to form: the optimistic and the pessimistic view of the future. Let's be clear, I'm on the optimistic side and I have to say the pessimistic side really baffles and confounds me! I think this debate is fantastic because it really makes us think about where we stand on these issues. Even though I disagree with everything the pessimistic view says, this debate makes me ask 'why'. Today I thought I'd post a response to yesterday and look forward to your thoughts.

OK pessimist, I suppose you think in this future of yours that we’ll have robots to create and manage these entirely online libraries, automated response systems to manage virtual reference (or no need for reference at all) and all our clients will be studying as individuals from home, Mars or wherever else they exist with no need for social interaction? I just can’t see any signs that the future you imagine is even remotely possible. Have you not seen how vibrant and social the library is? Most people don’t want to study at home alone all the time – why do you think the library is so busy?!? Not because people come here ‘just for the books’ or even ‘just for the computers’ it’s because they like the social space the library provides. It gives them somewhere to meet up, see and be seen, a sense of community, a place they feel they belong and belongs to them! And as more and more of our lives is spent online the desire to spend time online together increases. As long as this trend continues I can't see people suddenly not coming to the library which is what you're saying will happen. As long as students continue to flock to the library - libraries will continue to be vibrant social spaces.

As for your notion that the future for librarians lies in collection development - maybe I should change professions now! I really can't see where that idea comes from. We already have approval plans for much of our collection development as a way to automate the system so we 'librarians' can spend our time on other things. What are those other things and what will they be in the future? I think we spend out time trying to engage with clients in more collaborative ways. Embed ourselves in their study and research practices (online and physical). The thing is they 'don't know what they don't know' so we need to find ways to connect with clients and join them as active content creators, advocates of a social approach to information seeking and use, mentors in evaluating, synthesising, analysing and ethically reusing information. I'm sure more and more of our library services will be online, librarians will be able to work from home but I don't think we'll be less visible - I think we need to be more visible - regardless of physical or digital space. Another whole can of worms would be to bring up the ever growing digital divide - how can you assume all clients will stop needing our help?

To sum up, I think in 100 years from now libraries will be very different but only because of changes to sociocultural practices surrounding technology which I think will bring us all closer together not further apart. As I've said before: the future is what we make it, there is no truth, reality is socially constructed and I'm proud to be a librarian.

The Future of Libraries: VALA 2010 redux

In February this year Mal Booth, Belinda Tiffen and I made a big splash at VALA 2010 with this presentation on our vision of the future of libraries. We showed 3 videos, audio, slideshows, tweeted live and wore green as a sign of our committment to sustainability! Yes, we know how to put on a good show! We were blown away by the support and interest that was shown face to face, via twitter and by bloggers worldwide. The biggest concern people had was how they can make buzz words like trust and creativity - a reality? If you read my blog you'll know some of the things we're doing to try to promote trust and creativity among staff but what works for us may not work for you. Our best advice is to experiment, play, allow mistakes, communicate and share!

I was going to blog about our VALA 2010 presentation (much) sooner but held off because we've recently been asked to present it at a number of places, including the State Library of NSW Public Libraries Futures Forum #plff2010 last week. At VALA 2010 we presented our session with Keynote but we've rejigged it using prezi which we've used for our recent presentations. We've added the Google searchstory for fun (see previous post) and refined the words a bit but otherwise it's all the same.

Library of the Future - UTS on Prezi

As you can see there are three scenarios explored: what the future may hold for students, researchers and staff in our library of the future. The text accompanying each video are the key points we want you to get out of each scenario. We talked briefly to each point and summed up at the end while showing the wordle of our paper which can be found on the VALA website.

The most popular video by far is the one about staff. Not surprisingly, because it's about US! Now with over 6000 views on YouTube it continues to be shared by librarians the world over! Of course we're interested in how our lives will be affected in the future and yes, I think we've given quite a rose coloured vision but why not? And it's not just lip service (as some of the YouTube comments suggest). Experimentation, fun and play have become de rigueur around here and that leads to trust, more open communication and sharing among staff. Within this month I've run workshops for staff in our interactive teamboard room on developing skills for writing and delivering papers, how to use twitter and how to use prezi! Our annual planning day included group craft activities and live tweeting #libpd! We just ran our second Earth Hour competition to find new ways we can be more green and sustainable (we were surprised that no-one else brought up sustainability at VALA 2010). So we're not just talking the talk with this presentation. We're actively trying to create the future we want!

The student video in the prezi was actually made by some of our students with very little guidance from us! We gave them a few things to include like mobile devices and the ASRS but we wanted to see the future from their point of view. The researcher video was made using xtranormal.com, (a text animation program) to create a video blog in the year 2015.

We are really excited about the buzz this paper and presentation have received all over the world. It's sparked the beginning of some exciting things, not just for us but for many people working in libraries who are wondering what the future will bring. Thanks to all who saw the original at VALA 2010 and who came along to #plff2010 last week at the State Library of NSW!

New Google Tool: Searchstories

I had so much fun when I discovered this yesterday. Yes, many of you will have seen these already because I tweeted them as I did them but I thought they were worthy of putting in my blog. http://www.youtube.com/user/SearchStories

You can now create animated searches and upload them to YouTube within minutes! The great thing about these is that they tell a story, have dramatic theme music and are a bit of a teaser! See 'Google Skills like no other' - made by Ashley (soon to be guest blogger) for ideas on how IL can now be taught in 35 seconds! I also like that this gives a whole new meaning to googling yourself! Enjoy!



Google skills like no other



New way to Google yourself!



UTS Library: a learning space like no other

Pondering the future of libraries while waiting for Google Wave

Like many others I am patiently waiting to see if I get an invite to Google Wave! Sometime today I'll hopefully receive an email with the happy news... will try not to be too bitter if that email doesn't come. While I wait I'll tell you about some of the things that have been spinning around me this week which I hope to elaborate on soon. This week I'm heading to Melbourne to participate in a workshop on writing for journals and conferences, which should be fun! The other exciting news this week is my new iphone (after a very long wait). I'll blog soon on the many cool apps I'm playing with.

Daniel Greenstein vice provost for academic planning and programs at the University of California System told a room full of University Librarians last week that "The university library of the future will be sparsely staffed, highly decentralized, and have a physical plant consisting of little more than special collections and study areas." The meeting was held to discuss "sustainable scholarship", doesn't sound like Greenstein thinks libraries have much of a future at all! Like many of the commenters at the end of the article I actually couldn't disagree with Greenstein more. He obviously hasn't visited a university library lately. They are vibrant, vital places and often the lifeblood of the campus. You only have to be in touch with current news, studies and blogs on libraries to know that! There is so much the Library will offer in the future and rather than the distributed 'physical plant' that Greenstein describes I think we'll be a central hub for study, learning, technology, culture and socialising. Librarians will play an important role in this future by providing specialised services and reference help in a world of increasing information overload.

Maybe it's a generational thing or maybe I'm just a fanatical optimist but I see an exciting and challenging future ahead. One with a focus on people, connecting and sharing. Technology has already assisted us in this direction but in the future this will be more obvious in the physical world too. We need to stay in touch with developments in libraries, publishing, information management, teaching and learning, sustainability and technology so we can create a library of the future that inspires and engages clients and staff alike!

"Your Library does not end here" Both David Lee King and Librarian In Black have been blogging about my favourite theme of connecting the physical and the digital. I'm happy to see there are others out there thinking about ways we can create more interactivity in the physical world so there is a seamless integration of physical and digital space. With clever use of technology we can create a more engaging library experience for our clients wherever they may be. However, technology is not the only factor. Librarians need to be out there and visible in physical and digital space to continue providing expert services by anticipating and responding to client needs. The library of the future I imagine is ubiquitous, embracing the idea of 'anytime, anywhere', it supports peer-to-peer learning and customisation of space and services. Very different to Greensteins idea. I look forward to the future that I imagine.

Dropbox: is a new cloud-based app that auto-syncs all your files to your phone, desktop and the web. You can view files offline on your phone and upload from anywhere. Perfect for work or pleasure! You'll never have to email something to yourself or carry around a stick again and if you loose your phone or laptop the files are all backed up online.

Coming soon: more on QR codes, RFID, ebook readers, iphone, iTunesU, Augmented Reality and vampire fiction. Stay tuned.

Visualisation of thoughts on the future of libraries

A friend of mine suggested my blog needed more pictures so this wordle is for her.

Physical and virtual library services: social media influences

Web 2.0 has had a significant influence on the way library services are delivered. Clients now face an abundance of library help through SMS, IM, email, phone, face-to-face, classes, workshops, online tutorials and more. The challenge for libraries has always been; how do we reach our clients and provide them with high quality services? Many libraries have recently sought to address this issue by creating social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Ning and LibraryThing with the goal of reaching clients in their online communities. By entering these spaces, libraries are allowing open communication with their clients and breaking down the tradition notion of the library as place. Thanks to mobile devices and social media, the library is transforming from a physical place to a ubiquitous space. For this to happen, libraries need to consider how they reach their clients in both physical and virtual space.

Creating a ubiquitous library service model must fit in with the theory of physical and virtual convergence and the social and personal framework that has been discussed in previous blog posts. Therefore to be ubiquitous, service must be integrated across physical and virtual, make use of social media influences and allow personalisation. Some examples include:

• 24/7 access to online and physical library services
• Wider range of physical and online spaces for clients to interact, share, engage, collaborate
• Being able to 'fave' your favourite librarian for personalised service
• Wider range of online and physical reference help spaces
  
• More interactive and engaging information literacy
• Maximising potential of mobile devices, QR codes and RFID
• Jumping on 'the cloud' - allowing shared spaces for collaboration and information mashups
• OPAC's becomes AIRPAC's then SOPAC's and move towards augmented reality with tagging of physical space and resources

These changes would allow clients to interact and engage with the physical library in a similar way to the online library. In particular, library services need to be customisable across physical and virtual spaces to better meet the needs of clients. For example, libraries could learn from the Apple Genius bar and provide more open plan reference help areas with casual seating, room for groups, laptops, and extended consultations. Following this approach could be a more visible and open plan area providing casual information literacy classes. Librarians also need to be integrated in the physical and virtual by using web 2.0 and social media tools to access clients anywhere, anytime. The librarian or the client could be in the library, cafe, on the bus, at home or in a lecture while at the same time participating in a reference help session using IM, email, SMS, Twitter, or Facebook.

A possible scenario
As libraries go mobile and social, clients will be able to search for resources on their way to the library via their phone, let their friends know they'll be in the e.g. engineering learning commons, look up recommended resources for their subjects as voted by clients, read comments, then create a list and send a request to the library for collection from the automatic storage and retrieval system (ASRS). While at the library, they could scan the latest library tips QR code to watch a video on their phone of what's new, participate in an online information literacy session or meet their 'fave' librarian in the cafe for a reference question. Finally, this could all be happening at anytime of the day or night.

This scenario may seem far off for some but I believe we are already close to being there. The exponential growth of technology and mobile device use will see expectations change in such a short time that clients will demand the types of services described in this scenario. The ubiquitous library is coming and it is up to us to anticipate the ways we can provide the types of integrated services our clients will need and expect in such a continuous and ever-changing physical and virtual environment.

The physical and virtual converge: social media influences

The rise of web 2.0 and social media has created an online world of interaction, sharing, and community engagement. This online behaviour is now so much a part of everyday life for many people that we expect the physical world to more closely mirror aspects of the virtual world. This convergence of the physical and virtual is already displayed in libraries for example, in the trend for group study spaces and 'information/learning commons'. However, certain aspects of online social media could be transferred to the physical world to better meet client expectations.

Social media is well known for allowing users to tag online content such as text, video, images, and bookmarks. This allows users to create a personalised metadata system that is shared with others to create folksonomies. While not replacing traditional classification systems, folksomonies make it easier for clients to find resources by allowling them to search and browse using everyday language. If the online world of information can be navigated more easily through this personalised classification system, why is the physical world not following suit?

A possible scenario
Traditionally, a new library client arrives and is confronted with the daunting prospect of finding books by number. Most clients have little understanding of Dewey numbers and find the system confusing and hard to navigate. The serendipitous finding of information in a Dewey library is limited because often, books on a similar subject area can be spread across many levels of the library. If we allow the physical space of the library to more closely mirror the online realm perhaps we can create a more engaging space with more opportunities for serendipity.

For example, resources could be arranged by subject area around an information common space. This would create a natural gathering place for people interested in that subject area to meet, share ideas and collaborate. In this scenario, the library catalogue is able to accommodate tagging and clients can tag items while they are at the shelf looking at them via their mobile phone. This could allow clients to physically browse the shelves and scan items with their phone to see user-generated tags, comments, ratings etc. to determine if the resource is worthwhile. They could then 'share' the resource with their project team, tutorial group etc. in much the same way they currently share items online.

The library could be responsive to user generated tags and move resources accordingly to allow more serendipity than is currently possible with Dewey systems. Of course, resources must to be located easily when a client knows what they need. In this scenario, the implementation of an RFID system would ensure that clients are directed to the exact location of the item they require.

The scenario described above creates a further integration of physical and virtual realms within the library. It enables the development of a more responsive and interactive physical space that more closely mirrors what clients have come to expect online. With the advancement of the semantic web there is even greater potential for user-generated tags to be a useful tool for the personalisation of information access and discovery (Specia & Motta, 2007). Information/learning commons already create a social space within the library but more can be done to create an interactive library that allows genuine community engagement and information sharing. Customisation of the physical space to more closely mirror virtual space is one way this can be achieved.

The Personal Web

There has been a growing trend in recent years towards a 'personal web' which allows people to have a personal online experience without clutter and information overload. Emarketing has been a leader in this field through personalised advertising by using profile data such as that available in Facebook. However, more and more the personal web has become about users deciding what they want to see and how they want to see it. For example igoogle, pageflakes and Netvibes allow users to create a personalised home page with only the gadgets, news and tools they want to see. These services make it possible for one page to contain your: email, calendar, RSS, docs, Twitter, Facebook, podcasts, YouTube and much more. This essentially creates a single personal web portal which diminishes the need to be constantly navigating between all these sites individually.

RSS was the first big step in personalising the web by allowing all the blogs, news and awareness services you follow to be aggregated by an RSS Reader such as Google reader. The personal web takes this idea one step further by collecting all your social networks, calendars, emails, news, blogs etc all to the one personal online portal. This process began with sites such as igoogle but now for example, Facebook has such a wide network and variety of apps available that it is able to compete as a personal web portal.

Mobile devices are also leading the way on the personal web front through the proliferation of apps and the improved technology of smart phones. Apps are available to help you with the usual tasks such as: email, news and social networking but some of the more unusual ones can also help you: create a personal soundtrack to your life, track and plan your daily exercise and hygiene regimes, help you find a public toilet or create a digital postcard from a photo to send to your friends. No two mobile devices in the world would have the exact same set of apps and the way people use these apps would be even more varied.

There is now so much information available, tools to use, news to follow and places to look that it can seem impossible to keep up. A personal web diminishes the stress and burden of keeping up with all of this by providing a single portal containing only the things you need. There are so many more examples of personalising the web and I aim to continue blogging on this theme. Future topics will include: Google wave, Hunch, augmented reality, Drupal, mashups and how these things could be used in future library contexts.

What is the library?

Libraries are changing faster than ever before. Historically libraries have been known as places of books but the digital age means more information is available than ever and much of it is not in book form. Perceptions of libraries are changing to include more social spaces, engaging communities and enabling access to reliable sources of information. Trends in social networking and mobile devices are impacting client expectations of libraries and we need to adapt in order to maintain relevance.

This blog is where I plan to get my thoughts out there on libraries of the future.