Library 2.0? No, thank you! Obstacles to Creating a Social Library

Library 2.0? No, thank you! Obstacles to Creating a Social Library

“Five Weeks to a Social Library”February 12 – March 17, 2007

Kate Peterson, Information Literacy Librarian,Capella University

Melissa Prescott, Reference/Instruction Librarian & Assistant Professor, St. Cloud State University

Plamen Miltenoff, Information Specialist & Associate Professor, St. Cloud State University

Peterson, Prescott, & Miltenoff, "Library 2.0? No, thank you!"

2

Presenters

Kate Peterson• MLIS University of Wisconsin – Madison• Experience in science and engineering, information literacy

Melissa Prescott• MLIS University of Wisconsin – Madison• Experience in reference, instruction, information literacy, cataloging

Plamen Miltenoff

• MLIS Dominican University

• Experience in multimedia interactivity web development


3

Agenda

• Obstacles• Solutions• Examples


4

Examples of Social Software

• Podcasts / RSS / Wikis / Blogs• Social bookmarking• Instant Messaging• Photo- videosharing (Flickr, YouTube)• MySpace/Facebook• Distributive learning software for

technology-mediated learning for virtual learning environments (Breeze)


5

Obstacles

• Workflow• Technical• Professional / Organizational • Environmental / Personal


6

Workflow Obstacles

• Money not obstacle—most applications free or very low cost

• Librarians are chronically overworked– Lack of time to learn, plan, create and

maintain– Often need to do as an “add on”

• Lack of radical trust• Slow pace of change

– “Analysis Paralysis”


7

Technical Obstacles

• Limited control over library web pages• Lack of programming knowledge and

administrative support to obtain such• No servers and support with open source

software (PHP, MySQL, etc.)• Library or campus technology bureaucracy

– Difficult to get technological support– Must have support from administration first


8

Professional/Organizational Obstacles• Lack of tenure/promotion mechanisms that

value learning of new technologies– Challenges values

• Slow acceptance by professional library organizations

• Slow acceptance by library schools


9

Environmental/Personal Obstacles• Generational Differences

– Administrators less comfortable with Web 2.0• Do not use it in their personal lives

• Culture of library– Do new ideas come from top down or bottom

up?• Personal peculiarities

– Everybody learns at a different pace and style

“…social software does not indicate a sharp break with

the old but, rather, the gradual emergence of a new type of

practice”

Bryan Alexander, “Web 2.0: A New Wave of Innovation for Teaching and Learning?” EDUCAUSE Review

41,no.2 (March/April 2006): 33-44.


11

Why bother?• Innovation in teaching and learning• Low cost, easy to use and maintain• Information literacy possibilities• Increasingly used in non-library world (i.e. business)• Transitions from content collector to content creator• Harness power of collaboration, foster community• Reach students where they are at• It’s fun• Keep libraries relevant using 21st century technologies,

personalize the library• Being a “hip” librarian who is able to relate to Millennials,

generate ideas for new user services


12

Solutions

• Other Libraries• Make a Demo• The Pilot


13

Other Libraries

• Find good examples of libraries using social software and the talk to them....– local libraries or comparable institutions

• Do screen shots and show concrete examples to your colleagues and administrators

• Find evidence in scholarly publications to give those unfamiliar with social software "trusted, authoritative" sources


14

Examples

• University of Minnesota Intranet (Wiki)– http://wiki.lib.umn.edu/

• Library Success Wiki – http://www.libsucess.org/

• Graduate school class on social software– http://ssa05.blogspot.com/

http://wiki.lib.umn.edu/

http://www.libsucess.org/



http://ssa05.blogspot.com/


15

University of Minnesota Intranet (Wiki)


16

Library Success Wiki

Includes:• Collaborative Tools in Libraries (Blogs, Wikis, etc.)

• Social Networking Software

• Courseware (Blackboard, WebCT, Angel, etc.)

• Online Communities

• Podcasting• And more…


17

Library Success Wiki: Podcasting


18

Course

• Teachers College, Columbia University during Fall 2005 – MSTU 5510 (Topical Seminar): Social Software Affordances– Instructor: Ulises A. Mejias – Course Objectives

• The class will develop competency in the use of blogs, wikis, distributed classification systems, and RSS feeds.

• The class will perform a state-of-the-art review of social software tools, applications, and theory, focusing on a critical assessment of the affordances of social software.

• Class members will conduct an individual exercise on the potential of social software to effect change at a personal and social level.

– Class blog: http://ssa05.blogspot.com/

http://ssa05.blogspot.com/


19


20

Getting Your Feet Wet• Easy

– Use hosted services• Social bookmarking (del.icio.us), Flickr, IM, Facebook,

MySpace, blogs (Blogger, LiveJournal), wikis (PBWiki)– Create your own apps vs. entire library

• More challenging (more control)– Host your own

• Blog (TypePad, WordPress), wiki (MediaWiki)– Create library application

• Find a “cause”: http://web.stcloudstate.edu/schoolmediapodcast/

http://web.stcloudstate.edu/schoolmediapodcast/




21

Make a Demo

• Create something on your own behalf– Subject-specific blog or social bookmarks– Wiki for project you are working on

• You can always delete it later• Work with admin to create demo

– Library Director’s blogs


22

Examples• Blogs

– Subject-specific blog (using Blogger)• http://culinfolit.blogspot.com/• http://lrtstenuresupportgroup.blogspot.com/

– Library Director’s Blogs • SirsiDynix's Vice President of Innovation, Stephen Abram,

Stephen's Lighthouse (http://stephenslighthouse.sirsi.com/)• Ann Arbor Public Library (MI) Director, Josie Parker,

Director's Blog (http://www.aadl.org/taxonomy/term/86)• MySpace

– Brooklyn College Library • http://www.myspace.com/brooklyncollegelibrary)

• Social Bookmarks/Tags– PennTags (http://tags.library.upenn.edu/)– H20 Playlist (http://h2obeta.law.harvard.edu/home.do)

http://stephenslighthouse.sirsi.com/



http://www.aadl.org/taxonomy/term/86

http://www.myspace.com/brooklyncollegelibrary

http://www.myspace.com/brooklyncollegelibrary

http://tags.library.upenn.edu/

http://h2obeta.law.harvard.edu/home.do


23

Stephen Abram’s blog


24

AADL’s Dirctors Blog (with Patron Comments)


25

Links can be imbedded in Myspace Profiles directly to your services

Blogs are integrated into the Myspace profile

Individualized URL ideal for Marketing

Brooklyn College Library MySpace Profile


26

PennTags


27

H20 Playlist (Harvard)


28

The Pilot (formal demo)

• Define goals (i.e. increase awareness of library workshops) and length of demo (one semester)

• Measure: Pre-test and post-test or survey at workshops

• Work to get high visibility or market to specific group (i.e. engineering students)

• Write up analysis and work to move to next phase


29

Recap

• Try, get your feet wet• Yes, there are lots of obstacles• Talk with librarians who have been

successful


30

Sources EDUCASE Horizon Report. 2006 Ed.

(http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2006_Horizon_Report.pdf) EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative. 7 Things You Should Know About.

(http://www.educause.edu/7ThingsYouShouldKnowAboutSeries/7495) Blogs, Instant Messaging, Facebook, Screencasting, Video Blogs,

Wikis, Social Bookmarks, etc. Richardson, W. Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for

Classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2006. A SirsiDynix Institute Conversation: The 2.0 Meme - Web 2.0, Library 2.0,

Librarian 2.0. Feb. 22, 2006. (http://www.sirsidynixinstitute.com/seminar_page.php?sid=56)

Thomas, C. & McDonald, R. Millennial Net Value(s): Disconnects Between Libraries and the Information Age Mindset. Florida State University D-Scholarship Repository. 2005. (http://dscholarship.lib.fsu.edu)

Villano, Matt. “Social Software is Here to Stay, But What Is It Really, and Is It a Good Thing?” Campus Technology 20 no.4 (Jan. 2007): 40-45.(http://campustechnology.com/article.asp?id=19881)

Castells, M., et al. The Mobile Communication Society: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Available Evidence on the Social Use of Wireless Communication Technology. Annenberg Research Network on International Communication, University of Southern California. 2004. (http://arnic.info/WirelessWorkshop/MCS.pdf)


31

Q/s,DiscussionContact us

Kate [email protected]

Melissa [email protected]

Plamen [email protected]


32

Live chat

• Date and Time: March 15, 2PM Central• Let’s chat:

– Kate, AOL: katethegreatmpls– Melissa, AOL: missyannangel– Plamen, AOL: aidemoreto

Education

Library 2.0? No, thank you! Obstacles to Creating a Social Library