I don't go there - Libraries & Social networks...

Holy Moly - I just realized the first posting of LibraryStories was November 17, 2003. Who would of thought there could be that much consistent Oklahoma library related news to share for so long? Sure surprised me.

Actually, I made this realization because of the post that was swirling in the primordial ooze which is my brain. I was talking with one of the students interning in my virtual branch and trying to describe to him why the first "Virtual Library Manager" in Oklahoma has not embraced a facebook, myspace, linked-in, etc pages/groups for her institution. I'm not sure if I made any sense to the Intern, or if he even cared - but I figured I would share my logic with you and see what you all thought.

I've always tried to separate the "personal" from the "professional" - and of course one way to grow as a professional is to experiment on your personal time. I promise that isn't as perverted as it sounds. I have a facebook, linked-in and even a MySpace account so I can see what is going on out there (well the MySpace account is actually to track down wayward young relatives who post really stupid things). I played with ning, second life, twitter, the defunct Google world and the defunct social site pownce. Heck I have so many other things that I still stumble upon logins that I forget I ever made. The internet is my smorgasbord and I sample it all - but I only go back for 2nds when I find stuff that really appeals to me. What's good for me personally tech wise is not necessarily good for my institution though.

When I go out and put my Friend/Colleague, Gamer or Virtual Librarian stamp on something – I’m appealing to completely different audiences and I can not treat them the same way.

Now – try to stay with me – this may get confusing – because it even is to me.

When Adri friend/colleague goes to a site I have a level of familiarity with the person to who I’m peddling the online service. So when I send an email to a colleague inviting them to join Linked-in they know it’s for professional reasons and the people they encounter through me in that environment have a certain stamp of professional approval. In that environment I am responsible for myself alone.

Things change with Adri the Gamer. In the days before my daughter became a toddler my husband and I were Gamers. Not casual gamers – we were they stay up late and kill monsters with a group for hours on end. I was the leader of a gaming group comprised of people from North America and Europe. It was craziness. But early on my group demanded a certain level of maturity of those who joined us online. Many of those who were in the group where parents or professionals and wanted a fun casual environment in which to play. So when people joined our network or interacted with people who wore our cape they expected a certain behavior. In that environment I was responsible for setting the expectations of those who chose to game with us and if people didn’t up hold our code of conduct then they weren’t allowed to participate in having fun.

Everything is different with Virtual Librarian. I never spend a significant amount of time with my patrons. The most I see of many of them are IP addresses and perhaps the occasional email address asking for assistance. Yet there is an implicit level of trust they have because I am a Librarian. And it’s that way for everyone who works in a library – and it’s a tremendous responsibility. So if I were to start creating facebook, myspace, etc pages as a librarian and encouraging patrons to participate with my institution in that venue – I’m just not lending my credibility – that trust they have of my station –only to the facebook, myspace, etc but also to the people who are my contacts/friends on those sites and that’s not a burden I want because there are too many unknowns. There is a good chance we will know nothing of the people we befriend our institutions – they may or may not be the a/s/l they purport to say.

Now I know people will say, “Yeah that’s how it is when people come to your library building” and I can say they are correct to an extent – but when they are in the building I have university or board policy to encourage a certain level of behavior – online I don’t have that. Wait, I know others are saying, “Well your patrons are already there!” and I will agree that many already are – and that’s why I’ve enabled the option for patrons to share library events and news with their friends.

Every single article on our site has a social bookmarking feature on it – so that people can import those items onto their profiles and share them with friends. It’s the modern day “word of mouth” marketing that libraries have always relied on. Plus, I truly believe people attend library events and utilize library services more by 1) finding it via a search on a major search engine 2) a trusted source referring them to the library. So why should I take my already stretched man power and have them creating multiple web presences – when we could be fine tuning the one we have to have features that work with what is out there and focusing on search engine optimization?

There is so much more I could write on this – and perhaps I will later. But for now this is good and if anyone reads it please know that these thoughts are my own and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of anyone else living or dead.

Hey so how's it going?

Oh, Hi. How ya doing? Been up to much? Uh huh. Uh huh. mmmmm huh. Oh really? Well that sounds interesting and or horrible. Me? Well, been super busy like everyone else.

We did another podcast at work for Get Caught Reading month. It was kind of fun. And I'm proud to say I met with a group of folks and we planned a production schedule and we'll have a new podcast theme for each month for the next year!

In one dimension of my reality there's a vote coming up this Tuesday. Let me just say this -- I've experienced Forum Trolls on various forums - but I've never actually seen the breeding ground from which they came - until now. Reading the various posts - I'm torn - the forum moderator in me wants to ban the use of too large images for no dang reason - the information professional in me wants them to cite their sources - and the person who has actual experience working in the environment that so desperately needs improving in me wants to go and tell them the reality of the building & budget they all think is fine and dandy (not that we all don't love having to cross our fingers when nuking our lunches that a breaker doesn't blow or looking extra careful at the database usage to see what we can cancel without a massive stop in service should the vote go the undesired way)...but I know it wouldn't do that dimension of my reality any good for me to do any of that. And instead I silently read the troll forums.

Another dimension of my reality found me and the husband at Borders on Friday morning. We dropped the little one off at day care so we could have our 9 year anniversary date during the day. We dropped her off at 8:30 and decided to see when Borders opened and browse some books and music. We got there about 10 minutes before open and there were already folks there before us - waiting for the doors to open at 9:00. I commented to the husband how interesting that was - because if they just wanted a place to study they could have gone down the street to Belle Isle or if they wanted coffee they could just go up the street to Starbucks. But for some reason they wanted Borders. Well maybe they were having a mega sale on some sort of books. So when the doors opened husband and I walked and after the 10 or so folks before us - and they all had lined up at the coffee counter before grabbing a magazine or unloading their textbooks to study. Even those customers who looked to be around retirement age. For us we actually had in mind to purchase copies of Owly and Fables and browse the sales tables. And as I watched the folks grab their cup of over priced caffeine and then go and read one of the magazines from the magazine rack I thought to myself - if Belle Isle had a coffee bar would they had gone down there instead? I mean after all -- all they were spending money on was coffee everything else they wanted for the county/tax payers pays for just down the street.

Another dimension of my reality found me cataloging books today and there was occasion for a lot of people to be at the place of my other library. But it was strange to have visitors from New Jersey stop in and to tell me that they were impressed with our library. I thanked them, and in the back of my mind I thought they were just being kind, but when they said their synagogue library was only the size of the reading area of our temple library I can only imagine the dropped-jaw look on my face. And then I took the opportunity to tout our collection size and how our catalog is online. I mean heck why not right? Can't us Okie show them East-Coasters what it means to be intellectual and to value knowledge and what it means to invest a little into your community to preserve a cultural experience for future generations? Sure there are other libraries around my temple patrons could go to - but they wouldn't have the specialized collection, knowledge staff or convenience if they used the other libraries.

I don't know - so many dimensions of my reality focus around libraries/librarianship etc. Even the aspects where I'm the only librarian - I still function in the librarian role. This coming Tuesday I'll be attending a OSWG meeting. And I am the "librarian that uses joomla" person - in a room full of state webmasters. Kind of neat.

Anyways - enough rambling - I need to go enjoy the rest of this lovely Mother's Day. My daughter has tomatoes and bell peppers coming up in her little garden that we need to look at -- Oh and along that lines -- can anyone tell me what I'm suppose to do with 3 pumpkin plants and the pumpkins that will be attached to them after a while? We didn't realize they would grow so well.

OLA - i wuz there

Well, the OLA annual conference has come and gone. And as always it was good to see familiar faces that I hadn't seen in a while and it was especially good to see some familiar names face-to-face for the first time.

The Keynote speaker from OCLC, George Needham, had some nice things to say - and wasn't too much of a doppelganger to last year's speaker. I agreed with a lot of what he said - but perhaps the best thing that stuck out in my mind was his opening quote:

It is not necessary to change. Survival is optional. - W. Edwards Deming

Pretty much sums it up doesn't it? He also mentioned several reports - most which I've read - but still they are worth bookmarking or downloading to your e-reading apparatus.

• Digital Footprints:Online identity management and search in the age of transparency
  
• Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future Executive summary pdf
  
• Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources (2005)

One of those new faces for a name and voice I've interacted with was Nathan - who conducted a very nice table talk on Podcasting.

I then went to the break out session for the Keynote and got to ask about when OCLC is going to embrace all that cool OSS, Creative Commons, GNU type stuff he was talking about. You'll be happy to know they are in the thinking and talking about it phase - which I think it translate into "When you retire we may be in the writing phase" - so perhaps my grandchildren will reap the benefits. ;-)

I then attended Adrianna's (the spelled with 2 n's) presentation on Focus Groups. And learned that if I do a focus group - I should not be the moderator.

After all that I decided to drive home and get ready for the next day.



The next day I got there bright and early so I could hear one of the authors of Books on Trial speak. I was very excited to attend this presentation -as you may remember I really enjoyed the book. It was a great talk and the only thing that upset me was it was scheduled at the same time as the SLIS Student OSS presentations - but I heard from through the grapevine that the students did a great job.


Before lunch I attended the Amigos Tech Year in Review by Christine Peterson and if only I could remember the URL for her presentation I would share it. [ Update: Thanks Christine! Here slides are here http://www.amigos.org/training/peterson/OLA/techho.pdf ]


I camped out in the room for Virtual Worlds presentation - so I could heckle my ODL buddy Michael's 2nd Life presentation. I even got a special introduction as heckler prior to Michael's talk (thanks Bill!) As you may remember I don't like it that much. And I've stated after trying it.


But I couldn't heckle too much because he did a good job and did a nice little presentation video. Unfortunately he ran out of time so he couldn't take them into the 2nd life world to show them it in real time. Which left me to hang out on info isle bored - I mean what's the point in turning into a furry with whips and "bling" if there isn't a crowd of freaked out librarians to watch in real time?



(I keed - actually the Marriott crashed their wireless to give Michael a wired connection to the internet so I wouldn't have been able to do that anyways)

I will say the one down point of the entire conference was the exhibitors - not that I don't adore harassing EBSCO salesreps (who were kind enough to sponsor the Keynote) - but there was such a poor turn out of vendors I walked through the hall once and never went back in. It was in a nice location/room but there was absolutely no one new - and I even heard a few folks complain there wasn't even the library clothing folks around to buy cheesy library t-shirts from. The number of vendors was sad and has me concerned about future conferences.

So that's my quick summation - what do you all think? Do you have tales to share? I did stumble across a few other posts out there as well about the conference
http://kmiscommunication.wordpress.com/2008/04/24/reluctant-blogger/
http://vivereestcogitare.wordpress.com/2008/04/24/ola-2008-retrospective/
http://yoyotxt.blogspot.com/2008/04/not-exactly-book-cart.html
http://woodsyandwired.blogspot.com/2008/04/getting-paid-to-game.html

Kern 23:31

A LibraryStories reader, from Eastern Oklahoma, sent this to me. And dang her for making me listen to this caterwauling. And please note the following statements are mine - the opinions do not necessarily reflect that of any other persons or entities living or dead.

Honestly though - I figured it was only a matter of time before I got talk about Sally Kern again. Turns out the "homosexual agenda" wasn't the only thing discussed but Rep. Kern at her now famous youtube discussion. Us dirty dirty libraries - and, squidsprodroves, us workers - were also included. I know, quick call your grandparents and let them know you were off handedly mentioned on the intertubes. You can listen or read the transcript at http://www.equalrightsproject.com/ -- if you listen the library bit it is at 23:31 (we are right after the cancer-toe-bit):

This brings in our libraries. Okay, you know I believe in the principle as a person thinks, as a man thinks, so is he. That’s why we have to be careful about what we read, what we watch, things like that, what music we listen to and stuff because what goes in is what comes out. Garbage in, garbage out. We know that with computers. You know, what you put in is what you get out. Okay. You take our young minds and the garbage that they’re reading in our libraries and I mean it’s garbage. I should have thought and brought you some excerpts of some of the stuff that, uh, I mean there’s no literary value to it at all. It is pure filth. The language, the acts, the things that are going on and yet our kids are reading it, I mean, they are reading in the droves...

Well I do agree with one thing - Garbage in, garbage out. And I think the above is filled with plenty of garbage. I don't think I could have summed up the above statement any better myself - thanks Rep Kern.

On a side note I might sell shirts at Cafe Press with Kern 23:31 - if I do would you buy?

Wifi hotspots nothing but telephone booths?

I found this article via DaniWeb. And it sparked the following brainstorm (which of course is a creation of my own self-diagnosed ADHD mind and it probably wrong but hey I have a few minutes so here goes)....

An executive with Ericsson says:

Hotspots at places like Starbucks are becoming the telephone boxes of the broadband era.

Which is an interesting thought - and potential Oh Noes! for libraries.

More libraries are tauting free wifi, coffee shops, meeting rooms, etc to bring in patrons who don't want to use libraries for their traditional uses. What will happen when a large number of people are equipped with a broadband mobile? What new tech perks will libraries have to offer? What's the sell of free wifi for travelers, students, business folks and lay peoples? Sure, now they can get to a library's myspace or facebook from anywhere at the touch of a screen but why come to the library? Or perhaps libraries will have to de-emphasize their in-house tech offerings and instead move to promote traditional programming and instruction instead?

Now it would be silly for a "Virtual Librarian" to play down technology in a library (after all it is the alpha and the omega) - but if your library has attached itself solely to the cart of super-in-house-tech-offerings (ebooks, databases, virtual reference, etc) be prepared for a rude awakening before your 40-something librarians retire. Because your vocal tax paying patrons, in-coming college freshman and administrators will have (if not already) a bulk of your services available at their fingertips and will wonder why they need to pay upkeep on a building. As long as you keep offering in-house specialities that can't be found anywhere else you'll be prepared for the future envisioned by the Ericsson exec.

Enid's Library Director Resigns

A follow up to the Enid library issues - from the Enid News & Eagle

...Kader’s tenure as director of the Public Library of Enid and Garfield County has been controversial and drawn an unnecessary amount of negative publicity. The director has been at odds with staff members, and there have been accusations he was derogatory with the staff, as well as having communication problems.

City administrators tried to help Kader and the staff work through their problems, but by that time, things had gone beyond reconciliation.

We need the library board, Benson and any others involved in hiring a new library director to be careful and considerate in deciding how to move the library forward. We do have issues that have to be addressed, including structural problems with the current library and the kinds of library services that should be enhanced or expanded.

We advise those involved in the hiring process to seek assistance and recommendations from the Oklahoma Municipal League or the state Department of Libraries about what qualifications are needed in today’s public library directors....

Save RIF

A long while ago I posted about my fond memories of the Reading is Fundamental program. I never knew of the possibility of my schools falling into the low-income or at risk area categories -- all I knew was that I got books to call my own. When I wrote that initial post in 2004 - I wasn't a mother yet. Now I find my daughter enjoying the books I received, as a child, from RIF (even if she is just looking at the pictures - she is only 2). The program is accomplishing its goal in a new generation.

I don't think words can express the sadness I felt upon reading following (which I found via librarianwoes):

Press Release February 7, 2008

President Bush Eliminates Funding for Reading Is Fundamental’s Historic Book Distribution Program Serving 4.6 Million Children

Statement from Carol H. Rasco, president and CEO, of Reading Is Fundamental

"President Bush’s proposed budget calling for the elimination of Reading Is Fundamental’s (RIF) Inexpensive Book Distribution program would be devastating to the 4.6 million children and their families who receive free books and reading encouragement from RIF programs at nearly 20,000 locations throughout the U.S.

“Unless Congress reinstates $25.5 million in funding for this program, RIF would not be able to distribute 16 million books annually to the nation’s youngest and most at-risk children. RIF programs in schools, childcare centers, migrant programs, military bases, and other locations serve children from low-income families, children with disabilities, foster and homeless children, and children without access to libraries. The Inexpensive Book Distribution program is authorized under the Elementary & Secondary Education Act (SEC.5451 Inexpensive Book Distribution Program for Reading Motivation) and is not funded through earmarks. It has been funded by Congress and six Administrations without interruption since 1975.

“Since its founding in 1966, RIF’s programs have played an important role in improving literacy in this country. The U.S. Department of Education has shown that the number of books in a child’s home is a significant predictor of academic achievement. In addition, RIF programs also support academic achievement by involving hundreds of thousands of volunteers and other caring adults in encouraging children to read for fun. We urge all Americans to contact their Congressional representatives and ask them to reinstate funding for this important program.”

If you have the time - write someone of authority and ask them to save RIF - by doing so they'll be saving generations of readers.

What kind of service is a library?

Ok this made me smile -





Of course if you listen to Lynn, in Duncan Oklahoma - no one would really post that phrase to a forum anyways - since libraries don't provide anything for reading.

...Public library functions reflect the change in attitude toward books. Increasingly, these facilities have become centers for family recreation night and knitting instruction courses. The focus has shifted from provision of reading sources to community service....

What? Reading can't be service to the community?

UCO 24 hour library - a success?

According to the UCO student government body it was.

"The 24-hour library was an amazing alternative. It gave students somewhere to study and hang out without having to cram local 24-hour restaurants," O'Brien said.

I don't know - part of what I loved about my undergraduate experience was studying for debate tournaments or finals at the 24 hour restaurant. Snacking on chili cheese fries and watching all the drunk cowboys/girls stumbling in around 2:00am to grab their pile o' fried goodness they called breakfast. Every once in a while we'd help the waitress, "Bee-hive Bev", pour coffee and pick up tables when she got too busy. It was a great way to build camaraderie with those outside our major. And also see a slice of life in which most of us didn't participate.

Hines was also very appreciative of the hard work the library workers and volunteers put in during the week. He said their efforts to work late in the night helped make the 24-hour library a success.

"We are very thankful for library volunteers and staff for their long hours they put in over finals week," said Hines.

As a thank you to all the library staff who helped out during the week, Hines declared January 14, 2008 as Library appreciation day at UCO.

Okay - so this part did make me laugh. Volunteers, eh? I think Hines is unaware who actually works an academic library. I can guarantee you it wasn't volunteers - but full time staff and part time students who have to secure and monitor a building during strange hours and throwing off their normal routines for a student body that believes their college education is a commercial commodity and not a life long personal growth investment.

Hines hopes to write a bill that would keep the library open even later. His plan is to extend the library hours from 11 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. He said that he wants to do this without having to use student activity fees. Passing this bill is one of Hines major goals of the semester.

Their going to pay to keep the library opened later with student activity fees? So that would be staffing, security, maintenance, electricity, etc for a 4 story building. That's a big chunk of change those kids are proposing...I sure hope UCO has super cheap credit hours because it's going to get awful expensive come tuition time with all those fees.

Actually I would be curious to see what the library door count stats said for those extended hours -- if it really matched the perception.

Book Reflection - Books on Trial

I just finished reading Books on Trial: Red Scare in the Heartland, by Shirley Wiegand and Wayne Wiegand. The book description on Amazon reads:

Between the two major red scares of the twentieth century, a police raid on a Communist Party bookstore in Oklahoma City marked an important lesson in the history of American freedom. Shirley A. Wiegand and Wayne A. Wiegand share the compelling story of this important case for the first time. They reveal how state power--with support from local media and businesses--was used to trample individuals' civil rights during an era in which citizens were gripped by fear of foreign subversion.

Richly detailed and colorfully told, Books on Trial is a sobering story of innocent people swept up in the hysteria of their times. It marks a fascinating and unnerving chapter in the history of Oklahoma and of the First Amendment.

If you have an interest in any of the things listed above I highly recommend it.

I was very interested to see all the different types of organizations which came out in support for and opposition to the defendants in the case. It seems a lot of individuals as well as groups were vocal and ranged in philosophy from the KKK to various worker's unions. But one group that was amazingly quiet during this period were librarians. And the Wiegands spelled it out that absence for those who didn't notice it, on pages 188-90:

Despite the potential impact of the cases on library services and collections, however, the nation's library community was noticeably silent. The American Library Association had approved a Library Bill of Rights in 1939, but had not yet mobilized efforts to combat censorship[...]
In the December issue of P.L.C. Bulletin (organ of the leftist Progressive Librarians Council), Ralph T. Esterquest, of Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study, expressed his surprise at how librarians seemed "unmoved by the fact that...fascist methods are today the official means of suppressing a free people" in Oklahoma[...]"Let us should to our readers,[...]Read-Read-Read! Fine out what the pygmy minds have forbidden you to know."

So what happened in the psyche of America's librarians that turned them into the anti-censorship-intellectual-freedom-beasts at which Esterquest hinted?

I tried to figure out an answer to this question a couple years ago when I was one of several librarians interviewed for a doctoral student's dissertation entitled, How government mandated policies affect those responsible for their implementation: the USA PATRIOT ACT and Academic Libraries. In fact prior to this reflection on the Wiegand's book I hadn't really thought about the dissertation or tried to track it down. As I told the researcher for the dissertation - there was a time when librarians, by and large, followed the loyalist line - regardless of what that line was, but my educated guess was World War II changed the hearts and minds of librarians and how they viewed their role in being vocal during times of book 'censorship', challenges and even a wider world of social injustices. After all WWII did that for a lot of people...

There are those who ask why should librarians and library groups make policies or public statements regarding topics outside the realm of librarianship or even why ALA goes full force regarding banned material. And they are good questions -- and ones I've found myself asking on occasion. I mean don't we have enough issues in libraries? Do we really need to go sticking our nose in other people's messes? Perhaps we are making up for lost time and for not speaking up in the past. Or because we are in a service field we are wanting help anyone we can in any way we can -- and at times it is just words of support.

I try very hard to keep my political/personal me away from the professional me - because I don't want to isolate anyone that I might be able to assist. However, reflecting on Books on Trial and reading through the dissertation for which I was interviewed has provided me with a resolution for this coming secular year.

I resolve to encourage friends, family and colleagues to more civic participation - regardless of what color their political affiliation (red/blue/neon green) -- because all that matters is that they participate and realize we all have a stake in it.

What do you think?

Ticking people - will flat library structures work?

LISnews points to an article about a flat library structure.

"At walking paper, Aaron Schmidt writes a post about creating a flat organizational structure at his library through encouraging a "Culture of Maybe." A nice organizational structure is fine and dandy but it is also meaningless without the right attitude to back it up. Libraries with severe hierarchies either are the result of or set the stage for a strong Culture of No. It is probably a "chicken or egg" question but either way, a library can't have a free flowing exchange of ideas in a collaborative environment if the Culture of No dominates."

In it the article the writer has these main talking points:

Encourage collaboration.
Listen to everyone.
Let natural talents develop
Make people responsible.
Set deadlines and stick to them.

Each point is spelled out and worth reading. But prior to reading the above piece I read something else over at LifeHack -- which makes me wonder if the above will actually work.

Four rules to understanding what makes people tick points out the 4 rules of human behavior -- and has a rather depressing graphic to bring the point home.

Rule One: People Mostly Care About Themselves
Rule Two: People are Motivated by Selfish Altruism (being Dominance, Reciprocity, Trade, Familial)
Rule Three: People Don’t Think Much
Rule Four: Conformity is the Norm

and then offers tips on applying the above rules

What layers are you communicating with? If people are selfish, self-absorbed and fail to think much, just working on the words you use isn’t enough. Everything about you is communicating something, and unless you get that message straight, the most persuasive argument won’t win anyone over.

Give reminders. Although some people are meticulously organized, most aren’t. Give people the reminders they need so you don’t get left out unintentionally.

What’s your social value? This isn’t your worth as a person, but what you have to offer in terms of other peoples needs and wants. It is easy to get depressed about human issues, if you don’t see the calculations behind it. Improve the value you offer and you can access the selfish altruism in us all.

So given our natural drive for self can a flat library structure work? Is a partial Culture of No necessary when you have too many people exerting dominance? Can you listen and collaborate when many people don't "think"? And if you have "leads" on a project does that create a niche social group and you have all these "norms" and no cross thought?

After reading the two pieces let me know what you think -- :-)

Dear OLA,

If you truly wanted fun loving people (or more men) in the association you would market like this.

k thnx,

me

Psych classes for MLIS students?

SLIS student, Library Computer Guy writes:

It has been quite a while since I took Psych 101 and I’m just thinking some refresher might be in order for the public librarian in an MLIS program.

And he gives a couple of examples as to why he considers this

...There was the man who was angry that the Devil seemed to be blocking his Yahoo email account... but he seemed to believe I was in league with the Devil at some point...

Luckily for LCG, it's just not a public library thing. When I worked in academia we had all sorts come in - and some with tenure.

One gentleman wanted the "secret government document" that allowed President Clinton to come into people's homes at night and take their guns without them knowing about it. I got yelled at by a female student once for not doing my "f*cking job" which she believed included me writing her English essay. I got berated, while at the reference desk, by a crying emertis faculty member for withdrawing (and giving to another library) an incomplete series of journals. I got scolded over the phone for not recording an entire commercial VHS tape for someone to have a personal copy of because she "needed it". One lady wanted to know the average length of the ...err... male member so she could prove to her boyfriend he wasn't below average (hello can you say TMI!!!) ...and oh the list goes on...

The fact is -- no matter where you work in libraries you'll encounter individuals, both public and colleagues, who you'll question their mental state and eventually your own for working in libraries. But that's the joy of being part of a society and having human clients. And just when you think you've learned how to deal with a certain type of individual a whole knew category of WTF will pop up. It's a never ending adventure. ;-)

That's why it's important to have a strong support network, be it professionally (in person, like coworkers, or virtually, via dicussion groups) or personally (friends and family in which you can confide). And truth be told I don't know if a Psychology class would help -- all it would do in my case is confirm my fear that I'm an enabler of all those around me and foster their invidual psychosis. (Which probably applies to all librarians)

So what stories do you have to share?

Memories of an Okie library

Snaps North shares a tale of an Oklahoma library memory -- wonder which library in SW Oklahoma will take credit to be the library mentioned.

...Believe me, when you're from central California, small towns in southwestern Oklahoma are exotic. Shortly after arriving I decided I'd better get a library card. I'm not sure who suffered the most from culture shock during that transaction, myself or the two little old, gray-haired librarians. (Ironically, now I'm a little old, gray-haired librarian, but I digress.) These two honestly were the very archetype of librarian. Buns in their hair, orthopedic shoes on their feet. And the books - the books! The books were at least as old as the librarians and considerably more dusty. The librarians, of course, were delighted to see me. I was probably the first person to walk in the door in the last twenty years. They would have been delighted if Genghis Khan had walked through that door, providing he confessed to a desire for a library card....

Transparent institutions?

Marilyn calls for transparency for institutions -- how transparent is yours?

Nonprofit institutions - need to embrace this transparency because it can also reveal the truth about how much it really takes to function, how much is lost due to skewed priorities of governing bodies, or how much is not done because of low support from the bases funding the institution....

Round robin of Bermudez

The Examiner-Enterprise ran a community piece on the Bermudez Triangle controversy in Bartlesville. The mother who issued the challenge is quoted as saying

“I am so ecstatic that the parents have control over what goes into their children’s eyes,” Rader says. “I’m proud of the superintendent and the committee.

“I’m glad that I accomplished what I set out to do.”

What's that? Point out the inability of the Bartlesville school board to handle a book challenge? If so huzzah to you Ms. Rader. She continues...

Because of her success with this book, Rader says she wants to get the Bible back into schools in a history and literature class.

“And I’m working on that because I think it’s important for our kids to know where they came from,” Rader says. “I think the Bible’s a good foundation for our school. I think we’re way far from it and our kids are suffering.

And to her I ask which Bible will you be teaching? And will there be room for my Tanakh? The other thing -- I took a History of Christian Thought class in college -- let me tell you it's amusing watching an Irish Catholic try to explain to Southern Baptists the history of "The Church" thought and not have it turn into to a theology debate. If they do this in Bartlesville I suggest bringing popcorn it's a great show.

Maureen is quoted in the article as well

“I certainly don’t think the committee members are bad people — I think they’re just trying to do their jobs. But I also think that this decision was a bad one, and that the entire issue was mishandled. It seems, for example, that they violated policy by not informing the public of their actions. It was only because the librarians spoke up, and that I started the online campaign, that the public was ever notified. That’s what’s scary to me. A lot of these kinds of things happen and no one ever knows.”

and adds additional commentary on her blog as well

Now, as to what can be done . . .

In looking more into this matter (including speaking to anti-censorship king Chris Crutcher), really, Bartlesville has to fix Bartlesville. But nothing prevents me from talking about it and making the issues known. Or dancing about it, for that matter.

And she provides informative links for locals to get involved -- such as school board, ALA's rights to students and the Oklahoma ACLU.

So if you live, spend money, or anything else in or near Bartlesville drop the above folks a line and weigh in on the issue. And if you are a librarian double check your local policies on challenges -- use the ALA site on Dealing with Challenges to help you.

Enid paper knows what makes good librarians

It takes many things to make a good librarian -- Well I agree with part of these... :-)

What makes a good librarian?

• Good librarians don’t have to have gray hair pinned in a bun.

• Good librarians are patrons of their own library.

• Good librarians treat all people as first-class citizens and don’t require three things of them before assisting.

• Good librarians do their best management with a smile or a frown.

• Good librarians defend against censorship, not demand it of books and thought.

• Good librarians stand up for goodness and “The Golden Rule.”

• Good librarians read and know who Will Rogers was.

• Good librarians sometimes marry the President of the United States.

• I suspect that good librarians catalogue the rolls of Heaven.

Like Charlton Heston once said, “Behold, ... God!”

Coburn to increase library funding for 2010!

Ha ha! Made you look!

The real headline from FCW.com is Lawmakers want online census for 2010 (here's additional info as well)

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) can’t understand why the U.S. Census Bureau has decided not to use the Internet for at least some part of the 2010 census.
...
“They could do a pilot so by the 2020 census they are online,” Coburn said after a hearing where he lambasted the bureau's director, Louis Kincannon, about this issue. “I can’t think of a reason not to do the census on the Internet. I don’t think anyone else would disagree with me.”

During the hearing, Coburn pointed to the Internal Revenue Service’s success with accepting tax returns online as an example for Census. He also said if other private-sector financial institutions can operate securely online, there is no reason the census cannot.

“I’m appalled that you are not at least trying to do this on the Internet,” he said. “We don’t have a vision to get this done. I will do everything I can to force the Internet down your throat with amendments. You are living in the past, not the future. I recommend you get on board for 2010.”
...
After the hearing, Kincannon said the 2003 test offered paper and Internet options, while the 2005 test offered only an Internet option.

“Overall, our response rate in the 2005 test was 5.7 percentage points lower than with paper,” he said. ...

As one of the lucky people living in Oklahoma who have fast Internet access at home and work I love the option of being able to file my taxes, banking, and many other things online. Heck I would even complete an online census if given the chance -- but I am also well aware that I am a minority when it comes to embracing technology. Heck, most of my colleagues don't even utilize technology in the same way or to the extent that I do. So I have to say I disagree with the Honorable Mr. Coburn.

The past several weeks I have been traveling to various libraries in Oklahoma and talking with kids and adults who do not have (or have limited) Internet access at home. These folks are lucky enough to have a local library with computers and Internet access. Yet many still have problems printing their tax W2s off the Internet when their employer only makes them available that way. So how would those Oklahomans be expected to interact with an online census form? Or does Oklahoma have such an over whelming response rate it can afford to miss the not so tech savvy folks? Or what about the many in Oklahoma who do not have Internet access or a computer at home and also do not have a library with convenient hours or stable equipment near them? Is the area Coburn represents not rural at all? So they don't have to worry about missing out on the information that would be obtained from a census? Better yet, will he set up mobile computer census labs to enable seniors, the poor, and non-tech savvy to get census assistance needed? Or will this online census be achieved by sampling the urban wired areas and to hell with the rural?

My observation is -- as more government services move online or have options available for online completion the more libraries are required to fill the information gap. And this isn't just public libraries -- academic libraries also have to step in and help college students figure out federal student loan forms, tax filings, etc -- yet the libraries obtain no additional funding (and rarely free classes from federal agencies) to help educate or train the public or staff on these online government endeavors. Before any significant part of the census is moved online the people need to be assured that everything and more is being done to insure an accurate census for all demographics.

Many of our elected officials are demanding agencies cut spending by moving information retrieval and dissemination online -- yet they don't understand (nor care to) what it entails or who it impacts. Many are focusing so hard on their political legacy they forget what the world is like for those not so privileged. Heck they are even willing to force not well thought out change down our throats -- so open wide!

Let sleeping blogs lie?

As always - these thoughts are my own. No institutions or persons living or dead will or would ever necessarily agree with me.

As I linked to before Bartlesville has come to a conclusion regarding the Bermudez Triangle -- and it is reminiscent of another book controversy in Oklahoma.

Well the crusade to save the people of Bartlesville from themselves hasn't stopped. In fact Neil Gaiman has posted a letter from Maureen . For those not in the know Neil is a literary genius (seriously):

Bestselling author Neil Gaiman has long been one of the top writers in comics, and also writes books for readers of all ages. He is listed in the Dictionary of Literary Biography as one of the top ten living post-modern writers, and is a prolific creator of works of prose, poetry, film, journalism, comics, song lyrics, and drama.

And to have him comment on a challenge situation on his blog is tantamount to having Oprah add your product to her list of favorite things -- it will get noticed by a lot of folks. You can read the letter at his blog.

Something in particular that bothers me with Maureen's letter is the last two lines -- which reads:

I’ll probably go on trying to needle these idiots for a while yet. I can at least try to shame them some more.

Calling the decision makers idiots and trying to shame them isn't going to help get the book back on to open shelves. First off they have power and the ultimate authority and (even if they are idiots) only the tax payers and voters of Bartlesville can remove them from their positions of power. Secondly to be shamed you have to have the consciousness that you've done something improper -- the group that made this decision will probably never feel that because, I'm guessing, the vocal of the community does not believe that discussion of homosexuality (no matter how light and especially among students) is acceptable. The committee won't be shamed anymore than Maureen will be. If anything making this statement available in a public forum will probably push certain individuals try even harder to pull the book completely off the shelf -- by either changing curriculum, the collection development policy for the library, and or the process by which a book can be removed from the collection. After all -- this is an area with a southern state mentality and they don't liken to carpetbaggers telling them what to do (well unless it's certain circles and TABOR) ;-)

Instead of resorting to base instinct to attack the people who hold different thoughts -- what should be done, by open library stack proponents, is an education campaign. Perhaps start by tackling the myth as to the ability of teens to handle complex social situations (such as others have pointed out). Find the like minded people in Bartlesville who feel passionately about it and give them the tools they need to start an education campaign. This is exactly what the opposition groups of Maureen's do and they have a lot of success at it.

Remember -- similar topics are still on the public library shelves and it's important to keep them there because the public library serves a wider population than the school. Well -- at least I went to the public and local university library in mid/high school than I did the school library.

Go ahead tell me what you think -- I know you want to. :-)

A student's idea on a Netflix model "library"

It's popular for information science programs to encourage students to publish blogs in class. OU is no exception -- they do this for both their Library Science and Knowledge Management courses. I've ran across several such blogs the past couple of years -- and although I read through them I try not to disturb students too much with attention from outside the course. However, I thought this one was worth pointing out. I've always wondered about the philosophical differences between KM and LIS courses -- this paper may be an indication of the differences.


NetBooks and its Impact on Libraries
Abstract:

The Netflix model allows subscribers to order DVDs online, receive them by mail, and keep them indefinitely and without late fees. If applied to books, this model (call it NetBooks) would offer an alternative to the public library. NetBooks, if successful, would push the public library into further irrelevance. However, such would have no real consequence for the public library which would continue to exist as a tax supported organization largely immune to competition from the private sector.

Seriously -- read it.