Another friend joins the blogosphere

A friend of mine just started blogging at the view from here. The very first post went up yesterday.

Friday Five

Lists are fun and it has been a while since I did a Friday Five, so here goes. The list is a mix of fun and useful things, as before.

1. Unshelved & PhD Comics: Because Librarians and Graduate Students Need Their Comics Too!
These are two webcomics I read regularly. I like PhD Comics more than Unshelved, but they are both fun. PhD Comics is about grad students; Unshelved is set in a public library. One of the good things about comics is that they’re light and easy on you and your computer; you read a couple strips in a few minutes and then move onto something else.

2. Authors @ Google: Watch authors talk about their work!

There are lots of these, including quite a few authors I like: Neil Gaiman, Richard Florida, and Jeffrey Sachs. Having regular events like that is one great job benefit!

3. Using More Than One Web Browser Is Good For You: Good for testing things and figuring out problems

If you use Windows, your computer came with Internet Explorer. If you use Mac OS X, then it is Safari. If it is Linux, it is probably Firefox. The important point is to have more than one, especially if any part of your work involves heavy use of the Web. Even for recreation, you should have more than one. While Firefox is my “primary” browser, I also have Google Chrome, Opera, Safari, and Internet Explorer. Switching around sometimes is fun and can be very helpful to test things or just give you a welcome change of pace. It also means that if I’m using a computer or device other than my own computer, I’m still comfortable using whatever is on offer.

4. Wiki Travel: Or Why You Might Never Buy a Lonely Planet Again?

I only heard about this website a few days ago and already I’m impressed with it. To test the usefulness of it, I looked at four cities: Toronto (needs some work), London (looks very good & detailed!),  Washington DC and Berlin. I’ve given examples of major cities, but it covers more than that. It has neighbourhoods of cities, provinces and country level entries. If you are traveling and need something in paper, there is a company that offers print on demand frequently updated Travel Guides based on Wiki Travel. The print side of things has much room for improvement still (I wonder how well Wiki Travel does maps? Maps matter a lot to me when I travel).

5. PB wiki: Or, You Really Should Learn When To Use Wikis

This is a free Wiki hosting service (as with most Web based companies, there is also a paid version with more features, but the free version is great). Wikis are one of the best collaborative tools out there – I’ve used them to manage several projects successfully. It is MUCH better than trying to use email to collaborate (email doesn’t do sharing well, it doesn’t manage files well, and it doesn’t support versioning/managing iterations well) on projects, share information and so forth. What I  have found difficult is that some people prefer to use a poor quality but familiar tool (email) rather than learn a high quality but unfamilar tool (wikis). I’m not one of those people who think that email is dead – it is still great for many things and so much still depends on it. However, wikis are good for many things and they are fairly easy. I’ll share one important rule of thumb though; if you are using to collaborate between a group of people that you know, then having somebody serve as the “curator” is worthwhile. Untended, wikis can grow in messy ways. Before you say it, don’t just say “Well, search it!”

Michael Geist on Copyright in Canada

Two days ago, I went to a CASLIS Toronto event where Dr. Michael Geist talked about copyright, but really it was about the evolution of digital culture more generally. It was a rich presentation, with a strong narrative – including well designed visuals – to it that helped me understand recent debates about copyright better. One question from the audience has had me thinking for a while now. He was asked,  “Are you optimistic or pessimistic about where the copyright debate is going?” He responded along the lines of, “Pessimistic in the short term, optimistic in the long term.”

One of the most interesting things about copyright that is easy to forget is just how important the issue is now. Copyright in 1990 or 1970 was a largely obscure area of commercial law that attracted almost no interest outside of the legal profession or media companies. Now, copyright is a framework that can enable our digital future to grow or perhaps serve to prop up outmoded business models that are in decline. Much of my thinking on copyright is informed by two particular books (Remix and Free Culture) by Lawrence Lessig which are both good, but they speak to the American copyright tradition. That’s one of many reasons why I appreciate the public education efforts that Dr. Geist has undertaken in the past 2-3 years.

An Introduction to Marketing

Marketing is something I’ve been thinking about a fair bit these days; marketing myself as a new professional, marketing information services to users and more. For some in the profession, marketing is misunderstood to mean crass manipulation or something that evil corporations engage in. I’ve learned about marketing through some practical experience, reading in the field (e.g. the chapter on marketing in The Portable MLIS is a good introduction), reading Seth Godin’s blog, and The ‘M’ Word:Marketing Libraries: A blog designed to bring the wonderful world of marketing to librarians. If we develop create services that few people use, then what are we really accomplishing?

Learning from other efforts in the field is another good way to learn about marketing. Back in January, I had the opportunity to benefit from a presentation by Janine Schmidt, the Trenholme Director of Libraries at McGill University, (her presentation slides are available in a CASLIS Occasional Paper, starting on page 39). The approach used here is instructive; we start by observing the information habits of the users, their perceptions of the Library, and what they want out of the Library. Only after this background research is set up can you proceed to thinking about branding tools, strategies and so forth. One interesting, and possibly unique, idea involves requiring casual staff to wear t-shirts. Trying to figure out who is an employee when many (or all?) of your casual employees look like students might be difficult, after all.

Another slide raises the idea of “house calls” – visiting departments to promote library services and showing users how we can make their lives easier and more productive. I’m sad to say that I can’t recall a single in-class presentation from a Librarian in any of my undergraduate or graduate classes – well, maybe once or twice in my whole seven years of study at university. Getting agreement from professors should not be that difficult. If we say something like, “Hi Professor Jones, I would like to present to your Economics 101 (or History or what ever it might be) class for 10 minutes on the first day of class. I want to show them how library services and staff can help them learn better, write better papers and earn better grades.,” I cannot see too many academics turning us down. Then you go to the class, give a good presentation (reviewing Presentation Zen might be helpful in that regard), bring business cards and wish everyone well.

Design Thinking

Last fall, I took a course called, “Knowledge Media Design for Learning,” (based in the Knowledge Media Design Institute) and it has had made me thinking about design ever since. When I think design, I still think of things like architecture or customer design. I even think of “design people” working in offices with lots of glass, thinking up great ideas. This course (and some subequent reading and reflection) help hepled me understand that design is an approach to life and work. Some versions I’ve read of design thinking are vague or not original, but I am still only exploring the field. The concept stresses flexibility, creativity and the potential to make work more satisfying and productive.

In reading, Academic Librarianship By Design: A Blended Librarian’s Guide to the Tools and Technologies by Steven J. Bell and John D. Shank (American Library Association, 2007):

The ability to put oneself in the place of the user of the product or service in order to understand how the user can receive the optimal learning experience.

A willingness to thoughtfully and creatively move through a series of gradual changes in developing a product or service and use this prototyping method to arrive an optimal experience for the user.

A commitment to both formative and summative evaluation in determining how well a product or service meets the needs of the user, and then making the necessary adjustments to improve the performance of that product or service to ensure a good library or learning experience for the user.

The second chapter of the book, “The Blended Librarian in Action: Applying Design Thinking to Academic Librarianship,” has proven to be an interesting read so far. It also charts the spread of design thinking from its origins in industry and architecture to many other fields, such as business (e.g. the University of Toronto Rotman School of Management is keen on the idea of business design). Some of the design principles quoted above strike me as obvious and natural, so I want to read and think about this further. Trying to understand systems, services and products from the side of the user is more challenging than it sounds. It is still something I want to think about more. One way to apply this these principles would be to focus on experience or service rather than product. Doing that would require much more testing and feedback, but it strikes me as worthwhile.

I’ve also recently found the Designing Better Libraries blog which has quite a few interesting ideas and suggestions. Thinking about this topic has reminded me of a point covered in the Information Architecture class I took last fall: label design. Deciding what we call things can be tricky. When professionals use the phrase “information literacy” does that make sense to non-specialists? I wonder the same thing about providing assistance for tools such as RefWorks or Write-N-Cite. Label design can cross over into marketing too. Students (and other people) are pressed for time – why should somebody spend the time to learn what those tools are AND how these tools are better to other methods of managing such information? Is there a better way to write a label for such things?

New iSchool Podcast episode is online: Open Education Round the World

The latest episode of the iSchool Podcast has been published tonight: Open Education Round the World. This open education concept shares some common ground with other notions of open (e.g. open source and open access) that have been very important lately. One of the most thought provoking examples offered here is the notion of open source textbooks for K-12 (and maybe even higher education) schools. That would certainly be a major departure from the way that I experienced K-12. There is plenty to learn and think about here. I found it very interesting to see how educators think about and approach these questions as well.

12th Annual Global CEO Survey from PricewaterhouseCoopers: An Opportunity for Information Professionals

I happened to be browsing the PWC website and noticed that they have released their 12th Annual Global CEO Survey. This makes for some interesting reading (have a look at the full 44 page report). There is plenty of interest here, ranging from general economic impressions to opinions on working with government to an interesting stress on the need for greater collaboration. On a related note, I like how the report is presented and I appreciate that the company decided to make it publicly available.

For people in my field, there is a particularly important section on pages 26-27:

As companies collaborate more with more stakeholders, they are able to gather more information, for example, about the risks their supply chain partners face. But CEOs still see major gaps in the information they need to survive the next 12 months and make decisions about the long-term success of their businesses. CEOs believe that agility, customer service, talent, management and reputation are the four most important factors in long-term competitive advantage.

Not surprisingly, most also believe that data about their customers (94%), brand (91%) and employees (88%) are important or critical to long-term decision-making. However, strikingly low percentages of CEOs say they have comprehensive information in these and other critical areas that contribute to organisational agility. Just 21% have comprehensive information about the needs and preferences of customers and clients. Less than one third feel they have all the information they need about reputation (31%) and the views and needs of employees (30%).

CEOs do not just want more data. They want different kinds of information than the historical financial metrics they already have in abundance. More specifically, they want forward-looking information, which includes non-financial data. For example, the widest gap, 74 points, concerns the information necessary to anticipate customer needs. The second largest gap, is 70 points, between the importance and availability of risk information (see figure 3.2.2).

In order to make effective decisions in today’s extreme operating conditions, CEOs are trying to see over a horizon that is approaching at high speed. To meet this challenge, companies need to collaborate more effectively, build relationships that can provide access to better information and use this intelligence to create the critical balance

I added emphasis to a particularly important point in the third paragraph – financial data (internally at the very least) will already be collected and analyzed by accountants. What about other kinds of data? That is something where we can add value. When decision making happens without good information and evidence, all you’re left with luck and hope that things will turn out right. The unexplored territory in this territory is the public sector. Do university presidents have the right information they need to lead through the recession? What about deputy ministers? What about hospital CEOs? Or mayors? I would suspect that they are in a similar situation of acting with poor or inadequate knowledge – though I am more happy to be corrected on that point.

Finally, I think the firm launched the survey in a great way. Not only do you have access to the full report and the executive summary,there is also a breakdown of results by industry and a great Web 2.0 feature called Explore the Data. I appreciate when this sort of information is made available in multiple forms and to this level of depth.

The Amazon Fail, Or: Cataloguing is Never Neutral

On the Internet, criticism runs freely, in great quantities AND in great speed. Yesterday (and continuing today), Amazon changed its search mechanisms in some fashion (debate is ongoing as to whether this is a technical mistake or policy choice) such that all lesbian, gay etc (LGBT) materials lost their Amazon Sales Rank (i.e. an indication of how well the item is selling at Amazon) were relegated to “adult” and made much more difficult for users to access (might have still be been possible, but much much more difficult). You can watch the issue being discussed on Twitter; at this writing, there have already been more than 3000 Tweets (i.e. Twitter posts) on this in the past 24 hours. From what I can see, this was first noticed on Twitter and that is where much of the discussion continues to take place. That’s not all though; there are signs that works on disability and sexuality (including research works) are being removed as well. NPR also has an interesting article on this: Amazon Learns A Painful Lesson About The Twitter Hashtag.

Yet more evidence that cataloguing, databases and search is far from a neutral, technical issue. Of courses, librarians have long known this – it is first year library/information school material. In the case of Amazon, two large historically marginalized groups of people had works about them effectively suppressed on one of the world’s largest bookstores. This should serve as a lesson that searching in one place alone is never a good strategy. Further, one needs to learn something about the goals of a given database or catalogue. If selling to a broad market (and avoiding “offence”) is important, then certain cataloguing rules flow from that. If you cannot find popular books or fiction in an academic library catalogue, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Likewise, if you can’t find the most recent, cutting edge scientific research through a public library, that just means you should keep looking eslewhere. If you are looking to buy, don’t limit yourself to one place. Sadly, this advice doesn’t help authors (and others involved in the publishing industry) since Amazon plays a big role in the market and those people may well have taken an economic hit as a result of this.

Ah, there is news that this whole mess was caused by a clerical error in France. Interesting! I wonder if this would have happened if a librarian was working on the system rather than a clerical worker. There was much discussion of boycotting Amazon as punishment for this mistake – I wonder if that will still happen now that the reason behind the problem (i.e. error rather than censorship, so it appears) is apparent. The clerical error claim is still under dispute however. In other context, I read a blog post between an author and her editor which claims that filtering of such “adult” material is being driven by the company’s poorly thought out effort to maximize profits and minimize profits in Walmart style.

This whole event fascinates me and I could comment on it on several more angles still. As I wrote this entry, dozens more tweets with the hashtag #amazonfail occured – clearly the company’s various explanations have not ended discussion on the matter. Alas, I still have a great deal of academic work do and must continue with that.

Seth Godin on curiosity

A few days ago, I finished reading Seth Godin’s (his blog, his bio) latest book, Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us. Godin is probably best known as a technology entrepreneur and marketing guru (e.g. his 1999 book Permission Marketing is considered a must read) who has created several companies over the years but he now writes, blogs and speaks full time. Tribes is a book about leadership, a quick if very thought provoking book. The writing has something of a proverb quality to it, with short observations on business, marketing and related subjects. At times, I was skeptical about certain parts of it but I did find it interesting.

To my delight, I found that there was a whole passage of the book dedicated to the importance of curiosity:

Curious is the key word…. It has to do with a desire to understand, a desire to try, a desire to push whatever envelope is interesting. Leaders are curious because they can’t wait to find out what the group is going to do next. The changes in the tribe are what are interesting, and curiousity drives them.

Curious people count. Not because there are a lot of them, but because they’re the ones who talk to people who are in a stupor. They’re the ones who lead the masses in the middle who are stuck. The masses in the middle have brainwashed themselves into thinking it’s safe to do nothing, which the curious can’t abide….

It is a book of 147 pages, with no chapter divisions or footnotes. I would rather describe it as an extended essay than a book. If you prefer video to reading a book or blog, you’re in luck. Seth Godin gave a presentation at the TED conference in 2007 where he provides a general overview of his ideas. Apart from the content, I think that TED presentation is a good model on how to create and deliver an engaging PowerPoint presentation. There is also an interview with Seth Godin on WIRED explaining Tribes (Feb. 2009).

“The Internet Is Tubes” Or: “The Internet is not a big truck…”

The Internet is a big part of my life – I’m even doing my thesis on Internet policy. Sometimes the technical aspects of how it functions can be difficult to understand, but after logging nearly 15 years of use on it (and reading a lot), I think I understand much of it how works; it is a global set of interconnected networks that use common protocols to exchange data. Some people, on the other hand, prefer metaphors.

US Senator Ted Stevens (of Alaska) really likes to call the Internet a “series of tubes.” For many, this reference has so amused some people that music videos have been made about it.

I found it particularly amusing that Internet Explorer Version 4 (from the 1990s!) was featured so prominently. If you liked this video, there appear to be at least a DOZEN more such videos on YouTube, including dance remixes. The video referenced above has logged more than 1.5 MILLION views on YouTube – I wonder what the Senator thinks about that.