A Curious View of the World » book review

This Book is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All: a book review

Bruce — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 01:30:09 +0000

A portrait of contemporary librarianship told in a warm and highly engaging fashion is one way to describe this book. By any measure, I would have to say I loved this book; thanks Marilyn Johnson (I hope she goes on a book tour!). I would recommend it to any librarians out there. In fact, I’d even suggest it is a good book for librarians to give to their non-librarian friends since it explains the challenges and variety of the profession as it is now practiced. There have also been a number of reviews and comments on the book around the Web and these seem to focus mainly on Johnson’s discussion of the intersection between librarians and technology. It amuses me in some ways to see how the mainstream media is just catching up and noticing what librarians have accomplished in the past ten years. When I got to the end of the book, I wanted there to be more chapters; maybe exploring librarianship in outside the United States to a greater degree? I’d also like an index, but to be fair, many non-fiction books lack an index so I can hardly make that into a critique. I’m aiming to keep this review under a thousand words and discuss those aspects of the book which have been somewhat neglected in reviews I’ve seen elsewhere.

The chapter on archivists – “What’s Worth Saving?” – is particularly interesting for how it weaves together personal stories and the principles of archival work. Johnson attended a workshop on literary archives and leads the reader through the difficulties of working with this type of material. Johnson also grapples with the philosophy question posed by archival work; what to say and how? She does this, in part, by telling the story of a large archive of materials relating to the sport of boxing and how they came to find a safe home in an archive. Johnson also probes the question of individual digital archives – how can individual people save parts of the Web or even their own production safely so that it can be accessed in the future? I view this as an opportunity for archivists to provide advice to individuals.

As a long time fan of New York City, I was delighted to see an entire chapter (“Gotham City”) dedicated to discussing the city’s libraries. New York has the world’s largest dog library (the American Kennel Club Library) but also one of the world’s most famous and important public library systems, the New York Public Library (NYPL). I learned a lot here about the politics and problems that have been swirling around this institution lately, including the apparent shift away from research collections and librarians (e.g. no more Persian language cataloguers/librarians) toward what I might call a conventional public library model with circulating collections, Internet access terminals and the like. All those services and programs are immensely valuable and I do not mean to disparage them in any way, but I struggle to see why NYPL appears to have moved away from the collections and resources that made it unique and famous around the world. On the other hand, Johnson introduces us to Joshua Greenberg, the mastermind behind much of NYPL’s digital projects (note to self: explore the riches of NYPL.org more deeply!) which shows a vision of the institution’s future.

This review would be remiss if I didn’t discuss the chapters on blogging and Second Life which have attracted so much interest elsewhere. In reading the chapter on library bloggers (“The Blog People”), many of the writers discussed were familiar to me but I still learned something here. Sometimes, one forgets that there is something of a cleavage between the hyper-connected blogging section of librarianship and those that do not engage in such practices. That said, I think Johnson rightly points out that library bloggers interest in pursuing innovation and experimentation is preferable to simply complaining about social media and related technologies as the Annoyed Librarian does. The chapter on Second Life (“Wizards of Odd”) was a revelation in some ways. I knew that librarians use Second Life (I’ve used it a couple of times myself), but I didn’t know about the extent of librarian participation. There are whole libraries, collections and even historical towns curated and managed in Second Life by librarians. Simulated reality tools like Second Life still strike me as a bit experimental and ahead of the curve for widespread usage but this approach may ultimately prove to be very important.

If you’re looking for a book to show people what librarians actually do and the challenges they face today, this is the book to look at. For me, it was also inspiring to see the range of librarian work and activity. It is the kind of book that leaves you wanting more and I hope that Johnson considers a second, expanded edition at some point down the road. Over the coming weeks, I will be returning to the book to learn more about the profession. I’ve studied the field and worked in it for several years already and I’m always pleasantly surprised with how much there is to learn.

Disclosure: I received a free review copy of this book.

Become Indispensable: Be Generous, Make Art and Ship

Bruce — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 01:27:34 +0000

Introduction

Linchpin is a personal manifesto about art, work and how to become indispensable by Seth Godin. It is inspirational and I hardly know where to begin in reviewing the book. If you liked Godin’s last book, Tribes, you’ll definately like this. It leaves you filling happy, motivated and thinking that you can take over the world. It isn’t about marketing, the field of business that made Godin famous as a business writer. You meet interesting people, face plenty of difficult questions and more. There’s a lot here in the book, so I’m only going to touch on a few aspects of it: art, shipping and emotional labor. Before that, let’s do the history. Godin argues that the “factory system” of work where you simply follow instructions, do your job and go home. That’s a recipe for being replaced by either technology or outsourced labour. The old system promised: “If you learn how to be one of these workers, if you pay attention in school, follow instructions, show up on time, and try hard, we will take care of you. You won’t have to be brilliant or creative or take big risks.” Godin argues that’s not going to work anymore. So what’s left? Make art, ship it and add emotional labor; then you will be on your way to becoming indispensable. There’s also plenty of fun illustrations (some NSFW) by Hugh MacLeod of Gaping Void, who pioneered the art of making outrageous cartoons on business cards.

Art: Creating Change in Another

In Linchpin, art is much bigger than paintings and music. It is about change: “art is a personal gift that changes the recipient. The medium doesn’t matter. The intent does… Art is a personal act of courage, something that one human does that creates change in another.” (83-84). In his development of the idea, what you do in life should produce change in somebody else. That’s an interesting and really challenging way to think about the work you do. That’s one reason I like doing reference librarian work with students. When help somebody through, when they make that transition - from being confused and a little lost to understanding how to research, it is kind of magical. That’s one reason to keep doing it. Where the concept gets even more tricky (and challenging) is Godin’s argument that art is a gift and cannot really be commercialized without some kind of corruption.

Shipping: Done is the engine of more & Accept that everything is a draft. It helps to get it done

Starting doesn’t matter very much – everything comes down to finishing. Things happen when you finish them; don’t worry about being perfect. Yeah, I know that this all sounds very simple and obvious but there’s much to it. If you want a longer elaboration of the idea, you can get out this 18 minute talk where Seth Godin explains it. There’s also the cult of done manifesto that is well worth a read. You choose a deadline and then you deliver the project and that’s all there is to it. Unfinished ideas, books and essays just sit around and don’t do anything. I love that idea. Perfect order is attractive to many librarians, authors and academics but it can be the enemy. This has me wondering is the conservative nature of academic and scientific publishing works breaks ideas. I’d rather see drafts, ideas and notes go up in rough form rather than never see those ideas.

Emotional labor: producing generosity and exposing creativity

Godin argues that almost all work worth doing involves doing emotional labor. And when you skip the emotional labor, you get terrible results. Ever worked with somebody who is a drone? Ever called a customer help line and the person answers and you’re not sure if they’re a recording or a machine? That’s a sign that emotional labor is lacking. The concept was coined by Arlie Hochschild in her book The Managed Heart. Godin describes it like: “Emotional labor is the hard work of making art, producing generosity and exposing creativity… You get paid to go to work and do something of value. But your job is also a platform for generosity, for expression, for art.” (57). I think of those times, back when I used to work in tech support at a university, where I’d get up from the desk (we were under standing orders not to leave our desk) and actually walk somebody over to where they needed to be and sometimes I’d even explain their request to another staff person to get them on their way. I liked doing it and the person benefited, even if it is not one of the official duties.

And now for a final extended quote from the book on resumes (71-72):

Do You Need A Resume?

This is controversial, but here goes: if you’re remarkable, amazing, or just plain spectacular, you probably shouldn’t have a resume at all. If you’ve got the experience in doing the things that make you a linchpin, a resume hides that fact. A resume gives the employer everything she needs to reject you. Once you send me your resume, I can say, “Oh, they’re missing this or they’re missing that,” and boom, you’re out. Having a resume begs for you to go into that big machine that looks for relevant keywords, and begs for you to get a job as a cog in a giant machine. More fodder for the corporate behemoth. That might be fine for average folks looking for an average job, but is that what you deserve? The very system that produced standardized tests and the command-and-control model that chokes us also invented the resume.

If you want more reviews and comments on the book, check out the Linchpin Posts.

Reinventing the Book: Seth Godin & Cory Doctorow

Book Review: The Library PR Handbook: high-impact communications edited by Mark R. Gould

Bruce — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 22:37:37 +0000

Disclosure: I received a free copy of the book to review directly from the publisher, ALA Editions.

This small book, just over one hundred pages, covers a variety of public relations and marketing concepts that apply to public libraries. The fourteen chapters can be divided into two categories; practical ideas and high level strategies. I will review these two broad themes and then offer some general observations. While I found the book useful, I would say that it is would not be appropriate as an introduction. If you are looking for a more systematic introduction to library marketing and PR, I would refer you to The Accidental Library Marketer by Kathy Dempsey (here is my review of it). That said, the ideas presented here are quite creative and would make for good discussion.

Several chapters of the book offer high level strategies that instruct the reader on how to understand audiences and connect with their needs. The two articles informed by the Metropolitan Group – “Building a Community: Empowering People as Messengers” and “Building Public Will for Libraries” – articulate the big picture of marketing public libraries particularly well. These articles walk you through the steps of connecting what libraries to values that people already have. The authors point out: “Public will building acknowledges that trying to change or teach new values is extremely difficult and often threatening.” (25) The chapter on messengers describes how to recruit others who value the library to articulate that to decision makers. Acting with allies is particularly important in circumstances where ethics codes and restraints on public servants bar them from getting involved in politics or campaigning. For libraries that serve ethnically diverse populations, the opening chapter “Increasing Relevance, Relationships, and Results: Principles and Practices for Effective Multicultural Communication,” will be invaluable. The greatest strength of that chapter is that each point is reinforced by both a library and non-library case study to show the reader how it was all done.

Specific PR tactics are the concern of more than half the chapters in the book. There are two chapters on social media: Stephen Abram reviews a number of tools (e.g. Flickr, Facebook, Second Life, Twitter, and Ning) while Steve Zalusky looks at podcasts. The podcast chapter could have been stronger in my view: the focus was more on the technology than the marketing benefits of using it. Maybe I simply didn’t find this as appealing as other chapters since I have produced a podcast myself and regularly listen to quite a few – if you have no idea what podcasts are, then it would be worthwhile as an introduction. Beyond technology, there is also a stimulating chapter on using food and cooking, celebrity endorsements and working with the news media.

If I had to identify a weakness with the book, it would be the difficulty of pulling all these ideas into a coherent strategy. One way around that problem would be to simply pick and choose ideas and tactics and experiment. One claim in the book troubled me however: “Values trump data when it comes to decision making. People make decisions consciously and unconsciously based on their values, and then utilize data to rationalize and support their choice.” (24) If true, then this view should serve as a balance against relying too heavily on data. The book also makes references to the various PR tools offered by ALA which can be used to support public libraries better communicate their value. I can recommend this book to those based in public libraries, especially in diverse, technologically literate populations. Librarians working in other contexts will likely struggle to apply these ideas to their practice but it is possible.

Book Review: The Accidental Library Marketer by Kathy Dempsey

Bruce — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 02:37:36 +0000

Disclosure: I received a free copy of the book to review directly from the publisher, Information Today.

The latest in Information Today’s Accidental series is Kathy Dempsey’s book on marketing, The Accidental Library Marketer. Kathy Dempsey will be well known to many readers as the long serving editor of the Marketing Library Services (MLS) newsletter (also published by Information Today), which is frequently quoted in the book. You can get a sense of what the book offers from the book’s website which provides the introduction, links presented in the book and more. In brief, I found the book to be informative, useful introduction. Though I found some of the examples and cases (e.g. using Census data for market research) to be focused on the experiences and needs of public libraries, the general principles and ideas advanced in the book can be applied in other contexts.

The greatest strength of the book is Dempsey’s argument that marketing is a process with multiple steps including research, promotion and evaluation. Many equate “marketing” with “promotion” but this misunderstands the true scope and capabilities of a full fledged marketing strategy. The book also does well to argue that marketing, properly understood, addresses the whole organization. Dempsey makes a good point in observing that many in the profession equate marketing with promotion (promotion is defined as “… furthering the growth or development of a product or service” whereas marketing is defined as, “… taking steps to move goods from producers to consumers. It’s determining what people want, delivering it, evaluating consumer satisfaction, and then periodically updating that whole process.” – 16).

Two chapters in particular struck me as particularly good and worthwhile – Chapter 8: Don’t Shy Away From Statistics and Chapter 12: Getting the Message Out. In the statistics chapter, Dempsey covers how to make more effective use of statistics already available (e.g. data generated from the library website, the Integrated Library System (ILS) and by library staff) and further statistics that ought to be obtained. The chapter also covers Return On Investment (ROI) studies that aim to demonstrate, in financial terms, the value of library collections. Dempsey is right to point out that these kinds of studies can be valuable in obtaining greater funding, though conducting these studies may be lie beyond the skill and experience of some librarians. “Getting The Message Out” covers how to develop relations with the professional media (e.g. newspapers, radio and television journalists) which is partly based on Dempsey’s own experiences and education in journalism. Given the ongoing and ever worsening economic crisis that is disrupting the traditional news media, this chapter may need a major update soon. The other drawback to this chapter is that it is oriented largely around the needs of a public library; a law firm librarian, academic librarian or government librarian would have to think quite creatively to apply these ideas. The general idea of building a relationship before one “needs” it and offering to support the journalists needs are good recommendations in any case however. The book ends on a high note with a chapter entitled “Finally, the Fun Stuff” (a series of case studies on the innovative ways that librarians have communicated with their users. At the very end are three reprinted articles from the Marketing Library Services newsletter on planning, promotion vs. marketing and print design of promotion.

I would recommend this book to those who work in a public library as they will likely gain the most from the examples, methods and ideas described. The marketing process – the research, planning, and evaluation – can apply to other contexts. In future editions of the book, I would like to see the chapter on digital marketing and websites developed more deeply as the digital environment will continue to become more and more important. I found the book to be a useful introduction to marketing with many good examples and would recommend it as an introductory text.

Book Review: “What Would Google Do?” by Jeff Jarvis

Bruce — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 21:32:56 +0000

After reading his Internet and media blog, Buzz Machine, I became interested in learning more about Jeff Jarvis. When I recalled that a librarian I met at the CLA conference, Jason Hammond of the Regina Public Library, mentioned Jarvis’s book, “What Would Google Do?,” I decided to pick it up. My opinion about the book is rather mixed, but on the whole positive. Before turning to its many good points, I would note one or two general weaknesses. The first issue is the tendency to generalize and make broad observations on a mix of some ancedotes and speculation. This combines with the other weakness, at its greatest extent in the “Google Generation” section, involves indulging in what might be called “Internet triumphalism.” Ultimately, the writing often reminds of Seth Godin blog posts (which are short pieces of writing that often contain very interesting speculations and thought-provoking questions) which are good, but fall a bit below what I would expect from a book. One odd neologism from the book – at least, I have not encountered it anywhere else – is “Googley” (as in, “Googley restaurants can also use the web to become stars.” page 156).

The book has two sections; the first where Jarvis explains the “laws” of the Internet as understood through Google and the second where these observations are developing into speculations (e.g. “What would a Google airline look like?”) Despite the title, the book is not really about Google. Rather, it is about the trends, values and ideas of the social Web, blogging and social networking. Given the inchoate state of the social Web, using Google as a metaphor does make some sense. The rules section covers a lot of ground: “there is an inverse relationship between control and trust,” “make mistakes well,” “get out of the way” and so forth. Of all the many rules and laws offered in the book, the one concept that sticks is the notion is trading control for trust. Most of the examples are drawn from Google, other technology companies (though Apple is considered exempt from all these laws simply because it is so good, apparently) and other commercial settings.

The much more speculation second part of the book imagines how the rules and ideas exemplified by Goolge and the social web could be applied to fields such as: book publishing, manufacturing, restaurants, utilities, insurance, finance and other sectors. While many parts of this had me thinking and asking questions, particularly, “Google U: Opening education,” I found it speculative. I would certainly agree that analyzing large volumes of data can be useful (though I think this story is much better told by Ian Ayres in Super Crunchers, see my review of it), that transparency is needed more and that organizations can learn more from working with their users, I can see issues with taking these ideas and drafting them into a business case and implementing them. Jarvis dismisses privacy near the end of the book and that attitude will not win many allies in the library sector, not to mention others, where such values are protected.

Despite some reservations on the occasional weak evidence and overly strong rhetoric, I think there are ideas of value here. Good meetings could be had discussing chapters of the book, certainly. I wonder if anyone else I know out there has read it.

Book Review: Super Crunchers by Ian Ayres

Bruce — Wed, 27 May 2009 21:55:31 +0000

Reading outside the field is both fun and very informative. As the title of this blog implies, I’m curious. I like to find out about new things, learn new skills and the like. To that end, I make a habit to read outside the library/information field on a regular basis. You might think that reading a book on statistical analysis would be boring, but Super Crunchers is certainly not. Statistics is certainly not my strong suit, but this book has me inspired to work more on learning these skills. My first encounter with the book’s idea was a podcast at EconTalk when the author, Ian Ayres, was interviewed in 2007. The author, Ian Ayres, is both a lawyer and an economist who is the William K. Townsend Professor at Yale Law School and a Professor at Yale’s School of Management. The book explores how statistical techniques such as regressions and randomization. The math per se is only half the story though. The other half of the story is cheap, powerful computing with huge amounts of data (e.g. “Acxiom, which has been called ‘one of the biggest companies you’ve never heard of,’ manages twenty billion customer records (more than 850 terabytes of raw data – enough to fill a 2,000 mile tower of one billion diskettes.” – 146). There are almost no equations or math anywhere in the book which might explain how it reached best seller status.

The central story of the book is a clash between expert opinion and data and the fact that data is often better. The debate between the two is explored in depth on the chapter on evidence-based medicine [EBM] (a concept that was invented at a Canadian university – McMaster – in 1992 by two physicians Gordon Guyatt and David Sackatt) where Ayres chronicles the story of Don Berwick and his 100,000 Lives campaign. Berwick was inspired to get into the battle when he read a 1999 study by the Institute of Medicine that about 98,000 Americans died each year in hospitals “as a result of preventable medical errors,” and by the suffering of his wife who was treated poorly and slowly in hospitals. Berwick proposed that U.S. hospitals could eliminate 100,000 deaths in a year by following practices mandated by ECM. What does that entail exactly? One big killer was infections due caused by central-line catheters. Solution: improve hand-washing and use more hygiene. This wasn’t just a good idea, it was also backed up by solid data. That’s the good news. Alas, it is not all good. There is evidence that shows that doctors often use procedures and methods by virtue of tradition. There also appears to be some evidence that physicians aren’t keeping up with the latest research enough (e.g. “Vitamin B12 deficiencies must be treated with shots because vitamin pills are ineffective” which is misleading, apparently). How is this being fixed? Ayres refers to some specialized search tools that quickly provide access to data on procedures including chance of success etc. Oddly, librarians are not mentioned anywhere in this story.

There are many other examples in the book as well, not all of which are positive. There are companies using data analysis – such as WalMart and Capital One – to evaluate employees and prospects. Insofar as this worsens information asymmetry, it is a cause for concern. There are a few cases of customer (not much citizen driven efforts yet) services such as FareCast which uses statistics to offer recommendations on whether an air fare is likely to go up or go down in the future (and, supposedly, the likelihood of this happening.) Several governments are also experimenting with using data more with major success stories in Mexico (a program that makes welfare payments to mothers conditional on their children attending school, seeking regular medical care etc; this has actually made a big difference) and the United States. While there are some scary aspects of using data to predict purchases and the like, there are also cases of it being used to improve government and improve medical care. The only weakness – and it is a small one – is that one struggles to figure out what the next step. How can one learn to employ the statistical techniques described here?

The application of this to the information profession is clear and challenging. From my impressions, many in the field are not highly skilled in math. Math and statistics aren’t everything but they offer a lot that is being missed. Assuming we sort through the privacy issues (which should be possible to do fairly), what might librarians and information professionals offer? Predictive search results could be improved. How? Let’s say that you have five years of search data for a scientific database service like BioMedCentral or Web of Science at an academic library. You then look for patterns in searching and link it to time. There are likely patterns as students prepare for specific assignments – this could be used to create better resources to help students. Here’s another application: a public library could plot borrowing geographically across a city and look for patterns, maybe even by topic. Both of these are quite basic applications, but I think there is a lot of potential here.

Book Review: “Marketing Today’s Academic Library,” by Brian Matthews

Bruce — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 20:12:00 +0000

Published in March 2009, Brian Matthew’s book Marketing Today’s Academic Library: a bold new approach to communicating with students has informed my thinking about marketing and how librarians think about their services and users of those services. As I was eager to read it, I had the order the book directly from the publisher which doesn’t make international orders easy (i.e. I had to send a fax using Skype – if Amazon can easily ship to Canada, I don’t see why the ALA can’t). With the main text of the book coming to 162 pages, the book is a fast read with an emphasis on the practical details of marketing the academic library to students. The focus of the book is very much on undergraduate students and grapples with that challenge well. If you are mainly looking for a work about marketing the library to faculty or administrators, then you should look elsewhere. That said, assisting students to excell in their studies can’t make you look bad no matter what. The “big picture” aspect of the book that struck me as particularly insightful was the idea that ‘marketing’ in this context is really about satisfying users and making the environment, products and services of the Library meet those needs. I also very much appreciated the research-driven bent to the book: no campaign should be launched without some research to support it. The book’s prologue and the biographical element of the first chapter also proved an engaging opening to the world of marketing and what it means for academic librarians – the publisher (or author? I’m unsure how the rights would work for this) would do well to offer the prologue and first chapter for free.

There were a few sections of the book that were particularly strong. The chapter on “Conducting Marketing Research” reviewed all the major tools (e.g. data from internal administration, surveys, personal interviews, ’secret shoppers’, follow-up inquiries, comment cards, polling, focus groups, ethnographic techniques and LibQUAL), in addition to referencing a few important studies (e.g. this one at Rochester looks particularly promising: Nancy Foster and Sudan Gibbons, eds., Surveying Students: The Undergraduate Research Project at the University of Rochester [Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2008]). The ethnographic approach also struck me as a great idea; this can be done in several ways (e.g. ask students to plot how they spend their day on campus or design workshops where one asks users to talk about what their ideal library would be like). I’ve never conducted that sort of research, but I can see its merit. Namely, it would assist a great deal in getting librarians and researchers to understand how their services are used and perceived by their audience, or to look at the library as an anthropologist. I was also inspired by the reference to internal data, which I suspect is under-utilized. It stikes me that it would be valuable to have time use data (e.g. when does the Library website have the most intense load? Which types of students are checking out books? Collecting such general data – while respecting privacy – could be a great resource).

Another general idea often raised in the book is the importance of understanding the campus context, of understanding what is happening beyond the Library’s walls. Does the Library know the presidents of all the course unions (e.g. Economics Students, English Students, History Students etc)? What is the social life of campus like? Are there campus leaders – award winners, student politicians etc – that would be interested to serve as ambassadors? One insight from the Rochester study referred to above was the finding that many students discussed homework and assignments with their parents on a regular basis; the Library responding by organizing a breakfast event for parents during orientation week. That may sound like a small thing, but I think it go a long way. These same kinds of questions could also be applied to the faculty side of things.

Some of the later chapters were so full of ideas that I was a bit overwhelmed. My inner academic/social scientist often wondered if there was evidence or studies to suggest how different strategies can be best used. For example, Matthews suggests having the Library run a contest where entrants design videos or other media with Library equipment and software and then recognize the winners. While I like the sheer creativity of this idea, it might work better at institutions where students already have a high level of expertise in media production (e.g. a college of art and design). There are several other interesting cases here of specific marketing tools – both free and paid. Part of the challenge will be determining which tools to use in which circumstance, but that is likely something that will vary based on each institution’s circumstance.

In summary, I would certainly recommend this book to academic librarians and any other librarian working in an educational context. It will likely take a few years to work through all the strategies and ideas suggested here, but I have little doubt that there will be a substantial benefit. For librarians, this book offers the promise of even more creative, socially engaged work that speaks to the needs of users. For users, there is increased potential of better services. Alas, the price is rather high ($48 US dollars – on the ALA Store) for a softcover book of less than 200 pages; many non-fiction hardcover books commonly sell for about half that much. I elected to purchase it anyhow, seeing it as investment in my career. I would especially recommend the book for inclusion in LIS/iSchool libraries.