The social cost of poor records management had not occured to me however. In yesterday’s New York Times, there was an article called Recession Drives Surge in Youth Runaways which described growing numbers of young people who decide to run away from home. The full extent of the problem is not understood and the authorities often have a difficult time helping those who need help due to poor records and weak record systems. Here’s what the article found:

And in 16 percent of cases, the local police failed to enter the information into the federal database, as required under federal law, according to a review of federal data by The New York Times.

<…>
Police officials give various reasons for not entering the data. The software is old and cumbersome, they say, or they have limited resources and need to prioritize their time…The police also say that entering every report into the federal database could make a city’s situation appear to be more of a problem than it is.

But in 267 of the cases around the nation for which the police did not enter a report into the database, the children remain missing. In 58, they were found dead.

There are several issues to take notice of here. The reports are being entered into a crime related database and arguably, that may not be a great place to store this type of social services information. Further, the users of the system find it difficult to use. There is also a cultural problem where records are not kept properly since that could be embarrassing. Sadly, there does seem to be an implication that a lack of records leads to a greater chance of death or something else terrible happening. I would be the first to admit that this is a large, complex problem that needs a whole host of people to cooperate. Good records and record systems could go a long way to solving the problem though.

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1. Global advances in electronic medical records: India, UK and US
2. OPSpedia: how the Ontario government uses wikis, blogs and social networking
3. The Notebook Conundrum

“Libraries are really the first responder in this economic crisis, and particularly for job seekers,” says Larra Clark, who managed the study due for release Sept. 15.” [the ALA is conducting a study into libraries and the recession]. One could argue that unemployment benefits are the ‘first’ responder, but libraries are more flexible and have more to offer. While benefits can help with bills now, libraries are helping people to find work which is more important in the long term. Beyond Internet access, libraries are also offering classes to help people get ready for their job search.

Despite this critical role in assisting people in economic difficulties, libraries have suffered as well. Larra Clark points out that 22 states have cut funding for libraries though demand for services has only increased. I suspect this may be due to the fact that many city budgets have taken a hit and some of these cuts have been passed along to libraries. This is short sighted given the role libraries play in helping people climb out of the recession. I wonder if the study will compare states that have retained or expanded library funding with those that have seen cuts. I look forward to this study coming out later this month.

Related posts:

1. Canadian Libraries & The Recession: Guelph Public Library

The article’s main thrust is that libraries are good because they have “free” (“free” is a bad way to put it – everything provided still costs real money but the costs are covered through taxation) materials and resources. People appear to be most interested in free computers and Internet connections. All these are good things and I’m happy to see people enjoy them. However, the article gives no attention to the staff so far as I can tell. Aside from a few quotes, one gets the sense that this article could have been written about a warehouse with a computer lab in it. I wonder about the community stories involved there. Has the Library helped people learn new things? On the leisure side, has it helped people feel happier or more relaxed?

Book use, movie loans and children’s programs have all seen big increases in demand as people have less disposable income.

But the biggest difference from other trying economic times is that this is the first post-internet recession, and people are flocking to the library to use its electronic services and access.

“We are definitely experiencing an upsurge,” said Norman McLeod, the library’s chief executive officer. “When times are tough people turn to the public library. It’s a service they know will be there and they value it more than they normally do.”
[...]

Now it’s not just free books and magazines or cheap entertainment for the kids that people are looking for. It’s internet access.

“Our role has changed since the last recession in 1983 because of the internet. It’s not just demand for traditional services anymore, it’s a demand for access to information. That’s been quite a dramatic change,” McLeod said.

People want access to job searches, resumé writing, even printing services.

“They’re not just borrowing more,” McLeod said, adding that there were 600,000 visits to the library website last year.

“But books are still the biggest thing we offer. I don’t see that changing in the near future,” McLeod said.

That quote in the last line has me wondering. Does “biggest” here mean “most” (i.e. the largest percentage of the collection) or does it mean something more like “best” or “most distinctive”? In any case, I hope the Library is studying what their users are doing so that they can design new services and help people even more.

Related posts:

1. Interviewed for “Special Issues: Bulletin of the Canadian Association of Special Libraries and Information Services.”
2. The Uneven Recession on Men and Women
3. Job seekers continue to flock to libraries: USA Today

I wonder why women-dominated sectors and professions tend to resist recessions better? It might be that such professions tend to be public sector and that sector is comparitively more stable in terms in employment. For Canada, librarianship is female dominated (78% female in 2004 nationally); perhaps the sector will continue to soldier on despite the recession. Last fall, I met someone in the field who had the bad fortune to have his first job interview on September 11, 2001 (having graduated from his Master’s program a few months earlier) and thus spent more than six months searching for employment. This person has now found a very good position at a consulting firm, so it worked out. That’s another potential positive aspect to the recession; it encourages people to think more creatively about employment (and services and technology; the 1930s was actually a time of substantial innovation in several sectors).

Perhaps more men should consider working in the historically women dominated professions. In my field, there is plenty of interesting things happening and new job postings are continuing to be released on a regular basis.

Added later. In reading today’s Globe & Mail, I noticed that there was an article on the uneven effects on Canadian men and women. In an article called, “Men open up like never before,” we see that not only are many Canadian men becoming unemployed but this unemployment is having significant negative mental health effects. This part of the article certainly sums up its main point:

Men, who are more concentrated in manufacturing and construction jobs, have taken the hardest hit in layoffs. According to Statistics Canada, employment for men between the ages of 25 and 54 has fallen by 170,000 jobs since October, four times more than for women. And unemployment can be especially wrenching for men, whose identity is often tied up in their work and image as breadwinners.

“You suddenly become kind of worthless,” says Malcolm Parrish, 54, a former General Motors worker in Oshawa, Ont., who was forced to take early retirement to avoid a layoff. “When a guy my age looks into the future and sees nothing, it is depressing.”

Related posts:

1. Canadian Libraries & The Recession: Guelph Public Library
2. It Has Computers, Gives Advice and Is Free (New York Times)
3. Job seekers continue to flock to libraries: USA Today

The article describes the main functions of the public library in the recession in specific, positive terms. Libraries provide free* Internet access, training to help people look for work (and the related network of skills required for successful job hunting) and supportive environment. For some unemployed professionals, for example, the public library takes on the role of an office. Sure, you could do some of these things at home (though that assumes you have Internet access at home – 25-30% of Canadians still do not have broadband access), but the library provides a environment that supports study and recreation. Unlike a coffee shop, you can stay in the Library as long as you want without buying anything.

While the article is well worth reading in full, here are some particularly striking quotes:

Anthony Morris’s job search hit a snag this month when the Queens Borough Public Library notified him that he could not get a new library card until he paid about $80 in fines.

All three of the city’s public library systems have seen increased demand for employment-related services as the economy has floundered.

Mr. Morris, 31, had been unemployed for eight months and did not have the money. But he had amassed an armful of library books he needed to prepare for an exam that was part of the application process for a job at Con Edison, and he also needed a library card to browse online classified sites. So he asked if he could work off his debt.

This is a great story to read and it is the sort of thing that should be shouted from the rooftops, so to speak. My inner social scientist immediately wants to know more though – how many people are out there like this?

At the 58th Street branch of the New York Public Library in Manhattan, out-of-work professionals crowd the computers in the afternoon, a time that had previously been dominated by elderly patrons, and books on résumé writing are hard to keep on the shelves. The Science, Industry and Business Library on 34th Street drew 700 people to a career preparedness fair in January, and the Bronx Library Center recently doubled the number of computer classes it offers to the elderly because people looking to re-enter the work force had packed the existing classes to overflow levels.

I am curious to know what is meant by “professionals” in this paragraph. Certainly, New York has seen incredible job losses in the finance and banking sector – I wonder if ex-employees of such places are attending events like this? I also wonder how it was determined that the attendees were professionals (and, indeed, whether the provided services were adjusted to take account of this fact) – did the journalist survey the people present? Did the Library?

[...]

At the Bronx Library Center, near Fordham University, Janice Moore-Smith, an education and career counselor, has over the years typically helped half a dozen people a day with their résumés. In recent months, it has often been 10. And Ms. Moore-Smith said that she had been scheduling more joint sessions for husbands and wives in which she doles out emotional support along with employment tips.

Here’s an interesting partnership. I wonder about the relationship between the counselor and the Library. Is the counselor a member of the Library staff? If not, is there some sort of formal arrangement in place?

[...]

Kerwin P. Pilgrim, division manager of the Brooklyn Public Library’s education and job information center, said that he began training 15 staff members to provide individual assistance to job seekers last summer, in anticipation that demand would rise as the economy worsened. In January, the library announced that there would be one such staff member available at all times in at least one branch within each group of four branches.

That last quote is particularly pleasing to read since it suggests that library management is monitoring society and adjusting services as needed. Providing additional service like that cannot be achieved instantly, so bravo to New York for planning.

* Free does not mean without cost. All those professional staff, welcoming locations, support services and wealth of resources (for education, leisure and more) cost substantial money to provide. Let’s keep that in mind when budgets are created.

Related posts:

1. York University Adopts Open Access Policy for Librarians and Archivists
2. Thinking about Chris Anderson’s book FREE
3. Canadian Libraries & The Recession: Guelph Public Library

Recently, two particular articles have got me thinking more about the meaning of the decline in newspapers. A Globe & Mail article mainly looks at the implications for the collapse of newspapers for democracy. The Globe & Mail article is called, “Future of Media: Is democracy written in disappearing ink?” (Globe & Mail, March 14, 2009). I wonder if the present economic situation will encourage some new thinking on running newspapers; perhaps more experimentation with the non-profit organization model that Harper’s Magazine uses? What I liked most about that article was the suggestion that newspaper leadership must take some of the responsibility for what has happened. In the early and mid 1990s, there was no vision for what the Internet would mean for information and news use, consumption and creation. This failure to seriously engage with new technology is a cautionary tale in my view. One must remain open to new developments for the threats and opportunities they pose.

Taking a different view is Clay Shirky (author of ” Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations“) who has written an interesting blog post called Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable. The focus of this article is on the effect of the Internet on changing business models for newspapers. One of Shirky’s most interesting insights – articulated elsewhere – is that online advertising is much more efficient than traditional print advertising. With online advertising, it is possible to get feedback routinely and in great detail. Such feedback makes it much easier to recalibrate and try other approaches. Shirky then makes the point that this, along with other trends, has meant less spending on advertising.

Here is the “unthinkable scenario” that is crushing newspapers in their current business model:

The unthinkable scenario unfolded something like this: The ability to share content wouldn’t shrink, it would grow. Walled gardens would prove unpopular. Digital advertising would reduce inefficiencies, and therefore profits. Dislike of micropayments would prevent widespread use. People would resist being educated to act against their own desires. Old habits of advertisers and readers would not transfer online. Even ferocious litigation would be inadequate to constrain massive, sustained law-breaking. (Prohibition redux.) Hardware and software vendors would not regard copyright holders as allies, nor would they regard customers as enemies. DRM’s requirement that the attacker be allowed to decode the content would be an insuperable flaw. And, per Thompson, suing people who love something so much they want to share it would piss them off.

The article gets even more interesting from there as Shirky draws parallels between the effect of the Internet and the effect of printing in Europe. The latter point is made by referencing Elizabeth Eisenstein’s landmark book, “The Printing Press as an Agent of Change.” I’ve read that book and thought it was quite good, though I’m aware that many historians dislike it for various reasons (one such reason appears to be the ambition of the work; attempting to make a grand argument or explanation in academia is difficult proposition at the best of times).

What do I think of all this? I do want to see the concept of newspapers – daily collections of reporting, opinion and so on – continue. Can that be covered with subscriptions? That would seem doubtful. I don’t have any answers to offer on this topic, but it is one that I will be following with great interest.

Related posts:

1. Fall Conference Season: Access & Internet Librarian
2. The High Social Cost of Poor Records