A Must Read...Neil Gaiman's Inspired Lecture Highlights Libraries

This will just be a short post.  I felt like I had to pass this on. Neil Gaiman delivered a lecture for the Reading Agency on October 14th and the Guardian published it.  It is the most insightful and inspiring thing I have read about libraries in a while.  The link and an excerpt are below:

"Fiction can show you a different world. It can take you somewhere you've never been. Once you've visited other worlds, like those who ate fairy fruit, you can never be entirely content with the world that you grew up in. Discontent is a good thing: discontented people can modify and improve their worlds, leave them better, leave them different...

...They were good librarians. They liked books and they liked the books being read. They taught me how to order books from other libraries on inter-library loans. They had no snobbery about anything I read. They just seemed to like that there was this wide-eyed little boy who loved to read, and would talk to me about the books I was reading, they would find me other books in a series, they would help. They treated me as another reader – nothing less or more – which meant they treated me with respect. I was not used to being treated with respect as an eight-year-old.

But libraries are about freedom. Freedom to read, freedom of ideas, freedom of communication. They are about education (which is not a process that finishes the day we leave school or university), about entertainment, about making safe spaces, and about access to information."

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/15/neil-gaiman-future-libraries-reading-daydreaming

You Can't Judge a Book by its Cover...But You Can Pick One by its Cover Art

Everyone knows 'you can't judge a book by its cover.'  And while that remains true (you may find the best book you've ever read has the dullest cover...or in the new days of ebooks, no cover at all), that doesn't mean cover art doesn't matter.

Next time you're at your library, peruse the fiction shelves.  It doesn't matter what section you go to, whether it be adult, children (j/juvenile in library-speak), or teen (ya/young adult in library-speak).  You will find beautiful, color-bursting, detailed artwork adorning whole covers from spine to flap of newly minted novels.  It is designed from the start to catch your eye, make you ponder, and inspire you to pick up its book.  And the artwork so fits the vibes of most of its corresponding pages that you can bet if the cover art strikes your fancy then so will the characters' plights inside the book.

Still have your doubts about picking a book by its cover art? Here's a few examples: New Moon by Stephanie Meyers (http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/stephenie-meyer/new-moon.htm), like most other paranormal romance books, has a dark ominous background accented by splashes of color in delicate shapes and patterns.  It immediately evokes a sense of something soft, beautiful, and vulnerable encountering something dark, menacing, and immense.  If you want to compare it to another paranormal romance book, check out the cover art of The Dark Devine by Bree Dispain: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/d/bree-despain/dark-divine.htm

Another popular example is Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin (http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/george-r-r-martin/game-of-thrones.htm).  Like many fantasy books, its three possible covers all feature a basic, uncluttered background with a pointy, menacing object in the middle that appears to have some kind of halo effect on it.  The object often becomes a symbol of the conflict, the 'big bad,' or the savior of its book-sometimes of all three.  If you want to compare it to another fantasy book, check out the cover art of Graceling by Kristin Cashore: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/kristin-cashore/graceling.

I admit some covers can still surprise you, and I find it rather delightful when I pick up a book with a certain flavor of cover art and I am faced with my egregious assumptions about its content.  Mysteries baffle sometimes, since they intersect with so many other genres.  Also puzzling are those books that mix and match elements of their choosing to create what seems like all new twisty genres that defy being pinned down easily and express-ably.

I am glad that these slippery books exist to challenge our perceptions of genres and to keep me in the reader's advisory business, but mostly I am excited to gaze upon the newly expressive cover art as it debuts on my library's shelves and peaks an interest in books that would otherwise be judged uninteresting until proven great.

Information Vigilance

I am sometimes, and more often than I care for, approached by friends, family, and library patrons with a particular question:  "With the internet and everything going digital, aren't you worried that Librarians won't be needed anymore?"

My first response is always surprise because initially the question feels more like "Isn't your job kind of unnecessary right now given all of our technology?"  And then I try to put myself in their shoes.  They probably haven't had to ask a Librarian for help in a while because they either don't use the library very often or were taught (by another Librarian a while ago) how to use a library catalog or other library resources, including digital ones!  Or maybe they are under the impression that libraries are for keeping books (and being quietly shushed by conservative ladies with nerdy glasses) and that only Google is for finding information.

Whatever the reason, I try to show them that we Librarians are more relevant than ever.  Who else can navigate new digital resources ahead of our patrons to help them through rough information searches?  Who else can teach their children how to not only read a picture book for entertainment, but a cereal box for information, and a website for its reliability.  Who else can they chat with in-person, over the phone, online, and through text messages to get information on where to find something or advice on what they might enjoy reading?  And who else is going to show them new and innovative ways to use that new technology that is supposedly making libraries obsolete?

I write this post, not as a complaint so much as a faithful proclamation, that libraries have and always will evolve to suit the needs of their society and that Librarians will always be the keepers of knowledge, teachers of information gathering skills, and advocates for those who still need our professional expertise.

Digital Coexistence

I haven't posted yet about e-books and the new digital wave of media...because I've been taking my time fully exploring it.  I'm nowhere near done exploring everything that's out there, but I've definitely played with enough new technology (including my new Nook Color!) to have a well thought out, however brief, blog-able thought about it.

My initial impression is that the new digital media is as convenient as it can be occasionally frustrating.  Reading an e-book was like having a digital bookmark--always saving my page--with a built in night light (I often find myself reading just before bedtime).  Books and magazines for it cost little and come in vivid digital, finger flip-able colored pages.  It scours the internet at my will and it even came with the highly addictive Angry Birds!

The frustrating part comes in when I, as a librarian, don't want to buy a book I'm only going to read once and it simply isn't available for free from Overdrive.  This may not be a huge issue for many readers with less picky tastes than me, but four years as an English major and two years as a grad student have left my brain a sharp instrument that picks apart any poorly written thing.  I currently have 101 books on my Goodreads to-read list and they are all interesting and sound wonderful, but less than 10 are available from Overdrive (and that's the NYPL catalog).  I am, at least, extremely appreciative that the Nook supports ePub format rather than embedding its content only for its own company to profit (yes Apple and Amazon Kindle I am talking about you).

Yet, I still don't think books will go out of fashion for a long time.  They are relatively cheap and don't require electricity or the purchase of a specific device.  There is something satisfying when you pick them up.  You can feel the weight in your hands, but not the physical weight so much as the mental and creative impact of the characters, plots, and ideas contained within them.  As an information container, we still feel an affinity toward them that we can't exactly match with any technology.

I love my Nook but I also love my book shelf and all the hours of enlightenment and entertainment it holds.  Like most people I want everything--the old and the new--and I won't relinquish either yet.

New Librarian's Oath

As a newly graduated librarian, my goal is to make a long-lasting career of serving libraries and the countless individuals that rely on their resources, support, and unique fusion of ideas.  Among those countless individuals are the children, teens, and peers who I have had the privilege of teaching and learning from over several years of library work and study. 

I carry with me all that I have learned from them and use it everyday to help others find not only what they need but what inspires them. That is the true source of my passion for libraries: not the buildings themselves, but the books, digital content, technology, and people that make such a vast co-mingling of information and ideas possible.  

In my career as a librarian, I hope to bring creativity to the profession in order to discover, organize, and utilize known information, new ideas, and ever-evolving technologies that will not only improve the lives of library patrons but the ways in which we as a society view information and communicate to each other about it.

Reflections on a Web 2.0 Tool: Bubbl.us (www.Bubbl.us)

Bubbl.us is a simple, but effective graphic organizing tool whose effectiveness stems from its ease of use for quickly organizing information and ideas of any kind. It is extremely useful to both educators and students since its very nature is as an organization aid. Think of bits of information or ideas as puzzle pieces that fit together in many different ways. The goal of educators and students is to piece together and present many different factoids and ideas in both an organized and unique fashion—the most important aspect being the connections made between those factoids and ideas. Bubbl.us allows both students and educators to quickly create unique and well thought-out representations of various ideas and information.

Furthermore, those representations can be saved, presented, and shared with others in various formats and ways—giving both educators and students many ways to communicate their creations. They can be saved on the site itself for both individuals and groups to continue working on. They can be turned into images or posted on other web pages. They can be printed and projected easily to share with as many people as needed. Bubbl.us creates valuable opportunities to organize, create, share, and explore ideas, making it a valuable tool for both educators and students.

My experience exploring Bubbl.us has given me a few valuable insights on it and other web 2.0 tools in general. First, the simplicity of Bubbl.us never took away from its practicality; rather, that fact the tool was so easy to use made it more relevant and practical to use for its intended purpose. Thus, simplicity and directness are not detrimental qualities in a web 2.0 tool, but rather positive traits that make one more useful. Second, Bubbl.us is not flashy but still contains the ever-important quality of being a tool that allows for and encourages sharing and communication. Therefore, not all web 2.0 tools have to contain 'all the bells and whistles' and extra special features to be useful technologies for sharing.

Lastly, I explored and examined Bubble.us extensively so that I could use it, write about it, and create directions for it. I am not an expert on all things web 2.0, and neither did I have to be in order to make myself an expert on using a single web 2.0 tool. I will use the above lessons from my experience with Bubbl.us when evaluating, using, and explaining other web 2.0 tools in the future.

Bibliography

Concept Mapping as a Planning Tool. (2009). Online Teaching and Learning Resource Guide. Retrieved from http://www.vcu.edu/cte/resources/OTLRG/02_04_ConceptMapping.html

This article addressed how concept mapping was developed, in addition to explaining aspects of concept mapping and Bubbl.us that create distinct advantages for educators and students alike.

Johnston, Lisa. (2009). From Sticky Notes to Mind Maps: Visual Collaboration Environments. Sci-Tech News, 63(1), 20-22. Retrieved from http://jdc.jefferson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1007&context=scitechnews

This article asserts the general practicality of using online organization tools to take notes, record information, and draw connections to information and ideas, including specific advantages and disadvantages of Bubble.us and other similar tools.

Sawchuk, Peter. (2009, August 3). Bubbl.us: A Tool for Mind-Maps. Retrieved from http://assett.colorado.edu/post/570

This short article reflects on the general educational uses and benefits of Bubbl.us, as well as the types of learners that may benefit from the tool.

Reference Service a la Mode: Observations from a Library Reference Desk

In these modern times, library reference services are taking advantage of new technologies to go to patrons rather than vice versa, as before. The term "roving reference" has been applied not only to reference librarians "roving" the aisles looking for patrons in need of their service but also to new modes of service that bring a librarian to you in while you are in your home. The trend is indicative of how much of a service industry library reference really is and how it is keeping up with the faster paced world of information at one's fingertips.

The face of reference is expanding to a digital one with email, chat, and text message services. What is truly interesting, however, is how much the personal of touch of interacting with a human being has not faded or disappeared and may be even more valued because of the new modes available. You may be getting your reference advice from a librarian across the globe in an online chat, but you still want to read "hello" and "is there anything I else I can do for you?" From the librarian's perspective it is still a human exchange, as well.

In reference work, all questions are valid and that includes online ones. It is refreshing to see that this principle continues to be the case no matter what mode the question is posed in and it speaks to the caliber of people who do reference work.

Librarians Play Well with Others

As a librarian, one reason I know am in the right profession is that librarians are social for a purpose.  We communicate well and often about improving our services and ourselves so that we can extend effective and practical guidance about finding and using information to society at large.

All the librarians I've met don't professionally socialize and collaborate as a chore that is merely part of their job. They are truly passionate about their work and want to share it with whoever will listen and benefit from it; moreover, their enthusiasm for sharing in no way diminishes their capacity for listening to what others—librarians, patrons, or anyone else—have to say.  This post is a recognition of all the passionate librarians who we interact with everyday and their efforts.

Becoming an Expert on the Spot: Observations from a Library Reference Desk

Reference librarians must always be prepared to find any resource at their finger tips and match it to a request specific to an individual—with his or her own information needs. The personal aspect of an information need in a reference transaction makes reference work a category unto itself with its own best practices.

One of those best practices begins with how reference librarians educate themselves along their various career paths.   They are well served by a background in which they learned about as many subjects and topics as they possible could. You can never anticipate what kind of questions patrons will ask with 100% certainty, so it is more than merely valuable to know strange and obscure facts and jargon that would be irrelevant in other career fields. In reference work no knowledge is discounted because all knowledge can be potentially useful.

Librarians take advantage of this practice once they are in reference positions, as well. There is always something to learn from patrons' questions and librarians find out just the kind of obscure information that is valuable to store away for future reference transactions.  Librarians can provide consistent, quality service to patrons by combing the information they've learned through the years, the information they've learned from patron transactions, and training in their own collections.

Why Context Matters: Observations from a Library Reference Desk

When someone asks a question or seeks information about something, they are expressing a need that is unique to them and their situation. Thus, they best perceive the context for that need. However, there occurs a disconnect at this point in a reference transaction because communicating an information need is not as straightforward or easy to articulate as it sounds at first. There may be language, dialect, cultural, or other factors that create a situation where the message is not received as was intended by its deliverer.

It is for this very reason that the reference interview is so crucial. An interview gives a librarian a chance to capture as much of the context of a patron's information request as possible. This can be done by asking a mixture of targeted questions, open questions, and often times just letting the patron keep talking till they've found the right words that succinctly express their information need. The better a librarian understands the context of a question, the quicker and more comprehensively he or she can answer it.  When libraries take the time to understand their patrons in reference interviews, both the patrons and larger library community benefit from the highly effective level of communication that is the ultimate result.

Weeding is Necessary to Let a Library Grow

The topic of weeding materials in a library came up recently, but it posed more problems than solutions. Weeding must be done to keep the materials in your library current, useful, and accurate.  However, how one goes about weeding is by making very difficult decisions that not everyone is garunteed to agree with or support.

What do you do with an old almanac that has outdated and inaccurate information but is beloved by your patrons? If you decide to get rid of it, do you then sell it to someone who cherished it or destroy it so no one can claim you gave out "bad information?"  With fiction you don't have the problem of outdated information, but there may be books with predjudicial words because of the times they were written in. Do you trash those or keep them and hope they are taken in context by your patrons? 

All of the kinds of decisions above are made in an effort to let a collection grow into the most relevent, useful, and inspiring it can be. Like weeding gardens to let the best plants grow, libraries must remove select materials to let the really brilliant books shine in their collections.

Rare Books Show That We Are Rare Beings

I was privilaged today to look at an early folio of William Shakespeare, a very old, rare, and valuable book.  Why did I think it was so precious and why was I so excited to just look at it?  It is very old and we are lucky that it survived at all, but that is not the only reason (mountains are old but we don't get excited about those in the same way). It is a piece of history and represents other lost pieces of history, but that is not the only reason either. The real reason I, and so many others, were excited to simply stare at such a thing is because it is a piece of human history and by staring into it we felt closer to a past and understood more about who were (because of where we came from). I owe that realization to my experience with such a rare book and I am grateful.

"Ask What the Future Should Be"

There is one turn of phrase that struck me as intriguing lately.  That phrase is "ask what the future should be." I was immediately struck by it because it made the idea of innactive change seem lazy and irresponsible. The idea that we are letting change just happen to us instead of doing anything about it stirred me up. I started thinking about how I could actually make a difference in defining what libraries will mean to future generations. I can implement programs, create collections, and personally advise future library staff and patrons in a way that could turn small effective steps into a library revolution. This is a powerful and addictiing thought and I encourage everyone to try it.

Libraries as Knowledge Commons: A Reader's Response

The article “Youth and their Virtual Worlds: Research Findings and Implications for School Libraries” advocates a new path for school libraries in order to enhance their students’ learning in context with new technology. It focuses on school libraries as “knowledge commons” as opposed to mere “information places,” the main difference being that of the directionality of information (Todd, 2008). A library that is structured as an “information place” only provides information while a library that is a “knowledge commons” is a center from which knowledge is both given and re-presented in new and interesting forms. The very forms in which information is re-presented are the areas where new web 2.0 technologies intersect with the more traditional information gathering processes to create such a “knowledge commons.”

The article continues to explain that the use of web 2.0 technologies is the key to both school librarians’ and students’ efforts to engage in an “information to knowledge experience” that will improve students’ overall capabilities to discover, decipher, and employ information (Todd, 2008). It cites some examples of projects that can be both instructive and creative, such as blogs about literature and group wikis that compile the research of students and teachers on a subject. The most intriguing thing about these projects is that they do not have to remain merely a local classroom or school endeavor; because of the widespread availability and use of such web 2.0 tools as “facebook” and various kinds of blogs (written, video, etc...), these kinds of projects are capable of becoming highly enriching multi-school efforts to learn from each other and not just the books on the shelves. It is projects of this nature—ones that allow students to actively participate in their learning process and tap into their creativity—that are characteristic of a “knowledge commons.” More importantly, it is projects of this nature that will ultimately equip students with the critical skills to analyze, manipulate, and recreate knowledge in the ways that will be required of them in the future.

By suggesting that learning take place in such an open and engaging environment as a “knowledge commons,” the article is advocating a specific kind of learning that uses individual and group experiences to make knowledge gained through those experiences more relevant to the students themselves. The article emphasizes the process of constructing original representations of information in order to foster a student’s “personal knowledge and understanding of the curriculum” (Todd, 2008). The underlying concept behind such a process is that students who use information along with acquired skills to create something absorb more of that information and hone those skills as a part of their learning experience. Additionally, the article encourages school librarians to assist students in using technology to find creative outlets to share their ideas and insights. It refers to a study that illustrates how children and teens are already using the content published in social networks to spark conversation that is meaningful to them. School librarians could use those same networks to begin conversations that show students how relevant they are to their own education. Then, students can realize that they empower themselves by making the knowledge that has generally been forced upon them (and will be forced upon them in the future) into their own unique understanding.

The main concern of the article is the transformation of school libraries into spaces where knowledge is shared and created as a conscious, collaborative effort by school librarians and students together. It proposes that this is a crucial step in the effort to “rethink, re-imagine, and recreate a dynamic learning environment” (Todd, 2008). Presumably, learning in such an environment would nurture students into becoming more interested, focused, and knowledgeable about themselves and the larger world. Thus, school libraries that follow the example of a “knowledge commons” can begin to improve the interactions of people and information, one student at a time.

Todd, Ross J. (2008). Youth and their Virtual Worlds Networked Worlds: Research Findings and Implications for School Libraries. School Libraries Worldwide 14(2), 19-34.

Seeking More Than Just Information: Reflections on Chapter Fifteen of The Portable MLIS

I am the first one to admit that research can be dull and tedious, but despite my initial resistance to the research process I have learned to respect it for the insights that it brings to light that would otherwise still be undiscovered. Additionally, I am not completely unchanged by my own past research projects; in fact, I have learned a lot about myself and my endurance to connect and communicate knowledge in unique ways.

The key word to me about the research process is communication. The chapter points out that “the researcher’s job is not really complete until he or she has communicated the results” (Powell, 2008, pp.176). It goes further to say that a “profession cannot benefit from such research unless its members are able and willing to critically read” that research (Powell, 2008, pp. 177). The above quotes suggest that research, like communication, is a two way process between the researcher and his or her reader. Furthermore, they suggest that the interaction between the two is the key ingredient to creating new research processes. Simply put, research begets research—perhaps that is why there is so very much of it out there in the world.

When most people think of research, they think of unearthing already discovered knowledge, but the truth is that the impact of research is more important than just unearthing something that already exists. In actuality, researchers who create new knowledge are the ones making the most impact on future research and our lives today. The chapter states that such newly created knowledge “produce[s] better insights” into current practices that can be improved (Powell, 2008, pp. 176). Thus, knowledge creation is a noble act that builds on the past to improve the present and predict the future.

Whether or not research unearths old information or new, it is a fact that research is necessary. Some may see it as a necessary evil (I did in high school), but even if every step along the way is a struggle, the result of any research is worth it—productive or not. We learn something from every question we try to answer, especially whether or not that question even can be answered. Most significantly, we learn about our curiosity as individuals and as a culture and how that nature can serve us in the future for which we must prepare.

Powell, Ron. (2008). Research. In Ken Haycook & Brooke E. Sheldon (Eds.) The Portable MLIS: Insights from the experts. (pp. 168-178). Westport: Libraries Unlimited.

The Art of Finding Your Book: Reflections on Chapter Fourteen of The Portable MLIS

“Choose an author as you would a friend.”
~Wentworth Dillon~

The above quote speaks to the value that we place in our literature. We give it the intrinsic power of entertaining, soothing, and inspiring our souls, yet the problem remains how to find each individual’s suitable book companions for his or herself. If we can help readers find new and interesting materials to read both on their own and with the help of other readers, then we will create more empowered readers with a greater sense of accomplishment and self.

The problem with finding the right book for the right person stems from two sources. First, every reader is different and even the same reader can differ in his or her tastes depending on mood and general growth in personality over time. The chapter points out that it is a mistake to assume that someone is “in the mood for an identical reading experience” (Chelton, 2008, p. 161). In addition, there are many aspects of books that appeal to readers and any combination of those aspects could be attracting a specific reader. Those aspects include plot, storyline, characterization, theme, and genre (Chelton, 2008, p. 161). For example, one reader may be drawn to strong characters so he or she may skip around the different fiction genres to find the characters he or she likes to read about best. Another reader may find a certain theme so intriguing that he or she looks for everything from non-fiction to fiction to absorb whatever he or she can on that theme. Whatever combination of factors attracts a specific reader to specific titles will always remain somewhat of a mystery, even to that reader. It is our job to equip readers with the tools to discover more of what inspires them.

The second source of conflict in finding the right book is the nature of books, themselves. Books, like people, are all different and can even grow to be different works over time with new editions and reviews. They come in multiple formats for those who prefer words, or pictures, or sound bites (books, graphic novels, audio books). Even generally accepted categories to sort books into—genres—have subcategories that fail to classify every book accurately due to the common practice of blending genres (Chelton, 2008, p. 159-161). Unfortunately, there is no way to enter every individual factor that describes a given book into a catalogue and there are no magic algorithms by which to find the perfect book for an individual (Chelton, 2008, p. 159). Thus, finding the right book is more of an art than a science.

The art of helping readers find the right book involves a combination of many kinds of resources, including author/ works websites, special social networking sites, and face-to-face encounters. The most personable of the above methods is obviously face-to-face conversations, but is important to note that the conversation does not have to flow one way or the other from librarian to patron or vice versa; rather the best conversation is one where ideas flow both ways and every participant learns something he or she can pass on to others.  Websites and databases can also be linked to a library’s homepage to aid readers (Chelton, 2008, p. 163 & 166). I use a website to find other works by authors and which titles in a series someone is interested in called "fantasticfiction.co.uk" (see links).  For some authors’ entries it even lists books by other authors that they recommend—a useful tool when you run out of books by that author to read. Social networks that create unique communities of readers can also be useful. I just joined “goodreads.com” (see links) in order to see for myself how valuable it is to learn from other readers who stock their own online library catalogues. How empowering can creating your own catalogue of favorite books be?

The significance of empowering readers to help themselves and others is not only for the immediate satisfaction of their literary needs, but to increase the value of libraries in our society. If we help to inspire people who are already readers, then they will in turn inspire others to become readers. Even if we never see some of those new readers enter our libraries, we have still influenced them remotely and increased their respect for the resources we house and the value those resources represent to our society. Thus, in the process of helping one reader, remotely or in person, we help many others and ourselves.

Chelton, Mary K. (2008). Readers Advisory Services: How to Help Users Find a “Good Book.” In Ken Haycook & Brooke E. Sheldon (Eds.) The Portable MLIS: Insights from the experts. (pp. 159-167). Westport: Libraries Unlimited.

Metadata as Language: Reflections on Chapter Eleven of The Portable MLIS

As a brief student of linguistics and a long-time student of literature, I am fascinated by the ways in which we use language for everything from everyday endeavors to intellectual pursuits. Amazingly, language captures the practical need to communicate and the spiritual need to inspire. It does all this by representing sounds (phones/ phonemes) with symbols (letters/ words) and combining them to be more meaningful than they ever could be by themselves. As a library science student, I cannot help but notice the impact that language has on designing databases and successful searches. Its influence is both subtle and direct; quite plainly this chapter states that “how you store it determines how you retrieve it,” yet it also makes distinctions about how the language of metadata (data that describes data) is indexed and thus how it can be used to retrieve in specific information (Weedman, 2008, p. 115-117).

The chapter cites a Nobel prize winning scientist, Herb Simon, and his eloquent analysis of how information professionals create a “preferred state” or solution out of an “existing state of affairs” or problem (Weedman, 2008, p. 112). Language itself is a kind of “preferred state” created out of the need to communicate and later the need to persuade and inspire those around us. Language, like libraries, is also a unique signal that a society has reached a certain level of sophistication—one that must be reached before libraries are possible.  Therefore, it makes sense that libraries developed systems that classified documents based on the language of metadata to solve basic search needs that evolved.

The chapter uses the National Information Standards Institute or NISO’s definition of metadata, which is as follows: “structured information that describes, explains, locates, or otherwise makes it easier to retrieve, use, or manage an information resource” (Weedman, 2008, p. 116). Where the language of metadata becomes so intricate and important is in the type of indexing done to make that language searchable. A database can index metadata about subject, title, author, and so on alphabetically in various ways, two of the most intriguing being those of controlled vocabulary and natural language. Using controlled language means that someone inputs common search words (a cataloguer) that someone else (a user) can enter to find desired information while using natural language means that every word, whether it is in the title or just one paragraph, is indexed and searched through in order to find that same desired information (Weedman, 2008, p. 116-117). The intriguing aspect of the above methods of indexing is that they both make the underlying assumption that “a short string of characters” is equivalent to a specific meaning—a concept that language inherently supports by the mere fact that we created it for that purpose (Weedman, 2008, p. 118).

A new method of using metadata has recently developed that shows another inherent aspect of language: that it is constantly evolving and never static. “Social tagging” is a practice where users make their own labels or controlled vocabulary words for information and generate a kind of improvised searching language for other users (Weedman, 2008, p. 117). The chapter refers to the possibility that such an improvised tagging and searching language could evolve into a “voluntary controlled vocabulary” (Weedman, 2008, p. 117). That it could be voluntary yet controlled is a fascinating notion that encompasses both change in the language overtime, yet promotes that change within a particular set of constructs—again a common linguistics pattern.

The language of metadata influences the creation of databases and search strategies through its subtle nuances and reveals the perpetual truths of language, in general, reflected in those databases and strategies. This is not a surprising discovery given that language is the original packaging for information, a currency that is inherently full of worth to us as human beings.

Weedman, Judith. (2008). Information Retrieval: Designing, Querying, and Evaluating Information Systems. In Ken Haycook & Brooke E. Sheldon (Eds.) The Portable MLIS: Insights from the experts. (pp.112-126). Westport: Libraries Unlimited.

Collections are Complicated: Reflections on Chapter Nine of The Portable MLIS

In this chapter, Evens relates experiences and insights about information service collections that reflect experiences that I have personally had while working for various libraries. Some of his observations are common to library staff who are accustomed to assisting patrons, while others are glimpses into the world of a collection developer. Whether they be positive or negative, all are useful for budding librarians looking to someday create their own collections.

Evens first cites the common and satisfying experience of a patron’s gratitude for finding exactly what he or she needed, especially in cases where an individual did not think that something was possible to find or didn’t know the exact something that they were looking for (Evens, 2008, p. 88). As a library clerk, I have had this happen to me many times. One particular woman, a grade school teacher, comes up to my desk every few weeks with a new obscure topic she needs picture books about and we always find something she can use. Another seemingly common experience is the peculiar notion that some patrons cling to that “libraries equals books” and not places where information is the real currency (Evens, 2008, p. 90-91). It is not as frequent as it once was, however we still have people occasionally come into our library and critique us for giving into the computer fad, before asking where all the good books have all gone. A third and not so common notion that Evens raises is that all the materials a collection could amass are futile unless people use them (Evens, 2008, p. 95). Some would argue that they have intrinsic value as objects that contain knowledge, but I agree with Evens specifically because knowledge is a process of personal discovery and not a thing that can be stored (like a virus knowledge must be passed on or it goes dormant and dies of disuse).

Evens also provides some professional insights into collection building and its complications that affect the experiences even basic staff have with a particular collection. Who has access to what can be a tricky issue, especially when it comes to the materials and resources to which a child should have access (Evens, 2008, p. 95). The library that I work for has changed its policies on what materials children can take out in the past year, expanding them to adult books but making the crucial choice to limit them from taking out any adult movies. Another issue professional collection developers have to constantly work around is that of which movements in literature and information to follow and which to ignore (Evens, 2008, p. 92). If a library purchases resources about one movement that turns out to be more of a fad, then that library is left with too many new resources that no one wants (Evens, 2008, p. 92). A great service my library has recently started using is from McNaughton, which lends us many copies of the latest best selling novels so that we do not have to purchase too many copies of the books that are currently popular but will only circulate a few copies in a few months. Lastly and most importantly, Evens recommends thorough and frequent “scanning” be done by all libraries (Evens, 2008, p. 93). My library is perhaps one of the most pertinent examples of what can happen when “scanning,” or assessing both the collection and the service community, is not done for a number of years. As a result, our overall collection is still in desperate need of weeding and updating, but we no longer have the kind of budget to achieve such a large-scale renovation quickly enough for all our patrons.

The above insights are all important to consider when creating or updating a collection. Moreover, they are all issues we as librarians will have to deal with in the future as more resources become available in more formats. We will all have some hard decisions to make in order to stay relevant to our communities and we must do our due diligence to make the right ones.

Evens, G. Edwards. (2008). Reflections on Creating Information Service Collections. In Ken Haycook & Brooke E. Sheldon (Eds.) The Portable MLIS: Insights from the experts. (pp.3-14). Westport: Libraries Unlimited.

Libraries as Mirrors: Reflections on Chapter One of The Portable MLIS

Upon a first read, this chapter may primarily appear to be the summation of the history and underlying beliefs that have lead to the modern library. However, it also frames that history and those beliefs within the explicit and inseparable notion that “libraries are reflections of the societies in which they are embedded” (Rubin, 2008, p. 4). When viewed through such a lens, it is possible to link specific historical circumstances to the basic needs behind the conceptualization of libraries so that when we study the what of libraries we also understand the why. Understanding why libraries were created and how they evolved is a key factor for determining where libraries must turn to be relevant in the future. Thus, exploring libraries as mirrors of society is essential in order to discover the underlying needs on which to base libraries in the future.

The historical needs that have been met by libraries in the past are intriguing, ranging from the practical to the thought provoking. It is not surprising that one of the first libraries was an extension of the practical needs of a society, specifically that of ancient Sumeria. As it flourished into a trade center, the ancient Sumerians recognized the need to keep very organized trade and land records—a sign that they had evolved beyond a basic, survivalist existence (Rubin, 2008, p. 4). The ancient Egyptians created libraries for more inspirational reasons; they kept spiritual literature within the very temples that were so important to their lives and made their priests its keepers (Rubin, 2008, p. 4-5). Once again, this practice shows that the society had grown beyond mere surviving to a kind of religious scholarship. Perhaps the most intriguing library was the Alexandrian, the first academic library. If libraries are signs that a society has reached a higher level of sophistication, then the Alexandrian’s society—that of the Greek and Egyptian worlds after the conquests of Alexander the Great—was one of the more enlightened societies. Scholars from around the known world both contributed to its resources and studied from them, making the Alexandrian a learning commons unrivaled in its own time (Rubin, 2008, p. 5). Naturally, there are many more examples of past libraries, nevertheless they all mirrored the societies that they were born out of by fulfilling a need that arose in their society.

But what kind of mirrors should libraries be in our modern society and its future? The first question to ask is simple: what needs do we, as a society, have that can be fulfilled by libraries? We all have the same basic needs to survive, communicate, learn, and escape. Survival can be achieved without them, however libraries play a crucial role in our need to communicate, learn, and escape from our reality from time to time. To demonstrate a few examples work best: one can physically enter a library and immediately check their email messages, learn something new from any print resource in the building, and pick up a novel he or she can read to cart him or her off to a far away place. One can also use technology to find a library website, download an audio book to listen to as the world melts away, look up an article for research on an online database, and check the library’s events for the week. What is important about the kind of library above is that it creates a space, whether it be actual or virtual, where we can meet our own intellectual and spiritual needs as thinking and feeling beings. As long as libraries continue to provide such a unique environment in which to achieve this, and continually improve upon that environment with new technology and services, they will remain relevant.

Rubin, Richard E. (2008). Stepping Back and Looking Forward: Reflections on the Foundations of Libraries and Librarianship. In Ken Haycook & Brooke E. Sheldon (Eds.) The Portable MLIS: Insights from the experts. (pp.3-14). Westport: Libraries Unlimited.

Introduction

Hereafter, posts to this blog will concern books, articles, and other literature about libraries and how to improve their services. This entry, however, serves as an introduction to my personal bias, vision and belief in libraries. I believe libraries are the quintessential meeting places where people of all shapes, sizes, and colors can find inspiration for their every whim, everyday projects, and their entire lives. My vision is for us, as a community of librarians and library users, to create spaces where everyone can access and share information and resources through the use of technology, print materials, social programs, and the hard work of many individuals. Naturally, my bias is my belief that such an ambitious goal is not only possible but that we are working towards it now. I find faith in such a thing because it is in our nature to communicate and share. Whether it be a joke, a favorite novel, or information that personally helped us, we will always impart what we know or have found out to someone else, and that someone will impart it to someone else, and the cycle will continue—and libraries will continue to be a part of that cycle.