The Screen is Flat

I was too slow on the draw, or too out of the loop (or fill in any cliché that seems appropriate), when it comes to the cute name “Ilife.” Maybe I have been trapped in the PC world too long, and should make more progress toward the Apple universe. Especially in light of my recent Vista program crash explosion. But don’t get me started.

The primary reason I like “Ilife” is that this word is the perfect culmination of all previus “i” phrases and products previously dominated by the letter “e.”

The phrase also signifies that we are on the cusp of living in a completely digital world.

Technological advances have certainly enabled both librarians and library users easier access to a broader range of resources from the comfort of our barcoloungers. And its a good thing we have such comfy chairs to sit in because the breadth and depth of information resources and entertainment available means it can take more time to find and use all the stuff thats out there. Sometimes the research process is easy and fast. Sometimes the procerss takes longer than you think it should because of the pressure of checking each and every source because being thorough means examining everything. And sometimes searching for information is just an endless stream of distractions and fluff that sucks out all the air from the room. (For those of you who went to see WALL-E, I recognize that this barcolounger image can be downright scary. I started this blog posting pre-movie release. Yikes. If you have not seen the latest PIXAR movie, then ignore this reference and read on.)

In this age of information overabundance, it means that I have to choose. What do I pay attention to? What do I have time to read and process? How can I learn to be more efficient with my search and retrieval skills? More than ever, choosing between the urgent, entertaining, and the truly important is a discipline more important than ever for me to possess in order to remain sane.

If you’ll excuse me, I need to text a friend on my smartphone, drink more coffee, check the weather report, search for new class schedules in two different places, change the music shuffle, and research a new subject discipline now. And that’s just for starters.

1. We admitted we were powerless of our information needs and that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. We came to believe that a Librarian greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. We made a decision to turn our information needs over to the care of a Librarian.

4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves and our information literacy skills.

5. We admitted to the Librarian, to ourselves, and our academic community the exact nature of our shortcomings as they relate to our information literacy skills.

6. We were entirely ready to have the Librarian remove all these defects.

7. We humbly asked the Librarian to remove our information literacy shortcomings.

8. We made a list of all search strategies we have harmed and became willing to make amends to the Librarian.

9. We made direct amends to the Librarian with either a Starbucks gift card, or a Nancy Pearl Librarian Action Figure.

10. We continued to take a personal inventory and  where we wrong with our search strategies, promptly admitted it.

11. We sought through prayer, RSS, and text messaging, to improve our conscious contact with the Librarian, seeking only for knowledge of their search expertise for us and the power to carry out these suggestions in our search processes .

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Disclaimer: I am a big fan of the Dummies series for their use of simple everyday language to describe complex tasks and principles.  I am not implying that you, the reader, are a big dummy.  Or at least, you are not any more of a dummy than I am.

For those of you who have not had the opportunity to chat with a librarian in a while about how they acquire all those neat electronic materials you use from your office, allow me to explain how it all works.

Step One: Library approaches publisher/vendor to inquire how much it costs to lease the information product in question.
Notice the word lease. Libraries, do not buy anything anymore.  In the digital realm, access to a resource is a contractual agreement for an agreed upon period of time.  Once the contract is up, then access to the resource you are accustomed to utilizing will cease.

Step 2: Publisher/Vendor wants to know a lot of information about your institution. 

Like how many people work there, how many users may or may not use the resource on and off the campus, the number of vending machines, how often the bathrooms are cleaned, your personal salary for the last fiscal year, and the blood type of all immediate family members. These numbers are factored into a complicated equation. The equation will generally produce a number that is above what the Library hoped to pay and will equal the gross national product for a small third world country.  However, the resource is needed for research and teaching, so it doesn’t really matter what number is written on the piece of paper slid across the table. The amount is agreed to if you want this material. This journal or database is the only like it.  There may not be any other option to get the book, journal, or database.  If you don’t lease the material, faculty will likely key your car in the staff parking lot.

Step 3: Library signs contract. 

Promotional materials are posted on the Library website and flurries of emails are written to announce the arrival of the Next Big Thing at the Library.  Library staff will wait for the access switch to be thrown.  Days, weeks, or in the worst case scenario, months will roll by on the calendar while Library staff check the links on the Library website.

Step 4: Library staff will contact the information provider to double check the date of access.

Upon contacting the Publisher/Vendor they will claim that you A.) Do not have a license for the product B.) You do have a license but their accounting office shows no record of payment. C.) You do have a license and have paid for the product.  Everything looks fine on their end so the problem must be with you.  End of conversation.

Step 5: Library contacts Campus IT department.

IT information you that they have changed all the IP addresses but didn’t tell the Library of this change as it was not a Library issue.  With this new information Library will call Publisher/Vendor with updated IP ranges for the institution.

Step 6: A Miracle Occurs

After numerous phone calls back and forth to Campus IT and to the Publisher, the Library waits for the electronic product to work.  One day it works. No one will know why.  Faculty have already keyed your car twice.

Step 7: Living in Bliss

Intermittedly throughout the year the produt will cease to work. No one will know why. IP addresses will be checked. At least eight different calls to 3 different people will be necessary to figure out the problem.  Numerous phone calls will be made back and forth between Campus IT and the Publisher/Vendor.   One day the resource will suddenly work. No one will know why.

Step 8.  Its contract time again!

Take whatever figure you paid last year to subscribe to the electronic resource and add 10% if you want to maintain your subscription.