The Screen is Flat

I have been experimenting with social bookmarking this week, specifically on del.icio.us and I have to say, my brain is off in way too many directions when I think about the purpose and potential applications of these types of tools. So, if you’ll excuse the following post as just another ADD moment, I have the following thoughts thus far.

Libraries traditionally are viewed as places of order and stability. Library resources are organized using rules and hierarchies of terminology or numerology. I think we can all agree that when applied consistently, these rules of order are good both for librarians and for library users. As my mom was fond of saying “There’s a place for everything and everything in its place.”

I believe authoritative and consistent taxonomies will continue to be relevant in the future, particularly when you consider the astronomical rate at which information and data continues to be generated and published. In addition to the volume of data, the variety and types of digital tools and formats continue to change and evolve. Consistent rules and language will be needed in order to efficiently and effectively find all the stuff that’s out there. 

However, despite the benefits of authority control, based on my experience teaching people how to use digital information resources, I would agree with the old adage in libraryland which states that “people don’t care about searching, they care about finding.” Library users sometimes don’t seem to care what language or semantics or rules are utilized. This ambivalence can be frustrating for me as a Librarian, but I understand that not everyone loves MeSH as much as I do.

So, it’s with this background that I have been wondering lately how traditional library rules of order will be influenced in the future by social bookmarking and folksonomy.

On a personal level, when I found something worth saving in Web World 1.0, I might cut and paste the content of a website into a Word document and then save it locally. Or I would download the PDF into a folder. Then I would use a detailed filing system on my computer to arrange content, or utilize EndNote to manage my research findings. Who knew bibliographic management software was the precursor to social bookmarking?

In Web World 2.0, services like del.icio.us make my homegrown solution easier in many ways. Social bookmarking sites are a handy and fun way to approach personal productivity. It’s much easier to keep track of the items I want to squirrel away with tagging. User generated tags are generally similar to the vocabulary that I would select, and it’s a neat trick to follow the links of other enthusiasts to stumble upon similar areas of interest.

Of course, the assumption is that I will more easily find and retrieve content that I have saved. Even as a librarian, I will confess that I find it a challenge to keep the vocabulary simple and consistent when using social network sites. Too many terms and synonyms and I get lost in my own over-organization. Too few and my sites are lost in sea of generalizations. Social bookmarking and folksonomy reminds me that most people are probably meant to be catalogers and indexers.  Note to self: send a big “thank you” card out to all the professional cataloguers and indexers.

From a professional standpoint, I’m still thinking about the applications for social bookmarking sites as they related to library resources and services.

First, personal customization of library space is not a new concept. Allowing users to “tag” their own content and create personalized library portals has been accomplished already by some forward thinking libraries.

Assuming the web 2.0 generation would like to have more access and control over their experiences with the Digital Library, the challenge is how to incorporate folksonomy style social indexing with established Library systems of order. To what extent can or should the Library invite our users to enter “our” digital space and customize their research experience? Are we creating web content that is of such value that users want to tag them?

The most obvious use of del.icio.us that I can see is its use as a partial replacement for subject and research guides. Social Bookmarking allow for greater ease, speed, and flexibility in the creation of a reference or subject database.

However, while del.icio.us links to content well, these types of tools do not explain howto do use the conent once you find it.  Research guides, tutorials, and other instructional media will still be necessary to assist users with the research process. This is an important point. Social bookmarking tools are about organizing your data more efficiently and collaboratively. But you still need to know what you’re looking for, why you are looking for it, and then know what to do once you find it what your looking for. And as useful as del.icio.us is as a productivity tool, it still doesn’t solve the problem of broken links and migrating content.

Another concern I have relates to the differences between free vs. licensed content. I  am not sure how delicious helps with the problem of communicating to users that not everything is available for free. “Libraries are increasingly between a rock and a hard place: the publisher or search engine gets the credit, they just pick up the tab.” How do we best utilize social bookmarking sites to consolidate or segregate out free vs. fee content?

I also think these tools are another example of the format deconstruction. First, we had blogs and other web content to read. Then RSS enabled us to have content delivered to our desktops so we didn’t have to go out and retrieve it. Now we can use del.icio.us to save the bits we want and trash the rest. It reminds of me of other formats that we enjoy picking apart like Music and journals.  The original format of the content is not as important anymore.

ADD moment: Is anyone bothered by the aesthetic of del.icio.us? I find it really hard to look at visually. I know it’s supposed to be really clean and simple. But all the tags on the right remind me of code for some reason. Just asking.  New and Improved Updatesince original post: After using del.icio.us for a few weeks, I am not bothered by the aesthetics anymore. In fact, I love how del.icio.us integrates with my browser and that is so simple to use.

Final True confession: one of my guilty TV addictions is Law and Order. It’s very difficult to work from home and complete writing deadlines when you know that at any given time, some version of the show is on syndication on at least two different channels. I have a friend who actually gave up Law and Order for Lent this year.

There are two question that should be asked first though when considering this tool. First, what existing news or information is desirable to our user community? Second, what new services or information can the Library provide thanks to the capabilities of RSS?

Idea 1: Utilizing RSS journal feeds is similar to concept to the old TOC services. However, RSS enables the user to have more control over the journal data they wish to keep receive. One project worthy of emulation is the “Journal Feeds by subject” page at the Ebling Library, Health Sciences Learning Center, University of Wisconsin.

Idea 2: Integrating RSS capabilities into the acquisitions/cataloging processes to better inform the community when the Library has added material relevant to their research and teaching.

Idea 3: News blog for changes in Library hours, new services, and other promotional events.

Idea 4: User account updates, including overdue materials, fines, etc. Feed should include links back to the user’s account so they can update their records.

Idea 5: Marketing. The Library couldpromote services and resources not only on Library websites and blogs, but also on other blogs within the organization. For example, Library staff can post training opportunities within HR, IT, or other training websites/blogs in order to promote instructional events sponsored by the Library. An example of this type of integration are the courses offered by the University Libraries within the Human Resources Training site.

Idea 6: The Next Big Thing. Whatevernews, information, or services the Library can think of which would add value to the Library experience for our clientele. Who knows what services we will think to offer in the future? Regardless of what news or data is pushed out, we need to think creatively about how this information will lure faculty, students, and staff back to the Library, either to our virtual or physical space.

Web 2.0 software is about communication, interactive experiences, and social connectivity. Each Web 2.0 tool has advantages and unique features. Like Blogs and Wikis, Social networking Sites are about communication, sharing information (text based, images, video) and supporting common interests or relationships.

The primary difference is that with web sites like Facebook and LinkedIn, you can more easily establish online connections with a community of people, either folks you know in real life, or just online through shared interests. By establishing a webspace on these two sites, you can connect your profile with other friends and colleagues who also utilize the service. These sites can now serve as your email, photo sharing, file sharing, and professional referral source all in one.

However, to be honest, I do see a difference in the utilization of these tools in my personal and professional life.

When it comes to libraryland, we should use SNS to showcase the Library’s services and resources, and provide a communication forum for interacting with our clientele. From a marketing perspective, it makes sense to put the Library out where our users are. It’s also useful to add our professional contact information on these sites - they are called “Social Networking Sites” for a reason. An institutional presence is fine, but a personal touch would always be appreciated by visitors to the site. Like any webpage, the SNS site should be full of useful content and invite feedback and participation from visitors in order to be fully in line with the goals and functions of the SNS world.

While I’m all for the Library and my professional presence on Facebook et. al, I am having a harder time adding my own personal profile and information online. To be honest, I’m just not that interested in promoting my own activities and interests for all the world to see. I’m also a bit nervous about the scary “Big Brother” privacy implications. (Just Google Facebook AND privacy …scary.)

Maybe I’m showing a generational gap here. But for the moment, I’m content focusing on how these tools can help promote the Library, and help me be a better researcher, educator, and librarian. Everything else is lagniappe.

Main Entry: da·ta·base
Pronunciation: \ˈdā-tə-ˌbās, ˈda- also ˈdä-\
Function: noun
Date: circa 1962 : a usually large collection of data organized especially for rapid search and retrieval (as by a computer) 

Back in the stone languages, when I was in Library school, I remember one instructor explaining that a database was simply a collection of data. A phonebook is a database.  A collection of recipes on the Food Network is a database.

Again, back in the stone ages, when everything was in print, we librarians liked to categorize resources by type: dictionaries, encyclopedias, indexes, journals, books, government documents, audiovisual, etc.

Now, it seems like everything is a database.  And when every digital resource is referred to as a “database” how can we as educators provide meaningful distinctions between digital resources that are very different in nature and function?Should we cease calling these products databases? What language or semantics should we be using?

When it comes to Web 2.0, I am trying to keep up with the hordes of new tools and resources that are available to utilize in my personal life and in libraryland. But I have to tell you, the metaphor my brain uses to describe all these advances does not ring of Darwin.

Rather, I think of them as barbarian hordes that are trying to storm defense walls.  They bang angrily at the gates of my computer and I am trying my best to keep the defenses high so that I am not overrun. Some of these tools promise a better world order, but I am not sure I want to let all of the invaders inside the castle.

I have four email addresses that require constant attention. My face is now on the book. I am linked in.  The distasteful method of saving things on my own computer has been replaced with a more delicious option on the web. I text. I email.  I blog. The list could go on.

I want technology to help me maximize my ability to be productive, creative, and connected with my colleagues and friends.   But I am at the point where there are too many communication and productivity options. Do all these options make it easier for me to communicate or just more complicated?

What tools help me be a better librarian and educator? Are these Web 2.0 tools part of my arsenal of essential tools, or are they merely distractions that add to the “to do” list?

For those of you who have read The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman, you may have guessed that the title of this blog is a complementary spin on this well known book. And in part, you would be right. The Screen is Flatconcept does refer to the reality that there are a lot of diverse people, resources, and ideas, located all over the planet, that meet up on the common space of your computer screen.  “The world, according to the title of the New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman’s book, is flat. Thanks to advances in technology, the global playing field has been leveled, the prizes are there for the taking, and everyone’s a player—no matter where on the surface of the earth he or she may reside. “In a flat at world,” Friedman writes, “you can innovate without having to emigrate.“”

This title is also a catchy way of trying to capture the challenges and possibilities when a librarian, a graduate school professor, and a multimedia information designer share their collective talents and strengths to address issues of information literacy, personal learning environments, and the scholarly research and information landscape.  Each of our job descriptions contain distinct yet overlapping responsibilities in the academic environment.  We recognize that we are all on the same team, working toward some of the same goals.  It is important to nurture these important partnerships so that together, we can better plan for and meet the technological and educational priorities of our academic community.

The Screen is Flat concept represents many challenges for the Librarian. In the web 2.0 environment, it is impossible to separate out information from technology.  The information landscape is vibrant, complex, multidimensional, and constantly changing.  Yet this intricate world is very hard to capture on a one dimensional surface.  How can the Library best communicate about the resources and services available for research, teaching, and learning on the flat computer screen? 

Significant changes in information technology occur every 1-2 years.  While it is a significant investment of time and resources to learn and relearn these new  technologies, we must teach our students how to think cricitally about information so that they will be able to keep up with these changes.  The ability to adapt and synthesize changes in how information is created, stored, and accessed is necessary skill for a life long learner. 

As a Librarian, The Screen is Flat also represents the importance of asking good questions. Some of the questions I ask myself when working with the Flat Screen are: 

• Who creates the data or information?
• Where do these authors or researchers locate physically and virtually?
• Who funds the research?
• What institutions (academic, government, corporate, non-profit) are affiliated with the research?
• Who is responsible for distributing or publishing the data, research, or information?
• Of the commercial publishers, which companies are subsidiaries of other holding companies?
• What information/data is unique? What content is available from only one source?  What data is distributed or duplicated through multiple vendors or sources?
• What information is represented in a resource? Text, images, audio, raw data?
• What format or semantics would you use to describe what the resource is – database, book, journal, etc?
• How is the resource organized or structured? What classification or data structure is utilized to organize and assist with the retrieval of the information or data within the resource? Library of Congress, Dewey Decimal, MeSH, or another controlled vocabulary?
• Do you need to know a  specialized vocabulary (i.e. molecular biology, genetics) before searching the resource effectively?
• Who is responsible for maintaining and updating the resource?
• How frequently is the resource updated?
• How and where is the data backed up?
• How accessible is the resource for users on and off campus?
• Can I distribute the data in this resource through interlibrary loan processes or document delivery?
• What are the contractual restrictions that I will need to abide to in order to maintain the licensing terms for an electronic resource?
• Does copyright apply with this resource?
• What does the resource cost? Can similar information be found from a less expensive vendor or source?
• How often and how well is a resource utilized?
• How can I best communicate to a target audience about the availability and use of this resource?
• If this resource unavailable for extended periods of time, will there be any compensation for the Library?
• What staff are available both inside and outside of the institution to help the Library restore access when additional technical help is needed?
• What audience is this resource most appropriate for? Undergraduate? Graduate? Faculty? 
• Does this resource assist with the research and teaching of many, or a few within the organization?
• What is the best way to teach faculty and students how to best utilize this resource?
• What learning environments are best suited for learning about this resources?  Lectures, Study Groups/Problem Based Learning Groups, Blogs, Wiki’s, Podcasts?
• What tutorials and guides are available to best help people use this resource? 
• What formats or technologies help students learn how to conduct research? What accessibility options, learning styles, and preferences should I consider?
• What communication mediums should the Library employ to offer assistance with the use of this resource? Phone, Email, Text messaging, RSS, Social networking sites, Podcasting?