Library Garden

Time to abandon ship?

A colleague of mine forwarded me this article a week or so ago that was printed in The Register and I have been meaning to blog about it ever since. Actually, I did blog about it last week, but it got lost during the Blogger crash last Thursday. So, here is round two of the post… considerably shortened because I have a time crunch at hand as I prepare to head to New Orleans for ALA next week.

Kelly Martin is urging us to ditch email because “It’s dangerous, insecure, unreliable, mostly unwanted, and out-of-control” and I have to agree to a certain point with much of what he has to say. Each day I waste valuable time (time that could be spent doing something productive) contending with a literal deluge of spam and scams in the inboxes of my various email accounts. I have spent countless hours trying to figure out how to filter or stop the unwanted messages, but each solution is full of pitfalls and only lasts for a short time (or so it seems) before the deluge begins again.

Martin points out that we have been using the same email protocol for the last 25 years (SMTP) and that in essence it is time to throw out the baby with bathwater. He states: “Email in its current form will never, ever, ever be spam-free. It will never be virus-phishing-scam free. It will cost companies and individuals billions of dollars in theft, criminal activity, and the reality of spam will grow from the 50-70 per cent it is today to 90 per cent of all traffic… Email will never be secure, because it was never designed to be secure”.

We are having terrible spam issues at MPOW in recent weeks. Our email addresses are too vulnerable, especially with us offering email reference services. How can we continue to make our email addresses accessible to our customers and still have any hope of maintaining some control over the influx of spam? We have tried a myriad of solutions and (again) none are ideal and none work for long.

On a slightly related tangent, I read this article and made a connection to recent posts in the biblioblogosphere about the need for certain ILS vendors to ditch their current products and start from scratch. Although the situation is somewhat different with email, the message is the same — you can only put patches and add-ons to old technology and protocols for a limited time before it becomes completely obsolete and truly time to abandon ship.

My colleague commented that her favorite quote from the Martin article was:

All the work spent fixing email is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Email is a sinking ship and it should be abandoned…

I have to concur, but I also think that fixing email might never be possible. Yet, I hold hope that ILS vendors will listen to the conversation that is occurring and consider that it might time to start from fresh to give their customers what they need and want.

June 15, 2006 at 10:45 am 2 comments

Save Your Spot!

I hope you saved the date because registration is now being accepted for the 4C’s roadshow with Michael and Jenny.

Princeton Public Library has teamed up with CJRLC to bring you an amazing deal — a 4.5 hour workshop that includes lunch all for a mere $20! Registration is limited to 50, so register early to save your spot.

Essential Details:
PDF of flyer (includes registration form)
Directions to Princeton Public Library

Questions? contact me: jhermann at princetonlibrary dot org

June 14, 2006 at 3:33 pm

Shameless Self-Promotion

Tonight I will be the featured speaker along with my colleague Bob Keith for PPL’s monthly Tuesday Technology Talk. We will be demonstrating and talking about several Web 2.0 applications in a program we call Fantastic Freebies for Everyone.

I recently started the Tuesday Technology Talks @ PPL blog to further promote this program, which has been a mainstay of our technology training program since October 2000.

Here is the real “shameless self-promotion”, U.S. 1 newspaper published a lengthy article, From the Internet: Great Free Stuff, that features interview with both Bob and myself. It looks like we should get a good turn out tonight!

June 6, 2006 at 11:01 am 2 comments

Casting Call for "Transformers"

Are you a “transformer”? Hint: we aren’t talking about the type of transformer depicted to the right. More importantly, has your library been transformed? If so, Leslie Burger wants to hear from YOU!! Here is the text of an email that she asked us to post on her behalf:

I would like to enlist your help for a very exciting and interactive project that will help transform libraries!

Libraries Transform Communities is the theme I have chosen for my presidential initiative. We know that when libraries are transformed either by new service programs, renovations, or new buildings that the communities they serve are in turn transformed. Part of the initiative is to create a Transformation Tool Kit, which will have tips and ideas for how to transform your library, and stories from libraries that have been transformed.

This is where I need your help, send in your transformation stories and photographs. Explain briefly how your library been changed? How have your library users and community been transformed? The stories and photographs that you submit will be featured on my website.

Send all materials to Romina Gutierrez at rgutierrez [at] princetonlibrary dot org as soon as possible.

I hope you share your transformation stories with me and with the library community!

Thank you in advance for your participation.

Leslie Burger
ALA President-Elect

June 1, 2006 at 8:57 pm 1 comment

Save the Date — if you are in NJ (that is)

Michael Stephens and Jenny Levine are coming to New Jersey!

They will be presenting Conversation, Community, Connections, and Collaboration: Practical, New Technologies for User-centered Services (aka the 4C s roadshow) on July 18th at Princeton Public Library. The workshop will run from 9:30 am to 2 pm and include lunch.

Final cost and registration details to be forthcoming very soon… just wanted to start spreading the word so that calendars can be marked! If you are a NJ blogger, please cross-post and promote… tell your colleagues that this will be an event not to be missed.

I am off to Canada for a 10 day holiday and will update when I return.

May 25, 2006 at 6:19 am

Carnival of the Infosciences — On with the Show!

It has been a busy week at the Carnival grounds. Make sure you have plenty of pocorn and candy floss (aka cotton candy) and a large cup of soda before the show begins as you will need it. Prepare to be amazed and dazzled by the participants in edition #38 of the Carnival of the Infosciences. Without futher ado… on with the show.

We started with a very early submission from David Bigwood of Catalogablog who stated “this is one of the best ideas I’ve seen in quite some time: Noting donations and donors in the OPAC”. We here at the Library Garden agree that this is a fantastic idea.

Next in to the ring was was Ellysa from Infotangle who not only complimented us on the concept of the Library Garden (in her words: “I think it’s a wonderful idea to form a blog which embraces a multitude of perspectives written by librarians of different backgrounds”) but also pointed us to her post on Community 2.0 in which she defines several types of communities and gives some great examples of community in practice. Well done Ellysa and thanks for the compliment.

Ellysa was quickly followed by Bill Drew (Baby Boomer Librarian) linking us to his post Verizon giving information to NSA – My response. Bill remarks: “This started up my interest in the NSA and records of phone numbers I call.”

After a brief intermission, we had Rick Roche asking for us to please consider his look back at the 1979 ALA Annual Conference meeting on government documants for the carnival. He comments in the post on how some concerns are the same though the technology has changed. A very interesting trip back in time and well worth the look!

Next in to the fray came Filipino Librarian who clearly feels that it is not enough to complain about the existence of librarian stereotypes and believes that “alternative images must be presented” and thus he submits his post, “I am a Librarian” for our reading and viewing pleasure. He also had an addendum to his entry in which he states “I just found out that there was a bit of a discussion last month about self-promotion. I guess this post falls under that category… but in a different direction 🙂 ”

Anali from Grumpator gave us a thought-provoking summary of two talks she heard this week given by Joan Frye Williams.

And then we finish off the show the same way we started — with an entry from David Bigwood who says: “I have never sent in a second submission for a week, but here I go. A couple of library students have created a tool, ClaimID, that has been getting good press in the Web 2.0 community but none in the L20 arena, that I’ve seen. ”

We also got a P.S. from David Bigwood that contains a cool idea. David says: “Bootcamp sounds fun. What we need is a L20 and Web 2.0 conference. Get the folks from Digg, 37 signals, Amber McArthur, Leo Laporte together with Dan, Jenny, Steven et al. Now that would be one I’d not miss. ” We here at LG wouldn’t want to miss it either. Who wants to be on the organizing committee and get this conference off the ground?

Now for our picks of the week from the bloggers on Library Garden (we have a lot of editors, so we have a lot of picks):

We liked “It’s all ‘me'” from Library Marketing where Jill Stover talked about an WSJ article author who “predicts that consumer power will shift increasingly toward individuals who will declare what it is they want and marketers will be tasked with listening to and addressing those needs.” We think Jill is right on the money when she suggests that “we [in the libraries] design and deliver our services [while being] proactive in listening for and addressing needs, and that we’ll have to work very closely with patrons to provide customized services at their times and places of need.” Very thought-provoking, both her blog response and the article itself.

Ricklibrarian caught our attention when he wrote about using Google Notebookfor Nonfiction readers’ advisory. He created a sample notebook with links and text which he links to. Being able to bring all that information together easily and then having it available from any computer anywhere is just brilliant.

Best Sellers, Best Borrowed, Most Collected posted at Stephen’s Lighthouse was also selected as a pick as it offers up another puzzle for the ages: Why do libraries insist on promoting bestsellers when it inevitably leads to frustration for users who then find themselves number 579 on the hold list forthe book?

Another fave was Ten Months In by Laura S. at Library Crunch talking about the Library 2.0 discussion, and where you can listen to her article. Here is the quote that really got our attention: “We now have a clear, yet fluid definition [of Library 2.0]: user collaboration, constant and purposeful change, and reaching the long tail. Librarians from around the world are discussing this concept. It is a topic at conferences, courses are being taught on it, there are a growing number of librarians blogging it, and books are being written on it, including one by Michael and me.” We at the LG are looking forward to their upcoming book on this topic!

We also liked Michael Stephens pointing out that Hennepin County Library is now allowing customer comments in the catalog and Meredith Farkas sharing some deeply personal and inspirational thoughts on her evolution as a librarian, and as a person. Also worth a look is LizB’s “good news, bad news”post on attending a Career Fair posted over at Pop Goes the Library.

And this week would not be complete without a nod towards the debate surrounding ALA’s Library 2.0 Bootcamp. Lots of good posts on this topic, but as the Carnival ringmasters we are going to point you to Library Garden’s own Peter Bromberg who weighs in with his take on the conversation and also offers us a chance to contribute and discuss the topic at the eltuo wiki .

Well, that’s a wrap for this week carnival. It has been fun hosting and we hope to hoist the carnival tent in our garden again at some future date. The carnival is moving grounds and setting up over at What I Learned Today, so remember to submit early and submit often!

May 21, 2006 at 10:14 pm 4 comments

Still Seeking Submissions

We have received a few excellent entries for the Carnival, but are still looking for more submissions of what was great and/or really caught your attention this week. It is too late to submit early, but not too late to submit often. You have until this Sunday (May 22nd) at 6 pm to get your entries to us here at the Library Garden. Please send your submissions to janieh [at] gmail dot com for edition #38 of the Carnival of the Infosciences .

On an slightly related note, whenever I think of Carnivals I think of consuming sugar that has been spun into a sticky mess of melt-on-your-tongue goodness on stick. My husband and I have an ongoing debate about what this item is called. I have placed a photo to the left as a visual cue. Please help us settle this one and for all! What do you call it? I say it is Candy Floss and he claims it is Cotton Candy.

May 19, 2006 at 11:12 am 21 comments