John Blyberg, Assistant Director of Innovation & User Experience, supports a range of applications on the Library’s in-house server. Some organizations simply need a basic webhosting account, others use a blogging platform and a few require a CMS. He also provides consultation for organizations unfamiliar with web technologies to help them determine the best configuration to meet their needs.

The plethora of web technologies (and reconciling recommendations from consultants, peer organizations and personal connections) can be overwhelming for most folks. As a result, many NPOs and municipal agencies spend more time and money than they need to on technology services. The Darien organizations are extremely fortunate to receive webhosting and consultation free-of-charge from their library.

In my first article on a National Public Library Corporation, I suggested:

It would also benefit the public and libraries if [the NPL technology] solutions could be shared by other municipal agencies. The public would receive more convenient, consolidated access to their local governments and have their library to thank for it. Libraries might find agencies that currently compete with them for local funding becoming allies if they were using modules of the library’s information system to manage some of their administrative functions.

When we spoke, John actually highlighted this as a benefit by pointing out that people who use the webhosting are “influencers” and voters who may not necessarily use traditional library services. Way to go Darien Public Library — for finding a powerful way to serve the community and advocate for the library!

Key Findings

Percent Usage by Age Group

Via the Scholarly Kitchen

An opportunity arose to revisit the subject in Library Journal and I returned to form with some straight-ahead analysis and thoughts about new information needs in the digital realm. Check out my BackTalk in Learning from LC’s Twitter Deal.

Many thanks to Rebecca Miller for editorial guidance and feedback.

• The Cloudy Revolution: The iPad will speed the shift from desktop to Web-based computing.
• The Future of E-Readers Is Brighter Than We Knew
• Does It Matter Which Reading App You Use?

The info would be available to libraries via a well-conceived and executed data system that made it easy to incorporate online resources within their websites or to quickly assemble and brand materials. Just point and click. No vendors to evaluate, no purchase orders to process, no systems to maintain; it would all come as part of an annual membership with the NPL.

These collections would quickly become among the best in the world, for libraries all across the country would contribute to them.

Think about the enormous power of libraries working together like this. It absolutely blows my mind. Systems like this are used by millions of people every day in corporations, real estate firms, hospitals … and I’m filled with excitement when I think about them for libraries. For now, I hope you enjoy these two selections from my imaginary architecture collection.

Falling Water – an appreciation of Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece

Virtual Tour of the Sistene Chapel

Announcements trumpeted across the principals’ blogs. Twitter’s dignified, concise and authoritative statement was a masterful elevation of its brand. With a mere 361 words they proactively neutralized privacy criticisms and positioned themselves as a generous benefactor for the ages. An excited utterance from the Library of Congress was also seen. “It boggles my mind to think what we might be able to learn about ourselves and the world around us from this wealth of data” declared the institution’s communication director!

As best I can tell, that widely cited post and much of the ensuing dialogue diminished the institution. Notwithstanding Washington Post and Wall Street Journal articles that tried to contextualize the acquisition, the shores were littered with dismissive commentary and good questions about content ownership and user privacy (here, here and here for example). One of the most damning from Sid Burgess of Oklahoma City was spied early Saturday morning:

I had observed these fateful partnerings before and wondered whether the library brand would someday become so deteriorated that no commercial firm would want to be associated with it.

An eerie silence reigned over the library blogosphere. As is their custom, librarians remained mute on this very active public conversation. I scanned leading library blogs to see what library experts and other luminaries, the library movers and shakers, had to say. Their digital record revealed an occupation with self promotion (Library Competency Success Stories) and boosterism (It is just ridiculous how awesome libraries are.) … Powerpoint slides, conference tweets and wordles … and deep thoughts on librarianship (What’s a Real Book?, Open Conversation: Being Human and All (Advocacy) in the Family). I found no mention of this library news that everyone else seemed to be talking about — save for Roy Tenannt’s literary contribution, If Shakespeare Had Tweeted.

A link to a ResourceShelf post on a prominent blog was a welcome site, although I cannot convey the dread that overcame me when I clicked upon it.
Chastened, I continued my journey. I came upon the ALA Media/Press Center and they were not speaking of this thing there, perhaps due to an abundance of other library news including Libraries adapt to help the unemployed and In Recession, Libraries are booming.

It was noted in hushed tones on the American Libraries blog where an April 19th post referred to “Two great pieces of writing from [privacy blogger] Fred Stutzman on the Twitter/Library of Congress deal” but did not link to them directly. I came upon them further downstream. In Twitter and the Library of Congress and Is it time to cancel your Twitter account? Stutzman seemed unimpressed with librarians’ stewardship and foresight. He writes in the first post: “Is the collection so important that it is worth compromising user privacy? I’ve got a feeling that there are certain assumptions around “public” content and the feel-good vibe of the Library of Congress that led to a lack of critical thinking about the implications of this move.” and notes the cluelessness of Martha Anderson, Director of Program Management for the LoC’s Digital Preservation Program in his second by quoting her interview with The American Prospect. Though Anderson did not know the specifics of whether users would be able to “opt-out” of having their tweets permanently archived, her general thoughts on libraries’ archival of web content seemed quite revealing:

And I think personally, this is me, don’t quote me as saying this from the library, as librarians we need to think more about our relationships to content creators, content-generating activities, in a way we used to think about things with publishers — we would get a relationship to a publisher through copyright, or that sort of thing. Now, the information base is different, and we really need to work on those kinds of relationships.

The beat of library drums in AL Direct guided me to my destination. How oddly comforting these scattered rumblings were. They dulled my senses and my mind relaxed — and then it appeared, the 76th item of 91 in the April 21st edition, well below the 2010 WrestleMania Reading Challenge and somewhat below Cookbook in hot water over typo about an unfortunate misprint in an Australian pasta cookbook; a thoughtful musing on this bizarre story: What we might learn from mundane details.

Remember libraries … from an ecological point of view, [that's] the virtuous way to go.

Daniel Goleman, author of Ecological Intelligence: The Hidden Impacts of What We Buy, during a recent interview with public radio’s Tom Ashbrook.

By way of introducing Life Cycle Assessment, a cradle-to-grave methodology for evaluating environmental impact, Goleman refuted the widely accepted notion that eReaders are more eco-friendly than books. Click to Listen.

If I were a library leader, I’d embrace environmentalism as a way to improve operations, provide vital information to constituents and set an example for the communities we serve. Here are some of the things I’d do:

1. Educate myself; there’s lots of bogus information out there.
2. Perform life cycle assessments on library operations and publish the findings on the website. Invite comments and questions to spur community involvement and resource sharing.
3. Establish a fundraising program through Gazelle, a firm started by a former eBay founder to recycle electronics. Most folks want to get rid of old stuff, help the environment and support their library without paying additional taxes. They’re also looking for convenience. Gazelle delivers all these things.

LCA graphic adapted from a Proctor & Gamble illustration.

This was news to me; my how the educational product companies and toy manufacturers had shaped my understanding! I also hadn’t thought of toddler programs as educational initiatives. When I’ve seen adults and toddlers together at the library, I’ve usually thought “oh, aren’t those kids adorable” and “I’m glad people are getting together to have fun“. Though it now seems obvious, the educational and literacy component of Lapsit was lost on me.

This last point was intriguing, so I did some quick research. I googled “Lapsit” and got plenty of results from library websites around the country. I clicked through to the top 20 (all different libraries, by chance) and searched for the terms literacy and education in the page content, in images or as part of the navigation.

• 80% made no mention of literacy or education in conjunction with Lapsit
• 20% contained the term literacy
• 10% contained the terms literacy and education

Clearly these stats don’t tell the whole story, but they tell a good one about the help libraries need presenting information to the public.

Last month, library consultant Larry T. Nix (a.k.a. The Library History Buff) wrote about libraries’ success with early education programs in Little Kids and Public Libraries.

The science behind the importance of learning in children ages birth to three is overwhelming. Public libraries have proven they can implement excellent programs to serve this age group. The public education community is struggling to implement four year old kindergarten much less provide programs for this age group. There is a tremendous opportunity for public libraries to take ownership of learning in the most important years of a child’s life.

Why are public library administrators not recognizing and seizing on this opportunity. Why can’t we come up with major national and state funding programs to help public libraries take a major leadership role in this area?

This info ties into recent thoughts I’ve shared about running libraries like a business and getting behind an organization like a National Public Library Corporation.

Businesses know they need to be the top provider in at least one thing and runner up in one or two others to remain viable. Arguably, the same is true for libraries now that people have so many information and entertainment options. Early childhood education seems to be one area where libraries can emerge as an acknowledged leader. They’ll need help though — and focused efforts could go a long way in a more effectively structured system. For example, a comprehensive program kit on Lapsit could be used by thousands of libraries throughout the country. And if data systems were more uniform and better connected, electronic communication of program and training materials, administration and other functions would be unbelievably extensible. Just a click away, in fact.

The need to resource our public libraries more effectively is right in front us — as are good organizational, funding and technological models. The potential impact of doing so, through programs in early childhood learning (as just one example), is enormous.

Larry Nix is right about the value of a national and state funding program, however its impact would be mitigated if the funds were dispersed within our existing library structures.  Injecting funds for these types of programs into the system would only perpetuate its deficiencies based on what we’ve seen with a $350,000 library grant on digital privacy and a new $750,000 literacy grant. We need a new organization to solicit and wisely use funding for broad library initiatives and information infrastructure.

I’ve proposed an addition to the library ecosystem in the form of a National Public Library Corporation, similar to NPR or PBS. The National Public Library Corporation would be an additional resource to provide top-notch data systems, content, training and fund-raising support. Libraries would remain independent and locally governed and their association with the NPL would be voluntary. This idea would provide shared resources where it makes sense and preserve autonomy to nurture the authenticity and personalization community libraries currently provide. Because it’s an additive approach, there’s nothing to lose here that won’t be lost anyway if we leave things as they are. And there’s worlds to gain.

Discovery, doing research, gathering and interpreting results, that’s the very nature of being a scientist. There are people whose main focus is talking about science, but we have different names for them — teachers, journalists, editors, and publishers. Talking about science, communicating experimental results, teaching scientific concepts, and reaching out to educate non-scientists are incredibly valuable practices. Communication is an important part of being a scientist. It is not, however, the top priority for most.

Every second spent blogging, chatting on FriendFeed, or leaving comments on a PLoS paper is a second taken away from other activities.

Remember that social media shares a lot in common with pyramid schemes. Pyramid schemes and social networks work better with more participants. If you’re involved in a pyramid scheme or a social network, it’s in your best interest to recruit others to join in. So there’s a nearly constant barrage of exhortations to participate, including unrealistic promises of future rewards.

Blogging tends to attract those with a strong interest in communication, writing, and teaching, along with activists who are championing a personal cause … What you see online reflects this small portion of scientists and may not be all that relevant to the greater community as a whole.

Science blogging is a tremendously insular world, and frequently an inwardly-gazing one. It’s often noted that the most common topic covered by science blogs is science blogging.

David does not suggest abandoning Web 2.0 technologies despite his reservations. Instead, he proposes a division of labor whereby scientists focus on doing science and others (publishers, journalists, etc.) focus on promoting their work. Interestingly, this web 2.0 communication prompted a robust, multi-level discussion on the topic, an irony that I’m sure did not escape the author.

My takeaways…

• Libraries are not the only enterprises distracted by Web 2.0 technologies.
• An important aspect of this “do or die decade for public libraries” is putting technology in its place.
• David’s recommendation for science is a good strategy for public libraries. Who would we enlist to discuss, analyze and promote the deep work of public libraries and what would they say?

Updated 3/8/2010: David extended his coverage with Science Blogging as a Public Outreach Tool — Unfulfilled Potential or Unrealistic Expectation?

The announcement directs libraries to apply at www.americandreamtoolkit.org. AmericanDreamToolkit is another awful ALA website — no surprise there. But to add insult to injury, the links in the announcement return a 404 error.

This is an absolute disgrace. It’s really hard to take an industry seriously that still struggles in 2010 to create a valid webpage hyperlink.