Surveys. Focus groups. Interviews. Evaluations.
What do they all have in common? You do them in the library with people who are already in the library. So that's helping us? With what - organizing the library the way those 10 or 20 people would like it?
Why aren't we out in the student union, asking people what they think? Why don't we have librarians in the union, anyway? Isn't our mission to get info to students where they are? You can bet they're not in the library, unless it's to get coffee.
Why should they be? We code it with weird signs - A-F on the right, xA-xF on the left - and don't give them a code book. That's helpful? Don't we know English? Or Spanish, or...any language other than Librarian Code? NW Core is a location? Do we carry compasses in the library? How about a map? I remember a student who thought that ILL and Circulation were signs for nurses offices...and there was no live person around to disabuse him of the idea.
When I was an undergrad, long before I thought about being a librarian, people used to come up to me in the stacks and ask me questions about locating things, since I seemed to be finding stuff. Reshelvers seem to get the same thing. Why? Are there librarians in the stacks somewhere? Or are they all on the first floor, waiting for people to come to them?
Why aren't we advertising to the students who aren't here, or taling to the ones who are? That's another thing we can learn from bookstores.
Besides serving coffee.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Our new site
While I'll continue to post here, our new business website at masterplansinc.com will be taking a lot of my time. It will have a link to a rolling list of CFPs, conferences, and training opportunities, and to a list of resources for libraries and archives. With CoOL on hiatus, bookmark us to keep track of preservation resources.
Our first online class will go up in a few weeks; if you need a class, let us know and we'll work with you. Since we're in Louisville, with a flood this month, and a hurricane, an earthquake, and an icestorm in the last 15 months, needless to say it will be about disaster planning and recovery!
Our first online class will go up in a few weeks; if you need a class, let us know and we'll work with you. Since we're in Louisville, with a flood this month, and a hurricane, an earthquake, and an icestorm in the last 15 months, needless to say it will be about disaster planning and recovery!
Sunday, August 16, 2009
New blog with grants and training opportunities
We've set up a new blog in conjunction with our consulting business, Master Plans Inc. It will have grant announcements, webinars and workshops, and scholarships for them. Put it on your reader and let us do the work!
http://masterplansinc.blogspot.com/
http://masterplansinc.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Flooding in Louisville
Rain in August is usually not a problem here; in fact, the lack is usually the issue. But in the last 18 months, there's been an earthquake (while I was presenting at MAC about disasters!), a hurricane, an ice storm, and a July without a single 90 degree day, none of which are typical.
Unlike most floods, the waters didn't rise, we had 5" of rain in an hour (a record, with more rain following), and nowhere for it to go but downhill, which is where the main library is. Luckily, the 'ville is big enough to have branches, so it's not a complete loss, nor did the water reach the first floor. It did take out processing, the server, and the bookmobiles, plus books and pcs headed to the new branch which opens next week.
Lessons learned:
Always have a hot server, even if it just backs up the home page with an announcement. Keep your server at one of the higher branches, not in the basement of the library that's flooded before.
Have your ducks in a row before you need them. 20 buildings at U of L flooded, plus homes and businesses - fans and pumps are at a premium.
Avoid combined waste and storm sewer systems. Nuff said. Yuck.
Don't put your hvac in the basement. Imagine 4 floors of books, 95 degrees, 95% humidity outside, and 100% inside, with no hvac. My hopes for recovery are low, unfortunately; and insurance is slow.
Don't ever assume it can't happen here. It can.
Unlike most floods, the waters didn't rise, we had 5" of rain in an hour (a record, with more rain following), and nowhere for it to go but downhill, which is where the main library is. Luckily, the 'ville is big enough to have branches, so it's not a complete loss, nor did the water reach the first floor. It did take out processing, the server, and the bookmobiles, plus books and pcs headed to the new branch which opens next week.
Lessons learned:
Always have a hot server, even if it just backs up the home page with an announcement. Keep your server at one of the higher branches, not in the basement of the library that's flooded before.
Have your ducks in a row before you need them. 20 buildings at U of L flooded, plus homes and businesses - fans and pumps are at a premium.
Avoid combined waste and storm sewer systems. Nuff said. Yuck.
Don't put your hvac in the basement. Imagine 4 floors of books, 95 degrees, 95% humidity outside, and 100% inside, with no hvac. My hopes for recovery are low, unfortunately; and insurance is slow.
Don't ever assume it can't happen here. It can.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Good Enough!
I admit it, I do have enough of the librarian gene to want everything perfect - but not enough to insist on it. In a perfect world, collections would overflow with metadata, everything would be available 24/7, librarians would be rich, archivists would be regarded as gods, and cats would never hack hairballs in dark doorways for their nearsighted owners to find in the middle of the night.
So much for Eden.
I didn't start out to be a librarian, my "day job" degree was in education so I'd have a fallback when I was in theater. Technical theater teaches you everything you REALLY need to know to work in a library. People skills and management skills. The importance of workflow. Pitching in when things get down to the wire. Sharing what you know. Keeping good records. And most importantly - when to say "good enough".
When is it okay to let someone go onstage with a stapled hem? When the alternative is canceling the show. Good enough. You can finish it tomorrow, or the next day. It's not important enough to stop everything you've worked for so long. It's good enough.
Librarians haven't gotten hit over the head as hard as archivists have with "More Product, Less Process". But they will - actually, ARL just did a webcast on it - apparently the "Hidden Collections" initiative didn't light the fire they wanted. Google Books certainly has lit it. "Silos of the LAMS" fanned the flames.
When LC and NARA started posting things on Flickr and You Tube, people started to get the idea. You don't need to know everything about something to make it public. Finally. Duh. Don't put your good stuff in a box and then chain a pit bull to it, and whine when people refer to you as "dusty old archives". You've never let people in to look.
Yes, I know exactly how precious those unique items are. Digitize them and no one will have to travel a thousand miles and handle them. Your bosses will know what cool stuff you have. People will stop them on the street and tell them. When was the last time that happened to you?
It's the WORLD WIDE web - let your collections out. Stop protecting your turf, for fear of having to learn yet another new thing. Don't fear the reaper - or the harvester. I know all the arguments about income control, identity, and copyright. Deal with it.
Thus endeth the lesson. We're in the midst of the biggest intellectual revolution since Gutenberg said "Hmm...what if...?" Be part of it. Fight for it.
Oh, brave new world!
So much for Eden.
I didn't start out to be a librarian, my "day job" degree was in education so I'd have a fallback when I was in theater. Technical theater teaches you everything you REALLY need to know to work in a library. People skills and management skills. The importance of workflow. Pitching in when things get down to the wire. Sharing what you know. Keeping good records. And most importantly - when to say "good enough".
When is it okay to let someone go onstage with a stapled hem? When the alternative is canceling the show. Good enough. You can finish it tomorrow, or the next day. It's not important enough to stop everything you've worked for so long. It's good enough.
Librarians haven't gotten hit over the head as hard as archivists have with "More Product, Less Process". But they will - actually, ARL just did a webcast on it - apparently the "Hidden Collections" initiative didn't light the fire they wanted. Google Books certainly has lit it. "Silos of the LAMS" fanned the flames.
When LC and NARA started posting things on Flickr and You Tube, people started to get the idea. You don't need to know everything about something to make it public. Finally. Duh. Don't put your good stuff in a box and then chain a pit bull to it, and whine when people refer to you as "dusty old archives". You've never let people in to look.
Yes, I know exactly how precious those unique items are. Digitize them and no one will have to travel a thousand miles and handle them. Your bosses will know what cool stuff you have. People will stop them on the street and tell them. When was the last time that happened to you?
It's the WORLD WIDE web - let your collections out. Stop protecting your turf, for fear of having to learn yet another new thing. Don't fear the reaper - or the harvester. I know all the arguments about income control, identity, and copyright. Deal with it.
Thus endeth the lesson. We're in the midst of the biggest intellectual revolution since Gutenberg said "Hmm...what if...?" Be part of it. Fight for it.
Oh, brave new world!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Call for Chapters: Reference in the Modern World(s)
It's been a while since I've posted - an icestorm, a week in winter without power, a third cat, getting a grant to research Ky women artists, a new job, starting a new business, and joining a writing workshop to get serious about it.
So look in the nearish future for at least a website on women artists, a chapter in a forthcoming book on archival PR, and I'm editing a book on modern reference (see below). Drop me a line at Susan.knoer@gmail.com if you're interested. The deadline is short so we can get it to press before it's no longer modern!
Reference has gotten more complicated in recent years, with the plethora of materials online and in paper, more ways to ask questions and deliver answers, a larger multicultural public, and interdisciplinary subjects. All this is complicated by declining budgets as usage increases.
This is a call for chapters for a new book that covers these issues and more, for public and academic libraries. New authors as well as experienced authors are welcome. Chapters can be co-written. The deadlines are short to get it to press while still timely; a letter of commitment is needed by June 1, with a brief abstract or outline of topics and a short CV. Please feel free to ask questions!
Working title:
Reference in the Modern World(s)
Topics:
Length - 3,000 - 5,000 words (negotiable)
Bibliography is required
Reference for the unattached - freelancers, distance students, entrepeneurs, home schoolers, military, self-employed
Business and academic support in the library, and vice versa
Balancing online and onshelf - budgeting for both, balancing services, training staff and patrons
Changing where we work - roving, virtual, embedded, and co-operative
Changing how we work - FAQs, websites, metadata, wikis, and knowledge management
Changing who does the work - staff and paraprofessionals, training, outsourcing
Specialists and generalists - new breeds and hybrids
Teaching your library - instruction, orientation, and learning commons
Images and media - reference when it's not written
Multicultural and multilingual - same skills, different outlooks
Special collections - getting patrons to the good stuff
Geneology, rare books, archives, manuscripts, local history
More topics are welcome, please feel free to contact me.
Schedule:
Letters of commitment due June 1
First draft due week of August 2
Edited drafts returned week of August 30
Final draft due week of November 1
Audience:
Adult reference librarians in public and academic libraries, and LIS students.
Editor : Susan Knoer, MLS
susan.knoer@gmail.com
So look in the nearish future for at least a website on women artists, a chapter in a forthcoming book on archival PR, and I'm editing a book on modern reference (see below). Drop me a line at Susan.knoer@gmail.com if you're interested. The deadline is short so we can get it to press before it's no longer modern!
Reference has gotten more complicated in recent years, with the plethora of materials online and in paper, more ways to ask questions and deliver answers, a larger multicultural public, and interdisciplinary subjects. All this is complicated by declining budgets as usage increases.
This is a call for chapters for a new book that covers these issues and more, for public and academic libraries. New authors as well as experienced authors are welcome. Chapters can be co-written. The deadlines are short to get it to press while still timely; a letter of commitment is needed by June 1, with a brief abstract or outline of topics and a short CV. Please feel free to ask questions!
Working title:
Reference in the Modern World(s)
Topics:
Length - 3,000 - 5,000 words (negotiable)
Bibliography is required
Reference for the unattached - freelancers, distance students, entrepeneurs, home schoolers, military, self-employed
Business and academic support in the library, and vice versa
Balancing online and onshelf - budgeting for both, balancing services, training staff and patrons
Changing where we work - roving, virtual, embedded, and co-operative
Changing how we work - FAQs, websites, metadata, wikis, and knowledge management
Changing who does the work - staff and paraprofessionals, training, outsourcing
Specialists and generalists - new breeds and hybrids
Teaching your library - instruction, orientation, and learning commons
Images and media - reference when it's not written
Multicultural and multilingual - same skills, different outlooks
Special collections - getting patrons to the good stuff
Geneology, rare books, archives, manuscripts, local history
More topics are welcome, please feel free to contact me.
Schedule:
Letters of commitment due June 1
First draft due week of August 2
Edited drafts returned week of August 30
Final draft due week of November 1
Audience:
Adult reference librarians in public and academic libraries, and LIS students.
Editor : Susan Knoer, MLS
susan.knoer@gmail.com
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Datamining your mind
Did you notice that you can now vote for or remove search results in Google? Maybe not, they're grayed out boxes next to the results. At this point, it only affects your results - but such potential in bulk!
If you've ever searched for Kentucky artists (and I have lately, for a grant), did you really want ALL the tattoo artists in the state? Change it to Kentucky Art and you get lots of names. I can now remove them from my results, or promote the really good sites.
Handy. Definitely.
What's really exciting is what (I imagine, but the Google Guys are no dummies) is going on behind the scenes. By associating the terms I'm using what I'm doing with the results, I'm in effect voting on the semantics, separating the types of art. For now, it's just mine, but multiply by millions and you may, fairly soon, be able to search character and get results clustered by typographic, moral, and cartoon even when those terms aren't used in a page.
An enormous semantic thesaurus, using current terms that we really use and not LC faceted terms from the 50s or 60s. The ultimate (for now) use of the hive mind, without the hive realizing it, not unlike the SETI screensaver that ran int he background analyzing data.
Think of groupsourcing as distributed computing. Not all the results are gold, but like ReCaptcha, the cumulative results are good. And good is good enough, right?
If you've ever searched for Kentucky artists (and I have lately, for a grant), did you really want ALL the tattoo artists in the state? Change it to Kentucky Art and you get lots of names. I can now remove them from my results, or promote the really good sites.
Handy. Definitely.
What's really exciting is what (I imagine, but the Google Guys are no dummies) is going on behind the scenes. By associating the terms I'm using what I'm doing with the results, I'm in effect voting on the semantics, separating the types of art. For now, it's just mine, but multiply by millions and you may, fairly soon, be able to search character and get results clustered by typographic, moral, and cartoon even when those terms aren't used in a page.
An enormous semantic thesaurus, using current terms that we really use and not LC faceted terms from the 50s or 60s. The ultimate (for now) use of the hive mind, without the hive realizing it, not unlike the SETI screensaver that ran int he background analyzing data.
Think of groupsourcing as distributed computing. Not all the results are gold, but like ReCaptcha, the cumulative results are good. And good is good enough, right?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)