Day 3 Session 4: Teens: Cool Cases
Brian Pichman, Co-Founder, Evolve Project
PC Sweeney
Dave Hesse, Director of Digital Innovation Department, Evolve Project
Nico Piro, Young Adult Librarian, Arlington Public Library
Patricia Loverich, Youth Services Technology Librarian, Arlington Public Library
Day 3 Session 3: Encouraging Reading in New Ways
Tim Spalding, CEO LibraryThing
Aaron Stanton, CEO Booklamp & the Book Genome Project
Day 3 Session 2: Becoming Tech Central
Cleveland Public Library
Conference slideshows at:
http://www.infotoday.com/CIL2013/Presentations.asp
Cleveland Library Tech Central
Opened in 2012
Grew out of Innovation Teams – each team given 6 weeks to imagine new library spaces to go along with redesign of Cleveland downtown area
Old design:
- 60 public computers in 2 buildings
- 9 computer locations
- 2 signup stations
Not flexible, efficient, interesting, or friendly
Need to consolidate, strong desire to inspire
New design:
- Highly flexible space
- digital projected singage
- mascot on signage
- 7K square feet space
- mobile furniture
- 5 zones – learn (informal and formal instruction), play (try new gadgets, makerspace, 3D printers), connect (space to plug in, close to help if they need it), create (public computers both Mac & PC, Linux, etc), get things done
More than 1/3 of people through the library front door visit Tech Central
What Do They Have?
Tech Toy Box – device lending program, device tryout display
Tech Tool Box – Bought one copy of each device for staff to check out & learn
Problem: eventually all devices went missing
Tech Toy Box 2.0 – decided to implement more safety measures (passive security plates, contract with patron signing out device)
Problem: devices with Internet access still went missing
Tech Toy Box 3.0 – under development
myCloud – personalized virtual desktop that allows users to save infor & access at later time – required 1 hour orientation for users (mechanics, legality of activity, etc) – loaded onto laptop with 3 hour checkout – laptops stop working if device leaves library campus
3D printer service - patrons drop off model program, library staff puts into queue & prints out for patron (2-3 days to 2-3 weeks, depending on size of queue), charge by the gram – encourage patrons to use Thingiverse for ready-to-print model schematics before trying to use Sketchup
Maker Kits – K’Nex kit, SnapCircuits kit, LittleBits kits, monotrons kits – patrons can check out kits to experiment with creativity & building things
Makerlabs – 1-1.5 hours – specific targeted process/project (custom 3D cookie cutters from cookiecaster.com) that is taught by staff & gives patron an object they can take home – patrons tend to help each other with learning process – video slideshow, digital kaleidoscope abstract art, fontmaking lab
Digital graffiti wall - laptop + projector + webcam + laser pointer + LaserTag 2.0 program (http://tinyurl.com/tagcil)
Cleveland Mini Maker Faire – 4/13/2013
What’s Next?
Tech Toy Box 3.0 – 3 hour in-house-use devices + tiered at-home checkouts
Electronics Soldering Lab – this summer
Create Space - expand & create dedicated space for makerlabs
Spread Tech Central to other branches
Day 3 Session 1: IT & Libraries
“A study on the relationships between public libraries and cities and the delivery of technology-driven services.”
Dr. Cheryl Stenstrom
Ken Roberts, President Ken Roberts Library Consulting
Conference slideshows at:
http://www.infotoday.com/CIL2013/Presentations.asp
Methodology:
35 urban libraries in Canada
Canadian Urban Libraries Council (culc.ca)
- 2 surveys (library IT managers and Library CEOs) – 89% response rate
- followup questions based on survey results
- 4 case studies
- cross checks – presentation/functionality/usability of websites
Background:
cities looking for efficiency
financially efficient to merge IT-related services when duplication is present
perceived duplication between city and library IT
More financially efficient to merge library & city IT?
Literature Review:
Local gov. agencies seek collaborative agreements:
- to make better use of resources
- to satisfy norms and values
- to obtain political advantage
No literature existed on financial efficiency/desirability of merging library & city IT
Findings – Library Mangers
- Library systems that control their own website are likely to have a site that scores well when evaluated for presentation, functionality, and usability
- Public libraries that control their own bandwidth appear more likely to have implemented wifi services earlier and are more likely to be satisfied with their bandwidth
- public library systems that control their own core IT infrastructure are more likely to have installed RFID technology
Additional Findings
- when a municipality manages most aspects of library system, there is little or no impact on system’s ability to implement third party services that require little or technical support for implementation or operation
- libraries where city makes such decisions are as likely to have virtualized their servers as libraries which manage these processes
- no difference in refresh cycle for computer or software licenses
- cities receive high praise for managing email and telecom
Case Study #1 – High Integration/Low Confidence
- city runs IT & library isn’t happy
- city didn’t “get” technology
- city didn’t “get” library needs
Case Study #2 – High Integration/High Confidence
- city runs IT & library is happy
- library very satisfied with service/bandwidth/refresh cycle
- Library CEO part of city admin team
- dedicated IT person for library needs
Case Study #3 – Low Integration/Low Confidence
- library runs own IT & isn’t happy
- public service staff not accepting implications of tech change
- wants city to take more support IT functions
Case Study #4 – Low Integration/High Confidence
- library runs IT & is happy
- looking to reinvent internal services
- looking to contract out some services to third-party organization
Case Findings
- difficulties & successes across all models
- little concern about quality of work performed
- concerned about lack of response, lack of flexibility in response/implementation time, projects assigned lower priorities
- lack of understanding of library needs
Other Considerations
- computer specifications
- educational discounts
- financial savings/More’s Law
- unique needs of libraries
Summary
Libraries with low integration are more likely to have
- installed RFID
- renewed their web presence
- implemented wifi earlier
- have w website that scores highly
Additional Study coming -
- How are the public using library computers?
- How might the public want to use library computers?
- Do city IT managers want to manage unique library services?
Day 3 Keynote Speech
“Uncertainty & Imagination: Evolving Libraries Through Technology”
Daniel Rasmus, author of Managing by Design and Listening to the Future
Due to Metro delays, I did not attend this keynote. Below are links to other attendees’ notes.
Conference slideshows at:
http://www.infotoday.com/CIL2013/Presentations.asp
Day 2 Session 2: Build-a-Book Workshop
Build-a-Book Workshops : Making our own eBooks
Douglas Ulmann
William Penn Charter School, PA
Conference slideshows at:
http://www.infotoday.com/CIL2013/Presentations.asp
eBooks Issues:
- B&N and the Nook
- libraries and eBooks costs, access, readers
- DRM and “ownership” issues
- etextbooks
- content versus device
Example project : http://www.chemistryisneat.com – “Chemistry is Neat” etextbook
- modular
- teacher produced, student used
- highly interactive
libraries among first institutions to digitize content
Starter tools and techniques- iBooks Author – has templates, easier to learn than Adobe, fairly simple to use HOWEVER it is proprietary (reader, platform, and distribution network)
- Adobe Master Collection – “not for the faint of heart” – steep learning curve, expensive, requires above average computer
- PAGES – available for Mac and iPad, Mac version more fully enabled, Mac version can output PDF and ePub (iPad = PDF only)
- Book Creator for iPad ($5 app) – quick projects, images BUT no spell check, no multimedia, can’t easily integrate footnotes
- OpenOffice – export to PDF within the program
Consider which formats are best for your users – there are more than a dozen formats (PDF, ePUB, Mobi, Kindle, etc.)
Hardware and Peripherals- Scanners
- Digital cameras
- Screen capture
- Drawing tablet
- IRIScan mouse – PC only
- FlipPal mobile scanner
Readers should be aware of the content, not the container.
What will your ebook do?
- 1.0 – linear, reproduce traditional books
- 2.0 – dynamic interactive content: text to speech, online quizzes, color images, animations, AV components, highlight, notetaking, search, links to Internet sources, immediate feedback methods
- test in all envrionments of intended use
- different platforms
- different browsers
- try with patrons to see what they see
Set realistic goals
Get user-end feedback!
Recommended Book: APE - Guy Kawasaki
Day 2 Keynote Speech : Notes from Others
Libraries as Community Revitalizers
Storm Cunningham, CEO Recitizen L3C and author of ReCivilizing
Notes:
http://billdrewlibrarian.wordpress.com/2013/04/09/libraries-as-community-revitalizers-cil2013/
http://nicbits.blogspot.com/2013/04/cil-libraries-as-community-revitalizers.html
Conference slideshows at:
http://www.infotoday.com/CIL2013/Presentations.asp
Day 2 Session 1: The Ideal User Experience
Kelly Coulter
Virtual Services Manager, Richland Library Columbia, SC
Library:
http://www.richlandlibrary.com/
Presi: http://tinyurl.com/idealUX
Conference slideshows at:
http://www.infotoday.com/CIL2013/Presentations.asp
3 Goals
- Allow customers to complete transactions with maximum efficiency, and without leaving the website
- help customers quickly and easily find the service they are looking for
- provide useful and usable information and resources
Contributive content – enabling staff to add content to the website
Subscription services
- ebooks
- audiobooks
- eMagazines
- databases
problem: all these services take customers to a third party website away from the library site
ILS Related services
- discovery
- holds/lists/cards
- account management
Organization Specific Info
- what do customers want from your site?
- what does staff want from your site?
- what do you want from your site?
Customers want: catalog, hours, free things, new things, maps
Customers don’t want: fluff, jargon, library speak
Staff wants: exposure for their initiatives, way to contribute information (book reviews, lists, etc), reduce duplication of effort
Help the customer get all they can
Obstacles:
- separate services confuse customers
- organizational boundaries
- lack of focus/prioritization
Is your website actually broken?
-> Customers do not mentally separate the library website from providers/third party services
separate user interfaces are confusing – consider making different logos/branding for each service rather than making it look just like your own site (if you have no control over the content, don’t make it easy to take the blame if something goes wrong)
-> no opportunity to market to customers with third-party apps/services
*Responsive design – site looks different on tablet, mobile phone, etc
–> WordPress has “Responsive” template that does this automatically
Website should be an extension of what the library is already doing & building – creating relationships
- virtual reference
- custom content
- ask a librarian
- reader’s advisory
At the end of the day, the ideal user experience is one location, one login, indexed by search engines, under one URL without subdomains, under the control of the library
Suggestions for how to get there:
Only work with providers who are committed to providing comprehensive API
empower staff to build relationships online
- creating copy and content
- sharing ideas
- virtual reference
- social media sharing
support initiatives like Readers First that encourage vendors to adhere to a standard for openness
Day 1 Session 2: Seven Deadly Sins of Websites
Casey Schacher, Paige Mano, Tony Aponte
Presentation: http://tinyurl.com/librarysins
Conference slideshows at:
http://www.infotoday.com/CIL2013/Presentations.asp
- Not accessible (Section 508 of Rehabilitation Act)
- Avoid unexplained library jargon
- Better, consistent formatting.
- Visual consistency. Colors, content and fonts should be consistent across all pages. Images should be consistently placed from page to page.
- Organize information clearly.
- Levels of Importance on plage. ex: Converse County Library
- Avoid cluttered displays
How can sites get better?
- attend professional conferences
- webinars
- WebJunction to help brush up on skills
- Hire the right technology people. Do they have html skills?
