An Oy Vay of a day

Well . . . I drove to work in the storm that was hitting the northeast, went to get out of my car and it was like someone had dumped a bucket of water on me it was raining so hard, the campus mall was covered in deep puddles (drainage is, how should I put this, about as robust as an ‘old grey mare’), one of those puddles was in front of the library entrance ramp so I had no choice but to walk through it (we need a boat), so I spent the morning with my shoes off while my socks and pant legs dried, the library had leaks all over the place (one seems to be following the microfiche cabinets around-every time we move them a leak appears near by), I had to break my vow not to go outside until it was time to go home in order to ship a UPS overnight package to another library, I opened all my unopened overdue notices from the entire semester and have been sorting through them (I hate having to leave these until people are calling me about overdue books and I’m jealous of other libraries that have the time to do that, I wish I did), I filled in for a colleague’s reference shift because her daughter’s school was cancelled today, am reading Fundamentals of collection development and management and just finished the section on ‘Skills and Competencies’ and am feeling horribly inadequate in my CD abilities (to the point where I want to crawl under a rock for fear someone will find me out . . . oh wait . . .), and finally discovered that my new debit card pin number got screwed up and I cannot get access to cash in order to tip my stylist tonight . . . needless say, Oy Vay doesn’t exactly sum up how I am feeling right now . . . a few four letter words come to mind instead . . .

Article Series (6): How is your writing ability?

“Most people who bother with the matter at all would admit that the English language is in a bad way, but it is generally assumed that we cannot by conscious action do anything about it.  Our civilization is decadent and our language–so the argument runs–much inevitably share in the general collapse.  It follows that any struggle against the abuse of language is a sentimental archaism, like preferring candles to electric light or hansom cabs to aeroplanes.  Underneath this lies the half-conscious belief that language is a natural growth and not an instrument which we shape for our own purposes.” (77)

This is how George Orwell’s essay titled “Politics and the English Language” begins.  It can be found in his collection of essays Shooting an Elephant New York: Harcourt, Brace & World (1950), 77-92.  Now, while this essay is a commentary on political writing it is also packed full of great writing advice.  I originally came across it through a series of emails that were circulating on campus amongst the faculty and one suggested that we should all go back and review this essay.  Seeing as I had never read it I decided to give it a try. 

Near the beginning of the essay, Orwell gives five examples of poor political writing, which he later comments on in detail, but all have two common qualities: “staleness of imagery” and “lack of precision”.  He then goes on to illustrate the ways that prose-construction is avoided:

• “Dying metaphors.  A newly invented metaphor assists thought by evoking a visual image, while on the other hand a metaphor which is technically ‘dead’ . . . has in effect reverted to being an ordinary word and can generally be used without loss of vividness.  But in between these two classes there is a huge dump of worn-out metaphors which have lost all evocative power and are merely used because they save people the trouble of inventing phrases for themselves.” (80)
• “Operators or verbal false limbs.  These save the trouble of picking out appropriate verbs and nouns, and at the same time pad each sentence with extra syllables which give it an appearance of symmetry.” (80)
• “Pretentious diction . . . [results in] an increase in slovenliness and vagueness.” (81-2)
• “Meaningless words.“ (82)  Orwell describes this best, but I think the phrase is descriptive itself. 

Honestly, I recommend you take the time to read this essay.  It is a quick read and full of constructive advice.

“As I have tried to show, modern writing at its worst does not consist in picking out words for the sake of their meaning and inventing images in order to make their meaning clearer.  It consists of gumming together long strips of words which have already been set in order by someone else, and making the results presentable by sheer humbug.  The attraction of this way of writing is that it is easy.  It is easier–even quicker, once you have the habit–to say In my opinion it is not an unjustifiable assumption that than to say I think.” (85)

I love his sarcasm here:

“By using stale metaphors, similes and idioms, you save much mental effort, at the cost of leaving your meaning vague, not only for your reader but for yourself.” (85-6)

He quickly moves to further advice:

“A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions, thus:  What am I trying to say?  What words will express it?  What image or idiom will make it clearer?  Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?  And he will probably ask himself two more: Could I put it more shortly?  Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?  But you are not obliged to go to all this trouble.  You can shirk it by simply throwing your mind open and letting the ready-made phrases come crowding in.” (86-7)

As he gets further into his commentary about political writing, Orwell does not hide his opinion:

“The great enemy of clear language is insincerity.  When there is a gap between one’s real and one’s declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink.” (88-9) 

Are you a cuttlefish?

And, predictably, the author admits he has probably committed many of these offenses himself. (89) He is in part, like others, influenced by his environment.

“But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.  A bad usage can spread by tradition and imitation, even among people who should and do know better.” (89)

As he nears the end of the essay, Orwell makes several more writing recommendations and then clearly maps out six rules to follow when logical instinct fails in the writing process:

“(i)  Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.

(ii)  Never use a long word where a short one will do.

(iii)  If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

(iv)  Never use the passive where you can use the active.

(v)  Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

(vi)  Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

These rules sound elementary, and so they are, but they demand a deep change of attitude in anyone who has grown used to writing in the style  now fashionable.  One could keep all of them and still write bad English, but one could not write the kind of stuff that I quoted in those five specimens at the beginning of this article.” (91-2)

So, how are you doing with your writing?  Well, I certainly have a lot of room for improvement.  In a time where self-publishing is so easy, I think we should make a conscious effort to review and revise what we publish on a regular basis.  Well, at lease I should.  Wish me luck!  And go read Orwell’s essay.

Article Series (5): Oh Bartleby! Do you know someone like him?

Melville, Herman.  (1962).  ”Bartleby The Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street.”  Three Shorter Novels of Herman Melville.  New York: Harper.  109-155.

***This is the copy I happened to find and read.  This has been published by a variety of different publishers over the years in various collections, etc.***

This post is more of a philosophical one than just a review of something I read.  It is really ‘food for thought’ at best.

On the morning of September 29th, I heard a piece on NPR, while driving to work.  Richard Russo was being interviewed about some of the books he likes to read.  Here is the link to the accompanying article.  Mr. Russo  spoke about loathing the idea of working in an office, but he loves reading stories that are set in offices.  Of the several books he recommended, the last was Bartleby The Scrivener by Herman Melville.  The recommendation intrigued me because he said the following:

“The question becomes: What happens in an office when you have an individual who would prefer not to? What if there isn’t, really, a shared sense of purpose?”

The narrator, who is Bartleby’s boss, had offices in Manhattan and practiced law.  Naturally he employed law-copyists.  He was not unfamiliar with the eccentricities of employees.  But, Bartleby left him perplexed with how to deal with him through to the end of the story.  As the narrator’s business improved he had more work to do and so employed Bartleby.  At the start, Bartleby was a quiet, hard worker.  And throughout the story he remained quite passive (some may say passive aggressive) and said very little.  Problems arose when Bartleby was asked to do things beyond sitting at his desk and copying documents.  His standard response to requests such as comparing copies, summoning someone from the next room, or doing general office tasks was “I would prefer not to.”  When pressed, Bartleby typically would repeat is original response.  The narrator found this disconcerting from the start:

“Nothing so aggravates an earnest person as a passive resistance.  If the individual so resisted be of not inhumane temper, and the resisting one perfectly harmless in his passivity; then, in the better moods of the former, he will endeavour charitably to construe to his imagination what prove impossible to be solved by his judgment.”  (123-4)

Because the narrator received very little feed back from Bartleby when questioned, he was inclined to develop a sense of pity for Bartleby.  This, most readers will find disconcerting.  What do you do with an employee or co-worker who refuses to participate and is virtually unresponsive when questioned?  Some may be inclined, as the narrator, to stop making requests of such a person:

“Now and then, in the eagerness of despatching pressing business, I would inadvertently summon Bartleby, in a short, rapid tone, to put his finger, say, on the incipient tie of a bit of red tape with which I was about compressing some papers.  Of course, from behind the screen the usual answer, ‘I prefer not to,’ was sure to come; and then, how could a human creature with the common infirmities of our nature, refrain from bitterly exclaiming upon such perverseness–such unreasonableness.  However, every added repulse of this sort which I received only tended to lessen the probability of my repeating the inadventure.”  (127)

And, despite all the narrator did to get Bartleby to work, and to eventually be rid of him, nothing resolved the matter:

“Indeed, it was his wonderful mildness chiefly, which not only disarmed me, but unmanned me, as it were.”  (128)

The story goes on to include circumstances we would never encounter in our workplaces.  The narrator found Bartleby was living in the offices.  Bartleby eventually stopped working altogether.  He was dismissed but would not leave.  Eventually, the narrator moved his offices.  Unfortunately, his former landlord sought him out to complain about the strange man who would not leave the previously occupied offices.  The narrator visited Bartleby but could not convince him to leave.  Bartleby was eventually arrested.  While Bartleby was in jail, the narrator visited him on a few occasions.  On the last visit, Bartleby was found dead. 

So ends the story of Bartleby.  But what about our stories?  Our situations?  Our circumstances?  How do we navigate the professional workplace, committees, associations, etc. when there are people who have conflicting work ethics?  Or there are persons who flatly refuse to participate in certain tasks, projects, or events?  What is to be done when people, to quote Mr. Russo, don’t have a ’shared sense of purpose’?  Is there anything to be ‘done’?  Should something be ‘done’?  What impact does such a colleague have on others?  What impact does such circumstances have on patrons/customers/students/faculty/members?  What impact does it have on your institution/library/association/company?  How does it impact other employees and co-workers?  Do we ask and/or expect less of such a person?   I will assume as employees we are expected to deliver a certain amount of work while at or workplace.  And, when asked to do something we respond accordingly.  What happens when a supervisor is met with a no response?  Are there consequences?  Is someone else charged with the task?  What does it mean when a co-worker gradually does less and less work?  And, like Bartleby, is largely passive and unresponsive?

I’m not even going to attempt to answer these questions here, partly because I am still struggling with the questions myself.  I’m not really sure how I would answer them.  Although each situation will probably warrant a different solution.  But, I think they are questions that need to be taken seriously in situations where we are faced with folks like Bartleby.  And of course, feel free to share your comments here.

Article Series (4): Clear Coping Mechanisms for Dealing with Information Overload

Houghton-Jan, Sarah.  “Being Wired or Being Tired: 10 Ways to cope with Information Overload.”  Ariadne.  56 (2008): 1-13.  Web.  20 Sep. 2009.

Ah, the wonderful world of information overload!  We all experience it.  We all worry about it.  Most of us have no idea what to do about it.  (Boy is that soooo true!)  Well, here is a good article for those of you who want to try to do something about this.  This was recommended in a post by Maura Smale on ACRLog titled “Damming the Information Streams.”  So, lots of thanks and praise to Maura for recommending it.  And, upon reading it, I thought the article appropriate for my article series.  Although, I really suggest you read the article in its entirety if you can, as well as Maura’s post.  There is much more to the article than I am going to cover here.  Sarah does a much better job than I can in fleshing out her suggested strategies for coping with information overload.

At the risk of being boring, I am going to give you an outline that includes all of Sarah’s headings and subheadings from the article.  I will include some quotations with commentary for some of the sections (in italics).  But I think the outline is important if you want to pick out the sections you may find useful to you.  Not all of her advice is going to be useful to everyone.

A.  Introduction

B.  The History of Information Overload

“Information overload is not a new concept, believe it or not.  As far back as the sixteenth century people were complaining about the wide range of information they had to consume in order to contribute to society.  During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries an intellectual revolution occurred as books and written information became more widely produced and disseminated, while innovations and new relationships in economics and the sciences emerged.”  (1)

So, this isn’t a new concept/complaint.  Like so many things, this is an issue that has been around for a long time in a wide variety permutations.

C.  The Effects of Information Overload

“Information flowing in from the multitude of devices, organisations, and technologies distracts, pressures, and stresses us. And yet we continue to produce information for ourselves and for others. Every time we send out information, information returns to us, usually two-fold. We deal with both interruptive and non-interruptive information every day. When constantly interrupted with that information, we never have those periods of time when you can think, plan and ponder. As a result, our ability to push our lives and our institutions forward has been greatly compromised.” (2)

Should we stop producing so much information?  Should we make an effort to ‘unplug’ so that we can regroup on a regular basis?  Do you think that being plugged in all the time compromises our efforts to move our lives and institutions forward?  Well, I can’t speak for everyone but I will (sheepishly) admit that I am not as productive at work when I have Twitter and Facebook going throughout the day.  Don’t get me wrong, I think both have their uses, both socially and professionally, but on a daily basis I am more focused when I am a bit more unplugged.  I can multi-task just like most, but I do better and more quality work when I focus on one or two things at a time. 

D.  The Role of Librarians and Other Information Professionals

“So, how do we combat information overload, also known as ADT? Hallowell recommends face-to-face interactions every few hours (what he calls a ‘a human moment’), exercise, enough sleep, a good diet, keeping one’s workspace tidy, breaking large tasks down into smaller ones, and setting aside part of your day as ‘appointment and email free.’ But what really works? What do the people working in the field do to help themselves?” (3)

What works for you?  Maybe we should all try some of these ideas.  I have been trying a few of these things.  My take so far?  They are useful.  I actually have started to clear off the nightmare that is my desk, it keeps me from feeling so overwhelmed.  And I definitely work better when I get some face time with my colleagues each day.

E.  Ten Techniques to Manage the Overload

1.  General Organisational Techniques

a.  Make an Inventory of Information Received

b.  Make and Inventory of Your Devices

c.  Read Up

Some of the books recommended in this section could be useful, but I am a bit cautious because the most recent of these is from 2007.  And, as most things regarding information change so fast these days the content in these books might not be so timely.

d.  Think Before Sending

What is the best way to communicate with someone?  Do you prefer using email, IM, voicemail?  But what is the best way in relation to the information need and/or what is the most effective way to communicate with a particular person?  Maybe speaking to the person face to face is the best method.

e.  Schedule Yourself

f.  Schedule Unscheduled Work

g.  Use Your ‘Down Time’ to Your Benefit

h.  Stay Tidy and on Top

i.  Keep a Waiting List

This might be useful, but only if your list isn’t a mile long.

2.  Filtering Information Received

 a.  Weed, Baby Weed!

b.  Teach Others

c.  Schedule Unplugged Times

d.  Unplug at Will

3.  RSS Overload Techniques

a.  Use RSS When Applicable

b.  Remind Yourself

c.  Limit the Number of Feeds

Yep, I have too many feeds and not enough time to read them.  I think it is time to ‘weed’ some of them out.

d.  Organise Feeds

4.  Interruptive Technology Overload Techniques

a.  Use Interruptive Technology When Appropriate

b.  Check When You Want to

c.  Do Not Interrupt Yourself

d.  Importance of the Status Message

e.  Lobby for IM in Your Workplace

5.  Phone Overload Techniques

a.  Use the Phone When Appropriate

b.  Turn Your Mobile Phone Off

c.  Keep You Number Private

d.  Let It Ring

e.  Work=Work; Home=Home

6.  Email Overload Techniques

a.  Stop ‘Doing Email’

b.  Schedule Email Scanning Times

You got that right!

c.  Deal with Email by Subject

d.  Use Email When Appropriate

e.  Keep Your Inbox Empty

f.  Filter your Messages

g.  File Your Messages

I do some of this, but my problem I tend not to visit those folders very often.  Things get ignored.

h.  Limit Listservs

i.  Follow Good Email Etiquette

j.  Delete and Archive

7.  Print Media Overload Techniques

a.  Just Because You Can Touch It Does Not Mean You Have to Keep It

“Treat physical data the same way you would treat digital data: if you do not absolutely need it, throw it out.” (10)

Oh boy, this one is a lot harder than I can say.  I looove having piles of books around.  They definitely keep me company and provide me quite a bit of comfort.  I love ‘em!

b.  Cancel, Cancel, Cancel

c.  Weed What You Have

8.  Multimedia Overload Techniques

a.  Choose Entertainment  Carefully

b.  Limit Television Viewing

c.  Use Your Commute to Your Benefit

9.  Social Network Overload Techniques

a.  Schedule Time on Your Networks

“Allot yourself a set amount of time to deal with your social networks. Logging in at the beginning of the day can be very dangerous – the friend requests, messages, photo and wall comments, new status updates, blog posts, and fun applications can suck hours out of every day if you let them. Stick to whatever time you allotted yourself.” (11)

Oh . . . so true.  It is so easy for me to lose track of time when I log on in the morning.

b.  Pick a Primary Network

c.  Limit Your IM

10.  Time and Stress Management

a.  Use Your Calendar

b.  Take Breaks

c.  Eliminate Stressful Interruptions

“If you find yourself jumping at audio signals like IM notifications or phones ringing, then silence them. If you feel a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach when you look at your email, then do not look at it as often. Think about those stressors and do what you can to reduce them.” (12)

I turned off the sound on my computer a long time ago.  It is such a relief!

d.  Look for Software Help

e.  Balance Your Life and Work

“If you find yourself tapping at a keyboard next to your partner on the sofa while you are watching a movie, instead of sidling up next to him or her, you may have a work/life balance problem. Think long and hard about whether or not you have your priorities in the right place. If you know you do not, then you should seek help to re-balance your time.” (12)

I’m not sure I completely agree with this one.  Seeing as I am here, on the sofa, watching a movie, while sitting next to my sweetie.  And I am completely fine with that.  I just don’t do this all the time.

F.  Conclusion

“Consciously thinking about the effectiveness and desirability of each stream of information, and of ways to improve them, will help to get the best information to you in the best way.” (12)

Which is basically what this article can help you do.  It all boils down to this.

“I believe that, as information professionals, we are best equipped to recognise information overload and deal with its effects. We know information; it is our business. We are better positioned than anyone to deal with our own information load and to share those skills and techniques with those we serve. Make the topic of information overload a subject at a staff meeting, the topic of a customer training, and a topic of research for your organisation’s training or technology teams. Together we can help people in general to deal with this deluge of information. But first, we have to deal with our own flood. Happy sailing!” (12)

Well, I’m not sure I’m ready to give others advice.  But I’m certainly ready to deal with my own overload.  So, how about you?

Article Series (2): Searching for answers in libraries via 1968

Taylor, Robert S.  “Question-Negotiation and Information Seeking in Libraries.”  College & Research Libraries.  29.3(1968):178-194.

Well, like my last article, I cannot say why I originally picked this one up.  It was on the same pile as my previous article, the next one in line really.  However, I’m sure it was recommended in a blog post I read in the past six months or so.  I certainly would give the recommender credit if I could recall who it was.  Now, before you question my choice of articles, let me defend myself.  I know this one is from 1968 (about six years before I was born), but having read it I will argue it is as timely and relevant today as it was in 1968.  The author broaches some of the most fundamental questions of librarianship and information management that we still struggle with today.  And, he also looks to the future.  Some of his ideas are today’s reality, others are still a dream.  This is an article I would definitely recommend all MLS students read, in fact, all librarians should read this one every year.  There is a lot in here that I can draw on to, hopefully, improve my skills at answering reference questions.

So, to the article itself.  Taylor brings this up himself, on a very basic level, some may argue that this article is an exercise in the obvious.  Many of the issues raised or described are not new to current information professionals.  Today, these issues are age old concerns that have been discussed, pondered, argued, and worked over for decades.  So, why bother with such an article?  The deeper I got into it, I found Taylor breaks down the information search into detailed steps.  The result is a scientific analysis of the information inquiry that sheds more light onto the challenges associated with reference questions and provides some fascinating strategies on how to approach such inquiries from the perspective of the librarian.  In the abstract it is stated that, “The author contends that research is needed into the techniques of conducting this negotiation between the user and the reference librarian” (178).  I would argue that Taylor began some of this research in this very article himself.

Now, for the sake of not boring you with an incredibly long post summarizing this article I will try to outline it enough to entice you to read it.  Or, I will succeed in truly boring you.  Following Taylor’s introduction, he launches into a section titled “Question Negotiation by Librarians,” which was borne out of a series of interviews of librarians.

A.  Question Negotiation by Librarians (Taylor analyses the approach the inquirer uses to get information.  He even includes a very interesting flow chart near the beginning.)

            1.  Once arriving at the information desk there are 4 possible levels of information need and questions:

                      a.  “the conscious or even unconscious need for information”

                      b.  “a conscious mental description of an ill-defined area of indecision”

                      c.  “an inquirer can form a qualified and rational statement of his question”

                      d.  “the question is recast in anticipation of what the files can deliver” (182)

             2.  Taylor defines these needs as follows:

                      Q1-the visceral need

                      Q2-the conscious need

                      Q3-the formalized need

                      Q4-the compromised need (182)

              3.  Each question posed at the reference desk goes through five general filters that allows the librarian to assist the inquirer.  Taylor delves into a great description of the obstacles associated with each of these filters:

                        a.  determination of subject

                        b.  objective and motivation

                        c.  personal characteristics of inquirer

                        d.  relationship of inquiry description to file organization

                        e.  anticipated or acceptable answers (183-188) 

B.  The next section of the article is titled “The Information Seeking Strategies of Users,” where Taylor describes an analytic study done of a group of users.  The study involved the users describing the steps they went through in their search for answers to a self-chosen question.  We have all read, or come across, similar studies of this kind that have been published since 1968, but if you are interested in such studies you might want to give this one a quick read too.

C.  Taylor’s final section, “Summary and Conclusions,” pulls together the issues he wrote of earlier through two sections titled “Negotiation” and “Self-Help.”  The final heading in this section is “Possible Systems and Devices,” and attempts to tie it to the information seeking challenges he is addressing in the bulk of the paper.  He writes of current (1968) innovations.  One such innovation we recognize as one of the precursors to the database.  The name is great: “Recordak Lodestar Microfilm Reader-Printer with an Image Control Keyboard.” (193). Seriously, if you read nothing else of this article, read about the Recordak system.  It is fascinating to read today, knowing what we know about databases. 

This article is very rich with a lot of great information and a great read for historical interest.  I could load up this post with tons of quotes, but I will finish with just one that I think will leave you all nodding in agreement and give you something to think about.  It is as timely today as it was then.

             “If libraries, at any level of service, are going to grow and evolve (and indeed exist) as integral parts of our urban techno-scientific     

               culture, then they must know themselves.  They must know themselves both as local and rather special institutions and as parts of very

               large, very dynamic, and very complex information and communications networks, which operate on both a formal and

               informal level” (194).

ACRL/NY Still accepting poster proposals until 10/27 for Symposium

Call for Poster Sessions

The 2009 ACRL/NY Annual Symposium, “Emerging Leadership in Academic Libraries” focuses on the importance of leadership in academic libraries today and the paths to achieving and sustaining it. This Symposium will address myriad questions of leadership: What does it take to be a leader? How do we mentor leaders within our institutions? How do we take charge of our own career paths? How do we move into leadership roles? We will open up discussions of leadership across the different stages of librarianship.

ACRL/NY invites you to submit a poster session proposal for the Symposium. It can address any issue related to this theme. Examples follow:

• Professional collaboration
• Management styles in libraries
• Motivating/inspiring librarians
• Getting yourself published
• Experience in leadership development
• Mentoring/mentoring programs
• Creating new roles
• Moving into leadership roles
• Promoting yourself

Please email a 100-200 word description of your poster session proposal to Symposium Planning Committee member Gloria Meisel at gloria.meisel@sunywcc.edu by October 27, 2009 (deadline extended). Include author name(s), email and telephone contact numbers, and the title of the poster session. Presenters will receive a reduced Symposium registration rate (maximum of two). The successful candidates will be notified by early November. You will be expected to set up by 8:15 am and stay through the final poster session time of 2:45 pm. There is no wireless capability and no availability for electronic sessions. Posters cannot be displayed on walls. Rectangular tables and two chairs will be provided.

We look forward to your submissions.

Register Now for the ACRL/NY Annual Symposium, December 4, 2009

Register Now for the ACRL/NY Annual Symposium 2009 

http://acrlnysymp09.wordpress.com/about/ 

Emerging Leadership in Academic Libraries Leaders inspire and motivate us. Leaders create vision and purpose. But what does it take to be a leader in today’s academic library? How do we mentor and sustain leaders within our organizations? How do we take charge of our own career paths and move into leadership roles? This symposium will address these questions while opening up a discussion of leadership across the different stages of librarianship. 

***Speakers will be Mary Carmen Chimato, Amanda Etches-Johnson, Damon Jaggars, and Brian Mathews***

Register online from the symposium’s web site (and find information for registering by check/mail):  http://acrlnysymp09.wordpress.com/about/  

Walk-in registrations will not be accepted.  

We hope to see you there!

The publication of our chapter is coming out this month

I am happy to announce that two colleagues and I have a chapter in a book that is coming out at the end of this month from IGI Global.  The title of the book is the Handbook of Research on Practices and Outcomes in E-Learning: Issues and Trends and comes in at a hefty 626 pages.  Our chapter is in Section IV: Professional and Disciplinary Implications and is titled “Librarian as Collaborator: Bringing E-Learning 2.0 into the Classroom by Way of the Library” (Chapter XVI or 16).

This book’s focus is on higher education, but does not cut it so fine as to only be about libraries.  We thought it would be nice to submit to a non-library specific, but academic, publication.  Happily, our proposal and eventual chapter was accepted.  I want to thank both my colleagues for allowing me to be a part of this project.  It was a great, although tough, experience that I  can now build on in the future.

Article Series (1): Tracking Emerging Technologies

Alexander, Bryan.  “Apprehending the Future: Emerging Technologies, from Science Fiction to Campus Reality.”  EDUCAUSE review.  44.3  (2009):13-28.  Web.  17 Oct. 2009.

Well, here it is!  My first post is an effort to keep up on the trends in librarianship.  I will admit that I did not make a careful choice, but I turned out to be pleasantly surprised.  I picked this article up from one of the many piles of printed articles I have been wanting to read.  I cannot remember why I originally chose it, but I’m glad I did.

When I first looked at the title of this article, I thought it wasn’t very descriptive or interesting.  Or, at least not interesting enough to really tempt me to read the entire thing.  I thought I had picked up a really dry, possibly boring, article.  But in hindsight, the title is actually quite descriptive.

In this article, Bryan Alexander writes about several methods one can use to scope out and predict future technological trends in higher education.  I found many of the methods, some of which I had never heard of before, really fascinating.  Now while the subject matter may not come off as engaging for some, it does have something for everyone.  I think this is in large part because Alexander has produced such a well written article and takes the time, at the end, to explain to his readers why knowing about, and using these methods, is valuable.  The body of the article is devoted to providing descriptions of the various methods that have been used to predict technology trends.  They are:

• The Environmental Scan
• The Delphi Method
• Prediction Markets
• Scenarios
• Crowdsourcing
• The Black Swan (i.e. rare occurences that have a big impact)

Alexander also beefs up each description by giving some examples of results/predictions these methods have yielded, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each.  The method I found most intriguing was prediction markets.  Alexander describes how they involve gaming.  “Prediction markets are games structured like commodity futures markets but using pretend (usually) currencies and trading on ideas or events rather than goods.” (18)  So, a market is set up online, typically beta tested first with invited traders.  Each gamer explores the presented propositions within a certain time frame and invests in the ideas/products/commodities they prefer based on those propositions.  I’ve never thought of using gaming in this way.  I have also not had much interest in gaming, but it was interesting to discover how gaming can be used to make predictions in various markets. 

Bryan concludes his article by answering why, despite the disadvantages of each method, they are useful.  He sums it up succinctly with this paragraph:

Perhaps the best answer to the question of whether we should attempt to apprehend the future is that doing so prepares us for events when they occur. The intellectual exercise of working through options and possibilities stretches our personal and institutional horizons, building intelligence and flexibility. Just as learning how to use one tool prepares us to better grasp the next, similar tool, thinking through different hypothetical scenarios and trends helps us know how to react to and take advantage of the ones that actually cross over the horizon.  (24)

I recommend this article simply for the sake of its content.  It has a lot of good ideas and information.  But this article also struck a chord with me in relation to my wanting to stay better informed about the trends in the library profession.  One of those trends is technology, of course.  But the article also speaks to the need to stay informed of trends by using a variety of methods.  And, despite any flaws such methods have, they each have qualities that prove them valuable.  So, on that note . . . time to do some more reading.

Your assignment, and mine: Saying and doing-keeping up with current topics in the profession

Not too long ago I was in a meeting where a colleague asked me what I do to keep up on the current issues in librarianship.  My response was almost immediate, ‘I read blogs and RSS feeds.’  In this day and age, it seems like the thing to say, yet my answer lacked substance and detail.  As soon as I said it I had the feeling that I had just fallen flat on my face.  Now, when think of that moment, I always feel as if I could have answered that better.  But beyond that I can do far better in my efforts to keep up with what is being discussed in the library profession.  Naturally, my next question is: ‘How does one really keep abreast of the current issues in librarianship?’  Everyone has their methods.  Yes, reading library-related blogs and rss feeds (and making comments of course, being part of the conversation)is important.  But also, picking up the latest (or not so latest but valuable) books being published, staying on top of what is being published in the journals, and of course going to workshops, symposia, presentations, and conferences are also key.  Ok, easier said than done?  You got that right!  I’m not sharing anything that is breaking news to the average librarian. 

That being said, there is something I want from all of you, fellow librarians (lurkers included!).  Post in the comments what you do to keep up on current topics in the profession.  And I want substance.  What do you do that works for you?  And, for those of you who are not librarians, what do you do to keep up on current topics in your profession?  We can seriously learn  a lot from each other if we can share some substantive answers.  So comment away!

For me, I need to adopt one colleague’s organizational methods.  While I am not what I would call organized I need to establish a bit more routine when it comes to staying well read.  The particular colleague I am referring to, while a fairly new librarian, had always been highly organized.  She even has a schedule for posting to her blog.  I need one of those too, but for now I am going to attempt a schedule for staying a bit more current.  I at first thought I would do an article a day and post my thoughts here.  But I realized that was far to ambitious to start with.  Instead, I’ll try an article per week.  Then, I thought it would also be nice to do a book each month.  However I’m worried that will be a bit too much to do four articles and a book.  I don’t want to set a schedule that is not, ultimately, going to work for me.  So I will start with four articles, plus a post for each, each month.  Maybe soon I will do the same with posting on others’ blog posts . . . maybe.  And I expect to be held to that goal by all of you.  If anyone can think of an incentive for me to keep to the goal, by all means make a suggestion.  Maybe if I have a giveaway for the first person who notices I haven’t done four articles in a month and points it out to me.  Good idea?  Or no?  If yes, what should I have as the giveaway?  Please, share your ideas!

Ok, now we all have an assignment.  I, am going to read and post on an article per week.  And you, are going to share what substantive ways you keep up with the current topics in the library, or your respective, profession.