July 12th, 2010

“Turn Right at the Obelisk” Keynote American Association for Law Libraries Annual Conference. Denver, Co.

Abstract: The future for librarianship is bright, but not if we continue to see our value in our collections and resources – instead of in ourselves. Librarians must take on a mission of facilitating knowledge creation where we configure our services and organizations around our members. Instead of focusing on tech services and public services we must focus on the goals and accomplishments of our communities – be they law practices, academia, or other agencies. The future of librarianship is in our hands, and we must be ready to fight for it.
Slides: http://quartz.syr.edu/rdlankes/Presentations/2010/AALL-Lankes.pdf
Audio: http://quartz.syr.edu/rdlankes/Pod/2010/AALL.mp3

Screencast:

*Audio is now much better. Sorry for the first time. You can also see a video of the presentation at AALL’s site for the next week or so here.

X-Layer (Aleph X-Server) – for Bard Collection at Buff. State
Mike Curtis / Dennis / Marian?

USE FOR  For Special Presentation

May need to work in (Tab_X.dat / repackage -pull downs)

Collection URL – http://library.buffalostate.edu/collections/bard.php

CCL function used for SQL query on Aleph (most MARC field but dioesnt search internal note inItem record)

PHP scripts to talk to Aleph

bard.css
blank cover gif
pagination.class.php
search.php
bard.php – script

Script does two actions …. and works off entire marc record

Find – ccl find search
Present - gets set of item data

http://saranac.sunyconnect.suny.edu:4910/X/  ………….children%20Russian%22

search.php & pagination.class.php

—-   needed to do this   —-

Data was formerly in the Item record… need to be in Bib (650 4)

• Maggie moved from item record into Bib record (650 4) – Subject Heading
• Maggie made macros for assigning data into record … for adding the 650 for new

???  could use for faculty publications or media or anything can can be CCL searched!!! A collection for example .. Phd Thesis?

The Darien Statements – document generated (and reported by Blyberg.net) at an event called “In the Foothills: A Not-Quite-Summit on the Future of Libraries” at which participants were instructed to “come prepared to help sketch out the role librarians should play in defining the future of libraries”. -

The Darien Statements on Future of the Library – April 2009

Taiga Forum – Annual document – inspired the participants of this first TAIGA forum and were subsequently disseminated throughout the industry. These statements stimulated meaningful dialogue in scores of organizations and energized the strategic planning process for many.

Taiga 4 Forum’s Provocative Statements ““Within the next 5 years…”” – February 2009

View Original Article

.. from Dangerouslyirrelevant.org

Random questions

1. What constitutes a “book” these days? When books become electronic and thus become searchable, hyperlinkable, more accessible to readers with disabilities, and able to embed audio, video, and interactive maps and graphics, at what point do they stop becoming “books” and start becoming something else?
2. The Amazon Kindle e-reader currently allows you to annotate an electronic book passage with highlights and your own personal notes. Those annotations are even available to you on the Web, not just on the Kindle device itself. As Seth Godin notes, there hopefully will be a day when you will be able to share those notes with others. You’ll also be able to push a button on your e-reader and see everyone else’s notes and highlights on the same passage. What kind of new learning capabilities will that enable for us?
3. If students and teachers now can be active content creators and producers, not just passive information recipients, doesn’t that redefine our entire notion of what it means to be information literate and media fluent? Are our librarians and classroom teachers doing enough to help students master these new literacies (for example, by focusing on student content creation, not just information consumption and/or interpretation)?
4. The Cushing Academy boarding school in Massachusetts may be the first school in the country to have its library go completely electronic. In addition to using library computers, students now check out Kindles loaded with books. How tough would it be for other schools to move to this model (and what would they gain or lose as a result)?
5. When books, magazines, newspapers, reference materials, music, movies, and other traditional library content all go electronic and online - deliverable on demand - what does that mean for the future of the physical spaces known as “libraries?” Mike Eisenberg said to me that we already should be taking yellow caution tape and blocking off the entire non-fiction and reference sections of our libraries. As content becomes digital and no longer needs to be stored on a shelf, with what do we replace that now-unused floor space: couches, tables, and cozy chairs? computer stations? meeting space? And if we head in these directions, what will distinguish libraries from other institutions such as coffee shops, community centers, and Internet cafes?
6. Our information landscape is more complex than ever before. We still need people who know how to effectively navigate these intricate electronic environments and who can teach others to do so. But does that mean we still need “librarians” who work in “libraries?” Or will their jobs morph into something else?
7. How much of a librarian’s current job could be done by someone in a different location (for example, someone in India who answers questions via telephone or synchronous chat) or by computer software and/or an electronic kiosk? I don’t know the answer to this question – and I suspect that it will vary by librarian – but I do know that many individuals in other industries have been quite dismayed to find that large portions of their supposedly-indispensable jobs can be outsourced or replaced by software (which, of course, means that fewer people are needed locally to do whatever work requires the face-to-face presence of a live human being).
8. Can a librarian recommend books better than online user communities and/or database-driven book recommendation engines? For example, can a librarian’s ability to recommend reading of interest surpass that of a database like Amazon’s that aggregates purchasing behavior or a dedicated user community that is passionate about (and maybe rates/reviews) science fiction books, and then do so for romance, political history, manga, self-help, and every other possible niche of literature too?
9. If school librarians aren’t actively and explicitly modeling powerful uses of digital technologies and social media themselves and also supporting students to do the same, should they get to keep their jobs? And if they are doing so individually (which is what we want), what’s their responsibility to police the profession (and lean on those librarians who aren’t)?
10. There is no conceivable future in which the primacy of printed text is not superceded by electronic text and media. If that future is not too far away (and may already be here), are administrators doing enough to transition their schools, libraries, and librarians / media specialists into a new paradigm?