One of the sea changes I noticed at Internet Librarian was a big increase in Second Life programming. A number of presenters introduced themselves with both their real names and their Second Life identities. A number of folks in the audience were Second Lifers as well.
Lori Bell gave an overview of Second Life's Info Islands. She also laid out a few common acronyms like MUVE (Multi-User Virtual Environment) and MMPORG (Massively MultiPlayer Online Roleplaying Game). She also mentioned some alternatives to Second Life: ActiveWorlds and Entropia Universe.
Shawn McCann talked about what it is like to be the first Immersive Learning (i.e. gaming) Librarian at McMasters University. He's just started, but he's already doing reference in Second Life and starting to look for educational applications.
Jeremy Kemp talked about educational uses of Second Life and recommended these two wikis: SimTeach and Sloodle. He also showed us a PBS feature on a Second Life branch library.
Jill Hurst-Wahl recommended scanning TechCrunch and Virtual Worlds Review
to keep up to date on virtual worlds. She also proposed some basic guidelines for online communities. To learn more, check out her presentation here.
Rosemary Arneson from Carmichael Library at University of Montevallo described some of her adventures and misadventures in Second Life. In one online foray, she accidentally deleted her library building. She was bemused by the fact that all of the objects in the building remained when it happened. Her avatar, which was on the third floor at the time, precipitously plunged to ground level!
Kate Fitz talked about creating LawSpot (slides) in Second Life. You can also visit a web version of her site here.
Micki McIntyre, the HealthyNJ Librarian, shared information about Wellness and Spirituality sites on Second Life.
Michael Sauers, best known as the Travelin' Librarian, brought us back to earth with a sobering presentation called "Second Life, Second Thoughts" (slides). He points out that Second Life has substantial systems requirements. It doesn't yet work with Vista. It is down frequently. (Second Life has one point of access - no redundant servers.) He also wonders if Second Life will be used long term. There are already a lot of Second Life sites that have no visitors. Chris Anderson, known for coining the "long tail" concept has already abandoned Second Life. (Is he a bellwether?) Michael believes we should experiment for the experience, but expect to move to another virtual environment eventually...
Our closing session at Internet Librarian was Liz Lawley, but that's worth another post!
v
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Playing with iTunes
Bruce Connolly and Gail Holderman at Union College presented an iTunes session at Internet Librarian 2007.
Union College is participating in iTunes University. They discovered quite by accident that the iTunes shared library was turned on by default when they started seeing other people's playlists mixed in with theirs. This discovery sparked the idea for some truly original library services:
Last, but not least, I'll leave you with their Web 2.0 motto:
"If it ain't broke, you aren't playing with it hard enough.
Union College is participating in iTunes University. They discovered quite by accident that the iTunes shared library was turned on by default when they started seeing other people's playlists mixed in with theirs. This discovery sparked the idea for some truly original library services:
- Creating playlists for new CDs in the library. They put the call number in the notes field. Students can sample the CDs and then come in to borrow them.
- Creating themed lists - Black History Month, LGBT Music @ the Library, Beat Poets
- Preloading iPods with specific collections - They got Bob Dylan: the Collection and loaded all 773 tracks onto an iPod and put it on reserve for a class. They did the same with a collection of Cuban music.
- Livening up the catalog record by adding links to iTune samples, associated podcasts, and even interviews. (Move over Amazon!)
- Downloading and burning missing disks to replace them.
- Uploading content created at Union College.
Last, but not least, I'll leave you with their Web 2.0 motto:
"If it ain't broke, you aren't playing with it hard enough.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Joe Janes is my new hero!
Internet Librarian 2007 was my first chance to hear Joe Janes. What a hoot! He had over a thousand librarians laughing and cheering. The topic for his keynote address was Reference 2.0. He tossed out rapid-fire jewels of wisdom and fired a few shots across the bow at the same time. Here are a few nuggets:
- An academic is the sort of person that would face the apocalypse with a historical overview. (How's that for an opening salvo?)
- Early librarians faced some of the same challenges we do today. In 1876, Samuel Green complained about too much information that was too difficult to find. In 1930, James Wyer described the typical reference interview: "they will choke and die before they tell you what they want."
- Anecdote: A man watched his kid flipping TV channels. After about 15 minutes, the father asked, "When will you pick a channel?" Answer: "I'm not picking a channel, I'm watching them all."
- Don't bitch about Wikipedia, change it. If you're not participating, you have no right to complain.
- We're made for the deep dive, not the horizontal search... We're there for people who care or can be made to care. Stop chasing things you can't catch - provide services to the ones that want your help. For people diving deep, do the full-blown reference interview and help them with their research. If someone wants it quick, point them in the right direction, give them a tip - they'll ask for the next step if and when they need it. Don't waste their time with a full reference interview. Leave the people who aren't information users alone - just let them know you're there.
- Print is our secret weapon right now, but it's becoming less worthwhile as things move online. If something has an online equivalent, put it in the circulating collection and "whimper when you walk by." We need to do better online. We need to be better than we are in person, or they will be gone in a flash.
- Keep an eye out for "tendril people" - these are the folks who are building online information sources - help them tend the network. If we participate, we can show them how it's done and lead by example. Imagine picking one day a month to do something like SlamtheBoards.
- Web 2.0 is the latest manifestion of "I just want to be heard." It started with prehistoric handprints in French caves..."I was here, I matter, I want to be heard."
- People hear one note about who we (librarians) are -- give them scales, chords, and symphonies.
Lee Rainie and the Pew Internet & American Life Project
In the past few weeks, I've had the pleasure of attending three Lee Rainie presentations. Two of them provided excellent insight into our students' interactions with technology.
At the 2007 Pennsylvania Library Association Annual Conference, Lee Rainie spoke about "Who and What Comes After the Millenials?" In short, "digital natives!" Do you know that when today's high school senior was born (1989), the personal computer was already 14 years old? These students have grown up along side of web browsing, IM, iPods, PDAs, Wikipedia, MySpace, FaceBook, Flickr, and YouTube.
Lee mentioned several hallmarks of the new digital ecosystem. Media and gadgets are everywhere. Most gadgets have multiple functions and can communicate with other gadgets using a variety of networks. Students are using them on the go to share photos, download videos, watch TV, browse the web, and communicate. Broadband internet access is becoming the norm rather than the exception. These students aren't passive consumers, either; increasing numbers are creating profiles on social networking sites, sharing photos, creating videos, and writing about their lives in public spaces. Almost 80% of 12-17 year olds have created some form of online content. (Interestly enough, most are creating content for a small group of friends - they are horrified by the thought that parents, teachers, or employers might be perusing!)
Some of the facts and statistics Lee shared made us question whether we were digital immigrants or digital dinosaurs. He comforted the more shell-shocked members of the audience by reassuring us that we still have the ability to reach students - even if we don't have the latest gadgets and technologies down pat. Email may be old school, but students are still willing to use it to communicate with us.
He also mentioned several ways that media and gadget use are having impact on student lives. First, today's students (8-18 yrs. old) are exposed to about 8 1/2 hours of media per day - but they process it in about 6 1/2 hours of time. Can you say multitasking? This leads to a related consequence; youth live in a state of "continuous partial attention." This phrase was coined by Linda Stone to explain stresses and distractions of a media- and gadget-rich life. Students' relationships with media and information are also changing. Media is becoming accessible anywhere, anytime, and through almost any imaginable device. Information takes on a social aspect - students deal with the vast quantity by filtered by their interests and those of their social groups. Rainie equated this with creating a "Daily Me" for news.
Is it any surprise that all of this media exposure and social networking is also changing the way that students learn? Today's students don't make as much of a distinction between education and entertainment. They expect education to be highly collaborative and experiencial - just like their media environments. Lastly, media and gadgets are changing students social interactions. Rather than interacting solely with a small local group, a student may participate in a number of fluidly shifting networked groups. The slides for this presentation will eventually be posted on the College and Research Division website, but for now, you can view them here: http://faculty.ycp.edu/~vkline/pala2007_rainie/millenials.pdf
Lee Rainie's opening keynote address at Internet Librarian 2007 addressed similar themes, but added an intriquing new conceptual framework - a typology of technology users. Age-based tags like "Boomer," "Gen X," or "Millenial" are useful for some very broad generalizations, but within in each group, individuals may approach technology very differently. Lee proposes a typology based on how individuals relate to the technology in their lives. It breaks down as follows: (%=percent of population)
HIGH USE
Group 1: Omnivores (8%) - These individuals love gadgets and use them constantly. They will be the first in line for any new technology. They are connected 24/7.
Group 2: Connectors (7%) - These individuals also love technology, but place highest value on the ability to connect with other people and share information.
Group 3: Lackluster Veterans (8%) - These folks use technology, but they've done it often and long enough that they begin to value time off line and unconnected. They may not be fond of cell phones.
Group 4: Productivity Enhancers (8%) - These people are positive about technology that helps them. You usually won't find them blogging.
MIDDLE
Group 1: Mobile Centric (10%) - These folks love their cell phones, but aren't heavy internet users.
Group 2: Connected, but Hassled (10%) - If someone is complaining about information overload, they might be in this category. They don't like the fact that people can find them all the time.
LOW USE
Group 1: Inexperienced Experimenters (8%) - These folks are late adapters, but open-minded about trying out something new.
Group 2: Light and Satisfied (15%) - This group doesn't mind technology, but it's not the center of their lives. You might have to remind them to check email once a week!
Group 3: Indifferent (11%) -These people are rarely online. May use a cell phone occasionally.
Group 4: Off the Network (15%) - These folks refuse to have anything to do with cell phones or the internet. What's wrong with pen and paper for messages?
Lee expressed surprise at finding such a large percentage of people in the low use category. If you'd like to find out which group you belong to, you can take a test here:
http://www.pewinternet.org/quiz/quiz.asp
He warned us that many people are annoyed by their classifications, so take this at your own risk!
At the 2007 Pennsylvania Library Association Annual Conference, Lee Rainie spoke about "Who and What Comes After the Millenials?" In short, "digital natives!" Do you know that when today's high school senior was born (1989), the personal computer was already 14 years old? These students have grown up along side of web browsing, IM, iPods, PDAs, Wikipedia, MySpace, FaceBook, Flickr, and YouTube.
Lee mentioned several hallmarks of the new digital ecosystem. Media and gadgets are everywhere. Most gadgets have multiple functions and can communicate with other gadgets using a variety of networks. Students are using them on the go to share photos, download videos, watch TV, browse the web, and communicate. Broadband internet access is becoming the norm rather than the exception. These students aren't passive consumers, either; increasing numbers are creating profiles on social networking sites, sharing photos, creating videos, and writing about their lives in public spaces. Almost 80% of 12-17 year olds have created some form of online content. (Interestly enough, most are creating content for a small group of friends - they are horrified by the thought that parents, teachers, or employers might be perusing!)
Some of the facts and statistics Lee shared made us question whether we were digital immigrants or digital dinosaurs. He comforted the more shell-shocked members of the audience by reassuring us that we still have the ability to reach students - even if we don't have the latest gadgets and technologies down pat. Email may be old school, but students are still willing to use it to communicate with us.
He also mentioned several ways that media and gadget use are having impact on student lives. First, today's students (8-18 yrs. old) are exposed to about 8 1/2 hours of media per day - but they process it in about 6 1/2 hours of time. Can you say multitasking? This leads to a related consequence; youth live in a state of "continuous partial attention." This phrase was coined by Linda Stone to explain stresses and distractions of a media- and gadget-rich life. Students' relationships with media and information are also changing. Media is becoming accessible anywhere, anytime, and through almost any imaginable device. Information takes on a social aspect - students deal with the vast quantity by filtered by their interests and those of their social groups. Rainie equated this with creating a "Daily Me" for news.
Is it any surprise that all of this media exposure and social networking is also changing the way that students learn? Today's students don't make as much of a distinction between education and entertainment. They expect education to be highly collaborative and experiencial - just like their media environments. Lastly, media and gadgets are changing students social interactions. Rather than interacting solely with a small local group, a student may participate in a number of fluidly shifting networked groups. The slides for this presentation will eventually be posted on the College and Research Division website, but for now, you can view them here: http://faculty.ycp.edu/~vkline/pala2007_rainie/millenials.pdf
Lee Rainie's opening keynote address at Internet Librarian 2007 addressed similar themes, but added an intriquing new conceptual framework - a typology of technology users. Age-based tags like "Boomer," "Gen X," or "Millenial" are useful for some very broad generalizations, but within in each group, individuals may approach technology very differently. Lee proposes a typology based on how individuals relate to the technology in their lives. It breaks down as follows: (%=percent of population)
HIGH USE
Group 1: Omnivores (8%) - These individuals love gadgets and use them constantly. They will be the first in line for any new technology. They are connected 24/7.
Group 2: Connectors (7%) - These individuals also love technology, but place highest value on the ability to connect with other people and share information.
Group 3: Lackluster Veterans (8%) - These folks use technology, but they've done it often and long enough that they begin to value time off line and unconnected. They may not be fond of cell phones.
Group 4: Productivity Enhancers (8%) - These people are positive about technology that helps them. You usually won't find them blogging.
MIDDLE
Group 1: Mobile Centric (10%) - These folks love their cell phones, but aren't heavy internet users.
Group 2: Connected, but Hassled (10%) - If someone is complaining about information overload, they might be in this category. They don't like the fact that people can find them all the time.
LOW USE
Group 1: Inexperienced Experimenters (8%) - These folks are late adapters, but open-minded about trying out something new.
Group 2: Light and Satisfied (15%) - This group doesn't mind technology, but it's not the center of their lives. You might have to remind them to check email once a week!
Group 3: Indifferent (11%) -These people are rarely online. May use a cell phone occasionally.
Group 4: Off the Network (15%) - These folks refuse to have anything to do with cell phones or the internet. What's wrong with pen and paper for messages?
Lee expressed surprise at finding such a large percentage of people in the low use category. If you'd like to find out which group you belong to, you can take a test here:
http://www.pewinternet.org/quiz/quiz.asp
He warned us that many people are annoyed by their classifications, so take this at your own risk!
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Snail blogging
I'm amazed by the folks who can sit in a conference session and blog as the presenters talk. I'm a decent touch typist, but I tend to take notes as a series of thoughts, notes, and one-liners. If I tried to summarize in complete, coherent sentences, I'd miss 3/4s of the content.
I've thought about blogging in the evenings during the conference, but by the time sessions wrap up, I've usually heard the little "ding" that indicates that my brain has shut off. So I've creating a new term for my delayed musings - "snail blogging."
My next couple of postings will share some tidbits from Internet Librarian 2007. If you're in a rush to find out about, check out some of the power bloggers listed here: http://www.infotodayblog.com/other-bloggers-at-il-2007/
If you don't mind waiting for the snail blog, stay tuned....
v
I've thought about blogging in the evenings during the conference, but by the time sessions wrap up, I've usually heard the little "ding" that indicates that my brain has shut off. So I've creating a new term for my delayed musings - "snail blogging."
My next couple of postings will share some tidbits from Internet Librarian 2007. If you're in a rush to find out about, check out some of the power bloggers listed here: http://www.infotodayblog.com/other-bloggers-at-il-2007/
If you don't mind waiting for the snail blog, stay tuned....
v
Time to start blogging...
I've been saying "I gotta start a blog..." for several years now. Time to put the rubber to the road.
What is Squirrelly Librarian about? Expect to find a lot of odds -n- ends about the Internet, libraries, and technology. I'll try to link to conference presentations, webcast archives, and other stray documents that I think are useful.
You may also find references to quirky bits of information - my interests are wide-ranging, and at times bizarre. I operate out of left field on a regular basis - hence the "squirrelly!"
v
What is Squirrelly Librarian about? Expect to find a lot of odds -n- ends about the Internet, libraries, and technology. I'll try to link to conference presentations, webcast archives, and other stray documents that I think are useful.
You may also find references to quirky bits of information - my interests are wide-ranging, and at times bizarre. I operate out of left field on a regular basis - hence the "squirrelly!"
v
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