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This Week in LIS - 11 January 2013

Submitted by gossmand on January 11, 2013 - 11:39pm
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Headline of the Week: Value of Walking the Stacks

I am glad that in Preus Library at Luther College the stacks are open to the community. I like it for many reasons. One that I was reminded of this week was the value of walking through them to just see and be inspired by what’s on the spines and covers of the books on the shelves. A newer member from the Decorah community had come to the library to “check it out” and reported being drawn into the stacks as she passed by an aisle and for a time enjoyed being lost in the discovery and exploration. I also enjoy this. When I do this at a Barnes and Noble or the MIT Press Bookstore I generally end up with one of those very heavy duty shopping bags and a large credit card bill!

It begs the question, what is lost if one weren’t exposed to this “discovery and exploration” that comes from walking the stacks?

Also this week an article came by about a prep school in Minneapolis where the library’s collection was removed. This is a school that has a history of being very progressive. A good friend of mine, who had been their controller, shared some of their history with technology. They have had a laptop computer assigned to each student for some time. They have subscriptions to large digital repositories. Teachers were invited to take from the collection what they wanted for their classroom use and the lion’s share of the rest was donated/discarded; a library with (nearly) no books. Students can access materials digitally, get books from a number of nearby public libraries or bring them from home or from the set of classroom specific books. At this school there is no walking the stacks to see what one can discover and explore. They do still have a library that provides a number of services – just not physical books. Is it still a library?

In the Rochester Post Bulletin this week there was a report on the district’s plans for technology. It was reported that although the current proposal would not get them to a one-to-one iPad configuration, that is the desire of the superintendent. I frequently hear of schools going to one-to-one programs with tablets or laptops for each and every student. The Apple sales rep is one source of such cases. With that sort of enablement would they too consider disbanding their library’s physical book collection?

I wonder what expectations new students will have that come from one-to-one high school programs to Luther College? Will we have an opportunity to help them come to appreciate the value and joy of exploring and discovering in the physical stacks? In a complementary fashion I wonder what expectations and associated incoming skills they might have that we need to prepare for and what are the implications on our investments in both digital information resources, devices and associated networks and support?

I can imagine an interface much like the one I use to navigate my little collection of Kindle books that would provide some portion of the “walking the stacks” experience where one can see virtually the spines and jackets of the digital books. Will that be the same as walking the stacks?

What do you think?

Suggested Reading/Viewing:

School Library Thrives After Ditching Print Collection

School district plans $3.8 million technology update

Paul
paul.mattson@luther.edu

LIS Blog Highlights from the Week

The following articles are sampled from those available on the LIS Blog:

Notes from LIS Council

LIS Council is the leadership team within LIS. Among the topics discussed this past week were:

  • LIS Operational Agenda
    • Council members will be reporting on LIS operational views (metrics for processes and status of projects) regularly at LIS Council meetings. This week’s reports included the following:
    • Network & Systems
      • Adam showed us a spreadsheet his intern, Emmanuel, created related to viruses blocked by the new firewall’s virus scanning feature which was recently enabled. Descriptions of these potential viruses have been looked up and Adam has coded the alarming ones in red so he can follow up to see what IP addresses and workstations are associated with them to consider possible actions (e.g. quarantine if necessary until the workstation can be disinfected).
      • Adam also shared our first documented case of an android virus. This led to a discussion of what the Help Desk might do in cases where phones are quarantined from the network.
      • Network penetration testing is underway. Adam gave a brief description of what the tester has been doing. The on-site tester shared a couple of early discoveries where there is opportunity for an incremental improvement in security. Another discovery suggests perhaps further logical isolation of a certain class of devices might be in order.
    • User Services
      • GoPrint Metrics: Diane shared graphs showing that lab printing costs have gone way up this year and we are on track to exceed $25,000. The cost went up from 2010-11 to 2011-12, but was absorbed into the budget. However, this year’s costs cannot be absorbed. The number of impressions has gone up, but not as much as costs. Three possible factors: Dells replaced by HPs; increase in color printing; transfer of printing expectations from coursepack or departmental print to student’s responsibility.
      • Multimedia: The team is beginning to write the proposal; more on this as part of the returning items for this meeting.
      • Katie Video Streaming: A new video streaming solution has been developed for use with the new Katie version to be implemented Spring 2013; more on this as part of the new items for this meeting.
      • Help Desk: New student staff was added during J-Term, and training is underway. Several Parent Portal questions this week due to parents needing to make payments.
      • Others: Modern Language Lab (MLL) computers changing to standard lab image in J-Term because they no longer require a unique image; Qualtrics survey software is up and running in pilot phase; Norse Docs and Katie training begins next week; reviewing workflow of device replacement and naming of printers.
  • New Items
    • Google+ Policies
      • Andi has a student in her current J-Term class who is waiting to hear back from Google+ about whether or not he will be approved to join. She was wondering if he is the only student who has encountered this, or what might be done to ensure that actual Luther students can get on Google+ for course-related purposes. Andi will provide the student’s name to Adam and he will contact our Google representative.
    • Katie Video Streaming
      • An alternative method for streaming video with the new Katie version has been found and is working. However, we cannot use the same links to media stream that have been used in the past and faculty will need to contact the Help Desk for the new links. Announcements will be posted.
    • Faculty Development & Training for Spring 2013
      • Diane is looking for topic suggestions. Proposed topics thus far include: Google Sites (Perry), Google+ (Rian), Excel Mastery (Rian),Qualtrics (Toussaint, Wilder), SAS (Savariappan), GoToMeeting (Hughes), Katie, and Security. On a related note, Kevin Kraus has accepted that the LIS Summer Workshop should be one of three that new faculty should take.
    • Director of Facilities Search
      • Adam will represent LIS on the interview team for the new Director of Facilities.
  • Returning Items
    • Multimedia Proposal
      • The multimedia leadership team will meet on Thursday (1/10) to look at work plan, assignments, timeline, what other institutions have done. LIS Council looked at the draft document and talked about responsibilities and interdependencies. Parallel work on space is being led by Matt B, Andi, Diane; repository architecture by Ryan and Rachel; and storage and communications network infrastructure by Adam.
    • New Katie
      • Jennifer R, Lane, Bob P and Diane will meet on Monday prior to the first New Katie Faculty Working Session next week to further prepare. These sessions are designed for faculty and others with existing Katie sites or that want to use Katie to drop in with their questions or to get help developing or migrating their sites to the new Katie version to be implemented Spring 2013.
      • Matt Hughes is exploring alternative appointment management tools to replace Google Appointment Slots function which Google is deprecating in January.
      • Based on a discovery of a staff member that has a Katie site that was not aware of the new Katie version and associated migration we discussed how we might further communicate.
    • LIS Website Migration to Reason
      • Ryan/Rob both agree LIS will take advantage of available skilled student workers from Rob’s team to help with a portion of the LIS website migration to Reason. Next step is to coordinate with Rob with goal; this will get off the ground next week. Ryan has an understanding that we will be able to use the students beyond January and into the spring vs. an earlier thought that the student help would only be available in January. This will enable a more metered migration and we need to therefore create a system and manage the costs of synchronization and dual maintenance between the current site and the Reason site.
    • Datatel Migration
      • Marcia and the Datatel team in Software Development, along with a number report writing end users, worked with the consultant Monday through Wednesday this week. The focus continues to be on training, reporting and modeling using Business Objects software.
    • Campus Cable TV Contract
      • Adam shared that he understands the current 10-year TV cable contract is up this March. Adam will reach out to be part of the conversation based on the adjacency of LIS capabilities/mission to cable firms and cable infrastructure and digital information.

Upcoming LIS Training, Instruction, and Professional Development Opportunities

Click on the event below for specific information and for a link to register. More information on training and development events is available.

Course Format Date Location Enrollment
J-Term Reading Group: When Madeline Was Young by Jane Hamilton Workshop
Repeats every week until Tue Jan 22 2013 .
Jan 15 2013 – 4:00pm – 5:15pm 		CFL Closed
Google (Norse) Docs Workshop Jan 16 2013 – 9:00am – 9:30am Olin 301 – Round Table Room Open
New Katie – Faculty Working Session Workshop Jan 16 2013 – 9:30am – 12:00pm Olin 301 – Round Table Room Open
Be the Library: How to Lend Your Own E-Books Product Demonstration Jan 17 2013 – 12:30pm – 1:15pm Preus Library – Hovde Lounge Open
J-Term Reading Group: Luther College history & liberal arts education Workshop Jan 17 2013 – 4:00pm – 5:15pm CFL Open
Google (Norse) Docs Workshop Jan 21 2013 – 12:00pm – 12:30pm Olin 301 – Round Table Room Open
New Katie – Faculty Working Session Workshop Jan 21 2013 – 12:30pm – 3:00pm Olin 301 – Round Table Room Open
Get Inside E-Books in Your Library Workshop Jan 22 2013 – 3:00pm – 3:45pm Preus Library – Hovde Lounge Open
J-Term Reading Group: When Madeline Was Young by Jane Hamilton Workshop Jan 22 2013 – 4:00pm – 5:15pm CFL Closed
E-Reading on Your Tablet Workshop Jan 24 2013 – 10:00am – 10:45am Preus Library – Curriculum Classroom Open
Google (Norse) Docs Workshop Jan 29 2013 – 11:00am – 11:30am Olin 301 – Round Table Room Open
New Katie – Faculty Working Session Workshop Jan 29 2013 – 11:30am – 2:00pm Olin 301 – Round Table Room Open
It's Not Just Facebook!—What Every College Student Should Know About Online Privacy Online Conference Jan 30 2013 – 12:00pm – 1:00pm Preus Library – Hovde Lounge Open
Google (Norse) Docs Workshop Jan 31 2013 – 1:00pm – 1:30pm Olin 301 – Round Table Room Open
New Katie – Faculty Working Session Workshop Jan 31 2013 – 1:30pm – 4:00pm Olin 301 – Round Table Room Open

Training and instruction is provided to the Luther Community through Faculty Development Sessions, Library Instruction Sessions, Product Demonstrations, Skills Training, Workshops, 1-on-1 Sessions, and Online Materials. To schedule a session, contact the LIS Technology Help Desk at x1000 or enter your request online at http://help.luther.edu.

This week in LIS is published most Fridays by Paul Mattson, Executive Director of LIS at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.

Content is made available under Creative Commons license. Creative Commons License

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Comments

Print or Digital: What About the Librarian?

Submitted by rianje01 on January 18, 2013 - 11:34am.

Most excellent and thought-provoking conversation, all. I especially like that our J-Term interns have joined in the discussion. Mitch and Paul, it’s wonderful to have your voices added here—I hope you will continue to weigh in on posts after the internship is over and encourage your fellow students to do that same. Feedback and perspective from students like this is very valuable to us in LIS.

Now, back to the matter at hand. . .print vs digital, fast vs. slow, human vs. machine, questions of identity about libraries and librarians. This is all fodder for what could be endless conversation, however, for time purposes I am particularly interested in the question of the role of the librarian.

In the original article about the now bookless library at Benilde-St. Margaret’s, I thought it was interesting that it was the principal who was the spokesperson and apparent driving force behind the total digital transition of the library. Although this is not surprising given the leadership role of the principal, I did find it odd that we did not hear anything from the current librarian. One can make a variety of assumptions about this silence, one of which might be that this person was “old school” and thus leaving in the wake of this dramatic shift. I think this flows from a common perception that librarians are merely “book minders”. . .and thus if one takes away the books, one can take away the librarian as well.

This is something that I watched happen in the high school where I used to teach. Budget crunch led to the removal of the librarian’s position, replacing it with the equivalent of a hall monitor. Students technically had access to the same information that they did before (both print books and a variety of digital databases), but the actual learning that took place was greatly decreased. There was no guide, no educator to provide instruction about this vast information landscape, no professional whose job it was to curate the best resources from an overwhelming amount of information available.

Completely eliminating print collections is a drastic step, I believe. Educating students (whether K-12 or college) in how to be information literate in this digital world is essential, but print is not yet irrelevant. I like to think of libraries as laboratories of learning where we have a lot of different equipment and materials (books, computers, scanners, databases, etc.), but it’s the people. . .all of the different staff with their various specialties and the community members who come to create knowledge. . .that make this such a special and valuable place. We need to make wise decisions about how to bring together the best resources for our community whether that translates into stacks of print materials, specialized databases, technical equipment, or specific types of spaces. We need to make sure that people have access to the “latest and greatest” in terms of both technology and information so they can keep up with our rapidly changing world, while at the same time not forgetting/forsaking the wisdom and advantages that less shiny tools might have. It’s a tricky balancing act, particularly when you figure in the reality of budgets.

In the end though, it’s not as much about the stuff as it is about the people. . .or as one of my favorite librarians, David Lankes says, “. . . a room full of books is simply a closet, but an empty room with a librarian in it is a library.”

San Antonio BiblioTech

Submitted by grifsa01 on January 17, 2013 - 10:53am.

The country’s first bookless public library: http://news.yahoo.com/library-without-books-bibliotech-open-193118588—...

Preference vs Efficiency

Submitted by defami01 on January 16, 2013 - 10:14pm.

My decision to make Library Science into my intended graduate study is new, and thus I am relatively new to many of the issues that book keepers of all kinds have been facing for years now. That being said, the thought of stepping away from keeping physical copies of books in our libraries and moving more towards relying solely on electronic sources makes me nervous. But when I think about it, I have to question exactly why that is. As a college student, I need to constantly consider the best use of my time and how to complete tasks as efficiently as possible. Under these conditions, it would only make sense that I WOULD prefer to use electronic sources over books. By using electronic sources, I could find whatever material I need by just putting in a few little words box and even more directly related to it, saving me the time of scouring the shelves for whatever I need and, at times, discovering that it isn’t even there. Within ebooks I can quick find any passage that I might want by looking up key words in the document, making leafing through a book and even turning to an index into an unneeded burden. And perhaps there is the simple fact that a tablet is much more compact than 6 books forced into my backpack which I have to lug back to my dorm room. But even with all of these conditions, why do I prefer to use these books and printed copies of journals rather than these immensely more convenient electronic resources?

The question I asked myself directly after was: is it a bad thing if I am not as efficient as I can possibly be? Perhaps this is getting a little “out there”, but isn’t what makes all of us human is our imperfections? It seems very easy for us to become completely obsess ourselves with making the most of every single minute to get the most done as possible. But I like reading books. I like witnessing the progress I’m making by comparing the number of pages on either side of an open book instead of glancing at a small number at the bottom of a screen with a percentage sign beside it (or looking at a scroll bar). I like the smell of an old book as I flip through the pages. I like to underline passages I find important or just plain enjoy with a pen instead of clicking into the tool bar and selecting from my choice of dozens of colors. Perhaps I enjoy all of this because there is just a little more humanity in these actions than relying completely on technology.

But this is all personal opinion. There are plenty of others who find that using electronic sources to be a much more rewarding and valuable use of their time. I believe what libraries need to concern themselves with is trying to facilitate the needs of individuals from both sides of the spectrum (those who prefer using books or electronic sources) and all those in between. Of course, this is a simplification of a gigantic problem. All the same, I do believe that forcing students into relying on one form of research and completely forsaking the other is doing them a disservice.

To Shelve or Not to Shelve

Submitted by tuskpa01 on January 15, 2013 - 3:29pm.

After working at the library for several years, I have become very accustomed to shelving books in the stacks. While it may seem monotonous to some, I actually thoroughly enjoy this circulation task. It allows me to get out into the library and see all the things we have to offer. I get a real sense of the collection through what I see, hear, smell, and feel. I have run into many interesting books and just simply enjoy looking at all the different colors, sizes, and prints on each book’s spine. What would happen if the stacks were removed from the library in favor of more digital resources?

Luther College’s mission statement states the mission of the college is to “strive to be a community where students, faculty, and staff are enlivened and transformed by encounters with one another, by the exchange of ideas, and by the life of faith and learning.” I believe that eliminating the books or a majority of them from a Preus would be an attack on this mission statement of the college. The use of books allows students, faculty, and staff to encounter new ideas, seemingly by accident in ways they would not experience with a mere internet search engine. Books have been around for hundreds and hundreds of years and must remain in the library.

That said …

I have been interning in Preus library for the month of January. Through meetings with many different people in the LIS organization, I have witnessed how technology effects the library. (ILL, computers, E-books, blogs, etc.) A dictionary definition of libraries defines them as spaces containing collections of resources for patrons to use. In this age of digitization, the vast array of technology available to spread information is changing the way a library is able to meet the needs of the community it serves. In this way, libraries and librarians need to honor the ways of the past, while at the same time looking forward and to be innovators. In my opinion, a great library of today will look a lot like a great library of the past from the outside. And maybe even from the inside, but at closer examination it will be a place that not only offers the print resources needed by its patrons, but it will also house digital resources, journals, and computers. After meeting today with Jennifer Rian for my internship in the library, I have also found the the librarian of today and tomorrow will need to be someone who is able to communicate using social media and know the most efficient ways to communicate online. These methods will help connect the library and librarians to the people they serve to help make libraries good stewards of the information they hold.

Not all Stacks are Equal

Submitted by goodinjo on January 12, 2013 - 11:46am.

Great topic this week! I believe that serendipity often plays an important role in learning (and in life). There are many libraries worldwide where the actual collections aren’t open to the public for browsing (including our own Library of Congress) but real scholarship and learning still occur. So, to me, a library without browsing can still be a great library. These libraries, however, still house and curate actual collections and, of course, these collections (both physical and digital) are maintained and managed by highly educated, highly motivated, members of a centuries old information management professional class (“librarians”).

One could argue that the open stacks of most American libraries have been (and continue to be in this transitional time) fundamental to the creativity and innovation that characterizes American culture. (I imagine that book has already been written.) I want to argue that it’s not enough for the stacks to be open, they also need to contain the right stuff. There needs to be a mix of recent and old, plain and eye-catching. A library overly full of dull, out-dated, dusty volumes will deter even the most eager browser. A small liberal arts college library, in particular, ought to be a place where a browsing student is inspired and engaged by volumes carefully chosen and attractively arranged on its shelves.

I particularly enjoyed the comments to the original School Library Journal article regarding the cafeteria-like appearance of the bookless Moore Library. For centuries a library was obviously a library, a sacred space, a temple of learning. Today our growing digital collections (wonderful as they are) can lead us to a place where, almost by chance, we find ourselves not sure if we are in a library, a computer lab, a hangout, or a coffee shop. I think there is room for all of those places under the library umbrella but one of our challenges is how to maintain the essential space for thinking and learning that is at the root of “library” as we open that umbrella. I think that in 2013 the experience of browsing row after row of well-chosen, carefully cataloged physical books is still a big part of the solution to that challenge.

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