Evening Session: Dead & Innovative Technologies

Evening Session: Dead & Innovative Technologies

Marshall's view of library technology
-pragmatic approach -adopt technologies that support the strategic mission of the libraries
-"help libraries be better libraries"
-long view of the impact of technology on libraries
-not so much a mover and shaker but a survivor

urgency for innovation
-libraries are good at taking the tech of the current gen and applying it to the reality of their last gen & calling it next gen
-not so great track record at moving forward at the pace of change of society, media, and tech
-transition to electronic content has been underway for a decade, yet we still lack effective tools to manage them effectively
-need to have a mastery of search and delivery that surpasses the commercial realm, yet we continue to cling to hopelessly ineffective tools

life cycles
-dead -we know that it's dead, not good investments
-should be dead -continues to be used, but holds libs back
-emerging & innovative

computer architectures
-dead: mainframe, proprietary platforms
-dying: client/server computing
-emerging & innovative: web-based computing, cloud computing, service-oriented architecture

library automation deployment models
-dead or dying: standalone lib automation
emerging & innovative: shared automation implement (consortia, regional, state, nat'l), new models of collaboration, resource sharing among groups of peer institutions

library interfaces
-dead: text-based interfaces, any non-web interface
-emerging: rich internet applications
dead
-libary interfaces designed to make librarians happy...
emerging
-library interfaces designed to make our users happy

dying
web 2.0
-libs have latched on to web 2.0 as an almost fixed model to shape their understanding of the computing, while the rest of the world has pushed forward
-we've taken web 2.0 and shoved it into a silo
-we have not brought the concepts into the fundamental infrasturcture that powers libs. it's an add-on
-web 2.0 apps often jettison users away from library's web site. counter to the strategy of funneling users in to the web fabric that delivers its content & services

emerging & innovative
-socially aware, enterprise-level lib auto.
-lib auto. frameworks built from the ground up as a collab app
-social interaction not an afterghought
-treats user-supplied data as assets that we organize, manage, and preserve


Dead/Alive -Amanda Etches-Johnson
5 things -technologies, ideas- are they dead or alive?

blogs are dead
-as soon as something gets on whitehouse.gov, it's not trendy anymore (jessamyn)
-engaging, authentic blogs are alive and well

Twitter is dead
-as soon as your cable company friends you, the technology is at least not trendy, if not dead

Information Architecture is dead
-it's all about user experience right now
-it's not about building that great taxonomy or a foolproof nav, it's about the user experience

Second Life is dead
-no, seriously, there's like nobody there

usability is alive and well
-doesn't have to be big & expensive -can be as simple as card sorting or doing rapid prototypes on paper
-can be as simple as writing content that your users "get"
test your f***ing labels ->Karen Coombs

Your spime is in my library -Aaron Schmidt

post-desktop situation
ubiquitous computing -ubicomp; everyware, internet of things, ambient intelligence
-your banana's gonna have a URI and be able to talk to your car

?UI -no one knows what the user interface is gonna look like
analog -> digital
there's a lot of money to be made

RFID chips are becoming really cheap -pennies per chip rather than dollars
old people -home is aware of your health status?
RFIP dust -smart dust, MEMs
QR codes
netflix, hulu, kindle & kindle iPhone app
dropbox -efficient distribution
andriod operating system from google -set top box for TV?
Extended Environments Markup Language (EEML) -pachube
ipso
mobilizy -app for google phone -can tell you info about where you are (tourists, etc.)
ambient umbrella -lets know you if there's rain in the day's forecast
space in time object (SPIME) -meat package w/ RFID tag, know history of your food

question for libraries: what are we supposed to do?
-if everything has a URI, what are the catalogers going to do?

Books: Everyware -Adam Greenfield
Shaping Things -Bruce Stirling


Darlene Fichter
everything needs a tag!

Predictions
mass media revolution -> personal media revolution
-end of rabbit ears? or the decline of TV as we know it?
"Farewell Information, it's a Media Age" -Paul Saffo, table 1

things I know
#1 technology can actually hurt you sometimes

#2 the forecast is cloudy (cloud computing, tag cloud)
-time to open the adult collection in your library and generate revenue!
-how in the hell is putting more computers & gaming systems into the library 'green'?
-cloud computing is going to be like a tornado for your library
-it's time for one catalog to rule them all -should be a service in the cloud
-one database to rule them all ->google scholar will be gone if the economy continues as it is -won't generate enough revenue
-reference -don't want to talk about that (it's one thing to pick on cataloging people...)

#3 these technologies MUST die
-Windows Vista ::won't miss this view:: 2005-2009
-power cords -never want to have to plug anything in again in my life


Stephen Abram
in dog years, I'm dead

using the hyatt as a model for library land
-keep the bar closed all day
-never make eye contact with customers
-keep the coffee counter closed most of the day
-staff should move as slowly as possible, backwards in time as possible
-if you feminize the mens' room, don't make your sign say where men should go
-"putting the frown in out logo every day!"

public library: like wikipedia, only it takes 4 hours (comic)
what's dead? -vinyl

watching change
-kids, seniors, zoomers
-election polling
-olympics yahoo vs. nbc
-telephones, readers
-the economy -nuff said
-newspapers-Detroit cancelled home delivery two days ago & Sun Times Media Group today
-Encarta died yesterday (oct 31, 2009)
-kindle & skype for iPhone
-Wikia search-dead pooled today by Jimmy Wales

what is the deadest tech for libraries?
-people with their heads up...
when your kids' stuffed animals have a social life on the internet, it's no longer a fad
are going to a totally build it yourself world? imagine IKEA merging with GM...
-when journalism goes away, assemble your own newspaper

will reading matter? audiobooks and eBooks... and google
it's reading that matters, not books -don't worry about the container (it's about knowledge, not the container)

what does your best borrowed report look like?
how do your community content reviews do?
do you offer podcasts?
are your content displays (physical or virtual) innovative?
can you circulate books from anywhere?
are we going to be the tree falling in the forest?
can the modern director use data?
the people in charge of leading school organizations into the 21st century often are the least knowledgeable about the 21st cent
how are our libraries evolving?

top 10 unintentionally worst URLs
whorepresents.com
expertsexchange
penisland.net
therapistfinder.com
powergenitalia.com
molestationnursery.com
ipanywhere.com
cummingfirst.com -First Cumming Methodist Church
speedofart.com
gotahoe.com
Favorite filtering disasters
specialist
middlesex county
PDF -portable document format
magnum cum laude
canadian business and current affairs
inner tube
president bush
fcuk
what's your bread and butter? it's not about storing the stuff like we're an inventory

Stupid librarian tricks
-my education was substandard
-the OPAC sucks
-come for books!
-market to our cardholders
-open source is free
-we can protect children

Getting their attention? Fuck Google, Ask Me! -advertisers ultimately control what shows up on the first page of results

[I thought this was a great, entertaining-and-thought-provoking session. And the desserts provided were good, too!]