Additional thoughts and comments from NASIG 2007

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Below is a smattering of additional thoughts and comments from NASIG 2007:

Karen Schneider‘s paranoia and negativity about things like Google, EPA library closings, survival of small press publishers. Her purpose as a vision speaker was to stimulate debate and thought and I think she succeeded in that. I may not agree with her overall philosophy or approach to these issues but I think it is very healthy to step back and question some of the broader trends in librarianship and ask the hard questions about where they are leading us.

Brainstorming session intended to provide a forum for discussing the problem of reluctance on the part of members to run for office. I wish more people other than “old timers” had spoken up and that there had been more focus on concrete answers to the questions raised by the moderator (Katy Ginanni) and less on generalizations about “trust me, it is really, really good to serve on the Board.”

Dan Chudnov‘s emphasis on the need for simplicity in resource access and discovery. His reliance on iTunes as the standard for judging simplicity has many some flaws even if his general point is well taken. I especially liked his point about trying something out and tweaking it a little. That little tweak may pay off in huge dividends in terms of successful adoption of a new technology. I also think he has a great idea by proposing that libraries insert themselves into the realm of what he terms “service links.” These are available in just about every major media outlet on the web and commonly include links to Technorati, del.icio.us, and other social networking services.

Yet more assumptions about fellow librarians having or sharing the same — liberal — political approach and philosophy. E.g. several negative references to the current (Bush) administration, wearing t-shirt supporting a Democrat’s presidential candidacy, etc. Noticed Dan Chudnov’s reference in his speech to “liberal” vs. “right wing” — perhaps an unconscious but notable inflection of wording.

Importance of networking. I am not a social butterfly at all. In fact, lots of social interaction leaves me exhausted. (By contrast, others like my friend Beverley Geer get their energy from social interaction.) In spite of my natural shyness — some people tell me I come across as aloof — I keep trying to hone my skills and break down the barriers that hold me back from meeting new people. At NASIG this is easier for me to do than in some other situations. I enjoyed sitting next to people at the dine-arounds who were total strangers to me, conversing with them about their work, their interests, and issues of mutual concern. In this way I found out some really interesting details, such as the fact that one longtime NASIG member is an accomplished piano (and flute) player, with two Steinway grands. I learned a lot of interesting facts about the city of Houston from someone else, such as the fact that it had no zoning laws of any kind until relatively recently. Yet another conversation filled me in on what it is like as a foreign national to live in Johannesburg, South Africa (like living in a prison).

Discussion with a librarian from a university in the Southwest about what it’s like to have a non-librarian as library director and the drastic — good — changes brought about so that the library is once more popular with students as a destination.

Several mentions of “work / life balance.”

General recognition (I think) that ERMS are not working out well for many, at least not yet. I likened them to a solution in search of a problem in one open mic comment at a session and described my library’s very recent decision to get out of the vendor-supplied ERMS game altogether. There was some interest in open source solutions.

  • <![CDATA[dchud]]>

    Aww, c’mon, don’t just say the iTunes comparison is flawed without saying why. It’s a commonplace example of a level of ease of use that’s worth shooting for, and its underlying protocol is one that we can use, too (as I explained). What’s your concern with that as an example?

    And, for what it’s worth, I’m not holding iTunes up per se as *the* standard for judging simplicity – I’m saying that our users are already starting to that whether we like it or not (just like they started doing with google several years ago), and that compared to that, we’re failing to make things simple enough.

    Honestly, too, I don’t know what you mean by my use of the terms “liberal” and “right wing”. Each is commonly used as a derogatory term by the other side. Did it make you think I was actually speaking from one side or the other?

    More than anything, though, I’m just bummed you couldn’t stick around long enough to say hi before your next session. :)

  • http://www.familymanlibrarian.com/ <![CDATA[Steve]]>

    Dan,

    You caught me in a very basic faux pas: criticizing something without giving any reasons to back up my criticism. That’s way too easy to do; doesn’t take much thought. Sorry. iTunes is, as you note, a good, commonplace example of ease of use. No argument there. Where I think that model is flawed has to do with my not quite seeing the connection between music and other digital or print objects that one can become “aware” of. (The auto-discovery point you were trying to make.) For instance, I find it a stretch to understand how the iTunes auto-discovery functionality can be reasonably applied when finding like articles, or like books, or like chapters. That would be really cool and interesting but I can’t quite see how it would work. Maybe I am not making sense here, so please let me know if my point isn’t clear.

    I guess another reason I find the iTunes model flawed is a nitpicky one. Recently I began to use a new music streaming service called nuTsie, which basically purports to allow you to stream your own iTunes library to your cell phone or to wherever you are on the web via a web-based player interface. Really neat idea, right? The basic concept behind-the-scenes is that it takes the xml of my iTunes library, compares it to music it already has stored and/or tunes from other nuTsie users, and then automatically generates a playlist of those tunes that provide a match. First of all, most of my songs weren’t matched. Second, and this is the main thing I wanted to mention, those tunes that nuTsie matched using its algorithm were more than likely not a match at all. Instead most of them were different versions of songs that I had. (E.g. a live performance vs. a studio performance.) Some were downright wrong as matches. What does that have to do with your use of iTunes as an example? Mainly it is an example to me of the weak link that poor metadata can be in terms of leveraging the power of shared and/or discoverable libraries of digital “stuff.”

    Regarding the comment I made about your use of the term “liberal” vs. the term “right wing”: Yes, I know that each term or phrase can be used derogatorily. But to me, there is a fine but distinct shade of meaning between “liberal” and say, “left wing.” The latter is, to me, more negative. I didn’t claim that you were consciously trying to speak from one side or another. I just found the use of the different terms noteworthy.

    Honestly, this is one of the first times I’ve publicly mentioned what I see as a huge gap in political/social views that exists between me and most of my peers. By doing this, I am not asking for sympathy or agreement; nor, on the other hand, am I hoping for argument. It’s just a statement of my view of things. Yes, I do believe that the profession as a whole is waaaay more liberal than I am. That bothers me sometimes but most of the time, I just accept it. When I get bothered by it, it has more to do with a sense at times (such as at a conference) that there is somehow an overt assumption among our little club of librarians that we all hate Bush/Cheney/whomever, we all hate Republicans, we all are ashamed of the U.S., or what-have-you. And what follows that assumption is that if you aren’t of that same mindset, you must be some looney.

    So…I hope this long epistle adequately answers some of the points you’ve raised. And I too am disappointed to have not met you face-to-face. You challenge my thinking a lot in an area of keen interest for me and I’ve learned a lot from you. Keep up the good work!