rachelvacek.com

Well, I survived the BIGWIG Social Software Showcase that took place at ALA in Anaheim this year.  I attended last year, and this year I was one of the presenters! I really admire my colleagues for all their cool ideas and enthusiasm.  They pulled it off last year, and this year’s attendance and feedback indicated how successful this format of presentation can be.

Unfamiliar with BIGWIG or what the Social Software Showcase is all about?  BIGWIG is a complicated acronym which is basically the Blogs and Wikis Interest Group of LITA, the Library and Information Technology Association, a division of ALA, which is the mothership of library organizations. BIGWIG is all about investigating, playing with, and sharing the latest collaborative and communicative technologies and looking at how they can be used effectively in libraries and beyond.  I am proud to be a part of this group and excited to be doing my part.  Yet I want to do more…

Last year, the Social Software Showcase had about 25 physical attendees.  This year, we had 125+ people and even a live video stream of the Showcase via uStream. There was no more room on the floor, at a table, or anywhere in the room. But what makes this thing different than any other program at ALA? Well, typically, the format for most programs at these conferences is someoneor a panel speaks, and the audience listens.  There might be time for Q&A at the end, but engaging the audience is not always the priority.

BIGWIG feels that people come to a conference to learn and to do networking and interact with other people - things that you can’t as easily do at home.  Why fly all the way out to California and sit and listen to someone talk when you can listen to a podcast of his or her talk or watch a video of the presentation at home?  The opportunity to interact with those who are presenting - the experts, the innovators, the people who are enthusiastic about technology - is what the Showcase is really about.  So if you go to YourBIGWIG.com, you’ll see that all the presentations, both of those present and who weren’t at ALA,  are online. The showcase’s live stream was recorded and is available to watch! At the Showcase, we basically just did introductions, spoke for a couple minutes about what our “topic” was on, and lead a table discussion.  Attendees were free to walk around from table to table to ask questions or just listen in.  There were people who knew a lot and some who were brand new and just wanted to see what we were all about.  It was an awesome time.  If I couldn’t answer a question, other people at the table usually could.

The format of the Showcase provided an opportunity for people who don’t know much about a particular technology to ask questions in a small group and to feel comfortable doing so.  Those people might not speak up in a room of 500 people.

The format also allowed people with similar interests and projects to network.  Again, it would be harder to do so in a group of 500.

I hope that as more people come and experience the closeness, the enthusiasm, the innovativeness, and the technologies presented at Showcases in the future, they will take some ideas and possibly even the format back to their interest groups, committees, and divisions.  This Showcase proves that presentations can be more engaging, fun, virtual, and interactive.  Isn’t that what Library 2.0 is supposed to be about anyway?  Why aren’t more people giving presentations about Library 2.0 in a Library 2.0 way?  We do this for our users - why not for one another?

Presenter: Jason Clark, Head of Digital Access & Web Services

The presentation and the handout can be found on his website, http://www.lib.montana.edu/~jason/talks.php

What is an API?

An API is an application programming interface for developers to access parts of a remote web site and integrate it with their own site.

An API allows you to manipulate the data. You can run a query, and let people use your data in other ways.

What is a web service?

• Broader term
• Public interface (API)
• Provides access to data and/or procedures
• On a remote/external system (usually)
• Use structured data for data exchange (often XML)

Find a service you like, and learn how to modify it. Play with it, use it, know it inside and out.

What is structured data?

Structured data = XML and JSON

• Extensible Mark-up Language and Javascript Object
• Notation
• Flexible mark-up languages
• Lightweight and easy to parse
• Allow communication between disparate systems

POST and GET

• You can post and get data from a particular web service

Why USE web services?

• Access to content/data stores you could not otherwise provide (zip codes, news, pictures, reviews, etc.)
• Enhance site with a service that is not feasible for you to provide (maps, search, products, etc.)
• Combine these services into a seamless service you provide (mash-ups)

Why PROVIDE web services?

• You have a service that benefits your users best if they can get to their data from outside the application
• You want others to use your data store in their applications

So… What web services are available? There are tons to choose from. Here are some of the biggies:

• Google (reviews, images, etc.)
• Yahoo!
• Amazon
• eBay
• Flickr
• del.icio.us
• Google App Engine (fairly new!!! It’s a storage service.)
• Amazon s3 (This is also a storage service.)
• Many more…

Some cool APIs

• Programmable Web
• AllCDCovers.com
• ISBNdb.com
• OpenDOAR
• arXiv.org

What is SOAP?

• XML files talking to one another.
• An acronym for Simple Object Access Protocol
• Version 1.2 of the W3C recommendation dropped the acronym
• Specification maintained at w3.org
• There’s nothing simple about SOAP!
• Send a message specifying an action to take, including data for the action
• Receive a return value from the action
• Most SOAP services provide a WSDL file to describe the actions provided by the service

What’s WSDL?

• Web Services Description Language
• XML mark-up for describing the functionality provided by a SOAP service

SOAP is complex

• Complex
• Messaging and Data mingled
• Usually seen in software APIs, but many scripting languages have libraries
• Google API has moved away from it

What is XML-RPC?

• XML Remote Procedure Call
• Specification maintained at xmlrpc.com
• Provides a means to call methods/procedures on a remote server and make changes and/or retrieve data
• An early specification
• Most common implementation of XML-RPC used today is that of blog ping services
  Technorati, Flickr, FeedBurner, others?
• An updating protocol
• Early adoption, but little recent development

What is REST?

• The greatest thing since sliced…
• Representational State Transfer
• Unique data resources with addresses

Theory of REST

• Focus on diversity of resources (nouns), not actions (verbs)
• Every resource is uniquely addressable
• All resources share the same constrained interface for transfer of state (actions)
• Must be stateless, cacheable, and layered

REST = Web Protocol

• Web As Prime Example
• URLs uniquely address resources
• HTTP methods (GET, POST, HEAD, etc.) and content types provide a constrained interface
• All transactions are atomic
• HTTP provides cache control
• Similarity to web - easy to understand
• URL is the method
• Most popular type of web service

“Respect the URL!” - Jason Clark

Web Services in Action

• Scriblio - Casey Bisson build a library catalog within WordPress. It’s being used at Plymouth State University. Here is their description:
  • Scriblio (formerly WPopac) is an award winning, free, open source CMS and OPAC with faceted searching and browsing features based on WordPress. Scriblio is a project of Plymouth State University, supported in part by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
• Repository66: mash-up of OpenDOAR data with Google Maps and repository growth charts
  • Mashup of Google Maps and repositories
• ROAR, developed by Stuart Lewis of the University of Aberystwyth, Wales
• LibraryThing APIs
• lofiAPI: MSU Libraries (ETD, RMT)
• MSU Library Lifestream: RSS services (Twitter, del.icio.us, last.fm, MSU Library Blog)

Lifestream. You could create a “subject guide” based on what a particular librarian is finding in LibraryThing, YouTube, and other types of web services. Use this to show people what folks in the library are doing!

• TERRApod Youtube admin
• Google Booksearch

Start small, with something simple like RSS before you tackle Amazon or Google APIs.

Getting our hands dirty now! Take a look at some of the examples from class RIGHT HERE (includes code and demos!):
http://www.lib.montana.edu/~jason/files.php

Here are three examples we looked at:

• Google Ajax Search API
• Amazon Reviews & Thumbnails (PHP)
• Flickr API - Display Photos (JSON)

Page with new books. Include images, reviews, etc.

Pull in pics from Flickr.

What Jason learned from playing with all this

• Web services are closed source software
• Documentation and online support is vital
• Debugging can be hard
• Similarities to common protocols are important
• Practice and finding your development kit is essential

His last thoughts…

• This stuff is just beginning
• Worldcat API - IT’S COMING!!!
• Digital Library Federation API recommendation
• Library mashups are coming - there’s just too much good data out there

Overall, this is all REALLY cool stuff. I can’t wait to get back to campus and get down and dirty with some of this stuff! So many ideas are rumbling around in my head. APIs
rock!

About the session: Drupal, a free, open source content management system, can be utilized to create substantial social networking websites. It offers a flexible modular configuration that allows website community creators to pick and choose functionality ranging from blogs, social bookmarking tools, private messaging, tagging, chat, groups, and events calendars. This session discusses how libraries and librarians are utilizing this increasingly popular new technology to create community-based websites.

Image: from madinkbeard on Flickr.

About the speaker: Ellyssa Kroski, Reference Librarian, Columbia University

She started off talking about how she used it in classes. Sheused several different modules: favorites, guestbooks, polls, chatroom, multiple blogs, tagging, social bookmarking, send to a friend, photo sharing, FAQ, etc.

Drupal runs on Apache, WAMP, MySQL, PHP, etc.

Structure

• Core has basic functionality
• 1900 contributed modules available online

Themes - There are multiple themes available.

Drupal has an engaged user community, 36,000 members.

There are Drupal conferences, too!

Drupal 6 was recently released. There were 100,000 downloads in just the 1st month.

How are Libraries using Drupal?

• Library websites
• Intranets
• Collaboration Tools
• Communities

Examples
Ann Arbor District Library uses Drupal to design their entire library website. They have integrated a way to deal with the catalog and tagging. They also have a development blog where they share some of their code.

Franklin Park Public Library has a small library without IT staff. 1 person did it in a very short period of time.

St. Lawerence University Library

University of Mennesota Libraries
Ethic Share
HarvestChoice
Usability Testing

University of Alaska in Anchorage - They have a multi-site installation, 3 websites

• Staff intranet
• library website
• Distance Learners Edition

IUPUI Library

• library website, retrieves their list of databases along with descriptions and categories and other info from ExLibris.
• Librarians have their own subject pages.
• Future Plans: librarian profiles, patrons customize the look of the webpage, staff intranet

Simon Fraser University Library

• Student Learning Commons Workshops
• Students can sign up, event reminders, cancel own registration, etc.

Florida State University Libraries

Red Deer Library

• staff Intranet
• “just testing” section - New modules on staff website. If they are well liked, they are added later. Sort of like a Google labs area.
• Library board of trustees drupal site

University of Alaska Fairbanks

• DVD borwser

Hoover Public Library

• added Captha module
• several microsites on one Drupal install

University of Saskatchewan Library

• new Book listings,
• Room Booking
• custom module for patron types - context sentitive stuff
• resource handling module
• E-Resources module
• intranet, directory System, user permissions are managed here too (ask Karen about this)

Cleveland Public Library

• -custom search developed to search all sites (module is available to public)
• Ohio Center for the Book
• their developer left - feel left in the dark

Idaho Commission for Libraries

• e-Branch in a box

Westlake Porter Library

Monterey Public Library

Hamline University Law Library

SWON Libraries consortium

Trends surfaced:

• most have had positive results
• many were intranets

5 Modules to really consider:

1. bibliography modules, scholarly publications (compatible with endnote)
2. Marc Record
3. Book review module
4. Millennium searches III webopac
5. z35.50 module

Support:

• Drupal listservs
• Drupal Groups
• Drupallers Community
• Drupal Camp
• DrupalCons (conferences)
• Drupal Dojo - podcats on how to do things with Drupal

There is a Library Technology Report about Drupal.

Ellyssa ended with the famous Drupal video.Her slides are available on SlideShare:  www.slideshare.net/ellyssa

The 2nd Annual InfoTubey Award Ceremony was awesome. The room was packed and the panel was dressed as if for the Oscars. The event was hosted by Bill Spence, the VP, Information Technology, Information Today, Inc. The panelists included Marshall Breeding, Director for Innovative Technologies and Research, Vanderbilt University; Kathy Dempsey, Editor,Marketing Library Services (MLS) newsletter; Darlene Fichter, Data Library Coordinator, University of Saskatchewan; Rebecca Jones, Dysart & Jones Associates; and Aaron Schmidt, Director, North Plains Public Library.

What are the InfoTubey Awards, you ask?

These awards are presented to those organizations or individuals for outstanding YouTube productions. Presented on the red carpet at the Computers in Libraries conference, these awards recognize those creating YouTube library-related productions. Awards are presented to the top five productions that demonstrate creativity and innovation in marketing a library or library services or enhancing the library’s value.

Anyway, here are the winners. My absolute favorite one was Library Zombies video. You gotta watch it! It’s great!

About the session: Looking for ways to speed up, clean up, and optimize your site with minimal effort? These 35 1-minute upgrades show you how to fine-tune your sites code, design, and structure to make your site faster, more flexible, and more standards-compliant. Do one, do 10, or do them all to maximize your sites performance in minimal time.

Speaker: Jeff Wisniewski, Web Services Librarian, University of Pittsburgh
Jeff Wisniewski received his MLS from the University of Pittsburgh School of Information Sciences. He is the Web Services Librarian for the University Library System at the University of Pittsburgh, where he maintains the Library System’s public website, staff intranet, coordinates technical support for Pitt’s University-wide ETD program, and project manages new technology initiatives . He serves as a Visiting Lecturer in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh, has taught numerous technology workshops, and is a frequent presenter at web and Internet conferences. He has published in such journals as IRSQ, Online, CIL, and has authored a chapter in the recently released Haworth monograph Federated Search: Solution or Setback for Online Library Services.

My Notes: Change should be interactive and continuous, and not just be about making a major change once in a while. There are many things you can do to fix the speed of your website, and most of the following take a minute, maybe up to 5 minutes for some.

Why should you care? Users do pay attention to the freshness of your websites. Here are some things you can do:

1. Update your copyright symbol. Use php so it’s automatically updated.
2. Add a last updated script to every web page. Use an external script so it can be called for every page.
3. Add photos to your contact page. It increases trust and recognition. People like knowing that there is a real person behind the name.
4. Use MicroFormats - uses XML code. Turn borring old contact information into exciting hCards. Some programs will know what to do with microformats, but not all. There is an extension for Firefox, too.
5. Harness the power of the 3 question survey:
   • Why are are you visiting today?
   • Were you able to complete your tasks today?
   • If not, why? Ask for their email address so you can do some follow-up and outreach.
6. Don’t make your server think. Use the final / when referencing a directory so the server knows to automatically look for a directory.
7. Don’t use the phrase “click here.” Helps when people scan a web site quickly for info.
8. Provide graphic clues to what is happening on the web site. Web 2.0-ify your logo using Web 2.0 Stylr.
9. Users have the need, the need for speed! Install YSlow which analyzes web pages and tells you why they’re slow.
10. Get static elements of your site into the user’s cache, which will let certain files stay fresh and not expire.
11. Open the .htaccess in your server root. Add code (code that is on his slide and I wasn’t able to copy down - he’s was too quick for me!) This code will help files not expire during a user’s session.
12. Combine small images into an image map (improves speed download)
13. Eliminate inline scripts (except for your library’s homepage)
14. Make sure your pages are validated. Can use XHTML tidy.
15. Thin is in. Is your CSS bloated? Try using the CleanCSS tool.
16. People do not pay attention equally to all sections of a web page. More important Information should be at the top and on the left or at the very bottom. People have formed “banner blindness” to many areas of the screen, including top and middle right sides. That stuff is in the “blindness zone.”
17. Learn some more about SEO (Search Engine Optimization). SEO your title pages. Use a Google Webmaster account, Site link –> Diagnostics –> Content analysis –> Title Tag Analyzer. It’s important to have really good page titles. A recommended format for titles is:
    • Document Title / Section Name / Site Name
18. The Global “Find and replace” tool is your friend
19. Add labels to forms to improve accessibility. This way, the checkbox text and not just the checkbox becomes clickable.
20. Use radio buttons and check boxes appropriately.
21. SMO - make your site social media friendly
22. Use the Social Bookmarks Creator

I found Jeff to be an engaging speaker. He kept his presentation going at an exciting speed, keeping you on the edge of your seat. A lot of his tips were practical, helpful, and many were obvious but are often neglected by webpage managers. I am excited about sharing this info at mpow when I get back home.

About the speaker:  Lee Rainie was the opening keynote speaker at Computers in Libraries this year. He is the founding Director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project. I have heard him speak before, and as always, he is a great, enthusiastic speaker.

About his presentation:  Rainie discusses the findings of a major national survey that examined how Americans use the internet and libraries when they face significant issues or milestones in their lives. The survey looks at the pathways people use to get to the information they want and the kinds of information they use when facing issues such as health problems, furthering their education, and exploring government benefits. The Project’s work pays particular attention to those who have limited access to the internet and the ways in which libraries might serve them.  His talk was titled Libraries Solve Problems!

“Blogging is about community building and linking various modes of communication together.”

His most important finding of the project:   Librarians rock!

We have gone from an industrial age where information was scare, expensive, and institutionally-oriented. Now we are in an information age where information is abundant, cheap, and individually-oriented.

He proceeded to show many recent statistics from the study:

62% of all Americans connect to the Internet wirelessly

78% of all Americans own a cell phone

54% have broadband at home

75% of all adults use the Internet

Wireless connections have really changed people’s interest in using email again.

58% of online teens have their own profile on a social network.

39% of teens share their own stuff online

22% of college students keep blogs, and 54% read blogs

12%2

Are you blogging in your library?  If not, need some help on how to begin, what tools to use, and some tips on making your blogs more engaging?  Then order this book, Library Blogging, by Karen Coombs and Jason Griffey.  These two people are active bloggers and the heads of Web Services departments in academic libraries.  They also happen to be my friends and I have a great amount of respect for their passion for exploring the ways technology can improve library services.

Not entirely sure when the book is “live,” but you can bet I’ll get it (and their autographs)!!!

I love these types of things. This little video points out what we already know but can’t always articulate. Very cool!

Today I went to a ACRL webcast on Leading Change. It was from 1-2:30 pm CST. 

Webcast Description

How can we better understand the effects of change on our organizations and on the people in them? During this webcast, Kathryn Deiss will provide several models which can serve as lenses through which to view change. Tools such as the models and techniques for helping people through change will be provided.

After this webcast, participants will:

• Be able to use two frameworks for explaining the dynamics of change
• Understand types of change and that not all change is the same
• Understand and be able to develop strategies for working with “resistance” to change

Presenter

Kathryn J. Deiss is the Content Strategist for the Association of College & Research Libraries at the American Library Association in Chicago, USA. In this role she scans the research library world for trends and best practices, acquires content to publish, and provides organizational consulting services to institutions. She designs and provides training and facilitation for libraries, national associations, consortia, and museums in the United States and beyond. Kathryn has written and presented extensively on the subjects of leadership, innovation, coaching and mentoring, planning, organizational learning, and organizational culture. Kathryn received her B.A. in Sociology from Trinity University (San Antonio, TX) and her MLS from the University at Albany.

My Notes from the Presentation

Libraries need more innocation. We should have a desire for greater risk-taking.

Different Types of Change

• Change by Exception
  • circumstances
• Incremental Change
  • slow
• Pendular Change
  • going from one type of organization to another
• Paradigm Change
  • where we change our paterns based on new knowledge

What types of change are going on in my library?  And how does thinking about this type of change alter my perspective?

The different types of change look differently to different people.

Change Leaders should:

• Be specific about the type of change they want to see
• Describe what is changing and what is not changing
• Use different methods for explaining change - beyond the written word

Models, including graphics, serve as lenses through which to view change.  They can help people learn more about where they are.

Two Change Models

• Bridges Model
  • people deal with beginnings and endings differently
  • neutral zone - a transitional time to adjust to the new settings or environment
• Lewin Model
  • picture of a diagram that shows an ice cube.  When it unfreezes, it’s melting and liquid and messy.  Slippery.  Unstable.  Then when you refreeze the ice, you can freeze it into a different shape other than a cube.
  • Remember that ice cubes and water also evaporates over time.  They shrink.  The same could be said of some changes during the transitional and ending times.
  • unfreeze attitudes and mental models
  • working in ambiguity to consider the shape of the future

External vs. Internal Change

Pay attention to the internal needs of staff as well as the external users.  Change management.  Must understand the destination. But the key is to manage the actual transition.

“One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.”  Andre Gide.

Which of these two models (Lewin and Bridges) resonates with me in the changes I am experiencing?

Can you get people to be comfortable with the “slushy-neess” for a while, because they will be comfortable later.

What do we know about resistance? 

People have fear, loss, inability to let go, low morale, withdrawl.  People resist change because they fear loss. 

People resist change beause they like the status quo or want to stay in the current state.

“I want to go there.  I just don’t want to leave here.”
- Gonzo (of the Muppets)

Rick Maurer’s Level of Resistance

1. Level 1: the idea itself, lack of understanding, lack of information
2. Level 2: psychological/emotional reasons such as feeling a loss of competence, loss of status, loss of power or control, “change exhaustion”
3. Level 3: bigger than the curent change, history of mistrust, values disagreement

Reflection Exercise:  Think of one change that is onging at my library?  Is there resistance to it?  If so, what is the source of the resistance in terms of Mauer’s levels?

Intentional Change vs. Imposed Change

• For those who make the deisions, change is intentional and anticipated.
• For those who do not make the decisions but must implement the changes, change is without choice and disruptive.

People naturally play different roles in any given

Roles of Change

1. Crusaders
   • create motion around change
   • push against the status quo
   • focus on the “what”
2. Tradtion-Bearers
   • They remind us of our history
   • ask for rational and focus on the “why”
   • Attend to the details
3. Pragmatists
   • See both sides
   • want to get things done
   • focus on the “how”

What role do you usually find yourself playing in your library?  Do you feel others understand the importance of the role you play?

How can you beign a dialogue in your library that allows for inclusivity of change agent styles?

Leadership Requirements and Change

• Listening
• Honest
• Clarity of motivation
• Credibility
• Communication
• Flexibilty
• Empathability
• Accountability

Selected Resources 

• BeyondResistance.com (Rick Maurer)
• William Bridges, Managing Transistions
• John Kotter, Leading Change
• Carol Wedge,  “Leading Change and Explatortory Process” in Educause Review, November-December 2006.

Well, you’ve gotta start somewhere, right?  Actually, this is not my first blog.  I began blogging back in 2004 at Vanderbilt when I created a blog for sharing the technology news within the Vanderbilt University library system, and in particular, the library I worked at - the Walker Management Library (WML).  The blog was called WML Tech Updates, and later when WML’s new website went live, I incorporated another blog I developed called The WML Spotlight.  Sadly, I believe that WML Tech Updates died when I left for a new job within the University of Houston Libraries.  But because the Spotlight is so integrated into the homepage of the website, the library staff at WML have to keep it going. (And I am glad to see that the last post was fairly recent!)

But I have really missed expressing my thoughts on the intersection of libraries and technology, and where Web 2.0 is taking us.  I even miss re-posting things that others have posted simply because I thought the topic or nature of the post was really cool.  My blogging is a way to express myself to whomever cares, to help keep my mind focused, and to stay on top on what’s current.  I can’t blog if I don’t read what’s going on out there, and I am always reading, so this is one way to stay connected with a virtual community.  And when you move to a new city and don’t know very many people, staying connected online is an excellent way to curb loneliness.

So over the weekend, I bought a domain name, a hosting site, and installed Wordpress.  And this is the result.

Do I intend to blog regularly?  I don’t think so.  There are many bloggers out there with similar interests who already discuss the things that I would want to discuss.  Plus, they have established readerships of great size, and I am not as well known or nor have I done as many cool things as my boss.  Those that know me may appreciate my occasional insight and my enthusiasm for particular issues, but for the most part, I am not out to seek fame. I don’t think that those “famous librarians” sought out fame either.  They are just prolific, full of passion, and have purposefully or even accidentally because experts in a particular area of librarianship.  People share that energy in different ways.  Some do it through blogging, and others through presenting.   Right now, I am doing a little bit of everything.  I haven’t found my niche exactly, but I have have several friends whom I admire greatly and listen closely when they give advice.   I am still finding my way!