The Competitive Edge for Libraries

All the survey's say information seekers routinely turn to Google because its fast, simple and familiar. One of the reasons libraries have struggled to provide a definitive role in this new information jungle is their failure to adopt competitive strategies such as simple search results. Today's library users must navigate through a haggard collection of information silos scattered virtually across a website and physically across a building. In addition to selecting a silo the user must recall how to execute the search function for a variety of interfaces, some offering the full content others requiring additional tricks to discover the golden text.

While libraries diligently offer assistance in navigation and continually seek improvement of current information portals and traditional catalogs, much consternation is being wasted when really what we should be doing is uniting behind a common interface and search mechanism for the entirety of a library collection. WorldCat offers the size and scale needed to compete and as Mark Dahl (2009, 7) highlights " With WorldCat.org, OCLC takes a lesson from Google and Amazon and understands that Web scale matters. In order for library content to be noticed on the Web, it needs to be presented by a global player, not in a diluted fashion from thousands of separately managed library catalogs."

By adopting a standard interface such as WorldCat, libraries can offer conventional search features much in the same way as Google and provide well created metadata for everyone on the web Libraries benefit from mimicking strategies of their competitor but at the same time enhancing that which must be their core competency: providing quality descriptive metadata and facilitating understanding of it.

While others may have lost faith in the role of libraries in my own experience I can still identify the necessity and importance of providing access to information and information literacy instruction to the public. There must always be an alternative organization offering access to proprietary information resources and offering assistance in making sense of it all.

Libraries adopting standard virtual spaces and forming networks at the size allowable with today’s technology would mean increased satisfaction rates for constituents and increased buying power with vendors. The ability to provide specialized collections through libraries which are searched again in a familiar manner will also strengthen the competencies of libraries.

Libraries failed to recognize the changing modes of information production and lost their comparative advantages to innovative business models and competencies such as those offered by Google. The slow and at times moralistic fight against adoption of new modes has left the library at a disadvantage. However recognition of core competencies in accordance with the changing information environment could provide the competitive edge libraries need.

Dahl, Mark. 2009. The Evolution of Library Discovery Systems in the Web Environment. Oregon Library Association Quarterly 15(1): 5-9

Full Circle - Why we do it

Wow so I just wrapped up another session with my new volunteer. She's just getting started in community college and is helping out in the library to gain volunteer hours for the Tulsa Achieves project. So far I think its going to be a great opportunity for us to learn from one another. She's helping with tasks like shelf reading and weeding. Meanwhile I'm helping her get trained up on computer and information literacy with hopes she might be able to help us teach other students and better understand how students use the library. Today she went through some Word and Ebscohost tutorials and then wrote up a little review. I must say I almost cried upon reading it. How awesome to see it from her point of view and to see her learning! Yay its all coming full-circle this is why we do it!

Libraries and Competitive Intelligence

In my recent class discussion regarding the differences between strategic intelligence, and competitive intelligence, the statement that libraries should act like businesses reminded me of why they are not, but how they can make use of knowledge management tactics for decision-making.

Strategic Intelligence most accurately describes a information related to the plan of action of competitors (i.e. basis for decision-making). Competitive intelligence seems to be a more codified approach to gathering and making-use of information to make one more competitive. Codified in the sense that clear ethics are defined and policies adhering to best practices for CI are implemented. Because strategic intelligence is often invoked in a National security setting, realist principles of behaving dominate at times blurring the boundaries of ethics.

In regards to the library an important reason why it is not run like a business is its role as providing accessing to information. While a public library may supplement its funding through books sales, and community fundraising, decision-making cannot be based on a profit motive. The same is even more true for academic libraries where knowledge generation is the priority. Because places like Barnes and Noble or Blockbuster may at times censor certain materials to acquiesce to shareholders acting like a business is not always desirable. After all a library as an arsenal of liberty cannot be beholden to corporate interests.

A library however can embrace the benefits of CI through understanding market forces and positioning the institution in a favorable manner. An example in which the library world needs to be most aware of the political, social, and economic factors affecting the progress of libraries is evident in the case of Google. Libraries as others have stated, should have long-ago sought to offer an alternative to the dominance of one corporation in control of the worlds information. Libraries have the ability to organize and coordinate efforts to ensure access to information whether it is digital or not. As we move forward academic libraries must be front runners in understanding how information is collected, organized, and decimated as this is their business and must seek to learn from the success of other competitors such as Google.

Librarians must realize it behoves us to market ourselves as information brokers. In addition to fulfilling the role as an alternative to a single corporation providing all access to information, we must realize our importance of information professionals in giving context to and making sense of the information.

Before the onslaught of technology the general public agreed libraries serve the public good by offering this access. This sentiment must be invoked once again to understand the monumentous but essential task of continuing to provide that access as well as making sense of the never-ending information flow.

Nerd Fest 2009

These last two days have exposed me to so much nerdom I feared whatever trace of coolness I had left would disappears never to return. Then again I've really enjoyed seeing nerds in their native environment and realize I wasn't so different but that was okay. Thursday night I went to see MC Chris with my best friend Catherine. The lyrical styling of MC Chris is of the Nerd Core hip-hop genre. Generally rapping about that which nerds find cool like comic books and video games.

The show was great, but with an interesting mix of teenie boopers sporting their hoodies and super-hero tees. The openers also followed this genre with the Nintendo rock group I Fight Dragons and a rap/punk rock trio named Whole Wheat Bread. Catherine bought me a t-shirt and after the show MC Chris signed it...as I told him I was a librarian...to which he replied "awesome very awesome" and thought "another crazy."

The next day I attended Tulsa Tech Fest 2009. Which was a total grown-up nerd fest. There were hundreds of people but probably only ten females. This made for an interesting day as the restrooms were never busy and gathering the attention of everyone in the room was an easy task. Really this was a great event, free aside from the two cans of food you had to donate. A pizza lunch was provided and there were a ton of "door prizes." I was amazed by the difference in funding where corporations have something to gain out of the event aside from the tax right-off. I learned a lot and enjoyed being around other techies which makes me realize what a nerd I really am. I can't help it, I love seeing the latest trends in tech software and hardware. Windows 7 Surface Touch Pack demonstrated their newest applications, which involved a young hipster who as design manage for Surface held a dream job of many in the audience. Overall good times and really Nerd is the new black!

My Julia Child Cliche

So I've been on a Julia Child kick lately and today I got very cliche. I watched Julie and Julia with my mom a few weeks ago and we both really enjoyed it. We love Julia Child and Amy Adams (although her character left more to be desired). The day we went to see the movie my mom brought me a first edition of Julia's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. In order to acquire the book, she hid it behind the shelves of the used bookstore until she could purchase it at a later time! She said it was for my birthday (which is in December and it was summertime) either way it was a really nice gift. I'm now reading the book the movie was based on...and so on and so on.

Tonight while grocery shopping I decided to pick up some leeks and potatoes having thought earlier how cool it is to create something out of so few ingredients. This is of course the first recipe in the book. I wonder if Julie really serendipitously came upon those ingredients or if it just worked well for the beginning of her book. Either way it sounded simple and tasty to me.

I picked up a couple of Idaho potatoes and some leeks. Chopped it all up, cut my finger once, called my mom to confirm what the tender green part of the leek really included, placed in pan, added filtered water, and some salt. I then let it cook for 45 minutes and resisted adding other ingredients (just a little garlic, maybe some chicken bouillon (my mom had a great suggestion of bacon)). When 45 minutes had passed I took my crank egg beater and gave it a beating. Worked well.

I added butter, pepper and more salt. After a few tastes in it is purity, I gave-in and added some shredded cheese and more salt. This time smoked Alder wood salt which just happens to make everything better. I also added a few plain lays potato chips and pondered the risk of mad potato disease. Sitting down to eat, I had a great dish at hand, and only had to fight one cat for bites.

Church of Google and Information Seeking Lesson Learned

Church of Google

HA! Wow this site makes me laugh but I must admit I've sounded like a fanatic myself at times. Mainly I appreciate the information organization and communication tools offered by Google such as email, chat, calendar, documents, reader, and blog. Also there are very cool things going on with Google FastFlip, Google Health, and Google Wave. I do fear repercussions from becoming so dependent upon one corporation but so far so good ? :S

Information Seeking: Google is not God

While it seems one only has to rely upon Google to acquire all information needed this is not the case. Ultimately you have to rely on all sorts of information sources to successfully complete research. At times Google is helpful but cannot be relied upon solely. There are much savvier ways of searching the net that many in the general public are not familiar with. This is where information professional come in handy. I'd like to design a web search strategies workshop but I have a lot to learn myself.

The other day I spent an hour with a student researching an amendment for a recent bill being debated in congress. We were making use of Thomas a Library of Congress database for federal legislative information, but it is complex with many types of information being archived. We went back and forth from news stories found on the web providing some overview to the Thomas database trying to identify the exact text in this proposed amendment.

I found the Thomas database, by the way, from doing a keyword search to "matthew shepard hate crime prevention act" and finding the link in a Wikipedia article. The student didn't see me do this at first and then she was like, "how'd you get there(Thomas)" and I'm like "ah I'm not telling." Because you don't want students thinking that's the "be all to end all" resource. I told her eventually, but showed her how I accessed the much more legitimate database.

At the end of the hour all we had located was a new story discussing how the bill had passed but this particular amendment dealing with the death penalty had not. After the student was gone I realized Thomas had pretty advanced search options and I was able to take the senator's name (learned from the last article) and search by that and the type "amendment" along with keywords "death penalty" and located the specific text of the amendment. Regardless the student was gone and I didn't even know her name. While I am glad to know about such a great resource for federal legislation and how to search it, I wish I would have been able to do so when the student was there (and not immediately jumped to keyword searching as has become so habitual). I also wonder how much of it should be left up to her to discover.

Libraries and Censorship

A poster hanging across from my desk reads, "Libraries are the second defense of freedom. Reading is the first!" The founding fathers, well aware of the danger of censorship and tyranny, promoted rights such as freedom of expression and religion. Democracies are dependent upon the free exchange of ideas so that the greater good may arise. Institutions which provide unbiased access to unbiased materials are essential to the free exchange of ideas. Libraries, positioned away from profit motives, came to serve this purpose and over time established principles guided by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Freedom of speech grants authors and publishers the right to produce literary works of expression (Rubin 2004, 187). In addition to expressing oneself freely the First Amendment also entails the ability to receive a diverse set of view points. The goal of libraries is to create policies which support this intellectual freedom. Various personal, social, professional obligations tend to restrict or increase access to information. As a result the American Library Association established policies to provide guidance and reduce these pressures. In 1939 the ALA adopted the Library Bill of Rights to ensure the development of diverse and unrestricted library collections (Rubin 2004).

Libraries are charged with providing access to the flow of information while librarians must guard against censorship. It is not the responsibility of a librarian to decide what is true and useful; rather it is the responsibility of a librarian to ensure non-useful falsities are also included in the flow. It is up to individuals to debate the validity of the information and decide what is right. Swan (1986, 52) states, "The knowledge of truth and the knowledge of untruth, like the knowledge of good and evil, are indissolubly joined. Our cause, professionally and politically, is with both of them."

Rubin, Richard. 2004. Foundations of Library and Information Science. New York: Neil-Schuman Publishers, Inc.

Swan, John. 1986. Untruth or Consequences. Library Journal 111(12): 44-52, via Ebsco (accessed April 23, 2009).

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