Libraries on the agenda

Libraries going mobile

2011-11-07T00:48:00.000-08:00

Are libraries ready for the mobile internet?

Digital information will be accessed in future primarily, if not exclusively via Smartphones or Tablets. That's why the Bavarian State Library is gradually providing its digital services within the framework of these innovative environments. At first the OPAC and website was programmed and designed as generic mobile applications thatrun on all current smartphone browsers.
Mr. Ceynowa highlights that not only mobile applications should be offered but they have to be contextualized in a suitable way to meet user's needs.

"For many people all over the world but especially in devoping countries, mobiles are increasingly the access point not only for common tools and communicationbut also for informationof all kinds, training materials and more"

(Horizon Report, 2010)

Mr. Ceynowa underlines that libraries as important, also web-based provider of information and services have to face this trend toward a mobile use of internet and therefore offer its central services (OPAC, electronic resources, digitized materials etc.) as mobile applications. Especially young library patrons that are used digital natives to mobile devices expect mobile kinds of library services and won't be satisfied with web pages (pressed) en miniature:

"When we get to a point that mobile version is expectedof whatever content we want to interact with, not having a mobile version may cut-off desire to consume that content"

(Challenges and opportunities of the small screen, Inside Higher Education 2009)

The Bavarian State library did not end its efforts with developing mobile applications of the OPAC and its website: In another step the library provided 50 highlights of its collection as an app for iPad and iPhone: "Famous Books - Treasures of the Bavarian State Library". In spring 2011 the App "Islamic Books - Oriental treasures of the Bavarian State Library" followed. There are 3 reasons for providing these Apps only at Apples App-Store:
1.povision as a stand-alone product (in contrary to an integration into Europeana where the contentis hided behind millions of other digital objects and therefore hard to find)
2. Apples App-Store is a common channel for sale (so that it is sure that the product reaches the user)
3. iPad is nowadays one of the best E-Book-Reader regarding high-resolution coloured digitized objects (Gartner Report "Forecast: Media Tablets by Operating System world-wide 2008-2015.")

Currently, the Bavarian State Library experiments with Augmented-Reality: In the App "Ludwig II" the library will provide multimedial content as ann Augmented-Reality application, georeferenced at prominent places of the king's life such as Neuschwanstein Castle. - It seems that my visit to Neuschwanstein Castle was a few years too early! :(

Conversational openings with faculty about scholarly communication

2010-11-05T12:10:00.000-07:00

In April, there was an online discussion about how to talk with faculty on your campus about scholarly communication issues, although not zo be sure where to start. In the discussion useful strategies are shown.

Nowadays, it is a core question how to reach faculty staff and students. The relevance of the library is depending on that. Just last week my boss asked me how I want to communicate with faculty in future. - I am trying different ways and I am still thinking about what the best way is. Furthermore it is difficult to answer, because it varies not only from department to department but from person to person (or at least from team to team)!

By the way - sorry that there was such a long term in which I did not whrite anything. Meanwhile I started to work in another institution and I was busy to learn so much new things!

Fairness hearing regarding Google Books settlement on the 18th of February

2010-02-05T09:40:00.000-08:00

~~in 2 weeks~~ On the 18th of February there will be a fairness hearing at the US Department of Justice. According to Norman Oder the settlement now faces the biggest challenges ever (for more details please have a look at http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6717745.html?nid=2673&source=title&rid=18066631

well, now there is a new development:

the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), in a long-awaited Statement of Interest, yesterday warned that the amended settlement still goes too far in giving Google advantages in distributing scanned books, as well as raising concerns about pricing (which has been one of the key issues raised by the library community).

For further information and an insight on the developments of this argument between the different parties please have a look at the recent "Library Journal"-article .

Social Media News and Web Tips @ Mashable (The Social Media Guide), e.g. GoogleMaps' future use

2010-01-13T09:17:00.000-08:00

I gathered the blog "Mashable : Social Media Guide" (thx to Pierre Suter via recherchenblog - also a blog with helpful information). This "Social Media Guide" comes up with Social Media News, really a huge amount of information to discover! Mashable.com is the world’s largest blog focused exclusively on Web 2.0 and Social Media news. With more than 12.5 million monthly pageviews, Mashable is the most prolific blog reviewing new Web sites and services, publishing breaking news on what’s new on the web and offering social media resources and guides.

In one of these blogpostings GoogleMaps-Mashups are presented. In another article Stan Schroeder gives us a hint what Google intends to do:

Google has been granted a patent named “Claiming Real Estate in Panoramic or 3D Mapping Environments for Advertising,” detailing “techniques for identifying groups of features in an online geographic view of a real property and replacing and/or augmenting the groups of features with advertisement.”

from goRumors you can read

You might remember that this is not the first time Google is introducing sponsored listings on Google Maps. Such ads are already available on generic map views. However, it appears that this will be the first time when these listings will also be made available on real estate listings.

Sounds Fascinating but this worries me in terms of how detailed this 3D Mapping would be (people, cars etc.) ...

Open Educational Resources

2009-12-08T03:09:00.000-08:00

In this presentation there are shown the most essential gateways to OER: some are institutional, others are regional or international. During my process of searching for similar tutorials I got to know most of them but there were as well some undescovered repositories.

Open Education and Libraries

View more documents from Ellyssa Kroski.

Using Social Media isn't everything

2009-11-19T02:08:00.000-08:00

"Social networks are about ...being social"
that's the core message of this presentation - so: have a look. This presentation is inspiring (for libraries as well)!

Your Social Media Strategy Won't Save You 2

View more documents from Tara Hunt.

German universities are becoming an "University2.0"

2009-10-14T00:18:00.000-07:00

The University2.0 is the most ideal way of accessing and sharing information. Moreover the University promotes itself by showing how research is done, how it proceeds and offering results and various documents for free and in one virtual place as a one-stop-shop.
In response to the need to acquire, to index, to store, and to provide documents which are increasingly only available in digital form, the Thuringian University and State Library (ThULB) and the University Data Processing Centre (URZ) began in 1999 with the composition of a digital library called UrMEL (University Multimedia Electronic Library). UrMEL will make it possible to combine the Friedrich Schiller University's (FSU) various activities for the provision of multimedia and historical documents. Since UrMEL can already integrate different projects and serve as a project platform for them, it forms the basis for the integration of further institutions in Thuringia. This is true not only of libraries, but also of museums, archives, and other cultural institutions.
Already realized are the following projects: University@UrMEL, Journals@UrMEL, and Collections@UrMEL.

University@UrMEL

Within the scope of the Digital Library Thuringia University@UrMEL provides online access to university documents such as doctoral theses, dissertations, research
reports, and lecture scripts. It serves as a platform for accessing course materials. Audio and video recordings in different formats are also available at University@UrMEL.

Journals@UrMEL

Journals@UrMEL provides access to electronic journals. Via digitalization, historical journals are made more easily accessible, and are at the same time prevented from decaying. In cooperation with scientific publishers and societies, the ThULB increasingly also publishes online journals itself. In addition to this, the ThULB also purchases online journals from publishers, stores them, and makes them accessible on its own servers.

Collections@UrMEL

Within Collections@UrMEL, we work together with scholars from different areas to develop special applications for the digital and multimedia editing and indexing of valuable stock from archives and manuscript collections.

For more information please visit the project's website

On Novenber the 10th there will take place a special symposion about UrMEL. According to the program it really looks like as if the institution's libraries are fully integrated into digitazation, multimedia editing and indexing documents.

Let's hope this project leads to reshaping german universities into a real "University2.0" - which is more than only storing data and information in one place.

Becoming a good/ better instructor

2009-10-02T06:54:00.000-07:00

Some quotes of other instructors:

There are many dimensions to being a great library instructor. Teaching regularly can certainly help to keep those skills sharp, and it affords the needed opportunity to experiment with learners, to try new things, and to stretch one’s capabilities in the classroom.

(taken from ARCLog:"Maintaining your instruction Mojo")

It’s all about adding value to the learning process. He is spot on when he says that students can now go anywhere to simply hear a lecture by a talking head that is attached to a series of slides. That describes a good deal of online learning and open education resource experience. You go to a web site or a course delivery system and just tune in to a lecture/presentation. But where’s the added value that comes from the dialogue between the teacher and the student? I believe what Bowen is really afraid of losing at his school is what makes the learning experience truly unique – the engagement between the instructor and the learner.

Academic librarians need to be mindful of the same challenge. We know that while we offer high quality information resources, our students and faculty can obtain information from a wide variety of resources. And there are times when they are accessing our subscription content through free search engines and are not aware that the content is delivered by the library. Those are well known issues. If the boundaries between information sources are becoming increasingly blurry to the end user, what is it that distinguishes what the academic library does for them? Finding the answer to that question is part of the challenge we face, just as our faculty colleagues will need to make clear to future students the value that they add to the learning process. Otherwise why bother with the huge investment in a traditional college education.

(taken from ARCLog: "We have to add the Value")

There are (at least) 5 key characterists an instructor has to follow:

1. Relevance – The big challenge is to connect course content to the current culture – learning has to be relevant to them.

2. Rationale – Today’s students were raised in a non-authoritarian manner. They won’t comply because the instructor is in charge, but will be more likely to do so when given a good rationale.

3. Relaxed – They thrive in a less formal environment in which they can interact informally with the instructor and each other.

4. Rapport – More than previous generations they are used to having adults in their lives and show interest in them. They appreciate it when instructors show interest as well or when we connect on a personal level.

5. Research-based methods – Millennials have grown up constantly engaged so they can tend to bore easily, so be prepared with active learning methods

(taken from "Why don't my students think I'm groovy")

The new Library2.0-Manifest (by Zukunftswerkstatt - in english: future lab)

2009-10-02T06:19:00.000-07:00

The project "Zukunftswerkstatt" (in english: future lab) names the objectives for the libraries' future. The librarians are called to go playing: playing with web2.0-services, playing within (information literacy) instructions etc. I fully agree with that, cos libraries are still seen as old fashioned institutions. Libraries ARE already online - they only have to show a bigger presence at multiple channels: The doors have to be open, librarians aren't the gatekeepers any more.
Please watch the presentation (unfortunately only in German) to get a better impression of what is meant with "go playing":

Zur Zukunft Der Bibliotheken

View more presentations from zw09.

Kindle (and other wireless reading devices) creating a paradigm change?

2009-08-05T23:40:00.000-07:00

Jaimie Prideaux posted at her blog "Talking Books Librarian" about kindle2. (I like the message "Still amazing only better" ^^) With that device you can store 1200 ebooks (which you buy at kindleStore, of course) and read newspapers and papers before newsstand (reminds me of the e-paper in "Minority report"). Will devices like kindle, Sony Flexible Full Color Paper Screen, PlasticLogic, Linux-based FirstPaper etc. create a paradigm change? How long will it take until it is common to use such "devices"? Imagine how fast Gameboys or Laptops were disseminated. The question is: When do the libraries have to adopt these technological changes? Until now there is enough time to monitor these developments...

"Why don't I think of that?" - Finding Innovation in Your Library

2009-07-15T04:11:00.000-07:00

Previous Month there was a chat discussion about the topic innovation in libraries, its barriers and the librarians' experiences with implementing. (Unfortunately I discovered it now where it is over! :( ) The questions that were discussed are:

What is innovation? How does it happen? Who innovates? And, why does it happen to some more than others? This OnPoint chat will use attendees' experiences to understand how innovation does (and does not) occur in the academic library environment. Drawing on individuals' successes and failures, we will identify obstacles to innovation, discuss various models and theories of innovation, and consider how the individual fits in the innovative organization. David Dahl, Emerging Technologies Librarian at Towson University, will convene this month's chat.

Libraries on the agenda: Horizon Report 2009

2009-07-14T03:52:00.000-07:00

SpringerImages - Schematic of the Learning Research Cycle (LRC). A sequence of activities designed to enhance participantsÃ¢Â€Â™ understanding of the role of information technology (IT) in doing, teaching, and learning science. Activities build on intense experiences in authentic scientific research environments with scientists in their laboratories, which occur in two 3-week periods during two summers. Participants engage in scientific research experiences using IT to seek answers to scientific questions (Ia). Participants concurrently adapt their authentic research experiences to design similar IT-based research experiences for their students, with the assistance of science educators (II). At the end of the first summer, participants leave with an Instructional Framework (IF) to integrate into their classroom instruction during the first school year (III). Reports of the results of their implementation efforts are required for participants to return for a second summer. In June of the second summer, training in mentoring and fundamentals of educational research occurs for graduate students who are chosen to work as mentors for participants during the professional development activities for the second summer (IV). In July, participants continue their work with scientists (Ib) and work with educational researchers to design classroom-based research blueprints (RB) to examine the effects of the IF on students learning (V). Participants implement their research blueprints in their classrooms during the second school year on a voluntary basis (VI) and have the option of reporting the results of their 2nd yearsÃ¢Â€Â™ implementations during a conference held at the ITS Center at the beginning of the third summer (VII). Critical to the entire LRC are multiple and continuous opportunities for discourse and feedback, provided face-to-face during the summer and electronically via a community portal throughout the entire LRC (VIII)

2009-07-09T05:46:00.001-07:00

Schematic of the Learning Research Cycle (LRC).A sequence of activities designed to enhance participants’ understanding of the role of information technology (IT) in doing, teaching, and learning science. Activities build on intense experiences in authentic scientific research environments with scientists in their laboratories, which occur in two 3-week periods during two summers. Participants engage in scientific research experiences using IT to seek answers to scientific questions (Ia). Participants concurrently adapt their authentic research experiences to design similar IT-based research experiences for their students, with the assistance of science educators (II). At the end of the first summer, participants leave with an Instructional Framework (IF) to integrate into their classroom instruction during the first school year (III). Reports of the results of their implementation efforts are required for participants to return for a second summer. In June of the second summer, training in mentoring and fundamentals of educational research occurs for graduate students who are chosen to work as mentors for participants during the professional development activities for the second summer (IV). In July, participants continue their work with scientists (Ib) and work with educational researchers to design classroom-based research blueprints (RB) to examine the effects of the IF on students learning (V). Participants implement their research blueprints in their classrooms during the second school year on a voluntary basis (VI) and have the option of reporting the results of their 2nd years’ implementations during a conference held at the ITS Center at the beginning of the third summer (VII). Critical to the entire LRC are multiple and continuous opportunities for discourse and feedback, provided face-to-face during the summer and electronically via a community portal throughout the entire LRC (VIII)
(Quelle: SpringerImages)

Is such a model also possible in Germany?

Springer offers now an image database: SpringerImages is a growing collection of scientific images that spans the scientific, technical and medical fields, including high-quality clinical images from images.MD. The continually updated collection – currently over 1.5 million images – gathers photos, graphs, histograms, figures, and tables, and is available to libraries and their patrons via a searchable online database. The SpringerImages interface enables users to search faster, more broadly and more accurately, through captions, keywords, context and more, even jumping from the image to the source article. Users can create personalized image “sets,” and can easily export images for use in their own presentations or lectures.

Trend-spotting in Germany

2009-07-07T07:59:00.000-07:00

Just a few weeks ago the Bibliothekartag took place. The most interesting german project in these days "Zukunftswerkstatt" was introduced there with lots of presentations and a discussion panel. ("Zukunftswerkstatt" can be translated as "hotbed of ideas" or "idea laboraty".) The slogan of "Zukunftswerkstatt" is "Libraries go playing". The vodcasts from the discussion panel can be found at youtube.

Here a few insights into the sometimes controversal but fruitful discussion:

Mrs Prof. Beger (director of the SUB Hamburg) asked the essential question - with which the whole panel dealt -

What do we have to prepare for?

In these days Google is standard. Whether we like it or not Google is the starting point.

Users do not see that libraries are innovative cos the libraries' rooms are old-fashioned and outmoded. The users only get to know this new breeze when the USE the library and its services.
With the focus on this facts Mrs. Beger asked provoking:

Should we entrust Google with our catalogs?

Albert Bilo (director of the UB Essen) underlined that there are people who want an old catalog room and there are people who want to have an OPAC with new features and user-generated content (OPAC2.0). In his opinion it will develop side by side. He highlighted that librarians have to master the task to fill the gaps. (Sometimes they fill gaps which turned out to be no gaps.)

I want to thank Prof. Hobohm for presenting our project at the stand of "Zukunftswerkstatt". The slides of this presentation can be found at slideshare. One year ago we did a survey among german libraries what their opinion is about innovation and how they deal with trends. The results can be found in the current issue of the journal Forum Bibliothek und Information BuB 06/2009.
Several other interesting presentations are online at Slideshare.

Google Squared - Google's new semantic search engine!

2009-06-15T07:09:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Tony Liu who gave this hint:

Google, already the king of internet search, has rolled out an experimental new search product called ''Google Squared''.

Google Squared does not provide a list of links to Web pages, like with a traditional Google search, but presents information derived from a query in a spreadsheet-like grid called a ''square''.

Users of google.com/squared can then build, modify and refine their ''square'' through further Web searches.

``Unlike a normal search engine, Google Squared doesn't find webpages about your topic – instead, it automatically fetches and organizes facts from across the Internet,'' Google said in a preview of the product last month.

In a blog post, Google said Google Squared could be useful when a user needs to make multiple searches to find the information they want.

''It essentially searches the Web to find the types of facts you might be interested in, extracts them and presents them in a meaningful way,'' Google said.

''If your square isn't perfect at the beginning, it's easy to work with Google Squared to get a better answer,'' Google added.

The Mountain View, California-based Internet search giant cautioned that Google Squared remains experimental and the technology behind it ''is by no means perfect.''

Google Squared is exactly what I imagined of an ideal search engine's presentation of results. I really like graphical semantic search engine (e.g. kartoo) but very often you get lost or at least confused.
In "Google Squared" you get a screenshot of the website (or a picture of the webpage) and additional information. The words you searched for are (mostly) highlighted. - That's the way information need to be organized! :) (Well, is it the most optimal way for presenting information???) That's where libraries have to get to: an optimal intuitive presentation of information...! Librarians always tried to reach this goal-but are there any Best Practices regarding presenting information? What I like regarding the new version of cartoo is: you have several options to arrange the results in the way you favor :)

To get back to "Google Squared":
Google Squared isn't perfect: When searching for "librarianship" you get there is one result showing the "Internet Movie Database"-profile of Eric Wilson. Nowhere at this webpage was the word "librarian" or a similar one. Well could be an advertisement that changed now... - I wonder, if that's the place where personal data is going to be find in future... :( (Until now social networks like myspace, facebook etc. cannot be found via "Google Squared")

"Rambling librarian" about google wave and its possibilities for librarians

2009-06-09T06:55:00.000-07:00

Through the posting of Infobib (posting via Planet Biblioblog) I found my way to this interesting posting: "Google wave: possibilities for librarians" who comments on the Day 2 keynote speech of Google presenting Google I/O. He shares his ideas of service possibilities and/ or librarians' way of work:

As a librarian, the Google Wave demo shows how it could transform the way we provide Enquiry and Advisory services. Or how we research, collaborate and publish documents.

Further on, the "Rambling librarian" explains it. Thanks to him to share his ideas and thoughts! :)

In my opinion it is worth -and essential- to think about possible developments. Let's go on to share ideas and visions :)

Background: What is Google wave?

As Google explains

Google Wave is a product that helps users communicate and collaborate on the web. A "wave" is equal parts conversation and document, where users can almost instantly communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more. Google Wave is also a platform with a rich set of open APIs that allow developers to embed waves in other web services and to build extensions that work inside waves.

"where on earth..." - Finding database tutorials

2009-06-05T08:06:00.000-07:00

During the last 2 weeks I was searching for database tutorials. The Online Tutorial LOTSE should bekome more interactive. Therefore we are looking for already existing tutorials to avoid doing the same thing twice. The goal is to cooperate with other institutions.
It was not that easy to collect these database tutorials because in Germany there is no portal that serves as a gateway to them. The only collection (mostly Bavarian institutions involved) I found was a collection of tutorials (already created and planned!) that offer a connection to Citavi.
For english tutorials there exists a gateway/ platform: The Animated Tutorial Sharing Project (ANTS) is a collaborative project presently involving librarians in Canada and the United States, but open to librarians elsewhere. It would be good if libraries of other countries would join, too. This platform is a good start. I really appreciate that there is an instruction how to create tutorials and how to put it online! The tutorials itself can be found at DSpace. Each tutorial is presented with its metadata (e.g. Issue date, institution, keywords ...). In some cases you also find information about which software (Camtasia, Captivate etc.) was used to create the tutorial. This is important to know if you would like to change it.

newer thoughts about PLE

2009-05-25T05:59:00.000-07:00

Via Podcampus I got to know about a conference about PLE: the conference "Personal Learning Environments in der Schule" was held on the 13th of March in Goldau. One of the speakers, Prof. Dr. Schulmeister is examining the definition of PLE and what it means for instructors.

First of all, what is PLE?

As the buzzword says it is the learning environment that surrounds us:

the tools we use to find, write, share, discuss... a paper,

the sources we discover and use

the people we talk with about topics

But beyond that our own history - as Prof. Dr. Schulmeister highlighted - is part of our PLE (video (german) of his speech, 3rd min.)

Moreover Prof. Dr. Schulmeister thinks that new ideas are developing out of not-communicated things: Ideas are formed out of talks and out of thoughts. Sometimes they come spontaneous, sometimes they need time to develop.
Mr. Schulmeister underlines that a focus only on the today's tools would be a big mistake. The tools we use nowadays are only limited instruments but they are giving us new opportunities.
Over the past 5 years (maybe more, maybe less) there was a shift from focusing the tools to focusing the people: from software to community.

What is PLE out of the didactic perspective?
PLE concests of standard components that are put together by the person who is using it. (That's why we have to offer information via different types of media)
Schulmeister does not support Michael Wesch's opinion that school/ instruction has not changed but learning did. In Schulmeister's opinion it is possible to present this statement in a completely different way: Learning has not changed but instruction did.
Scoolmeister is an advocate of cooperative learning. He is although right in provoking us to think about following critical questions in learning:

Is there a concept that wholly fits to the topic learning? (e.g. observational learning?)

What role does resistance against learning play? (I think everybody experienced this at least one time)

Are we as instructors paying enough attention to socio-cultural differences?

Is everybody able to do research?

Are we allowed to take interest in a specific topic for granted?

Are we allowed to take self-organization for granted?

Do students have a proper learning and/or time management?

Do they have a time management at all?

Schulmeister sums up that PLE's are formale components of the learning situation.

After that Mr Schulmeister examines the difference between LEARNING environment and environment. ...
I will go on about that topic later on.

Continuance: Google Books and mass digitization

2009-05-16T02:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I discovered the book "Teaching Library in Deutschland" in GoogleBooks.

This book was published in 2005 and is copyrightly material! Google is audacious in digitizing it and giving nearly full access to it (only a few pages were left out). The only acknowledgement they make is to publish the information "This is copyrighted material" at the bottom of the pages! They have chosen confrontation: they are breaking the rules deliberately, hoping for the long arm of the law (that it takes years to until there is a consistent international decision in copyright questions). Google is digitizing books on a large scale without asking for permission. On googlebooksettlement.com authors and other rightsholder are able to raise an objection. German authors are fighting back since March 2009 with the so-called "Heidelberger Appell" which beared fruit in the "The Freedom to Publish and the Protection of Copyright".
A collection of articles dealing with the "Heidelberger Appell" can be found here (unfortunately only german articles). A few days ago there was a good posting at IBI-weblog (german) where several recent articles were contemplated.
Two weeks ago there was held an international conference with 250 people from 19 different countries regarding the topic copyright: "The Future Of Copyright – What Is The Right Protection?". The presentations were translated into french, german and english. Until now there are no presentations/papers/podcasts etc. or results available. (Or did somebody find sth. about this conference?)

To shorten it up here: the suspense continues ;) I hope the authors are winning and the intellectual property remains protected.

Youtube EDU - Google as a world saver or world rule

2009-04-01T06:42:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago the new gateway to lectures, campus-tours, interviews with researches of more than 100 well-known universities and colleges was set up: Youtube EDU. Until now it consists only of videos of american institutions.
As I discovered Youtube is a subsidiary of Google. It's suspect to me that the division which realized or promote it is called "Happy learning" (?!). This reminds me of motivational trainings for managers.

Google's mission is "to organise the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful". This is undoubtedly a positive concern but I am not so naive to be fully convinced of Google - a profit organization - as only social-oriented. In 2003 a New York Times Columnist asked the provoking question "Is Google God?". Bill Thomson at the BBC asked "Is Google too powerful?" - a question that I also prefer. Is Google too powerful? Xiudian Dai wrote an interesting article about Google in which he sums up several fact/ reasons. First, "nation-states might see Google’s search power as a threat to their autonomy. First, the autonomy of the nation-state declines due to the
fact that Google search reinforces the trend towards economic globalisation."

- just to publish the beginning of this posting - I have to deal with the details more closely. All I can say by now: I am concerned. I will put down my concerns here in the next days. At first I have to sort my thoughts. Moreover, it will take a few time to study the details ;)

Horizon Report 2009

2009-03-28T11:49:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine bookmarked the new Horizon Report 2009 and it popped up in facebook - thanks to social-networking :)

It is quite similar to the last Horizon Report but consists also of new stuff like e.g. "geo-everything". In the first adoption horizon we find mobiles and cloud computing, both of which are already well established on many campuses — and still more organizations have plans in place to make use of these technologies in the coming months. Institutions at the leading edge of technology adoption are also already applying the two clusters of technologies we have placed on the mid-term horizon, geo-everything and the personal web. All four topics on the first two horizons are already in common use in other sectors, including entertainment, commerce, and the world of work. The two technologies placed on the far-term horizon, semantic-aware applications and smart objects, are not yet commonly found in an educational context, although research is being conducted in both areas and the rate of development seems to indicate that these topics are well worth watching.
Each profiled technology is described in detail in the body of the report, including a discussion of what it is and why it is relevant to teaching, learning, research, and creative expression. Specific examples are listed there for each of the six topics

Mobiles: New interfaces, the ability to run third-party applications, and location-awareness have all come to the mobile device in the past year, making it an ever more versatile tool that can be easily adapted to a host of tasks for learning, productivity, and social networking.
- I would like to add: These developments make it even more difficult to gather these emerging tools and conclude its potential for teaching and learning.

Cloud-Computing: The emergence of large-scale “data farms” — large clusters of networked servers — is bringing huge quantities of processing power and storage capacity within easy reach. Inexpensive, simple solutions to offsite storage, multi-user application scaling, hosting, and multi-processor computing are opening the door to wholly different ways of thinking about computers, software, and files.
- How many/ Which universities are using Grids? Regarding Germany I only know of Trier, Göttingen, Mannheim and Würzburg.

Geo-Everything: Many common devices can automatically now determine and record their own precise location and can save that data along with captured media (like photographs) or can transmit it to web-based applications for a host of uses. The full implications of geo-tagging are still unfolding, but the impact in research has already been profound.
- More details are to find in the body of the report :)

The Personal Web: Springing from the desire to reorganize online content rather than simply viewing it, the personal web is part of a trend that has been fueled by tools to aggregate the flow of content in customizable ways and expanded by an increasing collection of widgets that manage online content. Using a growing set of free and simple tools and applications, it is easy to create a customized, personal web-based environment — a personal web — that explicitly supports one’s social, professional, learning, and other activities. - Services such as Bookmarking, commenting and suggestion of similar media are also possible in a catalog: to offer a so-called OPAC2.0 is a goal.

Semantic-Aware-Applications: New applications
are emerging that are bringing the promise of the semantic web into practice without the need to add additional layers of tags, identifiers, or other top-down methods of defining context. Tools that can simply gather the context in which information is couched, and that use that context to extract embedded meaning are providing rich new ways of finding and aggregating content. At the same time, other tools are allowing context to be easily modified, shaped, and redefined as information flows are combined. - Which services are examples that are already in successful practice? What is possible in the environment of library and further learning environments?

Smart Objects: Sometimes described as the “Internet of things,” smart objects describe a set of technologies that is imbuing ordinary objects with the ability to recognize their physical location and respond appropriately, or to connect with other objects or information. A smart object “knows” something about itself — where and how it was made, what it is for, where it should be, or who owns it, for example — and something about its environment. While the underlying technologies that make this possible — RFID, QR codes, smartcards, touch and motion sensors, and the like — are not new, we are now seeing new forms of sensors, identifiers, and applications with a much more generalizable set of functionalities.

Moreover the Horizon Report 2009 offers further information about several other developments which cannot be described with one specific buzzword:

Visualization tools are making information more meaningful and insights more intuitive. As tools of this nature continue to be developed and used, visual literacy will become an increasingly important skill in decoding, encoding, and determining credibility and authenticity of data.

Students are different, but a lot of educational material is not. Schools are still using materials developed decades ago, but today’s students come to school with very different experiences than those of 20 or 30 years ago, and think and work very differently as well. Institutions need to adapt to current student needs and identify new learning models that are engaging to younger generations.

Significant shifts are taking place in the ways scholarship and research are conducted, and there is a need for innovation and leadership at all levels of the academy. A challenge cited as critical now for several years running, academic review and faculty rewards are out of sync with the practice of scholarship. Clear approaches to assessing emerging forms of scholarly practice are needed for tenure and promotion. Students who are living and learning with technologies that generate dynamic forms of content may find the current formalism and structure of scholarship
and research to be static and “dead” as a way of collecting, analyzing and sharing results.

Guides and Resources for students and adult learners

2009-03-24T04:09:00.000-07:00

In search of open courseware and eLearning resources I found two good collections:

100 Best Websites for Free Adult Education

Here are 100 great adult education websites and resources we’ve pulled together to help you get the information you need for personal or professional development.

Free Online Courses from Great Universities

This collection gives an overview about various free online courses sorted by subject field.

OpenLearn

Furthermore I found useful guides regarding learning and scientific work:

studycube

The studycube is a multimedia intranet site that has been established in the context of "Learning and Scientific Work" but becomes relevance far beyond this. Unfortunately this guide exists only in German. But the presentation and visualization alone is already worth seeing :)

see post "21st century skills"

For sure these guides and resources are very helpful for learners! So, why not to refer to it? ;)

When teaching literacy has to start...

2009-03-16T10:36:00.000-07:00

School librarians are guiding students through the flood of digital information that confronts them.

21st century skills

2009-03-16T07:55:00.001-07:00

In search of web2.0-Tools that might be interesting for students and hence should be mentioned in LOTSE I discovered the website "21st century skills". The creators and supporters of the website "21st century skills" believe that

"Learning Environments Must Break Through the Silos that Separate Learning from the Real World"

-sounds very declamatory but its true in regard of the many different coexisting tools.
With the help of partners and reowned educators and authors the whitepaper "21st Century Learning Environments" was created. Its purpose is to offer a descriptive view of the places, tools, people, and policies that make up 21st century learning environments and, we hope, inspire its readers to work towards their realization.

Well, what is a 21st century learning environment?

"The term “learning environment” suggests place and space – a school, a classroom, a library. And indeed, much 21st century learning takes place in physical locations like these. But in today‟s interconnected and technology-driven world, a learning environment can be virtual, online, remote; in other words, it doesn‟t have to be a place at all. Perhaps a better way to think of 21st century learning environments is as the support systems that organize the condition in which humans learn best – systems that accommodate the unique learning needs of every learner and support the positive human relationships needed for effective learning. Learning environments are the structures, tools, and communities that inspire students and educators to attain the knowledge and skills the 21st century demands of us all."

In the whitepaper the authors also -like Michael Welsch - underline:

"...students are more engaged and more successful when they can connect what they are learning to situations they care about in their community and in the world"

To further guide schools and communities in designing dynamic 21st learning environments, the Partnership‟s Resource 21 site provides a wealth of information on this and other Framework elements at http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/route21/. The "Route 21" is a one-stop-shop for 21st century skills-related information, resources and community tools. The elements described as “21st century student outcomes” (represented by the
rainbow) are the skills, knowledge and expertise students should master to succeed in work and life in the 21st century.

Life and Career Skills: These skills describe the ability to be flexible, adaptable, self-directed, socially aware, accountable and responsible.

Learning and Innovation Skills: These important skills include creativity & innovation, critical thinking & problem-solving and communication & collaboration.

Information, Media and Technology Skills: These skills include Information Literacy, Media Literacy and ICT Literacy.

Core Subjects and 21st century themes: Core subjects like math, English and Science should be taught in the context of themes like global awareness etc.

Standards and Assessment: 21st century standards, along with a balanced system of assessment that measure 21st century skills is critical. Student assessment, whether by standardized tests or classroom-based measures, is a cornerstone of effective teaching and learning. Taken as a whole, good assessments can not only provide a reliable and valid measure of a student’s learning and understanding, but also help guide both teachers and students on a day-to-day basis.

Curriculum and Instruction: Instructional materials and practice should support student mastery of 21century skills.

Professional Development: Teachers should be provided with effective training and support skills for integrating these skills into classroom.

Learning Environments: Where students learn affects what they learn - today's learning environments must support the teaching and learning of 21st century skills.

This is an overall-model regarding teaching and learning. The objectives are evident. Unfortunately these objectives do not include handable specifications for implentation or examples/ BestPractices.

the (r)evolution of education and learning

2009-03-10T01:47:00.000-07:00

Since the poll and the results offered via the video „A Vision of Students today“ I appreciate the work of Michael Wesch. By chance I discovered a new presentation given by Michael Wesch at the conference "Education Learning Initiative". The title of this amazing presentation is "From the Knowledgeable to the Knowledge-able". It describes the revolution(s) in education -
right now there is one taking place regarding the fast spreading of information by the means of new media tools like flickr, twitter etc. How can we use new media to foster the kinds of communication and community we desire in education? Michael Wesch presents both successful and unsuccessful attempts to integrate emerging technologies into the classroom to create a rich virtual learning environment.

His main points are:

learning has to be fun!

etwas Infrage-stellen muss das Bildungssystem zulassen, da es gut für die Kreativität und fürs Lernen selbst ist

we have to teach HOW to think

„it’s all about asking good questions“ => in Michael Wesch's opinion there is a a snificance-crisis for years now: the students ask "How much do I have to do to get my credits/ mark? (!)

But more important is:
to learn is to aquire information,

to learn is to SHARE, DISCUSS, CRITIQUING information and in the end CREATE new information: it’s about creating meaningful connections

=> to learn is to create … significance

Regarding the students' habit it's important to ask ourselves:
How can we create significance? How can we create meaningful connections?

How can we create students who can create meaningful connections?

The last one made me think of "Re-Brainwashing" ;)
In my opinion students forgot the significance of learning because they are not any more able to see the linkage to their lives caused by the more and more performance-oriented world.

To change students' habits we have to:

engage real problems (that really matter to students)

engage it with students

recognize and harness the existing media environment so that students can recognize and harness them as well

Regarding the last point he stresses that there are no digital natives! (all the new services are at most only 4 years old)
To give a practical insight how to use new media tools he shows examples from his work as a professor at KSU.
After that Michael Wesch asks more critical questions

how to get students to better work together on real projects?

who is smarter: me or my students?

By asking the last question he puts himself in a neutral position. He knows he should be the expert but he notices that there is cumulative knowledge in front of him. It only needs someone who harnesses it and manages to draw everybody in.
Once more he presents an example out of his work where students were able to ask real relevant (world) questions: the World Simulation Spring 2007

After that he stresses that technology creates linkages between the real and the virtual world. Once more he asks several critical questions:

have we prepared our students for this world? => Will students be able to create the information landscape of tomorrow? => have we prepared the students to CREATE this world?

rethinking the Basics => what are basic literacy skills?

what's hot for me (via wordle)

2009-02-16T11:21:00.000-08:00

Let's play with words ;)
I just tried Wordle (for those how do not know wordle: with this tool you are able to visualize your favourite words by creating a tag-cloud):
To get visualized my mostly-used tags I typed in my delicious-name, waited a few seconds and there it was:

A nice tool to do Brainstorming! :)

Why did I use this tool?
At first: its free ;)
Secondly, I am searching for tools that can be used in LOTSE.

change in transfering knowledge - an exhibition about this important cultural heritage

2009-01-23T05:33:00.000-08:00

I just discovered via netbib the interesting exhibition "bookmarks2009" which is organized by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Bibliothek (GWLB) and the Leibniz University Hannover :) In this exhibition antique, precious properties of the Library enter into dialogues with new vehicles for communication. Maybe human beings will have open virtual access to any kind of knowledge in the near future: open access to an unlimited library! But this will never replace the aura of the original.
It is really surprising that LIBRARIES developed such an exciting exhibition! :)

Fortunately this exhibition is also offered online. Moreover it's in German and English (not so common in Germany ;) ).
Furthermore you can get a youtube-tour through various interesting youtube-clips.
Have fun with it and enjoy the you tube tour! :)

Thrilling information tasks?

2008-12-13T02:56:00.000-08:00

Just a few minutes ago I read the interesting article "Long lost information".

In the current-day liturgy of teaching, it seems that motivating students is key. Once you have students motivated, supposedly, they will easily absorb what may otherwise seem dry or mundane. So a teacher’s plan should not be to transmit the material, but to motivate the students to learn the material for themselves while acting as a guiding frame. For librarians who teach, then, the challenge is to motivate students to be interested in searching for and critically thinking about information.

The author raises the question how to manage in particular to get the students motivated. As I am after this problem for the optimization of LOTSE I am interested in a fruitful discussion about it. So hurry up, guys! ;)

art as an important learning factor

2008-12-09T11:01:00.000-08:00

How to reach sustainability regarding taught things? How do we as librarians manage that the stuff we showed and the things we taught are used in future?
We know from neuroscience that we keep things in mind that touched us in a sense. Art is an important factor to reach this.

Thomas Glatt underlines that art is neutral. Hence it allows stresses and disturbings which create emotions. - It`s not only about a surprise effect but it`s about a change in perspectives. To reach that people get to know a new perspective it is necessary to create a disruption. With this method we are able to tap the full potential regarding learning.

We have to ask ourselves if teaching is too less playful. In Glatt`s opinion there are good ideas to combine learning and art but it has to be further tested. In eLearning, for instance, visualization and sound is used but the chances are not exhausted until now.

One reason for less linkages between art and learning can be that art is not be seen as target-oriented. And if one takes part in a further training there should be a success in the end: this one should reach another level regarding his/ her skills. Another problem is that art is used by many organizations in a commercial way.
An efficient method to get new ideas can be a so-called flow-performance. This method is used at the conference LEARNTEC

(a comprised and translated (German to English) interview with Thomas Glatt, an eLearning-expert)

Librarians´ ethics

2008-12-04T11:51:00.000-08:00

Well, do you sometimes think: ´What for a silly question?´ - and then you have to remind yourself: There are no silly questions. What about ethics in librarianship? (Ethics is the scientific concentration of human's attitude and behaviour) Is it an important topic? Or is it already implied in todays librarians´ attitude?
In my opinion it is a crucial thing in reaching success in reference services. But its the very heart of the first law of a reference librarian: offering openness.

- my new (professional) situation -

2008-12-04T11:17:00.000-08:00

It has been several weeks since the last posting. But other things were more important ;) My life changed insofar that I am now situated as a reference librarian at the ULB Münster :)

Besides my job in the information unit I am involved in the optimization of LOTSE (an online tutorial).

So this position equates to my wishes and goals (being in direct touch with the customers and bettering services) ;)
The good thing is I get new insights and can offer practical experiences (of the challenging reality) in this blog. The bad thing: I may have less time to write postings :(

Libraries as places

2008-11-04T12:31:00.000-08:00

- Uh, it's been a while since the last posting. I was just to busy with applying for jobs. -

The place "library" remains important although everything's is going to be digital and electronic services become more and more relevant. Libraries serve as a "third place" which was discussed mostly among American librarians.
Jin Tan remarked:

"Libraries are changing as we tell often enough. But we speak rather less about how the library should change to get the patrons coming into the library."

It's the goal of the new project "Zukunftswerkstatt" of the EKZ. It's interesting to see that the image at the project's page is from a former project which shows the envisioned new Brabant library.

What counts is not the architecture or the setting its important that the patrons feel good there. Yes, libraries are about feelings.

Beautiful Libraries in the World

View more presentations from Paulo Izidoro. (tags: libraries library)

Libraries as "One-stop-shops" ?

2008-10-09T11:33:00.000-07:00

A few years ago there was the common opinion that libraries have to be "one-stop-shops". Recently there is a tide against it: Ojala is one of the detractors who is saying that the disciplines are too specialized to be covered by one global search (e.g. vascoda for specific/ technical information). Furthermore you only can develop a meta-search with search functions that are included in each of the databaeses, catalogs and/ or search engines.
In Germany there is one meta-search example in the field of LIS: b2i.

These are a few of the problems that one is facing while developing an optimized service to customers. But nevertheless the library portal has to become a "service oriented architecture": Everyone knows the information architecture that is connected with or part of a library portal:
No wonder that a customer gets confused! Even a librarian does not know all these online services.
That's why the library portal has to be changed into an intuitive and easy-to-use portal. In my opinion this is a major task of librarians.

Reaching out far beyond the traditional library clients

2008-10-01T05:12:00.000-07:00

As I found out at WebJunction there is an interesting projekt to bring cyclists into the libraries: As cyclists rolled over all or parts of the Underground Railroad Bycicle Route (URBR) they cross many libraries on their way. They are able to recognize them because Ginny Sullivan, Adventure Cycling’s instigator of the route, had the foresight to include library locations on the detailed maps available to participants. As a result, the travelers found the local libraries along the way and found a treasure trove of resources: pointers to good restaurants, grocery stores, Laundromats, bike shops. They could use clean bathrooms and even charge their cell phones. Most significant for the URBR experience, they found libraries as the keepers of community history, often in partnership with local historical societies.
-What a good idea: to highlight the libraries on a tourist map! But in doing this libraries have to offer specialized services for tourists (e.g. exhibitions about the region).

As Betha Gutchie highlights

"libraries serve as way stations and the library staff as conductors".

This is really a nice image.
Furthermore Public Libraries have to address to other community groups, too. This also counts for Academic Libraries but in a different way: Academic Libraries have to address their services to local organizations of economy, research and politics, and -of course- to the local citizens. To strenghten the university in competing with other universities they have to support efforts to establish a central repository with all the relevant information, sources and primary data relevant to both, faculty members and sponsors.
With respect to the aforementioned project I am even more intensely thinking about:
Which innovative projects and/ or tailored services are imaginable for Academic libraries?

Universities's Intellectual Property

2008-09-18T07:31:00.000-07:00

In Kopenhagen the first conference on Universities' Intellectual Property took place: COPENMIND (1. - 3. September 2008). The organizer Muldow said in "University Journal" that universities worldwide are inadequately communicating their innovations to the industry. Therefore he has founded the conference as a kind of marketplace for building of close university-industry relationships that holds many unexploited opportunities. This is important for efforts that should result in a commercial product or service. But what about libraries: is such a conference of interest for libraries?
Depends on the participating organizations, one could say. The truth is: Libraries need to be in contact with other organizations from other fields. Why bnot cooperating with companies like Oracle: Such a company could create the technical infrastructure, whereas librarians are responsible for the contents.
Besides libraries have to strengthen their position in their environment. For instance, researchers have to recognize the academic library through their services. Libraries have to offer the right services to establish the library as a brand so that faculty members are saying: "Yes, I am a fan of the 'LIBRARY' !"
If libraries want to be the central information provider they have to offer services that justifies it. (This is one of the things I highlighted in my final dissertation.)

The problem of inadequatly communication is existing in the LIS-environment, too. Moreover, academic libraries are challenged more than ever:

there is a fast and easy access to information via the Internet

there is a rising number of information providers

statistics and studies show that libraries' users and/or visits are in a decrease

the library has to provide a better information supply while budgets are in a decrease.

The article "Libraries in the Converging Worlds of Open Data, E-Research, and Web 2.0" presents some of the key technologies, tools, and organizations within the open data movement and conclude that these have the potential to not only increase possibilities of knowledge transfer, but ultimately generate new knowledge.

The efforts that libraries take to better their services lead to a more positive image of the library (which would be good for all stakeholders).

The library of the McMaster University is providing the "2.0 toolbox" to their faculty and staff members

2008-09-11T09:08:00.000-07:00

That's what I have found a few minutes ago:

The library of the McMaster University hosts blogs and wikis for their staff and faculty members. Their reasons for hosting blogs and wikis are these:

"It’s the library’s core mission to provide and manage access to the university’s academic resources and scholarly information. In a world where web technologies are changing the face of scholarly communication and the creation of the scholarly artifact, we feel that providing a platform for faculty to harness new technologies to facilitate their teaching & research makes a lot of sense for the library. It allows us to continue our role as stewards of that scholarly content. In addition, we see our provision of these tools as an extension of our role in upholding and advocating for intellectual and academic freedom."

That sounds good. Especially because its the first noncommercial and nonprofit hoster that I heard of. To develop services for the specific needs of the library's users should be the major goal of all libraries.

The McMaster library acts as a real service provider for if a blog or wiki does not have a feature that staff or faculuty members need, or if the blog or wiki is not behaving in a way that works for them, they can tell the library staff about it!

In future the library wants to add other tools to the 2.0 Toolbox. At the moment, we’re looking into possibly adding a social bookmarking tool. The faculty and staff members are asked to mention other specific technologies that they would like to have.
- Well, in this case the library is a service provider in a new way: putting up 2.0-tools for their faculty members.

Voting search results at Google in near future

2008-09-03T03:14:00.000-07:00

In near future users can vote search results at Google: Users vote search results up or down - a down vote makes it dissapear with a “poof,” an up vote moves the result to the first page.
Google is also testing comments, with linked user names, and others can vote those comments up and down. In effect, this bucket test shows a Google that combines their search algorithm with every important feature of Digg.

Google was working nearly a year on these new features. For further information see "Is this the future search?" on Techchrunch.

This manipulation of search results leaves lots of thoughts:
Will this manipulation work out in negative way so that businesses manipulate their own sites' range? (Probably) If so, will it influence the search results more than other manipulation tools?

What is also worrying me: If you leave your footprints there by voting other can see your profile. - Another step to a surveillance society?

A quite useful service for students

2008-08-29T06:29:00.000-07:00

At UC Merced, you can text message a librarian. Just ask what you want to know.

- this service (or a rather similar one, e.g. virtual reference) should be realized in every academic library.

"When librarians rule the world"

2008-08-29T05:07:00.000-07:00

On 29th of February was held a workshop in the Central and Regional Library Berlin (Zentral- und Landes- bibliothek Berlin). The workshop had the title "When librarians rule the world: the skills and tools we need to thrive in a Web 2.0 world". This workshop should provide the participants with the critical skills they need to succeed and thrive in the new world of Web 2.0 and Libraries 2.0. The speaker was Ellen Bates who is an experienced information professional and a skilled speaker. Fortunately Anke Bruns and Susann Scharper compiled the contents of this workshop (thanks to them).

How to cope with Problems of Giving Reference?

2008-08-26T05:14:00.000-07:00

Librarians in practice know the problems with giving reference all to well:

a) How to find out what the intention of the customer is?

b) What is good reference?

c) How to find out whether the reference interview was successful?

d)How to meausure it?

To get the customer participating in bettering the library service, the library has to set up a "Service level agreement" as a basis for collaboration with the customer. (I think I don't have to underline that collaboration with the customer is nessecary.)

A good overview about what has to be kept in mind regarding the reference interview is given here. Willen Brown gives examples of reference interviews. These examples show the problems with giving reference very clearly. The "Reference and User Services Association" (RUSA) has set up guidelines for giving reference. The reference interview consists of five stages:
1. Approachability
2. Interest
3. Listening/ Inquiring
4. Searching
5. Follow up

Listening and inquiring (only ask open questions!) are essential skills of the reference librarian. Under "Approachability" I would put the saying "expect the unexpected". The real difficulty is to find out what the customer really wants. Often there is standing behand the question a far different intention. Not to mention that customers mostly are not willing to ask the librarian for they don't want to show that they can't find the information by themselves, thast there is an information gap.
I wonder if hypnosis would work to find out the customers intention ;-)

the 1st German "Library Act "- vision and reality

2008-08-20T03:04:00.000-07:00

Following the IFLA-chairwoman's slogan "Libraries on the Agenda" I want to write about Library Acts, especially in Germany:
A "Library Act" provides a sustainable basis for maintaining libraries . More than a half of the European countries possess a "Library Act" (e.g. Spain, Poland, France, Estonia etc.). Let alone countries like the United States, Canada and Australia. (Some of the legal texts can be found here. Unfortunately the legislation pages of UNESCO Libraries Portal seems to be not updated for a long time)
In Germany there is no national "Library Act": Until now only the federal states are able to enact "Library Acts". On the 4th of July Thuringia made use of this federal competence. So Thuringia ist the first federal state of Germany that has a "library Act". But efforts started several years ago, mainly pushed by the DBV. They created a prototype of a "Library Act". Obviously Lower Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania will follow. Even in Berlin librarians call for a "Library Act". Hopefully these efforts yield results.
The DBV demands that the "Library Acts" not only should describe the state-of-the-art but have to consist of details regarding tasks and funding. Especially the funding should be embellished on a grand scale. Concerning funding the Thuringia's "Library Act" (§5) declares that libraries are funded by their supporting organizations. So it remains as it was: the funding of public libraries remains voluntarily. In view of local authorities' financial difficulties this is very disappointing for the "Library Act" should strengthen the libraries' situation and position. Therefore it seems to be an irony when Thuringia's minister of education Bernhard Müller remarks (as the Federal President Horst Köhler before) that the libraries have to be on the political agenda.

take "Libraresta" - be relaxed! (fun-ad)

2008-08-19T03:43:00.000-07:00

Well, that's a drug that I would like to take! ;)

Unfortunately it's a fictive one.

But in my opinion it's a good (and funny) possibility to promote the library!

So be creative and create your own ad:
Develop an advertisment for your library with the help of CEDRA. (Thanks to them)

I would also like to say thanks to Library Mistress and her blog from where I discovered it :)

Web2.0 is going around the information (professionalists') world

2008-08-18T08:21:00.000-07:00

Conferences for librarians about Web2.0 are common in the USA, in Great Britain and nowadays in Germany, too. Just a few minutes ago I found an announcement for a Web2.0-conference for librarians in Puerto Rico. In June there was the 11th EAHIL-conference that dealt with web2.0 and the possibilities for libraries. (Several papers and podcasts are here)
- I wonder which other parts of the world are infected with the virus "web2.0" and "library2.0"... (?) ! To get a picture of it I tried a search on google.maps:

Quelle: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=%22web2.0%22+OR+library2.0+AND+conference+AND+%22LIS%22+OR+librarians&mrt=all&sll=38.272689,8.789063&sspn=48.931466,78.75&ie=UTF8&start=0&z=4

By taking away "library2.0" out of the query I got only hits within the USA:

Quelle: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=%22web2.0%22+AND+conference+AND+%22LIS%22+OR+librarians&sll=44.746733,-97.822266&sspn=87.109472,157.5&ie=UTF8&ll=44.715514,-97.910156&spn=44.725872,78.75&z=4

That I got another part of the world with nearly similar queries (in the same search engine) is surprising! Why is there such a difference?!?
Furthermore these hits are not very satisfycing because not all hits have to do with the LIS-world. -Is there another geographical search engine that is more intelligent? (I only know from the european project SPIRIT in which the Institute Geographique National (IGN) takes part in.)

Well, I know: To get a picture about the virus "web 2.0" this way of using Google maps is not the best way, of course. It's better to use the Google API. (I never did that before but I will try to program sth. by using Google API)

Amazon -where is it going?

2008-07-21T10:44:00.000-07:00

I just realized differences between the german and the english Amazon:
At www.amazon.co.uk you can tag the product and upload a video review whereas in the german Amazon you are able to see the discussion topics with the most frequencies right below the product description.
Why are there such great differences? Is it due to differences in interests and/ or habits?

the digital desaster (?)

2008-06-30T12:52:00.000-07:00

PM is writing about the cultural heritage we are obviously loosing. - well, I wouldn't say this. Okay, many data is lost, but are we loosing the cultural heritage?
Several people think so, thats why an archive is built up in the Internet.

But I would see it with the eyes of Umlauf, who was recently saying that this is a time, where more is published than ever, more books are read than ever ...

We will see...

The possibilities of Library 2.0

2008-06-17T03:59:00.001-07:00

Building Academic Library 2.0 - Association of Christian Librarians

From: librarianmer, 1 week ago

| View | Upload your own

Preconference for Association of Christian Librarians Conference, June 9, 2008.

SlideShare Link

Is your library in facebook?

2008-06-17T02:14:00.000-07:00

I am really surprised how easily you can set up a business or non-profit site in facebook!

You only have to go to http://www.facebook.com/business/?pages=#/pages/create.php and choose the category.
Then you upload the logo, put in additional information about your institution and its nearly done!
After that your insttiution is part of the social network facebook: your institution is where the users are! That could be very surprising for your customers. ;) But the best of that: Your customers are able to add your facebook page to their favourite sites by "Become a Fan".

If it's not in the Internet it does not exist

2008-06-05T12:16:00.000-07:00

"If it's not in the Internet it does not exist": that's the most common notion among Net savvies -and even among library users.

Unfortunately, libraries do not make any "noise" online: Users don't feel the library! Users don't perceive the value libraries add to information. That's no wonder: the OPAC sucks, the information architecture is complicated...

1. Librarians have to start to set the information into a context: via combining more metadata, via relating recources, via visualizing the subject terms etc.

2. Catalogs have to be opened up to other systems

3. Libraries have to go where the users are

4. Libraries can only serve the users if they really KNOW the specific needs of the users - so the librarians have not to talk TO them but WITH them

5. Libraries have to allow users to participate ... in order to design the library's future together

Why is it so important to develop a library 2.0 and what is critical about it? (discussed @ Bibcamp 2008)

2008-05-22T05:25:00.000-07:00

Until now libraries were not forced to concentrate on reaching online communities. But within the last few years opportunities increased to build communities and share information within networks.

The question is: Will the library become unimportant in the future?
Several librarians don't think so (and we have to do so ;) ), e.g. Jochum: He (as several American LIS professionals, too) is the opinion that the abundance of virtuality is throwing us back to the analogue world.

But nevertheless we have to concentrate on online services and on serving Internet savvies. In this context the word "library2.0" evolved. But what is behind the word "library2.0"? What does it mean in detail?
Heller is describing it in the foreword to the "library2.0"-Issue of BuB (Vol 31, 2007, Issue 2). I only want to concentrate on a few things: library2.0 is about interaction with customers, participation of users especially in the regard of user-generated content, and so on.
Unfortunately, "library2.0" is used too much so that it will be screwed up in a few years. "Library2.0" is a buzzword. Therefore, librians have to find a better word that is decribing the root of the matter. Particularly, because "library2.0" causes confusion: Is "library2.0" an extension of "library1.0"? Or is "library2.0" displacing "library1.0"? In this regard: Is everything of the traditional library to change??
The core functions remain. Librarians always were distributors of information -but now librarians are not the only gateways to information any more: (Fortunately?) they lost their role as gatekeepers.
Moreover the word "library2.0" is not the correct one because it implies that librarians have to upgrade themselves to stay alive. In the sense of keeping up-to-date it's right but to communicate this to "conservative" librarians gives them a negative feeling (technostress).
But it's clear that librarians have to change -or else they are not able to change the library : Libraries should serve as windows to the multifaceted landscapes of the information world.

Matthias Steffens @ Bibcamp2008

2008-05-19T08:37:00.001-07:00

Gemeinsame Literaturverwaltung am Beispiel von refbase

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Web-basierte Literaturverwaltung mit refbase - Bespiele für die Integration mit anderen Tools durch Unterstützung von APIs & Standards

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Lambert Heller @ Bibcamp 2008

2008-05-19T08:29:00.001-07:00

Was können Bibliotheken für Blogger tun?

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Bibcamp 2008 - the first German Bibcamp about "library2.0"

2008-05-19T05:59:00.000-07:00

In Potsdam and Berlin the first German Bibcamp took place (16/ 17 May 2008). It was well organized but flexible enough to change times, topics etc. Each participant was able to participate and was asked to do so. It was discussed how to realize a "library 2.0". We got a lot of new insights into this topic.
So, all in all, it was a very successful "unconference".
Pictures of Bibcamp 2008 can of course be found at flickr and picasa.

What is striking me now in this very moment, is:
There are several problems regarding realizing the "library 2.0" but the vision is shining vividly at the horizon of libraries' future - hopefully leading the librarians in redefining the library.

The evolution of the web (by Prof. Dr. Rene Schneider, presented at Inetbib-conference 2008)

2008-04-15T12:01:00.000-07:00

This presentation was one of the most impressive ones. (Other people are sharing this opinion as I heard.) It was a presentation concerning the impact that the Web 2.0 and the Web 3.0 will have on libraries. Prof. Dr. Rene Schneider believes that this evolution of the web won't leave the libraries untouched.
Several images were drawn that were impressive enough and presented in a way worth to keep in mind.
For each version of the web, Prof. Dr. Rene Schneider gave analogies (quotes of literary works):

Web1.0 = "the garden of paths that are branching out" (Der Garten der Pfade, die sich verzweigen)
Web1.0 consists of networks of portals, databases, websites and search engines. Web1.0 can be identified by its push-character. (slide 5) Libraries were going online. Libraries began to offer information portals. Moreover libraries started to administer the user accounts digitally. (slide 6)

After that Prof. Dr. Rene Schneider showed the transformation from the Middle ages to the modern times (slide 7). According to Slawterdyke (?) the modern information world is charaterized by pluralism of information sources. That means everyone can be his/ her own librarian, everyone can have his/her own library. (This reminds me of the workshop "Everyone's a librarian now" at Bobcatsss2008)

The techniques of the library1.0:

Dublin Core
catalog as a bibliographic ontology
semantic federation
automation of mash-ups

Web2.0 = "the castle, in which fates are crossing" (Das Schloss, darin sich Schicksale kreuzen"
Web2.0 contains of wikis, blogs + RSS etc (slide 8) . The tools are used to deepen ones sense. Furthermore it's possible to reroute the flow of information via RSS-subscriptions etc. Communities/Folksonomies serve as bundles of information (slide 15). Prof. Dr. Rene Schneider compares them to birds which at first fly in a chaotic way and then organize themselves in a streamline (slide 13). (- In management processes are streamlined, too.)
Web2.0 belongs to the pull-technology.

The techniques of the library2.0 (slide 9):

RSS
Folksonomies
widgets

The theory is followed by some examples (slide 10, slide 12)

Web3.0 = the Taming of the Shrew (Der Widerspenstigen Zähmung) - Shakespeare
In Web3.0 everything is a question of semantic (slide 16). The goal is to define information that is understood by search agents/ robots/ spiders. It's the goal to make the search engines/ robots intelligent. That means libraries can serve in the information glut as islands (or life rafts) by building thesauri, taxonomies and ontologies (slide 17). Thus a very complex structure of metadata is required.

The techniques of library3.0 (slide 18):

Dublin Core
catalog as a semantic ontology
semantiv federation of digital libraries
automatic mash-ups

So, what's the essential difference between web2.0 and web3.0? (slide 19)
Web2.0 is about people. In the world of web2.0 everything is miscellanious. Web3.0 is about agents. Thus, in the world of web3.0 there is no space for miscellanious.

Web4.0 = It - Stephen King
Web4.0 is the mixture of web2.0 and web3.0. According to Prof. Dr. Rene Schneider it's not possible to put web4.0 into practice.
But at least we should try to make improvements for the customer.

Hopefully the libraries do not ignore these developments but are adapting.

Apart from the technical perspective on this issue there is a personal perspective on it. Something additional to how librarians view themselves comes from Mark Clowes, who compares librarians with DJs:
http://ealn.blogspot.com/2008/04/what-can-librarians-learn-from-djs.html

Staying up-to-date with user's expectations (Inetbib-conference in Würzburg)

2008-04-10T05:22:00.000-07:00

Hello!
Right now I am at the University of Würzburg, Germany. There is held the Inetbib-conference.
The main topic is how to cope with new features of web2.0 and how to cope with increasing
customer's expectations.
I'm filled with new information, I've headache.
I will write about my impressions later on (in quieter moments).

But you can view some pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/inetbib2008/.
At http://www.ub.uni-dortmund.de/inetbib2008/ you can see the conference's programme.
Unfortunately it's only in German cos it's a small conference which focusses on german
librarians.

with best regards,
Steffi

How to find the "Time"-magazine in the Penn State Libraries

2008-03-28T07:08:00.000-07:00

Look how "intiuitive" the catalog is: Finding Time Magazine in the Penn State Libraries

And mostly it isn't better in other libraries. No wonder, that so many library users are saying "the OPAC sucks". Fortunately several librarians start to notice that.

Workshop "Everyone's a librarian now" at Bobcatsss2008

2008-03-17T11:10:00.000-07:00

At the workshop "Everyone's a librarian now" the audience was able to get some insights into how to operate in the context of an explosion of user-generated content and new, informal channels of information distribution. During the workshop several problems that are facing the librarians were discussed seriously and lively.
The workshop was held by Mark Clowes and Matthew Borg (both working as Information Advisors at Sheffield Hallam University, United Kingdom) at Bobcatsss2008 in Zadar, Croatia (http://bobcatsss2008.org).

The workshop was well-structured and designed in a vivid way. At first the authors Mark Clowes and Matthew Borg gave a short, but good overview of web2.0 trends. This overview was followed by provoking slogans. After that the audience was asked to think in groups about several web2.0-technologies. Each group was asked to select two examples of web2.0-technology that was favoured for specific services. This should be done by thinking about following questions:

What skills or expertise does the librarian bring to the use of these tools?
What issues might arise in implementing them?
What will happen if librarians do not engage with them?

After this consideration the results were presented to the whole audience.

I will give a short summary of the workshop's most important facts and results:

In the world of librarianship there are several concerns about web developments such as tagging, social bookmarking and informal ways of information distribution such as blogging.

When the new dew developments arose there was (and sometimes there is still) a great surprise:
"two point OH"
-> with web2.0 you have for the first time in the history of the internet tools that enable real interaction

Until now there is confusion about what web2.0 really is. A concise and accepted defintion is still missing.
"two point what?"
-> It depends on what you are reading and talking about

More and more we as librarians realize which great role web2.0-technologies begin to play in our information society.
"two point, oh."
-> this leads librarians to considerations such as:
What do these developments mean to us?
Where does web2.0 leave us?
Are librarians still important? and if: how can we use these tools? how can we make these tools working for us, or rather, for our library?

For librarians these developments are scaring. With the new tools it's possible to collaborate, to comment, to rate, to mashup, even to catalogue...!
So, we librarians have to refocus on our core functions. To put it in John N. Berry's optimistic words:

"The young and the old, the digital and print, the techie and the traditional—whatever you call them, there are two cultures now. [...] Because of the two cultures, the librarian must take on a new, complex role as nonpartisan bridge builder, spanning the canyon between them to find and deliver accurate information, truth, to a world overwhelmed by misinformation, spin, and distraction." (http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6261430.html)

In Berry's eyes a librarians is a "seeker and deliverer of truth in a world of partisans and liars". To survive in future we have to meet this challenge. That means we have to refocus on our core functions:

collection development
cataloguing and classification (/custimizing)
circulation
reference work
preservation, conservation and archiving

These core function's of the library leads us to our traditional tasks:

selecting
describing
disseminating
being an advisor
preserving

Except for the latter task, all of these tasks can be fulfilled with web2.0-tools. (In web2.0-era it's quite hard to preserve information)
"role: over?"
-> So, once again: where do these developments leave us? What is our role in this changing environment?
Furtunately, there is a task left for us. Our primary task is (and will be) teaching, especially in a world of digital divide and a world of a (more or less) restricted access to information.
Regarding to the tasks that are met by the web2.0-tools: these tools are not perfect until now. Thus, one of our tasks from now on will be to complement these tools to create better tools for searching, selecting, describing and providing information. If we succeed in improving the tools and the skills of our customers we will be able to convert libraries into centres of information and knowledge.
But our customers are in some ways better informed (e.g. in terms of new developments) or more skilled than us (e.g. programming). That's why we should be willing to learn from our customers.

Librarians coping with their future

2008-03-13T13:37:00.000-07:00

Terry Dawson wrote an interesting comment about Meredith Farkas' "Building 21st century librarians AND libraries" and "Skills for the 21st Century Librarian", which include:

Basic Tech Competencies

Ability to embrace change
Comfort in the online medium
Ability to troubleshoot new technologies
Ability to easily learn new technologies
Ability to keep up with new ideas in technology and librarianship (enthusiasm for learning)

Higher Level Competencies

Project management skills

Ability to question and evaluate library services

Ability to evaluate the needs of all stakeholders

Vision to translate traditional library services into the online medium

Critical of technologies and ability to compare technologies

Ability to sell ideas/library services

Meredith Farkas ends her posting with this compelling words:

"Technologies will come and go. Change is inevitable. But if librarians can
adapt to and embrace change, can easily learn technologies, can keep up with
changes in the profession, can plan for new services and evaluate old services,
can develop services that meet the needs of all stakeholders, can evaluate
technologies, and can sell their ideas and market services they will be better
able to meet the challenges of changing user populations and changing
technologies."

-well. if I read these requirements, that we have to fulfil I am about to give up ;-) No, seriously: It's a lot to do.

Terry Dawson adds rightly to this:

"But organizational structure issues can be thornier and more political.
It's essential for libraries to retain authority over their own technology
decisions, but easy to lose this authority to external IT decision-makers.
We sometimes pay in availability of resources for the privilege of
retaining authority. The challenge extends to giving staff the ability to
implement service ideas; management prerogatives shouldn't stand in the way
of service, but budgets often do."

We often get to know these constraints.
But we also have to be aware that innovations have to be in line with the mission of the institution and the its tradition.

Hello Bloggers!

2008-03-13T11:59:00.000-07:00

Well, once you have to start with it. ;-) I was so long a passive reader of blogs -not that frequently, I have to admit.

I'm not sure how much time I have for posting - "Additionally" I am writing my final dissertation.
But I will read your comments -for sure :)