I've been wishing and hoping for this day, and now it is finally here! Announcing The Green Kangaroo, a new blog by Mary Ghikas, Senior Associate Executive Director at the American Library Association.

Why a Green Kangaroo?

"My world has largely been one where 'transparency' refers to openness about budgets, processes, goals. It isn't that those things aren't important to this new view of transparency -- just that they're not sufficient. Listening to Michael and Jenny and Meredith and others, it becomes clear that transparency also means letting personal 'authenticity' show through. When you've spent a lot of hours 'ghosting' carefully correct letters or compiling factual 'no-personal-opinions-here' reports, that's hard. Still, it seems important -- and may be fun."

I told Mary that for whatever reason, it seems like my generation just hasn't connected with ALA, that to us it is an amorphous beast with no real purpose. And at some point, we lost the people behind the organization, so I think Mary's blog and other efforts ALA is making will start to change our perceptions of the organization. That's going to be important if we're going to help keep it alive and growing in the future.

Welcome to the biblioblogosphere, Mary - we're (I'm) really looking forward to reading what you have to say!

I have a bajillion and one tabs open in my browser, all things I wish I'd had time to blog about during the last few months. I have to start making room for new tabs I don't have time to blog about, so here's a link dump of just a few of the things I have wanted to write about but am giving up on strictly for lack of time. My apologies to the sources, so click on them and give them a look.

• 4 Things
  "Recently, people have been circulating different kinds of '4 Things' lists on the Internet–4 books you have recently read, 4 places you’d like to visit, etc. Here is a version made just for our library!" [SJCPL Blog, via skagirlie]
• Assess Your Library's Community Standing
  "Even if you don't want to read all 45 pages of this Urban Libraries Council study of some highly effective Chicago public libraries, you should at least take a look at the 'Engaged Libraries Toolbox' that shows how to assess your library's community standing and possible partners." [Infoblog]
• Lego Mindstorms and Getting the Kids
  "BTW, this release of Mindstorms is supposed to be easier to use and get a successful design up and running in less than 20 minutes. I smell a perfect auxiliary to gaming nights - Battle of the Bots. Or for a summer reading program with hands-on activities in robot building. Even sweeter - let's circulate Mindstorm kits and point people to the online sites built by the other patrons for help, ideas, and challenges / solution (like a layout for a maze and the code to successfully navigate through it).

  There are so many tie-ins with this activity, I am not even sure where you start. How about all the books on robotics, science fiction, possible movies, web sites - talk about a mish-mash of stuff that could be on a pathfinder, blog, or web site - maybe even a MySpace Mindstorms in the Library site?" [Technobiblio]



• Library 2.0 for Dummies [Travelin' Librarian]


• Clever Use of Tag Clouds
  "The University of Western Ontario's office of Communications and Public Affairs offers a directory of blogs published by members of the UWO community. Not only is the directory a good idea, but they also provide a tag cloud that covers the content in all these different blogs. To see the cloud, look at the top of their main weblog page." [RSS4Lib]


• Intuitive Revelations: The Ubiquitous Reference Model
  "Essentially, the paper describes a proactive approach toward interacting with college students. While the library world has just discovered blogs, these students have been keeping online journals for years. They use services like LiveJournal and Xanga, and even MySpace and Facebook to interact—often providing insight and commentary on their hectic lives. My interest was mining this data for educational opportunities.

  The Major Theme: We need to get out from behind the desk and help students when and where they need it." [Alt Ref] (I really love this one!)



• If You Build It, Will They Come?
  "A couple of weeks ago I added logging to five of our OPAC tweaks to see if they were being used, and also which is the most popular.... So, here is the top five countdown...." [Dave Pattern's Weblog]


• Know Your Place - Headmap manifesto and the spatialised internet revolution
  "[These words] form part of a technological vision of the future, heralding an age in which our spatial experiences can be overlaid with a rich layer of information - images, text, sound - through GPS capable mobile WiFi devices and a lot of community spirit. This is the Headmap manifesto, an exploration of the technological, and more importantly the social, potential of an 'outside internet' - external, spatialised computing." [Social Issues Research Centre]

Hans Roes, Director Information Resources and Multimedia at the International University Bremen, sent me the following Web 2.0 job opening (emphasis below is mine).

Academic Technology Engineer

"The mission of the Information Resources and Multimedia department is to offer facilities and services in support of teaching, learning and research that meet the high ambitions of IUB. Under a new leadership, a new strategy has been developed that addresses innovations in both the real and the virtual environment. The recently built Campus Center will become the preferred place for students and faculty to meet, work and learn. Digital library and multimedia services will be developed that are closely integrated with learning, teaching and research processes.

Tasks

• Together with the systems librarian, innovate search and retrieve experiences for users.


• Setting up and maintaining the system for the IUB institutional repository.


• Integration of library and multimedia systems with other major campus systems, providing services closely linked to teaching, learning and research.


• Promote to and support students and faculty in the use of tools for collaborative work, e.g. blogs and wikis.


• Contribute to the development of the overall IUB website.


• Backup for the systems librarian.

Background, training and skills

• Higher education in computer and / or information science.


• 3 – 4 years work experience in a complex and innovative environment.


• Versatile with UNIX and PC operating systems. Proven programming skills in several modern languages, like Perl, Python, Ruby.


• Expertise in web technology: LAMP, XML, CSS, template engines.
• Basic knowledge of LDAP, portal technology, and identity management.


• Ability to work under pressure in an intercultural, demanding environment.


• Geek and team player, wild about web 2.0, willing to learn and share.


• Fluency in English, fluency in German an asset."

Unfortunately, it looks like I won't get to go to this year's Games + Learning + Society Conference, which looks just as fascinating as last year's version. I learned a lot about gaming and education at this event last year, made some great connections, and became intrigued with the online game Second Life.

Actually, I don't really think of SL as a game so much as a virtual world, a parallel universe where you can be and do what interests you in that type of space. After seeing some presentations about how SL works and how it's being used in both higher education and in the medical field, I started to wonder if there was an intersection for libraries. I talked to the lead developer, to a professor that is using the game in her ethics course, and to some of the other folks at the conference. Some of the ideas generated have been floating around in the back of my mind ever since, never getting any further due simply to a lack of time.

However Lori Bell, currently the Director of Innovation at the Alliance Library System, has picked up the ball and run with it. Here's what she sent me yesterday.

Alliance Library System and OPAL to Open an Alliance of Libraries 2.0 on Second Life

"Alliance Library System(http://www.alliancelibrarysystem.com/) and OPAL (Online Programming for All Libraries) – (http://www.opal-online.org/) are pleased to announce that selected OPAL programs will soon be offered in the online virtual reality game Second Life (http://www.secondlife.com/). Book discussions, training sessions, and other programs will be offered to current virtual residents. The goal of the project is to promote the real library and online library services to adults who might not otherwise use the library.

'We are excited to be offering new outreach programs, events, and services to people who might not otherwise come to the library,' stated Kitty Pope, Executive Director of the Alliance Library System. 'Second Life has almost 200,000 residents and is rapidly growing in popularity. This will allow us to see what works and what does not work in this area. Second Life has malls, residential neighborhoods, online communities – why not a library?'

Alliance Library System and OPAL are teaming up to utilize the programs currently offered online to librarians and library users to extend the programs to the Second Life virtual reality game. Although there are a couple of libraries currently on Second Life, none currently offers programs or services. Alliance and OPAL will start with programs and eventually hope to offer library services.

'I am pleased to work with the Alliance Library System on this exciting project,' said Tom Peters, OPAL Coordinator. 'This will expand the reach of OPAL to an additional community which spends much of its time online.'

Second Life also now has a Teen Second Life. If adult programs are successful, the group will work to offer library services in Teen Second Life. Librarians who would like to become involved and receive updates on this collaborative project can join a google group set up for the new service at http://groups.google.com/group/alliancesecondlife .

Interested librarians may also contact Lori Bell at lbell@alliancelibrarysystem.com for an invitation.

'We invite any librarian interested in working on this exciting project to join us,' remarked Kitty Pope. 'After we offer some programs, if they are successful, we will want to expand to offer additional programs and services.'

Alliance will begin Second Life programming in June 2006. Alliance Library System is a regional library system located in East Peoria, Illinois with 260 library members of all types. Alliance offers continuing education, consulting, resource sharing, and delivery service to members."

I can't wait to see what happens in this space, and I've already told Lori to count me in. She has already found a Librariaum, as well as the Second Life Public Library, within the game. Neither currently offers reference services, programming, or anything other than a place to gather and some nonfiction books. What could we do with these spaces in the game?

"...Conceiving and planning the library began almost from the moment Jade first became a volunteer SL mentor, in November of 2003. 'The library is really just a reflection of my desire to bring understanding of SL to residents,' she says. Features like a coffee shop and open-air reading rooms are also a reflection of Jade's desire to create 'a social atmosphere for residents who prefer not to go to clubs.'

Though the library has yet to begin producing articles, Jade says the institution will take an active role in acquiring content....

Visitors to the library will access its holdings through searchable and browsable terminals linked to a r/l database that will return a notecard visitors will be welcome to keep, free of charge. The system’s code is being written by Jade, Christopher Omega, and Robin Huber. Librarians will also be on hand eventually to help visitors navigate the system." [The Second Life Herald]

"Acquiring content." That sounds familiar, doesn't it? What if we could get some of our databases in there, so users could find articles about Second Life in our commercial databases? What if we could get Open Worldcat in there? It sounds like the team could use some preservation and archival help, too! In addition, Lori wondered if perhaps we could build a library in the teen version of Second Life and have programs on gaming, teen coffee houses, and ongoing lists of good reading as well as places to find ebooks.

If nothing else, if MLS decides to continue the Gaming Special Interest Group, perhaps we could hold one of the virtual meetings in Second Life, as Aaron and I discussed last year, just to get people used to such an environment.

Join the AllianceSecondLife Google Group to follow along, and watch Lori and ALS innovate in this space!

Wow - the meme about our profession losing its best people is really resonating with folks. In fact, some of the comments I'm getting about how libraries are failing to recognize what is happening are very telling. This comment on my last post is pretty indicative of what others are saying.

"I've built big things for libraries, stuff you may have used, but I found that the only way to get the sort of respect, pay, and freedom my experience deserved was to leave the library world and work with it only as a consultant. It is time the field took a good hard look at itself since those people the library world desperately needs, those who maybe aren't traditional librarians, are suddenly very valuable commodities to companies like Google and Yahoo. In this information economy they now have a very attractive alternative to working in a library. I'm not saying that libraries can compete directly with the salaries and freebies the Google campus offers, but many of these people just want a modicum of respect and an income that isn't embarrassing given their training and expertise.... I do know that nothing is more important in any organization than its employees and right now most libraries are letting some truly invaluable people slip right through the cracks."

How do we start the discussion about keeping our movers and shakers?

I highly recommend you visit and/or subscribe to Rachel Singer Gordon's new blog, The Liminal Librarian [found via Tame the Web]. Rachel has always had interesting things to say, so I'm thrilled that only four years after I begged her to blog, she is finally doing it! :-p

Lately, Rachel's writing about Generation X librarians has really resonated with me, but she also appears to be tackling an issue that I'm starting to see crop up a lot lately, namely how we value and keep the most dedicated folks in our profession, regardless of whether or not their job description matches the stereotypical role of "librarian." Ask yourself what your library is doing to value your top staff (all of them, not just the traditional, stereotypical functionaries), to create a collaborative environment (especially between generations and between various job roles), and to let your employees color outside the lines a little in order to draw the big picture. In that context, does Rachel's writing resonate with you?

For example, I love this quote from Neither Fish nor Fowl nor....

"I was talking with Meredith at the CIL conference a couple of weeks ago, and she mentioned several people (me, Michael Stephens, Jessamyn West) who no longer work in any particular library, yet still do work related to libraries. A few examples don't make a trend, but this is somewhat interesting. It's also interesting in terms of all the talk about upcoming retirements. Were I a library administrator, I'd start thinking pretty hard about what I could do to retain good people, attract good people, and prepare them to take over the zoo at some point...."

And wouldn't it be a horrible trend if these kinds of people started leaving the profession altogether. I think we've been pretty lucky that so many of our best and brightest are so dedicated to librarianship, regardless of their job titles. Someone recently asked me, "Can you have library 2.0 without librarian 2.0?" And that's kind of how this discussion feels to me... can your library provide the best possible services if you're not taking full advantage of your employees' strengths?

I look forward to reading, linking to, and contributing to Rachel's discussions on these topics!

James Melzer reminds us about Sturgeon’s Revelation that 90% of everything is crud, including del.icio.us bookmarks.

The Best of del.icio.us

“I've been watching del.icio.us develop and flourish for while now. Ironically, the wisdom of crowds really isn't all it's cracked up to be. Maybe all web apps experience this same effect: the dark side of the long-tail. Users test out the app and abandon their accounts. Spammers flit from one account to the next like bees pollinating flowers. Whatever the reason, there is a lot of junk in del.icio.us. The majority of users don't tag their bookmarks at all, which begs the question why they are using it in the first place. I don't have an answer to that question, so I will suggest what I think is a more important question: Given that a majority of users are not contributing anything (or are actively sabotaging) the usefulness of this collective tool, how do we use the tool effectively in spite of them?

Here's what I think: We actively follow expert users and ignore everyone else. There are a number of expert folks out there who tag well and tag a lot. They use sophisticated classification techniques. They tag interesting things before anyone else. And they supplement their distinquishing metadata with descriptive metadata.

I have collected together a representative sample of these power users. Take a minute and look at how they use the tool….” [Getting My Bearings]

It would be interesting to watch how librarians use del.icio.us and to track the power librarian users. Is there any more wisdom in that crowd? Are there power librarian users the rest of us can