Creativity and permission to play

One afternoon last week I watched three of my staff brainstorm an idea.

The next afternoon, they showed me the finished product:


I am very proud of this, because it's taken a cultural change of about five years to allow something like this video to be produced.

How so?

Digital storytelling is relatively cheap and easy to do, using the tools that most people carry with them each day - tablets, digital cameras and smart phones. Encouraging staff to take time to play with those devices at work has taken a lot of encouragement and support. It was seen as something outside of the 'real job' and the idea of taking work time to play seemed a bit wrong.
The second part of the journey involves the wider organisation understanding the opportunities social media can offer, to engage with our community, and not just communicate one way, in a formal, corporate voice using media releases.

In a world where 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, the production of this video might not seem too significant, but for me, it represents the end of old ideas and methods, and the releasing of staff to embrace play and show creativity in their daily work.

Make Good Things | Make Things Good - Our Library rules for 3D Printing

Make Good Things

Make Things Good

Our library service has purchased a 3D printer and we're in the process of making it available to our community. We need some sort of rules / guidelines / policy / procedure to ensure the service is used safely and equitably. 

I've always been inspired by these kind of 'rules', which got a lot of press about 5 years ago. It looks like they originally came from the Library Loft teen space at the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County;

 “Respect yourself, respect others, respect the space.” 

They've been repeated and adapted for many other similar spaces since. 

The rules are short and simple, but pack a punch when it comes to being able to manage a space/service in a flexible, kind and equal manner.

With this in mind, I've proposed the following rules for our 3D printing service.

Make Good Things

Make Things Good

What do you think these mean? Please comment below.

My unpacking of these rules are along these lines:

Make Good Things

• this is about making designs, objects and things that are useful, constructive, helpful, creative, beneficial and rewarding. 
• it indicates a discouragement to make things that could harm - both physical harm and emotional / intellectual harm

Make Things Good

• this has two meanings
• to 'make good' is to fix things up, to repair things, to adapt and change them so that they work better than before. 
• as well as fixing physical objects, it's about fixing the designs and ideas behind objects to improve on them
• the second meaning is reference to making things in a quality manner - spending time doing a quality job, taking some pride in the work that you do

Keen to hear your thoughts and any changes or adaptations you might make to these rules.

You're in the Right Place

Last night I read the excellent piece that the Chattanooga Times Free Press did on the staff and programs at the Chattanooga Public Library. Congratulations to the library staff, but even bigger congrats to the local press for such a detailed feature on the local library.

In late June I spent three days there with Nate Hill  and Justin Hoenke, plus other great staff that work throughout the library, especially on the 4th Floor. A few days later I shared the stage with Corrine Hill, Nate and others on a panel about Gigabit Libraries, at the ALA Annual conference.

Everything I read in the article read true to my experiences. Chattanooga Library is an exciting place, with some wonderful people and amazing ideas. The 4th Floor is the single most exciting library space I have seen in my life. 

One thing troubled me though; the super-heroes pose photo at the top of the article. (Not the actual pose, I can forgive Nate for gazing off in the distance like that. Did you know he can actually see into the future when he looks like that?) No, what troubled me was the huge caption looming over the Chat Library heroes;

YOU'RE IN THE RIGHT PLACE

(thanks Meg for the pic)

That's a cool sentiment and all, but I'm here. Not there. I'm not in the right place. I should be there. Where all the great things are happening. Where all the library super heroes are.... 

Then I slept on it.

This morning brought fresh, more sensible thoughts of course. I am in the right place. I'm here. It's where I am that I can make the most difference. Not there, or there, or even way over there. But here.

Nowhere is perfect. I know Chattanooga Public Library isn't perfect. I was told many stories of things/services/programs that are broken. But that's the same story with every library, ever, everywhere. But the Chattanooga folks get the good press because they're getting on with it and making great things happen. I have a lot to be thankful for where I am, and am definitely reminded that I'm in the right place, right now.

A long time ago I read advice that a seasoned scientist gave a young researcher. It went something like this. When asked "Where can I study/research, in order to discover things that no-one else has found?", the old-hand replied "Start where you are, wherever you are, and look closely, more closely than anyone else has ever looked."  New things are right under our noses. Treasures wait to be unearthed, or crafted, wherever we are.

So, time to stop making excuses for myself. I'm in the right place. Let's get on with it!

A personal visit to The Urbana Free Library

Yesterday morning (Tues 17th June 2013) I found myself at the Urbana Free Library, which is the focus of a lot of attention in library land at the moment. I count it as a professional privilege to have spent two hours with some of the most inspirational public library staff I have ever met. Here I offer a few observations and opinions based on my visit to the library.

I’m travelling through the USA for the next two weeks on a VALA Travel Scholarship, investigating existing and planned projects where fibre-broadband rollouts affect libraries. The twin cities of Champaign and Urbana in Illinois were my first stop, and I met with lots of people from the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois, The Champaign Public Library, the University’s library service, UC2B (the Champaign-Urbana broadband company) and The Urbana Free Library. It was a wonderful and inspirational two days.

That morning the local paper’s front page had a story about the library issue creating a lot of news and concern with some people. At the library, I toured the building and spent about an hour speaking with Joel Spencer and Amber Castens, both Adult & Teen Services Librarians. While touring the library, I acknowledged that I had read the news and was aware of the comments about the library. They didn't shy away from the issue, and it came up briefly several times during our discussion. I didn't press them on any details, because I was there for other reasons. So we had no in-depth discussion about details, people, decisions, and repercussions.

Two things stood out for me.

1) Joel and Amber are two of the most quietly committed, passionate, caring public library staff I have ever had the privilege to meet. I only spent two hours with them, but you know the feeling you get about people – it’s the way they talked about their jobs, their community, the people they served. You know these people are here for the love of the job, not the pay or conditions.

2) That afternoon as I skimmed some of the ‘news’ and opinions about the issue at Urbana Free Library, I quickly became concerned that some decisions, by some people, and the reactions and responses by some people involved in the library has tarred the whole library staff and service with a similar brush. 

We all know that issues are complicated, and it’s easy to oversimplify. It seems this issue has a way to run, so before taking up the pitchforks and racing to the barricades, please take a moment to consider that this is a real workplace, with real people. From my visit, some staff appear to me to be doing a wonderful job delivering some amazing library programs to a community with more than its fair share of challenges. It’s OK to make observations and constructive criticism, but please tread carefully and professionally. 

Joel and Amber; Rock on – you’re my new library heroes.

Warren 

**Update, Tues 24th Sept 2013 - I've just come across this post by Martin Wolske about Urbana Free Library. The piece is a considered and mature reflection on the Urbana Free Library, and I'd encourage you to read it: http://mwolske.wordpress.com/2013/06/19/conversations-about-space-at-the-urbana-free-library/
Martin is a Senior Research Scientist in Community Informatics at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois. I had the pleasure of speaking with Martin (via Skype) while I was visiting Champaign-Urbana. 

Experience Info Online

My work colleague Neal (@nealthorley) and I are trying something a little different at Information Online 2013.

As well as photographing, tweeting and hopefully blogging about our experiences and impressions of the conference, we will try to talk to as many people as possible and do mini video interviews.

Keep an eye on http://experienceinfoonline.tumblr.com/ and make sure you come and say hi to us at the conference!

ALIA Information Online 2013 conference

I'm thrilled to be attending and presenting at the ALIA Information Online conference next week.

With help from experienced facilitator Richard Sayers, my presentation/workshop on Thursday 14th (10.15am - 11.15am) is titled: 

Australian Libraries and the National Broadband Network: What, So What and What Next?


Firstly – it’s not a presentation. It’s an interactive session where you’ll be asked questions. Lots of questions. Questions about questions. The aim of the session is in fact, to develop a list of questions. Confused yet? Please take a moment to watch this video: 

There is also an overview of the session here, with a list of links to useful websites. 

Please start asking questions now! 

• Leave a comment below
• Send me a tweet: @warrencheetham including the conference hashtag #ALIAonline and #bblib (for broadband libraries)
• Leave a comment on the YouTube video 

Can't wait to see you at the session!

VALA Travel Scholarship 2013

Photo credit at end of post

Last week I was informed by VALA that I have been awarded the 2013 VALA Travel Scholarship!

It is an honour to have my application accepted, and I am excited and a little daunted by the task ahead.

About the award:


VALA – Libraries, Technology and the Future Inc. (VALA) awards up to two biennial scholarships for persons intending to undertake overseas travel to explore developments in the application of information technology in libraries and information services.  These scholarships are awarded to members of the library and information community to assist in meeting expenses for travel overseas.
Candidates examining implementation of newer technologies not yet implemented in Australia and which would be of general interest to the library and information services community are more likely to be successful in being granted a scholarship.

My Project:

This research will investigate existing and planned projects where fibre-broadband rollouts affect libraries. 

In the next decade, the rollout of the National Broadband Network (NBN) will provide an opportunity for Australian libraries from all sectors to raise their profile within government, their parent organisations and the communities they serve. The process will reinforce and encourage shared information and ideas between ourselves and others outside our profession. It will involve strategic, considered risk-taking to reposition libraries, while remaining true to our profession’s cores values and strengths. This research project would benefit Australian libraries by investigating what works and what does not work in public and private sector projects involving libraries’ use of fibre broadband. 

I propose visiting and speaking with representatives from relevant government organisations (all levels), vendors/suppliers, individual libraries, and broadband research organisations. The outcomes of the research trip would be regular, iterative blog posts on the project and a final report/presentation to the Australian library community about what is the current and emerging best-practices in providing library services and resources via fibre-broadband, and identifying any gaps where Australian libraries might play a lead role in developing new services.

The destination for travel is Canada and the United State of America

Thanks:

Many important people helped me to create and submit the application.

• My wife Sarah came up with the idea! She said I should keep an eye out for travel scholarships which would allow overseas travel to visit and study innovative broadband projects.
• My manager Susan Coker gave me permission to apply and supported the application.
• Past award recipient and all-round library superstar Kathryn Greenhill very kindly read my draft application and gave some incredibly insightful and important tips.
• Darren Rudd and Sean Casey at NBN Co offered some very useful leads on who and where to make contact 

The following people were very kind in offering letters of support, and ideas of places to visit. While the final itinerary and travel plan is still to be decided, I certainly hope to visit and chat with these folk:

• Nate Hill from Chattanooga Library
• Jon Gant from The Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois
• John Windhausen from the Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition
• Catherine Middleton from Ryerson University
• My research colleague Michael Stephens

I'm undecided if I'll use this blog or a stand-alone project blog to record the project, but for the time being stay tuned here or watch Twitter for updates.

Photo by Twilight Jones
Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/twilightjones/2241798204/ 
CC Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/deed.en

Testing UStream

Stream videos at Ustream

Online conference presentation - Library 2.011 conference

I'm pleased and excited to assist my research colleague Michael Stephens present at the Library 2.011 Worldwide Virtual Conference next week. The conference will be held online in multiple time zones over the course of two days (November 2 - 4) (three if you encompass all time zones), and will be free to attend.

Our presentation is 9am (AEST / UTC + 10hrs) on Thursday 3rd Nov.

Impact and Effect of Learning 2.0 Programs in Australian Libraries

is the latest release of data from our research project. You can read more about the project at http://research.tametheweb.com/

From the conference organisers: More than 3,500 information professionals from 149 countries have signed up to join the global conversation on the current and future state of libraries. The groundbreaking event will be a whirlwind of information with 160 presentations scheduled over two days!

LibraryHack entry: The glorious image viewer: bringing archived images alive

A fantastic entry to Library Hack 2011:

The glorious image viewer: bringing archived images alive

Stating the obvious about Twitter

In a few hours this morning, Twitter has once again demonstrated why it has become almost invaluable to my daily working life.

• I organised a Skype meeting with a colleague
• I offered a proactive reference service to someone
• I found some very interesting events
• I found out about a social networking site for dogs?!
• I kept up to date with news about a topic of interest
• Plus a whole heap of industry news and gossip.

Thanks Twitter!

Mapping Newspapers

Two useful tools mashing maps and newspapers have filtered across my screen this morning.

newspaper map

Via the always excellent, always entertaining Very Short List email comes newspaper map. In the words of VSL:

The Newspaper Map does exactly what it promises to do: It maps 10,000-plus newspapers all over the world and lets you browse through, and read, every one of them.

Newserve

For a more local (Australian) view on mapped news, try Newserve - one of the entries in Libraryhack 2011. The link is to a video demo. This link to the live version isn't working for me, but you might have better luck.

Newserve provides an easy-to-use search interface, interlacing the results on the map and a timeline. The ultimate goal of Newserve is to provide a single point of access to all newspaper resources in libraries of Australia - whether it be just catalogue information of the newspapers stored in the libraries of Australia or be the digitised newspaper collections. So far Newserve uses newspaper catalogue data of State Library of New South Wales and Trove digitised newspaper collection.

Ideas for 'blogging' every day of June

If you follow any blogs by Australian library workers you may have noticed this little activity - Blog Everyday of June.

I was kind of inspired to try it out, but didn't really feel like committing to it until I read Mal Booth's idea to share content each day, over a variety of online platforms. Now that interests me.

There are quite a few online places where I hang out, mostly watching and reading with not much participation and sharing. My aim for June is to change that around and create / share something for each day of June. Oh, and that's the other small distinction - I aim to create 30 days worth of content, not necessarily new content each day.

All of this coincides with another project - 30 Days of Creativity, a project being supported by ABC Pool.
From the 30 Days website:

30 Days of Creativity is a social initiative encouraging people to create stuff (anything) every day for 30 days in June.

Your brain is like a muscle. When you exercise it, it gets stronger.

So some of my so-called "blogging" aka content creation may be something physical and tangible, but I'll still try to share it somehow online.

Here goes!

(will edit/update this blog post to keep track)

Create and Share every day of June

For this.... and this....

...my efforts are....

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Position Vacant at CityLibraries Townsville

Would you like to come and work at CityLibraries Townsville? We are recruiting for a Librarian - Branch Operations.

From the job ad:

An exciting opportunity exists to provide leadership, drive new initiatives and have input into service planning in the role of Librarian, Branch Operations for Townsville City Council. The successful applicant would be responsible for leading the customer service teams and planning operations for Townsville’s static library branches – Thuringowa, Aitkenvale and Flinders Street.

As part of the Customer Service and Operations leadership team, you will help lead staff through a time of significant change in service provision and in turn enjoy a high level of autonomy supported by clear reporting lines and a clear shared vision.

This role will suit a person who is bold, energetic and flexible, with enthusiasm for working in a diverse and innovative team environment. Can multi-task and seize opportunity with proven skills and experience in leading high-functioning teams in a public library.

If you are interested in shaping the future of libraries and is someone who is customer service orientated, then tell us how your values, skills and experience will help us deliver great customer service.

CLOSING DATE >> 5th June 2011

More information and how to apply: http://www.townsville.qld.gov.au/council/jobs/Pages/default.aspx

I don't know too much specific information about the actual job, but would be happy to answer general questions about the library service, living in Townsville etc. Drop me a line at warren.cheetham@townsville.qld.gov.au.nospam (removing nospam from email address)

"She started to cry..."

At work, when we receive positive feedback from customers, we like to share them internally with staff. This one was quite powerful so I thought I'd share it more widely. (The note has been edited to protect people's privacy).

Just a note to mention a good news story that occurred this morning at the library. I signed a lady up as a new member and after explaining our free internet policy for members ~ including the wireless access as she had her own laptop ~ she started to cry. I asked if she was ok? and she said she was just so happy to hear of our internet service and cheap printing, as she has not been able to afford internet access or printer at home and was overwhelmed as she lives locally and can pop down here now when ever she needs to.

The services we provide do make a difference in people's lives.
If you're not already aware of Feel-good librarian, check it out for more positive stories.

2010 Reading

I've never kept a list of books I've read, until last year. I can't remember exactly why, but was partly due to encouragement by a colleague, and a desire to play around with an online service like LibraryThing.

I started many more books, but don't finish them if I'm not enjoying them.

So, for what it's worth (and publicly sharing) - my list of completed (and therefore recommended) books for 2010.

Sir Edmund Hillary: An Extraordinary Life by Alexa Johnston
I bought this at the Edmund Hillary museum at Mt Cook in New Zealand, after being inspired by his accomplishments. I only ever knew him for being famous for climbing *that* mountain, and didn't realise how much more he did with his life. Inspirational read.

The secret life of wombats by James Woodford
I wanted to read this book ever since it came out, and was reminded of it after seeing wombats at Cradle Mountain in Tasmania in 2009. I like James Woodford's writing style, relaxed and very informative. The opening chapters alone are worth reading, for the story of schoolboy Peter Nicholson who snuck out from the school camp at night, to follow and crawl down wombat burrows.

Pirate Latitudes: A Novel by Michael Crichton
An easy light-weight novel. About pirates.

Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes
After reading this list of 20 core steampunk titles, I wanted to give a couple a try, and this was the first. I really liked it, and would try another novel by the author.

Mainspring by Jay Lake
The second steampunk title I tried, didn't like this one as much.

Legs on Everest : the full story of his most remarkable adventure yet by Mark Inglis
Also picked up from the Edmund Hillary museum. Mark Inglis was the first double amputee to reach the summit of Everest. Inspiring story.

Modoc: The True Story of the Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived by Ralph Helfer
Apart from a small gripe about the writing style (a bit over the top), this is one of the most moving, extraordinary true stories I have ever read. Moved me to tears quite a few times.

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris
The infamous Hannibal Lecter! Enjoyable reading.

Pay Off by Stephen Leather
I used to read a lot of this genre in high school and my early working years, and Jack Higgins was a favourite author. I think I've read better books by Stephen Leather, but this was a short, enjoyable read.

The Fat Duck Cookbook by Heston Blumenthal
The first third of this cookbook is a short autobiography of this amazing man's journey into food, cooking and science. The middle section is a cookbook with recipes and extensive, entertaining notes, and the final third contains a series of articles about the science behind food and cooking. Amazing reading. I've loved the few series we've seen on TV or DVD, including Heston's Feasts and Big Chef Take On Little Chef.

My Life in France by Julia Child
I picked this one off the library shelf on impulse, after liking the movie Julie & Julia. Julia Child's personality and style come through strongly as the narrator, and the book is the first things that has ever made me consider visiting France!

Chasers by James Phelan
Book 1 of a trilogy, aimed at young adults, in another old favourite genre / setting - apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction (some of my favourite books from primary school are John Christopher's Tripods trilogy and the Prince in Waiting trilogy). This book has a massive twist in the tail, totally unexpected. Can't wait for the next books!

David Attenborough's Life Stories by David Attenborough
Transcripts (but easily read, especially hearing David Attenborough's voice in your head) of a BBC radio show, covering all sorts of topics related to natural history. Plenty of illustrations. Very interesting.

The Great Barrier Reef by James Woodford
An interesting look at the state of the Great Barrier Reef.

Time to move from a reactive to proactive online reference service?

I've just read that the AskNow virtual reference service will close on the 17th December 2010.

Excerpt from the email notice from the State Library of Queensland:

As a consequence of declining demand and the need to respond to changing patterns of library use, the AskNow service will close on 17th of December 2010. This decision was made following an eighteen month review by the National Libraries of Australia and New Zealand, and state and territory libraries in Australia.

One of the key reasons for the closure is the change, since the launch of Ask Now in 2002, in the information landscape. In a Web2.0 environment the evidence is that people are engaging with libraries in new ways and they are taking advantage of different service opportunities.

While AskNow has had many satisfied customers over the years, chat is a resource intensive service and decisions about its continued operation have been made in the context of significantly declining usage over the past five years. It is also acknowledged that the collaborative approach to staffing the service has been confusing for those people who expect to be chatting with a librarian at their local library.

I wonder if this is a good opportunity for the AskNow partners and participants to consider the idea of a proactive online reference service for Australians, that takes into account the changes in online behaviour and information seeking that has led to the decline in use of AskNow.

In brief, online services like Facebook and Twitter, and specific answer services like Yahoo Answers are filled with people asking their friends, families and followers all sorts of questions. Some of these questions aren't appropriate for a response by a library, but many are.

At my place of work we have been playing around with Twitter as an online information service. While we now use it to push information, our original intent (and still a core practice) was to watch, listen and search Twitter for questions about our local area, or topics that we could answer. Our hunch that some people were asking their friends and followers questions that could easily be answered by a public library was quickly confirmed, and so we replied to their tweets with information and links.

I realise that this service model is entirely different to AskNow, and that different software, techniques, policies etc would be needed. But what AskNow seems to have been very successful at is the collaboration of some serious library muscle to share the task of answering questions. Perhaps that muscle could be re-engineered into a proactive online reference service for Australians who are making the most of the opportunities and connections afforded by social networking sites and mobile devices.

The future of library collections

Thanks to Jason Griffey for highlighting this talk by Eli Neiburger (@ulotrichous).

It one of the best talks I've seen recently, outlining the present and possible future of library collections by comparing the codex with other outmoded technologies. Well done Eli.

(The presentation was for Ebooks: Libraries at the Tipping Point, a virtual summit by Library Journal and School Library Journal).

ALIA Access 2010 conference

Conference website: http://conferences.alia.org.au/access2010/

What's the hashtag? http://wthashtag.com/Aliaaccess

Twitter: http://twitter.com/ALIAAccess

Twitter archive: http://twapperkeeper.com/hashtag/aliaaccess

Blog: http://aliaaccess2010.wordpress.com/

Wiki: http://www.alia.org.au/events/2010wiki/pmwiki.php?n=Main.HomePage

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/ALIA-Access-2010-conference/111407228893257?filter=1