Lorcan Demsey discusses a previous post about Metadata that he wrote a couple of years ago, and the implications for how we approach the creation and selection of information about information.  His four categories:

1. Professional. Produced by staff in support of particular business aims. Think of cataloging, or data produced within the book industry, or A&I data.
2. Crowdsourced. Produced by users of systems.Think of tags, reviews and ratings on consumer sites.
3. Programmatically promoted. Think of automatic extraction of metadata from digital files, automatic classifcation, entity identification, and so on.
4. Intentional. Data about choices and transactions which support analytics or business intelligence services. Think about ranking, relating, recommending in consumer sites (e.g people who like this also like this) based on collected transaction data.

The traditional library approach has been the first category (Professional).  The downside is that it it far too time consuming to keep up with the firehose of new resources.  When was the last time you heard someone discuss cataloging the internet?

The challenge with the remaining options is the opposite.  There is a great deal of metadata being generated, and the challenge is to organize and/or standardize what we use.

Where does this leave library catalogers, and libraries in general?  How should we focus our efforts?  Should we focus on traditional metadata creation, or should we attempt to update and adapt our processes and standards to a changing world?  Potential rewards, and possible troubles await either choice.  Can we forge a path that allows us to do both, or is that doomed to failure.

Just some things to think about….

The Future of Libraries, With or Without Books is a rarity : a mass-media (CNN) news article about the ongoing evolution of libraries that doesn’t dwell in stereotypes, cliches or “gee-whiz” style examples.  What the reader gets is a well-written news article that paints a well-balanced picture of the issues and general direction of the library world.

Good work, CNN!

found via Helene Blowers on FB

I have been aware of the Center for History and New Media for quite some time (even posted a link here), but only recently did I take a look at their site beyond the work they do with Zotero.  I was surprised, in a very good way, at all of the resources they have available:

• Zotero – One of the best Firefox add-ons available, this should be taught to every college freshman as an aid to research.
• Omeka – Designed as a platform to create online exhibits and collections, this tool appears to be a great option for digital collection projects.
• ScholarPress – A collection of WordPress add-ons geared towards educational use, including Courseware, which offers an array of tools for instructors to connect with their students (although it would serve well for library instruction, I suspect).
• Syllabus Finder – Nearly two million syllabi can be searched and viewed through this site.
• ECHO – a directory of over 5,000 websites “concerning the history of science, technology, and industry.”

These are just a portion of the resources under their Research + Tools tab.  When you consider their offerings under the Teaching + Learning and Collecting + Exhibiting tabs as well, you can see that it would take hours to properly sample the useful items in this site.  Take some time to see what they can offer to help your projects.

Web 3.0 Concepts Explained in Plain English is a collection of presentations, all striving to describe the next phase of web activity and development.  If all you look at is the single slide that sums up the differences between the three web generations, you will likely have a better grasp of what is coming than before.

found via Stephen’s Lighthouse

Web Tech Guy and Angry Staff Person (an exaggerated tale) is a video designed to be a provocative look at the arguments for opening library/museum data to web 2.0 social uses

The video isn’t so much exaggerated as much as it packs many of the arguments one hears against social uses of data into a short time span.  It was created by Michael Edson, Director of Web and New Media Strategy for the Smithsonian Institution.

found via Stephen’s Lighthouse

Steven Bell – It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad Web 2.0 World : Hidden Treasure or Just More Pressure? (Powerpoint) (Handout)

The title is adapted from It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, the “epic comedy” film from 1963. He likened our (libraries) search for “Library 2.0″ to the frantic search for the “big W” in the film, even showing a couple of clips.

He recommended a Wired magazine article by Chris Anderson called People Power.

A manifestation of the second-generation web is User Generated Content (which strikes me as a good summation of the change taking place).

Business Week’s June 11, 2007 issue of Inside Innovation has an incredible set of charts showing demographics of those using and generating content.

He recommended an article from the v.25#2 issue of Library Hi-Tech called Taking the information to the public through Library 2.0 (abstract only; sounds like an ILL opportunity).

He pointed out a blog post by David Lee King called How Can We Change the Unchangeable, or David’s Rant.

He showed several video clips of library staff scenarios (think of those training movies you see with acted examples):

• Library Director/Admin reacting to a librarian’s blogging
• Co-workers discussing the possibilities of a Wiki
• Instant Messaging as a library tool

His main points were to try out new technology, be open-minded about staff using technology, and recognize that much of Library 2.0 technology involves a time investment, but is otherwise low-risk (and low-cost).

His caveats were to focus on identifying problems needing solutions, find technology with the potential to solve those problems, learn about the technology, and practice.

He referred to an article in the April 2004 American Libraries titled A Dozen Solutions to all Library Problems (which makes some great points with a dose of humor).

Design thinking – libraries approaching problems like designers approaching problems

Library revolution: designers went directly to patrons – how they use library, what they want to do but cannot, etc. They did not use the library staff as a primary resource for the design.

Stages for implementing change:

1. Reflect, analyze, diagnose and design
2. Imagine and visualize
3. Model plan and prototype
4. Implement

Designing Better Libraries (one of Steven’s blogs)

He used an interesting prop to illustrate increased tension associated with technology: a block of wood with a bolt partly screwed into it… he uses a ratchet to tighten the bolt… increasing the tension.

“Reverse the Technology Ratchet”

• consider the opportunity costs
• Balance experimentation and investment of time
• pick your edge – leading or trail
• identify your compassionate pioneers
• reverse mentoring (relatively new library people training established people on newer methods)
• make a plan and let it guide (but there are exceptions)

Website: Steven Bell’s Keeping Up Website

We must learn to evolve

Example: Change. Deal with It. (a.k.a. Jim Carroll’s squirrel experiment)

He concluded with a quote from David Bishop, Charles Deering McCormick University Librarian at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois:

We have watched whole professions go out of business as a result of changes in technology. Libraries are not immune. Change must happen soon and across the board if libraries of all types are to remain viable.

Notes: This was essentially a keynote, and did not go in-depth on any topic. It hit many points, and used a great deal of humor to do so. It was a great start for the conference, and the end quote sets the tone for one of the later sessions.