IL 2011 was a great conference!  Many topics of high current interest were on the program.  This blog has only sampled them, but many of the speakers’ slides will be available here (click on each session to see the links).

Be sure to mark your calendar NOW for IL 2012, once again in beautiful Monterey.

I hope to see you there.

Don Hawkins
Columnist, Information Today,
and
Internet Librarian 2011 Blog Coordinator

Elizabeth Lane Lawley, Director of the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Lab for Social Computing, returned to Internet Librarian to present the endnote address on “gamification”, the application of game mechanics to non-game situations.

Liz Lawley

Frequent flyer points, shopping points, etc. can be called games. Gamification was invented to make games accessible in the context of ordinary business. Of course, points have value in games; it is a question of what you are using them for. If they give you a sense of competence, they are very powerful. You feel good if you did something difficult and somebody else recognizes it is difficult.

An RIT staff member had a game idea: students should get achievements for being awesome. It is hard to do this well. Students arrive on campus wanting to graduate, get a job, etc. and do not understand why they have to do all the things they do. Their experience at college is visualized as a hero’s journey. All the obstacles they must face have a reason.

Games like Foursquare allow you to reflect back on what you have done and feel good. For example 4squareand7yearsago.com sends an e-mail about what you did in the game a year ago. There are many dangers trying to get students to do things. If you give them a star for something, they will do it less because they expect a reward. They will not volunteer to do things once the reward is in place. We must be careful not to break students’ intrinsic motivation. They should not feel like they have to do something–it is about the autonomy. They have to want to do it!  We need to consider:

• What are the behaviors we want to reward and encourage?
• What feelings of competence could we engender?
• What did we want our students to remember and reflect on?

In the game at RIT (“Just Press Play“), students do things, collect achievements, and get recognition. They must take risks and try things. When they register for the fame, they get an RFID key fob that they scan when they accomplish something. So far, over 400 students have registered to play. One result of the game was that they began introducing themselves to each other so they can play. These are experiences that students will remember. The game allows them to interact with the faculty and see them as human beings. All students play games, and if you design the content properly, you can get them to engage. You need a platform and spend time thinking about the content. it is all about the experience.

See all of Liz’s slides here.

Don Hawkins
Columnist, Information Today,
and
Internet Librarian 2011 Blog Coordinator

Librarians who are looking for high-tech, wow-factor ways to excite and engage customers should check out what’s happening in the area of multi-touch tables. A session by two Dutch librarians showed off how they are using the tables now and what new applications they’re building into the next generation.

Multi-Touch Table Presentation

Jaap van de Geer (R) and Erik Boekesteijn (L) of DOK Lab in Delft, Netherlands, have been working with programming colleague Koen Rotteveel to create new ways for people to use these surfaces. Multi-touch tables act like the touch-screen or your iPads or smart phones, except they are larger & more functional. Already in DOK, the library concept center, they’ve been using multi-touch tables for projects like one with the Cultural Heritage Center of Delft, where they’ve taken 25,000 pictures that were “hidden away in a dusty archive” and put the digital versions in the table for people to explore. Here’s a video that shows how it works, although Koen has created many more advances since this time.

Jaap told the crowd, “We strongly believe in entrepreneurial libraries.” Projects like this one, which was developed for DOK and is now being offered for sale to other organizations, prove that librarians can be developers.

Dick Kaser, ITI’s Vice President of Content, moderated the wrapup session of the 2-day e-book track, which featured this panel. It was an excellent summary of the issues.

(L-R) Dick Kaser, VP of Content, Information Today (moderator); Ken Roberts (Chief Librarian, Hamilton ON Public Library); Aspen Walker (Branch Manager, Douglas County Libraries, Castle Rock, CO), Joe Murphy (Science Librarian, Yale University)

Because of the popularity of this track, the discussion will be continued at the Computers in Libraries 2012 conference, March 21-23, in Washington, DC. The entire track was live streamed, and the video archive is available here.  This session began with each panelist summarizing what they heard or the issues that concern them.

Joe Murphy:
Is sharing of content across mobile devices a worry or an opportunity? Rapid transformations can cause concerns, but every player in the industry faces the same problems. We must move quickly to adapt. Companies that succeed push for change and accelerate through it. Major trends for the next year will be proximity to content and social media. We need to find an optimal point of tension.

Aspen Walker:
Douglas County Libraries has created their own e-book model. They purchased an Adobe Content Server and are making sure that content is discoverable through their catalog. Users can opt in to maintain their reading history. A large wall display makes content discoverable. They are working directly with publishers and negotiating to own the content, not lease it–the same arrangement as with print books.

Very few people can contribute to the social capital of the human race. Libraries can help them show their ideas. Remembering the local is also important. Stories of small towns matter; diversify your opinions. The long tail is so important! Be willing to focus on both the popular and the niche.

Lessons from the Wild West: We are wandering in the wilderness. A major concern is that patrons and organizations will get the short end of the stick. Let’s not repeat the mistakes of the past. Make progress without shooting friends in a quick draw contest; don’t step into the wilderness without looking!

Libraries exist because of first sale and fair use rights. Our copyrights are being eroded. When we rent content, give up those rights.

No single superhero is going to save the day! Lots of people want a place at the table, and we all want to be involved. We need to work together, form a league of superheroes, and work towards our strengths.

If we don’t get e-books right, it could be the end of what we all love so much. We need to be marketers and library advocates, build community, boost local businesses, and become a smart investment. Is money the greatest good, or is it people and sharing ideas?

Ken Roberts:
There has not been much information given to the publishers about the business of public libraries because they sell to intermediary distributors. There really is a food chain: creators, agents, publishers, distributors, booksellers, readers. Everyone in that chain is impacted by current issues. Publishers are losing money on paper format at present because they are structured around an old model.

When we talk to our city council, we don’t whine for money but tell them the good we are accomplishing. As a result, the library has never had a budget cut. There should be more listening to our partners as to what they need and how we can serve them.

Q&A:
Ken: Libraries are a political force and have market clout. They have the ability to demand what they want and are a market force. They can be powerful agents in the distribution channel.

Joe: I would use libraries more if they provided more specialized types of access, such as material by local authors.

Ken: I would definitely help local authors sell their books and make them available, but the electronic sale doesn’t harm the local bookstore. Publishers are as fearful of Amazon as the public libraries.

Aspen: We are already selling books by embedding links and buy it now options in our catalog. Libraries can be new players in the literary ecosystem. We can be part of creating the future. Libraries are a part of the community; let’s leverage that.

Dick Kaser listed the issues we have heard during the past 2 days: Title availability, DRM and licensing terms, locking content to devices, discoverability of e-book content and its portability, owership and archiving, access and privacy. Then he asked the panelists what worries them most.  Here are the answers:

Ken: DRMs (but he says that it now worries him the least becasue it’s a marketplace. There are many new publishers starting as e-only without DRM).

Aspen: Can we ever control something that can be copied so easily? A greater worry is that people should be reimbursed for their creative content and be able to continue to share ideas. (See Cory Doctorow’s free e-book “Content“.)

Joe: Discoverability problems when companies put restrictions on their content distribution.

Don Hawkins
Columnist, Information Today,
and
Internet Librarian 2011 Blog Coordinator

John Seely Brown, Chief of Confusion; Visiting Scholar at USC; Independent Co-Chairman of the Deloitte Center for the Edge & Author, The New Culture of Learning

Our distinguished thought leader, author, and practitioner looks at how the forces of change, and emerging waves of interest associated with these forces, inspire and invite us to imagine a future of learning that is as powerful as it is optimistic. By exploring play, innovation, and the cultivation of the imagination as cornerstones of learning, Brown shares his vision of learning for the future that is achievable, scalable, and one that grows along with the technology that fosters it and the people who engage with it. A new form of culture in which knowledge is seen as fluid and evolving is one in which Internet Librarians can excel and support learning with content, connections and conversations.

Download the JSB Keynote Presentation (PDF) to follow along.

Day 2 of the E-book track looked at the role of publishers and distributors.

(L-R) Clare Appavoo , Michael Porter, Sarah Houghton, Andromeda Yelton, Brian Gurewitz

Serving the evolving library community
Clare Appavoo, Director, Sales and Strategic Support, North America, Ingram

The evolution of the e-book world requires flexibility with electronic and print platforms. Libraries wanted to mimic e-book acquisition with print, which is not very successful. Sophisticated user communities demanded better search interfaces and the ability to download books to e-readers. Not all publishers have been willing to launch into a downloading world, but it is increasing on a weekly basis.

Purchasing models are shifting; user selected acquisitionis  now available. The model mimics the traditional purchasing model–users choose books from a pre-selected pool. Consortial environment patron-driven acquisition is becoming increasingly popular.

Here are some future trends.

libraryrenewal.org: Libraries at a crossroads
Michael Porter

libraryrenewal is a new type of nonprofit by and for libraries to help them find new e-content solutions. It is focusing on public libraries and e-books, starting with popular materials. We will have to rebuild our collections as e-books become more widespread. The market is clouded, and lack of competition raises prices. Closed infrastructures make pricing cloudy. The only way we can get around this is to create something ourselves and not just accept what is handed to us. We have not figured out how to act like a business and speak with a single voice. That is what libraryrenewal is here to do–provide a place to rally behind electronic content.

Sarah Houghton
San Rafael Public Library

The goal is to get people thinking. We can all agree that we have many choices in the way that digital content is available. Making it fit the print paradigm does not necessarily work. Lots of content has an arbitrary usage limit–1 user, 1 copy. We should dispense with the idea of a “copy”. Why should an electronic file expire at all? The reason is money! There is no ownership of this content; we license it. How does this affect the cultural record in our communities? DRM can lead to the keys to content being lost. Will it be readable in 50 years? We are trying so hard to look cool that we will take anything. If you want to get upset, get upset at those publishers who will not sell us digital content.

All stakeholders realize that the future of e-books is moving to an open mktplace. Everything is intermediated, and we cannot buy direct. Free is becoming dominant in our society. We are moving away from intermediaries. Within the next 5 years, DRM will start to fade away. In 10 years, we will see a free and open marketplace.

Authors make a lot less from e-books, and they have very little control over them. The publisher controls the DRM and can lock it down forever. Authors get 39% less royalties on e-book. Why? They are getting a bad deal. Libraries should band together with content creators.

Things to think about:

• How will library access work with different media types?
• Do locked down systems have a future?
• What happens when content is only produced digitally?
• How is privacy protected, especially for kids? If a kid checks out an e-book, is his reading history being tracked?
• Do publishers have a long term role in digital content creation?

We can work together to get to the future we want to see.

Andromeda Yelton
GlueJar

We are looking for a model that puts more e-books out for the public good. The challenge is that there are lots of devices to read them on and lots of formats. It is hard to get content on to devices. GlueJar’s unnglue.it product makes e-book creation easier. There should be a price at which an author/publisher will create a Copyright Commons (CC) license. Gluejar will crowdsource money to make it worthwhile, and the book will become unglued and available under CC’s BY-NC-ND license, whihc means that you can do anything as long as you obey the terms of this license–attribute, no commercial use, no derivative works. You can make copies and change the format. This removes fear for publishers and users.

Brian Gurewitz
Director, Content Sales, OverDrive

OverDrive is a leader in making e-books popular in libraries. It is developing technology and solutions beneficial to all and distributes content to channels. Its challenge is to serve the demand for e-books.

Titles now have Kindle compatability. A new patron-driven acquisition model allows users to recommend books to the library, which makes purchase decision. Or the user can purchase the book from an affiliate of their choice. This keeps libraries important in the marketplace.

Q&A:
In the question period, several controversial topics were discussed. We must have legal clarity to proceed. Legal challenges are harder to solve than technical. We will have DRM for a while until this gets solved. There is no interest in Congress now in copyright issues, so now is not the time to pursue this. There may be more hope on the international side (IFLA is working on this).

Sarah said that libraries pay more for electronic content than consumers do, which is the reverse of print. We have to stand up and say we are not happy with this. Libraries and schools have always been partners with publishers. Now with e-media, publishers are questioning this. OverDrive is working with publishers to help them see the value of library space. But they don’t get involved in pricing; they just show the value of the market. The libraryrenewal model is different: publishers say what pricing they need and what DRM is necessary.

How will e-book models work with special libraries? Clare said that academic library models work well with special libraries as well.

Sarah said that Amazon is ignoring the libraries completely. OverDrive has made a deal and there is no access to data on our users. Michael Porter agreed: The basic tenet of librarianship is privacy. The only place to go to understand this is the libraryrenewal business plan.

Publishers must make money to keep publishing. They expect us to manage the licenses we have and are going to tighten up the ways to keep aggregators complying with the licenses.

Don Hawkins
Columnist, Information Today,
and
Internet Librarian 2011 Blog Coordinator

The Wednesday keynote session was a panel moderated by Roy Tennant of OCLC, with the panelists shown here.

(L-R) Liz Lawley, Director, RIT Lab for Social Computing; Steve Abram, VP, Cengage Learning; James Werle, Director, Internet2 K20 Iniative; Roy Tennant, OCLC (moderator)

The panel looked at the internet in 2020 and held a “TrendWatch Smackdown”. James Werle began with a look beyond Web 2.0, noting that the changes of the last few years are just a blink of the eye in the history of librarianship. In 1996, only 28% of public libraries offered Internet access, and the average web usage by Americans was 1/2 hour a month! Global Internet traffic is predicted to quadruple by 2015, and the IT revolution will continue to produce untold innovation. Internet traffic is forecast to quadruple by 2015, with more devices, more people conneccted, better connectivity, and more video. Video will be the fastest application driving traffic in the next 5 years. All applications will require high performance broadband. Many libraries are falling behind the bandwidth curve; over half of US libraries report that they do not have enough workstations to meet demand at certain times during a busy day. Access to high performance broadband networks is essential for libraries to evolve in the future.

A national fabric of networks connected by Internet2 has been built to meet high performance broadband needs of educational institutions. A Gates Foundation study is worth reading to understand these issues.

In the Smackdown portion of the panel, Roy Tennant asked panelists what keeps them awake at night and what might be one of the most transformative trends for libraries. Steve Abram said that he worries about people who made our reading devices assuming they have the right to decide what we can and cannot read. He also said that advertising is coming to books. Does anybody see this? You are not Google’s user; you are their product. We need to look at content spam. At some point, we will be served up to an ad-based community. We need to say, “I don’t want to be the product”.

Liz Lawley said that nobody can argue that bandwidth doesn’t matter. More bandwidth is coming. Are we going to have a piece of that? Who will pay for it? What is worth sending across that bandwidth? What do we need to maintain collections of? She has fears about cloud-based content–it keeps going down! What are we layering on top of the bandwidth? We need to think about what we pay for and why. We pay for flexibility, convenience, and device independence. People are willing to pay for experiences that makes them feel good. The way you present something really matters. We get too caught up in the collections and forget about the experience of delivering them. We want to make people come out of an experience feeling successful–it is about interface, experience, and interaction on an in-depth level. We are focused on the content not the context.

Steve said that premium services are about segmenting users and power users who can pay more. We have served up our customers to Amazon, a retail commercial entity, which is appalling. We cannot let commercial voices dominate. Do I want ads in books? When does it change what gets read or published?

Roy asked what will be the most disruptive change in the next few years? Liz said that we will see more tools for adding games and play to underlying concepts. There will also be a return to a love of tangible things and their quality. Paper is not going away. 3D printer technology is getting more common, and its cost and accessibility have plummeted recently. What does it mean when you can print a replica of something?

She also noted that QR codes are not as interesting as what is going on in RFID. We want things to feel magical. Frictionless technology starts to be invisible and feel like magic. Things just happen the way they should. You can enable objects–the internet of things.

Steve said that we are changing the dynamics of the choosing environment. Music changed with the 99 cent song–it became no more a financial choice. Frictionless information services are core. How do we make sure that information is of good quality and not biased?

Liz thinks that there is real value in being in the same room with other people. Technology can’t give you that. For example, we are in an innersive environment right now. When you can see the audience, you can tell when you are reaching them and when you have lost them.

Final thoughts: James: Video conferencing in libraries is a way to extend the world. Steve: 1. Be more radical, find our voice, and be comfortable with that. 2. Understand the point of view of other participants in the info space. Liz: Remember what it is like to be a kid. Find ways to make technologies to blend into the background. Learn what it is like to hang out and drop in–interesting things happen when they are unexpected. Think about magic, delight, with the technologies in the background.

Don Hawkins
Columnist, Information Today,
and
Internet Librarian 2011 Blog Coordinator

One very common question is, “How can I convince my admin / staff / colleagues to change the way they work to incorporate new strategies?” So I couldn’t resist attending the session entitled Building Support for Change & Customer Relationships.

The presenter who addressed this aspect most directly was Christina de Castell, manager of online information & news at Vancouver Public Library in Canada. Budget cuts forced her to implement major changes in staffing, workflow, and the physical setup of her floor of VPL. Without going into all the changes she made, I’d like to share how she convinced staffers to work with her and to support the changes, many of which would affect them greatly.

• Tell staff that it’s OK to try new things and fail.
• Assign all staffers to be on one of the project’s “action teams.”
• Set goals together; be open and transparent.
• Have brainstorming sessions.
• Invite and listen to feedback.
• Have weekly progress meetings that were informative, but not mandatory.

During this project, de Castell encouraged collaboration and made the planning part of the fabric of people’s jobs. When they brainstormed, writing ideas on giant sticky notes that hung on the walls, she left those sticky notes up so everyone could see and ruminate on the ideas. The bottom line was this: Bring everyone along for the ride. Let them give opinions and work together to shape the change.

Christina de Castell

For the 15th anniversary of the Internet Librarian conference, attendees enjoyed sweet treats in the exhibit hall, and then the drawing for the 3 iPads was held.

Here is Tom Hogan, Sr. preparing to draw a winning business card.  Tom Hogan, Jr. is assisting.

And the first winner was…

Barbara Galik, Cullom-Davis Library, Bradlely University, Peoria, IL

The second winner:

Matt Stevons, Kaplan University, Chicago, IL

The final winner

Rob Colding presents the iPad to Ruth Kneale, Systems Librarian, Advanced Technology Solar Telescope

Congratulations to the winners!  If you didn’t win, come to Internet Librarian 2012 to try again.

Don Hawkins
Columnist, Information Today,
and
Internet Librarian 2011 Blog Coordinator

I was very interested in attending a session called Repositioning with Tablets, Social Media, & Outreach.

The first speaker, Tim Donahue from Montana State University, discussed what tablets are being used for in his library (roving reference, QR code reading, & brainstorming sessions) and their implications (since they’re easier to read from than to type on, they are “ideal platforms” for library content consumption).

The second speaker, Allen Cho from the University of British Columbia, talked about a government-funded project to gather Chinese-Canadian stories and all the community engagement it prompted. (Learn more at ccs.library.ubc.ca.)

The final speaker, Arlene Keller from Multnomah County Library in Portland, OR, discussed their successful Facebook page, which has more than 15,000 fans. She attributed the success to many things, chief among them was starting with good planning and policymaking and knowing what content customers want. (One way to do that is to observe how they interact with each other on the page and what they like to discuss.) They also use FB’s statistics to measure usage and ROI.

Engaging Your Community with Tablets and Social Computing

Mobile and social computing are changing everything and libraries need to keep up with their users’ expectations.