Alchemical Thoughts

I recently saw this list of "21 Things That Are Being Killed Off by Digitalisation." In my usual semi-snarky way, I would like to go over the list and see what is dying, what is dead, and what is not quite dead yet. So, here is the list. I will say that it seems the term "digitalisation" seems to be interchangeable with "online" or "Internet" in this context. The comments are all mine:

1. Memory. I would have to say that digitalization may not be killing memory, but it certainly is slowing it in some aspects. For example, phone numbers I used to memorize I now fail to memorize because I can just look them up on my cellphone. This is something I would like to work on, since there are still one or two phone numbers I would prefer to memorize for the moments when I do not have my cell phone. 

2. Privacy. Every time you use some social online network, you are giving up some privacy. As a librarian, I am very aware of the issues with privacy online, and I try to educate patrons. I think a lot of the students in my campus do not realize how much companies know about them based on their Facebook profiles, for example. True, there is a trade-off between privacy and convenience, but that does not mean we should give up all of our privacy nor that we lack privacy rights that need to be protected. I see this as one of the major issues worth fighting for these days.

3. Experts. Yea, pretty much gone. Everyone these days thinks they are an "expert" if they can post something online. And don't even get me started on the wahoos who make it a hobby to comment in places like CNN when Jack Cafferty poses some question. Having an opinion does not an expert make. Writing for Wikipedia does not make you an expert either. I want knowledge. I want credentials. I want some degree of peer editing and evaluation. But maybe my standards are on the high side. It may have to do with being in academia, where we still place some value in vetting expertise (something seriously lacking in most news organizations these days).

4. Concentration. It depends on what it is you are supposed to be concentrating on. For instance, blogging does require a certain degree of concentration. So does playing some online games. And if you read online, say news or other text, that does require some concentration as well. So, I am not so sure on this one.

5. Listening to a whole album. What is this album thing you speak of? Seriously, I can see with the advent of playlists, iPods, so on how the idea of actually listening to one whole album is dying or dead already.

6. Punctuality. I am not sure how this one works. This seems more like a failing. You are either punctual, or you are not. Don't go blaming your lack of punctuality and respect for others on digitalization. Get your act together and learn to be punctual.

7. Telephone directories. When was the last time you used a phone book? In my case, not that long ago. For some things, it is easier to open the phone book than to boot up the computer to look up a local number (especially for businesses, say, a plumber when you are having an emergency with your pipes). I don't think directories are dead yet, but they may be on the way out. For me, a lot of this depends on how available access to the Internet, and I mean good broadband access, becomes. There is serious digital gap in this nation, and as long as there are parts of this country on dial-up, or with no access at all, things like directories will survive because those folks without Internet access will still need them.

8. Cheap watches. Looks like they are going the way of the dodo. I have a pocket watch myself, but when I forget to carry it, and I have my phone, I have been caught looking at the cell phone to get the time. However, I still prefer my watch. However, most of my students, as I can tell, do use their cell phones to check the time. I don't see many of them wearing watches, cheap or not. So, I would have to say dying on this one.

9. Letter writing. If you mean old fashioned, handwritten letters on actual paper that you would send via snail mail, yes, they are pretty much dead. This is probably a big reason why the U.S. Postal Service is having serious financial difficulties and a hard time surviving against the likes of UPS and FedEx.

10. Spelling. Spelling does seem to be dying. All you need to do is look at any short message service and its users to get a sense that spelling is not a priority. Also on comment boards. Pretty much, a lot of the online experience is rushed, and when people are rushed, they fail to check their spelling. I am not excusing, but that is the observation.

11. Printing photographs. If you mean printing them from actual film that is developed, yes, that is practically dead. However, printing actual photographs is not dead. Now, you can take a nice digital image, edit it yourself, then print it out on good quality photo paper, and even frame it nicely. So, printing photos is not dead. It just evolved.

12. Copyright. This is dying, at least in terms of the archaic rules governing it now. Sure, artists and creators should be compensated for their creations, but new models for that are going to be needed. The Internet is just too open for restrictive copyrights, and fighting that is just a losing battle as the music media moguls are learning. We may well need to simply rewrite all of the rules.

13. Personal re-invention. Can you say anonymity? Digitalization does allow people to create new personas and recreate themselves. However, depending on what you do and how, you do have to be a lot more careful about the image you put out. Even when you think you are anonymous, you can still be tracked pretty much, so you need to be careful in  how you re-invent.

14. Plagiarism. Some people would like to think this, but no. The idea of plagiarism and stealing (because that is what plagiarists do: they steal from others) will not die just yet.

15. Reflection. I think this depends on what you use. If you just use short message items like Twitter, you are probably not very reflective. Services like that encourage more shooting off the hip, so to speak, so I don't see much reflection there. In blogging, it varies. If you happen to be a blogger who does his thing based on timeliness (say, you run a news blog), I don't think you will have much reflection. Reflection is something that takes time and thought, so those bloggers who actually think and develop their ideas when they write, those are more reflective. So, I don't think digitalization is killing reflection. It just depends on the medium you may be using, not to mention your own nature. Some people are more reflective than others anyhow.

16. Paper money. With the advent of debit cards, it seems cash is on the way down. However, there are still moments when paper money may be preferable. And that is not counting moments when you want to "pay under the table." On a serious note, with the economy as is, and credit extremely tight, including people who may be losing their credit cards, cash could make a comeback .

17. Paper statements. For people with online access, yes, the paper statements are pretty much dead. However, see my note above about digital gaps. The same applies here.

18. Airline tickets. Mostly dead, with the caveat of digital gaps I have made before.

19. Concert tickets. Ditto.

20. Landline telephones. If you mean the old "Ma Bell," yea, those are on the way out. However, since digital phones are not always reliable (by this I mean things like a phone via a modem), and you may always need 911, landline phones will put up a fight for a while longer. But as systems improve, I think the old landlines will die. Not yet though.

21. Intimacy. And how are we defining this? If you mean being social in the sense of being in front of people, well, yes, intimacy may be dying. Then again, how intimate do you want to get with some people? If you have a spouse or a significant other, I think the intimacy will live even with digitalization.

…and 7 things that aren’t

1. Public libraries. On the contrary, due to the same digital gaps I keep noting, public libraries will be around. They may not be in the same shape or form that we traditionally conceive of them, but they will not die. For my one or two non-librarian readers, the debate of what form public libraries (and libraries in general) will take in the future is a constant debate in our profession. For me, that is a whole other post.

2. Vinyl record shops. I don't have enough of a grasp on this to say. I think based on what has not been digitized, which is a lot, the vinyl shops will be around for a while longer.

3. Newspapers (look at the data globally). Depends as well. As we know them, they will barely survive in areas with low to none online access. As soon as those areas get good broadband, the traditional paper will probably be toast. As is, this is pretty generational. Older folks cling to print newspapers, but ask the average youth today when was the last time they actually read a newspaper. Not news, but a newspaper. I think the answer will speak by itself.

4. Physical banks. Well, I have direct deposit, so I don't have to go deposit my paycheck. I pay my bills online, so don't have to write checks.  I have a debit card that works as an ATM card, so I can do a few transactions on the machine (as long as I use one affiliated to my bank). However, there are still some things you just have to do at the actual bank. The day they figure out how to automate those, the building as we know it goes. But for now, there are still a few things you need (or prefer) to have a human deal with at the bank.

5. Meetings. A sad reality. Meetings are not going away. If anything, it seems that meetings are multiplying, since now we can also have "virtual" meetings in addition to the usual meetings in person.

6. Paper. Not yet. Ask my daughter. She is an artist, and she still draws on paper for one. Anyhow, with so much bureaucracy, no matter how hard they try, paper is just not going away, whether is paper documents they make or people printing out things that started out as electronic documents. Paper will be around for a good long time.

7. Church. I suppose for now, church (whatever the denomination or belief system) will be around. And I get the feeling that, even if the buildings vanish, that "churches" will just move online or become virtual. Is that really so farfetched, or am I reading a bit too much science fiction lately?

What about you folks out there? Do you agree? Disagree? Have other ideas? Feel free to comment and let me know.

I do this because someone has to help fight ignorance and educate others. I do it because I am a librarian, and as such it is my mission to provide accurate, reliable information to my patrons and readers. I do it because it is the right thing to do. I did not realize it, but the last time I did this was back in 2005. Time flies, and a lot has changed since then. I am glad that, in spite of my busy days, I am able to take some time to blog about this. This December 1 marks the 21st anniversary of World AIDS Day. Did you know that a total of 33 million people now live with HIV/AIDS, and more than one million of them live in the U.S. ? Here is another fact:

The badge above comes for the Nine And a Half Minutes website, created by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control). I found that and other links with a little bit of searching and digging. This is not an exhaustive list. It is meant to give folks a place to start in terms of gathering information and getting educated. It is also meant to provide a small sample of what is available out there. As always, if you have questions, you can visit your local reference librarian. My professional friends and I will be happy to help out.

You can start learning more by visiting the U.S. Government's site: AIDS.GOV:

Visit AIDS.gov: Access to U.S. Government HIV/AIDS information.

This site is an information portal with a lot of information and resources from how to find a testing site to educational materials. From the site, "provides access to Federal HIV/AIDS information through a variety of new media channels, and supports the use of new media tools by Federal and community partners to improve domestic HIV programs serving minority and other communities most at-risk for, or living with, HIV." They also have a blog, which you might consider looking over and adding to your feed reader here.

Medline Plus has a topic page on AIDS that may be of interest. It includes interactive tutorials, news, medical information, and even materials for our Spanish-speaking friends.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also has an AIDS/HIV Awareness page here. It includes a nice overview of the history of World AIDS Day here, with facts and resources. For example, did you know that "the World Health Organization established World AIDS Day in 1988."

If you have a spiritual bent, the Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church has a page of "Worship Resources for World AIDS Day." It is a small collection of poems, prayers, and inspirational stories. They also have a resource page. I am putting this as an example that there are some religious groups who actually care.

Here you can find UNAIDS (The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS). You can find links to various publications, art, blogs, and resources. You can find statements about World AIDS Day from various UN officials here. Some are videos, others are text.

And here is the site of the World AIDS Campaign.

Over here is the British National AIDS Trust's site for World AIDS Day.

Over here is the site for the Light For Rights Campaign. From the site, "Light For Rights events are happening in cities and towns all over the world and will bring thousands of people together on World AIDS Day, December 1, 2009, to honor those we have lost to AIDS and to highlight the fundamental rights we all share. "

If you want to learn more about the legal angle and rights, the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) has a World AIDS Day page discussing their advocacy work to prevent discrimination against those with HIV and AIDS as well as other resources.

And I just found this website for the National Latino AIDS Awareness Day. The NLAAD actually takes place on October 15th (I did not know this. Just learned it now). However, I am adding it to this list because it provides much needed information and perspective for the Latino community. You can find a variety of resources here as well. The video they feature on the front page is worth watching.

In the state, I could not find as much. The press release that UT San Antonio is hosting some events came up. You can read about it here. "Activities will include a poetry slam, free HIV testing, awareness expo, candlelight vigil, music and a photo booth where students will get the chance to personalize a statement on how they will "face" HIV/AIDS." This should be the type of thing that more campuses here in Texas, and in the United States should be doing (and yes, I am looking at my own campus, which shines by its absence).

However, you can get some additional information on AIDS/HIV via the Texas Department of State Health Services. This was not as easy to find, so I am happy to dig it out for any locals out there.

And after some very deep digging, I managed to find the site for Tyler AIDS Services. This "is a full-service HIV/AIDS facility serving Tyler/Longview and many of the 32 North East Texas communities. " I am glad to see there is a local resource. I always try to include local things on posts like these when I find them.

(Crossposted to The Itinerant Librarian and from The Gypsy Librarian).

This is another note on webinars that my boss makes me attend. For some reason, our boss is on a roll in terms of making us watch webinars related to academic libraries. Actually, yesterday she mentioned that one of the reasons was that, since some of the webinars were free, that she was trying to get some training for us given the fact that the budget overall is tight. However, I tend to think that there is such a thing as being too cheap. No, I don't think she herself is cheap. I just think the way the training is done is cheap. This particular one, an ACRL webinar on "Academic Librarianship by Design" was not free, but it certainly felt cheap. It felt cheap because it yet another one of those webinars where I was not hearing anything I had not heard before. This one dealt with ways to integrate library services into a campus's course management system (CMS) like Blackboard. I suppose on the positive side, if something can be salvaged, is that the webinar pretty much reaffirmed a lot of what we are already doing. It confirms the things that our instruction librarian has been fighting for, often with either opposition or right out indifference from the IT folks, to get the library into Blackboard.

• Yes, we do have a library tab on Blackboard that provides links to various services (and boy did we have to fight over that one).
  
• Yes, we do have embedded/blended librarians.
  
• Yes, we are pretty good at using things like Elluminate, virtual reference, online chat, so on. 
• Yes, we are good at creating content and tools that our patrons will need and use.
  

So, once again, tell me something I do not know already. Show me something new, and something that I can actually use with the resources and restrictions I have to face. Yes, it is nice to see what other places are doing, but after a while, I want a little more substance than a basic overview. And I don't want to sound picky or superior, far from it, but basically stuff like this is just too basic. We do that stuff already with what we got. Unless unlimited money appears (unlikely to happen) and major attitude overhaul in IT and the administration happens (even less likely), we are not going to be doing things that some of the more well-heeled places presented are doing.

Am I frustrated? I suppose I am because I could have been getting some good work done in the library, and instead I had to sit for almost two hours listening to stuff that I know already because I am already doing it, or I already read about it someplace else. There is a reason the tagline in my professional blog is "I read a lot of the library literature so you don't have to."

What I am saying is this: there is a time when you have to stop watching what others are doing. It is time to put your money where you mouth is and actually start doing it. Stop worrying about what some other place is doing and concentrate on what it is we are doing. Focus on what it is we do well and measure how well we are doing it. From what I have seen so far, we are doing a lot better than many of those other places I hear about on these webinars. So, how about we focus on our work for a change? Just a thought.
 

 

There are days when I wonder if my profession as a whole has a death wish. Not only do outsiders rail on and on about how libraries need to be closed, how they will "evolve" into new spaces (that have nothing to do with the mission of an actual library), or how no one really needs them, but librarians and library professionals insist on deprofessionalizing their own profession, taking the library apart piece by piece, turn it into an arcade or entertainment center, and pretty much go for the lowest common denominator. Of course, if you mention any of this, and you put your name on it as I am doing now, you risk the ire of your professional brethren who will label you as someone who "does not get it." I am not quite sure what to make of the whole mess. Sure, I have my opinions, but I just don't feel like writing a whole post about it.

I have seen a good number of items that have given me food for thought, so here they go in my notes. Maybe some writing will come out of it, maybe not. But I cannot help but wonder why do my professional brethren insist of self-destruction?

• Two members of ACRL debate about the future of academic libraries, and from the looks of it, take a mild common ground where they toss the ball and say, "who knows what will happen." Not exactly something to inspire confidence. The event is reported by Inside Higher Ed in "Bookless Libraries?" 
• Campus Technology looks at the 21st century library as "A Space to Collaborate." Mostly highlights of a new very elegant digital library in Calgary and a few other places. In other words, an example of what gets done when you have a lot of funding to do it and people who think that electronic will overtake everything else. 
• Here is the Effing Librarian on "The Future of the Library Cafe." He has a way of using jokes and satire to make serious points that I like because often makes issues very accessible to others. This is definitely worth a look. He also has a new advocacy poster to help keep libraries open.
  
• Then again, we need reassurance that "librarians still have vital role in the Web 2.0 era." Good to know that librarians are not headed for the scrap heap and have to start taking Geritol just yet. The article found via Resource Shelf.
  
• And via Inside Higher Ed, here we have another college administrator speaking on "Libraries of the Future" where "the university library of the future will be sparsely staffed, highly decentralized, and have a physical plant consisting of little more than special collections and study areas." Funny how administrators who would never dream of doing our front line work with students are the first ones who want to outsource our librarians and library resources.
  
• Stephen Abrams points to an article in the journal New Review of Academic Librarianship. I have to check to see if we carry the journal, then see if I get around to read it. For now, I am using this note to remind myself. Apparently the issue Abrams mentions deals with the ever present topic of the future of the academic library. 
• And speaking of the short-sighted who want to close libraries, there are these folks in Omaha. Found via LISNews, where they have some comments.
  
• And in the quest to make unlibraries (to borrow Effing Librarian's term), the Annoyed Librarian tells us that "Something's Gotta Give." AL also tells us that "the future is now" in the context of school libraries getting rid of book collections for e-books or other online access rental.
  
• Jessamyn West has some thoughts on the Cushing Academy (aka as the school library that got rid of its book collection). A lot of comments over there. Another response on the topic at PhiloBiblos blog.
  

There are other things out there in the librarian sector of the blogosphere, but I can only take so much at one time. I may keep adding more as I get back in the mood.
 

Once again, I have put aside enough posts on the topic of bad bosses to make a post about it. These are mostly food for thought. I am sure someone could write some substantial post on bad bosses as they related to libraries and library administration, but I personally don't feel like doing it at the moment. A common theme in some of these posts seems to be what can we learn from those bad bosses.

• Lifehacker asks "How Do You Deal with a Bad Boss?" It is an invitation to their readers to comment, but it is also discussing a bit about entitled Working for You Isn't Working for Me. The book may be something to consider reading at some point. A key point here is knowing what it is about your boss that irks or bothers you, then find a way to cope, or as I say, decompress after work. 
• The Effing Librarian tells us to "Prepare for the Scottish Librarian Invasion." It deals with a story of certain library administrators basically deprofessionalizing their staff and a few other boneheaded things administrators tend to do that demoralize their workers. A must read. Effing Librarian also has a short one on why he is a bad librarian. This was one I could identify with, and it has been something I have been wanting to write about. Maybe it goes back the idea I have seen in some circles where, if a librarian expresses little to no interest in a "leadership" position (read: management) due to having bad experiences with management, then he must have a bad attitude. I have pondered a bit of that before, but not sure what else to do with it.
  
• Bob Sutton, one of my favorites on this topic, asks "Do You Learn More From Working for a Bad Boss than a Good Boss?" He is making the point that bad bosses force you to learn about situations and yourself. After all, when the boss is good and all is well, you are not really as reflective. This may be worth some thought. Mr. Sutton also raises a very good question, which I think would make a nice writing prompt for me one of these days: "What is the most important thing you ever learned NOT TO DO from working for a bad boss?"
  
• I saved this piece not so much for anything deep but because it has a draft memo for when you have to convince your boss to let you go to a conference. (via The Liminal Librarian). Then again, if you have to convince your boss why your professional development is important, how it will better serve the organization, and how it is an investment in you as an asset to the organization, then you may have bigger problems.

And for the random reader who may be interested, here are Part 1 and Part 2 of this rambling series.
 

"So if you’ve seen nothing, if the crimes of this government remain unknown to you, then, I would suggest you allow the 5th of November to pass unmarked."  --V, from the film V for Vendetta.

V for Vendetta is one of my favorite films in the dystopian genre. But it also makes some serious comments on the affairs of bad governments and the people who keep electing them. So, on this November 5th, here is a little something to think about.

Here we go again. This time around, the inspiration for me to do this is that a couple of my colleagues are suggesting that the library make an actual research guide on the topic of "health care management" using the LibGuides system we have in place. I personally have been thinking about making some kind of post on the topic for the library blog, but I think by now the topic is a bit big for just a blog post. In the case of the blog post, I was thinking of providing some general resources and some advice on how to evaluate the resources. Because I think it is easy to find information on the issue. It is also very easy to find a lot of misinformation based on FUD tactics, so people need to not only be informed, but they need to be able to evaluate the claims they find. So, what it may be worth, here is the latest stuff I have found.

• From the American Academy of Actuaries (these are the folks whose job it is to calculate risks and then assess value. For instance, when it comes to insurance, these are the folks who decide who gets rejected, like that baby that was too fat in recent news. If you want a less snarky definition of what is an actuary, you can look here). The report basically suggests costs necessary for starting up a public health option or a health coops option. Links to news release and to the full study. Title of the report is "Federal Health Care Reform 2009: Start-up Capital Costs for Health Care Co-ops and a Public Plan." 
• The Commonwealth Fund, a think tank with an interest in health care issues, has released results of their survey of health care leaders asking them about health care (link to news release; you can get a link to the full survey report at the site).Those surveyed are discussing Medicare and how it can be expanded. One of the reasons to look at Medicare is because it is a U.S. Government program. Yes, it is run by the government, so when certain people gripe about not wanting the government to run their health care insurance, I ask them if they want to give up their Medicare. You can insert the silence and sound of crickets now.
• (Update note: 11/5/09): Just found this. This is the take of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, the lobbyists for small businesses, on "The Top 15 Reasons Small Business Oppose H.R. 3962." Before folks buy too deeply into this, may I suggest they go do some reading over at FactCheck? 
• (Update note: 11/9/09): From the Employment Benefit Research Institute, an issue brief on "Sources of Health Insurance and Characteristics of the Insured: Analysis of the 2009 Current Population Survey" (link to executive summary. You can also get the full document on that link). Worth a look.
  

As before, in case the random reader that finds this blog is interested, you can find my previous posts on this topic here, here, here, and here.

In addition, I saved this video on my feed reader's clippings folder. Naturally, this is not something I would give to my students as part of their research, though I would probably still urge them to watch it as an example of how the message is being transmitted. I think we need to be sharing it more because the message is an important

This is just a small link dump of items that can be classified as inspirational that I want to add to my scratch pad here. Some I have read. Others I just clipped to read at some point.

Items via Dumb Little Man (I keep finding interesting things on this blog. Glad I added it to my feed reader):

• "How to Free Yourself from Limiting Beliefs" I may not agree with all of it (at times, there are obstacles you have no control over. You have to learn at times to let things go), but overall, this is a good reading. The exercise is to identify the beliefs that limit you, then break with them.
  
•  On a similar vein, here is "how to stop the raging war inside yourself."
  

Via Mashable:

• "HOW TO: Become an expert in your field." There is stuff on how to keep up as well as how to impart your wisdom onto others.
  
• Here are "five steps to getting unstuck and pursuing your goals." 
• And "5 ways to take control of your brand." This is something students in college about to graduate may want to look at. It deals with managing your reputation, especially online, which is a concern particularly as you are about to go in the job market. This is something I continually work on, my online brand and reputation. 

By Dave Pollard:

• I need to read this one a bit more closely, but for now I am making the note about it here. This is "Intention to Practice." 
• And over here, learn "how to save the world? ask the right questions."
  

From Presentation Zen:

• "Personal Kaizen: 15 Tips for Continuous Improvement." 
• "7Japanese Aesthetic Principles to Change Your Thinking."
• "10 Tips on How to Think Like a Designer."  
• "The Inspiring Jose Abreu and El Sistema." I started watching the video provided in this post, and then a few of the usual work interruptions happened. I need to get back to this sometime.
  

Via Lifehacker:

• This sounds interesting, but I am not sure if I can get away with it. Now, the idea of once in a while just taking some thinking time is very valuable. It is something I wish certain administrators would understand. Here is a suggestion to "take a creative sabbatical to stave off burnout." 
• "Master the 'Why Hire Me' Story to Land a Job." This could also go under job or career advice. This is something I would like to work on, making an "elevator pitch" about myself in case people ask. Reminds me also that I probably should rework the "About" pages on my blogs to make them a bit leaner.
  

I am honestly not sure what to make of this. This webinar, "'Big Challenges (and Opportunities) for Academic Libraries" (see the link here for some details) was something our director pretty much made us watch recently. I honestly expected a lot more given that a reason our director was making us watch it was as a prelude to upcoming work on strategic planning. I was not impressed by the content, and at times I found it a little condescending. Some of the (supposedly) revolutionary ideas they presented were things we have been doing already for years. Even when the boss managed to get through on the phone line to ask a question, asking the "now what?" (after we have done all that) question, we did not get a clear answer. The article by Walton (see citation below), which was the basis of the seminar, was not that much better.

One of my colleagues, who is a recent hire, commented that much of the presentation and article was a "fear" presentation, namely one of those gloom and doom presentations where they speculate about the fall of the library. And there is enough in the article to show that a lot of administrators, including Walton, contrary to his claims, who would not miss the library as we know it were it close tomorrow. Walton may claim he is in touch with libraries, but he is a consortium administrator. He has not been in the trenches for a while. So when he asks a question such as "is a great academic library based primarily in a great collection?" then answers that access is more important than ownership and does not address materials other than to reduce books and print, I have to wonder. Because where I currently work, there is nothing more embarrassing than having a student ask if we have books on X topic only to have to turn them away because we either do not have them (a very likely scenario for certain topics) or we have it as an e-book, in which case they look at you as if you just insulted their parentage (this happens fairly often too, and it will likely keep on happening as we increase electronic holdings in favor of print. Not a choice I really agree with, but I don't make that decision). Walton seems to agree with the assessment from other administrators that "books, except entertainment reading, were eventually going away" (page 90 in the article).And this is just one example. There is a lot in this presentation that seems alarmist and at times a bit overgeneralizing.

For the McCombs segment of the presentation, I just wanted to go down her list and say, "we do that, we do that, we do that other thing, that thing over there did not work," so on. I found it to be nothing more than restatements of the obvious. Allow to use some examples (quotations are from her presentation):
 

• "Created the 24/7 experience." This has been suggested in our campus a few times. It is just not going to happen. Unless there is a major hiring spree of extra staff to keep the library open, security to keep it safe, additional measures to lock down parts of the building, and so on, not happening. Those things cost money for one (something that McCombs did not mention anywhere in the presentation), and while some members of our administration like the idea (mostly because they do not have to stay late hours), in reality, they are not about to cough up funds or resources to make it happen. We don't do this literally, but we get close given our hours, plus the many resources on our website that are online 24/7.
  
• "Develop specific and unique connections with student life." This is one of the reasons my position was created: Outreach Librarian. I am constantly seeking ways to develop those specific and unique connections with student life. From maintaining relationships with campus groups and students to implementing, administering, and maintaining most of the library's 2.0 initiatives, I can say we do that already. Tell me what's next, don't just tell me something I know already. Yes, we do that.
  
• "Seen as innovative technology leaders." It must be nice when your campus (SMU in her case) has the resources to build an information commons or a student multimedia center. We barely managed to convert a conference room into a small practice presentation room for students to use. With significant effort and push by our instruction librarian, we finally got a hands-on teaching classroom for library instruction, a room that we do have to share with at least two other campus organizations (instructional design and interactive television) as part of the Faustian deal. And we had to fight for those things pretty much every step of the way, and let's not even add that the library has no control over a substantial amount of its space. We are working on this, but not easy.
  
• "Strong faculty support." With a few exceptions, this is pretty much non-existent. And it is not for a lack of effort on our part. Our director has put a lot of thought and effort into implementing a librarian liaison program for academic departments. Our librarians strive to work with faculty to meet their needs in various ways, and very often, we are met with derision, indifference (which seems to be the attitude of choice), and/or insults (I have been called incompetent a few times by them, for instance). When I hear that "strong faculty support" is some panacea, I just want to know how do you overcome their overall disrespectful attitudes for openers. Don't just tell me you need to have "strong faculty support." Give me specific steps to build it, or how to work around things when it is lacking. Not everyone works in the same utopian campus where faculty all fawn over the library. Lacking, but to be honest, not our fault.
  
• "Close relationship with central technology support services." Considering that we cannot even get our campus IT people to even make a phone call when they are doing some upgrade to the network or computer systems, I don't think this one is coming any time soon either. I could go on and rant about the many ways IT treats the library as an after thought or a bother, but I have more I need to write about. Lacking, but again, not our fault (communication and common courtesy are a two-way street. This is another thing that I often do not hear from many of these bright-eyed speakers).
  
• "Special Collections involved with faculty for both programming and research support." Our Archivist has been hard at work at this, considering that she has pretty much had to build Special Collections and Archives from the ground up. I think this recent success of hers illustrates very well how our archives department is involved. Yes, we do that.
  
• "Connections with the administrative community." To an extent, this is part of my job as well since I do a lot of the PR work for the library, so I strive to keep the administrative community informed. Our director spends a lot of time working with administrators as well. Yes, we do that.  
• "Do not shy away from the big assignments." Oh really? Our librarians work on various campus committees, and we have done work in things as big as accreditation. A few of the librarians, including myself, were on various committees dealing with the accreditation process. Yes, we do that. 
• "Volunteer." Yes. We do that too. 
• "Create networks of advocacy." Again, part of my job for one, especially in dealing with students. Something our instruction librarian does with her students. Something the archivist does with potential clients, faculty, and campus. So does our director. Yes, we do that. 
• "Be available to represent the university in any number of forums." To the extent this is possible, yes, we do that. 
• "DO NOT WHINE." I may vent, but I do not whine. I, along with colleagues, put my money where my mouth is. I just wish others would do the same. Expressing frustration over a lack that, more often than not, you have no control over, is not whining. Give me your resources, your information commons, and your very supportive faculty, and I will build you castles. I can only work with what I have. Yes, we do (or not do) this too. 

There are other items in McCombs list, but there is only so much I can take of the condescending tone, the underlying attitude that if you are not doing those things, then there must be something wrong with our library, or you fall short somehow. I can attest the ways we literally bust our behinds to serve our academic community with little resources, often with ungrateful support (if any), and we still get very positive reviews on things like LibQual+. So please, tell me something new. Oh, and for the love of your sky fairy of choice, we are not Starbucks (no matter how many coffee shops you want to replace libraries).

Even Mendoza, who represented a community college, did not tell me much new, and she added to the alarmist tone. Her presentation in terms of suggestions was pretty much fairly similar to McCombs.

So again, I am not sure what to make of this. Maybe I am just not the audience for this presentation since I happen to be pretty well read when it comes to the LIS literature as well as being familiar with the various reports cited like ECAR and OCLC. In this day and age, are there really libraries out there that need to be told this kind of thing? In a way, this was not too different than the times when my school district, back in the days when I was a school teacher, decided to have some teacher in-service day and inflict some "motivational" speaker (who very often had not been in a classroom for ages or not at all) to come tell us how to run our classrooms. So much for change. 

Anyhow, my two cents for what little they may be worth.

Oh, almost forgot, the citation for Walton's article:

Walton, Robert, "'Big' Challenges (and Opportunities) for Academic Libraries." Texas Library Journal (Fall 2009): 88-90.

Update note (10/29/09): Here is a link to the Jim Neal "New Directions" (link to YouTube video) speech that is mentioned in the webinar. Unless you are really curious, don't bother. It's an almost hour and half soporific presentation by an administrator from a large campus (read very well funded) telling the rest of us (who are nowhere near as well funded) what to do. I inflicted it on myself, and I could certainly write a whole post just replying to it, but to be honest, I am a bit tired of this whole affair. Some of us have to actually work for a living.  

 

This is mostly a small link dump for a post I am may write for our library blog about the Nobel Prizes. In addition to writing about the recent awards announced, I have spotted a couple of items out there that may be of interest as well.

• Here is something on what happens to some of the Nobel laureates who have to go back to work. Just because you won the prize, it does not follow you are rich and get to retire. Far from it. (via Bookninja). 
• From the Nobel website, "What Did the Nobel Laureates Read When They Were Young?" I am thinking that the books listed here would make a good library display as well. (via Resource Shelf).
  

Also, I need to check and see if the winners may have books out or books written about them or their work that we may have in our collection; this information can then be added to the post later as well.

Update note (Same day):

Here are a couple of stories on this year's Nobel laureate in literature, Herta Mueller. A lot of the attitude was "wtf is Herta?" as conveyed by the news stories. I will admit that I had not heard of her, but then again, there are a few other Nobel laureates in literature (and other fields) I had never heard of before I read about them winning the award, and I certainly did not go out of my way to be dismissive. Instead, I wanted to learn more. Why some, especially Americans, feel a need to poo poo an accomplishment like this is beyond me. Seems like a display of ignorance, and then they wonder why the rest of the world has a negative opinion. The stories:

• Literary Saloon has a small summary with links. 
• The Times has a piece on "Why have we never heard of these Nobel authors?" which looks a bit at the judges.