PLA Blog

It really wouldn’t feel like winter in Boston if there wasn’t any snow, right? I walked outside after attending the PLA Emerging Issues meeting at the Park Plaza and was thrilled to see a flurry of snowflakes and a dusting of snow on the ground. Just enough to be pretty– and hopefully it will stay that way.

Anyway, the Emerging Issues discussion group was small (six or seven people– probably because it was a hike from the HCC and conflicted with the ALA President’s Program) but a few interesting topics were discussed. We started off with a short discussion on emerging technologies, including RIFD, with the group pretty evenly split for and against self-check-out systems and walk-through charging systems. While we all agree that it would be easier to not have to scan each book at the circulation desk, our two main concerns are:

• Would using RIFD make it too easy to track users and their reading choices?
• Would eliminating (or scaling down) the circulation desk remove a significant way that users interact with library staff?

Later in the meeting, the discussion shifted to database use (which I’ve written about when covering the Hot Topics in Reference meeting) and preservation of local newspapers in public library collections. The latter discussion revolved around three questions:

• What format should we preserve our print serials on?
• Who does digitization (or microfilming) for a single library collection?
• How can libraries fund these important, but expensive, digitization projects?

These topics (and others) will be further discussed at multiple Emerging Issues tables at the Chicago convention– all are invited to join in!

I heard this in an ACRL-WESS Recruitment to the Profession session that I went to Saturday morning. ALA will be launching a recruitment site on the domain LibraryCareers.org (not yet live) in the near future to encourage people to consider a career in librarianship. There are PLA Recruitment of Public Librarians meeting minutes from November 2004 that support this. I’m guessing that with business meetings like the ACRL-WESS meeting to discuss the recruitment site’s content, and the PLA initiative, more divisions are actively assessing their recruitment materials and methods to supplement and support the ALA recruitment effort.

More reports from my adventures later on. We had a great time last night at the ALA Editions event (I said that it was a social although others diagree with me).

So, as of this morning, we have had over 4,500 total pageview, which means (according to Urchin):

“….a request from a visitor’s browser for a displayable web page, generally an HTML file. Urchin’s configuration controls which file extensions are treated as Pageviews. In general, images and other embedded content, such as style sheets and javascript, are not considered to be Pageviews.”

The most “clicked on” post has been Andrea’s comments on Wi-Fi. I’m very impressed with these numbers. There has been a lot of buzz at the conference about the blog.

writing this on my treo so will be brief. Great talk by Gladwell! ALA will have transcript up in 3 weeks. I’ll have pix up tomorrow along with a summary. Were you at this talk?

I missed the Radical Reference Skill-Sharing Workshops. Phooey. I’ll just have to read about it at their blog, and maybe catch up on it with Jessamyn in person when she comes to NJLA’s conference in April.

I also missed the other four meetings meeting I was hoping to clone myself in time to attend and blog — the HR Discussion Group, the Serving YA in Large Urban Populations session; The Excellence in Small/Rural Library Services Awards Committee, and the Job/Career Info Discussion Group. Le sigh. Maybe next year.

Gaming cont…
Okay, I promised more about the Gaming Symposium on Friday, so here it is…

The first two presenters, University of Wisconsin’s assistant professor Kurt Squire and researcher Connie Steinkuehler talked from an academic standpoint about the video game economy, the learning opportunities that place in games, like Roller Coaster Tycoon by Frontier Development/ ATI which teaches finance in a fun way as you build and manage an amusement park or Deus X: Invisible War by Eidos, an action adventure game based on the premise that a global economic depression has destroyed commerce and goverment, terrorism is rampant, and you must stamp out terrorism and restore world order - this is a game that incorporates critical thinking skills.

Kurt and Connie focused on MMOGs, or Massive Multi-player Online Games such as Everquest by Sony, Lineage by NCSoft and Dark Age of Camelot by Mythic Entertainment Inc. These are games that are highly complex, consist of a virtual world that is mapable, and incorporate literacy activities beyond the reading of signs or directions. There is chat within the gameplay, lists of supplies and weapons to content with, map-reading and geography, math and finance, and more. The content of the game itself becomes much more that what the publisher created because the players and fans, as they play that game, are not only developing the unique stories of their characters, but they go on to produce fanfiction, forums, cheat codes, reviews, walk-through stragegy guides and more. All of this is housed at fan sites and forums a a collective intelligence. Research shows that gamers spend 4 times - that’s FOUR TIMES - as much time in forums and study planning how to play the game as they do actually playing it, indicating that these games are NOT just passive entertainment and there is literacy learning taking place, even amid the typos and keyboard shortcuts.

The video game Siege was used as an example of a game that incorporates problem solving and critical thinking skills. In Siege , players form a clan to take over a castle. There is data gathering in reconnaisence and planning, synthesis of data in strategizing, preparation and practice before the main action, and then an evalaution of the process in the form of debriefing.

In many games, information gathering is a means to an end. Information is a commodity - a resource for future action. What a fantastic message to impart to young people!

Gaming culture fosters apprentice/master and mentoring relationships. Games create an environment where a 12-year old can be an expert in a subject area and teach an adult how to play. And gaming fosters group work, builds collective intelligence, and encourages global citizenship.

Speaking of fostering group work, building collective intelligence, and encouraging global citizenship, that is just what open source websites such as Wikipedia and WebJunction do. These sites are emergent information spaces where users can change the information that is posted, and anyone can be an expert in any area, regardless of age, ethnicity, or class. These sites are international driven by the interest of users, and redistribute power by giving control to the masses (the sense of community is so strong that when someone deletes info, the data is often restored within hours).

Kurt explained that poeple go to sites liks Slashdot before visiting their local libraries is because at those sites, there are knowledgable communities that provide the information quicker from experts. Amazon allows you to see what your peers are reading and buying, unlike a public library where records are confidential. And Google Scholar is going to allow us to see how often a source is cited in real time.

Marilyn Mason of WebJunction, an open source site that provides classes, articles, message boards and more talked about the game-like features of the site. It has:

* Seamlessness - a blending of private and public life
* Collaboration - cooperative environment
* 3rd place-ness - neither work or leisure, but a place you can come to as an individual outside of any institutional hierarchy
* Fun - light tone, even for serious issues

WebJunction is used to get answers to problems, and these solutions are gleaned from ALL parts of the site, including the classes, and that there is a read/learn/share mentality. The site is going to evolve to improve collaboration, allow for personalization and customization of the interface and include pages in different languages. She encouraged librarians to visit and join the site for an invitation to their party at ALA Chicago in June 2005.

Migell Acosta presented his LAN Party success story from the Santa Monica Public Library. Santa Monica is west of LA and serves about84,000 residents, but about 40% of their circulation is non-resident, brought in from the local colleges. The library held a LAN Party by networking 30 computers and installing the same software so teens could play Counter-Strike - a weapons-based “capture the flag” sort of game - against one another. Teens had to sign in and show a student ID to enter, and they were signed out if they left.

Program Details:

Time: 6-11 PM on a Friday night after main library closed

Staff: 2-3 staff plus one uniformed “guard”

Computer requirements: PC’s with good video cards -test game first! May need to reduce PC secuirty for installation and play of game
Refreshments: Pizza, candy, soda

Cost: $35 per game (although Counter-Strike is a free download, you have to purchase Half-Life first to play) and refreshments

Other activities: anime showings

Attendence: 60!

Challenges: so many teens came, they had to find alternate activities for those beyond the first 30. And the HVAC was scheduled to shut off and the building became very warm. These issues were resolved at the next program.

Positive outcomes: see attendance Also, gamers joined the Teen Advisory Council. Also, they suggested other programs and all teen programming increased to include poetry slams, anime and Yu-Gi-Oh! tournaments. The library was viewed as a 3rd place for teens that was cool and comfortable.

This was such a popular program that the library is going to include console gaming in their computer area when main library renovations are underway. Teens will be able to hook up the console games (X-Box, Playstation, etc) to the computer monitor with a feed that will make the game readable on a computer monitor.

John Beck presented research about the gamer generation that we as librarians can apply not only to patrons of this age to better serve them, but also to apply from a business and management standpoint to our younger co-workers. He found that 80% of individuals born post-1970 have played video games, and as gamers have developed an instinct for heroism, are driven by pride not greed, are acknowledge as experts and acknowledge expertise, work across generation gaps, think globally, are less judgemental about appearance, class, culture (online, everyone is a dog).

Gamers think, learn, and believe differently than non-gamers, and we need to begin to account for these differences. by understanding some of these traits, we can better serve them as library patrons and work with them as colleagues.

Gamers are risk-takers. They try new things, are naturally curious, and can be very competitive.

Gamers have a unique buying/spending pattern. Surprise! It is mostly technology driven. Games outsold the box office last year.

Gamers are “selfish.” They are more self-absorbed, which translates into pride and a high self-esteem, not selfishness.

Gamers are loyal. They learned to be loyal to game-based websites with sticky content at a young age. They are will enter the world of management with more in common with their global counterparts because the same games are culturally accepted all over the world. Additionally, the gaming industry includes its users for beta-testing, rewarding support and allowing meaningful participation.

Gamers are social animals. They have a greater need for human relationships. They list people as the most stimulating thing in their lives, expect to make close friends at work, to be recognized as experts, and to be appreciated by their coworkers.

Gamers are flexible. Not only do they not mind change, they enjoy it and anticipate it. A world that is random and constantly changing makes MORE sense to them then a world that is static. They understand that as in video games, life never goes according to plan.

Gamers “go meta” easily. Because of first person shooter games that offer a variety of perspectives with the touch of a button, gamers are used taking a step backward to consider the bigger picture, or zoom in on a small detail.

Gamers want to be heroes. In fact, they have a natural instinct for heroism. They are driven by a quest or mission and the desire to do good - no one plays games for monetary rewards.

Gamers are multi-taskers. Often games consist of many windows to switch back and forth from. It is second nature to switch back and forth from task to task.

Gamers don’t trust their bosses. In many games, you have to beat a “level boss” before you advance to the next round, or level. The level boss is always evil. The level boss always tries to destroy the gamer. Real-life bosses need to present themselves are coaches, mentors, and strategy guides to get along with gamers.

Gamers like fun, and they believe life should BE fun.

What can librarians do to make gamers welcome in their libraries?

* Try a game yourself
* Talk to patrons and staff about games
* Look past the superficial parts of games to learning
* Buy a handheld game. Give some to your board members.
* Make a space in your library for gamers - a flexible spaces that change randomly and frequently
* Support multi-tasking
* Encourage and expect loyalty
* Don’t be a level boss - provide a service, not just content
* Incorporate questions about gaming into their interviews: What kinds of games do you play? Why do you play games? Are there things you’ve learning from playing games? What lessons you’ve learned from games?

To me, all of this boils down to two things:

1. Video games are valid materials for public libraries to review, purchase, circulate, and build programming around and should be treated as such.
2. They are a bigger part of our culture than movies, and will probably soon surpass music. We have DVDs and CDs in our institutions, but where are the games?Libraries need to make a shift from thinking of themselves as human search engines to thinking of themselves as strategy guides. We don’t just need to know how to find information, we need to know how to redirect people to experts, how to plan research, and how to give tools for analysis and information to our customers

I’ve been here since about 1:15 — CopyCop is across from the shuttle bus pickup area in front of Hynes, very nearly at the intersection of Huntington & Fairfield. Sweet.

Full disclosure: I only attended about an hour of this session, because I had to go check into my hotel midway through. I’m sorry I had to miss any of it!

Before I attended this session, all I knew about YA Galley was that it was a project that coordinated the distribution of publishers’ galleys among a select group of YA reading groups nationwide. Committee member Edith Cummings had e-mailed me a description of the project several months ago after I saw a reference to it in her signature file, but in spite of her fine explanation of the project, it was still sort of abstract to me. Here, I’ll share my current, much clearer understanding of the whole thing, followed by a brief summary of the discussion from yesterday.

The YA Galley Committee’s function is “to facilitate the exchange of information and galleys of books published within the current and previous years among the voting teen group members as well as the non-voting members; to annually prepare the Teens Top 10 list for Teen Read Week; and to coordinate the public electronic vote.”

According to this handy 2004 YALSA press release I found using the new Google-based ALA search, the Committee also selects 15 teen reading groups to participate in the YA Galley Project (not to be confused with the Committee). Of the 15 reading groups, five groups nominate book titles for the Teens Top 10 list, which teens nationwide vote on annually during Teen Read Week (to be celebrated in 2005 from October 16-22).

So, to sum up:

Whew.

One publisher’s representative reported a 90% return rate on teen-written reviews of the galleys she’d sent out. One problem noted by both publishers’ representatives and librarians alike was the poor handwriting of some of the teen reviewers. To ameliorate this issue, there will now be an electronic option for submitting reviews. The electronic form will be housed at the YALSA site, and will have the same format as the current, print form. Once a completed electronic form is submitted by a teen reviewer, it will be automatically routedto a committee member, who will route it back to the librarian/group adviser to verify the teen reviewer’s participation in the project.

The YA Galley Committee Chair (whose name is presently unavailable at this URL, where a complete list of YALSA committee chairs will, I hope, soon be available) reported that 9 of the 15 group advisers were present at the meeting, and that the program will likely grow in size and scope as more groups apply to participate in years to come.

To groups interested in applying, the Chair recommended contacting the YALSA office for details on what is expected of a participating group and how to prepare to apply for participation.

Some groups’ advisers noted that there’s a bit of a lag between sending in nominations and when the nominated titles are publicized on the TTT website. This is being worked on, but the Chair noted that all nominated titles require a second to be fully nominated, and that an annotation must be prepared before the title is posted online, so that potential teen voters get a sense of what the book is about.

The annotations are written to incorporate the nominating teen’s comments, which is fairly thrilling to the nominators; one librarian/adviser noted that her teens wanted to frame their nominating sheets.

It’s important to note that TTT nominations do not have to come from YA Galley titles; any book a nominating teen sees, whether in her public or school library, in his friend’s locker, or at a local bookstore can be nominated. It just requires a second to make it to the ballot.

So, what happens to the galleys once the teen reader-nominators are done with them? Publishers set aside 75 copies of each title they’re sharing with the groups (that’d be 5 copies for each of the 15 groups). Julie Bartel of the Salt Lake City Public Library reported that her group donates all the galleys to SLC’s Homeless Youth Resource Center, whose users hang out at the library and who write a zine together, which the library photocopies for them.

Another library allows the first reader of each galley to write his or her name in the galley - that teen then has first right of refusal to keep it after everyone else in the reading group has read it.

Librarian/advisers reported using the teens’ responses as a selection tool, and publishers’ representatives reported using teen comments in their marketing of the books (with the teens’ permission).

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture held a luncheon this afternoon sponsored by Proquest to announce a new database that will be available in the spring: The Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience (SSBE) database promises to be the core collection for Black Studies programs and the authoritative collection that defines the discipline. According to Howard Dobson, Chief of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the backbone of the collection will contain 30 “cutting-edge” essays that cover six major subject areas in the field. The essays will include selected key resources like images, full-text articles, citations, dissertations, grey literature and more. The database itself has over 5 million items, including a 600 image database. Alas, this database isn’t free. However, Dobson did announce another free online product called In Motion: The Black Migration Experience. I believe there is an accompanying book. This database will contain 25,000 pages of vetted content and is sponsored by a grant from the Congressional Black Caucus. The exhibit by the same name begins February 3 and runs through April 30, 2005. In Motion @ the Schomburg Center. Both products are being rolled out in the spring. Bonus: delicious chocolate cake and sitting next to a very nice librarian from the Library of Congress (one of my fantasy jobs) and getting an invite for a special tour of the Main Reading Room (not part of the regular tour) when I’m in town for Computers in Libraries.

After a severe malfunction of my wake-up device this morning, I planned to redeem myself with a detailed report of the Hot Topics in Public Libraries meeting this afternoon. No moderator types showed. How could there not be any hot topics in Public Libraries? Perhaps the public librarians in attendance at yesterday’s RUSA’s Hot Topics in Reference were just tuckered out, because it was a lively and informative event. This happened to me yesterday when I schlepped over to the Omni Parker House (okay I took the comfortable long bus ride). I’m not complaining, I like breaks, but I arrived early for this session and no one of any particular authority showed up to conduct the meeting. This effectively clears my schedule to catch Malcolm Gladwell’s talk during the president’s program and to check out the exhibit hall. This is my first ALA experience, and I thought that because it was midwinter that I’d be able to zip around and catch multiple events in succession. Not so, I’ve been overly ambitious, and frankly, spoiled by my experiences at smaller conferences. I’m having a great time tho’; it’s been a veritable reunion of fellow alumni/ae from Simmons and a chance to hear what/how folks are doing. New librarians I know are s-l-o-w-l-y finding positions, which is encouraging. It does take time.