This week I set up camp in our staff meeting room to listen in on the SirsiDynix Institute webcast from David Lee King and Thad Hartman (Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library), "Creating a 2.0 Library." When I first registered for the webcast, I sent an email along to other folks in the Library who I thought would be interested. Imagine my joy when I was joined by 9 of my co-workers, including Department Heads and our Assistant Director! I thought I'd be all alone in the room, and here I was, joined by 9 people who are open to listening, who want to make change, and who understand the forward direction we need to go. I was so impressed!
I had to skip off immediately at the end of the webcast so I could staff the Movies & Music desk. As I sought out loungey latin dance CDs for a patron, my colleagues discussed ways to bring some of TSCPL's ideas to Skokie. I find it heartening that at the end of the webcast, those in attendance did not immediately crawl into the cozy, safe place under their desks. Mommy help!
For those of you who were not able to attend, SirsiDynix Institute has already posted it to their presentation archives.
8.16.2007
Regime change begins at home.
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3 comments:
I was glad that half of the presentation focused on how to make libraries physically more user-centered and fun, in addition to digitally. I'd like to hear more discussion on that. Another thing that stuck with me is DLK's point about patrons expecting better and more when they come to search our catalogs and websites. They expect the same ease and utility that they get from amazon, ebay, and flickr. It seems like the bottom line is to make things easy, fun, and usefull to our users.
The presentation got me thinking about how we should move forward in making our website more interactive.
Specifically by changing our subject lists of links in the research section to Wiki-like pathfinders. Subjects could be geared to our browsing area subject areas. RSS feeds from databases could be incorporated to keep pages fresh.
We need to relinquish control and let people post to our site immediately. Any moderating could be done later if necessary.
We should consider IM reference and our own AskAway queue so that we could bring direct contact with staff out more on our site.
As far as the physical setup goes, I think we should order pocket language guides for our travel alcove.
Bruce
Thanks for your comments, Bruce and Rich! It's great that we're all thinking of ways to make the library more useful and fun.
I like how TSCPL is tying the technology in with their physical space. Their Papercuts blog is a way to bring people INTO the library by providing staff reviews of new books, while at the same time bringing the library more into patrons' homes. That's what draws me most to this Library 2.0 concept--making the Library more friendly all around, making it something you wouldn't mind inviting over for dinner, making space for communication and discovery outside the stacks.
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