++SLIDE 1++ I am an impostor [i don't get up early] [i never took cataloging] [i don't work in a library] [i don't know all the computer answers] no one knows everything about computers, least of all IT people [video #1] ++SLIDE 2++ however, in order to move forward technologically, someone needs to take the helm and steer the computer development in libraries. This is becoming more than just replacing hardware. it's becoming about software and more importantly, about the web and *how to think about the web* some of this is just being practical - tossing out five year technology buying plans and being more flexible with just-in-time replacements and bargain shopping for supplies [ink at staples? ink at dealink.com?] - exploring digital packages for library types of information [ebooks and databases, sure, but also holds and email notifications and digitzing and content creation. the library INVENTED Netflix, almost but it didn't stay the course] - moving to flat screen monitors and usb drives insted of floppy disks [oh wait...] - wireless and going where the users are and all that other great 2.0 tech ++SLIDE 3++ Now, the same person who automated the catalog might not be the same person to usher in 2.0 tech. [Rutland example - card catalog to OPAC] [consultant "now that I'm on facebook what do I do?"] I work for a lot of small libraries as sort of a regional library consultant. I show up and fix little computer problems in Orange County [intro to my libraries] randolph tunbridge sharon royalton washington williamstown, now chelsea roxbury my hometown library & VTC SCALE - this is an extreme example of a larger issue - each library is different, we want them to be different - and this sort of personal attention to micoproblems doesn't scale with tech-only solutions. [MaintainIT example] what solves the digital divide for these communities? - learning to holler at telcos - legislation forcing the last mile connectivity - opportunities for networked interaction elsewhere [ZOMG library!] especially if you can't do it at home ++SLIDE 4++ 2.0? You guys aren't here because you don't know what library 2.0 means -- so I'll spare you the radical trust handwaving -- but you may be here because you're wondering why it matters, or why you should care if you're still doing good jobs, or because you're annoyed at the back and forth over the idea when there's stil no movement on the implementation... ++SLIDE 5++ 2.0 is like obscenity, you don't know what it is but you recognize it when you see it Ranganathan says "save the time of the user" and that happens, ideally, in one of two ways 1. take the time of the librarian 2. scale and automate - "I wil replace you with a very small script" [Wordpress example - BIG BOXES] [Speakeasy example - ask for zip code first, confirm address...] [Yahoo email address choose - making the computer do the work not the person] [social example - you don't just go to the library, you can be friends with the library, what does it mean to be friends with the library?] 2.0 is about putting a human face on the institution, but it also means that there's a human you're talking to who represents the institution. This has always been somewhat true, but 2.0 makes it writ large. [I work at metafilter. it's like this, askme is like that] people go there because they want to get their questions answered from real people, this includes stuff like where to get good BBQ in Austin but also "does this relationship have a chance?" and "what is this itchy spot on my arm?" in libraries we're human in person, we're institutions online, we go from offline to online on metafilter we're not in-person, we're personas online, but consistent personas, we go from online to offline ++SLIDE 6++ from the cluetrain manifesto [2000] to getsatisfaction.com [2007] whee Technostress, or whatever you call it in libraries -- backlash, hostility, overgeneralizingly negative approache to technology -- is about lack of human intervention with too much human "gotcha!" [video #2] ++ SLIDE 7 ++ you need physical network, in some fashion to get virtual network at all If you're saying "now that I'm on facebook what do I do?" you're there too soon... ++ SLIDE 8 ++ While the techie librarian will always have an integral role in library systems and building and maintaining services, more of the content and the shape of the services is coming form other staff and other users At my job, I fix a lot of little broken stuff but my most valuable contribution is helping people see the network through the eyes of someone who is networked [and not look like a total dork doing it] [plane delay over email, wifi for $10 in the airport, inflight music selection and playlists] and think of this when I approach their dilemmas ++ SLIDE 9 ++ my one hippie slide, because I wrote this on open office... ++ End ++ I've been reading this great book: The World Without Us... a new library radically devoted to the architecture of participation would have to have the collections themselves created dynamically from what community members bring to it through their own individual actions ... this is no different from how lending libraries got their start. what if this could be made to happen automatically, easily, and usefully whenever any group of people got together? ... This would take distributed responsibility to the far extreme, where all collection development occurred at an individual level. What we know about bibliographic control, equity of access, usability, and user-centered services could be used to provide the balancing control factor necessary to mitigate the otherwise-certain chaos. In the 2.0 world, We're not people how to follow instructions [click this link, type these words] we're teaching them how to solve problems. We're not just teaching them how to use technology to solve problems, we're teaching them to think -- about tools, about the web, about our roles in these new and emerging systems -- and more importantly, what you are all doing, we're teaching them to re-think what they're currently doing and prepare people to inhabit a networked world that they may not even fully inhabit yet.