Saturday notes
Well, my day one at ALA Annual 2006 is over.
First thing, it was off to the exhibits. Over 3,000 library vendors set up booths in the convention center, and there is really something for everyone. It is mind-boggling. I had preplanned a list of vendors who I wanted to see. So there was an attempt at surgical precision. The preplanning really did pay. ALA had kindly arranged the loan of a wheelchair, which my boyfriend pushed valiantly, as the exhibits floor is the size of three soccer pitches, I am told. The convention center is the size of six soccer pitches.
The wheelchair was quickly renamed "the swag trolley" as vendors vied to give the poor gimp lots of lovely freebies. I tried not to be greedy, but I didn't want to hurt their feelings. We were only half-way through the Graphic Novel Pavillion (yes, Kelly, as much as we could carry) when it was time to go to a session. We shall return!
I attended two good sessions. The first was Workshopping the Future: Libraries in 2010. Actually, we used a forecasting process called Manoa to think about the library in 2036. The trainer, Dr. Wendy Schultz, who was very good, said she would put up her PowerPoint on her web site. She broke us into groups of five to work on scenarios and forecasting. My group came up with an incredible array of possibilities and consequences for libraries in the future. We had a lot of fun, too. The session was hosted by OCLC, and featured beignets and a lovely fruit buffet. Plus I got a very nice OCLC tote bag. Swag!
The second session I attended was Hot Topics in Front-line Reference, hosted by RUSA. Speakers from a variety of mostly academic libraries spoke about using Instant Messaging (IM) and SMS (text messages) to provide reference service. In terms of reference inquiries, most IM sessions are quite short. If a customer has a more complicated query, the librarian may ask them to call by phone or come into the library. There was discussion of Virtual Reference (Ask A Librarian services) vs. IM. The panel mainly concurred that IM software is easier to use in general and familiar to students. Plus it is free and widely supported. An audience member asked about security concerns. A panelist explained that IM can reside behind a library site's portal.
Another audience member questioned how libraries can determine if a user has privileges on their system. Some colleges are not doing IM because of a fear of being flooded with requests from outside their students and staff. Someone from New York Public Library explained that they "threw open their gates" some time ago, and will answer any and all IM requests, from NYC or China. He said that in an era of declining reference statistics, we have to go where our users are, and we should only be so lucky as to have more people using one of our services than we can handle.
There was some discussion of staffing IM reference. A number of the panelists said that they run IM on the reference desk and answer as part of a regular shift. There was a question regarding "who do you help first, the person in front of you or the one on IM?" A panelist answered that an in-person customer would always get priority. He also said that the nature of IM is such that customers don't expect an instant answer--they will pose a question and then hang around a while awaiting an answer. IM lends itself to multi-tasking; in fact, both customer and librarian can be multi-tasking at once.
A representative from an Australian vendor, Altarama Information Systems, explained that they provide a service whereby an incoming IM or SMS reference question is translated into an email to the librarian. The librarian responds by email, which is then translated back to IM or SMS for the customer.
One librarian explained that they are using SMS to allow customers to place requests from their cell phones while they are on the bus on their way to the library.
Trillian software is a fully featured, stand-alone, skinnable chat client that supports AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo Messenger, and IRC. It provides capabilities not possible with original network clients, while supporting standard features such as audio chat, file transfers, group chats, chat rooms, buddy icons, multiple simultaneous connections to the same network, server-side contact importing, typing notification, direct connection (AIM), proxy support, encrypted messaging (AIM/ICQ), SMS support, and privacy settings.
Trillian also allows tabbed multiple conversations, and global away messages, which are very important to IM courtesy.
A panelist asked "why aren't some libraries using IM for reference? Why not? Answers from the audience included institutional culture, staff resistance, and security issues.
The panel ended by asking what Hot Topics they should address at the Midwinter Meeting. Audience members suggested Google Scholar, social networks such as MySpace and Facebook, and "rethinking reference" on a grand scale.
Panelists included Kenley Neufeld, Santa Barbara Community College, Jeanne Welch, UNC, Russell Hall, Penn State. (Sorry, I couldn't get everyone's name and there was no printed list.)
First thing, it was off to the exhibits. Over 3,000 library vendors set up booths in the convention center, and there is really something for everyone. It is mind-boggling. I had preplanned a list of vendors who I wanted to see. So there was an attempt at surgical precision. The preplanning really did pay. ALA had kindly arranged the loan of a wheelchair, which my boyfriend pushed valiantly, as the exhibits floor is the size of three soccer pitches, I am told. The convention center is the size of six soccer pitches.
The wheelchair was quickly renamed "the swag trolley" as vendors vied to give the poor gimp lots of lovely freebies. I tried not to be greedy, but I didn't want to hurt their feelings. We were only half-way through the Graphic Novel Pavillion (yes, Kelly, as much as we could carry) when it was time to go to a session. We shall return!
I attended two good sessions. The first was Workshopping the Future: Libraries in 2010. Actually, we used a forecasting process called Manoa to think about the library in 2036. The trainer, Dr. Wendy Schultz, who was very good, said she would put up her PowerPoint on her web site. She broke us into groups of five to work on scenarios and forecasting. My group came up with an incredible array of possibilities and consequences for libraries in the future. We had a lot of fun, too. The session was hosted by OCLC, and featured beignets and a lovely fruit buffet. Plus I got a very nice OCLC tote bag. Swag!
The second session I attended was Hot Topics in Front-line Reference, hosted by RUSA. Speakers from a variety of mostly academic libraries spoke about using Instant Messaging (IM) and SMS (text messages) to provide reference service. In terms of reference inquiries, most IM sessions are quite short. If a customer has a more complicated query, the librarian may ask them to call by phone or come into the library. There was discussion of Virtual Reference (Ask A Librarian services) vs. IM. The panel mainly concurred that IM software is easier to use in general and familiar to students. Plus it is free and widely supported. An audience member asked about security concerns. A panelist explained that IM can reside behind a library site's portal.
Another audience member questioned how libraries can determine if a user has privileges on their system. Some colleges are not doing IM because of a fear of being flooded with requests from outside their students and staff. Someone from New York Public Library explained that they "threw open their gates" some time ago, and will answer any and all IM requests, from NYC or China. He said that in an era of declining reference statistics, we have to go where our users are, and we should only be so lucky as to have more people using one of our services than we can handle.
There was some discussion of staffing IM reference. A number of the panelists said that they run IM on the reference desk and answer as part of a regular shift. There was a question regarding "who do you help first, the person in front of you or the one on IM?" A panelist answered that an in-person customer would always get priority. He also said that the nature of IM is such that customers don't expect an instant answer--they will pose a question and then hang around a while awaiting an answer. IM lends itself to multi-tasking; in fact, both customer and librarian can be multi-tasking at once.
A representative from an Australian vendor, Altarama Information Systems, explained that they provide a service whereby an incoming IM or SMS reference question is translated into an email to the librarian. The librarian responds by email, which is then translated back to IM or SMS for the customer.
One librarian explained that they are using SMS to allow customers to place requests from their cell phones while they are on the bus on their way to the library.
Trillian software is a fully featured, stand-alone, skinnable chat client that supports AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo Messenger, and IRC. It provides capabilities not possible with original network clients, while supporting standard features such as audio chat, file transfers, group chats, chat rooms, buddy icons, multiple simultaneous connections to the same network, server-side contact importing, typing notification, direct connection (AIM), proxy support, encrypted messaging (AIM/ICQ), SMS support, and privacy settings.
Trillian also allows tabbed multiple conversations, and global away messages, which are very important to IM courtesy.
A panelist asked "why aren't some libraries using IM for reference? Why not? Answers from the audience included institutional culture, staff resistance, and security issues.
The panel ended by asking what Hot Topics they should address at the Midwinter Meeting. Audience members suggested Google Scholar, social networks such as MySpace and Facebook, and "rethinking reference" on a grand scale.
Panelists included Kenley Neufeld, Santa Barbara Community College, Jeanne Welch, UNC, Russell Hall, Penn State. (Sorry, I couldn't get everyone's name and there was no printed list.)
posted by lislemck at 11:11 PM
1 Comments:
Lovin' the wheelchair concept- I'm sure you are the envy of the entire conference- your own chair, chauffeur, and shopping cart all in one. Glad it's going well.
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