Superpatron - Friends of the Library, for the net

Library Camp 2008 at Ann Arbor District Library, March 20 2008

I met with Eli and the team at the AADL about the 2008 Library Camp to be held March 20 in Ann Arbor. (NOTE THE DATE - GOT IT WRONG THE FIRST TIME).

Continuing the tradition from 2006, there are some small amounts of conflicts with religious holidays - March 20 is Maundy Thursday, it's the Thursday before Easter and the Friday before Purim. I'm hoping that won't cause undue hardship for people who have break around that time, but with all of the other travel and new branch schedules that's what worked out.

The 2006 Library Camp had people coming mostly from within about 100 miles; given normal travel and time budgets I'm hoping we'll get a slightly wider draw, at least enough to make sure that someone can come from the Chicago area, someone makes it in from Indiana and Ohio and Ontario, and the odd person who might go further afield.

A history of other library camps (or similar) that have been done before:
- February 2006 - code4lib 2006, Corvallis OR
- April 2006 - Library Camp in Ann Arbor, MI
- September 2006 - Library Camp East in Darien, CT
- February 2007 - code4lib 2007, Athens GA
- March 2007 - L2 Unconference, Australia
- August 2007 - Library Camp NYC, Baruch College
- August 2007 - Library2.0 on the Loose, Australia
- February 2008 - code4lib 2008, Portland OR
- March 2008 - Library Camp 2008 in Ann Arbor, MI

There is of course a checklist of things to do, links to add, a wiki to find or co-opt for our purposes, local arrangements to arrange, assembling the right mix of librarians and non-librarians to make the day interesting etc.

We have space for about 100 people, up from the 40 or so that squeezed into the first Library Camp.

More details as they appear, looking forward to seeing you there!

Things I want to write more about here - categories A-G

Every so often I run into corners of the world that I want to explore. Here's some list of the things I'd like to write more about, even if I don't have a full blog-length posting for any of them written right now. I'm keying off the categories I've set up.

This is part 1: Amazon through Google Book Search.

Sorry no links yet....will hyperlink as I have time to edit, but I thought I'd get this out into the world.

Amazon - about the book cover and album cover art database they have; how to set up an affiliate bookstore that actually works; on using Amazon to do wish lists that are then fulfilled through your library (via Jon Udell); on using Amazon as a book finding system and then using Book Burro or similar to connect back to your library; much more I'm sure.

Ann Arbor - plans for a new library downtown; reviews of all of the branches; reviews of other Washtenaw County libraries; special libraries in town like the Ford Presidential Library

Archives - an interview with the folks who run the Labadie Collection; an interview with the Prelingers; an interview with Brewster Kahle; some discussion of the peculiar nature of archives in the digital age

Archival Television - Jeff Ubois blog of the same name; the loss of the video record; clearing and securing rights; bootlegs on Youtube; museums of the broadcast industry

Beyond big vendors - this was the title of a talk I gave; an exploration of consolidation in the integrated library systems space, and some understanding of new alternatives

Book Burro - at least an annual post on what it is (repetition is the soul of the net); a screencast showing how I use it; documentation for online book finding system developers to get them to have Book Burro pop up on their book screens; a discussion of how tools like this can be funded by affiliate revenues

Book covers - as finding aids; variations between editions; in online book finding and book inventory systems; search by contents of the cover, not contents of the book

Book trading - more reviews of any book trading systems I find; some stories about book swap clubs that meet in person; children's birthday parties where everyone brings a book and everyone gets a book

Bookins - how they advertise new inventory on Twitter; comparison with other book swap sites; integration with LibraryThing

Books - more book reviews, lots of book reviews would be welcomed; the book publishing industry as a whole; old books; smelly books; pretty much anything is fair game.

Books sorted by color - more discussion of cover art, illustrations, other metadata about the book captured in the cover art but not indexed by typical book finding systems; the book illustration business; how covers are designed; history of binding systems; algorithms to determine which color a book is; art and photographic illustrations of installations where books have been sorted by color

Bookshelves - compact shelving, buying shelves for personal libraries, reviews of bookcases, shelving for libraries, innovations in book shelving, reviews of books about bookshelves, how to build your own, built in shelving, what to do when yours fill up

Code - more code! software that does interesting things with book and library data; mashups, data extraction, search algorithms, recommender systems, page layout, interactive design, home grown alternative views of the library

Collection development - impact of patrons on collections; controversial materials and how they are added to the collection and perhaps subtracted from the collection; metrics used for weeding and deaccessions; building your personal library from another library's discards; libraries as endangering printed materials

Electronic collections - library originated book and non-book collections; hardware, software, and systems for managing and cataloging same; preservation of digital relics; copyright, fair use and international implications of same; the proper provenance of enthusiast collectors

Events and exhibits - individual events and exhibits, and also ways by which libraries can improve their ability to bring people through the door by hosting book-themed events. Compare libraries to bookstores and see how they stack up; facilities building and planning with events in mind.

Film - libraries for film; collecting video and film; archival television (via Jeff Ubois); rights, copyrights, and the like; stock footage libraries; impact of digital distribution on the circulation patterns in public libraries that have big DVD collections

Friends Bookshop - relationships between Friends groups and libraries; examples of particularly fun bookshops; self service bookshops; using friends book inventory to do outreach; purposes of friends bookshops - to entertain people who want to run a bookstore, or to raise money, or both

Friends of the library - about national and local organizations; demographics of friends groups; "Friends of the Library, for the net"; library advocacy; when friends groups turn into haters groups

Games - games in the library; word games; something more about Eli@AADL; Wii at the library. Games in the kids room - ice cream truck. Learning from games.

Google Book Search - contracts, restrictions on use of data, inaccuracies within, quality of scanning, quality of metadata, shout out to Ben Bunnell, aftermarket greasemonkey hacks to fix issues with, comparison with Microsoft et al, comparison with Open Library, Distributed Proofreaders

Google Scholar - library use and access to, Andrew Odlyzko on open publishing, relative frequency of citation of non-internet publications, Math 40 yr history of increased collaboration via Patrick Ion, quality of data, quality of metadata, use by scholars as replacement for vita

Remixing the library, part 2: patron-created book displays

As seen on School Library Journal -

The St. Louis County Library in Missouri says it believes a patron recently created an unauthorized YA book display of controversial books—and then accused the library of distributing pornographic materials to minors.

A local resident allegedly pulled books from the stacks at the Daniel Boone branch in September, created a display in the teen section, and took photographs.

Some parts of this fall into the "problem patron" category, but if you go beyond that this is an awesome idea: invite patrons into the library to create book displays from the works that are in the library.

Anyone going down this route is going to need to be aware that it's a possible lightning rod for controversy, witness the Mesa County library display that David Rothman noted earlier this year.

Advocacy organizations are aware of the power of the display, and have created guides to help their members get their ideas into the library environment. Here are some of them:

Compassion Over Killing - Generally, libraries do not permit for-profit companies to set up displays, so if you represent a nonprofit organization, let the librarian know. Otherwise simply state that you’re a resident of that library’s county or city. Give your assurance that the display will not be graphic and its take-away literature, photos, and text will be appropriate for all ages.

ActiVeg - Policies about library displays vary from area to area, so the first thing to do is call at your local library and ask who is in charge of displays and what their policies are. Make a note of the name of the person so that you can cultivate a relationship with them. Be polite and friendly, but make a point of saying how attractive and informative a display can be and how it would make their excellent library look even better for a fortnight or a month or whatever.

Friends of Ishmael Society - Libraries and colleges are full of people who gather to research, read, and most importantly to learn. This audience is most receptive to new ideas such as those in Ishmael. A great way to reach them is through display cases, tables and other exhibits! Almost all libraries and colleges have display cases in busy corridors and rooms that are available free to the public.

Technorati Tags: library, display, controversy, google

Greg Trefry, indie game developer, at Ann Arbor District Library 10/7/07

Eli Neiburger writes:

I've got Greg Trefry, Indie Game Developer and founder of the Come Out & Play festival, coming to speak at the library 10/7, and I'd love to get in contact with that crowd as it's right up their alley. Anyone else you think I should be sure to talk to about this?

please pass this along! thanks

UPDATE: Greg gave a presentation to the ALA Techsource Gaming, Learning, and Libraries symposium in July 2007

I gave a talk about how Big Games could be used in libraries to bring in different audiences and engage a community of players and kids. Libraries are really such interesting spaces full of elements that would make great big games, from unique identifiers, to persistent identity to cool spaces.

Slides for the ALA talk are available (powerpoint).

Technorati Tags: aadl, annarbor, games, big-games, come-out-and-play

Library museum pass programs

A number of libraries have programs where you can borrow a pass for a local museum for a day. Here are a number of projects I've been able to identify.

The Lynn, Massachusetts library has a museum pass program sponsored by the Friends of the Lynn Public Library for patrons for borrowing low-cost passes to museums which include the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), the New England Aquarium, the Boston Children's Museum, the Harvard Museum of Natural History and the Stone and Franklin Park Zoos. The Friends support the museum pass program and members of the Friends get discounts on passes.

The Keene, New Hampshire Public Library offers free or greatly reduced admissions to the Boston Museum of Science, the Canterbury Shaker Village, the Currier Museum of Art, the Magic Wings Butterfly Museum and the Museum of New Hampshire History. These passes may be booked in advance and are checked out with a Keene Public Library card.

The Chicago Public Library has a Great Kids Museum Passports program with free access to 13 museums in the area for card holders - the page also has a nice list of related reading for each of the museums they offer access to. The Chicago History Museum entry, for instance, refers to Jim Murphy's The Great Fire (for ages 10-12) as an added resource.

I saw other programs in Quincy, Massachusetts, Mill Valley, California, and a program from the Connecticut Library Consortium for their member institutions. Overall it looks like there's lots and lots of these sorts of things near Boston for some reason.

Technorati Tags: library, abby

IDEA 2006 presentation online

I spoke at IDEA 2006 in Seattle on October 24. There's audio from the talk, as well as a lot more from the event, up on their pages.

(Do I really sound like that?)

UPDATE: I do sound like that.

David Sturtz created an XML file so that the audio can be accessed as a podcast. Peter Merholz uploaded it to iTunes and Odeo so you can manage it as you choose. http://www.ideaconference.org/blog/?p=49

Political displays in library front hall entrance (Sun Prairie, WI)

From the Wisconsin State Journal, Madison WI:

Library welcomes controversy
GENA KITTNER
608-252-6139
gkittner@madison.com

SUN PRAIRIE - Front and center as patrons enter the city's library are pictures of happy couples and families along with a sign urging voters to support a constitutional amendment banning gay marriages and civil unions.

The political message by Vote Yes for Marriage at the Sun Prairie Public Library is in response to a September display advocating against the ban by Fair Wisconsin, which held a similar space in the library's entrance.

While the library offers the space as a public forum and has posted displays on controversial issues such as school referendums, these most recent messages have been the most political the library has displayed.

"(The displays have) been a very popular way for the community to share all kinds of information about itself," said Sharon Zindars, the library's director. "This is the first time we've had such a political message in our (display) case. It could turn out that's all the case becomes."

Their "displays and exhibits" policy (pdf) is interesting - essentially anything non-commercial and "of interest and enlightenment to the community" is OK:

IV. Guidelines for Display and Exhibits

(A) Any material of general cultural and educational interest to the community may be exhibited. No
items or services for sale may be exhibited or displayed

(B) The library staff will not be responsible for setting up or taking down exhibits. Display cases will
be locked and remain locked until the time the exhibitor removes the contents.

(C) Library staff will, however, provide assistance with signage, moving glass shelving and display
techniques.

(D) Items may not be taped, stapled, glued or in any other way fastened that would damage display
cases or display areas.

I'll wonder out loud what kind of restrictions other libraries would have to what kinds of things they can or should display. Bulletin boards and display cases are very typical community building tools.

Technorati Tags: politics, wisconsin, badgers, badgerbadgerbadger, marriage, library

Celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day at the Brookline, MA Library

As seen at The Public Library of Brookline (MA):

Tuesday, September 19th at 3:30pm Main Library, Hunneman Hall

For ages 6 and up only please

Salt, Sea, and Piracy! Celebrate "Talk Like a Pirate Day" with storyteller Norah Dooley when she appears as Mary Read, retired pirate. Enjoy the tales about the people she sailed with in the Golden Age of piracy and the wonders of the 7 seas.

More on TLAPD at TalkLikeaPirate Day.com .

If you're in Ann Arbor, see the AADL's review of recent pirate movies.

The Madison, Wisconsin Public Library is celebrating all day. Come in costume, remember to say "arrgh"

Last year, the Peabody Institute Library used Talk Like a Pirate day to launch a reading group for Robert Louis Stephenson's Treasure Island. (free download from Project Gutenberg).

There's a photo group on Flickr.

Technorati Tags: talklikeapirateday, storytelling, pirate, tlapd

IDEA conference update

I'll be on a "Next Generation Libraries" panel at the IDEA conference in Seattle, sharing the podium with Paul Gould of MAYA Design and Deborah Jacobs.

A designer at MAYA Design, Paul worked on Carnegie Libraries of Pittsburgh project, which brought user-centered design methods to the design of the library's physical and virtual spaces.

The City Librarian for Seattle, Deborah was instrumental in the design of the new Central Library, representing the interests of the library, and its community.

The conference is at the Seattle Public Library, October 23-24, 2006 - looking forward to seeing some of you there!

IDEA 2006, Seattle Public Library, Oct 23-24 2006

The IDEA 2006 conference is on designing complex information spaces of all kinds. I'll be there on the program presenting as Superpatron, on the same program as Bruce Sterling (wow). It looks like a great event, and I'm looking forward to it and will be writing more about it in preparation.