I'm often "on call" to help people in the library, which means that I regularly get computer questions. If there appears to be a real technology problem, I have a simple system for fixing things: first, you figure out what the person is trying to do, then you restart the equipment and try again. If that doesn't work, you see if there is another way to accomplish the same task without doing whatever causes the error. If there is a major problem, I call the real tech support people.
In many (most?) cases, I need to help the user rather than the computer. This is particularly true of older computer users. Although the computer usually gets the blame, sometimes the user needs a bit more education to find the resource they want or utilize a program. As often as not, the user is just plain afraid of the computer and what it might do next. The computer is a mysterious box that has the power to prevent them from typing their essays, getting messages from their professors, or printing out directions to their dentist appointments.
What do I do to help users through their fear? It's sort of similar to the way our childhood monsters vanished when our mothers entered the room. Undaunted, I smile and walk over to the computer. I tell the computer to mind, and ask the user to tell me what he or she needs to accomplish. As friendly information professionals, we make computers less scary simply by offering our support.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Making a career of it
I was just contemplating ... I won't be a library science student forever. By the end of the summer, I'll have my MLS in hand. So what am I going to do with my library degree? What goals do I have in mind for my professional library career? And how does technology fit into each of them?
Goal #1: I will be on the cutting edge of service to library users. I want to be continually aware of users' needs so I can facilitate access to the appropriate resources.
Interaction with library users still happens through the old-fashioned channels - like the "reference interview." Increasingly, we also interact with library users through technological intermediaries like e-mail, chat or text. Being available to users on their own technological terms is a key to good library service.
More importantly, I want to take users' skills and needs into account when designing and implementing library computer systems. I want library systems to be both intuitive and effective. Hence, I feel very strongly that we all need "next gen" library catalogs - actually, we needed them yesterday. I want library technology to serve our users better than the competition (and let's not kid ourselves, there is competition).
Goal #2: I will be a library leader. This doesn't mean I want to be a library director (at least not right now!). What I mean by leadership is that I want to pioneer new ideas, get colleagues and users excited about libraries and librarianship, and participate in strategic efforts to move libraries toward fulfillment of their missions.
A non-technological example of this for me is my enthusiasm for a strategic planning process we are working through in the library where I'm employed. I enjoy thinking about the opportunities that beckon us. I am also excited about developing a plan that helps the library develop in appropriate ways.
Library leadership in technology is not limited narrowly to being a techie pioneer, even though awareness of emerging trends is part of leadership. I'm interested in leading processes of technological change that are sensitive to humans. Library technology leadership means planning effectively so that we enhance rather than detract from our professional work.
Goal #3: I will seek beauty and truth. This is perhaps the most important goal of the three - it needs to be interwoven in all I do. I conceive of beauty and truth beyond objective frameworks. This goal is measured intuitively in a process self-reflection.
Beauty and truth are related concepts - what is beautiful is also true and vice-versa. While beauty is many times intricate, it is at other times extremely simple. This holds true for the solutions to problems. Sometimes we need to come up with an intricate answer Other times we need to step back and recognize that the answer is quite simple.
As I work with library technology, I have to continually question whether it serves the ends of beauty and truth. Is the technology freeing us to be joyful, generous, and thoughtful servants - or is it enslaving us to fear, greed and narrowmindedness?
I have a sore temptation toward excess productivity. The real problem with technology is that it gives me the illusion that I can accomplish more and more, faster and faster. As I grow older and (hopefully) wiser, I am learning that a rhythm of rest and reflection makes me healthier and brings more beauty and truth into my life. When I use technology, I need to make sure I remember that the night, the seventh day, and the seventh year were set aside for us to rest and replenish ourselves.
With that, I'm realizing it is now fully dark. Tomorrow is a new day. Good night.
Goal #1: I will be on the cutting edge of service to library users. I want to be continually aware of users' needs so I can facilitate access to the appropriate resources.
Interaction with library users still happens through the old-fashioned channels - like the "reference interview." Increasingly, we also interact with library users through technological intermediaries like e-mail, chat or text. Being available to users on their own technological terms is a key to good library service.
More importantly, I want to take users' skills and needs into account when designing and implementing library computer systems. I want library systems to be both intuitive and effective. Hence, I feel very strongly that we all need "next gen" library catalogs - actually, we needed them yesterday. I want library technology to serve our users better than the competition (and let's not kid ourselves, there is competition).
Goal #2: I will be a library leader. This doesn't mean I want to be a library director (at least not right now!). What I mean by leadership is that I want to pioneer new ideas, get colleagues and users excited about libraries and librarianship, and participate in strategic efforts to move libraries toward fulfillment of their missions.
A non-technological example of this for me is my enthusiasm for a strategic planning process we are working through in the library where I'm employed. I enjoy thinking about the opportunities that beckon us. I am also excited about developing a plan that helps the library develop in appropriate ways.
Library leadership in technology is not limited narrowly to being a techie pioneer, even though awareness of emerging trends is part of leadership. I'm interested in leading processes of technological change that are sensitive to humans. Library technology leadership means planning effectively so that we enhance rather than detract from our professional work.
Goal #3: I will seek beauty and truth. This is perhaps the most important goal of the three - it needs to be interwoven in all I do. I conceive of beauty and truth beyond objective frameworks. This goal is measured intuitively in a process self-reflection.
Beauty and truth are related concepts - what is beautiful is also true and vice-versa. While beauty is many times intricate, it is at other times extremely simple. This holds true for the solutions to problems. Sometimes we need to come up with an intricate answer Other times we need to step back and recognize that the answer is quite simple.
As I work with library technology, I have to continually question whether it serves the ends of beauty and truth. Is the technology freeing us to be joyful, generous, and thoughtful servants - or is it enslaving us to fear, greed and narrowmindedness?
I have a sore temptation toward excess productivity. The real problem with technology is that it gives me the illusion that I can accomplish more and more, faster and faster. As I grow older and (hopefully) wiser, I am learning that a rhythm of rest and reflection makes me healthier and brings more beauty and truth into my life. When I use technology, I need to make sure I remember that the night, the seventh day, and the seventh year were set aside for us to rest and replenish ourselves.
With that, I'm realizing it is now fully dark. Tomorrow is a new day. Good night.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Library Nostalgia Time (sort of)
Part of my (unofficial) job description is weaning my library from cards by computerizing our operations. We haven't had a public card catalog for years, but we still maintain an "inventory shelflist." We also have a card file that includes all of our current periodical holdings and a card file of our standing orders.
Until recently, we also kept a file of order cards (carbon copied and filed by vendor and title) for all monographs as well as a paper file of each and every interlibrary loan request. We also forced students to check out their reserve books on old-fashioned blue book cards. When we phased out the cards, my student assistants were worried that they wouldn't have any work to do any more, since they were spending so much time creating this paper trail. They got over it, though.
All the cards seem silly - especially in 2009. But I think I kind of "get" them.
There's something nice about thumbing through a drawer full of cards. It's nice to feel a physical representation of each and every book. Cards contribute to that nice library smell. They are neat and orderly and don't fail when the power flickers or the Internet connection goes down. Typing, sorting, and filing cards gives us something to do all day that is not terribly difficult, yet makes us feel important as librarians.
And darn it all, I don't think I have any more "free" time to sit around and read books in my automated library world than my card-based predecessors did. It just means I have different priorities and a different range of responsibilities. You can't quite say I get more done: I just get different things done.
Yes, a little part of me dies every time I recycle a library card. Yes, I have a large box of retired library cards in my basement - an endless supply of free one-sided note cards.
But like any nostalgic old fogey, I'm not going to pedal backward anytime soon. I praise the Lord Almighty for the number of access points in our OPAC, the precise computerized filing, and the lack of hassle with a crummy unforgiving typewriter.
Nothing kills nostalgia like a true blast from the past.
Until recently, we also kept a file of order cards (carbon copied and filed by vendor and title) for all monographs as well as a paper file of each and every interlibrary loan request. We also forced students to check out their reserve books on old-fashioned blue book cards. When we phased out the cards, my student assistants were worried that they wouldn't have any work to do any more, since they were spending so much time creating this paper trail. They got over it, though.
All the cards seem silly - especially in 2009. But I think I kind of "get" them.
There's something nice about thumbing through a drawer full of cards. It's nice to feel a physical representation of each and every book. Cards contribute to that nice library smell. They are neat and orderly and don't fail when the power flickers or the Internet connection goes down. Typing, sorting, and filing cards gives us something to do all day that is not terribly difficult, yet makes us feel important as librarians.
And darn it all, I don't think I have any more "free" time to sit around and read books in my automated library world than my card-based predecessors did. It just means I have different priorities and a different range of responsibilities. You can't quite say I get more done: I just get different things done.
Yes, a little part of me dies every time I recycle a library card. Yes, I have a large box of retired library cards in my basement - an endless supply of free one-sided note cards.
But like any nostalgic old fogey, I'm not going to pedal backward anytime soon. I praise the Lord Almighty for the number of access points in our OPAC, the precise computerized filing, and the lack of hassle with a crummy unforgiving typewriter.
Nothing kills nostalgia like a true blast from the past.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
The Pres visits my town
It's been sort of weird watching the news lately. President Obama keeps referring to "the people of Elkhart" after his visit here yesterday. I'm not used to living in a place that gets noticed by national leaders. I have a number of friends who were able to get tickets to see President Obama - so it really feels like there aren't as many degrees of separation between me and the top as there once were.
Pres. Obama packed a local high school gym - the tickets were gone in about half an hour. The funny part of it is that this has been an extremely conservative area for as long as anyone can remember. Just a few years ago, if you had sympathies for Democrats, you knew to keep quiet about it. If Pres. Clinton had come to town during his term, I wonder if anyone would have showed up to see him (Mrs. Clinton would have drawn a crowd, but not the positive kind). It seems that some things have changed since our area has been hit hard with the consequences of bad Republican policies.
One of the contentious pieces of Pres. Obama's stimulus proposal is increasing broadband access across the country. My younger brother, who is gainfully employed as a techie, asserts that the US actually has the worst broadband Internet access among developed countries. Basically, we just lowered our expectations for what is called "high speed." My brother said that DSL definitely does not count as high speed (upon which I reminded him of using our 900 baud modem, complete with chirping noises, to get dialup access to our e-mail). Although what we have now feels like progress compared to 15 years ago, I still think that schools and libraries across the country need to be upgraded to the highest speed Internet connections available. I find it laughable that folks are worried about wasteful spending on this domestic recovery plan, when the same folks have been willing to dump billions into poorly supervised projects and wasteful war in the Middle East.
Let's spend some money on Americans. I think the investment might actually pay off. For too long we've been held hostage by tax and spend Republicans who like to spend their money on out-of-control wars and tax cuts for the rich. Pres. Obama seems surprisingly conservative in contrast. I'm grateful for the change in leadership. I hope Pres. Obama can accomplish what he's set out to do.
Pres. Obama packed a local high school gym - the tickets were gone in about half an hour. The funny part of it is that this has been an extremely conservative area for as long as anyone can remember. Just a few years ago, if you had sympathies for Democrats, you knew to keep quiet about it. If Pres. Clinton had come to town during his term, I wonder if anyone would have showed up to see him (Mrs. Clinton would have drawn a crowd, but not the positive kind). It seems that some things have changed since our area has been hit hard with the consequences of bad Republican policies.
One of the contentious pieces of Pres. Obama's stimulus proposal is increasing broadband access across the country. My younger brother, who is gainfully employed as a techie, asserts that the US actually has the worst broadband Internet access among developed countries. Basically, we just lowered our expectations for what is called "high speed." My brother said that DSL definitely does not count as high speed (upon which I reminded him of using our 900 baud modem, complete with chirping noises, to get dialup access to our e-mail). Although what we have now feels like progress compared to 15 years ago, I still think that schools and libraries across the country need to be upgraded to the highest speed Internet connections available. I find it laughable that folks are worried about wasteful spending on this domestic recovery plan, when the same folks have been willing to dump billions into poorly supervised projects and wasteful war in the Middle East.
Let's spend some money on Americans. I think the investment might actually pay off. For too long we've been held hostage by tax and spend Republicans who like to spend their money on out-of-control wars and tax cuts for the rich. Pres. Obama seems surprisingly conservative in contrast. I'm grateful for the change in leadership. I hope Pres. Obama can accomplish what he's set out to do.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Musings on library software
I don't really want to spend my days and nights in front of a computer screen with my eyes crossing over lines of code. And I definitely don't care enough about math to immerse myself in the inner workings of computers.
Still, sometimes I really wish I were a computer programmer. I get very frustrated with computer applications and my lack of ability to improve them. I'd love to develop open source library systems that were actually streamlined, adaptable, and functional in the real library environments in which I've worked.
Vendor-driven software always has its code hidden away from its users. Instead of librarians creating their own systems, we now have our workflows dictated by our integrated library systems. Vendor-driven software develops at a frustratingly slow pace, meaning that the "next gen" features library users desire are often painfully absent from library computer products. Vendor-driven software rarely works "out of the box." It requires the library to hire systems staff to customize and troubleshoot the software, often using poor documentation and technical support resources provided by the vendor. It seems like the energies of library systems staff could be better employed developing their own software.
Though exciting, the existing open-source library software projects are far too basic for the automation needs of an academic library. Evergreen, for example, is a basic cataloging and circulation system - with no functionality for acquisitions, serials, interlibrary loan, course reserves, etc.
Where does that leave me? Not sure. I'm at least hoping to deepen my knowledge of library software so that I have a better sense of how the problem might be solved.
Still, sometimes I really wish I were a computer programmer. I get very frustrated with computer applications and my lack of ability to improve them. I'd love to develop open source library systems that were actually streamlined, adaptable, and functional in the real library environments in which I've worked.
Vendor-driven software always has its code hidden away from its users. Instead of librarians creating their own systems, we now have our workflows dictated by our integrated library systems. Vendor-driven software develops at a frustratingly slow pace, meaning that the "next gen" features library users desire are often painfully absent from library computer products. Vendor-driven software rarely works "out of the box." It requires the library to hire systems staff to customize and troubleshoot the software, often using poor documentation and technical support resources provided by the vendor. It seems like the energies of library systems staff could be better employed developing their own software.
Though exciting, the existing open-source library software projects are far too basic for the automation needs of an academic library. Evergreen, for example, is a basic cataloging and circulation system - with no functionality for acquisitions, serials, interlibrary loan, course reserves, etc.
Where does that leave me? Not sure. I'm at least hoping to deepen my knowledge of library software so that I have a better sense of how the problem might be solved.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
What is an Amish Librarian?
Ok, so I'm not really Amish.
Maybe I chose the title because "Amish" sounds catchy. Or maybe I chose the title because I have Amish roots and Amish theological leanings. I'm actually a Mennonite. Mennonites have close ties to the Amish, in terms of kinship, history, and theology. My grandparents on both sides of the family left the Old Order Amish to become Conservative Mennonite. Consciously, they made the shift because they were drawn to the Mennonites' more evangelical Christian piety. Perhaps unconsciously, they wanted cars and tractors (at least that's how our Amish relatives tell the story). Two generations later, I'm uncomfortable with both the "mission outreach" focus of our Mennonite church and the way we've allowed ourselves to adopt all the trappings of secular modernity. But the so-called "Anabaptist escalator" only runs one way, and I can't rejoin the Amish.
But I am really a librarian (at least almost).
I'm working on my Master of Library Science (MLS) degree at Indiana University, Indianapolis campus. I hope to finish at the end of the upcoming summer. Unlike my Amish relatives, librarians are madly embracing new technologies, such as this thing called blogging. So there is an inherent contradiction in this blog. Philosophically, I see problems with introducing new technologies. Yet librarians, in our race to stay relevant, need to keep up with emerging trends in technology. So I embrace technology, if not with my heart, at least with my mind.
Thankfully, we librarians also have some affinity for the past. We try to preserve old books and cultural traditions. We maintain historical collections. We are considerate of the needs of our patrons in transitions to new technology. Like the Amish, even, librarians mostly embrace new technology when it has worthwhile uses. We don't like to get all technological just because it's sexy and new. I like that. Maybe that's why I became a librarian.
In addition to being a student, I'm employed as a librarian at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary. I enjoy helping folks find things and being surrounded by books on Anabaptist/Mennonite theology. Our library is also a new "sustainable design" building, which means it has fantastic natural light, native cherry woodwork, and great views of our rain gardens and prairie plantings. It's an amazingly beautiful place to work.
When I'm not working or studying, I get to spend time with my family. My wife and I have a one-year-old son, Silas, who is crawling, climbing, playing, and eating books up (literally, and figuratively). We live in an unassuming green bungalow with our two fluffy white cats and a compost pile in the backyard. We enjoy spending time outdoors, even in the winter. Last week, we went to the park so Silas could have his first sled ride. God has surely been good to me.
I hope you'll enjoy my random postings, both related and unrelated to what it means to be an "Amish" librarian.
Wishing you God's peace, Karl
Maybe I chose the title because "Amish" sounds catchy. Or maybe I chose the title because I have Amish roots and Amish theological leanings. I'm actually a Mennonite. Mennonites have close ties to the Amish, in terms of kinship, history, and theology. My grandparents on both sides of the family left the Old Order Amish to become Conservative Mennonite. Consciously, they made the shift because they were drawn to the Mennonites' more evangelical Christian piety. Perhaps unconsciously, they wanted cars and tractors (at least that's how our Amish relatives tell the story). Two generations later, I'm uncomfortable with both the "mission outreach" focus of our Mennonite church and the way we've allowed ourselves to adopt all the trappings of secular modernity. But the so-called "Anabaptist escalator" only runs one way, and I can't rejoin the Amish.
But I am really a librarian (at least almost).
I'm working on my Master of Library Science (MLS) degree at Indiana University, Indianapolis campus. I hope to finish at the end of the upcoming summer. Unlike my Amish relatives, librarians are madly embracing new technologies, such as this thing called blogging. So there is an inherent contradiction in this blog. Philosophically, I see problems with introducing new technologies. Yet librarians, in our race to stay relevant, need to keep up with emerging trends in technology. So I embrace technology, if not with my heart, at least with my mind.
Thankfully, we librarians also have some affinity for the past. We try to preserve old books and cultural traditions. We maintain historical collections. We are considerate of the needs of our patrons in transitions to new technology. Like the Amish, even, librarians mostly embrace new technology when it has worthwhile uses. We don't like to get all technological just because it's sexy and new. I like that. Maybe that's why I became a librarian.
In addition to being a student, I'm employed as a librarian at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary. I enjoy helping folks find things and being surrounded by books on Anabaptist/Mennonite theology. Our library is also a new "sustainable design" building, which means it has fantastic natural light, native cherry woodwork, and great views of our rain gardens and prairie plantings. It's an amazingly beautiful place to work.
When I'm not working or studying, I get to spend time with my family. My wife and I have a one-year-old son, Silas, who is crawling, climbing, playing, and eating books up (literally, and figuratively). We live in an unassuming green bungalow with our two fluffy white cats and a compost pile in the backyard. We enjoy spending time outdoors, even in the winter. Last week, we went to the park so Silas could have his first sled ride. God has surely been good to me.
I hope you'll enjoy my random postings, both related and unrelated to what it means to be an "Amish" librarian.
Wishing you God's peace, Karl
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