I CAN DO IT ALL BY MYSELF: Exploring new roles for libraries and mediating technologies in addressing the DIY mindset of library patrons

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marielamuse/7341089880/

American Library Association Annual Conference. Anaheim, CA. 2012.

Speakers: Bohyun Kim, Patrick T. Colegrove, Jason Clark.

I CAN DO IT ALL BY MYSELF – part I.

Bohyun Kim, Digital Access Librarian

Florida International University Medical Library

http://bohyunkim.net @bohyunkim (Twitter)

http://www.slideshare.net/bohyunkim (Slides)

American Library Association Annual Conference, Anaheim, CA. June 23, 2012.

#ala12 #diy

: Exploring new roles for libraries and mediating technologies in addressing the DIY mindset of library patrons

Libraries,what has happened to them ?

Great Library of Alexandria - Wikipedia

Open stacks / browsing /circulation

Library catalog

DIY searching for end-userswas once radical…

Library space changed for collaboration

DeLaMare Science and Engineering Library of Univ. of Nevada, Reno- Facebook

Self-service for convenience

“Using the Self-Checkout machines” – Multinoma County Library (Flickr)

Open library metadata

Patrons, what has happened to them?

We are now…

• Information consumers who are• Smarter• More empowered• More independent• More efficient• More trained• More dedicated• More impatient• More demanding

What does that mean to academic libraries?

Decreasing reference requests

• “According to the ARL statistics, the number

of reference transactions went down by more

than 50-60 % since 1995.”- Anderson, Rick. 2011. “The Crisis in Research

Librarianship.” Journal of Academic Librarianship 37 (4):

289-290.

Decreasing circulation

User behavior has changed

• “Unless current patterns change, by 2020

university libraries will no longer have

circulation desks.”- Kurt, Will. 2012. “The End of Academic Library

Circulation?” ACRL TechConnect.

http://acrl.ala.org/techconnect/?p=233

Users prefer self-service even in reference /research

• Ask-an-expert sites (e.g., WikiAnswers) showed the largest five- year growth—136% increase. The frequency of use increased as well. The majority of college students who used these sites did so on an as-needed basis in 2005; now 30% search for answers at least monthly.

• College students are asking experts for help; are they asking librarians? Our survey results indicate that only a few are using online librarian question services—10% in 2010 vs. 8% in 2005. The number of academic libraries offering online reference services increased more than 10% from 2004 to 2008 (NCES).

- OCLC Report - Perceptions of Libraries 2010, pp.52-54.

Old paradigm

• In the era of information scarcity • Information was hard to find, obtain, access.

• This problem is solved by librarians’ mediation.• Libraries identify, acquire, organize, and

provide access to information.• Mediation by librarians was necessary for

identifying and accessing hard-to-find information efficiently.

• Great value was created by the mediation between library patrons and library staff.

Traditional library services are designed

to solve information scarcity

by mediation.

But now,information is abundant.

And we are so much morecapable information

consumers with the Web.

DIY – Users’ mindset today

• “You’re pretty good at helping me, thanks, but I’d really prefer to do more things by myself- and by the way, you don’t make that very easy for me.”

- Matthews, Brian. 2011. “Helping patrons help themselves,” Chronicle of Higher Education Blog Network. http://chronicle.com/blognetwork/theubiquitouslibrarian/2011/10/13/are-we-in-the-diy-era-helping-patrons-help-themselves/

DIY mindset - background

• Not unique to library use• Common phenomenon influenced by the automation of

everyday service that we experience as a consumer.• WWW + Knowledge = DIY

• Who knows more about how to best print your digital photo? You or the person at Walgreens photo service?

• Can you file tax yourself rather than hiring an accountant?Yes, and it might be faster and more convenient!

• The line between experts and hobbyists is becoming more and more blurry. • Example: Etsy, Flickr, Instagram, etc.

DIY Internet Radio Station

DIY user behavior at libraries

• Avoiding contact with the library staff unless necessary

• Using an alternative to traditional library services• Giving up on time-consuming procedures• Prefers self-service• Practicing ‘Satisfice’• Wanting to learn by doing, not by sitting and

listening• Appreciation for tools that help them do the things

that they want to do by themselves (e.g. LibX)

Moving in the right direction…

• Self-checkout machines• Drive-through windows• Vending machines with books and DVDs• Self-registration for library cards• Self-scheduling group study room and computer use• Self-pickup of holds • Self-directed printing  • Self-service course reserves management by faculty• Convenience and empowerment for patrons• Staff efficiency for libraries

But our main message is unchanged.

“Come to the Library !”“Talk to Librarians !”

“ Let us help you.”(=Go through us/ gatekeeping)

• ‘Ask a Librarian’• Reference desk• Classroom instruction• Literature search• Library workshop

Still operatingin the old paradigm

• Attractions to draw more people to the library?• E-book readers, Starbucks, 3D printer…

• Improve the library’s physical space?• Create more contact opportunities online?

• Ask a Librarian, Text a Librarian!• Embedded into the curriculum• Librarian presence in the LMS• More classroom instruction

Lukewarm responses …

• Help is less and less sought out where information is abundant.• “Can I just figure thist out by myself?”• ”Do I have time for this?”• “Is this something I must go through?”• “Can I do it later?”• “It sounds boring… ”

In spite of our best intentions

• Interaction-oriented service is likely to to be received

poorly because patrons are less likely to initiate it.

• Librarians’ mediation or assistance is often not necessary

for library patrons identifying and accessing information.

• And if any information system requires human mediation

or instruction, that may well make a patron think that

the system is inefficient.

• Users expect efficient systems that allow them to serve

themselves to meet their information needs.Kim (2011b).

Why?

Because now,what is precious and scarce

is information

people’s time and attention.

Learning is changing…

• “I don’t think education is about centralized instruction anymore; rather, it is the process establishing oneself as a node in a broad network of distributed creativity.”

- Ito, Joichi. 2011. “In an Open-Source Society, Innovating by the Seat of our Pants.” The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/06/science/joichi-ito-innovating-by-the-seat-of-our-pants.html?_r=1

Now: Mediate when & where?

Library as a warehousePassive help center (Kim, 2011a)

Be where people are. Be sought after; don’t run after.

Photo from Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamescridland/613445810/

Old paradigm: no longer relevant

Circulate books & journals.Look up things that are had to find.

Help then when askedTeach them proper research resources & methods.

Let’s show beautiful and awesome things instead.

Photo from Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/10422334@N08/4548288966/

Real people are inside & outside the library space

DeLaMare Science and Engineering Library of Univ. of Nevada, Reno- Facebook

Digestible bits of knowledge

Enrich everyone’s information ecosystem

Package info & dataas a meaningful connection

Transform information into meaning & knowledge

Examples: physical /virtual

• Part II (Tod): How can libraries respond to the changing user behavior and expectations to draw in and energize the users of the physical library space ?

• Part III (Jason): How to leverage technology to create opportunities for mediation and dis-mediation opportunities that the library users online would welcome ?

Part II & Part III

References

• Anderson, Rick. 2011. “The Crisis in Research Librarianship.” Journal of Academic Librarianship 37 (4): 289-290.

• Dempsey, Beth. 2010. "Do-It-Yourself Libraries." Library Journal 135, no. 12: 24-28.

• Harvard Library Open Data, http://openmetadata.lib.harvard.edu/ • Hoppenfeld, Jared, and Wendi Arant-Kasper. 2010. "Do-It-Yourself for

Course Reserves: A Student-Driven Service in an Academic Library." Journal Of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Electronic Reserves 20, no. 5: 353-361.

• Ito, Joichi. 2011. “In an Open-Source Society, Innovating by the Seat of our Pants.” The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/06/science/joichi-ito-innovating-by-the-seat-of-our-pants.html

• Kim, Bohyun. 2011a. “Beyond the Middlemen and the Warehouse Business.” Library Hat. http://www.bohyunkim.net/blog/archives/1361

References (cont…)

• Kim, Bohyun. 2011b. “Research Librarianship in Crisis: Mediate When, Where, and How?” ACRLog. http://acrlog.org/2011/08/01/research-librarianship-in-crisis-mediate-when-where-and-how

• Kurt, Will. 2012. “The End of Academic Library Circulation?” ACRL TechConnect. http://acrl.ala.org/techconnect/?p=233

• Matthews, Brian. 2011. “Helping patrons help themselves,” Chronicle of Higher Education Blog Network. http://chronicle.com/blognetwork/theubiquitouslibrarian/2011/10/13/are-we-in-the-diy-era-helping-patrons-help-themselves/

• NYPL Lab, What’s on the Menu? http://menus.nypl.org/• NYPL Lab, Direct Me NYC 1940. http://directme.nypl.org/• OCLC, 2010. OCLC Report - Perceptions of Libraries.

http://www.oclc.org/reports/2010perceptions.htm• Gorae_bot in Twitter. http://twitter.com/gorae_bot

I CAN DO IT ALL BY MYSELF – part II.

Tod Colegrove, Ph.D., MSLIS

Head of DeLaMare Science & Engineering Library, University of Nevada, Reno

Presentation June 23, 2012; American Library Association Annual Conference, Anaheim, CA.

Exploring new roles for libraries and mediating technologies in addressing the DIY mindset of library patrons

This was the reality ofDeLaMare Library.

Image credit: Crowl, N. (2010). Entry level, DeLaMare Library. Used with permission, all rights reserved.

We simply couldn’t afford the traditional approach.

1Derived from reports generated June 2, 2012, using the CANID Interactive Reporting System on the University of Nevada, Reno, Institutional Analysis website at http://www.unr.edu/ia.

*Order-of-magnitude estimate reached by applying the percentage of student enrollment to campus-wide enrollment numbers.

DeLaMare Library had exactly one librarian and 3-1/2 staff (FTE):

Student enrollment at UNR (2010)1: 15,939 3,363*

Approximate number of courses annually: 7,000 1,477*

% of student enrollment supported by library:21.1%Tasked with the exclusive library outreach and support to the physical sciences & engineering on campus…

”…eliminate book warehouse space and to replace it with people spaces that are inviting and offer the kinds of technologies that people want. ”2

2Emphasis added. Bell, S. (2012). Future of Librarians Interview. Retrieved May 27, 2012, from: http://www.collegeonline.org/library/librarians-online/steven-bell.html?goback=%2Egde_4137241_member_116950739Image credit: Fergus, D. (April 19, 2012). UNR Libraries faculty meeting, Lilli Brant room. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-

SA 2.0)by dstl_unr. Retrieved 5/29/12 from http://www.flickr.com/photos/dstl_unr/6953538092/in/set-72157629503618676

Radical measures?

After two years:

• Usage of the “library as space” has increased 5-6 fold

• In-depth reference transactions through the roof…

• An 18% increase in printed book circulations.

The good news:“…DeLaMare library is being incorporated into the

fabric of academic life for many students and faculty.”3 =)

3Ray, K. (April 9, 2012). Overall evaluation, T. Colegrove 2011 Academic faculty annual evaluation & merit review form. Unpublished internal document, UNR Libraries.Image credit: Crowl, N. (February 26, 2012). With Tod Colegrove at DeLaMare Library. Posted on FaceBook, and retrieved June 11, 2012, from

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3551293180442&set=a.1482530102658.2066184.1216012383&type=1&theater

Key: relocated staff offices4.

4Inspired by Woodward, J. (2009). Creating the customer-driven academic library, American Library Association, Chicago, IL.

Positioning staff to “bea node in their network”5.

Librarian desk, 2nd floor

5Rainie, L. (March 30, 2009). Friending libraries: The newest nodes in people’s social networks. Presentation at Computers in Libraries, Arlington Virginia. Slides retrieved 6/8/12 from http://www.slideshare.net/PewInternet/friending-libraries-why-libraries-can-become-nodes-in-peoples-social-networks-1222975

Views frommy desk on the 3rd floor…

Left behind: a microkitchen.

security device:

A coffee shop?Image credit: Librarian by Day, “Happiness”, licensed under creative commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA).

Retrieved June1, 2012, fromhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/librarianbyday/2515978583/sizes/z/in/photostream/

(Did you know the ALA has an entire wiki devoted to Libraries with Coffee Shops?)

Fundamental:Images credit: meganmillscrm, “No food”, licensed under creative commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND).

Retrieved June3, 2012, from http://www.flickr.com/photos/meganmills/2868963016/sizes/o/in/photostream/library_mistress, “Shh, this is a library” licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC-BY-SA).

Retrieved June10, 2012, from http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_mistress/4572440022/sizes/o/in/photostream/

Create and leverage contact opportunities.

• New services• Fiscal/personnel resources• Strategic technologies

Beyond leveraging increased opportunities for in-depth reference, establishing a relationship and actively listening to the library’s customers informs development/acquisition:

Recent additions:Sparkfun Inventer kits

Image credit, right-hand side: Sparkfun Electronics, licensed under creative commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0).Retrieved June10, 2012, from http://www.sparkfun.com/products/10339

Image credit, left-hand side: Crowl, N. (2011). Student contemplating his Arduino-based creation: a DIY breathalyzer.

Recent additions:3D printers & scanner

Recent additions:button makers

Image credit, right-hand images: Kurt, L. & Fisher, E. (2011). Mini Maker event held in MIKC.

Additional development:

• Incremental increases of the number of computer workstations available; from 39 60 90 120

• Scanners – both standalone and scan-to-email• From a single aging printer to printers on

each floor• with duplexer (double-sided printing), please.

• Rolling whiteboards• Large-format printing and scanning• Additions to library collections:

• LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0 kits• Wireless AR.Drone quadricopters with API• Arduino Pro kits

• Treating your users as co-developers is your least-hassle route to rapid code improvement and effective debugging.

• Release early. Release often. And listen to your customers.

• The next best thing to having good ideas is recognizing good ideas from your users. Sometimes the latter is better.

A few of the guidelines6:

6Emphasis added. The Cathedral and the Bazaar. (2012, May 3). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 23:20, June 9, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cathedral_and_the_Bazaar

Draw in and energizeusers of the physical library.

Image credit: rumpleteaser, “Kid in a Candy Store”, , licensed under creative commons Attribution2.0 Generic (CC BY).Retrieved June1, 2012, from http://www.flickr.com/photos/rumpleteaser/6062575030/sizes/l/in/photostream/

Added over 2,500 square feet of whiteboard walls.

Created semi-private collaboration areas.

A whiteboard wallcompetition on FaceBook?

Going deeper:communities of practice.

7Wenger, E., McDermott, R., & Snyder, W. (2002). Cultivating communities of practice – A guide to managing knowledge. Harvard Business School, Boston, MA. pp 3-4.

“Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis.”7

Nurture them!

Actions to cultivate a successful community of practice

8

• The nature of a Community of Practice is dynamic, in that the interests, goals, and members are subject to change

• Create opportunities for open dialog within and with outside perspectives

• Welcome and allow different levels of participation

• Develop both public and private community spaces

• Combine familiarity and excitement• Focus on the values of the community• Find and nurture a regular rhythm for the

community

8Community of practice. (2012, May 18). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 23:20, June 3, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Community_of_practice&oldid=493166807

Give them somethingto talk to you about.

Could turn into atraditional library event…

or an outing onthe University Quad...

with several hundred students and faculty participating.

Rules of engagement:

“…communication to generation Y requires openness, vulnerability, genuine interest in those we are trying to teach and, above all else, understanding. The more relaxed the environment, and the more socially conducive to discussions, the better will be the quality of learning.”9

9Emphasis added. Partridge, H., & Hallam, G. (2006). Educating the Millennial generation for evidence based information practice. Library Hi Tech, 24(3), p. 400-419.

Expressions of Homelessness exhibit.

Library events that grew directly out of community of practice interests:

Images credit: Murphy, A. (2011). The Expressions of homelessness: Representations through the arts. Retrieved June10, 2012, from http://www.ariellemurphyphotography.com/expressions-of-homelessness.html

WordPress WordCamp.

Image credit: thekevinjones, (June 5, 2011). Wordamp, Reno 2011. All rights reserved. Retrieved June 5, 2012, from http://www.flickr.com/photos/58403583@N04/sets/72157626772664855/

Library events that grew directly out of community of practice interests:

Pi day.

Library events that grew directly out of community of practice interests:

Rube-Goldbergmachine competition.

Images credit: UNRCoEn (2012). Eweek 2012. Retrieved June10, 2012, from http://s278.photobucket.com/albums/kk118/UNRCoEN/Eweek%202012/?start=all

Library events that grew directly out of community of practice interests:

Locksport workshop.

Image credit: Crowl, N. (April 19, 2012). Locksport. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) by dstl_unr.Retrieved 6/2/12 from http://www.flickr.com/photos/dstl_unr/sets/72157629804390284/

Library events that grew directly out of community of practice interests:

The key:

“Above all, both Millennials and Boomers demand attention and want librarians to be available to them as guides and assistants, but not as gatekeepers.” 10

10Emphasis added. Connaway, L. S., Radford, M. L., Dickey, T. J., De Angelis Williams, J., & Confer, P. (2008). Sense-making and synchronicity: Information-seeking behaviors of Millennials and Baby Boomers. Libri, 58,2 (June): 123-135. Pre-print available online at: at: www.oclc.org/research/publications/archive/2008/connaway-libri.pdf.

11Emphasis added. Malik, O. (May 22, 2012). Kickstarted: my conversation with Kickstarter co-founder Perry Chen. GigaOm, retrieved June 10, 2012 fromhttp://gigaom.com/2012/05/22/kickstarter-founder-perry-chen-intervie/

“Bad stuff gets in the system. You get sequels. You get safe things… You have systems that are based on who you know. That’s what we want to break apart. Good ideas can bubble up without these gatekeepers saying yes.”11

Okay, that’s great – forthe people who come in tothe library.

What about everyone else?

I CAN DO IT ALL BY MYSELF – part III.

Jason Clark

Head of Digital Access & Web Services

Montana State University Library

American Library Association Annual Conference, Anaheim, CA. 2012

Exploring new roles for libraries and mediating technologies in addressing the DIY mindset of library patrons

pinboard.in tag for links

pinboard.in/u:jasonclark/t:ala2012-diy

New Paradigm

• What about users that don’t come into the building?• Libraries are passive• Users are active

• Building engaging tools and online experiences

Traditional library services are designed to

solve information scarcity

by mediation.

Disintermediation

• In economics, disintermediation is the removal of intermediaries in a supply chain: "cutting out the middleman". • en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disintermediation

DIY – “Do It Yourself”Ian MacKaye, Punk Rocker and DIY Patron Saint

DIY – “Do It Yourself”

DIY – “Do It Yourself”

• “…recorded their own music, produced albums and merchandise, distributed their works and often performed basement shows in residential homes rather than at traditional venues to secure freedom in performance.” • en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIY_ethic

DIY and the Internet

• DIY as part of Internet Culture• Make Magazine

• makezine.com

• Skillshare• www.skillshare.com

• We work in a medium that facilitates DIY

DIY Libraries

What about apps and tools that create and

support DIY behavior?

Crowdsourcing

• WikiAnswers• wiki.answers.com

• Direct Me NYC: 1940• directme.nypl.org

• What's on the Menu?• menus.nypl.org

• Patron Driven Acquisition• scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2011/05/31/what-patron-drive

n-acquisition-pda-does-and-doesnt-mean-an-faq

Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing

Research & Citation Management

• The Student Research Pad (draft)• www.stephenfrancoeur.com/digitalreference/2012/04/02/the-s

tudent-research-pad/

• Surfacing scholarly community activity• www.lib.montana.edu/resources/popular.php • realtime.easybib.com

• Mendeley, Academia.edu, Zotero, scholr.ly

Research & Citation Management

Extending Search

• University of Michigan Library Bookmarklets• www.lib.umich.edu/mlibrary-labs

• LibX toolbar• libx.org

• NCSU QuickSearch (metasearch results)• www.lib.ncsu.edu/search/?q=laser • www.lib.ncsu.edu/search/about.html

Extending Search

Converting traditional services?

What are the new "app" opportunities?

(new) Ready Reference

• twitterbots, chatbots, statbots• Chatbot - University of Nebraska Library

• dx.doi.org/10.1108/07378831211213238

• Statbot - Florida State University Library• journal.code4lib.org/articles/85

(new) Ready Reference

(new) Reader’s Advisory

• Gimme (Scottsdale Public Library)• gimme.scottsdalelibrary.org

• BookMeUp• www.lib.montana.edu/beta/bookme

(new) Reader’s Advisory

(new) Outreach

• Data mining social media • andyburkhardt.com/2010/02/12/ambient-awaren

ess-in-twitter-for-reference

• andyburkhardt.com/2012/04/25/puppies-in-the-library-and-social-media

(new) Outreach

(new) Digital Collections

• Range Science Information System (RSIS) • rangescience.info

• Experts creating a digital "bookshelf"

(new) Digital Collections

(new) Collection Development

• Patron Driven Acquisition• scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2011/05/31/wha

t-patron-driven-acquisition-pda-does-and-doesnt-mean-an-faq

(new) Collection Development

(new) Content Selection

• Sorting databases based on popularity (clickthrough analytics)• www.lib.montana.edu/resources/popular.ph

p

(new) Content Selection

(new) Instruction

• Real-time Instruction• bit.ly/zA9DCf • americanlibrariesmagazine.org/columns/pra

ctice/guide-side

• "Guide on the Side", a tutorial created for JSTOR by University of Arizona librarians

(new) Instruction

Takeaways & Next Steps

• New job duties, New staffing models• Realignment of personnel• Look for public service + tech service

collaborations• This is a great opportunity!

• We all have some role to play; it just might be a new role.

Takeaways & Next Steps

Code Samples

• Bookmarklets• www.lib.montana.edu/~jason/files/bookmark

lets

• AskREF• www.lib.montana.edu/~jason/files/question-

point

• BookMeUp• www.lib.montana.edu/~jason/files.php

Questions?

Twitter Hashtag

#diy