The Returning Student is Learning

In my search for public libraries that use blogs and other web 2.0 tools and services in order to enhance the relationship with their patrons, I have explored websites of libraries in over seven different countries (more about that later). Much to my surprise, USA and Canada are literally years ahead of many other jurisdictions in latching on to new technology. Most of the innovative tools and service do not require extra money or equipment. It seems to be more about a philosophy of how libraries are being used, what are the goals and objectives of public libraries, and how soon libraries want to update their sites. True, there is a lot of work involved in writing blogs, posting podcasts, or setting up RSS feeds. But just by examining the different sites that have been featured here, it becomes obvious that these are libraries that value their patrons, that are involved in the community as a whole, that are warmly encouraging people to read, and to learn. These libraries invite responses, welcome suggestions, make recommendations, and as a result they are obviously a strong force in the community.

I researched libraries in Zurich, Mumbai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Melbourne, and Sydney, and found no hints of Library 2.0 input to the websites. Others that I researched had ho-hum approaches to RSS feeds or other tools. I believe that the featured libraries are leaders in innovation, and their librarians should be applauded for their efforts. One exception to this generality is the Winnipeg Public Library, but it has my loyalty for old times’ sake, and at least they have ventured into the web 2.0 for teens.

In his blog, John Blyberg shares 11 reasons why Library 2.0 exists and matters. From my explorations, I have to give him credit for the thoroughness with which he embraces the concept, and the confidence that he places in this “real and vital movement”. He lists as reasons:

• L2 is partially a response to a post-Google world
• L2 requires internal reorganization
• L2 requires a fundamental change in how we handle authority
• L2 requires a fundamental change in a library’s mission
• L2 requires technological agility
• L2 challenges library orthodoxy on almost every level
• L2 requires a radical change in how ILSs and vendors work
• L2 both enables and requires libraries to work together
• L2 is actually happening
• L2 is revolutionary
• L2 is essential for survival/pertinence

From John Blyberg’s blog blyberg.net, retrieved April 16, 2009.  I couldn’t agree with him more, that all the tools in the world are useless unless the libraries and librarians buy into their use. Once they embrace web 2.0 and reach out to their users, the possibilities for making strong connections and building loyalties are great.

I feel that I now know how public use of blogs can create positive effects. But I also appreciate other tools more. So, lastly, I want to share something about my new favourite tool, the tag cloud. Melissa L. Rethlefsen wrote an article in Library Journal called Tags Help Make Libraries Del.icio.us in which she lauded the use of social bookmarking and tagging tools as helping librarians to bridge the gap “between the library’s need to offer authoritative, well-organized information and their patrons’ web experience.”  Tagging lowers barriers for participation, both for patrons and for staff. It may not be precise and authoritative, but it sure looks and feels good to me.

The British Library

The British Library

Our family spent a summer in London a few years ago. At the time, I didn’t even think of visiting the British Library. Now,  it would be my first stop on a return visit. They look fantastic! This venerable institution has embraced the idea of connecting with its public in new and innovative ways, and with great success.

Your Library offers much

The home page of the British Library website has navigational points that are easy to use. The drop-down for Your Library, for example, shows icons for facebook, twitter, flickr and YouTube. This was my first encounter with a library facebook page, and the first time twitter andYouTube have been so openly highlighted. There are also quick links to podcasts, and to  blogs. These are all powerful access points, and pave the way for welcoming patrons with many levels of web 2.0 comfort.

The blog page url is another easy access point.  All blogs can be access using RSS. There are nine blogs in total. I quickly went to the Harold Pinter Archive Blog and perused it. I was delighted but not surprised to see links to Harold Pinter sites, post archives, an RSS feed, a tag cloud, and an invitation from the archive cataloguer to comment or contact her. Similar invitations were present on other blog sites. Each was designed a bit differently, to suit the blogger’s sense of style, but each contained all the above basics – links, archives, tags, RSS, and room for comments. Most added del.icio.us and Digg bookmark manager tags.

My only regret in perusing this wonderful website is that most blog entries had 0 comments posted in response. Surely with the amount of effort that the British Library staff takes in sharing their information, expertise, and community awareness, they should be rewarded with feedback.

Winnipeg – my home town

The Winnipeg Public Library

I have a real soft spot for Winnipeg – I grew up there, went to university there, and met my husband there. When I moved to Vancouver, though, it was for keeps. I always thought of Winnipeg as the centre of prairie hospitality – after all, people rely on each other to get through the long cold winters. But of all the library sites featuring web 2.0 services, the Winnipeg Public Library seems the most cold and unresponsive to patron needs and interests. No hospitality there.

Firstly, the library’s website is part of the city of Winnipeg site. Navigation through the links is complicated, because city services are referenced just above the library services, and it’s unclear which is which. Nothing on the page looks like a link to a blog. I  searched on ‘blog’ and was directed to the youth blog, called Booked for Teens. Turns out it’s a lonely web 2.0 tool. No RSS feeds, no podcasts, no social networking.

WPL's teen blog page

The teen blog is cute, but childish. There’s no action! noise! savvy photos! Just a sweet graphic penguin and a very boring sidebar. The only widget is an archive of previous posts. It’s hard to tell whether the teens are reading it. There was no invitation to comment on the blog posts. I did find another teen page called The Mash Up, which invited kids to post ads, comments, etc. Again, it looked pretty childish, and likely was a page for the pre-teen set.

So, general disappointment, based on the wonderful other sites that I have explored. But it gives me the opportunity to analyze what they could do to improve the site. I think that for very little expenditure of resources, they could offer RSS feeds of, for example, their newsletter and their online calendar of events.  I noticed that there were photos of library events. These could be posted on flickr, for easy access, especially by teens. The teen blog could include links to relevant local teen sites and web pages that would encourage them. A tagging system on the sidebar would clarify what has been posted in the past. With a little involvement of the librarians, there could be forays into MySpace pages (which seemed to be popular in other public libraries), and of course, staff could take it upon themselves to start a blog for their adult patrons. If several staff share the task (as I have seen elsewhere), they could each work within their special areas of interest or expertise, and end up with a riches of material to share.

I will also criticize the library for its failure to give patrons opportunities to input their comments, needs, criticisms, etc. Yes, there is a link to contact them. But it’s not inviting. And certainly there are no other venues for feedback, such as a good blog will offer. Winnipeg Public Library is a disappointment so far, and this Returning Student is not intending to return to that place anytime soon.

An Oasis of Knowledge

West Palm Beach Public Library

The subtitle of the West Palm Beach Public Library site is “An Oasis of Knowledge”. Together with the beautiful photo of a palm tree in clear blue skies, this heading is irresistable. What student (not just a returning student) hasn’t spent long minutes dreaming of lying on the sandy beaches of Florida, listening to the waves, and feeling the warm sun. My cousin and his family live in West Palm Beach. Unfortunately, he works 75 hours a week and spends his spare time fighting off alligators and snakes from his yard (no joke!), so the beach is a distant dream for him as much as for me. But the library is another story – his kids love it!

This week is the grand opening of the new public library building. It has generated all kinds of excitement, including many blogs and photos on the topic. This library is unabashedly the queen of web 2.0 so far. On the home page I found a button clearly marked “Blogs”. It was the easiest access of any that I have tried, and the print is large enough for the tired eyes of the retired set who live in the West Palm Beach community. The button led me to another clear, colourful page – just click one of the four wonderful blog entries, and voila.

Blog entry is clear and easy

Each blog had different attractions. The Book Goddess was clearly a book review blog, and had an interesting tag cloud on the sidebar. But my favourite sidebar was on Library Currents, which listed tweets, podcasts, and , blogroll, among its many widgets. The contributors to the blog were also listed – they comprise seven librarians. The site was full of pictures of the new facility, all of which are available on the library’s flickr site, and patrons are easily directed there with a little click of the mouse.

This is a site that imparts the impression that librarians and management are clearly comfortable with Librarian 2.0 concepts, and that they fully integrate the tools and services of web 2.0 into the ongoing activities and services of the library. There is no division between provision of service through traditional methods and by the new resources available to this library.

In all my searches for blogs, I have always found that the teen sites and blogs are most web 2.0 friendly. Not so much here. There are colourful, inviting pages of information for teens, and a multitude of resources, including online and in-library tutorials for SATs, a citation/bibliography making software to download, and others. There is a user-friendly children’s blog. But no RSS feeds, no kid-specific podcasts or social networking pages, no virtual world library. This surprises me. I had started to assume that resources were placed in teen sites because there is the greatest familiarity and comfort level. Apparently in West Palm Beach, age is a plus!

Aside from the fact that West Palm Beach is an inviting place for other reasons (think sun and sand), I would be very excited to become a part of this library community. Even though there good resources for teens and kids on the site, I find it very welcoming for people of all ages – all you need is enthusiasm or an interest in engaging spaces and lots of books and other materials.

Seattle’s Best

The Seattle Public Library

This sedate website home page is a bit deceptive. The communication message is clearly loud and extroverted. The Seattle Public Library serves a large population base in Seattle, Washington. The library reaches out to its community and its patrons with many tools and many voices. There are five language entry options to its website, and with Quick Links that point to Shelf Talk, a blog for readers, and to Push to Talk, a teen blog and podcast link, the library is open for web 2.0 business.

Shelf Talk blog

Seattle’s blog is easily accessible from the front page of the website, and it has an easy url to remember once you’ve been there. Shelf Talk uses a clear easy to read format, and uses my favourite widget – a tag cloud titled “On our minds”. When the cloud is full, it looks like a grab bag chock-a-block loaded with goodies. There is a list of popular Seattle area blogs, as well as book blogs – together totalling about 25. It was easy to get distracted and spend an hour browsing through blog posts about best wine in Seattle, photos, and a related library blog site called Friends of Seattle Public Library blog.

The teen blog and teen services are the answers to a kid’s dream. The web 2.0 services, including podcasts by subscription, sidebar blogrolls of kid-friendly local blogs, and interesting posts, are very consistent with the quality of other services available to the younger patrons. There was also a social networking tool – a MySpace page. I saw multi-lingual web entries, and SAT study sessions, for example. There was nothing on the site that a teen or pre-teen wouldn’t be able to access within a few clicks of the mouse. It is another library example of where the teen site is inviting, draws a person in, and makes no demands. In fact, the blog page Push to Talk: a blog for Teens has the following qualifier:

WE HEREBY SWEAR that this blog for teens, written by the librarians who serve them shall be interesting, worthwhile, entertaining, and peppered with pictures of animal babies. Did we miss anything? Let us know what you think, what you want to read, what’s boring you to death, etc here: teenblog@spl.org!

Based on examination of other library sites, I applaud Seattle’s efforts. On the other hand, if the tools were made even a little more obvious on the home web page, it would be an improvement for the likes of those of us who did not grow up searching a page for clues of where to find the blog. Always have to consider the Returning Student’s aging Seattle family and friends.

A Public Library Down Under

Christchurch City Libraries , New Zealand

I became curious about the library systems in Australia and New Zealand, simply on the basis that my family and friends from Down Under see no differences between “them” and “us” in terms of comfort with web 2.0 tools and services.  My exploration led me to mixed conclusions.

Interestingly, all the public library sites that I searched in Australia were subsidiary pages of city government sites. None incorporated web 2.0 tools or services on their sites. Is it because of funding? Or is this phenomenon age related? Maybe the librarians of my generation are still in charge in the Australian system, and they are resisting mightily against the younger, more web-savvy librarians after them? Perhaps it’s cultural. Anyway, it’s makes for boring sites.

Christchurch City Libraries

New Zealand provided better material for investigation. The Christchurch City Libraries website is busy, colourful, and boasts several RSS feeds right on its “what’s new” list. The library blog is also posted right on the front page.

My foray to the blogsites was very successful. The basic blog for the library is a WordPress blog going back a couple of years. It makes good use of both a tag cloud and a category cloud, and several photos from previous events at the library are mounted. The photos are posted on flickr and available for sharing. I noticed that the blog tags encompass a myriad of topic and areas of interest. Also, patrons have actually posted comments on several of the blog posts. Whenever a patron posted a comment, there was a reply from the library staff following it.

the Pulse

A second blog is accessed both from the front page and from the teen page. Called the Pulse/te Auaha, this blog is designed with teens in mind – it is edgy, casual, and full of teen related information, such as new music, skateboarding, and zines. Both blogs invite responses from readership. I think that any reader would have no difficulty in accessing or getting involved in either of these blogs.

The web 2.0 resources at this library, and the way they are displayed, are totally consistent with the overall portrayal of the library via its website. It is interactive – every block of colour on the page depicts a new entry point, and each invites involvement from the user. It uses both English and Maori on the site and in the blogs, to acknowledge the indigenous population. It gives the impression of a library that cares about its patrons, and about being fully engaged in the school, artistic and community life of the people of Christchurch. It also gives the impression of openness – that the library would be open to bringing in new Library 2.0 tools if there was a chance that they would improve the involvement of their patrons.

I didn’t see any indications of social networking or of virtual world involvements on the website or the blog. If there was any room for improvement for this library’s involvement in web 2.0, that would be my recommendation of where to get involved next.

The library in London, Ontario

London Public Library, London, Ontario

I chose to investigate the public library in London, Ontario, because my oldest son lives there now, and he loves libraries, so maybe this will be a good introduction for him.

The London Public Library has a newly-designed, fresh looking website with six categories across the top of the page, and six buttons to link the user to specific areas of interest, including three with extensive drop-down menus. There is also a search box and another ten access points for entering various pages within the website. It took me a long time to figure out that the top half of the left column of the page is devoted to the LPL blogs! I first accessed the blogs by searching in the search box. I also added /blog to the website address. Both of those methods got me to a detailed listing of the available blogs. But once I figured it out, the home page was quite obvious. The title of the column is Our Voice. The first entry to a blog is about an “Idolmania” contest being held virtually by the library. After that, there are entries to a huge number of blog posts, each representing a different area of interest within the library. There are teen sites (voting for a book award winner), staff blogs, reader advisory, and community feeds. The blogs are available to any browser on the site, but in order to comment back, a reader has to register with the library (and have a library card) and must agree to some basic courtesy rules about blogging. Registration can be completed online.

Once the blogs are found, and either the patron registers or chooses to read only, the sites are very usable. Each blog is clearly titled, and at the bottom of each post there is an invitation to comment or to read more. The blogs themselves are well linked. For example, in a review of the book “Possession” by A.S. Byatt, the book title was linked to the catalogue screen describing (among other things) location and availability of the book copies in all the LPL branches.

This library website is lively! It is a vibrant site, putting huge emphasis on community activities, on programs for all age and interest groups, and for encouraging reading. The teen page was especially full of interactive resources, such as rock concert reviews, a special teen blog, and local band performances on YouTube. The LPL also has a MySpace site, which links on the teen page. As a teenager, I would find this page to be very welcoming, and fun to use.

London Public Library

This Returning Student is very comfortable with the Web2.0 tools used by LPL, especially the blogs. I found myself reading several of the posts because they were well written, of a comfortable length, and on a variety of topics – very user friendly and welcoming. My only concern is how I entered the blog sites in the first place. Why did it confuse me so? I’m sure my son will have an easier time of navigating, for sure.

Why Libraries Blog

Why are blogs so popular? What do they have to offer? Well, back to my reference about My Diary, they offer the writer a venue for expounding on the pet issue of the day. An entry can be any length, any level of scholarship (or lack), and as self-centred or as broad as the writer wishes, depending on their intent. The blogger can invite feedback and comments, and can gain readership, information, or notoriety in the process. For the blog reader, it is a totally voluntary experience. It can be driven by curiosity, passion, or simple loyalty to a subject or to a blogger. It also allows readers the opportunity to weigh in on any type of commentary or information, and be being commenters on someone else’s blog, they become contributors and writers themselves. So it there are clear and understandable reasons why individuals blog and why people read them.

For a public institution, or an organization providing a service to others, a blog is written for less self-oriented reasons. It is not to satisfy a personal or institutional need as much as to impart information, advice, institutional or community news, and to reach users and community who would otherwise have no entry point to the world of the library. For the Returning Student and my contemporaries, this does not seem instinctively necessary, because we are used to traditional entry points (like the front door). But our generation is slowly entering the web 2.0 world too, and our needs are changing as we see the opportunities that are available. My son, who is a university student, told me today that he loves the library as a quiet place to study, but everything else comes from being online – from research materials to community information to study guides.

Sarah Houghton-Jan is the technical librarian who blogs as LibrarianInBlack. She recently commented that blogs convey news to patrons, helps you get in touch with co-workers, and reach people who make financial decisions for your library. Blogs are ubiquitous. President Obama’s administration is blogging. Library of Congress is blogging. Blogs work. If a library’s blog isn’t working, it is because it hasn’t yet reached its users. Respond to comments. Tag your posts to help people find other information that is interesting to them. Blogging can be used in any library for any purpose.

In the Beginning…

Enter the world of blogging. Somehow I feel like it’s my blogging duty to “bare all” as if exposing myself in public is an everyday occurence. But I’ll refrain. I  remind myself that this is not like writing in My Diary in pre-computer days. This is a public presentation, or musing, that has purpose not only for me, but hopefully for anyone who reads it.  My role as blogger is to talk about something other than myself. So I have decided that this blog is about how people like me, fascinated by books and trained in information science, bring vitality to their libraries by using this blogging tool. And how libraries enter the Library 2.0 world with many different goals and with varying success

Originally I presumed that blogging was the first and foremost entry point into the world of Web 2.0 for libraries. It is informative and invites comments from readers, so its interactivity seems like a natural way for libraries to communicate with their patrons. But other interactive tools are being launched either in conjunction with blogs, or as simple methods of communication in response to community needs. I have found facebook and Myspace pages, RSS feeds, podcasts, folksonomies and my favourite tag clouds.  I am particularly interested in studying public libraries in places where I have visited, or where loved ones live. How does blogging (particularly) from a public library affect the users and the community connection, and vice versa.