P'unk Avenue Window

Please join us on February 5th at 6pm for the Junto. This month we will be discussing the evolving role of the library. We have assembled a great panel to help lead this discussion.

Jim Pecora is the Chief Technology Officer of the Free Library of Philadelphia and Director for the Central Library Restoration and Expansion Project. He performed in a similar role for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News before coming to the Library in 2002. Jim worked in the non-profit, private and public sectors throughout his career which began as a community organizer on the west coast. Jim is also a musician and a published photographer.

Maria Falgoust is a librarian in an independent Brooklyn Heights school working with students in grades four through twelve. She has a Masters in Library and Information Science from the Palmer School and is certified as a school media specialist, and in 2000 she received her Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts from the University of Washington in Seattle. Maria is an avid reader, cook, traveler and party-organizer. Born and raised in New Orleans, she is passionate about the rebuilding of her culturally rich and economically challenged hometown. She is a co-founder of the Desk Set.

Sarah Murphy is a school librarian in Manhattan and works with students from kindergarten through twelfth grade. Sarah has a Masters in Library and Information Science from the Palmer School, where she concentrated in Rare Books and Special Collections, and she has previously worked at the New York Society Library and in the Rare Book Room at the New York Academy of Medicine. Sarah also works occasionally in classical theatre, and is a co-founder of the Bakerloo Theatre Project. She and Maria Falgoust founded the Desk Set in 2006.

The Desk Set is a group of New York City area librarians, archivists, bibliophiles and other bookish types who meet informally to explore and enjoy literary resources, connect with like-minded folks, and raise money for institutions who promote literacy.

As always, we provide the cold Newcastle Brown and Philadelphia’s best tomato pie. You bring something to share, if it is not too much trouble.

The discussion will begin at 7pm. Food and drink at 6pm.

Where:
P’unk Avenue
1168 E. Passyunk Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19147

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UPDATE

Nate Hill will be moderating the panel. He manages the Adult Services at the Bushwick Branch of Brooklyn Public Library and assists with the systemwide strategic planning process. He also works as a blog manager for the Public Library Association, a division of the American Library Association.

Everyone should read his blog post on library outposts as a new service model.

Last week, I posted some thoughts on what a modern library should be, and promised to follow it up with a post on how a website could support that mission. In case you didn’t read the previous post, it can be summed up as: learning needs a clubhouse, so why not the library? Of course, libraries have always been a place that supports learning with it resources, but I envision a place where the library community facilitates that pursuit further.

This is where the website comes into play. I envision a library website that has an Ebay reputation system, a Digg voting component, a room reservation system, a Google Books repository, a WorldCat list and notes feature, Amazon reviews and Facebook profiles. (I realize that it can be annoying to read a sentence like that if you do not have intimate knowledge of the way the sites work. However, it is good short-hand for me as I explain what I mean.)

Let me start with the obvious. Everyone assumes that a library website should have digitized information. I do not disagree, and in many ways that part it is a forgone conclusion that sites like Google books will replace the need for extensive physical repositories. Recently, Steven Johnson wrote an inspiring story about how he used Google Books to research his recent book, The Invention of Air:

An amazing number of Priestley’s original writings (along with other texts from that period) are available from Google as downloadable PDFs, with scans of the original page design and typography, along with full-text searching. Many of these are texts that would be very hard to find even in a major research library, and of course, even if you could find them, you wouldn’t be able to search them. (You’d barely be able to turn the pages, given how old the books are.

Online repositories are better in lots of ways. They allow for searching, hyperlinking, multiple displays of the same information, aggregation and calculation to be done on them, and they are more accessible. Libraries should be glad that they can get out of the boring business of maintaining acid-filled pieces of paper and cardboard as a means to preserve human knowledge. If we, as a collective society, can move our stored knowledge to a more searchable and accessible medium, I am all for it. I don’t think it is valuable to be sentimental about the codex book format. At one point, it was the most convenient portal medium for spreading human information, but its day has come.

I think it is fair to say that information that you would formerly access at a library is already online, and that it is only going to get better. With this in mind, I ask once again, what should a modern library’s website be?

Before I answer that, I am going to take another step back to talk about how professors earn their rank and reputation. The basis of the promotion and tenure system for universities is peer review. This process of having other peers read or review your work has a long history, but it is not without fault. At its root the process is intended to provide a mechanism for checking the accuracy of work before it is published. It has been accused of slowing things down and bringing up petty disagreements, but when it is working well it embodies the possibility for mentoring and sharing.

There is no reason why this type of peer-based reputation system could be not be brought over into the library environment. In last week’s post, I brought up the idea of peer learning, mentoring and apprenticing happening at the library in a Barcamp-like style. One way to facilitate that process would be to have an Ebay like reputation system built into the library website. It would provide a publicly accountable way to track the quality and integrity of one’s contributions to this learning community. I see it as a way to bring out the best in people since they know that if they lead a session without doing a little research and preparation in advance, they might get rated poorly. Everyone has the potential to lead a discussion session, so there is less incentive to be malicious. (What comes around goes around in this system.) Pragmatically, these reputation ratings help people make decisions on what sessions to attend or who to approach for information in this community in the same way that people use Ebay reputation ratings to decide to buy an iPod from this seller verses that seller.

Reputation can also be increased by making thoughtful commentary to the online collection. I find the story of marginalia to be romantic and often talk about it. In short, it is the notes that scholars would write in the margins of manuscripts. Other scholars would often travel to certain libraries to read the marginalia of a respected scholar. (In my mind, I envision a scholar making an arduous journey to read the notes of someone that passed away 100 years ago for the sake of sharing in human knowledge pursuit.) A book could exist in multiple places, but the marginalia was only in a specific library. Digital marginalia is much more accessible. (In many ways, the reviews that people write on Amazon products are a commercial cousin to this scholarly practice.) Digital marginalia also has the potential to be voted on. In a Digg-like way, commentary can be rated or voted up so that the well regarded posts rise to the top. If you make a lot of respected comments, your rating would increase (and vice-versa.)

Another component of the system would be a way to track your own progress. WorldCat lets you create public or private lists of books, cds, dvds or articles you recommend, have read/viewed, or any other custom list you determine. It also lets you review it, share it and tag it. Features like this should be folded into your personal profile on the library website. It will allow you to track your progress and also allow people to see what type of interests and expertise that you possess. So for instance, someone may connect with you because they have read the same book. In the course of their interactions they may realize that you have a lot of knowledge to share in the area and then encourage you to lead a session at the library so that people can gather to talk and learn.

You agree and you go over to the room reservation section of the website and reserve a small informal space since it is a more focussed topic. This reservation triggers an announcement to the community of people that have opted in to get notified about this subject. It also goes on the library calendar and shows up on your profile as an upcoming way to connect up with you. If someone signs up in advance to attend, their profile page would also note that they are attending.

I think you get the point.

If you think about it, this proposed website would allow for an alternative university or educational environment to exist. (I discuss this in more detail in my previous post on modern libraries.) The system replaces the functions that the administration at most schools provide. This is not to say that this will replace all formal schools or universities. They certainly have their roles in our society. Much in the same way that vinyl still has a role in the digital music age. (It has a unique sound quality, but it is not a necessary medium for most people that want to listen to music.)

As an aside, I would see this as a positive in terms of quality of experience for those that are part of a traditional university or school environment since only those that want that experience would attend. I could imagine a decrease in the size and number of these institutions, but on the positive side they would be freed from the mission of trying to be everything (job training, scholarly training, coming of age facilitation) for everyone and have the opportunity to focus and refine.

The library would also evolve in new and rich ways. It would provide the physical local gathering hub, the clubhouse, for all of this activity. The website would provide access to information, track reputation and progress, augment the exchange of information and ultimately encourage people to get together in real space.

A couple of things should be noted. These kinds of online interactions can already happen if you have Facebook and WorldCat or other combinations of social media accounts. I know that people are already connecting over shared interests and engaging in peer learning and mentoring. If you are not, I would certainly encourage you do so. Also, there is a good chance that libraries will be able to tap into existing web infrastructures through the use of APIs and plug-in architecture as they build out these modern websites. This will reduce the investment and time necessary to get these websites up and running.

The real value add that the library provides is that physical space that already has a long history with encouraging and supporting self-learning.

There are lots of nuances to the role that the website could provide that I want to delve further into, but I will stop now because I want to hear from you. What do you think? Can we make this happen? What would you add?

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I wanted to add a quick addendum. We are going to be holding a Junto on rethinking the library on February 5th at 6pm. Hope you can make it to continue the conversation.

Last week, Ed Tettemer (formerly of Red Tettemer) gathered together a group of people for a charette to rethink the Free Library of Philadelphia’s website.

A little back story is probably necessary. Ed and I met last year as members of Mayor Nutter’s transition committee for the rebranding of Philadelphia. (Yes, Ed and I seem to do a lot of re-ing.) Nothing really seemed to be making sense in this effort until Ed and I hit upon this idea of Open Source as the brand and also as the mind-set for Philadelphia’s new administration.

With this in mind, Ed brought together a group of people from various interactive and branding agencies, as well as, entrepeneurs and members of the Free Library staff and board to openly discuss, in a blue sky way, the future of the website. As part of the backdrop for our conversation, it was pointed out that the library is in the process of fundraising for a new addition (see above) to house:

a Children’s Library with a Preschool Center and a Craft Room; a first-ever Teen Center; a new 550-seat auditorium; two new Internet Browsing Centers, outfitted with 300 public-access computers; a new Business Department, with presentation space, online resources and a complete curriculum in business development; and a soaring, glass-enclosed pavilion with shops, a cafe and ample space for community gatherings.”

Instantly, our task changed (in my mind, at least) to be more of a rethinking of what a modern library should become.

Admittedly, I was looking for an excuse to open up the dialogue (as my Twitter post from the day before the session indicates), but nonetheless, I jumped at the opportunity.

Taking a step back, I believe that the post-World War II government-supplemented higher education system that has its origins in the funds of the GI Bill of Rights to be financially unsustainable. Not only that, I think that higher education is becoming less relevant to many people. I come across more and more college drop-outs or those that never attended college working in high tech and traditional white collar jobs. While I appreciate my college experience, I see it as almost a finishing school (in its best sense), and not a job training center.

As colleges become more expensive and government support continues to dwindle, it makes it harder and harder for the average person to take on that expense. (Keep in mind we are talking about graduating with debts in excess of $100,000.) However, the need to be educated has not diminished.

What better institution to fill this gap be than a place like the Free Library of Philadelphia?

If one accepts that conceit that a well-informed populace is vital to the operation of a democracy and considering that Ben Franklin founded the first lending library in North America here in Philadelphia then it is very compelling for the Free Library to be a place that embodies the future of education. (At minimum it makes for a very good story.)

And, I don’t mean as simply a resource (a.k.a. repository) to supplement education pursuits. The library should be a center for learning. In many ways, what I am proposing is an old fashioned idea. I would like the library to be a place of peer learning, apprenticing and mentoring. I am inspired by “unconferences” or open conferences like BarCamp where the attendees lead the sessions. There are no predetermined speakers. It is a great example of peer learning. The library can be the physical place that houses these sessions in an on-going way. Barcamps are usually only a day or two. This type of learning and sharing needs a home if it is to be an effective as a learning hub.

So back to the original point of the charette. What should role should the website of the Free Library play in this scenario?

I want to answer that question in a future post, but let me seed it with this quote from Mark Pesce’s essay Inflection Points:

When broken down to its atomic components, the classroom is an agreement between an instructor and a set of students. The instructor agrees to offer expertise and mentorship, while the students offer their attention and dedication. The question now becomes what role, if any, the educational institution plays in coordinating any of these components. Students can share their ratings online – why wouldn’t they also share their educational goals? Once they’ve pooled their goals, what keeps them from recruiting their own instructor, booking their own classroom, indeed, just doing it all themselves?

Technology can be used to coordinate the logistics of this information exchange in the library of the future.

I will expand on this idea in my next post.

To be continued!

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Update: The continued post on what a modern library website should be is now live.