Don't Wait, Do It Yourself with Brian Matthews

Redesigning the cultures of academic libraries

Do it yourself = building something new to you or to your organization (usually something brand new)

DIY Basics (partial list):

making something
making something (better or unique)
challenge the norm
personal interest

DYI for libraries:

GT: customized the catalog with something other than a vendor system
Google scholar script (wag the dog) by GT programmer
Former GT librarian created ERL conference to fulfill a need for a specialized area (electronic resources)
GT Circ area (no more fines, more responsibility, greater influence, displays, assessment, furniture, leisure collections, equipment)
Student technology desk/environment (multimedia studio)

Encouraged Possibility (elements of a DIY culture...as was done with student multimedia studio) partial list
Purpose, problem, or platform (goal)
Ownership/interest
questioning/attitude (drive)

Design Thinking

IDEO Method in 5 steps
1. Understand (figure out user needs/challenges)
2. Observe (watch people in real-life situations to find out how they work, what confuses them, likes/dislikes, etc.)
3. Visualize
4. Refine
5. Implementation

Nightline: The Deep Dive (DVD & on youtube)

Empathic design
triggers of use
user customization (work-arounds)
intangibles attributes (emotions)
unarticulated needs
find problems and solutions
what-ifs

Designing/redesigning space
GT wanted collaborative space

Critical factors of success

Collaboration among students
Is critical to student perception of successful learning
Fosters partnering
Supports diversity
etc.

Design principles
Stimulate & inspire individuals & groups

Group study space
Preserve but improve upon it. Worked closely with the people that work in the space.
Immersion by Brian to "live" throughout the library while office was redone.
Ongoing process (various plans, trials, etc.)

Groups study
space
laptop use (support, power, noise, printing, etc.)

Printer support
What are they printing? Posters, color, stapling, etc.
Paying for printing (originally was 100 pages per week per student, now tied in with ID cards)

Assistance services
TA's taking over a library space without telling the librarians they were coming. Librarians approached them to set up a space for them to use.
Text a TA

Social interactions
Bring in a professor, buy him/her food in the cafe and they are there for an hour or so in a sort of open office hour.
Fun events, dodgeball, etc.

Impacting the curriculum
Video, papers, maps, 3d modeling, volunteering, presentations, etc.

Second Life
Set up accounts, but didn't advertise. Professors caught on have built three islands for class assignments


Wikis

Genres
Lit crit class that they needed to find an image for

Social Driven Instruction
Computer sci students felt that instruction needed to be online. More of a social event where library stuff could be promoted throughout conversation

Designing a Culture of Innovation

create a bug list (find solutions
assessement = ongoing
think/talk/act about design (IDEO)
2nd opinions
feedback
show & tell
make the news (student paper)
work in "their space"
Share insights
use crayons to map/express yourself

Brainstorming

do it regularly
start broad
don't let the boss speak first
no round-robin
go for quantity
number your
build & jump
space assessment

Book: The Ultimate Question,Fred Reichard (?) is where Brian finds questions that he asks of focus groups, individuals, etc.

Users can provide us with our greatest insights

WAAL09: Digitization on Demand: ILL Operations Participating in Institutional Digitization

"Digitization on Demand: ILL Operations Participating in Institutional Digitization"
Angela Milock, Laura Rizzo, Eric Robinson - WiLS (Wisconsin Library Services)

• How it all began... WiLS was already scanning masters theses, special collections, etc. for document delivery - thought they could start saving their scanned documents to make them available to everyone


• Models? Found existing Digitization-on-Demand (DOD) and Print-on-Demand (POD) programs at other institutions - Cornell, Penn State, U Michigan


• Where deposit? UW Digital Collections - http://minds.wisconsin.edu/, Google Books & CIC Hathi Trust > OPAC


• Which items to digitize? Started with: Special collections, Music Library


• Turnaround time? Walked through detailed workflow; appears to be faster for ILL to do it than Digital Content Group (therefore, less expensive)


• Partnerships? Special collections, some institutions with Kirtas/Booksurge/Amazon


• Paying for service? WiLS mainly emulated Michigan: cost passed on to requester, posted per page cost, $30-160; Cornell: Amazon ($20-40, 1-4 days); Penn: $26 paperback; WiLS just tries to cover costs; Surprised to find that people at our own institution willing to pay for digitization of materials they already have physical access to


• Requests? Web form, OCLC


• Usage? Huge differences from institution to institution, based on how easy it is to find out about materials/service; people *are* willing to pay; WiLS filled 6 in first 3 weeks (not even announced yet!) vs Michigan ~20/year (multiple communication steps) vs Penn = 1 total in 2 months vs Cornell = heavy POD usage of selected 6,000 titles (Amazon helps!)


• Copyright? Tricky U.S. vs non-U.S. laws; needed clear guidelines > "Cornell matrix"; wanted to be safe from litigation > very conservative (use Google's policy: pre-1923, author death year + 70 years - "are they dead enough?"); other institutions follow different policies


• Technology? WiLS: b/w 300 dpi, grayscale/color 600 dpi; existing ILL/Special Collections scanners; some institutions send to Kirtas scanners (turn pages automatically; Google's probably look like this too); is the scanner up to the challenge? WiLS had nice new scanner but it would


• New tasks? Barcoding and item records on the fly if needed, whole document and each page separately so works with page-turning model


• Total planning time? WiLS took 7 months from idea to reality


• Why? Access more convenient, seamless, removed digitization selection decisions, cost-effective


• Hey, you! Any UW System school can deposit their materials in http://minds.wisconsin.edu/

Questions

• Did WiLS not scan materials in Special Collections or the Music Library before you intiated this program? Answer: Went from part (article or chapter) to whole (500+ pages, rare, fragile materials).


• Are Cornell & Penn shipping rare books or doing in-house? Answer: Apparently, they *are* shipping at least some rare materials.


• Some requests denied? Answer: Yes, holding library has that power.


• How delivered? Answer: Preferred delivery method of institution; mounted, hosted PDF version if that's the normal manner.


• Payment details? Answer: If university doesn't cover costs, then patron can use Google Shopping Cart (all communication goes through their local institution)


• Don't need institutional affiliation to request materials? Answer: Correct.


• Is your copyright policy posted? Answer: Not yet.


• What about duplication from one library to another? Answer: We may get fewer requests for duplicate items as things become findable online.

WAAL Conference: IT/Library Collaboration Makes It

Presenters:

Dr. Kathy Davis, Director, UW-Stevens Point
Aaron F. Nichols, Access Services Librarian

Importance of improving relations:

Both departments have similar goals and serve the same audience (students & staff) although they have different approaches

Barriers:

Perceived differences
competition for funding
different cultures/goals
trust
competition for "turf"
growth rates/merging
Security vs. accessiblitiy

Collaborative Benefits:
Expands the Library as a technology rich gathering place for students which promotes the availability of technology
Lets Library/IT staff to focus on what they do best
Allows IT to appropriately channel $$ to enhance the library resources while still meeting IT needs
Planning opportunities for sustainable applications of technology for faculty & students

Specifics:

Library gained $30,000 dollars in funding from the student technology fee allowing them to purchase databases
Pilots/Grants-ipods/MP3s, streaming video project, computer availability kiosk
Planning-security, infrastructure, support, future
Expanded technology facilities- computer pods on all floors, computer equipped study roomsm presentation practice rooms, etc.
New furnishings in public areas
Shared staffing- for support, training, building on expertise

Collaborative group project room (Idea Studio):
Students use for group projects, presentation practice, presentation filming, medai viewing
Faculty/Staff use for departmental meetings, online seminars, presentation, classroom
Very well equipped room with TV, speakers, projector/screen, PC, digital video camera/tripod, moveable tables, moveable whiteboard

Group Project Zone:
PCs with 22" monitor set in pods of 6

Group Study Rooms:
Nine group study rooms enhanced with computers. One unique room with visual equipment (4-6 people per room)

Presentation Practice Room:
Projector, PC with wireless components

Cafe:
Enhanced with PCs, TVs with couches

Laptop program:
IT directly provides & supports the program, but are circulated from the library

Computer availability kiosk; shows where the computers are and their availability

Excellent Q&A followed

WAAL09: The Fun Begins

It's Wednesday morning in Green Lake, the skies are clearing, people are arriving, the fabulous conference committee is dealing with last minute details, and the coffee's on -- must be time for WAAL to start. The program is very strong; it'll be tough to pick which sessions to attend. I'm looking forward to sessions on collaboration, digitization, and other Library Nation topics.

Wausau School Board votes to keep "ttyl" in school library

Wausau area school librarians discuss the factors that go into collection development in a school setting, after a parent requested that the book "ttyl" be removed from the library. The school board voted to retain the book last week, as noted in the Wausau Daily Herald.

Academic library reference service profiled

Sam Wood, reference librarian at Western Wisconsin Technical College, and other academic librarians are interviewed about the changing role of academic libraries and librarianship in this La Crosse Tribune story.

Judith Krug, director of Freedom to Read Foundation, dies

Judith Fingeret Krug, 69, the long-time director of the American Library Association’s (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) and executive director of the Freedom to Read Foundation, who fought censorship on behalf of the nation’s libraries, died April 11 after a lengthy illness.

Krug, who often said, “Censorship dies in the light of day,” was the director of OIF and executive director of the Freedom to Read Foundation for more than 40 years. She was admired and respected for her efforts to guarantee the rights of individuals to express ideas and read the ideas of others without governmental interference.

Read the ALA complete news release for more information about Judith Krug's important and tireless work on behalf of First Amendment rights.

Janice Rice receives UW Outstanding Women of Color Award

Janice Rice, a WLA member who is a senior academic librarian in College Library and member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, has been selected as UW-Madison's recipient of the 14th annual UW System Outstanding Women of Color in Education Award. Rice was honored along with other recipients at an awards ceremony and luncheon on April 4 and at an April 13 reception hosted by the Office of the Vice Provost for Diversity and Climate. In addition to Janice's campus and community accomplishments, she has been an active WLA member, having served as Chair of the Intellectual Freedom Committee and a speaker at the WLA Conference. More information about Janice's accomplishments related to her award....

State budget uses USF to fund libraries

WLA supports the proposed state budget, which provides funding for BadgerLink, public library systems, statewide resource contracts and other library-related programs from the Universal Service Fund, but some state legislators are questioning this funding source. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and UW-Madison's Badger Herald have run articles about the issue, likely prompted by a news release from Sen. Mike Ellis (R-Neenah), stating his opposition to use of USF for library purposes. The Appleton Post-Crescent ran an editorial in support of the funding, showing an understanding of how important technology is for library service. WLA estimates that any additional charge on a phone line to cover these library programs will likely equal about one cent per day.

Vote Tuesday, April 7!

Don't miss your opportunity to make a difference tomorrow: cast your vote for candidates in two statewide races and various local elections.

The races for State Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Supreme Court take top billing. Learn more about the candidates and cast your ballot!