LiveBlog: Jessamyn West @ SLIS, 9.15.05

Choice: Empowerment Through Information Technology

No video, unfortunately. Sorry. :(

She's now a community technology mentor in a rural area of Vermont; service population of 30k, census data says a large number heat their home with wood. When surveyed, patrons were found to lack the basic computer skills needed to take a computer course.

Works with 10 libraries in the region, teaching such courses. Lots of unsupported Gates Foundation machines. Staff is teaching itself, ad hoc.

Choosing who we serve - patrons aren't homogeneous! Libraries tend to think patrons are either all like them, or all UNLIKE them in terms of knowledge.

Staff with different attitudes towards computers: who likes them unconditionally, who hates them? What message do different attitudes send to patrons? What about negative attitude towards, "stupid users?" How are we educating, serving users with less experience?

Institutional support: administration attitude towards technology - essential service or useless pain in the butt? What message do these attitudes send when trying to raise money for such initiatives?

Mentions talking with Gov. Dean at the DNC - his administration made a deal with the cable company, exchanging certain protections and market share in exchange for their wiring all the schools... what happens when they merge or are bought by another telco? Ties with government and commerce are essential.

Other political implications / issues in librarianship: homelessness, services for the unemployed, poverty, the "digital divide?"

Some libraries charge for some services... bathrooms and air conditioning, obviously, no... videos? Best sellers? Internet access? Some governments don't want the library to charge for anything; what does that do to the income base? Other services?

Mentions OCLC's recent blog post about the "tired cliche" of the digital divide. Do they mean that it's not an issue, or do they mean that the issue isn't something that can be solved with air drops of computers?

Another divide - mentions a blind users group who said that they essentially couldn't read in the library because the computers either didn't play CDs for books on tape or had a 30 minute limit.

DRM - do you own the books or other electronic holdings that the library invests in? Backups? Notes that readers (like Apple's iTunes) change the rights management (for the worse) every time they upgrade the software. How might this impact your holdings? How about ebook software that won't read X or Y material out loud? Where are the blind patrons mentioned above at that point? Can they use it on their Mac or Linux machine? What file formats? Are your audio books in an open format? Can they be put on an iPod?

Vendor lock in - are we being accountable to our patrons, or the vendors? What happens when your subscription to a database expires? Do you retain past holdings?

Knowing the answer to these questions, or anticipating them and finding possible work-arounds, is our job. Know what RSS, XML, CSS & HTML are before a vendor comes calling.

AMEN.

Talk to other librarians - what quotes are people getting? Uses example of eBay, the transparency of which ends up influencing sale prices. Know the market for tech services by networking with library community.

Choice of operating systems - lock in, security, etc. Did you choose your OS, or did you consider alternatives? Explore free and open source alternatives! Why pay for something that you can get for free if you look around a bit?

Look at design, look, especially as it applies to its impact on inexperienced users. What does ad-heavy Yahoo mail do to newbies? How does XYZ online catalogue app?

George Library System - totally open source catalogue system! Free like beer! Free like speech! Huzzah!

Filtering - once contacted by a filtering company offering to unblock her site if she removed "naked librarian" images. CIPA - Are we telling patrons over the age of 17 that filters can be turned off? Does your library even get federal funding? Would you still object if the filter was "perfect?"

PATRIOT Act - Case in Conn. where librarian went to ACLU, led to a decision rescinding gag order. Under appeal...

What are the laws in your city? State? How do they jibe with federal law? Do you know? How does that impact the policies you make?

Copyright law - Chilling effects! Most folks don't know the law and over-police themselves, not making a fair use of an item for fear of transgression. Mentions an analogy where a colleague called to see whether they were allowed to put Netscape on their Gates Foundation machines. Did that restrictive law actually pass? Are we getting the full use out of our holdings?

Small decisions can make all the difference for your patrons.