Tiny Tech -- Jessamyn West

Tiny Tech: How to use Technology Sensibly in Small Libraries

[Follow the link for the visuals from the talk]

Tech for small libraries can be as much about attitude as it is about the technology, or the lack thereof.

What is the real problem? Is it the tech or the attitude of librarians towards the tech?

"We're not good with computers." People have this perception that because they can do it, it's got to be easy. If they can't do it, it must be hard. No, it's really that computers make you nervous.

"IM shows you your friends can't spell.
Blogs show you that your friends are dull."

It's not about knowing everything about computers -- it's about a reckless amount of confidence and about knowing how to use the "help" function.

Search for the error message in Google/Ask/Yahoo and I'm sure you'll find the answer.

Question boards translate well into an online format.

Search for these blog posts:
"2.0 No-brainers for public libraries"
"No-tech 2.0 no-brainers for public libraries"

Offer a map -- look at your library with new (2.0) eyes.

The library is not just the walls that make up the library. The interactivity of web-tools makes

Email
Email got destroyed for kids -- too slow, too spammy -- but still used by your patrons over 30. So have it and use it.

Choose your people to go with your tools. [Jenn sez: you don't need to have every librarian doing everything; play to individuals' strengths and interests]

Have umbrella/generic email address that can be redirected to individuals, and changed as needed. Use bounce-back messages to thank them for using your services and give them any additional information that may be useful.

Teach classes on getting and using email. A simple class, nothing fancy, the things you can do without thinking. This helps people want to go back to their library and makes them feel like they can learn new things at their comfort level.

Instant messaging (IM)

• IM is useful to talk to the 'kids' but also by increasing number of adults. [Jenn sez: my mom (age 60) uses AIM to talk to my baby sister and me]
• (BPL was used as an example of the problem of using 24/7 Reference and having non-local people answering local questions)
• Meebo.com (web-based IM client) and MeeboMe.com (allows you to place a Meebo box on your website)

Blogs, wikis, RSS -- "It's a box; you can type in it."
Blogs -- rotating content, regular doses of links, commentary and discussion
-- use it to have an easily-adaptable/changeable section on the front page of your website. Allows for a higher level of interactivity with your patrons.
RSS -- read more blogs, faster
Wikis -- online tools for collaboration whatever, editable by anyone [data]
-- stick your town's homepage URL in your town's entry in Wikipedia
-- use it for in-house or public use

Social Software: the new hotness

• A less dorky way to network, no matter what your age is.
• MySpace (all ages, really), LinkedIn (business networking, good for consultants), LiveJournal, Facebook, Friendster, Flickr, etc.
• All of these places give you an opportunity to interact with people (your users/patrons) as people.

Other People's Projects -- Open Source software
Free and redistributable
You can get support for some systems, but not others.
Karen Schneider says, "Open source is free like kittens." You'll always have to spend $$$, but you don't have to just be sending money to some company somewhere.
Use Ubuntu (free OS), OpenDocs (free document software), Firefox (free browser) and other free software to provide service to your users.

Mashups and open APIs
Application Programming Interface (API) allow folks who know how to code to create new web tools using already existing tools.
Use something like Google Maps to show where your library locations are, embed that in your library web page.
Every picture on Wikipedia is copyright free to use as you will.

Connect people
Libraries can provide free wifi for a small cost every year

So?
You're not going to get the true technophobes to love technology – don't try to force him to. Match skills/interests to job requests.
The low-end options aren't going to put you out in the cold. They might save you money that you can spend on other things (like books and candy!)

Jessamyn West's Tiny Tech

Couldn't make it to Jessamyn's talk? Check out her HTML-based presentation on Tiny Tech for tiny libraries (or bigger libraries, everyone's loved here) on her site, as well as a link to the handout she distributed. Links to stuff she talks about are in the presentation, and if you don't click on anything else, definitely check out Ryan Deschamps' Top-ten Library 2.0 No-brainers for Public Libraries, high-tech social software and non-tech offline interactions versions.

Technology can be a little crazy for librarians, especially in small libraries where maybe there's only dial-up access to the internet, or you only have one or two people who can help with tech 3 hours a week. However, you need not fear the Big Bad Technology. Technology isn't about knowing all the stuff, technology is really about knowing how to look up answers and try to figure it out. Look up your error messages on Google, sit down with a patron and figure out their webmail client (which you've, incidentally, never seen before), and don't be scared. It's like any other reference thing.

[Aside: For those of you who attended the session, or not, here's the link to the lolbrarians group she mentioned. Funny pictures of libraryish things in a community, like lolcatsy sites she mentioned.]

Jessamyn is quite the lover of Ranganathan, because he came up with some great laws for librarianship, and his rules really can be applied to so much of what librarians do outside of content. Jessamyn is a big believer that Ranganathan would love the interactive web, and would dig how his rules fit in. I'm a believer, myself. Caveat: Law 4 does state that you should "save the time of the reader," which often equals "user more librarian time for work," which may not work for some. When it comes to Library 2.0, whether it's educating librarians, or integrating tech into the library, or just making your physical space more usable, it's totally worth it.

Check out the presentation online, it's awesomely comprehensive, sensible, and educational (and loads wicked fast on low broadband). The only thing missing is The Excellent and Humorous Live Jessamyn Experience.