Manitoba Library Assn. Theme Speech

1. The Power of Library Partnerships: Collaboration Thoughts Stephen Abram, MLS, FSLA Manitoba Library Association Conference Winnipeg, MB May 18, 2010

3. CHANGE

5. The BIG Challenge “The Internet has now progressed to its infancy” Search, Social Networks, Learning, Commerce

7. What’s on your minds? Usually a sense that something is not quite right….. Questioning of where functions fit….of roles….of responsibilities… Questioning of whether collaborative technologies “belong” in “work” Questioning of how to organize functions of a library when those functions are so engrained Questioning of where a job starts and stops…. of where work starts and stops…..of skills required for jobs….

8. Slides These PPT slides will be at my blog ‘Stephen’s Lighthouse’ http://stephenslighthouse.com

9. Are you being heard?

11. Will we find our voice? Bing Google Facebook Social Media (Twitter) Libraries

13. Good service is the key to long-term existence

14. Focus on citizens and social contract

15. Political agendas and government imperatives

16. Responsibility to parliament and to citizens

17. Wise use of tax dollars

18. Risk averse

19. Making a positive impact on society is a strong motivator

20. Other departments, levels of government, unions

21. e-Government is the challenge

23. Innovation is key to long-term existence

24. Focus on clients and marketshare

25. Business strategies

26. Responsibility to shareholders or owner/investors

27. Increasing revenue

28. Risk oriented

29. Economic success is a prime personal motivator

30. Competitors, partners and allies

31. e-Business is the challenge

34. The Fork in the Road

35. Let’s be honest about it. “Everything’s free and easy on the web. Why do we need libraries (and by extension librarians) anymore? Really? ? ? ? ? ? ?

36. Let’s be honest about it. “Everything’s free and easy on the web. Why do we need libraries (and by extension librarians) anymore? Who do they think built this stuff? (Google, Yahoo, Boole, Intranets evolve, CKO, etc.) CA’s and MBA’s The law and lawyers Medicine and doctors and allied health professions Information and Knowledge Economy

37. Do they love us? The opposite of intelligence is stupidity. The opposite is love is indifference. The root of information is “to inform” The opposite of inform is to misinform. So, it follows that ad ranked information is manipulated. Organizations that depend on SEO driven relevance are manipulable. It’s getting stronger with geo-enabled search and results

38. Where is the Leadership?

39. What are the drivers of change today?

40. Our Future (90% probability) Libraries and their publishers/vendors are in a symbiotic relationship. The book isn’t dead. It’s just very different. Learn to live with this permanent change – especially Google in June Newspapers are dead. News isn’t. It costs more to print and distribute the New York Times annually than to give every subscriber a Kindle. (Let alone an iPhone application). Publishing models are in the midst of transformational change. New business models of added-value (e.g. Kindle for libraries, phone books.) The cost of delivery matters. Traditional media are too capital intensive. Models change, slow then fast. Libraries will not go away – they will be different. Bundles of services, changing physical space. Why should there be more than one library? The question isn’t, “What is the future of the book?” It should be “What are the behaviours and ecology of reading in the future?” Books – Flash and PDF, Second Life Books, Vanity publishing, Long Tail, Community publishing, Sound/Audio hybrids (transformational rights). Human understanding – Bloom’s taxonomy, Gardner, Genome (Shyness, dyslexia, etc.), MRI’s of reading, Eye tracking, etc.

41. Economic Future (90%) Auto industry in North America ends (assembly not manufacturing, distribution, repair, databases) Political influence Financial services will be completely re-made – re-regulation in US. Traditional industries are more knowledge based from an employment perspective (agriculture, mining, oil, energy, and manufacturing). Low wage economy is in hospitality, retail, transportation, tourism, etc. Newspapers are vanishing, magazines are in worse shape than is acknowledged. Book’s channels of manufacturing, distribution and sales are in upheaval. Broadcast media are reshaping (TV/Cable have 30% laptop in EU, 100% on phone in Japan/Korea) (TV white space – Google, June 2009) (Blockbuster & NetFlix failing), Long Tail Education and R&D are growing - eLearning and Distance Education (70% single mom’s, LS – SJSU, Syracuse + 10 others, iSchools) Major growth in medicine, healthcare, etc. Music is more than music – iTunes – SDI, Nature – Discovery Channel, audio-books, MP3, case lectures, Big 4 Music vs. web MP3 surrender 2011 Gaming – not just games, Syracuse, largest publisher, military

42. Library Responses Integrated Collection development – community, curriculum, learning, e-learning Productivity push – SaaS, real consortia Gaming – Wii, Military, Syracuse, Scott Nicholson, ALA Public Good, national competitive advantage, private advantage Economic advocacy, REAL competitive advantage Focus on FIND: Visual literacy and Faceted Search (Enterprise, Brainware, Endeca, Vivisimo, Grokker, AquaBrowser. Encore, Primo, VuFind...) Linked Data Organization: Taxonomies, Ontologies, Classification, etc. Social literacy, information literacy, Cautionary stories Special collections, local history, IRs Museology, curation, display, retail, Paco Underhill (NJ) Libraries protect reading and knowledge, social glue, not just books. Recommendations (Amazon, B&N, Borders, LibraryThing, BiblioCommons, Syndetics, ChiliFresh, SOPAC, VuFind, Delicious, Digg, etc.

43. The Provocations Librarians must take personal responsibility for their professional development. Librarians must be their own advocates, not victims. No one is going to do this for us. Collection development must be patron-centric and largely patron initiated. (Over-borrowed analysis) Rethink ownership – on-demand, rental, lease, license, Google API, SD API, hybrid models. Network metadata – OCLC, WorldCat Local, NDP, LibraryThing, LC MARC, Google Scholar, etc.) Understand KM and ecosystems Community ecology management – economic, social glue, education, crime, learning 5%, partnerships Unmediated transactions (Circ, ILL, reference) vs. Mediated transformations (research, instruction, storytelling, etc.) ROI on membership organizations (ALA, PLA, SLA, CLA, CASLIS) Retirement opportunity (intergenerational mentoring – train.) Rethink buildings (multiple models, space, WiFi, transitional space, information commons, our organization structures vs. their needs, Community Centers, learning commons.

44. The New Normal Single core community service portal with branch customization Fully integrated virtual and physical strategies Fully integrated electronic and hard copy collections. Integrated discovery mechanisms – not a single box. Multiple display options based on learning styles and demography. Multicultural, multilingual, multi-ethnic, (Unicode) The dominant culture mindset is dysfunctional – mosaic or melting pot. Text increases and grows but loses overall market share to experiences (gaming), auditory (podcasts and music), Visual (Flickr, pictures), Graphic (charts, graphs, etc.), Moving images (YouTube, Hulu). Silos disintegrate (Special, Government, PL, AL, CL, SL, Mil, K-12, etc.) Instruction, coaching, learning and community as core service strategies. Social glue – loneliness, connection, alienation. SaaS, API – user experience vs. infrastructure – new tech linked-data mindset Consortial, multi-type real collaboration - not just buying groups or collectives for OCLC records – but true collaboration

45. Are you ready for real collaboration, beyond cooperation?

46. Some Change Agent Examples Knowledge Ontario The Alberta Library WYLD in Wyoming CKRN (CNSLP) LYRASIS (lately) InfOhio

47. Innovation Audit Questions Is your organization and governance aligned with change, evolution or revolution needs? (pilots, trials, cross-functional, teams) What are the barriers to change in your organization? What are you doing about it? (Hiring, firing, retirements, reorganization, training, culture shaping). What does your organization innovation scan get you? (Opportunities, can’t work here, why?) How do you choose and schedule? Proactive new priorities are chosen, they don’t occur organically except when reactive (e.g. Cars). How innovative are your influencing strategies?

48. Two Kinds of Library Folk

49. Be Important

50. The questions for organizations How should we be organized to best interact with & delight our clients or patrons? How should we be organized to make the best decisions in the least amount of time? Rephrased…How should people be working together, collaborating, discussing & making decisions? imho

51. Organization Structure Basics Past structures are not effective for present or future work processes Generally, the younger the staff, the more comfortable with technology, collaboration; more uncomfortable with top-down, “how did they get to that?” decisions Technology impacts organizations; how it impacts depends on people Small, agile groups move faster than large bureaucracies Leadership & followership are CSF’s 85/15 rule: process & structure problems beat people problems hands down Jim Clemmer in Firing on all Cylinders

52. Culture Is there something about the culture of libraries that needs to be saved and something that needs to be discarded?

53. Organization Design Principles Form follows function Functions change quickly Form drives behavior Reporting relationships create “ties that bind” Collaboration decreases as distance & priorities increase

54. Organization Design Principles Organizational forms are tools for shaping your work processes & employee relationships to support your strategic priorities

55. Organization Focus Structure should create an organizational focus on the right issues at the right time What IS the library’s main focus?

56. Galbraith’s Star Model 2.0 Technology

57. Imperative that we use the devices, not vice-versa Ask not what the technology can do for the organization, ask what the organization wants the technology to do for the people

58. 2.0 libraries 2.0 toolbox Access your 2.0 Toolbox Blog Login More Info on the 2.0 Toolbox FAQ Help Resources Blogs @ the 2.0 Toolbox Wikis @ the 2.0 Toolbox blog archives About Admin Stuff Blogs Site Admin Wikis

59. What I’m finding 2.0 libraries are realigning staff on a team-by-team basis They transcend their physical space and funding bodies They recognize it’s the people skills & approach that matter the most They know the larger organizational issues have to be addressed, but….

60. 2.0 critical success factor Design the structure to exploit the library’s uniqueness, services & people and…..focus on the issues

61. 2.0 Hierarchies Oh yeah! Flexible & adaptive “fulfill our deep needs for order & security..show us how we are climbing….give us identity…” Leavitt, HBR, March 2003 But! Can lead to power-abuse, dishonesty, territory posturing, fear & complacency

63. dubious of 2.0 tools changing structure in the near term

65. hopeful for the empowering possibilities of 2.0

68. Should you be asking those questions? “Good people in a poorly designed organizational structure fail, while average people in a healthy organization succeed.” N. Dean Meyer and Associates Structure that is not supportive or strategic will never succeed, regardless of technology

69. So what are the tools? What is the future architecture of work?

70. AMAZON

71. http://www.flickr.com/photos/nessman/2590572476/

72. http://www.flickr.com/photos/briansolis/2735401175/

74. The Sharing Economy

75. Collaboration Suite Wikis

76. Collaboration Suite Tagging

77. Collaboration Suite The Cloud

78. Get Good at The Cloud

79. Collaboration Suite Blogs

80. Collaboration Suite Photos

81. Collaboration Suite SlideShare

82. Collaboration Suite Mobile

84. Next up:Geo-IP

85. Collaboration Suite Social Networks

86. Community Networks

87. Be Where Your Users Are

88. Geo-Social 4Sq/Gowalla

90. How should I get there from here?

91. 2.0 is about play

92. 23 Learning 2.0 Things Week 1: Introduction and Adult Learning Week 2: Blogging Week 3: Photos & Images Week 4: RSS & Newsreaders Week 5: Play Week Week 6: Tagging, Folksonomies & Technorati Week 7: Wikis Week 8: Online Applications & Tools Week 9: Podcasts, Video & Downloadable audio

93. Build a Sandbox Real mobile devices: e-readers, iPods, MP3 players, video, smart phones, texters, Kindles, Sony Readers, etc. Podcasts, Streaming Media Special PC’s: disability compliance, streaming media, IM groups, VR (both kinds) Gaming stations

94. Play

95. Be a Lab Rat!Experiment, continuously

96. Why should anyone collaborate with you?

98. 59% are female.

99. 29% are college students.

100. 5% are professors and 6% are teachers.

101. On any given day, 35% of our users are there for the first time.

102. 29% found our products via the library website.

103. 59% found what they were looking for on their first search.

104. 72% trusted the content more than what they found on Google.

108. Don’t let this ecology scare you.

120. What is the scariest scenario?I have an archaeology background . . .

128. Thanks! Stephen Abram, MLS, FSLA VP Strategic partnerships and markets Gale Cengage Learning Cel: 416-669-4855 stephen.abram@cengage.com http://www.gale.com Stephen’s Lighthouse Blog http://stephenslighthouse.com