Re: [CODE4LIB] Libraries and IT Innovation
I agree with Peter, that we have to stop thinking about what we do in terms of the technology du jour. That will keep us squarely in the realm of doing the things that we have always done and are already doing. When I think about innovation in libraries, I think about going back to our mission and thinking very large-scale about how we would achieve that mission without reference to existing systems. For example, why do we focus so much on user discovery through our catalogs? Even when we are trying to create innovative catalogs, we are still focused on the catalog. Users (or members, if you ascribe to Lankes philosophy of librarianship) don't find information that way, and they don't want to. We need to start thinking from a community perspective, not from a library perspective. What are people who don't use the library doing? I wonder sometimes how many of us use our own services, as users, not as librarians. For example, I work in an academic library setting, but I'm an active user of my public library, and it's very interesting to me to contrast my use of the different libraries. I think it gives me a good perspective on what users want to do. I do think there are roles for big data crunching in libraries, on a consortial or regional level. The work OCLC Research is doing with mega-regions is an interesting example. Looking at data in aggregate can tell us a lot of useful things about resource sharing and collection development. I'd like to see more aggregated research on users and library use. The area where I'm most involved right now is in releasing library holdings metadata openly on the web, in discoverable and re-usable forms. It's amazing to me that we still don't do this. Imagine the things that could be created by users and software developers if they had access to information about which libraries hold which resources. Laura Krier On Wed, Jul 17, 2013 at 4:01 PM, Peter Schlumpf pschlu...@earthlink.netwrote: I have come to believe that to really innovate, one has to stop thinking in terms of clouds (whatever the hell those things are) tables, relational database, MARC records, the technology du jour. Throw that all away. Don't even think about it. Even more important, don't worry about what other people are doing or thinking. Don't even get caught up in programming languages or operating systems. That's like being a person driven by his tools. Find ideas in other things beyond the techie stuff. I have found that Zen Buddhism has a lot to say about semantics and how words are only imperfect labels to meaning. Come up with an idea and keep working at it, even if it may take decades. Don't worry about anything else. Listen to your critics, but don't let them drive you. That's how innovation happens. -Original Message- From: Matthew Sherman matt.r.sher...@gmail.com Sent: Jul 17, 2013 1:01 PM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: [CODE4LIB] Libraries and IT Innovation Hello Code4Lib folks, I was having a conversation with my father, who is an enterprise architect, a while ago when I was working on a presentation. I thought it was interesting enough that I wanted to toss out some of the ideas and see if anybody was using them in their libraries. We were discussing innovation, and he was telling me about the areas of innovation his field was looking into. He was saying how the business IT realm was seeing four main areas for innovation: mobile computing, social computing, business intelligence/analytics, and cloud computing. While these are four different areas he was noting how they all relate to making content active, having all this information do something either for the user or the institution. He provided an example of making content active through the area of big data. For those not familiar with big data Wikipedia describes it as “a collection of data sets so large and complex that it becomes difficult to process using on-hand database management tools or traditional data processing applications”. An example he mentioned of how this was useful was with Amazon.com’s search logs as they have quite a bit of information about their users and their searches. These logs and the customer information can be analyzed using big data solutions to see who was searching, what they were they searching for, the terms they used, and what worked. This information then can be taken and compared to others who have similar backgrounds or have done similar searches and provide them with suggestions for items others have found useful, as well as search results slightly more tailored to them. It also lets Amazon adjust their controlled vocabulary so all customers have better search results. All of which makes the content active. Over the course of this conversation I was thinking on how some of this could be applied to the library realm. Mobile computing is an area we as a profession are getting better
Re: [CODE4LIB] Libraries and IT Innovation
Some thoughts. BTW, new to the list - librarian working for a study-abroad program in Beijing here, building a new catalog with Koha these days and previously did competitive intelligence for investors looking at China's IT industries. I appreciate Matt trying to start an open-ended conversation about innovation and thought I'd toss my own rant in the ring. One of the things that really struck me about libraries when studying for my MLIS was how much library systems were designed primarily for the backend and not consumer-facing until post-Internet, and built and maintained by third parties that aren't practicing or even trained librarians (and charging a pretty penny for it). There's a lot of catch up going on by a profession that outsourced these skill sets and is now rebuilding through groups like CODE4LIB, hence we may be behind the curve on innovation for a long time. I'm not sure how much Big Data really comes into play for most libraries. You might need terabytes of cloud storage for a digital preservation project, but considering the bulk of that would be the digitized images/videos/recordings themselves, each with a metadata record, you don't necessarily have a very large or complex a data structure. How many library projects are beyond the ability of commonly used software tools to capture, curate, manage, and process the data within a tolerable elapsed time? I'm honestly not sure, and I wonder about the nebulous definition. What is commonly used? Hadoop? On the other hand preserving Big Data, say from the Large Hadron Collider, and creating discovery tools for future researchers, is something that librarians could potentially be involved in, but if CERN already built the database and discovery tools before it reached the library, did we miss the game? Do Big Data projects say to themselves in the planning stage We need a librarian? Should they? If so are we ready? Then there's the privacy issue: Even before Snowden, the ALA Code of Ethics bumped up against the power of crunching user data for recommendation systems and the like. Even if you adequately anonymize your data, taking it only in aggregate, it goes against the grain of traditional library culture. Any discussion of retaining user social profiles, search history, or activity tracking means talking about patron rights to anonymity. The goal I've been fixated on for library software development has been to deliver staff and patron-friendly open-source cataloging, discovery, and curation tools for libraries that take back control of our systems from closed corporate vendors, provide a user experience that matches or exceeds expectations created in the marketplace, and remain committed to the ethical standards and social contract traditionally held by libraries in our society. When you consider that most of the professional news industry delivers information discovery services using Drupal, Django, or Wordpress, why can't there be robust ecosystems like these for libraries? Hope I didn't bore anyone. Dave Lyons Digital Librarian The Beijing Center for Chinese Studies
[CODE4LIB] Libraries and IT Innovation
Hello Code4Lib folks, I was having a conversation with my father, who is an enterprise architect, a while ago when I was working on a presentation. I thought it was interesting enough that I wanted to toss out some of the ideas and see if anybody was using them in their libraries. We were discussing innovation, and he was telling me about the areas of innovation his field was looking into. He was saying how the business IT realm was seeing four main areas for innovation: mobile computing, social computing, business intelligence/analytics, and cloud computing. While these are four different areas he was noting how they all relate to making content active, having all this information do something either for the user or the institution. He provided an example of making content active through the area of big data. For those not familiar with big data Wikipedia describes it as “a collection of data sets so large and complex that it becomes difficult to process using on-hand database management tools or traditional data processing applications”. An example he mentioned of how this was useful was with Amazon.com’s search logs as they have quite a bit of information about their users and their searches. These logs and the customer information can be analyzed using big data solutions to see who was searching, what they were they searching for, the terms they used, and what worked. This information then can be taken and compared to others who have similar backgrounds or have done similar searches and provide them with suggestions for items others have found useful, as well as search results slightly more tailored to them. It also lets Amazon adjust their controlled vocabulary so all customers have better search results. All of which makes the content active. Over the course of this conversation I was thinking on how some of this could be applied to the library realm. Mobile computing is an area we as a profession are getting better at, but by no means are we there yet. I have seen some really good mobile sites for libraries, but other tools we have like CONTENTdm or DSpace are not mobile friendly. I am not trying to pick on them, they are very good toolsets, but if you have ever tried using either on a smartphone they are clunky and hard to work with. Still on the whole libraries are making progress with mobile computing. I also see the social aspect of this shining through quite well too. Many libraries have taken well to social media and have come up with some ingenious ways to utilize it to their advantage. As well the push for collaborative space in the physical building plays well into this, though I wonder if there is anything else that can be done to open up this collaborative space in the digital realm. I know many of the toolsets are providing some good social options. I was aware of some of the collaborative abilities of institutional repository software, and I just recently was introduced to Primo and really liked their shelf options and the potential for collaboration it gives. Obviously it depends on the institution, but I do wonder if there anymore things that can be done in the digital social realm to provide for the patrons. As for business intelligence and analytics I figured those do not necessarily apply in quite the same way as business IT, but there is still some cross over. Libraries and archives both take a bucket loads of statistics so there might be some interesting ways to look at those statistics that have yet to be considered? This is not an area I have much experience with but I am sure others have some interesting ideas about it. I do see ways that the big data analytics I mentioned before potentially can be useful in making the library catalog and discovery more responsive. I can see using it to examine the search terms that the patrons use to search, what they are trying to find, what worked, and what did not work to improve our thesauri so that relevant items can appear on even sub-par searches. It could also potentially be used if the system has a login to suggest materials to the user that could be relevant given their past searches. These might be a terrible ideas but I would be curious to see if big data analytics might be able to improve discovery. As for cloud computing I am rather unsure of how that can be applied to the libraries. Possibly it can be used as part of the collaborative space? Possibly it can be utilized for file redundancy in digital archives to help with preservation of born digital records? I simply am not sure but it is an area of IT innovation so it would be neat to hear people’s ideas. For those who made it this far then thank you for reading through my rambling. I know it was a long posting, but I thought it was an interesting conversation that I wanted to share it because a lot of ideas on innovation from the business IT world libraries can pick up and run with in their own unique way. I am sure some of this has been
Re: [CODE4LIB] Libraries and IT Innovation
On Jul 17, 2013, at 2:01 PM, Matthew Sherman matt.r.sher...@gmail.com wrote: As for cloud computing I am rather unsure of how that can be applied to the libraries. Possibly it can be used as part of the collaborative space? Possibly it can be utilized for file redundancy in digital archives to help with preservation of born digital records? I simply am not sure but it is an area of IT innovation so it would be neat to hear people’s ideas. I think cloud computing is very relevant to libraries because it lowers the barriers to entry for hosting servers and storage, and helps let people scale up on-demand. -Esme
Re: [CODE4LIB] Libraries and IT Innovation
Agreed. It's much easier to face a preservation project of many terabytes of archival tif images that will never be used for presentation but must be maintained when you have an endless supply (wink wink) of storage out in the cloud rather than face everything that is associated with bringing a large storage appliance online. Not to mention growth planning for said appliance, backup planning and execution, etc... -Original Message- From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Esmé Cowles Sent: Wednesday, July 17, 2013 11:14 AM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Libraries and IT Innovation On Jul 17, 2013, at 2:01 PM, Matthew Sherman matt.r.sher...@gmail.com wrote: As for cloud computing I am rather unsure of how that can be applied to the libraries. Possibly it can be used as part of the collaborative space? Possibly it can be utilized for file redundancy in digital archives to help with preservation of born digital records? I simply am not sure but it is an area of IT innovation so it would be neat to hear people's ideas. I think cloud computing is very relevant to libraries because it lowers the barriers to entry for hosting servers and storage, and helps let people scale up on-demand. -Esme
Re: [CODE4LIB] Libraries and IT Innovation
Salvete! Agreed. It's much easier to face a preservation project of many terabytes of archival tif images that will never be used for presentation but must be maintained when you have an endless supply (wink wink) of storage out in the cloud rather than face everything that is associated with bringing a large storage appliance online. Not to mention growth planning for said appliance, backup planning and execution, etc... It's also an idea that works harmoniously with the framework of a Library consortium. It would be nice to have IFLA or another extremely large body *looks at Lyrasis* formally take this up not just for member institutions but for all. The reason I say not just members is that is a decision that would lead to silofication. Perhaps a donate button :D Cheers, Brooke
Re: [CODE4LIB] Libraries and IT Innovation
Salvete! Glad you started this thread. I 3 innovation. I also will note that you avoided the innovation pitfall of thinking that things disperse because they are higher quality. He provided an example of making content active through the area of big data. For those not familiar with big data Wikipedia describes it as “a collection of data sets so large and complex that it becomes difficult to process using on-hand database management tools or traditional data processing applications”. An example he mentioned of how this was useful Crowdsourcing in and of itself is interesting since it is built on natural inquisitiveness, the desire of folks to help, a little going a long way when multiplied out, and trust. Quite harmonious to library values. In terms of active data, I pitched a digital tree of sorts at one point. I could see user information being anonymised and sent to a central location that showed what was being checked out. I also saw panels for each end of range with recent check outs, NYT reviews, book covers of what was in that aisle, et cetera. Over the course of this conversation I was thinking on how some of this could be applied to the library realm. Mobile computing is an area we as a profession are getting better at, but by no means are we there yet. I have seen some really good mobile sites for libraries, but other tools we have like CONTENTdm or DSpace are not mobile friendly. I am not trying to pick on them, they are very good toolsets, but if you have ever tried using either on a smartphone they are clunky and hard to work with. Still on the whole libraries are making progress with mobile computing. Yeah. I hang out with telecom nerds and it's really weird to not see some of the same enthusiasm with Librarians. Pretty much the only Library folks I know that delve into this sort of stuff are the UVA folks and Koha folks. Certainly other folks are doing it, too, but it's not ubiquitous. I've long scratched my head about how we aren't using them for scanning duty at the barest of minimums. The stacks should just have gobs of qr coding and wee thumbnails and ra advisories and whatnot that people could leverage while they search but it's just not there. I also see the social aspect of this shining through quite well too. Many libraries have taken well to social media and have come up with some ingenious ways to utilize it to their advantage. As well the push for collaborative space in the physical building plays well into this, though I wonder if there is anything else that can be done to open up this collaborative space in the digital realm. We need to live outside of meatspace more. I use gaming this way. One of my favourite things to hear is Gee, I wouldn't think Librarians would know or do that... I know many of the toolsets are providing some good social options. I was aware of some of the collaborative abilities of institutional repository software, and I just recently was introduced to Primo and really liked their shelf options and the potential for collaboration it gives. Obviously it depends on the institution, but I do wonder if there anymore things that can be done in the digital social realm to provide for the patrons. *nod* I think in general we just have to be better about getting opt in features in our ILSs for Patrons. While some people might want their privacy, others won't give a fig if their reading lists are public, or if they can make suggestions to other patrons. Perhaps Library Yelp! :) There's stuff like Goodreads and what not out there for reviews, but I feel like we're always just putting more lipstick on our ILS pigs instead of drawing up summat seamless to integrate erything. As for business intelligence and analytics I figured those do not necessarily apply in quite the same way as business IT, but there is still some cross over. Libraries and archives both take a bucket loads of Man did I leverage reference to build a bridge with the business community. Internally, you're absolutely right. Externally, I think we should be helping small business do analytics and other things. While business intelligence tends to be distasteful to me, I'd rather have a busy reference desk than a dead as a doorknob post. There's a lot of stuff that businesses pay beau coups bucks for when they can just be using a good reference librarian. statistics so there might be some interesting ways to look at those statistics that have yet to be considered? This is not an area I have much One of the reasons I like this list is that it seems like folks are always coming up with new ways to harvest and visualise data. It's cool. experience with but I am sure others have some interesting ideas about it. I do see ways that the big data analytics I mentioned before potentially can be useful in making the library catalog and discovery more
Re: [CODE4LIB] Libraries and IT Innovation
As for cloud computing I am rather unsure of how that can be applied to the libraries. Possibly it can be used as part of the collaborative space? Possibly it can be utilized for file redundancy in digital archives to help with preservation of born digital records? I simply am not sure but it is an area of IT innovation so it would be neat to hear people's ideas. Several discovery platforms qualify as cloud-based services. One example is the EBSCOhost Discovery Service. OCLC WorldCat Local has long been an example of a cloud-based library service. Now, WorldCat Local is also a component of OCLC WorldShare Management System. WorldShare (previously called Webscale Services) is an attempt to move the services provided by the traditional ILS into the cloud--acquisitions, licensing, catalog maintenance, discovery, circulation, and patron management. Steve McDonald steve.mcdon...@tufts.edu
Re: [CODE4LIB] Libraries and IT Innovation
I have come to believe that to really innovate, one has to stop thinking in terms of clouds (whatever the hell those things are) tables, relational database, MARC records, the technology du jour. Throw that all away. Don't even think about it. Even more important, don't worry about what other people are doing or thinking. Don't even get caught up in programming languages or operating systems. That's like being a person driven by his tools. Find ideas in other things beyond the techie stuff. I have found that Zen Buddhism has a lot to say about semantics and how words are only imperfect labels to meaning. Come up with an idea and keep working at it, even if it may take decades. Don't worry about anything else. Listen to your critics, but don't let them drive you. That's how innovation happens. -Original Message- From: Matthew Sherman matt.r.sher...@gmail.com Sent: Jul 17, 2013 1:01 PM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: [CODE4LIB] Libraries and IT Innovation Hello Code4Lib folks, I was having a conversation with my father, who is an enterprise architect, a while ago when I was working on a presentation. I thought it was interesting enough that I wanted to toss out some of the ideas and see if anybody was using them in their libraries. We were discussing innovation, and he was telling me about the areas of innovation his field was looking into. He was saying how the business IT realm was seeing four main areas for innovation: mobile computing, social computing, business intelligence/analytics, and cloud computing. While these are four different areas he was noting how they all relate to making content active, having all this information do something either for the user or the institution. He provided an example of making content active through the area of big data. For those not familiar with big data Wikipedia describes it as “a collection of data sets so large and complex that it becomes difficult to process using on-hand database management tools or traditional data processing applications”. An example he mentioned of how this was useful was with Amazon.com’s search logs as they have quite a bit of information about their users and their searches. These logs and the customer information can be analyzed using big data solutions to see who was searching, what they were they searching for, the terms they used, and what worked. This information then can be taken and compared to others who have similar backgrounds or have done similar searches and provide them with suggestions for items others have found useful, as well as search results slightly more tailored to them. It also lets Amazon adjust their controlled vocabulary so all customers have better search results. All of which makes the content active. Over the course of this conversation I was thinking on how some of this could be applied to the library realm. Mobile computing is an area we as a profession are getting better at, but by no means are we there yet. I have seen some really good mobile sites for libraries, but other tools we have like CONTENTdm or DSpace are not mobile friendly. I am not trying to pick on them, they are very good toolsets, but if you have ever tried using either on a smartphone they are clunky and hard to work with. Still on the whole libraries are making progress with mobile computing. I also see the social aspect of this shining through quite well too. Many libraries have taken well to social media and have come up with some ingenious ways to utilize it to their advantage. As well the push for collaborative space in the physical building plays well into this, though I wonder if there is anything else that can be done to open up this collaborative space in the digital realm. I know many of the toolsets are providing some good social options. I was aware of some of the collaborative abilities of institutional repository software, and I just recently was introduced to Primo and really liked their shelf options and the potential for collaboration it gives. Obviously it depends on the institution, but I do wonder if there anymore things that can be done in the digital social realm to provide for the patrons. As for business intelligence and analytics I figured those do not necessarily apply in quite the same way as business IT, but there is still some cross over. Libraries and archives both take a bucket loads of statistics so there might be some interesting ways to look at those statistics that have yet to be considered? This is not an area I have much experience with but I am sure others have some interesting ideas about it. I do see ways that the big data analytics I mentioned before potentially can be useful in making the library catalog and discovery more responsive. I can see using it to examine the search terms that the patrons use to search, what they are trying to find, what worked, and what did not work to improve our thesauri so that relevant items can appear
