Talk about the (expertise and) passion.

December 31, 2008 at 1:00 pm (philosophizing, traditional library services)

Hi-ho, constant readers.  I’m surfacing from two complex reference questions that have eaten up the bulk of my time this week.  Believe me, that’s not a complaint.  Puzzling over incomplete journal citations and poring over artists’ signatures in search of a match is my idea of a really good time. Yes, I am a huge library nerd. This brings me to the topic at hand, namely, Seth Godin’s recent blog post about expertise and passion. For those of you pressed for time, here’s the money quote:

It’s more important that you be passionate about what you do all day than it is to be passionate about the product that is being sold.

Swap out “service” for “product” and “provided” for “sold.” Then consider that statement again, as it pertains to your library. Is it true? If so, for all positions? If some positions are exempt from this, which ones, and why?

I’m a big believer in the notion that passion trumps expertise, because expertise can be cultivated over time. Passion, on the other hand, is something you either have or don’t, and if you don’t have it, nobody can give it to you. You have to find it for yourself.

Of course, far be it from me to knock expertise. I just don’t necessarily think it’s a function solely of longevity. In fact, without some passion to start with–or some that blossoms along the way, somehow–would you even stick around long enough to develop expertise?

As usual, more questions than answers, and your mileage will vary depending on what kind of library you work in, and the patrons you serve.

What do you think?

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Talking to myself, or, a tribe called blog?

December 26, 2008 at 1:17 pm (blogging, humor, innovation, leadership, management, philosophizing, professional development)

We return, briefly, to ponder tribes and blogging “out loud” while the rest of the world hits the post-holiday sales…

I’m still working my way through Godin’s book. Though it be but little, it be fierce – I have to put the book down every five minutes and daydream about the ideas there.

That’s why I was both surprised and pleased to finally get a chance to read Inspired by Tribes, a collaborative response to the book. I’d bookmarked this when it was featured in TTW back in November. The content dovetails nicely with my current train of thought, which is, how can Eleventh Stack get even better in ‘09? Of course, that begs for a definition of “better.”

The “Inspired” .PDF tackles this question nicely in a section called “Can I Turn My Blog Into a Tribe?” The bottom line seems to be that a blog is a good vehicle for starting a tribe, though not necessarily a tribe in and of itself. I would disagree, to a certain extent. The bloggers I have the privilege of leading function as a small tribe, one that other library staffers are starting to want to join, at least on a trial basis (am working on guest blogger guidelines with Julie H., as we speak). But I think there’s potential for creating a tribe of readers, provided we find the right platform (something else I’m working on, too).  “Better,” in my mind, would mean both “more inclusive” and “more tribal,” two things you can’t really measure, though stats can reflect them somewhat.

There’s plenty of other goodness here on leadership and innovation. As you might suspect, a lot of the answers are “fuzzy,” and based on instinct. You learn what to do by doing it, by experimenting, by trying things out, and by learning from your mistakes. Sounds obvious, but it’s something that’s easy to forget.

My personal “charming blunder” role model in the leadership department is the unsinkable Dana Whitaker, the plucky heroine of Aaron Sorkin’s woefully underappreciated dramedy Sports Night. Her attempts to bolster her tribe with t-shirts in the clip below are painfully amusing to watch.

There you go – a one-minute course in tribal dynamics.   Now you can’t say I didn’t get you anything for the holidays. :)

Back next week, with more random thoughts a-simmering…

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Production values.

December 20, 2008 at 2:15 pm (ethics, philosophizing, professional development, social justice, traditional library services)

Alchemists never really go on vacation.  After all, it’s not like I turn off my brain or heart just because I’m not in the building.  I promise you, I’m having plenty of fun.

However, I’m also catching up on my newsreader, really looking at some of those things I’ve saved for later.  Today’s sticky wicket comes in the form of the notion that the librarian is the product.

This is one of those times when I wish I’d actually seen the presentation, because while I get the metaphor just fine, I still find it troubling. And while I don’t wish to upset any applecarts, I have to state emphatically that I am not a product. A facilitator, sure. A resource, sure. A library ambassador, sure. One public face of my library’s service, sure. But I am not now, and I never will be, a product. My services and I are not for sale.

Well, except for that whole paycheck thing, right? I am a huge fan of both money and regular meals. Does accepting money for what I do make me a product, albeit an ethical / sustainable one? Like buying fair-trade, organic, shade-grown coffee from a local business and taking it home in a canvas bag?

Perish the thought. We call our conversations with patrons “transactions,” but is what a librarian provides really something that can be commodified and sold? I don’t think so.

Questions and issues like these are why I joined SRRT and never looked back. Every year, when I try to figure out how to spend my limited professional development dollars (sorry, ALA) I find myself hesitating over the list of associations. I’m still kind of wet behind the ears, so maybe I should go back to NMRT. I work in a public library, so I should be in PLA. Reference rocks my socks, so I should go back to RUSA.

I never hesitate, though, when I get to the box marked SRRT. Because, at the end of the day, the technology and the reference books and all the other trappings of library service don’t mean diddley if they are not informed by values. SRRT consistently demonstrates the values that are most important to me as a librarian.

I wonder, sometimes, though, if feeling this way means that the overall direction of the profession has already passed me by, and I should get cracking on that application to the Peace Corps. I’d like to hope not, but, despite all the blogs and the IMs and the chatter and the insta-punditry, I feel so all alone when I start thinking about things like heart, soul, spirit, vocation.

And that’s why I’d love to see a group blog called “The Spirited Librarian,” where questions of this nature were raised and debated on a regular basis. Consider that my holiday gift to library world, gratis. Somebody, please, take that and run with it.

Possibly more next week, but if not, enjoy whatever holidays you celebrate to the hilt.

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Failure, laptops, and more professional reading.

December 18, 2008 at 12:41 pm (Library 2.0, MySpace, creativity, humor, innovation, leadership, philosophizing, professional development, reviews, social justice, theatre)

Part I:  Failure

Failure at failure confirmed.  The reality of public service is that there’s very little time for serious writing and reflection.  What makes this a catch-22 is that if I returned to academe, I’d have plenty of time for writing and reflection, but fewer opportunities to practice that which I’ve written and reflected upon.  Or so it seems.

At any rate, I only know two things for sure about failure:

  1. If libraries operated by the same rules as Friday Night Improvs, you’d see more innovation and creativity.
  2. Beckett should have the last word.

Part II:  Laptops

Ah, TTW.  Is there no end to your inspirational properties? Apparently not. Is it too late to change my goals for 2009? Because if there’s a way to make our reference area more laptop-friendly, I’m on it. Not that we aren’t plenty laptop-friendly already! But why settle for good when you can be amazing?

Part III: More Professional Reading

Checked out: Mobilizing Generation 2.0. Am hoping it will give me more insights into the folks who are going to be my adult patrons in a relatively short time.

Returned: MySpace for Moms and Dads, which definitely merits a stand-alone review, for various reasons. I’ve made a note of it, but you may have to nag me.

Onward and downward!

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Publicity money can’t buy.

December 17, 2008 at 6:53 pm (Facebook, Library 2.0, databases, humor, traditional library services)

Working on 4th quarter database stats today, among other things. Some of the stat reports include user comments. Today’s gem:

“This is better than Facebook!”

I’m tempted to frame that.

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“Yes, but would we have to pay royalties?”

December 16, 2008 at 8:49 pm (humor, traditional library services)

Random thought as we close up for the evening:

“Lots of things are available on the internet these days. For everything else, there’s libraries.”

For the record, tonight’s transactions included a chase for a stack of Dewey reference. Confidentiality forbids much more detail than that, but suffice to say the items were rare, beautiful, and nowhere online. Trust me. I checked.

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Professional Reading – Dec. 2008

December 15, 2008 at 6:46 pm (Blogroll, Learning 2.0, Library 2.0, blogging, humor, nonfiction, professional development, web resources, wikis)

Still working on that post about failure. Does that mean I fail at failure? Hee.

Seriously, keeping up with professional reading can be a challenge. It is, however, a worthwhile one. What I really like about the books I’ve been reading lately is how they work hand-in-glove with 2.0 technologies, as opposed to setting up a “print vs. digital” dichotomy.

So, without further ado, here’s what I’m reading:

The book: Pop Goes the Library.

See also: the blog and the wiki, which help keep the print version up-to-date (I’m still buying this one – so useful!).

Bonus: Carlie Webber, the librarian who led me to the profession in the first place, contributes to the PGTL blog. Perhaps that makes me a touch biased, but so be it. Also, because without YA librarians adult librarians would have no future, you should check out Carlie’s other writings at Librarilly Blonde.

The book: Born Digital.

See also: the companion site, as well as the Digital Natives parent project.

Bonus: Uses the phrase “musty old card catalogs” twice within the first chapter! Okay, I’m a touch nostalgic. However, if you really want a great book on understanding today’s digital generation, this will more than suffice.

The book: Tribes, Seth Godin.

See also: Seth’s Blog.

Bonus: The opportunity to see how the new technologies and opportunities look from a non-library standpoint, plus an excellent chance to get over your fear of marketing and promotion.

Warning: These books and resources will challenge you. I can’t say I agree with everything I’ve read so far, but that’s as it should be. It’s vital that people are producing content that forces libraries to wake up and shape the future. Reserve your book, or click your link of choice, today, and let’s keep the dialog going….

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Staff, developing

December 9, 2008 at 6:39 pm (Learning 2.0, Library 2.0, blogging, gaming, presentations, professional development, web resources)

Yesterday, while the library was closed for Staff Development Day, Ryan H. led a team of people, including yours truly, in staffing two “Technology Playground” sessions. We ended up needing two because there was such an interest in the idea, which is neat!

So, CLP staff members got to play Rock Band and Wii Sports with Wes R., learn about digital video from Joseph W., get a peek at something I’m not sure I’m allowed to mention yet (heh), and practice downloading various items, under the eagle eye of Amy E., from our eCLP collection.

Several brave souls also opted to blog along with me, although most of the folks who stopped by the station really wanted to talk more than type. They had questions about blogging, why the library does it, how it works, etc., that I answered to the best of my ability. You can read the writings of the hardy souls who chose to participate here.

I’m going to leave that page on the blog permanently, hoping it will encourage others to participate. Already I’ve had a few offers for guest posts, and several folks asked very good questions about how to go about starting their own blogs. I made sure to stress that good goals and objectives were the key: why do you want to do this? How would your branch/department benefit?

I wish I’d had the chance to go to some of the workshops, as I heard second-hand they were interesting. But it was a privilege to be able to, once again, teach. I really miss it, sometimes, and I hope I’ll be able to develop my library career in such a way that teaching and training become a larger part of it.

Then again, my dream job right now is “library imagineer.” We shall see. :)

I’ve had a draft in the hopper for a while about failure, as it’s something various biblioblogosphere pundits have had opinions on, ones which set my brain a-pondering. We’ll see if said draft, tentatively called “Failure is Okay,” will be squooshed by library reality, or allowed to come to fruition.

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“Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it.”

December 4, 2008 at 2:39 pm (Library 2.0, RSS, blogging)

The CLP server is experiencing some challenges with the WordPress software, so, until further notice, you can all go back to reading Eleventh Stack at the following URL:

http://eleventhstack.wordpress.com

My apologies to those of you who changed your feeds/settings, etc. Changes take longer than they do (much like research!).

Another option you have is to sign up for e-mail delivery at Feed My Inbox. Couldn’t be simpler: enter our feed URL in the box:

http://eleventhstack.wordpress.com/feed

Then enter your e-mail address and click submit., Once you confirm, you’ll have Eleventh Stack e-mailed to you. No stress, no worries!

Because that’s what Library 2.0 is supposed to be about, isn’t it? Seamless service with a minimum of technological fuss.

How do you read Eleventh Stack? How do you prefer to get your online updates, in general?

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Ask Here, Blog There. Also, library lessons from a bookstore.

December 2, 2008 at 4:45 pm (blogging, creativity, innovation, news, philosophizing, traditional library services, virtual reference)

Busy day here, yesterday. The main event was a press conference, hosted by CLP Main in the International Poetry Room, to praise and highlight Ask Here PA, the Pennsylvania virtual reference service. You can read more about the event in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, or The Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch. My colleague, Scott P., was the librarian staffing chat and answering the question, and it was very exciting to watch as the exchange played out on the screen.

Yesterday was also the day for the great blog migration. After a few hitches and complications, we successfully moved Eleventh Stack to the CLP server. If you’re a regular Eleventh Stack reader, you’ll want to update your bookmarks and/or newsreaders to the following URL:

http://eleventhstack.carnegielibrary.org

If you normally visit us through the CLP blog page, you won’t need to do anything – it’s already been updated for you. I, however, will be spending quite a bit of time scuttling around cyberspace updating directories, Facebook profiles and whatnot. There are also a few bugs to be worked out – the stats counter, a key component for blog success, is acting, for lack of a better word, “wonky.” Also, the feed is temperamental. But I’m pretty confident we can clean up these tiny issues without too much trouble. She said, and crossed her fingers…

Today began on an interesting note long before I entered the library! Since Tuesdays are my late shift, I try to get normal life chores done before coming to work. Today that meant going to a bookstore to pick up a birthday present for a friend. Much to my surprise, my bookstore experience echoed many of the same complaints some folks have had about libraries:

  • I knew what book I wanted, but didn’t know how the store was organized.
  • I tried looking in four different likely sections, based on my own expertise.
  • When I couldn’t find it, I was hesitant to ask for help (even though I know better than that!)
  • When I did try to find a staff member, I couldn’t find one.
  • When I did find staff members, they were talking, and I didn’t want to interrupt them (even though, again, I know better than that!)
  • Ultimately, I left the store without what I wanted because I wasn’t willing to navigate the system and its rules.

Interesting, no?  I bear the bookstore no ill will, and I will definitely go back there.  However, the experience really made me think about how systems are organized, and conscious of potential barriers.  I’ve been walking around the building today looking at everything with a fresh eye, trying to imagine what it looks like to someone who…

  • Is visiting for the first time
  • Knows what s/he needs, but not how to find it
  • Is in a hurry
  • Feels inferior somehow because of “the system”

More fodder for my Da Vinci notebook….

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