This could be a library or a bookshop...

This came through my tumblr feed

http://tumblr.libraryjournal.com/post/113351973633/newyorker-a-cartoon-by-edward-koren-from-this

I am troubled by it, whether it is a bookshop (since it is from the New Yorker this may be more likely) or it is a library. Either way it is someone, apparently a staff member, who does not want to help with technology. If this is a library this means not helping someone access the library content, not connecting someone to the skilled staff (who can help provide access to content and services)...and a lot more. It also shows a distain for the clients as the staff member is not interested in what the question being raised by the woman is.

 Maybe I am reading too much into it.

Inclusive reading, and inclusive readers advisory work.

Yesterday morning two very different kind of posts came through my Zite feed. One was headed 

No Boys Allowed: School visits as a woman writer. This is an excellent and depressing post by Shannon Hale. This is well worth reading as it has some very helpful points about readers advisory work and who/how you suggest titles and authors, and not being apologetic.

The other, I am not linking to, was called something like Key number of  [name of genre] books to read if you are a real [name of genre] fan.  Only books by men were included in this list.  The first post was about encouraging reading and encouraging a diversity in reading.  The other went down the unfortunate line of "real" fans which is problematic.  Each of us will read our own cluster of titles which have meaning to us, but whose grouping may leave others wondering.  That is good.  I can be a fan of the genre listed and not have read any of the titles suggested by this list.  I am troubled by the use of real in this context, perhaps I am an unreal fan of the genre as I have not read the entire list?  I can live with that.  It is not helpful to have lists (which is why I am being annoying and not linking to it) which say you can only be in the club for this genre if you have read/watched/played this exact set.  Where is the fun in that?  Where is the focus on the appeal characteristics for individual readers?   

I am sure that this list was meant to be encouraging, encouraging reading, encouraging a sense of accomplishment, encouraging a sense of belonging to a group.  

I was also concerned that the key titles were all written by men, that no woman was deemed good enough to write a key [genre name omitted] title.  There are many wonderful women and men who write in genre listed, so read across the spectrum, and enjoy.

Reading these two posts together highlighted the importance in readers advisory work of being deliberately inclusive so that people see and enjoy diversity in what they read.  

I realise that by writing this post that I am putting myself at risk of A Toxic Stew: Risks To Women Of Public Feminism, another post which came through Zite yesterday.  So be it.

maker spaces as part of a continuum of library services

Libraries have been maker spaces before 2012 when the maker space was set up Fayetteville Library. Libraries have been spaces where research was made, where content was made. and where ideas were made - and these are things which libraries are still enabling. These all seem solid maker concepts to link with the maker spaces where stuff/things and ideas are made.

The 6 February 2013 article from American Libraries, traces maker spaces back to 1873 in the USA (you can read the article here).  I think it goes much further back, and part of that is my slightly different interpretation of maker spaces.  I think examples like the Book of Kells, and the Lindisfarne Gospels show solid maker stock, and there are much earlier ones too.  Yes, these books were made by monks, but they were made using relevant technology skills paired with imagination.  They are works of art, but they are also works of technology.  This blog post from the British Library provides some other, useful examples.

I think that libraries as maker spaces have a solid history, admittedly looking a bit different to much of the current interpretation.  Effective libraries have been making community, as they connect people together who may not know each other but may connect over story time, reading groups, or other shared programs.  People may even connect over shared (or slightly different) research.  I think much of the work of the digital humanities fits solidly in maker space - as an inspirational way for us to think about how library materials, community and staff skills can connect, and can make.

Libraries are critical for making ideas happen in the minds of clients as they are to access materials, and assist people in research.  The British Library has a Pinterest board called Made with the BL highlighting how people have used the services and collections of the library to make things happen. A recent post by an ABC Open producer also describes the connection of libraries and making things. This recent editorial about libraries as community assets also skirts around this idea.

Libraries are also makers of sense and order - when the cataloguing goes well.  Excellent or great cataloguing enables findability, facilitating the community to make their own connections between materials, and enabling staff to be more effective too.  Inadequate or incompetent cataloging loses material and makes connections hard, or even impossible to make.  Shared catalogues like Trove are also important as they facilitate making connections between different collections and formats.  This is why it is critical for all Australian libraries to participate in Trove (and as many other organisations with collections too).

Libraries have histories of being proactive makers of ideas, research and community through how oral histories are recorded and other local studies material collected or created/co-created.   Doing our bit is a great example of this maker research approach.  Europeana is another excellent example.  They bring collections together enabling people to more readily make connections, and explore ideas. Their current app, game or website creative challenge is solid and exciting maker space. The work of Bayerische Staatsbibliothek - Bavarian State Library with their image search is also in the maker continuum as they enable people to make connections based on shape of image rather than typed search terms.

So you can see that these ideas are wandering towards libraries as makers of connections with the community.  Connecting library and community skills, and developing/expanding both, leading the libraries contributing to being makers of community (in a collaborative and co-creative way).  Making objects can be part of this, just as making research and ideas can be.

Some of the ideas at the #ylibrary talk last week at the State Library of Queensland seem to be in the same area of discussion, at least from the tweets.  This is my interpretation and may not be the intention of the tweeters/speakers (so blame me not them).

The final tweet seems to reflect what I am writing here. The "creating stuff" / making stuff can be ideas, objects, community, connections, inspiration, and much more.

This also implicitly highlights that library workers should enjoy learning many new skills for their entire working lives, being curious, and seeking to make connections which enhance the community and the collections, services and programs.  Also that working together is critical for this to be effective and sustainable.

I am looking to explore how libraries are tying maker space concepts to ideas of reference and information services.

This recent presentation from Lorcan Dempsey has ideas in this sphere as well - in particular look at slide 26.

 Thanks to Nate Hill and catyj for discussing this idea.  All the errors and long bows are mine.

No library or no library worker should be an island

This may seem a strange post, as you will be reading this because of a network.  Somehow you may follow me on twitter and so we can network with each other, but this is still a luxury for some library workers in other places.

This is something I really noticed when I was in Timor Leste.  I always appreciate my library networks, but I gained extra appreciation for networks I am part of when I was in a different location.  Conversations on twitter, or email exchanges may have been the only time each day I could talk with someone who saw libraries in a similar way.

In Timor Leste library workers are isolated.  There are few libraries, so any network is going to be small.  There was an active library association until some time in 2009, but this is currently on hold (and there are issues to be addressed before it is restarted).  There are really good reasons for this, so this comment is not a criticism.  

Some library workers (like anywhere) aren't interested in networks and some library folk in Timor Leste are networking with library workers in other countries because it is easier than networking with other library workers a few suburbs or towns away.  It is easier because you can find contact details online.  To contact some (particularly government libraries in Timor Leste) you need to know the personal email address or mobile phone number of the person you are trying to contact.  Some government departments have email addresses and telephone numbers listed on a website but the emails frequently bounce and the telephone number may have error messages when you ring them.

This highlighted the value of facilitation to get networks started, like the work ALIA Sydney does as a public, accessible network people can connect with.  In Timor Leste the very small number of libraries may be an issue in this, or it may not.  It is always interesting that some library workers don't see any reasons for connecting to network.  This is the same in Australia with functional networks but in Australia there is more passive benefit as there will be library workers in each workplace who actively create/manage/use their own networks and the other people in the workplace receive a flow on benefit from this.  Think about how you connect to other library workers you have not met face to face and keep in mind that face to face meeting is a luxury.  It is not possible to keep track of all the useful discussions held on twitter, flickr, or being inspired by some online photographs, or blog posts or blog comments or rss feeds (thank you Aaron Schwarz) branch discussions, forums (ALA connect as an example).  There are so many options.

The bounty of possible networks means there is no need to be isolated if you have some online access, but you need to know that the networks are possible, and you need to think that you can learn from others.  You need to know there is a bigger picture at work about libraries, or find the detail engrossing.

If you are active in some kind/s of networks which help your professional development, thank someone today for an idea they shared or which triggered an idea of yours.  I realise this post is only going to be read by people who are already using a network of some kind, but spare a thought for people who don't and suggest some learning network possibility to someone today who you know is not involved.  I don't know why library workers aren't all actively involved in networks as it strikes me as career survival tactics as well as a great way to share ideas and information and learn from others.

This is a long way of saying I was struck by the isolation of library staff in Timor Leste and that it was easier to help them connect to networks and individual libraries overseas than it was in their own country.  I would like to really thank the library staff in Australia who responded so kindly to my questions about offering peer support to library staff I have met there.  The generosity was amazing.  I would also like to thank all the libraries and library staff who provided information to me, whether on a website, or in response to an email I sent.  It helped to highlight the value of networks and remind me of the kindness of strangers (and the kindness of networks).  Just a note - this is the same amazing help I receive from strangers and people I know who work in libraries, - all the time and that is much appreciated too.

I started to write this post while I was in Timor Leste, but have only just finished it now.