I started hitting the blogs again after reading the results of our library's LibQual+ survey. The results indicate that customers are unsatisfied with electronic access to library resources. While some of my colleagues point to the possibility that our web site and potential usability as the issues, I point to the possibility that people are simply using the web differently.
In late 2005, discussions about the concept of Library 2.0 began, which is concisely described in white paper by Ken Chad and Paul Miller. Chad and Miller propose that, “ Library 2.0 is a concept of a very different library service that operates according to the expectations of today’s library users. In this vision, the library makes information available wherever and whenever the user requires it." There are concerns that the Library 2.0 concept may disenfranchise those who need us most, as expressed by Michael Golrick
Since many are still not aware of this concept it is worth repeating.
The Principles of Library 2.0 ( a summary of Michael Stephens summary)
The underlying theme to Library 2.0 is the realization that library user communities are constantly changing and that library services must change proportionally. Libraries need to look at all our services and ask if they they still serve our customers? Do these services serve a large-enough group that the return on the investment in human and fiscal resources is positive?
- The library is everywhere. Outreach via technology should be the goal of every organization. Librarians need to get out from behind the reference desk.
- The library has no barriers. Make sure that library users can get to information no matter where they are.
- The library invites participation. How can libraries reach out and interact with our users? Can a library present a tag cloud for the physical browsing of a library collection? Do library systems include built-in RSS feeds, tagging, and user commenting?
- The library uses flexible, best-of-breed systems. Libraries often make decisions about technology in libraries without much thought as to how systems interact. Are libraries licensing applications that will work for all of users no matter where they are?
- The library encourages the heart. The library will be a meeting place, online or physical, where my needs will be fulfilled and will allow users to create. Library's need to position themselves to help with finding the answers to how? and why?"
- The library is human. Users will see the face of the library no matter how they access services. Librarians will guide them via electronic methods as well as in person. Versed in the social networking tools, librarians will be able to adapt to the changing world. They will encourage and educate users.
- The library recognizes that its users are human too. Online and phgysical library space will be full of collaboration and conversation.
At issue is that the expectations of libraries for online interaction are changing. Users want to be content creators and contributors, not just consumers. We are seeing the emergence of the user-centered, online universe where people do most of their work, and play, within their web browser.
A discussion of the effect of Library 2.0 on librarians has to include the new skills that librarians need, which was a topic which Michael Stephens recently covered. We are at a time in our professional evolution where every librarian needs to have a core set of technnology skills. A list of such skills appeared in the June 2005 issue of T.H.E. Journal.
As technologies continue to change and evolve, librarians must continue to strive for excellence in their work. Today that includes continued time and effort to maintain and improve their technology skills. To evolve, not only do librarians need to rethink their skill sets, libraries need to reevaluate and redefine certain jobs including duties that include creating and using online tools for collaboration and creation.
The challange is what duties and processes need to be taken off job descriptions to make room for such tasks? How does one retool version 1.0 librarians who focus on library 1.0 services? Do we still need to have some 1.0 librarians in our organizations? Does the organization structure of a library need to be flattened to include more workgroups and teams? This is a significant challenge for library administrators. They need to make some hard choices - now - in order to avoid their library becoming irrelevent.
Sphere: Related Content
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Can I Cut My Land Line Now? Please?
Like most digital cameras, my new one has a feature that provides a shutter sound when I take a picture. The sound really serves no purpose, but it makes me feel comfortable that it is actually doing something.
I have not have had cable TV service at home since 1998 (a DirecTV subscriber). I swore to my wife that I would never let a cable installer in my house again. We suffered with a land line for network connectivity until 2001 when we finally bit the bullet an allowed the cable TV installer in the house to install a broadband connection.
In 2004, we decided to further reduce monthly telecom costs and switched from a traditional service to Vonage's voice over IP. I wish I could drop our land line all together, but we can't.
DirecTV requires a land line connection in order to set up its service. They have not embraced the IP concerpt - yet. The DirecTivo service we subscribe to requires a land line so the built-in modem can call out to update the box and service information. DirecTivo prefers a traditional land line over voice over IP since the internal 56k modem speed can not be slowed down to deal with the VOIP service. It works about 25% of the time, which is good enough. The box/service does not have IP capabilities, nor will it (this is really a topic in of itself).
Another thing that keeps us from dropping our land line is my wife's 89-year-old grandmother. Call forwarding confuses her enough when she calls the house and we pick it up in the car, let alone the concept of us not having a phone in the house.
I imagine if phone-based services survive at all they will do so as some form of emulation, generating a fake dial tone on a digital network. The sound will really serve no purpose, but it will make us feel comfortable that it is actually doing something. Sphere: Related Content
I have not have had cable TV service at home since 1998 (a DirecTV subscriber). I swore to my wife that I would never let a cable installer in my house again. We suffered with a land line for network connectivity until 2001 when we finally bit the bullet an allowed the cable TV installer in the house to install a broadband connection.
In 2004, we decided to further reduce monthly telecom costs and switched from a traditional service to Vonage's voice over IP. I wish I could drop our land line all together, but we can't.
DirecTV requires a land line connection in order to set up its service. They have not embraced the IP concerpt - yet. The DirecTivo service we subscribe to requires a land line so the built-in modem can call out to update the box and service information. DirecTivo prefers a traditional land line over voice over IP since the internal 56k modem speed can not be slowed down to deal with the VOIP service. It works about 25% of the time, which is good enough. The box/service does not have IP capabilities, nor will it (this is really a topic in of itself).
Another thing that keeps us from dropping our land line is my wife's 89-year-old grandmother. Call forwarding confuses her enough when she calls the house and we pick it up in the car, let alone the concept of us not having a phone in the house.
I imagine if phone-based services survive at all they will do so as some form of emulation, generating a fake dial tone on a digital network. The sound will really serve no purpose, but it will make us feel comfortable that it is actually doing something. Sphere: Related Content
Friday, March 17, 2006
MovieBeam: Blockbuster's New Release Section in a Box?
In 2003, Disney announced a service called MovieBeam, a video-on-demand system aimed squarely at services like Netflix and TiVo. In early 2005 the service was taken offline, but has recently received a second life with additional backing by Cisco Systems, and Intel.
The MovieBean device comes preloaded with 100 movies. 100 movies is not really alot if one considers the studios which are backing the product. I wouldn't expect to see Star Wars or Harry Potter any time soon. Once a movie is on the device a customer can order it with the remote control and is viewable for only 24 hours. New releases will cost $3.99 while back-catalog costing $1.99. High-definition films will cost an extra dollar.
Each week, up to 10 new movies Movies replace older titles. As new movies are automatically downloaded, older movies are automatically deleted to keep the number at a constant 100. The limited selection of movies may keep interest limited to those who frequent Blockbuster's new release section.
MovieBeam currently uses spare television broadcast bandwidth, usually that of a local PBS station, to send data to the 160mb hard drive in the set-top MB2160 boxes, co-branded with Cisco's Linksys division.
An Internet version is in the works. The MovieBeam set-top box is priced at $200 after a $50 introductory rebate. The antenna-based setup reduces networking setup headaches and broadband download speed limitations, it also limits the availability of the product to those areas above where MovieBeam-compatible transmitters are in place.
Besides the initial hardware cost there is a one time activation fee of $29.99. There are no monthly charges, only the cost of the movies. While the lack of a subscription fee is always a plus, paying up to $5 if it's in HD seems steep when limited to a 24-hour viewing window.
Only about 10 percent if the movies offered are available in native HD format. The player does features an HDMI connection that supports up-conversion from standard-definition content to high-definition output. A typical high-quality DVD movie file occupies about 8GB, but according to MovieBeam its file sizes are 1-1.5GB for standard-def and 5GB for high-def movies. Even with MovieBeam's superior Windows Media 9 compression, that's pretty small for an HD movie, and isn't a good sign for having a satisfying HD experience. The movies they have available via HD are not the ones that would benefit from an enhanced viewing experience.
The MovieBeam service is currently available in 29 metropolitan areas including Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Nashville, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland (Oregon), Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle-Tacoma, St. Louis, Tampa and Washington D.C. Sphere: Related Content
The MovieBean device comes preloaded with 100 movies. 100 movies is not really alot if one considers the studios which are backing the product. I wouldn't expect to see Star Wars or Harry Potter any time soon. Once a movie is on the device a customer can order it with the remote control and is viewable for only 24 hours. New releases will cost $3.99 while back-catalog costing $1.99. High-definition films will cost an extra dollar.
Each week, up to 10 new movies Movies replace older titles. As new movies are automatically downloaded, older movies are automatically deleted to keep the number at a constant 100. The limited selection of movies may keep interest limited to those who frequent Blockbuster's new release section.
MovieBeam currently uses spare television broadcast bandwidth, usually that of a local PBS station, to send data to the 160mb hard drive in the set-top MB2160 boxes, co-branded with Cisco's Linksys division.
An Internet version is in the works. The MovieBeam set-top box is priced at $200 after a $50 introductory rebate. The antenna-based setup reduces networking setup headaches and broadband download speed limitations, it also limits the availability of the product to those areas above where MovieBeam-compatible transmitters are in place. Besides the initial hardware cost there is a one time activation fee of $29.99. There are no monthly charges, only the cost of the movies. While the lack of a subscription fee is always a plus, paying up to $5 if it's in HD seems steep when limited to a 24-hour viewing window.
Only about 10 percent if the movies offered are available in native HD format. The player does features an HDMI connection that supports up-conversion from standard-definition content to high-definition output. A typical high-quality DVD movie file occupies about 8GB, but according to MovieBeam its file sizes are 1-1.5GB for standard-def and 5GB for high-def movies. Even with MovieBeam's superior Windows Media 9 compression, that's pretty small for an HD movie, and isn't a good sign for having a satisfying HD experience. The movies they have available via HD are not the ones that would benefit from an enhanced viewing experience.
The MovieBeam service is currently available in 29 metropolitan areas including Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Nashville, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland (Oregon), Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle-Tacoma, St. Louis, Tampa and Washington D.C. Sphere: Related Content
Friday, March 10, 2006
The Ultra Mobile PC: Is it Needed?
The Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC) is a new category of mobile devices optimized for specific on-the-go usage while providing the capability and versatility of a PC. UMPC devices are small enough to carry, a long battery life, have multiple wireless options to be connected anytime, and location aware so they can adapt.
The hope of the UMPC is to allow individuals to access online games, videos, and music with the quality obtained in front of a wired PC. The UMPC also connects people via email, VoIP, instant and text messaging. The UMPC platform is also expected to have GPS capabilities which allow it to recognize its whereabouts and provide local information.
The first of these devices to be marketed under the Microsoft Origami label were finally unveiled at the CeBIT trade show. The show had devices built by Samsung, ASUS,
and Founder on display. The technology was also discussed at the Intel Developer's Forum.
The concept is built on top of the Windows XP operating system, has a larger screen than a handheld but smaller than a notebook PC screen. Origami devices won't fit in the pocket but into the smallest of backpacks. The goal is to create a device that could eventually sell for $600 or less and capable of supporting features like GPS, Bluetooth, 3G cellular technology and Wi-Fi. It features small and lightweight hardware designs coupled with the full functionality of a Microsoft Windows-based PC and a choice of input options including touch-screen.
The size of the platform fits in between a tablet PC and a Sony PSP. Functionally, it fits in between a laptop and a high end PDA. The problem with this device right now is that everyone who might buy it already has a device with the basic capabilities that is working just fine.
The challenge to this product will be convincing people that both the devices and the way they are currenting doing things are inferior. Current mobile device users (PSA's, Blackberries) will look at the device and say it is too big since they are looking for a small device that fits in their pocket. Since it does not run the full version of Windows XP, laptop/tablet users will find that it may not have enough processing capability.
It may, however, be a form factor that would be very attractive in some applications, such as a physician making rounds in a hospital. It would have a large enough screen to view radiology images and test results without lugging a tablet around. Sphere: Related Content
The hope of the UMPC is to allow individuals to access online games, videos, and music with the quality obtained in front of a wired PC. The UMPC also connects people via email, VoIP, instant and text messaging. The UMPC platform is also expected to have GPS capabilities which allow it to recognize its whereabouts and provide local information.
The first of these devices to be marketed under the Microsoft Origami label were finally unveiled at the CeBIT trade show. The show had devices built by Samsung, ASUS,
and Founder on display. The technology was also discussed at the Intel Developer's Forum. The concept is built on top of the Windows XP operating system, has a larger screen than a handheld but smaller than a notebook PC screen. Origami devices won't fit in the pocket but into the smallest of backpacks. The goal is to create a device that could eventually sell for $600 or less and capable of supporting features like GPS, Bluetooth, 3G cellular technology and Wi-Fi. It features small and lightweight hardware designs coupled with the full functionality of a Microsoft Windows-based PC and a choice of input options including touch-screen.
The size of the platform fits in between a tablet PC and a Sony PSP. Functionally, it fits in between a laptop and a high end PDA. The problem with this device right now is that everyone who might buy it already has a device with the basic capabilities that is working just fine.
The challenge to this product will be convincing people that both the devices and the way they are currenting doing things are inferior. Current mobile device users (PSA's, Blackberries) will look at the device and say it is too big since they are looking for a small device that fits in their pocket. Since it does not run the full version of Windows XP, laptop/tablet users will find that it may not have enough processing capability.
It may, however, be a form factor that would be very attractive in some applications, such as a physician making rounds in a hospital. It would have a large enough screen to view radiology images and test results without lugging a tablet around. Sphere: Related Content
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