End of the Semester

Readers,

I know I haven’t been posting as much recently, but this and next week are the end of the semester. I am in the process of wrapping up a couple of major projects, and so I will be back writing then. In the meantime, if you want to know what the end of this semester is like, listen to this:




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFq-HHA0k2E

New Yorker iPad Article Comments

As I do most every week, I was reading my New Yorker magazine this week. On page 24 of this week’s issue, there is an article titled Publish or Perish by Ken Auletta which was very interesting. Before I get into my comments on this article, though, please allow me to ask this question:

Why aren’t more librarians writing and thinking about the implications of the iPad (and to a lesser degree the Kindle and the Nook) on the primary form of information consumption today: reading?

If you have some clue as to why not a whole lot has been written, let me hear from you in the comments.

Anyhow, back to the article.

The article examines the background of ebook publishing, and why the iPad caused such a stir - not just because of what it represented, but that it presented a real form of competition by the then-dominant Kindle. Though interesting, I am not discussing this part of the article either. What I am discussing, though, is a quote from David Rosenthal, who says that his company (Simon & Schuster) is working on efforts to

... embed audio and video and other value-added features in e-books. It could be an author discussing his book, or a clip from a movie that touches on the book’s topic.

Are these “value-added” features, as Mr. Rosenthal describes them, really going to transform our reading, and represent the next big thing in media consumption?

I say no.

I say no because the adding of a few videos is simply too pedestrian for what we are witnessing now. Readers must be able to interact with their information - be it an e-book, or a website. The iPad provides a medium for some form of interaction beyond pressing the play button on a video. As I referenced in a previous post, the Alice in Wonderland app for the iPad is just a early, but good example of this. If you would like another example, take a look at this example, and keep in mind the implications of this not only for leisure reading, but for education as well:








http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHiEqf5wb3g









So, to be fair, it is not the “real thing,” but I think you would be inclined to agree with me that it is a far sight better than a video of an author discussing his (or her) book. Also, think of the implications for education - not only would the content be more engaging, the updates (that so frequently happen, and cost schools millions) to those texts could be “pushed” out to the devices on which the students view and use their textbooks.

And by no means is the iPad all of a sudden the ultimate expression of the future of reading. What we see in the iPad is one in a very long sequence of steps as makers of technology and publishers experiment to see what this new digital reading world is like, and what we as readers want from this new paradigm. The article hits on one - better prices! Hardcover books new at a traditional bookstore are outrageously expensive, and some better pricing must be developed in order to allow people to purchase the books they want. Digital books are by their very nature cheaper. The article says this:

No matter where consumers buy books, their belief that electronic media should cost less - that something you can’t hold simply isn’t worth as much money - will exert a powerful force.

Exactly. However, in the case of these dynamic books, like Alice or Elements, people are willing (I think) to pay more money. More “bang for your buck,” so to speak.

Thus far as I feel you have noted, intrepid reader, I have been talking about people buying these “books” for their own personal use. What about libraries?

Well, I was reading this post over at the LibraryThing blog and came across Tim Spalding’s thoughts on the in-store reading privileges for Nook owners:

What works for Barnes and Noble could also work for libraries. Indeed, since every Barnes and Noble has suddenly turned into a limitless library, real libraries risk losing a core value to a mere bookstore.

Fortunately, the change to a "Brigadoon Library" would be gentle. Libraries are already accustomed to in-library database access. This would be an extension of an established concept--very helpful in selling new ideas to institutions that are too often hostile to them. And it should be easy to set up--just submit your wifi's IP address to an ereader's website and you're good to go.

Best of all, this is a library solution that makes sense to publishers and could therefore actually happen.(4) Publishers signed on with Barnes and Noble because they calculated that the sales they lost from free reading would be more than offset by the sales they gained from people who bought the book after tiring of the physical limitation--and by the extra word of mouth.(5) With libraries, the publisher incentive is less, but still significant. Readers cannot turn from an ereader to buy a physical copy, as they could at a Barnes and Noble store. But, as at a store, they can buy the ebook. There's no reason publishers wouldn't provide such a service for free, or, more probably, a low cost.(6)

So, Tim Spalding points out that you might set up some similar service in libraries - when you are in the library, you can use the e-books. Of course, we will see some form of better DRM type rules for e-books in libraries, so that one might check them out, but e-books are at such an early stage at this point that there is really no need to make standardizations to the formats and agreements. Yet.

That is why the ALA needs to get involved in e-books in a major way, and right now. Librarians need to start advocating for their libraries (as I have, in my own small way) to ensure that people’s right to the information they seek is not infringed upon.

As always, let me hear your thoughts, etc. in the comments!

Repost: Call to Arms, Pen and Paper Style!

I am reposting this from a great librarian blog, The Desk Set. Read the original post here, and send the Councilman a few postcards - I did (as you can see from the photo above!)

Original post:
http://thedeskset.org/?p=1743

We are thrilled to be involved in the Save New York City Libraries Postcard Campaign, and we’ve invited Queens Public Librarian and Urban Librarians Unite founder, Christian Zabriskie, to tell you why and how you should participate:

The greatest group of libraries in the world is on the brink of death. The Tri-Li system, three public library systems comprising 209 libraries and serving over 8 million people will have its back broken before our eyes in a mere two months time. NOW is the time to act. We do not have the comfort of ennui, we cannot allow ourselves the luxury of apathy. If you want to see public library service be destroyed, hundreds of library workers out of work, library hours slashed, entire branches closed, if you care nothing for the poor, the undereducated, the populace yearning for culture and simple dignity, if libraries in New York City mean nothing to you then do nothing.

If you have courage, if you have energy, if you refuse to see the poor man’s university broken on the wheel of the budget then get involved. A group of library organizations have united in an unofficial campaign to preserve libraries in our city. This campaign, intended to augment but not replace the formal efforts of the Brooklyn, New York, and Queens Public Libraries, is a populist movement coming from Desk Set, Urban Librarians Unite, Local 1321 Queens Library Guild, Metro Library Council, ACRL/NY, and others. We call for all who love libraries to act now. The premise is simple but with your help the execution could have the weight of thousands of voices.

Very simple people, send a postcard in support of libraries to City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer. After you have sent in a postcard ask your friends to do the same, then ask your roommates, your family, people who ask you out on dates, random people in bars, anyone and everyone who will write a few words and sign their name in support of libraries. Any postcard will do, you can get them for ten to a dollar in Times Square, make them yourself, buy them at flea markets, anything. Postage for a postcard is 28 cents, you can mail out eight or ten for less than three bucks, even a librarian can afford that.

Jimmy’s office is keeping all the postcards for us and is going to present them en masse to the City Council before the final budget hearings. Jimmy is our people, he worked for Queens Library for years, serves on the Council’s libraries committee, and has been a vocal advocate of libraries on the city council. We want to give him ammunition, something with physical weight. Show people that you care with something tangible, then get everyone you know to join  their voice with yours.

If you love libraries, if you love librarians, if you love librarians in libraries then get out there and get those postcards in. Send them early and often to:

Councilmember
Jimmy Van Bramer
47-01 Queens Blvd, Suite 205
Sunnyside, NY 11104

The future of the libraries in New York City lies in your hands, fill those hands with postcards calling out your support.

Hell, Yes! Thanks Christian, and thanks to all of you who have already sent postcards. It seems like we’re constantly being told that our libraries are on the verge, and it’s often overwhelming to know what to do about it. And because it keeps happening, because people continue to believe that library budgets should be cut, and because we know the economy is in the toilet, it starts to feel as though there’s nothing we can do. We know we need to fight, but sometimes we don’t know how, or even if there’s a point. That’s what is so genius about the postcard campaign. It is so easy, so so so easy. And multiply as many postcards you can write by as many people as you know, and suddenly you have a heap, a ton, a mess of postcards letting the city know that we need our libraries and our library workers. That we love them.

Social Tagging and Library Catalogs

Well, I wrapped up my paper earlier this week, and so I am proud to share it with you below. I am very curious to hear what you think and such!





http://www.scribd.com/doc/30301737/Social-Tagging-Library-of-Congress’-Subject-Headings-and-Library-Catalogs

Social Media and Cataloging

In your opinion, what's enduring about the introduction of social media such as tagging?
Well, to me the important contribution that social media and tagging has for us as catalogers is that we are seeing the democratization of metadata, and more broadly data as a whole. Of course, metadata is a new term, but to this point there has been little interest (and practically no methods to do it) in the “crowd-sourcing” of metadata. It’s really within the past five years that methods have been implemented to allow practically anyone to generate metadata about really any object. Librarians should be thrilled with this for two reasons:
First, we don’t have to do quite as much of the heavy lifting of metadata generation - others are doing it for us.
Second, as Tim Spalding points out, libraries have always been (for the most part) about the democratization and spread of information, and the democratization of metadata is simply the next, logical step in the spread of information.
And following on this, how do we decide which aspects deserve investment of time and money?
I think the first logical step in this new phase of information is that libraries should open up their catalogs, and by this I mean OCLC as well. Why do we have to so tightly control all this information? What an amazing resource for “mashups,” for example. Tim Berners-Lee talked about this recently in his talk at TED in 2010:













http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/tim_berners_lee_the_year_open_data_went_worldwide.html








To be fair, library metadata might not be as useful as bike accidents, but I am sure people in the wider world will find uses for the metadata we in the library community have never thought of.
We truly need to find some way to integrate social tagging of “aboutness” and the juggernaut of LCSH. LCSH is so slow to change and grow that some form of integration between social tagging and a controlled vocabulary needs to be found. As a matter of fact, the amount of information in the world (as I read yesterday) is growing at such a fast rate that search engine bots and crawlers can’t even keep up - so how can LC be expected to keep up? Social sourcing is one way to help libraries and their information resources adapt to this world. I would say then that perhaps LC is not the best organization to head LCSH if this integration occurs. Imagine all the linked words and knowledge web type stuff if we could meld the two (semantic web?). And what should happen to all of this? It should be free to all, online. Of course, this precludes some form of organization and funding, which our profession is uniquely equipped to do - we advocate, we organize, and we connect people with information. This brings me to a bit of a soapbox that many librarians have trouble with (or so it seems to me) it is our job to share information (in any form) not hoard it, and through this we will stay relevant in the information age.
How do we evaluate the effects and utility?
I think we look at data usage - specifically, how is the data we create and share used by the larger world? Perhaps licensing the stuff we share through a Creative Commons license that requires attribution will help us to track usage while not abrogating the “fetter-free” access to the data we share.
Of course, you can also look at the raw data - hit-counts, page views, and such. But, as we all know this doesn’t really show user impact, and nor is it reflective of the broader purpose of libraries. To me this ties in with Dr. Lankes’ concept of Participatory Librarianship - using libraries to help people “make stuff.” To make the impact user centered, you have to look at the outcome, or the end product of the work enabled by libraries, or librarians.
Thinking about the various components of cataloging and catalog records individually, where is there the most promise for integration of social media: description, classification, subject headings, linking of works, expressions, manifestations and items?
Subject headings, as I mentioned before, are seemingly full of promise for integration with social media. I feel sure you read enough about this above, so I won’t say any more about it here.
Linking of works - The next major push online is the development of a semantic web of knowledge, where many things are linked to each other online, improving (in a way) collocation and classification of information on the internet. This also helps people to better understand terms and ideas, as they are presented in some sort of context, as opposed to the stand-alone model we see in the internet today. Of course, this can flow freely into our catalogs, but it can go other places as well from the catalog - IMDB, Dictionaries, Wikipedia, WolframAlpha, and many others.

Ok, that’s plenty - sorry I wrote so much! I am curious to know what you all think!

What’s Next: Cataloging

This week, I am writing a paper about the use of social tagging in library catalog records, and so cataloging and future changes and manifestations in that area are forefront on my mind. As I was going through my “blog topics” tagged items in Evernote this morning, I came across an article about cataloging horizons from ALA’s American Libraries Magazine. Here are some excerpts from that article:

Library catalogs have evolved over time as technology has changed. The last 150 years have seen a progression from book catalogs to cards, and eventually, to online catalogs. Each of these changes has provided new capabilities that can be adopted for improved user services. The next step in this evolution is on the horizon, and it will make possible some new and powerful capabilities for information seekers. Like the hypertextuality of the web, technology is being developed today that can help library catalogs become a rich web of data.

So what does this mean for libraries and library catalogs, who to my knowledge are responsible for the vast majority of metadata available in the world today?

To me, the overarching implication is that libraries can now ill-afford to live with their metadata in a vacuum. The way in which most library metadata (and if you want to know what I mean by metadata, click here) is presented and stored is, for most purposes, unusable by any other web-based standard. Of course, there are metadata standards which are web-friendly (DCMI, XHTML to name a few) but do libraries use them? Nope. We still for the most part use a standard which by today’s standards is a dinosaur, MARC. This format does not play well with other metadata standards, and so is practically unusable. In order to embrace the concepts and practices of the semantic web, libraries must implement metadata standards which conform to the broader standards of the information world. Yes, RDA and FRBR will assist in this, but if the metadata created through RDA is still in a MARC format, we really haven’t gotten anywhere, have we? As a whole, libraries need to move to a more web-friendly format for this idea of linked data and the semantic web in the catalog to really work.

Also, OCLC is going to have to open up the information it holds to the wider world. As you probably know, OCLC is the largest repository of bibliographic data in the world. Through the WorldCat.org interface, you can search 1.5 billion items stored on OCLC’s servers. If we are truly going to embrace this movement called the semantic web, OCLC must be willing to freely share that data.

However, I will talk more about shared, free data tomorrow. For now, I want to say that these are not the only things that libraries must consider in thinking about the semantic web, but only a couple of ideas that seem immediately apparent to me, but no one is talking about. What do you think about the semantic web? Have you seen it impacting your life and how you use information online? Let me know!

Library for a Writer (Library Design, 4)

As I remember, it was several months ago when my wife pointed out Andrew Berman’s Writing Studio and Library online. As with most of the “candidates” for the library design series, this one stuck with me until I was ready to write about it. Here’s a video about it:






http://www.vimeo.com/1696112









Of course the key difference in this, and the other libraries thus far in the series is that this library and studio was designed for one person, a historian, to do her research and writing. Even though there is a major difference there, the same principles apply to the overall design of the space.

As always, there is plenty of natural light, as you can tell from the massive window overlooking the woods (what a view)! i love the skylight up top as well, providing natural light from overhead, as we saw in Renzo Piano’s Morgan Library reading room. There is a large desk for working, as well as ample shelf space for books. I also really appreciate that the small space has a kitchen and a toilet, both essential to be (in a way) self sufficient.

I must confess, though, that the separate library space has always intrigued me since I first saw Philip Johnson’s separate library and studio, as well as Alberto Manguel’s separate library. I love the concept of a separate place for your books (especially if you work with them as part of your career) and a place for your “living.” For me, though, our books in some way are a reflection of who we are, and so have a rightful place in the home.

As I hinted at above, this space, even though it is for one person, shares the key traits of a “good” library space - natural light, and services close at hand. Naturally, being a private library, there is not a librarian on hand, as the writer serves as her own librarian.

What do you think about this space?

M. Diderot and Me

While at the Amon Carter Museum Library yesterday, I was asked to begin the process of cataloging one of the most amazing works in our collection: Denis Diderot’s Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. Here is an image of the title page, from Wikipedia:


This is the first of seventeen text volumes, which were published concurrently with eleven volumes of plates. The key distinction of the Encyclopédie is that it shows you how to do things, as well as dissecting complex items. Here is one of those wonderful illustrations:


Just how big is it? Well according to Wikipedia,
▪ 17 volumes of articles, issued from 1751 to 1765
▪ 11 volumes of illustrations, issued from 1762 to 1772
▪ 18,000 pages of text
▪ 75,000 entries
▪ 44,000 main articles
▪ 28,000 secondary articles
▪ 2,500 illustration indices
▪ 20,000,000 words in total
Print run: 4,250 copies (note: even single-volume works in the 18th Century seldom had a print run of more than 1,500 copies)

Ok, so it’s big and it’s old, but why is it so significant? Once again, from Wikipedia:

The Encyclopédie played an important role in the intellectual ferment leading to the French Revolution. "No encyclopaedia perhaps has been of such political importance, or has occupied so conspicuous a place in the civil and literary history of its century. It sought not only to give information, but to guide opinion," wrote the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. In The Encyclopédie and the Age of Revolution, a work published in conjunction with a 1989 exhibition of the Encyclopédie at the University of California, Los Angeles, Clorinda Donato writes the following:
“The encyclopedians successfully argued and marketed their belief in the potential of reason and unified knowledge to empower human will and thus helped to shape the social issues that the French Revolution would address. Although it is doubtful whether the many artisans, technicians, or laborers whose work and presence and interspersed throughout the Encyclopédie actually read it, the recognition of their work as equal to that of intellectuals, clerics, and rulers prepared the terrain for demands for increased representation. Thus the Encyclopédie served to recognize and galvanize a new power base, ultimately contributing to the destruction of old values and the creation of new ones.”
While many contributors to the Encyclopédie had no interest in radically reforming French society, the Encyclopédie as a whole pointed that way. The Encyclopédie denied that the teachings of the Catholic Church could be treated as authoritative in matters of science. The editors also refused to treat the decisions of political powers as definitive in intellectual or artistic questions. Given that Paris was the intellectual capital of Europe at the time and that many European leaders used French as their administrative language, these ideas had the capacity to spread.

First, please feel free to come by and check it out - it’s wonderful to see. Second, this is a great example of why I became a librarian - so that I could help people and get to see and use cool stuff, like the Encyclopédie!

Look for Jen’s Post Tomorrow!

Friends,

Jen has a great post in store tomorrow, so make sure you check it out! Here’s a kind of a preview, enjoy!











http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9iiaC7UOWk

Alice for the IPad: The Future?

Remember a few posts back, I mention that in the iPad, we might be seeing into the future of magazine publishing? This video will show you just a bit of what is possible with this new device and reading:


















This video really showcases what the iPad has over all other electronic-type readers: interactiveness. Until now, readers have just been another method for presenting that which we see in physical books - graphics and text. Other than convenience, there has been really nothing to differentiate books from their electronic counterparts.

Until now. (As I said above)

Of course, this is not the best example of what one can do with the iPad, merely a taste. This Alice in Wonderland book is an app, which is already a problem. Books of any kind should be managed through the books app, not through individual apps. However, I am getting ahead of myself. This being the first example of a book in a truly interactive format, we will see the genre and medium change and streamline over time. What a great way to interact with what we are reading, though! What do you think?

I still think I’d rather read a physical book, but this new format could push me to reading books in an electronic format. Just imagine a murder mystery like this!

Paper Records

Interesting fact...

...and interesting comments.  Check it out! 



What do you think about electronic medical records?

National Library Week

Folks, it’s National Library Week. I had a normal video thing made by the ALA to share with you, until I searched “Library” on Vimeo. This is a beautiful (and to me, haunting) video of Kahn’s Exeter library.


















As I said above, I find this video stunning in its cinematography and representation of that amazing space, but it really haunts me, because it lacks the two things that “make” a library - people and information (in the case of the Exeter library: books). Perhaps this is more what the ALA should be focusing on this year during National Library Week: how more people are using libraries, which have dwindling resources to offer their patrons. If things continue in this mode of cost-cutting, we could end up with spaces like the empty Exeter building. Where, then, would people satisfy their information needs? Google? Yeah, because that really does replace a person. Who will help cut through all the chatter and noise in the information world? Bing? Yahoo? Wikipedia?

No, it’s librarians, and the information at our command - the internet, ebooks, periodicals, and yes even books. The ALA really missed an opportunity this week, I think to highlight they key role that librarians play in our society. The role that all librarians have, no matter what their title might be - as stated in the ALA’s Code of Ethcs (which should get more publicity in itself):

We significantly influence or control the selection, organization, preservation, and dissemination of information. In a political system grounded in an informed citizenry, we are members of a profession explicitly committed to intellectual freedom and the freedom of access to information. We have a special obligation to ensure the free flow of information and ideas to present and future generations.

I can see a whole marketing campaign extolling the virtues of the librarian, not of the resources in a library. Yes, there are some amazing things in libraries - but what makes a library a library are the librarians. Highlight our impact on the people in our communities, highlight our ethics, and highlight our necessity. Instead, the ALA has conveniently given us this handy pre-written press release:

(CITY, STATE) – It’s National Library Week, a time to celebrate the contributions of libraries, librarians and library workers in schools, campuses and communities nationwide.

The [name of library] is celebrating National Library Week by [describe programs, activities here].

“Libraries are the heart of every community and our library helps our community thrive,” says [name and title of spokesperson]. “At our library, people of all backgrounds come together for community meetings, lectures and programs, to do research with the assistance of a trained professional, to get help finding a job or to find homework help […add resources/activities that you would like to highlight].”

First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April.

For more information, visit the [name of library] at [address], call [phone number] or see the library’s Web site at [provide URL]. Libraries hours are [list times].

Do libraries as a whole really lack any kind of stories about real impact that the ALA feels that it must create a press release? Scary.

How have librarians affected your life? How, do you think, should the ALA alter its message for National Library Week?

iPad Confessions

Readers,

I want to fully disclose something with you for a moment:

I bought an iPad last week.

I really was not going to buy one. Frankly, I was underwhelmed at Steve Jobs’ initial presentation of the device, and saw no real use in the iPad. I was doing just fine...

until I went to the local Apple Store and test-drove one for about five minutes. People are right, you have to use one in order to fully appreciate what it is and just how useful (and immersive) the device is.

Why did I buy it? For me, the iPad replaces everything I used to do with a laptop: internet browsing, email, some word processing and sharing photos. The size really is excellent for carrying around, no bigger really than a normal sized periodical even with a case. As I said, the experience of using the iPad is very immersive, and as Apple said, it feels “right.” Let me list a few specific things I like about it:

The New York Times’ Editors’ Choice app could be the future of newspapers. The content is formatted much like the physical paper, with the same typefaces and column formatting, as well as photos. This “feels” good to me. Of course, I grew up reading my news online, and so this might not be optimal for those of you who really enjoy reading a “real” paper. However, as I said, this has the potential to become the next major revolution in publishing for both magazines as well as newspapers. (If I could only get the New Yorker to make an app, I would be blissfully happy).
Apple’s Pages app is really quite useful, and has a much better user interface than I thought it might. I am a regular user of Pages on my MacPro, and so I was already familiar with much of the program. iTunes is a poor document syncing source, and Apple needs to improve the syncing of documents, either through MobileMe or an improved interface in iTunes. Office users really need some better word processing solution, and Microsoft should jump on that. Also, I am interested to see what Google Docs does with the iPad. That could be really “neat.”
Video on the iPad is just great. The speaker is pretty good, but there is no lagging, no jerkiness, just smooth beautiful video. Good job on this one.
Photos on the iPad is another highlight. Part of the reason we bought an iPad was to share the 13,000 plus images we have in our Aperture library (we take a lot of photos). The photos sync seamlessly, if a bit slow the first time. After that, everything is great. The photos look just excellent - so much so that Jen’s grandparents had no trouble at all seeing them on the iPad’s screen.

As you can imagine, I have at least one suggestion for Apple: make iWeb for the iPad. As you might know, iWeb is how Jen and I “do” this website, and I would love to be able to blog from the iPad (ALA Annual? Hope to blog from there!). I’ll be surprised if they don’t address this fairly soon.

iBooks leaves a bit to be desired to me. As you might guess, I love reading a physical book, but I gave reading Thoreau’s Walden a try on the iPad (it was free). The text looks wonderful, and I love the different fonts and sizes you can pick. However, to make the text easily readable, you have to make it big. This is no problem in itself, but it does make you turn the page quite frequently, which (though it looks neat) is a bit annoying to do all the time. There needs to be some sort of arrow for page turning, in addition to how you can do it now.

And, finally, what do I see as the iPad’s implications for libraries? Well, smartphones really seem to be the “next big thing” moreso than what other librarians have pronounced. Tablet computing, as well as smartphones, will really alter how patrons interact with their libraries, and the libraries need to be proactive in changing to support their user’s habits. First, OPAC and library websites need to be optimized for the iPad and iPhone. Second, libraries should at least consider creating an app for those platforms, to better share the OPAC, as well as videos and other recorded events and such at the library. And, make all this free to everyone! Finally, the ALA (or PLA) really needs to make strong overtures to Apple so that libraries can have a role in the iBooks app. Maybe you can virtually check out electronic titles from the library, or even just find the book you are about to buy at the local library. This could serve as some form of standardization within libraries for the circulation of electronic books and resources. And we all know libraries and librarians love standards.

Have any questions for me about the iPad or other comments? Let me hear from you!

The Usable Library

This is the best, most succinct library user focus “thing” I have seen. Wonderful ideas. Spread it around. Great!!!!

The Usable Library

Magazines and Me

I don’t think I have ever written about the magazines I read regularly. So, what follows is a list of magazines I currently subscribe to, or ones which I subscribed to in the past, with some thoughts on each. Enjoy! (I’d also love to hear about what you “take” magazine-wise in your home in the comments!)

The New Yorker - I think about everyone in the states knows the New Yorker. It, and Atlantic Monthly are about the apex or magazine publishing in the states. The quality and variety of writing of this great publication are peerless (I think) and provide interesting insights into both well and lesser known subjects. It arrives weekly in the mailbox, and as such is a challenging magazine to keep up with it - and keeping up with it is very important, as if you don’t stay current, it your backlog becomes so heavy that it’s almost impossible to get caught up. Upon receipt, I usually go cover to cover and dog-ear stories I want to read, as well as funny cartoons to share with Jen. Some weeks, I read it nearly cover to cover, and other weeks there are only a couple of items of interest to me. The famous Heather Powazek describes how she reads this periodical in this article, and it’s worth a read:

How to Read The New Yorker in 10 Easy Steps

Dwell - To be honest, Dwell is Jen’s subscription, but I end up reading it almost over to cover. We mark articles that have information in them that we like, keeping in mind we will be homeowners some day. I love the developing trends in sustainability, recycling of materials in homes, and the general trends in design (hi, modern mid-century).

Good - This is a very interesting and challenging periodical which arrives quarterly. First, all proceeds from the magazine go to charity, and all the articles in it are (subjectively) about how to make the world a better place. Very inspiring stuff, as well as tips on how to do smaller things in your own home or community.

American Libraries - Of course I get this! As a member of the American Library Association, I receive this publication monthly, which is a re-hashing (pretty much) of the American Libraries Direct email that finds its way to my inbox every Wednesday evening. I usually review this to make sure I haven’t missed anything, and find a couple of good “gems” in it.

Roundel - This is the magazine of the BMW Car Club of America and it arrives monthly. For a club publication, it is very nice. I love reading the opinions, especially those of original CCA member Joseph Chamberlain about how (in the words of Bob Dylan) the times, they are a-changin’. I also love their in depth articles about new models, and the classifieds are always fun to look at.

Monocle - I once subscribed to this magazine, which is a paragon of beautiful photography and print design. However, at about 140 dollars for 12 issues, I had to give it up. The writing was just not that good, and seemed to rest on the photography and design of the publication. Really, though, if you don’t have good (and interesting) content, then why pay so much money? If it was reasonably priced I might reconsider.

Texas Monthly - I had a subscription to this great magazine for about a year, and then it just stopped. No idea what happened to it. However, it is filled with great articles (and, to my chagrin, more and more and more and more ads) about all things Texas. Great read, with some excellent journalism, writing, and opinions.

What do you read?

PS - Check out my new online CV:

www.jasonwdean.com

Historical Maps Tutorial

Readers,

I just wanted to share with you that I just wrapped up another presentation about cataloging, and this one focuses on Historical Maps. I’ll embed it below, and here’s a link to it:

Historical Maps Tutorial

Let me know what you think in the comments!

The Morgan Library (Library Design, 3)

Well, this post has been gestating for a while in my brain, and I want to share it with you now. The third installment in the library design series is all about a library I very much want to visit (and work at): The Morgan Library.

The Morgan began as the personal library of the infamous banker and financier, J. Pierpont Morgan. The library was adjacent to his residence (at the time), and the original building’s architects were McKim, Mead & White. McKim designed the exterior as a Italian Renaissance style palazzo in the Palladian tradition. The result was this façade:

(Source: here.)

Personally, I find the exterior very typical of the time in which the original building was contructed (1902-1906) but some architecture critics describe this as McKim’s masterpiece. Looking at the inside, I might agree:

(Source: here.)

The interiors are, like the exterior, very much reflective of the time in which they were constructed. However, they are also reflective of their purpose: for the exclusive use of J. Pierpont Morgan. It is the next event that makes this space unique in this series, as well as in libraries in general (to the best of my knowledge).

After Morgan dies, his son (J. P. Morgan, Jr.) decides that the items in his father’s library are far too important for only private use, and so in 1924 “gives” the Morgan library to the public. This, of course, changes the nature of the collection, as well as the use of the space the collection is housed in. Though I read little about the interim of the use of the building, I can imagine it was less than optimal for visitors and patrons of the library.

This all changes in 2001 when the Renzo Piano Building Workshop is selected for the first major construction project at the Mogan since its initial construction. In 2006, construction is finished, and the additions to the Morgan are widely praised, by both critics and the public alike. Piano’s sensitivity to the needs of the reader and user of the library are evidenced by these images:

(Source: here.)

(Source: here.)


(Source: here.)

(Source: here.)

(Source: here.)


(Source: here.)

From the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission:
The largest expansion in the Morgan's Library's history, adding 75,000 square feet to the campus, was completed in 2006 after approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Designed by Pritzker Prize–winning architect Renzo Piano, the project increased exhibition space by more than fifty percent and added important visitor amenities, including a new performance hall, a welcoming entrance on Madison Avenue, a new café and a new restaurant, a shop, a new reading room, and collections storage. Piano's design integrates the Morgan's three historical buildings with three new modestly scaled steel-and-glass pavilions. A soaring central court connects the buildings and serves as a gathering place for visitors in the spirit of an Italian piazza.

The final image is of the new Piano-designed reading room, which is a space I think deserves special attention in any library, as it is the space in which patrons interact with the resources of the library - really the essential function (and therefore space) of any library.

As you can see, the reading room is flooded with even, natural lighting. I can only assume that this is not terribly intense, or the light-sensitive rare books of the Morgan are used in a different space. However, if they are used there, what a great space to use them in - well-lit by natural lighting, large tables with lamps, and power outlets. Also, a librarian is close at hand to assist patrons as well as a couple of computers to use the Morgan’s catalog (I assume).

I think this might be my favorite space thus far for four reasons:

The effective re-purposing of the library as reflected in the addition.
The sensitivity of Piano to the existing space and buildings.
Piano’s efforts to make the new space user friendly.
The amazing reading room.

What are your thoughts about this space? Have you ever been there? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

Marfa Photos

Readers,

I just finished upoading a video of my photos of our recent trip to Marfa. I invite you to check them out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QUB6A1OWmo

Or, watch the embedded video below. Enjoy!