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As tech-savvy library folk, ebooks are naturally of direct professional relevance to us, and it can’t hurt to undertand a little more about how they are produced

I’ve been making eBooks for a few years and would be happy to share what I’ve learned about the tools and workflow involved in making an eBook and distributing it through the major commercial vendors.

Tom Dodson

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Yesterday, as some of you doubtless know, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy released a new open access policy that may have a drastic effect on scholarly publishing (unless, of course, it changes nothing). Discussion on Twitter with the hashtags #publicaccess and #openaccess was lively, and I thought we could spend some time talking in person about the policy generally, and specifically how it might affect libraries. One question I have, for instance, is whether projects that IMLS funds will come under this policy; another is how libraries can help with the increased requirements for data management mentioned in the policy.

Here’s some key links:

• White House announcement – www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/02/22/expanding-public-access-results-federally-funded-research
• White House directive – www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/ostp_public_access_memo_2013.pdf (PDF)
• Jen Howard, “White House Delivers New Open-Access Policy that has Activists Cheering” – chronicle.com/article/White-House-Delivers-New/137549/
• Peter Suber, “Second shoe drops: new White House Directive mandates OA” – plus.google.com/109377556796183035206/posts/8hzviMJeVHJ
• Carl Franzen, “White House says government-funded research should be more public, but critics want more” – www.theverge.com/2013/2/22/4019058/white-house-opens-federally-funded-research-critics-unimpressed

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As distributed technology projects call for our collaboration with a more and more diverse group of people, what are some simple, day-to-day methods for working with folks from very different professions?

This is partially a project management question, I think, so I’d be interested in learning from others’ experiences in large, diverse working groups. When starting a project, what are some methods for information gathering and getting to know new departments? Determining best project roles and communication methods?

What do archivists and curators wish librarians knew? What do librarians need to learn about working with IT departments? What do educational technologists wish IT professionals knew about them? What about cultural differences when working with partners from the corporate sector? How do we incorporate diverse practices into a larger functional whole?

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I propose a blue-sky dreaming session wherein we collaboratively imagine the best possible future for libraries, 2, 10, and 20 years from now. What kinds of cool innovations in tech and shifts in library philosophy will get us to where we dream of being? What secret projects do you (want to) work on that, given time and scale, could be transformative?

On my mind:  machine learning, RFID, text mining, 3D printers, Raspberry Pi, virtual/augmented reality, quadcopters, privacy concerns, internet of things.

This is inspired by NISO’s Future Perfect virtual conference. I found some of the ideas proposed there really exciting (and scary).

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Taking part in new faculty-driven digital initiatives is an exciting opportunity for librarians in academic/research institutions.  What specific skills and competencies can or should a librarian bring to this kind of collaboration?

I’m involved in such a digital project right now, one that is developing an interactive framework for collaborative commentary on Dante’s Divine Comedy.  The site is hosted by the college, being developed by an outside programmer, and imagined/driven by a group of faculty members and me.  What specific value can the librarian offer?

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Like it or not, the typical “outreach session” for any GLAM institution is a single, one-shot, sixty minute workshop. I’ll set aside our desires to be better integrated into the semester curriculum, or museum summer series, or after school high school programs, and have more time. Instead, I’d like to focus on how to make the one-shot as meaningful as possible. (I’m taking on faith that we can can make it meaningful.)

I’d like to in particular talk about creating meaningful one-shot sessions focused on digital cultural heritage objects. In academic libraries, this might be a research session on primary sources. In state archives, an outreach session on genealogy databases. In museums, a digital art workshop for high schoolers.

However, the content is less important to me than the format — how do GLAMs create a short but powerful learning experience that will encourage participants to come back and see us again? How can online tools extend connections with our patrons, and create new spaces for public arts and humanities? I have a few thoughts:

• Give participants a task before the session. (Something as simple as saying “Before attending this museum session, pick your favorite painting to re-mix.”)
• Minimize lecture, maximize hands-on creation. (E.g., “Use digital art tools to create a new painting based on your favorite.”)
• What participants create, they take home as a reminder. (E.g. a nice printout of their artwork, plus a permanent online home for their artwork.)
• Give participants a platform for discussion after the session. (E.g. online commenting and easy Twitter/Facebook/other sharing of their artwork.)

However, I have a feeling that public institutions, archives, and museums are far out ahead of me and my fellow academic librarians! So I’d love to hear about what you’re doing and develop a set of recommendations to bring back for my own teaching and outreach efforts.

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The more I teach infolit courses, the more I realize I have to teach little tricks of computer use, like ctl-F for find, or where the address bar is, or that you don’t have to go to Google, you can just type in the web address.  When students use their own laptops or tablets, we have to spend class time getting them on wireless, and then there’s the general troubleshooting that comes up in any technology heavy class.

I hoe this will turn into a skill-sharing/problem solving session.

• What are some of your best Media, Digital, Computer and Information literacy teaching hacks?
• How do you handle students who are computer illiterate?
• BYOD/smartphone/tablet teaching

I’m coming at this from an academic library perspective, but I’d love to hear what public librarians are doing with this, too.

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In case my first proposal is too much like what is already being offered, I’ll put forth an alternate proposal:

With many screencasting programs the basics are easy to learn, but most of us did not attend film school.  The hours spent creating a screencast make updating it a chore.  If we could screencast more effectively, we could keep our videos updated and more useful.

• What are some common mistakes that novice screencasters make, and how can we avoid them?
• How can we create a more polished product in fewer takes?
• What are best practices for those who don’t have a dedicated studio space for screencasting?
• Are there times when a rough screencast is better than a polished one?

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“Gaming” as a subject crosses many disciplinary boundaries: literature, music, art, math, computer science, physics, education, media studies, and business — not to mention the application of game theory to still more areas.

• How do we best support and encourage game studies, gaming research, game development in the library?
• What technology, materials, platforms, media, spaces, collections, services do we need in libraries to support gaming culture at our institutions?
• What skills, knowledge, competencies, literacies do we need as librarians?
• How can we use games in and as library instruction?

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I’d like to have a conversation with like-minded folks who support classroom pedagogy about the library/ed tech role in teaching DH to undergraduates. I suspect there are more of us at smaller liberal arts colleges than at larger institutions, but I welcome and hope for surprise. Some initial question:

• How are DH competencies taught to students at our institutions, and what is (or should be) the library’s role in that?
• How does this role mirror or diverge from our more traditional involvement in teaching and pedagogy? How should it?
•  How best do we teach undergraduate students to think in the terms of DH methodologies? Is embedment a better model than single-sessions? Do we collaborate with faculty beyond (or in lieu of) class sessions? How?
• Where’s the line between library support and educational technology support for DH pedagogy? Where should it be?

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Digital information becomes separated from its traditional “containers.” To a novice user a journal article, for example, can resemble a book chapter or a conference report.  Even experienced users can find the genre lines blurry in an electronic environment.

• How can we best foster genre awareness in this context?
• Why does genre matter?
• How do we deal with blurred, hybrid, or emerging genres?

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Many libraries and archives exhibit material on their websites or on blogs and social media platforms. They range from full-on interactive experiences to duplications of existing physical exhibits to “object of the month” style photo blogs. While there are decades of theory behind physical exhibit design, for the most part, institutions are on their own in deciding how they should present their materials online, how much they should present, and what content and functionality their users actually want. In this session we would discuss our experiences with creating online exhibit material, the methods and tools used in creating such exhibits, and perhaps ask some larger questions: What do users want/need out of online exhibits? Should institutions try to duplicate the physical exhibit experience as much as possible? Is there something more that can be done with online exhibits than what we are already doing?

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Part of my job is to explore new technology solutions for our library to improve the workflows of our students, faculty, and staff.  I find myself often feeling overwhelmed and without direction when it comes to researching technologies and keeping track of it all.  There are just so many cool things!  I’m interested in engaging in conversation with others about:

1. How/where they get information on new technologies.

2. How they keep track of all of that information once they find it.

3. How and when they decide to move forward with a particular tool to implement it at their library–which ones make the cut and why?

I do this, but feel I could be doing it better.  I would love to hear from others with similar questions or with answers to this bit of a quandary.

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Sure, the fun part is actually doing the project – digging into the data, creating cool models and maps, driving the discussion and exploration of a chosen topic. But what happens after the project concludes? How are the products created during the project managed? What about the documentation and systems used? The responsibility for a digital project humanities project does not end when the final product is created and shared. Libraries are uniquely placed to provide support not only during a project, but afterward as well. I’d like this session to explore ways that libraries can create and market the services needed to support digital humanities projects when they’ve reached their end. At what point should libraries become involved in the project? Should DH projects consider the limitations of library information systems when being planned, or should libraries be flexible to handle a wide range of data and products?

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The changing world of ebooks

Given: Patrons will increasingly use ebooks in the coming years.

What can librarians do to:

• Provide the titles they need (purchase outright, purchase-on-demand, provide changing content in the form of vendor packages such as ebrary)
• Ascertain what titles they need (solicit patron input, offer purchase-on-demand)
• Make ebooks easily accessible (for reading online or downloading, simplifying digital rights management, providing mobile apps)
• Provide hardware (loan equipment such as PCs, ebook readers, tablets; and perhaps provide pre-loaded content on these devices)
• Help them find the digital content already in the library’s collection (web-scale discovery layer, one-on-one or classroom instruction, pushing instructional content to patrons by electronic means such as email, social network locations, Twitter, RSS feeds)
• Promoting electronic publishing; publishing titles sponsored by libraries themselves; working with university publishers

Please bring your suggestions—what is your library doing, what should we be doing, what is in the works—for improving our service to patrons in this changing environment.