Author: Lorraine

     Since I’ve discussed the significance of shared stories in our Hyperlinked Communities reflection, I would like to cover a topic from Module 7: Planning for Participatory Services.

     Lenstra & Barbakoff’s (2024) “Working Hand in Hand” serves as a wonderful and enlightening reminder that we are not the user! Nobody knows the community more than the community themselves, hence the need for community-led planning “The library cannot and should not try to impose a rigid set of steps or schedule, because the community determines how the process will progress” (Lenstra & Barbakoff, 2024). Communities know what will and will not help them—this is especially relevant when it comes to different information communities that come into the library; for example, a service for teens might not be a useful service for seniors. Libraries and the communities they serve should be in consistent, open collaboration with one another to bring forward successful services, programming, materials, and even events. Community-led planning is broken down into five steps in the Working Together Project:

(1) Systematically build knowledge about community through community assessment

(2) Identify community goals and needs

(3) Plan services

(4) Deliver services

(5) Evaluate results. (Lenstra & Barbakoff, 2024)

     I was specifically drawn to Lenstra and Barbakoff’s proposal of encouraging the community to be involved in the evaluation process of planning. Typically when we think of evaluating services, we can limit ourselves to numbers and statistics—this doesn’t have to be the case! Qualitative data, which can be in the form of a paper survey or feedback in a monthly meeting in the community room or even a simple email, is just as important. Through community-led planning, members can freely and comfortably express what a service is doing best, what a service can improve on, or even propose a service that does not exist. Through shared evaluation, the library can assist the community through the perspective of their community.

     Community-led programming allows users to be visible and encourages participation. I also believe community-led programming will bring in members who aren’t using the library. Members may not be using the library because they believe there’s nothing there for them. While there could be a service that they may not be aware of, there is still a possibility that there isn’t a service for them; of course, it doesn’t have to stay this way. Through communication and collaboration, librarians can achieve improvements that their members are involved with throughout the entire process. Once again, we are not the user!

References

Lenstra, N., & Barbakoff, A. (2024, March 1). Working hand in hand: How to conduct community-led planning. American Libraries Magazine. https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2024/03/01/working-hand-in-hand/

My Dilemma With AI:

     Since deciding to pursue an MLIS, I’ve run into numerous discussions concerning AI much more than I ever anticipated. I’m no longer in a position to keep ignoring it—and I don’t want to keep ignoring it either! With the exception of an INFO 244 assignment where I had to experiment with ChatGPT and reflect on my experience as a user, I’ve never used AI for personal use. Truthfully, I find myself purposely avoiding the AI summaries we see at the top of search engine pages like the plague. I do believe I’ve gotten better on accepting AI’s existence, but I still have an issue with the act of integrating AI throughout our libraries. For this reason, Krupp Library’s ChatGPT: A Library Perspective really spoke to me as someone who is concerned with AI’s emerging prominence in the world and its relationship with our users.

    Papini (2023) is transparent concerning the weaknesses of AI and ChatGPT, for example “We have found that ChatGPT can’t always tell you where it got a specific piece of information, especially if it can be found in more than one place…ChatGPT lacks authority, which is why this version can’t be considered a truly credible, or scholarly source.” This is one of the major grievances I have with AI/ChatGPT. In an academic setting, I just don’t see AI’s value due to its uncertain nature. Like other technologies, it is limited; this doesn’t, however, mean that it is 100% ineffective. Papini (2023) also discusses the use of AI/ChatGPT in a creative context “ChatGPT is a great way to get started brainstorming, or if you want to write a general overview of a topic, but it is often vague and even inaccurate, and is not a substitute for human writing.” I appreciate Papini’s emphasis that AI tools cannot or should not replace human writing—I do hold hope that AI won’t replace humans. I also know numerous people who use ChatGPT as a starting point for their works, and while I may not resort to it, I do understand how it may help them. I’m beginning to think that this is the case with all technologies; what may be impractical to one may be accommodating to another.

     Papini (2023) closes this informative piece with wisdom that’s relevant to our discussions in the Hyperlinked Library “There have been many disruptive technologies and always will be. We will continue to make choices about how and what to use or adapt; the library is here to help you to learn and understand how these tools can be used and provide some guidance on when they should or should not be used according to our professional best practices.” I am particularly drawn to Papini’s words that disruptive technologies have existed in the past and will continue exist in the future. It’s merely up to us, as information professionals, to either work with or not work with these technologies for the benefit of our users. I don’t think I will 100% embrace AI overnight. I see this as a long process which will be with me as I continue to complete my MLIS and after when I work in an organization.

     I suppose what I would like to ask now is how have you embraced (or not embraced) AI? What does AI look like in your organization? What will AI look like in the future?

     This was a great piece that made me consider and re-consider our discussions of AI, so I encourage you to give it a read if you haven’t already!

References

Papini, A. (2023). ChatGPT: A library perspective. Krupp Library. https://library.bryant.edu/chatgpt-library-perspective

Hello! For my Innovation Strategy & Roadmap project, I decided to come up with a Wildfire Awareness service. As a Californian, I think many users can benefit from information regarding wildfire prevention and preparedness. Attached below is a PDF of my presentation, where you can see how California libraries such as the Napa County Library can best support their users. Enjoy!

Wildfire Awareness Service

The Hyperlinked Academic Library:

     Since beginning my Hyperlinked journey, I’ve grown curious regarding the roles academic libraries possess in our discussion on technology and the user. Specifically, I wonder how academic librarians fulfill the goal of not necessarily providing scholars the answers of their questions—rather, providing scholars the online resources which can help them in endeavors beyond college and in their everyday life. Where precisely does technology, an evolving appliance that’s challenging to keep up with, stand? In the discussion of academia, it is an unavoidable force “Having transformed the work of librarians, the digital world has also impacted all aspects of the research process. Today’s students and researchers are interacting with information resources and web-based tools and technologies from the moment they have their initial idea, through planning their research, the experimental phase and fieldwork, to disseminating their findings and promoting reuse of their research outputs” (Webster, 2017). The resources are there, of course, but are scholars interacting with them the way that they should?

Note. Sonoma State University students doing research on library computers.

     “Students need to learn how to use academic libraries to do academic work. But not all information is academic, and students will need to know something about the wider landscape of information to function in a world that’s highly driven by networked and powerful information systems” (Fister, 2017). Like members we’ll encounter in a public library setting, academic librarians face the task of teaching numerous students of different learning styles information literacy. Information literacy, I believe, is the most essential tool that benefits scholars during and after their educational process. You truly cannot succeed without it in this day of age, especially with the rise of misinformation and disinformation even technology can’t 100% filter out. How information literacy is accomplished is through honest communication and open collaboration between the librarian and the user. For online resources offered to be used—and to be used adequately—students should feel encouraged to come to the library and interact with faculty.

     What I’m curious of now, is how do we make or keep scholars across various fields interested in what the library has to offer? How do we create an appropriate balance of both physical and digital resources? How do we make academic libraries a space where scholars want to learn in the isolating age we’re living in?

References

Fister, B. (2017, June 1). The boundaries of ‘information’ in information literacy. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/library-babel-fish/boundaries-information-information-literacy

University Library at Sonoma State University. (n.d.). Computers. https://library.sonoma.edu/study/computers

Webster, K. (2017, February 15). Reimagining the role of the library in the digital age: changing the use of space and navigating the information landscape. LSE Impact Blog. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2017/02/15/reimagining-the-role-of-the-library-in-the-digital-age-changing-the-use-of-space-and-navigating-the-information-landscape/?platform=hootsuite

The Community Throughout Time:

     For our Hyperlinked Communities module, I was heavily drawn to the Westmount Public Library’s Postcard Collection video. When diving deeper into this special collection, I found it resonated with my belief that users should be able to see their own community—those who are with us and those who aren’t—throughout the space. The collection “was established in 1974 to commemorate the Library’s 75th birthday with the purpose of preserving a pictorial history of Quebec since the 1890’s” (Westmount Public Library, n.d.). The WPL has over 40,000 postcards, most of which continue to be donated by Westmount locals, in the collection designed to encourage community involvement—the oldest dating all the way back to 1878 (Baiocco, 2016). Users see and interact with the postcards on the library’s multitouch table through DokLab’s Local Stories application.

     Postcards, of course, aren’t just postcards—they’re stories! More specifically, stories of the community. Stories allow users to connect with those who came before and increases community involvement “On the table, every touchpoint is important. We try to delight our users with every interaction, hoping that they will be compelled to keep touching the table and moving through the story” (Baiocco, 2016). Stories define who were once were and who we are today. I find it a beautiful thing for a community to see itself evolve into what it is now!

Note. A postcard from the WLP collection.

Note. Another postcard from the WLP collection.

     Libraries and users change over time. I do, however, find value in the past. As I expressed earlier, users should see their own community throughout the space—this shouldn’t exclude community members who are no longer with us. These members are still alive through stories, as seen in WLP’s postcard collection. Through partnership of the library and its users, the community’s stories are cherished and encourages involvement.

References

Baiocco, L. (2016, May). Labor of love: Opening up archival gems for community engagement. Computers in Libraries, 36(4).

Geer, J. (2015, December 6). Local stories [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAfw2logFJM

Westmount Public Library. (n.d.). Special collections. https://www.westlibcat.org/iguana/www.main.cls?p=*&v=53169841-0bc5-4287-a04a-0dc782ef3638

     Since joining the Hyperlinked Library, I’ve found myself pulled to the significance of transparency in librarianship not just for LIS professionals, but more importantly…for our users! Transparency is concerned with openness and sincerity, but what exactly does that mean or look like in librarianship? “The transparent library contains three key elements: open communication, adapting to change, and scanning the horizon” (Casey & Stephens, 2007). Communication, I believe, is the key to success across all professions—not just LIS. Communication is a crucial element that cannot be one-sided, secretive, nor overlooked. Change, as we’ve come to know in LIS studies, is scary but nonetheless inevitable; as librarians, we have the utmost responsibility to make changes to our organization that will fulfill user experience. I find that change connects well with Casey & Stephens’ (2007) discussion of scanning the horizon, in which change doesn’t appear out of nowhere—the changes we make need to have reasoning behind them and are a direct response to the current environment of our organization. Below, I will examine how transparency can impact user experience.

     Before all else, LIS professionals must acknowledge and remember they’re not the user. Once we accept our role in the library, we can work to enhance our performance and bring forward the services our users need and/or didn’t know they needed. This can be in the form of communicating with users in real life or online, cross-training staff, listening and responding to both staff and user ideas, forming/attending community events to form connections with the public, and bringing different departments together to plan a project as one (Casey & Stephens, 2007). This importance of the user is also expressed in the American Library Association’s (2021) Code of Ethics “We provide the highest level of service to all library users through appropriate and usefully organized resources; equitable service policies; equitable access; and accurate, unbiased, and courteous responses to all requests.” To provide for all users, however, we of course need to listen and respond to all users in our community—regardless if they use the library or not. Transparency can appear in numerous ways, which I will now examine.

     Again, adapting to change is an essential element in accomplishing transparency and user satisfaction—this is clear in the recent trend of eliminating late fees. In Library Journal’s 2022 Fines and Fees Survey, it was found that “Respondents who chose to eliminate fines listed various grounds for their decisions, including opportunities to foster good will and improve customer service, promote social justice, and adhere to their mission statements and directives” (Gerber, 2022). In response to cutting these fees, which are simply barriers in disguise, LJ’s survey also discovered that users belonging to an organization who eliminated fees had an increase in “patron satisfaction and participation” (Gerber, 2022). Here, we see transparency in action. Changes that come to the library need to have a purpose—in this case, the purpose is to dismantle the idea of fining and “getting” users while removing shame. This is a major step in creating connections with community members, unlike the 2015 Seattle Public Library’s rebrand attempt which led to financial disaster. While rebranding is appropriate, and should be encouraged if needed, libraries need to consider their users every step of the way—something SPL didn’t do when wasting nearly $2 million and wasn’t being led by user ideas nor going toward beneficial user services (Kenney, 2015). Whether in the form of eliminating late fees or rebranding, the element of open communication in changing an organization’s environment is essential to achieve transparency.

     Diving deep into transparency this week has reaffirmed my faith that LIS professionals are not the user. Just because I’m not the user, however, that doesn’t mean real change isn’t within reach. As an aspiring LIS professional, I’ve come to realize that I’ll be the one who makes open and sincere communication possible. I believe transparency in libraries can only be achieved when both staff and users have the chance to be honest with one another; it would be my responsibility to create an environment where that can occur. Despite the challenges that may come with it, adapting to change is necessary. Overall, transparency is something all LIS professionals must strive toward in their organization.

References

American Library Association. (2021, June 19). ALA code of ethics. https://www.ala.org/tools/ethics

Casey, M., & Stephens, M. (2007, April 1). Introducing the Michaels. TTW | Tame the Web.

Casey, M., & Stephens, M. (2007, December 15). A road map to transparency. TTW | Tame the Web. https://tametheweb.com/2007/12/15/a-road-map-to-transparency/

Gerber, A. (2022, September 28). Fine farewells: LJ’s 2022 fines and fees survey. Library Journal. https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/Fine-Farewells-LJs-2022-Fines-and-Fees-Survey

Kenney, B. (2015, November 13). Lessons from Seattle’s failed bid to rebrand its public library. Publishers Weekly. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/libraries/article/68666-brand-awareness-lessons-from-seattle-s-failed-bid-to-rebrand-its-public-library.html

Hello!

My name is Lorraine and this will be my second semester here at San Jose State University’s MLIS program. Prior to SJSU, I graduated from Sonoma State University where I earned a BA in English Literature. My favorite writers include John Keats, Christina Rossetti, James Baldwin, and Haruki Murakami. I aspire to become an academic librarian where I will aid scholars in their research and work with instructors to best support their students. I enrolled in this course because I have faith that it will introduce me to the most helpful tools I can use in my future career. While all these emerging technologies can be overwhelming, I don’t want to shy away from them! We have a responsibility to be aware of the technologies that can either harm or support our patrons of all identities. Overall, I am excited to learn more and develop my knowledge of the current state of the evolving LIS field.

I look forward to collaborating with you all!