Joan Frye Williams

Joan Frye Williams is talking from surveys and other research, so it is interesting to hear what she brings as ways to “pimp your library”. I rather like her first point, which draws on being cool about technology that we don’t always consider. Make sure, she told us, to point out the “green tech” in your library. It is also critical, though, to be aware of current consumer technologies. We need to embrace new tech, and be able to speak about things like new cells, PSPs, iPods and much more. When we whine about technology, we loose cred with the students. As she reminded us, there is no such thing as a digital native – there are those who learn something new and those who whine.

We need to change our thoughts and modify our ways. In our library game, we can be the gamemasters who provide cheat codes and hint sheets. The whitelists of resources that we recommend are not, as some see them, meant to oppress learners and restrict them, but rather to help guide them. The problem is that we haven’t done a great job of marketing that these guides are here to help and not restrict. We also need to change the language of our physical space – study carrels need to give way to more tables and group spaces.

Joan also brought up exactly what Miguel has been talking about. We need to modify our libraries to make sure that our users know that they are fully empowered for self service and getting started with research on their own. They don’t NEED us for everything (I know…that hurts) and we need to support them as guides. We can do this by providing guideposts like online tips, quick start guides, signs and explanations in real English (the word “retrospective” is no longer allowed in libraries!). Reality check: lighten up with the information. Librarians, Joan tells us, tend to pour information on our users like a young child’s first trip to a sundae bar with a big bottle of chocolate sauce. Less is more…let them get started and then they can come to us if they need more.

Market the heck out of your library. Joan reminds us to display the covers of as many books as we can as opposed to the much less appealing spines. Anything we can do to increase the serendipity of “finding” in the library is a worthy goal. The Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh is creating Information Neighborhoods like “Automotive” or “Health and Fitness” where resources of all types are brought together.

Joan’s call to action is for libraries to integrate ourselves into the rest of the online world. We need to stop building walls between library information environments and the real world. OCLC: 1% of users (2% of students) start their information searches with a library site. The rest use a search engine. We need to realize that our job is not information gathering, but rather to provide some assistance in the real world. Libraries are not – and cannot be – a container. Our places, both physical and virtual, need to be about the experience.

So what does it come down to for Joan?
-Listen to your students
-Look for new ways to add value
-Build on existing assets
-Think Big
-Plan for success
-Speak up
-Laugh a lot

After spending a day with Michael Stephens, the only word that comes to mind is “hot!”

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