Semantic Library

I’m not going to comment on the video or the essays (from some great people which are really worth reading, though I would most definitely remove the fake Obama piece -it takes away the strength of what the other essayists have to say) other than to applaud Michael and David’s enthusiasm, but I did want to add and expand upon one small point in the project.

Michael Porter makes a very interesting comment about the inclusion of Hulu, a US-only video streaming service in the list of 101 “really important things to know” on the blog, Rebbetzin Man in Japan “Library 101 or is it?” and one that I would have liked to see made more strongly in the project -

I see Hulu as a demonstration of successful electronic content distribution. I clearly understand many of the reasons *why* this service isn’t offered though a library channel of some sort, but to me, it typifies how far from the mark we have becoming in providing some types of access to electronic content. It is a lengthy conversation that needs specific sources and documents to further the proof of concern that I have here specifically, but I hope this provides some explanation for why that particular resource was in the list.

From my pov it represents an entire front of threats that libraries are not prepared to address any time soon. And that causes me grave concern. It is more than just a fad that iTunes, Amazon, Hulu, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, let you access content electronically that you cannot access through your library. I realize this is a large issue for Public Libraries *at this point*, but that will change imo and we are dangerously lagging in the legal and technical expertise that is require to effective navigate in these waters.

I wholeheartedly agree that we need legal and technical skills not only to make such content available in libraries, as Michael says, but also the skill, will, and momentum to advocate successfully to challenge licensing and contractual agreements that currently prevent or curtail libraries from making electronic content available in the format and method to the public that is permitted by law and library exceptions.

Librarians need the confidence to not buy electronic books that have restrictive lending and printing conditions, or databases with article download limits, or even systems that don’t allow for the straightforward import and export of data. We need to work together, all of us, not just directors and managers, to point out flaws in licenses and products and make the case for change.

This is the kind of skill that really should be a “Library 101″.

Despite advocating for neutral design (not tied to one particular platform or device), I have been interested in libraries that are looking at iPhone/Touch/Pre applications to provide catalogue searching, collection information and so on. What I would love to see is a general library app that helps librarians and users find and access libraries all over. As anyone who uses public libraries knows, that information can get buried on council and municipality sites, and even academic libraries have found that their homepage links have been disappearing in increasing numbers.

What could such an app include?

• Maps of all publicly accessible libraries near you (location aware) and at a given location worldwide
• Information about access – can you use the Internet without a membership card? Are there access gates? Are books on open access shelves?
• Are there local traveller services? One thing that has always struck me in all of my travels is how few libraries make available information about the local area in a prominent spot. So often I have had to be buried in the collection to find street directories, local maps or local travel guides, or ask at the reference desk for the librarian’s copy. It has always seemed like an obvious and easy service that libraries could provide since they have the resources already and because libraries are so often located in key areas in cities and towns.

  What else would you be interested in?

Internet Librarian International 2009 is being held in London next week. I will have a presentation at the conference, but unfortunately due to a work travel commitment I am not able to attend myself. Instead, this gave me an opportunity to find a co-author/presenter and explore some  ideas about the role of the catalogue in discovery. I’ve called it, “Adaptability, aboutness, and authenticity: Towards discovery platforms with next-generation catalogues and Linked Data” -

>Next-generation catalogues give libraries an opportunity to better meet user needs and changing search habits, but there is a need for more than innovation at the interface level. Many academic libraries have now implemented software that provides an improved search experience in the catalogue, but libraries also need to be able to anticipate user needs and emerging uses of resources and to provide tools that meet needs one step ahead. Linked Data, associated with the Semantic Web, is one way to open up data to the web to expand the ways that users can be connected to library resources. Linked Data also provides the opportunity to consider how catalogues present resources to users. The paper presents a case study of Work Based Learning as an example of a multidisciplinary academic field in which the notion of authenticity is evolving. The question of whether library catalogues can or should help navigate users to authentic resources is considered.

We enjoyed writing it and thinking about how subject experts and librarians may be able to work together to create new platforms for sharing data within and beyond libraries.

I’ll be following ILI2009 tweets from afar, if you’re going have a fantastic time and learn well!

We’re well into 2009 now, but there’s always time for trends!

Kathryn Greenhill at Librarians Matter recently compiled a few of the trends that have been making the rounds on library blogs last month.

Cloud, Semantic Web, and Linked Data abound in predictions and in posts emerging through the first two months of the year. It’s looking to be a big year for the Semantic Web in libraries. Add this to the growth in data curation, digital preservation, and eResearch in libraries and there are interesting times ahead. Most of these issues and trends are also mentioned by other contributors to LITA’s 2009 Top Tech Trends.

So what are my predictions for the rest of the year? I’m going to be conservative and just name four. What are yours?

1. The cloud goes desktop

People are getting increasingly worried about losing what they have created. Whether it’s Facebook changing Terms of Service so that even stuff you delete is still owned by them, or Ma.gnolia taking a catastrophic dive and losing most of its data, slowly but surely I think we will start to see people want to be able to synchronise the data they keep online either with other services or with their desktop. This is of course, but one possible use of Data Portability. People are still not aware of the need to back up their desktops, but i think they’re going to want a button to push to back up their cloud.

2. The rise and rise of metadata

Metadata is cool again. Whether you are working in research services, preservation, or reference, metadata helps you find and get stuff and that’s pretty essential to sift through all the crud out there. I’m not talking MARC – I’m talking EAD, PREMIS, SEPIA and much much more. I will be interested to see those that continue to move beyond metadata and start to expose collections beyond their institutions using methods other than OAI-PMH, like linked data.

3. The death of mobile sites

If you are building a specific mobile site or looking at buying a mobile module for your OPAC, stop. The number of sites built specifically for mobile devices has plummeted, not only due to the popularity of the iPhone and other smartphones with browsers, but because it’s a pain to have to build and maintain these sites. The .mobi domain seems to be slipping but m. is gaining hold (eg m.facebook.com). Smart sites are using content negotiation and web standards to display sites on mobile devices, without having to build separate sites to display less information. The mobile web isn’t second-best any more.

4. Librarians get personal

Many of us are now so familiar with blogs and wikis it hardly seems worth mentioning them as shiny new things any more. So what’s next? The library blogosphere has been in a bit of a lull of late, with few major shifts or emerging technologies for everyone to band around. But for me, this is the year more libraries have to get personal. – Not only designing websites that can be personalised, allowing you to save favourite resources, pages and references, but also in building tools for you – LibX for you, not just the institutional level, more subject guides that feature the human librarian that you are talking to behind the email, and even allowing you to personalise the physical space. And this is something I think we can all band around.

Cool URIs don’t change, right? But uncool URLs certainly do. For over 7 years, I blogged at blisspix.net and as was the way at the time, my URL was both a handle and identity. Whenever I signed up for a new service, my username was always blisspix. Lately, this has become less popular. I’ve noticed a sharp trend towards using real names, whether on Twitter (where I’d estimate well more than half of those I follow use their real name or some version of it) and Facebook, where many I know who chose a vanity URL chose their own name, myself included. The concept of handles and nicks seems to be dying off. I’m glad I didn’t keep using handles from the IRC and chat days of my youth, but blisspix was not much of an improvement and finally, it is time for it to go.  I would be interested to hear if anyone has researched this change.

Identity crisis issues aside, trying to change a name on existing services is a complete pain. Some services offer this with a single click, like Twitter. Others require you to send a form to request the change, like Dopplr. Flickr doesn’t seem to allow it at all. Facebook was very upfront in saying that creating a vanity name was a one time deal. 

But if you can change your name – there’s fallout. Your existence has changed, and all those nice URLs are going to break. There’s no redirects, just breaking. Presumably, if you are giving up a name it should be available to others to take, but to have links and RSS feeds just die is pretty painful. Twitter does do an ok job of this, if you change your name you can still track older mentions of you, although clicking on what was once your old username will still lead to a broken link. 

There’s no real easy solution to this, but it does bear saying that the way we all need to think about how we represent ourselves online. What may have worked at 20 as a uni student may not work as an older professional. This isn’t about what photos you put on Facebook, or whether you rant about an employer online, but the very act of giving yourself a name, whatever it is, forms an identity that can follow you for a long time so it pays to consider it carefully.