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Freedom to read

Published December 19, 2008 book reviews , ideas , libraries , values Leave a Comment

television-set

I just finished Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death – another classic (from 1985). Postman offers a critique of television as a medium for communication. Essentially, he’s arguing that the way in which messages are structured for television turns all public discourse into entertainment. And, of course, entertainment is by its nature is superficial; therefore, we may lose (have lost) the ability to reflect and think deeply. He presents some convincing examples from all corners of society (politics, religion, education, etc.).

I am amazed at how accurate his observations are over 20 years later. In fact, I think some of these arguments could be easily applied to the internet (but that’s for another time).

One thought that stuck out to me was a rather small section where he talks about the concept of freedom to read (a cause often championed by the library community). What I found most interesting is that he downplayed the idea that “Freedom to Read” was about countering censorship or giving equal opportunity to controversial ideas. Instead, for Postman freedom to read was viewed as a freedom from television (or perhaps in our culture we might say a freedom from media technology altogether).

Certainly, our traditional values related to freedom to read should remain in tact, but perhaps there is something to this “freedom from [insert media]” idea too.

Physical places and virtual spaces

Published December 6, 2008 ideas , libraries Leave a Comment

buildings-virtual

As I mentioned in my previous post I’ve been reading Jane Jacobs’ classic The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Even though some of her examples are a little outdated (the book is over 40 years old now) there is a clear thread throughout the book about design and its impact on people.

In a nutshell, Jacobs discusses how urban planners and architects design cities, parks, and buildings to be used in a certain way, and then people go and use the spaces in a completely different fashion. What is interesting is that the designers never seem to learn (at least according to Jacobs). Instead of paying attention to how people actually interact with the spaces, the planners keep repeating the same mistakes.

While Jacob is talking about physical places, as I read this book I can’t help but think about virtual spaces. I think a lot of her discussion can be applied to the success (or failure) of online social communities (Facebook, MySpace, etc.). However, I think we could apply some of these same principles to a virtual space that’s a little closer to home – the library website.

In fact, I think there are some frightening parallels between Jacobs’ city planners and our own library website design teams. We put up websites and systems (sometimes insanely difficult systems) and then tell people how to use them. We get frustrated when they can’t figure out our “perfectly organized” sites, but we never stop to actually see how they are using our virtual spaces.

Perhaps when we design library websites we should actually think of it as building a community (diverse and dynamic) and not as a one-size-fits all exercise in taxonomic rationality (efficient, but anemic).

I’m just starting to think about this… maybe there’s a more formal paper in here somewhere…

Faster Horse

Published July 21, 2007 innovation , libraries , quotes 1 Comment

Painted horses on a Merry-go-round

If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they’d have said a faster horse. – Henry Ford

I recently came across this quote in a book I was reading on innovation and it immediately appealed to me. Henry Ford didn’t ask the general public to look into the future and imagine an automobile for him – he simply built one and let his invention capture the public’s imagination.

I realize that I’m relatively new to the library world, but sometimes I think we spend too much time telling ourselves that our customers (or patrons if you prefer) will help us come up with the next great idea. We’re the ones with the library training, we’re the ones who know the information industry, we’re the ones who go to conferences, but for some reason we’re afraid to trust our instincts.

So what do we do? We conduct endless user surveys, we delve into the literature, and we hire consultants (all good things) hoping to unlock the secret desires of our patrons. Unfortunately, our patrons are unimaginative when it comes to the library world (as we should expect) and all they end up saying is, “Give us more of the same thing – only better.”

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t pay attention to our patrons just that maybe shouldn’t expect our patrons to come up with the next big thing for us. In fact, I think this “faster horse” feedback is hampering innovation in the library world – we’re stuck tweaking small services, or testing pilot projects, instead of re-imagining the future.

Maybe we need to adopt more of an entrepreneurial mindset where failure actually is an option. Henry Ford started a revolution in transportation without checking with his customers or the general public – maybe the library community could learn something from that.

What’s Missing in the Library Literature (for me)

Published July 18, 2007 ideas , libraries , literature 1 Comment

I’m the first to admit that I don’t read as much library literature as I probably should. In fact, I mostly avoid it. It’s not that it’s bad (although some of it is), it’s not that it’s irrelevant (although some of it is a stretch), it’s not even that I don’t have time (although I don’t have much of that). I guess I just prefer books or articles that make me think bigger than my little corner of the library world. Unfortunately, I’m afraid most of what I read in the library literature doesn’t do that.

The other day I was having this conversation with my manager, Doug Horne, and I joked that we needed start a journal where people in the library and information world could publish “think” pieces. You know the type – pieces that challenge the status quo, or come out of left field, or suggest radical solutions. The kind that say library schools have it all wrong, that the Library of Congress shouldn’t set rules for everyone, that the reference desk is quaint but no longer necessary, or that knowledge managers will rule the world… you know, the kind or articles that get people fired up.

Maybe such a thing already exists (and in my limited library literature experience I have yet to come across it), but somehow I doubt it. I know there are good thinkers out there – I’ve heard some of them at conferences. We need a place for them to publish that is more about ideas than data analysis, more about innovation than airtight methodology. Who’s in?