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Year in Review 2008

Published by Fiona January 5th, 2009 in General. 1 Comment

For those of you who are still subscribed to this blog, I give you, a little belatedly, my 2008 year in review. I am trying to turn this domain over to photoblogging but it is taking a little longer than I would like. I can’t give up the domain and a dead blog isn’t much fun to look at. So that’s a January goal. Until then -

2008 was good to me, very good to me. I had three different jobs last year, fulfilled my dream of living and working overseas, and travelled a lot. I greeted 2008 from a taxi stuck in traffic in Shanghai, and farewelled it watching the fireworks erupt from the Petronas Towers on Bukit Bingtang in Kuala Lumpur.

I lived in the Netherlands for 7 months, working a dream job with wonderful colleagues while on secondment. Being out of the library (but not out of the library world) was great for me, I learnt a lot, loved the work, and came back to Australia recharged.

I went to 14 countries during the year, many favourites for the second, third, fourth time. A few of those trips were made by rail or bus, but I flew more than ever and am not really proud of that.

I met quite a few librarians who I have admired for a long time, during the two conferences that I attended, ALA and IFLA. I had my first journal article published, and another conference paper with my wonderful collaborators over at Libraries Interact.

On the flip side, I spent four months in 2008 on the opposite side of the world from my husband while we maintained two households on different continents. It was not the most difficult thing (we have been long distance before) but it’s not something I particularly enjoyed. I had never actually lived on my own before so that was an interesting experience.

One of the best things I did all year was to switch to bicycle commuting when I got back to Sydney and moved campuses. I love being completely in control of when I leave home and arrive at work, and the long straight stretch in the middle of my commute makes it totally worthwhile. It’s a small thing, but I get to work in 20 minutes feeling awake instead of tired from my old 1.5 hour commute.

I am not sure what 2009 will bring. I do want to spend more time on creative projects this year, and write up my experiences of living in the Netherlands. And beyond that? Who knows. I hope it’s a good one.

Oh, hello there

Published by Fiona August 3rd, 2008 in General. 4 Comments

As you saw from my last post a few months back, the blog as you knew it is done. But a couple of things I’ve noticed in the past months:

1. I’ve been identified with this alias/URL so long in libraryland (much the same as I have different aliases in other places) that this is what people know me as. And blisspix is just that more catchy than Semantic Library as an alias, don’t you think?

2. It’s not possible to let this URL drop, so I should do *something* with it.

3. Seems like everyone’s still subscribed, no? At least according to Feedburner.

4. It would be nice to have a place to put stuff that is not Semantic Web-related, like updates on papers I’m working on, stuff on design and UX, Drupal, web development etc.

So I’m thinking about what to do with the site/domain, the old blog is definitely done, but if you have any suggestions, let me know!

Permanent hiatus

Published by Fiona May 8th, 2008 in General. 10 Comments

I’ve decided to call it a day with this blog. It’s been going for almost 7 years, and has seen me through four jobs, two countries, my wedding, lots of changes in focus, and many many holidays. I started it when I had no idea how to get involved in the profession, and through times when I was far too busy with committees.

I’ve met so many people because of it - thank you all for reading for all these years. I really appreciate all the comments and links and friendships.

Why end now? I just hit a point where I was struggling to find things to post about. And so it’s time to move onto something new, whatever that is. I will be archiving and then selectively removing pages from this blog, but goodness knows that darned Library Songs page is always gonna be here.

The fun continues over at Semantic Library, and Libraries Interact where I will continue to blog.

On hiatus

Published by Fiona April 2nd, 2008 in General. 0 Comments

Blisspix.net will be taking a short hiatus while I reevaluate the blog. My interests have taken a major shift lately and I want to take some time out to plan posts for the next few months.
Semantic Library is being updated regularly at the moment, feel free to take a look!

Libraries are fun! Visiting the DOK

Published by Fiona February 23rd, 2008 in Public libraries and Technology. 0 Comments

This afternoon I went to Delft and met Erik Boekesteijn and Jaap Van De Geer from the DOK (and the Shanachie Tour) and had a really fun library afternoon.

We started with a tour of the staff backroom. In many libraries, backroom areas are sadly neglected and overrun with stock and stuff. At the DOK they’ve taken as much care to create great staff areas as public areas. The workspaces are open and there’s plenty of places to collaborate and all kinds of technology around, like a really cool jumbo-sized touchscreen for presentations.

More open spaceNext to an amazing open space that has literature, a cafe, a stage, gaming and music. The building that the DOK is in used to be a supermarket and out of the structure left behind they’ve got an amazing loft-like structure on this floor.

The cafe is just to the right of this picture, so you can grab a coffee and sit to read or watch a band play on Friday nights up at the stage.

It’s so light and bright here that even if the weather’s not so nice it’s still really cozy inside.

Cafe The cafe uses the same desk design as desks in the different library departments. It really is part of the library.

The children’s department was next. Gaming, portable shelving and special secret rooms dominate this area. Some of the shelving on the area is on castors so it can be moved to hold special events. There’s two rooms that are a little bit hidden and are wonderful rooms for kids to discover. One is for comics (strips) which are hugely popular in Belgium and the Netherlands, and the other is for picture books.

Also on this floor is the music department, which houses a Wii and an amazing collection of CDs and LPs. I got to try out Wii sports for the first time, battling Jaap and Erik on Tennis and Bowling. One of the kids using the library joined us to bowl for a while, and loved it!

Another thing I really liked is their DIY approach to things. Staff members designed some of the signage, they designed their own ILS (and their catalogue has an awesome recommendation system built in) and they have local teens working on developing a game. They built a CRM system to send more relevant messages to users who opt in. They are innovating and building all sorts of great stuff on their own and encouraging their library users to do the same - you can make podcasts and video and all kinds of media here.
Something I didn’t notice until I was just about to leave was how little instructional signage there was. In a lot of libraries, there’s all sorts of signs telling you what to do. Computers might have notes stuck all over them telling you how to log on or print. DOK is different. It really encourages you to play and work stuff out. The music department doesn’t have a big sign for MUSIC but you can *hear* music over there and it soon becomes obvious what that part of the area is for. Service desks don’t have signs like Information or Enquiries (the wording of which we inevitably fret over) - the design is obvious.

There’s obviously been a lot of thought put into user behaviour and the design of flexible space at DOK. It is an amazing place. Thanks to Erik and Jaap for an awesome afternoon, I had been looking forward to meeting them since I heard about the Shanachie Tour last year and they are such fun, generous hosts.

Lots more pictures on my Flickr page, including the Wii!

Announcing the Semantic Library

Published by Fiona November 27th, 2007 in General and Site updates. 1 Comment

Taking the wraps off: Semantic Library is a new blog and wiki project I’ve started looking at what the semantic web and ‘web 3.0′ might mean for libraries. The site will include news and discussion as well as concept overviews (eg the first is about the mobile web) which anyone can add to and expand. Further down the track, I hope to put together an online learning program, modelled on Five Weeks to a Social Library, Learning 2.0 and other free online programs. 

It began as a vague thought on Twitter about whether anyone would be interested in learning about the semantic web in this way. The response from fellow Twitter friends was positive so it went from there. If you are interested too, please consider signing up to the wiki (password: library30) or subscribing to the blog. We are just at the very beginning, everyone is welcome to participate whether you have experience in semantic web technologies or are just curious.

Access to Knowledge and Libraries

Published by Fiona November 6th, 2007 in Commons, Law, Copyright, Studying and DRM. 0 Comments

I just turned in my final paper for this degree, I won’t say last ever because I thought I was done with study two degrees and a diploma ago, and look what happened. :)

The paper was for an Internet studies class, but given how much of what we do as librarians is tied up in Internet governance and policy, it was easy to find a library-related topic for this class. My topic was The impact of policy and governance on access to scientific and scholarly knowledge online.

Libraries have played a key part in debates on this issue thus far. Access to Knowledge includes initiatives like Open Access, but also licensing and legislative advocacy, programs to get electronic journals into libraries in developing nations, and working towards a WIPO Development Agenda.

I bookmarked many of these resources at del.icio.us throughout the semester, but here’s a more annotated look at some of the critical resources on this topic -

Kirsop, B., Arunachalam, S., & Chan, L. (2007). Access to Scientific Knowledge for Sustainable Development: Options for Developing Countries. Ariadne (52).

The benefits of access to research for capacity building, partnerships and networks in developing nations.

Nicholson, D. R. (2007). International Copyright Trends and Access to Knowledge Initiatives in Africa. Paper presented at the World Library and Information Congress: 73rd IFLA General Conference and Council. [PDF]
Recent article surveying the need for protection of Traditional Knowledge in African nations, the A2K treaty, and other initiatives to improve ICT infrastructure and availability of research.

Boyle, J. (2004). A Manifesto on WIPO and the Future of Intellectual Property. Duke Law & Technology Review, 1-12.

The need for balanced intellectual property rights, pre-WIPO Development Agenda.

World Intellectual Property Organization. (2007, October 1). Member States Adopt a Development Agenda for WIPO.

If you are interested in copyright and IPR reform, you’ll be interested in the development agenda. It was adopted just a month ago, so it is too early to tell if there will be beneficial outcomes, but this is a start. The aim is for social issues (amongst others) to be taken into consideration when IP changes are proposed.

Treaty on Access to Knowledge (Draft).

The draft treaty was an attempt to determine an international framework of copyright norms online. Libraries were also strong supporters of the proposed Treaty, and called for WIPO to establish minimum exceptions and limitations to copyright worldwide, and consideration of developing nations.

The position of libraries in governance and the Access to Knowledge movement:

Committee on Copyright and Other Legal Matters. (2005). The IFLA Position on Copyright in the Digital Environment.

IFLA Position on Internet Governance.

More on keeping up - essay writing methods

Published by Fiona August 21st, 2007 in General, Research/Writing and Studying. 0 Comments

The last time I had to write an essay, that is a fairly standard 4000 word paper, as opposed to a conference paper, report or thesis was in 1999. My study methods have changed a lot since then. In those days I was studying full time, so it was relatively easy to spend a day in the library, pulling books with interesting subject headings, and articles from the big indexes (full text hadn’t really taken off yet). It was fairly self-limiting, I’d exhaust the resources in my library, find a few websites or reports and be done.

Now, the amount of resources I can pull together for an essay is limitless. One essay I’m writing is on the topic of Access to Knowledge in developing countries. The amount, and type of information available to me is staggering. I can find Hansard, Senate Committee Reports, websites, campaign groups, blog posts and much more before I even get near a book or journal article. To be a student now is difficult, because it’s hard to know when to stop.

Like many students, I find it challenging to define the requirements of coursework now. It is harder to put off writing until the last minute, because there is so much to find and evaluate (this is a good thing), but this can also makes the process more intense.

I’m tagging all of the resources I find for this essay at del.icio.us, using the tag A2K.

Social network fatigue

Published by Fiona April 10th, 2007 in blogs and Technology. 8 Comments

So while I was away ning became the latest thing, along with a sudden spike in Twitter usage amongst librarians. It could well be the usual effect of returning from a holiday and being overwhelmed by feeds and emails, but I am definitely feeling a sense of Social Network Fatigue.

There are several sites I have joined and no longer used, including Vox, last.fm and MySpace. Partially, I have lingering concerns about ownership and exportability of the data I put there, but also I don’t see a need to use more sites to talk to the same group of people I talk to through email, IM, or whom I see in person.

When I first heard of Twitter through Joi Ito’s site, the first thought that came to mind was billable hours. I have several lawyer friends who bill in minute increments. They have to note what they are doing constantly, and really dislike the amount of time it takes to account for what they are doing all day long.

Over the weekend, I signed up to Twitter and gave it a go. It was frustrating: clicks resulted in frequent errors, ‘tweets’ wouldn’t update. Usual signs of a site undergoing growing pains. But there’s two other things I noticed in my brief time on Twitter:

- I was bored by reading back about what *I’d* Twittered about.
- Of those who I contacted to be ‘friended’, I only heard back from those I’m most connected to anyway, those who I tend to email or IM with. This to me lessens the point of these new networks. Is there really a need to find new ways to talk to those you are already talking to?

So, I deleted my Twitter account, not quite as quickly as I deleted my Facebook account, but so it goes. All the best to those who find new and fun ways to use it, but it’s just not for me.

Information Online

Published by Fiona January 31st, 2007 in General and Conferences. 2 Comments

I’m attending part of Information Online this week in Sydney. Today was a big day, starting out with the SLA breakfast at 7am where my good friend Alyson Dalby received her award for Australian and New Zealand Chapter Information Professional of the Year. I attended the conference from lunch and then met up with fellow LINTers Sean, Morgan, Peta and Michelle for a bloggers get-together which was really fun.

Day 1 highlights - David Lankes used Keynote (yay!) to put together a motivating talk on integrating library services, and the need to be in parternship not service with patrons, clients and organisations. He had an interesting breakdown of a typical library catalogue record vs an Amazon record for a book, noting the amount of space that is given over to reviews and comments which help people work out if they want the item or not.

Bucking the current trend, he said that “catalogues stink”, in fantasy-question land I thought of asking him at the end, “don’t you mean catalogues *suck*?”

Christine McKenzie talked about Yarra Plenty’s 23 Things program to learn about social software which I first heard about a while ago. She’s also behind the Unconference in Melbourne this March. I was hoping to hear more about how staff will be implementing these tools into services, but it was designed as an intro session for those who haven’t heard of the programme. They have some good incentives for staff to take part, and the programme itself designed by Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County is Creative Commons licensed so others can use it.

Neil Infield from the British Library’s Business and IP Centre gave a great rundown of that service. It was inspired by NYPL’s Science Industry and Business Library, which I visited last year. I’ll be in London soon, and I’m thinking of making a visit to the Business and IP Centre.

Cathy Slaven gave a fascinating insight into the usability testing of their website. Instead of just giving a ‘how we did it’ overview, she presented clips of video from the sessions, and showed the stages that the site went through. An excellent method and a very well presented talk.

In the spirit of Michelle’s post, my take-aways for day 1:

  • How to be more of a partner with clients?
  • Something I’ve been mulling over for a while but which only really clicked in Infield’s talk: the connection between patents and business research.
  • How our assumptions about how people use our website are often wrong (I knew this already, but the videos in Slaven’s talk really emphasise this)

Apart from all of that, I caught up with almost half of the NLS2006 committee, had lunch with my former thesis supervisor who I hadn’t seen in a few years, bumped into former committee colleagues, contacts at the State Library, and of course the staff at ALIA. It all happens again tomorrow!

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Open access, technology and social futures by Fiona Bradley.

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