By Stephen Abram

It doesn’t work 100% of the time but you’ve probably noticed that there are some people that seem to survive every organizational restructuring.  In this latest economic downturn we’re seeing layoffs and downsizing on a scale in all sectors that most of us have never seen.  As for me, I’ve been through too many to count – survived some and didn’t make it out the other side on others.  By some counts there have been over 14 downturns in my professional career since 1978.  These swings in the economy have burnished me and, ironically, made me less dependent on employers for my self-worth or finances.  The private sector reacts to protect the whole enterprise during the business cycle and, although we shouldn’t take downsizing personally, it’s hard not to!  The public sector is arguably experiencing a major downturn with extensive layoffs for the first time in memory for many.  I was inspired recently by an article that was shared with me (from Black Enterprise: “10 ways to make yourself indispensable at work”), so I’ve adapted its 10 points for library land, but the original can be read without translation too.

Is the grapevine working overtime in your business, industry, community library, school board or institution?  What do the water cooler conversations resemble in your sector – excitement about the future or doom and gloom?  Are you seeing terrible budget debates, revenue shortfalls, business disappointments, investment or trust fund losses, or shortfalls in taxation support?  What can you do to reduce your chances of layoff?  Barring situations of collective bargaining where the rules can be prescribed, there are things you can do and should do precisely when you don’t need it right away.

Make a plan.  Assess your strengths.  Define your value, and, most importantly tend to your personal and professional network.

What tactics can you accomplish that will reduce your personal chances of layoff or prepare you better to shorten your period of unemployment?  Remember that this isn’t about protecting the ‘library’ but of communicating your value as a “librarian.”   There is a big difference!  Here are ten:

1. Take ownership of all your responsibilities by seeing your role in the context of the entire enterprise and community.  What would you increase as an activity and what would you decrease?  Employees that think strategically are more valuable than one-trick ponies.

2. Take personal responsibility for your professional development and career preparedness.  In difficult economic times no one else will quickly step up to protect you or guide your career. In times of transition, individuals must be proactive and not look to an employer to prepare them for their next job.  Indeed training and development budgets are usually one of the first to be reduced or eliminated. You might have to invest your own dollars and time in yourself for e-learning courses, training, association memberships and conferences but, still, fight to get your promised education reimbursements.  The enterprise is not your mother and bears no responsibility to your progress.   What key specific competency would make your more valuable to your current and prospective employers?   Develop it.

3. Maintain a visibly positive attitude while protecting your job.  It’s far easier for decision-makers to cut a Negative Nellie.  You aren’t the only one who’s stressed by the economy.  If you see others handling it better, model their behaviours.  No one wants to be constantly reminded of the fact that everyone is now doing 2 or 3 jobs and extended effort. . When things seem to pile up and you’re feeling stressed, take a deep breath and think that this is better for your personal physical and mental health.  It’ll also allow you to keep wok relationships friendly and positive. Be the colleague people want to have lunch or a coffee with rather than avoid.

4. Become a Renaissance person.  Yes, this means taking on extra tasks or spending personal time on events that can be great for the office culture – parties, birthdays, charity events, etc.  Learn to do new things as other people leave.  You gain new skills and you clearly increase your long-term value.  You also gain a story about how you learn and adapt for interviews.

5. Find an important, strategic task that you know how to do better and faster and less expensively than anyone else.  The boss is looking to make changes and ready to hear suggestions.  Ask for the challenge and seek any training and coaching.  Don’t instantly look for pay or job description changes right away.  Prove your value and success first and document that success.  Lots of stuff can slip through the cracks in downturns damaging the organization.  Be part of the solution and you’ll look like a star.  As a corollary, reduce the time spent you’re seen doing clerical or tertiary tasks.

6. Don’t stick your head in the sand.  Trying to hide or be invisible just makes you look valueless and, just like that proverbial ostrich, you’re not fooling anyone.  Speak up and talk about your successes.  Be excited about the opportunities available.  Tell stories about how you helped the organization to make decisions, influenced that organization’s users’, students’, professors’ success in meeting organizational goals.  Collect and share testimonials.  Encourage others to share your impact on their success with key decision-makers.  Seek recognition.

7. Excel in an area that your boss is weak in.  Think about it.  You’re part of a team.  If you’re essential to your boss’s or team’s success, you’re safer.  If your boss is visionary, be good at detail.  If your boss is great at numbers, be good at writing the justification or presenting numbers.  If you’re a technical or technology expert, complement your team’s skills.  Be the go-to person for something and library research skills certainly offer that positioning.

8. Become an organization star by being a spokesperson at community events and professional association meetings like SLA.  Tell the library’s stories and communicate the value of your organization to those who can support you.  Write and publish and be perceived as an expert with unique and special expertise.  Become and be political and use your network to influence your future in a positive manner.  Build social equity by doing the same for others. Don’t hide in your organization – the lack of visibility becomes a mountain to climb if you are set free.

9. Be an effective team player. Always present a united front and support your boss and the team externally, but internally be independent.  Yes, if you disagree with your boss, then learn the correct, private way to provide feedback.  Respect your team and give the gift of emotional and work support.  And your boss isn’t inhuman either and appreciates some understanding and support too.  When the water hole gets smaller at the oasis, everyone starts to look like food.  Rise above that behavior.  If you hear yourself sounding petty or small, you must stop.  Keep the big picture in mind and choose your battles carefully.  Technological change usually increases during times of crisis as organizations try to find and invest in efficiency and effectiveness improvements that will allow them to survive and maintain their mandate(s) with less staff.  Resistance to technological change late in the process or at implementation is foolhardy.  Look for ways to support successful implementations, not derail the change.

10. Invest in yourself and your career. Taking training and development courses in your areas of expertise and in management are the best way to stay current in your field and provide added-valued services to your company. And you can meet new contacts and increase your external network.  Find cost effective ways to do this through distance education, SLA, and conference attendance.  Don’t try to find the time, make the time.

Bonus: Don’t fall into the trap of a downward emotional spiral.   Stay in touch with friends.  Eat out with others. Exercise; see a play or movie; have a real life and seek balance.  If you find yourself getting negative or blue too often, seek support from your network. You’ll be a better person for it and thrive.

Indispensability is a positioning in the mind of your organization about you as an asset.  It is far better to be an asset than to be a cost!  It is based on your skills and competencies but that is rarely sufficient.  You need the patina of stories, personality, experiences, network, and a legacy of good results.  Remember that in this instance you are protecting your role as an information professional and librarian, not the library cost-center.  You must play the game of personal marketing and organizational politics well and the only way to do that well is to practice it over time.  It never happens, and I mean never, that a change, downturn, war, revolution, recession or depression doesn’t open up new opportunities and eventually turns around.  The wise keep their eyes, ears and minds open and look to identify new opportunities.  The prepared emerge stronger and better over the long run.

“You’ll find that you become indispensable by being indispensable.”

This issue’s column was inspired by:

“10 ways to make yourself indispensable at work“. Black Enterprise. FindArticles.com. 20 Nov, 2011. COPYRIGHT 1993 Earl G. Graves Publishing Co., Inc. COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group

Professional Conference Scholarship Program
Maricopa County Library Council
January, 2012

                       The Maricopa County Library Council (MCLC) sponsors a scholarship program for librarians who are in the first five years of their career. This program will provide financial support to tomorrow’s librarians as they develop the experience and skill set to lead our libraries and our profession

What does the scholarship program provide?

MCLC will award two (2), $1,500 scholarships for attendance at a professional library conference. Some examples are:

• ALA, the American Library Association
• ACRL, the Association of College & Research Libraries
• MLA, the Medical Library Association
• PLA, the Public Library Association
• SLA, the Special Libraries Association

 Who is eligible?

Librarians who are in the first five years of their career and who are members of ALA, or another relevant professional association.   Applicants must have worked for their Library for at least six months and must have their library director’s permission to attend the conference.

Scholarship recipients’ responsibilities:

• Attendance at a variety of programs and exhibits at the conference.
• Written and verbal reports about the conference to MCLC at an upcoming meeting.
• Written report to recipient’s supervisor and library director.

How to apply:

Complete the attached application and submit it to your library director for their approval.  Email application to jddoyle@email.arizona.edu

Selection Process

A Selection Committee comprised of MCLC members will select scholarship recipients on the basis of application review.   Scholarship winners will receive notification in writing from the chair of MCLC.

Professional Conference Scholarship Program
Maricopa County Library Council
January, 2012

All applications due February 20, 2012, by Noon
Email application and letter of support to jddoyle@email.arizona.edu

Describe your extracurricular Activities related to Librarianship:

Personal Statement:  In 750 words or less, please describe how attendance at this conference will contribute to your development as a leader in your library and in this profession.  Attach additional pages, if necessary.

I certify that all answers given by me are true, accurate, and complete. I understand that falsification, misrepresentation or omission of fact on this application will be cause for denial of consideration for the scholarship program.

I acknowledge that I have read and understand the above statement and hereby grant permission to confirm the information supplied on this application.

Approval of Library Director: (may include a letter of support)

Professional Conference Scholarship Program
Maricopa County Library Council
January, 2012

                       The Maricopa County Library Council (MCLC) sponsors a scholarship program for librarians who are in the first five years of their career. This program will provide financial support to tomorrow’s librarians as they develop the experience and skill set to lead our libraries and our profession

What does the scholarship program provide?

MCLC will award two (2), $1,500 scholarships for attendance at a professional library conference. Some examples are:

• ALA, the American Library Association
• ACRL, the Association of College & Research Libraries
• MLA, the Medical Library Association
• PLA, the Public Library Association
• SLA, the Special Libraries Association

 Who is eligible?

Librarians who are in the first five years of their career and who are members of ALA, or another relevant professional association.   Applicants must have worked for their Library for at least six months and must have their library director’s permission to attend the conference.

Scholarship recipients’ responsibilities:

• Attendance at a variety of programs and exhibits at the conference.
• Written and verbal reports about the conference to MCLC at an upcoming meeting.
• Written report to recipient’s supervisor and library director.

How to apply:

Complete the attached application and submit it to your library director for their approval.  Email application to jddoyle@email.arizona.edu

Selection Process

A Selection Committee comprised of MCLC members will select scholarship recipients on the basis of application review.   Scholarship winners will receive notification in writing from the chair of MCLC.

Professional Conference Scholarship Program
Maricopa County Library Council
January, 2012

All applications due February 20, 2012, by Noon
Email application and letter of support to jddoyle@email.arizona.edu

Describe your extracurricular Activities related to Librarianship:

Personal Statement:  In 750 words or less, please describe how attendance at this conference will contribute to your development as a leader in your library and in this profession.  Attach additional pages, if necessary.

I certify that all answers given by me are true, accurate, and complete. I understand that falsification, misrepresentation or omission of fact on this application will be cause for denial of consideration for the scholarship program.

I acknowledge that I have read and understand the above statement and hereby grant permission to confirm the information supplied on this application.

Approval of Library Director: (may include a letter of support)

http://tinyurl.com/7bgrf8w

By Lauren Barack, January 20, 2012 in School Library Journal

Three House lawmakers introduced legislation this week that could strengthen and ensure school librarians’ continued role as educators in the nation’s K-12 schools.

Drafted by U.S. Representatives Raul Grijalva (D-AZ.) (left), Rush Holt (D-NJ) and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), The Strengthening Kids’ Interest in Learning and Libraries (SKILLS) Act, is a companion bill to a measure introduced in July in the Senate. Under both bills, school librarians would be assured a continuing role in schools as part of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).

Several key provisions in the SKILLS Act strive to better define and strengthen the future role and federal funding for librarians who work in schools. One provision states that an “effective school library program,” is a program that’s staffed by a state-certified school librarian. The act also strengthens school librarians’ right to gain access to professional development funds under ESEA. In addition, the measure sets aside competitive grants to underserved schools and districts so they can work to develop effective library programs.

“This is what we’re working for,” says Jeffrey Kratz, assistant director of the Washington, D.C. office of the American Library Association (ALA).

If the language fails to be inserted into the ESEA reauthorization bill, school libraries could miss out on millions of federal funds. In the Senate, Jack Reed (D-RI) and Thad Cochran (R)-authored that body’s companion measure to the SKILLS Act last year. Reed in particular has been a vocal supporter of school libraries, helping to pass an appropriations bill in December that included $28.6 million in federal funding for school libraries and literacy programs starting in fiscal year 2012.

“It’s very important that this gets into ESEA’s reauthorization,” says ALA’s Kratz. “School librarians need to be to be in there. They teach a unique set of 21st Century digital literacy skills that students do not learn in the traditional classroom.”

U.S. House Drafts SKILLS Act to Support School Librarians

Arguably, those who believe a public library is simply a repository of print books haven’t been to a public library lately. Here at MindShift, we’ve been covering the ways in which the library is evolving to change the demands of digital technologies and of its patrons: libraries are becoming learning labs, innovation centers, and makerspaces.

Of course, the public library has always been a community center as much as a place to go to check out books to read, so the new extensions of the library’s service may not be so far afield from the institution’s mission to provide access to information. Even so, much of the emphasis has been on literacy — reading and writing, digital and analog — and not on other forms of creativity.

But three graduate students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Library and Information Studies have launched a project that points to another important way in which libraries play a key role in their communities. The Library as Incubator Project highlights some of the ways in which libraries and local artists can work together.

I spoke with Erinn Batykefer, Laura Damon-Moore, and Christina Endres about the project.

Q. What was the inspiration for the Library as Incubator Project?

Laura Damon-Moore: The inspiration for the project came from several places. One was an article in the Friends of the UW-Madison Libraries’ magazine, written by Madison artist and curator Martha Glowacki. Martha uses library research and spaces frequently in the development of her

creative work. We wanted to learn more about how other artists use libraries in their work, and how the “library experience” might be enhanced for artists. Another important piece of the inspiration for the project came up at the end of our first semester of library school. Professor (now Emerita) Louise Robbins spoke about the need for advocacy to infuse everything that we do as library students and future librarians. Lastly, the three of us have an interest in the arts anhelp engage the communities we all will be serving some day. These pieces came together over the course of about a semester to form the basis for the project as it exists today….continue reading.

What does it mean to be customer centric? That is the subject of a new book by Peter Fader, a professor of marketing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In this new book titled Customer Centricity, Fader promotes the idea that successful organizations will wisely segment their customers, and create special services for the most valued customers – services that might be unavailable to other customers. Being customer centric means more than just giving community members everything they want. As he explains in an interview:

Too many people think that being customer centric means doing everything that your customers want, and that’s not the case. Being friendly and offering good service are a part of customer centricity, but they are not the whole thing. Customer centricity means that you’re going to be friendly, provide good service and develop new products and services for the special focal customers — the ones who provide a lot of value for you — but not necessarily for the other ones. You need to pick and choose. Some customers deserve the special treatment, and if others want to buy from you, that’s great, but they are not going to be treated the same.

While the goal of customer centricity may be unthinkable to some librarians, when we honestly assess how we treat community members, we already make distinctions between them and offer special treatment to some and not others. In academic libraries we certainly treat faculty members differently than students. We may offer faculty a book delivery service while everyone else has to come to the library. A faculty member’s research question is typically prioritized. Not fair perhaps, but it’s critical to build a good relationship with the faculty. It’s part of what we do to keep them satisfied; our funding might depend on it.

It’s the same thing with the Provost or President. They’ll receive a level of service above other community members. The quality of the work is no less for everyone else, but the provost or president will get much more personalized attention and faster service – and the amount of attention and effort may even exceed what others would get from a librarian. Those types of inequities aside, what about students. Do we make distinctions among the student body, especially among undergrads? We might have some special service, perhaps private study carrels, for honors students. I’m sure this happens in public libraries as well. Consider the advantages of developing some targeted and personalized research services for customers who can provide the most value, such as city councilpersons or the municipal finance office. Perhaps we are more customer centric than we think.

If we choose to formally recognize the importance of customer centricity then we should make it a part of the design of the library user experience. To put this into perspective I want to share one segment of the interview with Fader that resonated more strongly with me. That’s because I want to advocate that we should always seek to emphasize who we are as library professionals and what we can do for our community members by delivering expert services. Content is important, but the community could easily access the content without librarians. Here’s the passage:

Instead of pushing back and complaining, companies have to realize that instead of just putting products out there, they really need to be a solutions provider. That’s kind of a corny phrase these days, but I think there is some validity to it. Companies need to help consumers figure out how their products and services are going to fit into their lives and offer solutions, and not just ingredients.

Solutions versus ingredients. I really like to think of it that way. All the library content, that’s the ingredients. We can offer plenty of unique material that community members will find nowhere else. What we can’t do, given the number of community members and the limited staff, is provide everyone with the same level of service. Consider a more specialized library experience focusing on provided solutions where customer centricity is appropriate. After all, that’s what design is largely about – finding solutions. That’s what librarians do. Community members bring us their information problems. There’s a gap between what they know and they want they need to learn. There’s a point trying to be made and the data’s missing. The challenge is doing the “picking and choosing” that’s required by customer centricity. How do you make those decisions? Are you already being customer centric, either intentionally or unconsciously? If not, are you thinking about it?

LJ’s Virtual Tech Summit on December 8, “Power to the Patron: From Systems to Services,” brought together sharp minds from across the country, addressing a range of cutting-edge technologies in the library world—from mobile apps to print-on-demand to patron-driven ebook acquisition to the future of data access. But with all the wide-ranging discussion, the focus remained on patrons, and how libraries can best use tech to provide them with the best services. [The summit archives are now available online for registrants.] Platinum sponsors for the event were SirsiDynix and Comprise Technologies.

The future of digital storytelling
Keynoting the day-long event was by Bryan Alexander, senior fellow at the National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education, who took a wide view on technology trends and how technology affects interactions with patrons.

Alexander is a member of the advisory board for the New Media Consortium’s and EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative’s Horizon Report, the annual report on technology trends in higher education. He touched on trends highlighted in the most recent report. Among these are augmented-reality software applications (by tying “digital data to the surface of the earth” using location services like Google Maps, he said, such apps can create “a new way of reinterpreting and re-experiencing the world”) and game-based learning (as motion-control game interfaces, for example, are “already beginning to shake up everything we do”), both of which he said will likely become more mainstream within the next few years. He also noted the rise of ebooks, and particularly mobile apps and social networking, which he said have made many people “storytellers.”

But where do libraries fit into such future technological trends? In the post-keynote Q&A moderated by Lisa Carlucci Thomas, director of library consultancy design think do and Virtual Tech Summit project lead, Alexander noted that librarians are the professionals “best equipped to help us with a lot of the challenges around [digital] storytelling,” such as questions regarding copyright issues. He also said that technologies that most people don’t already have, such as large display screens, might make inroads in library spaces.

Talking mobile
The first panel of the day, “Mobile Apps: What Do Users Need?,” moderated by web architect and user experience analyst Cody Hanson at the University of Minnesota Libraries, continued the service focus. The panel explored different ways that libraries are making use of mobile technologies to provide a range of services—from practical library services, such as self-check, to walking tours.

Nate Hill, web librarian at San José Public Library (SJPL), CA (see LJ’s recent Q&A), briefly highlighted the library’s Scan Jose project, a mobile website (funded in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services) that provides a historical walking tour of San Jose, making use of images from SJPL andSourisseau Academy historical archive. A 3-D version of the site is viewable using the Layaraugmented-reality browser. He said that he was excited to bring this kind of service to patrons, as “they don’t expect the library to be in this space.”

Rebecca Ranallo, internet and media services manager for Cuyahoga County Public Library, OH, talked about her library’s experiences with the Boopsie app. The library had spearheaded new Boopsie app features, including BookCheck, a mobile self-check feature, back in April. Ranallo said that a prime goal of the library is to be “the most convenient public library in the nation,” and that is reflected in its Boopsie app, which provides a range of services, such as catalog search, the aforementioned self-check, digital media such as OverDrive content, and other services. But the third-party aspect of the app was also a key element, as the library had no in-house staff available to maintain an app. In a follow-up Q&A, she also said that the app’s availability gave the library “credibility with our techier customers.”

Michael Whitchurch, chair of the Learning Commons Department at Brigham Young University’s Harold B. Lee Library, Provo, UT (see LJ’s recent Q&A), concentrated on his library’s strategy in using QR codes, saying that he is constantly asked when, where, and why a library should use them. His advice: only use them where they have the added value of simplifying complex tasks, “not because they are ‘cool’ or ‘trendy.’” He said that BYU has found them to be especially useful for facilitating group study room reservations for students, by both scheduling the time and providing the student with calendar reminders on his or her mobile device. He said that QR codes are also useful for lecture announcements and audio tours.

Dan DeSanto, from the Information and Instruction Service Department at the University of Vermont Libraries, talked about its Center for Digital Initiatives’ app in development, which will provide an augmented reality tour of the oldest long-distance hiking trail in the United States, Vermont’s Long Trail, making use of historical photos and geophysical location, similar to how North Carolina State University Libraries’ WolfWalk app works.

During the Q&A, the desirability of creating apps in-house was discussed, but more than one panelist said that staff and budget concerns make that difficult. “With our largely digital future in libraries, it seems like it would be important to invest more resources in departments like that, and be able to do more in-house,” said Hill. It’s therefore important to foster working relationship with tech services staff at institutions and spell out the libraries’ goals. At BYU, Whitchurch said, tech staff was initially “reticent to start a project like this where they didn’t know where it was going.”

Do it yourself
The second panel, “Self-Service: Balancing Efficiency & Personal Touch,” moderated by Lisa Carlucci Thomas, was the most eclectic of the day, bringing together print-on-demand, patron-driven acquisition, managing an online library, and using a third-party system for patron online payments under the self-service banner.

As LJ previously reported, Darien Library, CT, recently launched a new Espresso Book Machine from On Demand Books, which, as the company name implies, allows patrons to print books on demand, including self-published works, for a fee. Gretchen Caserotti, assistant director for public services at the library and a 2010 LJ Mover & Shaker (see LJ’s recent Q&A) described the library’s recent experiences with the new technology, saying that it is working with On Demand Books on search and commerce features, but that she welcomed outside ideas for the equipment. “We have no reason to believe that we won’t learn from our patrons,” she said.

Michael Levine-Clark, collections librarian at the University of Denver, spotlighted how the library is using demand-driven acquisition for ebooks (also called patron-driven acquisition, or PDA), which it has offered via Ebook Library (EBL) since May 2010. About 40 percent of the books the library buys go unread, he said, but using a PDA ebook system allows the library to only purchase ebooks that patrons actually read, thus saving money on unread materials. He said that the library spent about $73,000 on short-term ebook loans and purchases of ebooks using the EBL system over the course of a year, about one-tenth of what the library would have spent had it bought every book that a student had borrowed or browsed. (George Machovec of the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries also addressed the University of Denver’s experience during a PDA panel at LJ’s recent virtual ebook summit.) In a post-panel Q&A, he pointed out that an easy experience for the patron is crucial, because if you need to train patrons in how to use PDA, “then you are doing it wrong.”

On a different tack, Estelle Pope, library resource coordinator at Coconino Community College, Flagstaff, AZ, talked about how she works to make the online-only library there visible and helpful for students. When the physical library at the institution was closed down last year, the library shifted to an online-only model. (Her institution was not alone, she said, highlighting a recent story on The Digital Shift on Johns Hopkins University’s decision to make a medical library online-only.) While challenging, the change has also led to more student use of online databases, she said, with the number of searches jumping from about 55,000 in 2010 to more than 222,000 this year. She added that the library has explored using iPads as library instruction tools.

Taking self-service from yet another angle, Gretchen Freeman, associate director for technology at Salt Lake County Library Services, UT, spoke about how her system, which has a 97 percent self-checkout rate, and wanted to implement a third-party hosted online payment service from Comprise Technologiesto collect fines and fees online. As a result, she said, revenue from online payment of fines and fees has risen to a third of the library’s total fine collection revenue, without requiring any staff involvement. In a post-panel Q&A, she said that staff uses the additional time on other tasks. “We have an increasing workload and we don’t have increasing staff,” she said.

Mashups and platforms
The final panel, focusing on integrated library systems (ILSs) and moderated by Darien Library’s assistant director for innovation and user experience John Blyberg (a 2006 LJ Mover & Shaker), looked at how libraries can use application  programming interfaces (APIs) to enrich patron’s experience—and how new platforms could open further possibilities in the library world.

John Wohlers, library technology coordinator at Waubonsee Community College, Sugar Grove, IL, focused on some of the ways that his library has created “mashup” applications by drawing on APIs, pulling information from different places and combining it in useful ways. Among others, one app he spotlighted allows patrons to see, on a map of the library, the exact location of a book when it is on the shelf. This highly practical tool was created using APIs from SirsiDynix API & Web Services, Google Maps, and the bit.ly URL-shortening service.

Panelist Monique Sendze, IT director for Douglas County Libraries, CO, highlighted the many ways that her institution has used flexible APIs to interact with various systems, including the SirsiDynix Horizon ILS, the library resource portal VuFind, and OverDrive, among others, to provide services. She also focused on the kinds of services a library can provide when patrons opt-in to allow the library to collect checkout histories—including customized recommendations based on reading history or holds lists—and about ways the library is working to integrate more e-content for patrons.

Finally, Jason Griffey, associate professor and head of library information technology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) and a 2009 LJ Mover & Shaker, moved in a more conceptual direction—talking about the need for a robust platform to allow libraries to effectively use their data in new ways. He referenced a set of rules that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos laid down in 2002 for his developers, requiring that all data and functionality in an interface be exposed—that is, fully accessible via service interfaces, such as APIs. “[Amazon’s] platform allows for the development of many, many interfaces and tools,” said Griffey. If libraries had an externalized platform with accessible data, he pointed out, developers would be able to shift their focus. “It frees you to develop services that really affect the patrons,” he said.

An example of a library platform in development, he said, is the OCLC WorldShare Platform, which wasannounced on December 5 (UTC was an early adopter of the OCLC’s cloud-based WorldShare Management Services ILS, initially called Web-scale Management Services). “The thing that I think is the most interesting, theoretically, about a platform is that we could all be different libraries but share the same web of data,” he said.

In a brief Q&A afterward, Blyberg asked Griffey what he thought libraries might do to get vendors to free up access to APIs and library data. “The traditional answer to that question is through financial pressure,” said Griffey. “The problem with libraries is that we lack the ability to have collective action in financial pressure… all libraries are unique funding snowflakes in their local area.” But the more libraries talk to each other, he said, closer it gets them to “the ability to speak with a single voice.”

The questions and comments continued after the summit at a “tweetup” moderated by Courtney Young, head librarian and associate professor of women’s studies at Penn State Greater Allegheny, and Tiffini Travis, director of information literacy and outreach services at California State University, Long Beach, using the Twitter hashtag #ljtechsmt.

A look inside the NPR library