tem could be a way to build up points that could be redeemed for books or other rewards. In effect, we are paying users to contribute reviews to the s

Visioning ideas, group 2 (see also group 1, Jan. 16)
Jan. 23, 2009

A group of MIT Libraries staff met on Jan. 23 to contribute more thoughts to the process.

Who came:
Nicole Hennig, facilitator
Mat Willmott
Jennifer Friedman
Barbara Williams
Bill Helman
Courtney Crummett
Ryan Gray
Jeremiah Graves
Roshini Gohil

Here's what we did during the meeting:
1. readings, read these silently while people were arriving, discussed briefly:
- People don't go to libraries for information.... they go there because.... (from Designing Better Libraries blog)
Excerpts:

The first thing that comes to my mind is that libraries think they are in the information business but they are really in the education or learning business.

libraries are in the knowledge business, and that since knowledge is created through conversations libraries are also or ultimately in the business of facilitating community conversations.

he sees libraries as being in the productivity business, helping students and faculty to efficiently get the resources and help they need to acheive their objectives.

- Innovation: How the Creative Stay Creative

• Get Multicultural
• Provide Lots of Free Time to Think
• Encourage Risky Behavior
• Write it Down
• Hire Smart
• Bring in Outsiders
• Be Flexible. Very Flexible
• Do it for Free
• Mix Up Your People

2. watched this 5-minute video to clarify what a vision statement is and how it's different from a mission statement:
http://mystrategicplan.com/resources/whiteboard-video-how-to-write-a-vision-statement/

3. Nicole read excerpts from Subject to Change: Creating Great Products and Services for an Uncertain World

4.  core values:
Example of core values from Zappos.com

Zappos core values:

1. Deliver WOW Through Service
2. Embrace and Drive Change
3. Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
4. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
5. Pursue Growth and Learning
6. Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
8. Do More With Less
9. Be Passionate and Determined
10. Be Humble

Some ideas for core values for MIT Libraries:

1. Advocate for open access. No DRM.
2. Be flexible. Break the rules when it makes sense.
3. Be one library.
4. Create fun and a little weirdness
5. Be where our users are, virtually and physically. (Leave the library).
6. Be adventurous.
7. Collaborate.
8. Observe user behavior.
9. Get ideas from other types of organizations (bookstores, etc.)
10. Provide timely service.
    

5.  Exercise:
Reversing assumptions
We brainstormed a list of assumptions about the MIT Libraries or academic libraries in general.

Common assumptions:

• We have books and we loan them out.
• We have internet access.
• We have quiet places. 
• We have group study space.
• We provide instruction on how to use databases.
• We have digital images.
• We buy what we need.
• We have knowledgeable staff.
• We answer reference questions.
• We have a web site and a catalog.
• We work with faculty and staff.
• We have a good catalog.
• We are better than Google.
• Only librarians can provide the best answers.
• We maintain relevant and useful collections.
• We preserve things for the long term.
• We can digitize anything.
• We have text books for every class.
• We can find complete citations with only a little info.

We then went through the list and reversed each assumption. (sometimes more than one reversal)

• We have no books.
• We sell books or give them away. You can keep them.
• We have noisy places
• We have stand-up desks for working standing up.
• We have concerts, musics and lectures.
• We don't own anything.
• We lease our collections.
• We have no study space.
• We have treadmills for working out while reading/studying/using computers.
• All our collections are stored off-site and we provide things on demand only.
• We are like the Amazon Kindle store and provide materials electronically to ebook readers or iPods that each student is given when they come to MIT.
• Students teach us.
• We have databases that don't require instruction.
• We have no databases.
• We don't buy what people want, but instead buy everything that's published in certain areas automatically.
• We provide no instruction.
• We purchase materials on demand.
• We have digital images provided by our own community.
• We use Flickr for images.
• We provide drawing tools.
• We loan out cameras.
• We have robots/RFID to automatically grab items from storage on demand.
• We have staff that don't know anything.
• We sell knowledge.
• We outsource reference to a call center.
• We hire only temps.
• We have vending machines for books and other materials.
• Librarians don't stay behind desks, but circulate like clerks in a bookstore.
• Everything is self-service.
• Librarians sit in departments.
• Everything is electronic.
• We use stuff from other libraries.
• We participate in world-wide consortiums. (local geography matters less)
• We throw away or recycle old materials and books. (instead of preserving everything)
• We give stuff away.
• We don't preserve materials because everything is already recorded by google/internet archive, big brother, etc.
• We let our users digitize what they want.
• We don't buy anything ridiculously expensive or that has DRM. (as a protest with other libraries)
• We colloborate with other libraries to revolt against publishers' business models.
• We don't handle textbooks or course reserves.
• We require full citations.
• Students answer each other's reference questions.
• We don't answer any reference questions.
• We forward reference questions to experts at MIT or the outside world.
• We collaborate with others at MIT (such as IST Help Desk) to have one place at MIT for all questions, no matter what the topic.
• We answer questions 24/7 in multi-timezones by collaborating with others around the world.
• We work for faculty directly.
• Librarians are assigned to departments and are managed by or report to someone in the department.
• MIT assigns a personal librarian to each new student, faculty, staff on arrival.
• We don't need a catalog, you can find things in other ways.
• We don't need a web site because all our stuff is embedded in other sites via RSS feeds, etc.
• Google is better than us.
• Even we use Google.
• Students provide answers.
• Anyone (not just librarians) in the library can provide answers.
• We dont have any collections.

We then talked about which of these reversals might actually make sense. Certain themes emerged.

• On-demand collections.
• All self-service.
• Wider community involved in answering questions, not just librarians. Questions answered in a social network that we are part of.
• Embedded librarianship. (getting out of the library into people's lives)
• Library as destination: food, music, events.

6. Exercise:
What if libraries were like.....

Each person could choose from the following:
- Craiglist
- YouTube
- Flickr
- Paypal
- LibraryThing

We then imagined library services that borrow from the qualities we like from those services.

A. Craigslist: what if libraries were like Craigslist?

1. Craigslist makes it easy to find any city from one particular site. Each Craigslist looks about the same, simple.
Libraries could have a very simple UI that looks the same for most libraries anywhere.
(maybe Worldcat Local is like this if lots of libraries use it)

2. Craigslist allows for anonymous temporary email communication.
Libraries could have an anonymous email service to protect user privacy.

3. Craigslist has a very simple, text-based UI. Content matters, not flashy look.
Our web site could be a very simple text only site that looks like a Craigslist home page. The focus is on the content, not the look and feel.

4. On Craigslist you can post what you are looking for and easily find someone who has what you want (jobs, for sale items, etc.)
Libraries could have a way to post what you're looking for and others in the MIT community (not just librarians) could provide answers or help.

5. Craigslist is all user-created content and is self-policed.
Librarie sites could be user-created and self-policed.

6. Craigslist has one name that's easy to remember. Generic.
Libraries could have one simple name instead of weird particular names (barton, vera, etc.)

7. Craigslist connects people with complementary needs.
We could enable collaboration more with a site like this.

B. Flickr: what if libraries were like Flickr?

1. Flickr makes it easy to upload your pics.
Libraries could make it easy for users to create lists and submit content (Worldcat Local does this).
Libraries could be the place to store your stuff (like an Endnote, Zotero, etc. but with more features, even store your photos).

2. In Flickr the user organizes the information with several ways:  sets, tags, groups.
The OPAC could be rearranged by the user in different useful ways.

3. In Flickr the user has the option to choose their copyright statement (all rights reserved or various creative commons licenses or free). Users can search for images by type of license.
Libraries could find ways to make different copyrights clear and obvious and allow searching by those different types of licenses.

4. In Flickr you can search by tags and combine tags in a search making it easy to find photos by interesting characteristics (always changing).

 C. YouTube: what if libraries were like YouTube?

1. YouTube has a mix of orginal and produced content.
Libraries could contain a wider mix of types of content (more "gray lit" mixed with published content).

2. YouTube has old and new content.
Libraries could more effectively mix and display old and new content together. New stuff along with older digitized stuff.

3. YouTube has streaming video.
Libraries could buy access to streaming video rather than DVDs. We could digitize every we buy in hard copy, such as buy a DVD, then stream it to make it more available.

Exercises were inspired by the book: Thinkertoys