The Flemish Librarian

On Tuesday,  I attended the Social computing tools for learning and knowledge sharing
session of my own section in cooperation with the  Library and Research Services for Parliaments and Information Technology.  A very inspiring presentation was given by Madeleine Lefebreve (Ryerson University) about the use of mobile services for building community & collaboration with students.  Another approach was offered by Moira Fraser from the New Zealand Parliament who, instead of focusing on the tools, focused on engaging communities and knowledge-sharing between the people in her organisation. The ‘participatory library’ she called it. Before lunch I spoke on the use of social tools in the Public library of Vlissingen in order to improve customer service. I thereby focused on the combination of our internal wiki (internal dimension of social KM) with Question Manager, a new tool that makes the process of dealing with reference questions more transparent and which is based on the vision of making the best use of the knowledge librarians have (the external dimension of social KM).  We have now developed the tool and we will start testing it in September not only within our library, but together with partners like the Naturalis museum in Leiden.

After attending my own section’s meeting in the afternoon, I was asked to give a short presentation for a group of American students from Rutgers University who were at IFLA for their course on ‘International Librarianship’.  After my short talk, they had the opportunity to ask questions about librianship in the Netherlands and about knowledge management in my own library. What really struck me was the enthousiasm of these students and their eagerness to learn.  Tuesday night ended with a ‘social evening’, organized by IFLA.  What I enjoyed the most was the impressive concert in Milan’s Duomo and the beautiful exhibitions in the Palazzo Reale.

On Wednesday there was the Panel Discussion based on the outcomes of the off-site workshop held on Tuesday 25 August at the University of Milan, Digital Library Futures: user perspective and institutional strategies.Despite the fact that almost all sessions during the conference contained some web2.0-initiatieves and ideas, there was also a dedicated session of the special interest group Libraries and the Web 2.0. This could have been an interesting session, but it was poorly organized. Moreover, the room was too small and the discussion offered little added value for the many librarians with different levels and expectations towards the session. A missed opportunity, since the topic offers a lot of opportunities for librarians to have a good discussion. Despite this bad session, I had an interesting talk with Gillian Hanlon from the Scottisch SLAINTE. She told me that her organisation will draw up some guidelines for librarians who want to web2.0. They will be online around the end of September.

Another interesting session on Thursday was organised by the Reference and Information Services section:
The pro-active librarian: the how and why. Yoo-Seong Song (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, USA) (Designing library services based on user needs: new opportunities to re-position the library) talked about how reference librarians in his university were ‘forced’ to reinvent themselves into career counselors due to the changing needs of students.

To conclude my summary of IFLA’ s annual congress, I want to focus on the question why you should go to IFLA?

I hear a lot of people saying that it is not worth going to IFLA’s yearly conference for the following reasons:
-    The content is too academic
-    You do not have the opportunity to talk to presenters/authors
-    There are very few innovative examples of library work
-    It is too expensive
-    We read everything on the internet or on blogs
-    Etc..

I do not agree on some points. I do admit it is quite expensive to participate, but I do not agree with the other arguments. First of all, I think as a librarian it is your duty to stay open to what is happening in the universal library field. How can you provide local services without understanding the broader context of librarianship and of the way communities evolve?  Secondly, IFLA does not only focus on innovation, but on aspects of the information society and librarianship to concerns us all.  A good example is their advocacy work for more flexible copyright conditions for libraries (in the context of digitization) etc.. The main reason why I attend the conference is of course the people. As a participant you get ample ‘social and professional opportunities to meet colleagues from all over the world! Of courses, you can also meet them online, but face to face sharing offers so much added value to me!
If you really want to be involved in IFLA (like me), you can become a member (or your institution can) and get yourself engaged in one the many sections. In this way, you – as a librarian – can really make a difference. Moreover, being engaged offers so many opportunities for meeting like-minded colleagues and it is very rewarding. The way I see it, being an IFLA-member is a mission. It is a chance to make a difference in librarianship on a global scale. So… will I see you next year in Gothenborg?

For more information on the KM section, please take a look at the IFLA-website or contact me.

Last Thursday I gave a webinar for the University of Alberta on ‘Social knowledge management – KM2.0 – for libraries’. I also talked about how we in the Public library of Vlissingen have integrated social tools into the library’s (knowledge management) strategy.

Many people ask me: what is social KM in a library context? For me, social KM is not about the tools (they only faciliate your KM strategy), but it is about the people and the culture (an open, transparent culture). Social tools help you shape an open culture and help you to connect people in your organisation with each other and with your customers. Therefore social KM in the library of Vlissingen has two dimensions: an internal and an external one. The internal dimension focuses on internal knowlege management – for example knowledge sharing via a wiki – and the external one focuses on how to use social tools to share knowlege and information with your customers – for example through a library blog.

I end this blogpost by referring to a question one of the attendees of the webinar asked me. The question was: how do you convince managers1.0 on the usefulness of web2.0-tools. I answered her: Point your manager to the problems/issues/goals in/of the organisation and then explain how social tools can help you to solve them or achieve your goals.

Interested in finding out more? Visit Slideshare and take a look at my presentation.

The University of Alberta (Canada) together with CASLIS have asked me to give a virtual presenation on ‘KM 2.0: Social Knowledge Management in Libraries’. More details are provided in the following text:

“Libraries excel in managing information and knowledge captured in books and documents, but they fail in locating and managing the knowledge potential in the heads of their own people.”
Every library wants to provide the best possible service to its users. But to do so, the organization must make the best use of the knowledge hidden inside the minds of its workers. Sometimes there are issues with the exchange of knowledge between library staff and customers, or between library staff members themselves. The public library in Vlissingen met this challenge head-on by combining the emerging discipline of KM (knowledge management) and social software. Please join Digital Library/Knowledge Manager Karolien Selhorst as she describes this fascinating journey in a live virtual presentation from the Netherlands.

About the presenter: Karolien Selhorst holds two masters degrees and currently works as Digital Library Manager/Knowledge Manager in the public library of Vlissingen (Holland). As an independent consultant, Karolien advises organisations and provides training on knowledge management, change management and Web 2.0 tools. She is chief editor of her own magazine ‘Digitale Bibliotheek’ and a freelance journalist for ‘Intellectueel Kapitaal’, a knowledge management magazine.

When: Thurs. May 21, 2009 from 10:30 AM – 12 noon Mountain time, 12:30 – 2 PM Eastern time, 6:30 – 8 PM Netherlands/CEST.

How to attend: You can attend this virtual program in two different ways:
1.    At our bricks and mortar location in downtown Edmonton (Classroom 958, Faculty of Extension, Enterprise Square, 10230 Jasper Ave.) Light refreshments will be served, and no computer setup will be required on the part of participants. The presentation will be viewed in real time on a large classroom projector screen, and attendees will have the opportunity to pose questions. Cost is $15 for CASLIS members, $20 for all others. Doors open on Thurs. May 21 at 10 AM, presentation starts at 10:30.
2.    From the convenience of your computer workstation anywhere in the world. You will need a functioning computer sound system to participate. Joining information will be emailed out 24 hours before the presentation. We are using the Elluminate Live system. You can test your computer’s compatibility by doing the “eClass Elluminate Access Check Audio Setup (no password needed)” at this website.
Virtual attendees are urged to test their systems well in advance (preferably before registration) to ensure compatibility. Firewalls and computer lock-down schemes may preclude participation. CASLIS will not issue refunds for technical failures of any kind reported less than 24 hours before the event. Cost is $10 for CASLIS members, $15 for non-members. Registrants from outside Canada should contact Ingrid Dandanell (ingriddandanell@shaw.ca) for special registration and pricing options. Virtual meeting opens on Thurs. May 21 at 10 AM Mountain Time (12 noon Eastern, 18:00 Netherlands/CEST time), presentation starts 30 minutes later.

Please see visit to this website for additional info and the registration form.

Looking forward to seeing you all online!

Dat web2.0 niet alleen een impact heeft op hoe bibliotheken communiceren met hun klanten, dat zal (bijna) niemand meer verbazen. Ook het onderwijs en de overheid staan voor de uitdaging om interactiever om te gaan met leerlingen en met burgers. Dat besef groeide ook in Vlissingen. Daar werden de leerkrachten van de Vlissingse basisscholen meer en meer geconfronteerd met vragen van niet alleen kinderen, maar ook ouders over Hyves, blogs enz..

Bibliotheek Vlissingen probeert hierop een antwoord te bieden door docenten een aangepaste versie van ‘23Dingen’ aan te bieden, namelijk ‘11Dingen voor docenten basisonderwijs’.

Dit initiatief sluit naadloos aan bij onze visie dat bibliotheken daar moeten zijn waar de (potentiële)
gebruikers zijn. In dit geval op de scholen. Het openen van twee fysieke vestigingen was een eerste stap; het faciliteren en ondersteunen van docenten met een digitale dienstverlening – waaronder een cursus web2.0 – een tweede.

Vanuit deze visie ben ik begin deze maand van start gegaan met ‘11Dingen’ voor docenten van twee basisscholen in Vlissingen. Het verschil met de ‘gewone’ 23Dingen zit vooral in de dingen zelf – zo is er bijvoorbeeld één ding dat focust op het gebruik van digitale schoolborden. Bovendien zijn alle voorbeelden aangepast aan de onderwijscontext. Ten slotte, is er ook voldoende ruimte voorzien om met elkaar van gedachten te wisselen over hoe je nu creatief aan de slag gaat met het geleerde. Om ook andere bibliotheken in Nederland de kans te geven deze unieke vorm van ondersteuning aan de scholen aan te bieden ontwikkelen wij momenteel een kant-en-klaar pakket dat bibliotheken kunnen afnemen. Ten slotte, denken wij er ook over na om later een versie voor gevorderden en een versie voor kinderen en ouders te ontwikkelen.

Maar niet alleen in de Vlissingse scholen beweegt er wat. Bij de gemeente in Vlissingen is een maand geleden een dertigtal ambtenaren van de dienst publiekszaken aan de slag gegaan met ‘15 dingen voor ambtenaren’. Ook dit pakket hebben wij kant-en-klaar ontworpen en ikzelf coach deze groep. Het verschil met de ‘gewone’ versie van 23Dingen voor bibliotheken zit ook hier weer vooral in de dingen zelf (zo komen o.a. e-participatie en klantcontactcentra aan bod) en de voorbeelden die worden aangehaald. Alles wat gebeurt op het Ambtenaar 2.0 platform kwam dus als manna uit de hemel gevallen.

Misschien rijst nu wel de vraag, is dit een taak voor bibliotheken? Jawel, het is een unieke kans om aan te tonen dat je professioneel bezig bent en bovendien kan je op deze manier de band met de lokale partners – gemeente en scholen – verstevigen. Je zou wel gek zijn mocht je als bibliotheek zo’n kans laten liggen, toch?

Beide concepten zijn door bibliotheken over te nemen. Meer info? Stuur mij een mailtje.