goblin cartoons

As Walt blogged about, the Library Society of the World Meebo room got attacked by guerrila spambots on Thursday afternoon. I was at work and had a meeting to go to, so there wasn’t much I could do about it. I quickly posted on the Meebo forums, then suggested to the people in the chat room that they abandon ship for the moment. In the aftermath of the pr0nbot bombing, I’ve made the room accessible only by password. I’m not all that happy with the solution; a number of the LSW room regulars are people who stumbled into the room, found it to be a welcoming environment, and stayed. I don’t see that happening as much now, although we’ve made the password as easy to find out as we could. (Hint: it’s the same as the LSW wiki.)

In another sense, though, it’s awfully nifty the room was attacked at all. During the attack, people checked other rooms and found that the only ones getting hit were the popular rooms, the rooms with lots of people in them. And the LSW room has been consistently popular. You can usually find at least one or two people there, frequently a lot more than that. You can even find it hopping on a Saturday night (which maybe says as much about us library folks as it does about Meebo chat rooms). I love hanging out there, especially when there are a lot of people in the room. Conservation ranges from food (a topic that seems to emerge with the slightest provocation) to “what do we like and dislike about ALA” to “can someone help me with the reference question?” to “can someone give me professional advice about being a librarian?”

I know why the room is so popular: the people who hang out there are friendly, approachable, funny, and smart. But I honestly don’t know how it became so popular. I’d love to take credit for it. Often, when I log into the room, someone will make a joke about “our leader has arrived!” But I’m not their leader, I’m not the primary influence on the room. I creeated the room, I perform the rare administrative function for the room, but it’s the people in the room who make it what it is. I’ve never invited anyone to the room, I don’t drop links to the room anywhere (except once on Twitter and here on my blog), and yet a really good group of people have come to the room, and they keep coming back to interact with each other.

An example of the great social dynamic going on: when I told everyone to flee in the face of the pr0nbot invasion, LSW member Rikhei immediately created a backup room, password-protected, and people spread the word. I came back from my work meeting to find a whole new LSW room where people were congregating. Soon after, I made the original LSW room password-protected. Again, the word was spread, and everyone flocked back to the original room.

Whatever the reasons, I’m pleased as all get-out the LSW Meebo room has attracted such a great group of people. I’m not solely responsible for it, but I’m thrilled to be a part of it. It’s now one of my favorite hang-outs. It’s a place I can go where everybody knows my name.

For reasons that are beyond me, OCLC is letting Walt Crawford go. (I’m not going to introduce Walt because, well, I’d be shocked if anyone reading this blog doesn’t know who Walt is.) If you’ve ever thought to yourself, “Gee, wouldn’t it be great if Walt worked for me? Too bad OCLC snatched him up,” now’s your chance to gain from OCLC’s loss. For more info, check out Walt’s post about this. And if, like me, you’re not in any position to get Walt a new job, wish him luck in his future employment.

Best of luck, Walt!

I woke up this morning to find that Meebo now has chat rooms. Chat rooms have been around for ages, but Meebo’s are awfully slick. You can incorporate multimedia into them, so that they make excellent conferencing and collaboration areas. At a coworker’s suggestion, I created a Meebo room for my colleagues and me to use. Then I created a Meebo room for the Library Society of the World. There’s a lot of potential for professional use of these chat rooms. Also, they’re fun!

A discussion (or was it a couple of different discussions?) on Twitter regarding ALA fees and navigating the ALA website led me to declare why I haven’t renewed my ALA membership. For one thing, ALA’s website, well, sucks. Is that really such a big deal? No, not really. ALA has already shown signs of changing with the changing times, and with Jenny Levine working for them, I’m sure their web presence will improve by leaps and bounds in no time. My other reason for not renewing my membership is a bigger problem: the cost of membership dues. As a student, joining ALA was $28, which was quite affordable when I was flush with student loan money. Now that I’m a professional, my first year would cost me $55. This is much less affordable. My second year dues would be $83, which is really not affordable. This is also assuming I don’t join any of the divisions or round tables. Actually getting involved in ALA, outside of paying the basic first year dues, would seriously compromise my ability to support my family. And to be honest, I can’t see what I would get out of being a member.

Is ALA an organization for professional development? I already get loads of professional development assistance from my coworkers and supervisors, my place of employment, and my time spent on the intarweb. Given the choice between the ALA and my blogroll, my blogroll kicks ALA up and down the street, making it cry uncle.

Is ALA a political advocacy group? I love that ALA gets into the political arena and supports causes and issues that I personally support. But so does the ACLU, and I only have to pay $25 a year to be a card-carrying member of that organization.

No, the more I think about it, the less I can find in ALA that I find worth paying my dues for.

This chatting on Twitter led to some remarks about starting our own alternative to ALA. Jokes and snarky comments morphed into somewhat serious questions of “Are you really going to do this?” to conversations of “We should definitely do this!” And so was born the Library Society of the World! It’s free to join and free to participate in. To be honest, this is sort of a lark, and I don’t take it all that seriously. On the other hand, I do take alternatives to ALA seriously. I think we already have an alternative to ALA, and it’s every library person engaging in conversations and collaboration on the internet and in other non-official ways. The Library Society of the World is just a cheeky way of formalizing that (sort of).

I encourage everyone and anyone who reads this blog to join the LSW, because…well, why the heck not? If you want to help with the wiki, email, IM, Skype or Twitter me (or call me on the phone, or talk to me in person) and ask for the password. At this point, I’m not going to post it publicly, but I’ll give it to anyone who asks nicely for it.

Champions of free information! The Library Society of the World wants you!

Walt Crawford had a foggy notion, Steve Lawson egged him on, and Dorothea Salo kicked it into gear. Now I’m going to ride with it: my five biblioblogger heroes.

Karen G. Schneider — I am very vocal about my undying affection and admiration for Karen. She’s the writer I most frequently have in my head when I’m writing, hoping that someday I can be somewhere close to as witty and wise as she always is. On her own blog, in comments on other blogs, in magazine pieces, and on the email lists I’ve been on with her, I am always laughing out loud and nodding my head when I read what she’s written. I frequently pester other people by quoting Karen. I really can’t say anymore without embarrassing myself, so…cut!

Meredith Farkas — Meredith writes the kinds of long, thoughtful, passionate posts I would like to write. Plus, she’s all kinds of humble and encouraging to others. She also picked up a gauntlet and started Five Weeks to a Social Library, for which I have boundless admiration.

Jessamyn West — Jessamyn’s so old-school, her blog is called simply “Librarian.net.” How cool is that? It’s like starting a rock band and calling it “The Rock & Roll Band.” Or something like that. She’s also wickedly funny and smart. Plus, her work these days is about bridging the technology divide, which is something I think is immensely, world-spinningly important.

Michelle Boule — The Kid. Michelle “Jane Eyre” Boule is hilarious, spunky, and is one of the masterminds behind Five Weeks to a Social Library. What I admire about her is not that she’s passionate about libraries, but that she just doesn’t know when to shut her damn mouth. That is an admirable trait. She’s also an unabashed geek, which is also an admirable trait.

Jessica Langlois — Jessica is a very cool librarian. She is also, as far as I’m concerned, an unsung hero. Not only is she a cool blogger, she looks at all this social software and says, “Hey, we could use this to build a really strong online library network and community!” And then she does what she can to bring that about. I think it’s criminal that she doesn’t get more attention, because she absolutely deserves to be in the spotlight.

Gee, would you look at that? My five choices are all women. Huh. Well, since I’m talking about tuchas-kicking female bloggers, I’ll mention one more blog: my wife’s Livejournal. Because she is also one of my heroes (both in terms of blogging and in life in general). Like Michelle, my wife doesn’t know when to keep her mouth shut (and she doesn’t care) and she’s upfront about her geekiness. (Ask her about the Discworld books or Monty Python.) Like Karen and Jessamyn, my wife has a wicked sense of humor and a witty way of writing. Like Meredith, my wife is very passionate and thoughtful in her writing. And like Jessica, she’s really damn cool. My wife isn’t a library professional (although she really groks libraries), but she’s 57 kinds of awesome all the same.

There you go. My blogging heroes. Now, go forth and write your own posts about this. You are all tagged.

I finally have a copy of the March issue of American Libraries in my mitts and I can see the “Mattering in the Blogosphere” article for myself. Boy, do I share the space with some smart, articulate people! Strangely, the article doesn’t provide URLs for the blogs, so here they are:

• Blake Carver, LISNews
• Nicole Engard, What I Learned Today
• Rochelle Hartman, Tinfoil+Raccoon
• Sarah Houghton-Jan, Librarian in Black
• Jenny Levine, The Shifted Librarian
• Kathleen De La Pena McCook, Librarian at the Kitchen Table
• Mary Minow, Library Law
• Joshua M. Neff, Goblin in the Library
• Jack Stephens, Conservator
• Jessamyn West, Librarian.net

Just as Kathleen, Jessamyn, Nicole and Rochelle have done, I’ll post all of my answers here, including the ones that got edited out. Here’s a thing, though: when I got the email with the questions, I had no idea how long the article would be or how long my answers should be. I was concerned that if I went on at length, my answers would get chopped, possibly making me sound like an idiot. So I kept my answers short, very short. Which is slightly misleading, because anyone who has spent time with me in person knows that I rarely answers questions like these without going on and on and on.

What does it take for a blog to have an impact on the biblioblogosphere?

I’m not sure how much of an impact my blog has, but the blogs that have an impact on me are all written with passion, honesty, a distinctive voice and a sense of humor.

What do the readers of your blog value about your posts (i.e., “voice” as an online columnist, value-added news coverage)?

I make people laugh, and I ask questions and tell stories that people find interesting.

How do you decide when to post inspiration, obligation to keep the blog fresh and readers engaged, or what?

I do feel somewhat driven to provide regular fresh content, but I try not to post unless I really have something to say. It just happens that I have a lot on my mind, so I end up posting pretty regularly.

How do you determine what the right length is for a given post?

I don’t have a formula. I end a post when it feels right to stop, which is usually when I’ve run out of things to say.

What has surprised you most about the process of blogging?

I’m constantly surprised at how easy and satisfying it is to write short rants, anecdotes and ponderings. It’s also surprising and satisfying when people respond to what I’ve written and encourage me to keep going.

What lessons can libraries learn from your experiences as an individual blogger?

Write as if you’re a person, not a business. Write about things you find exciting and funny and strange. Write with a distinctive voice. Don’t be afraid to raise difficult questions. Treat your readers as if they’re in on the joke and invite them to engage in conversations with you.

What’s missing from the LIS blogosphere that you’d like to see someone take on?

My student loan payments.

How will the blogs of today be regarded a decade from now? Should digital libraries collect them?

I’m wary of making predictions about the future, but as blogs are already being cited in academia, I think collecting them in digital libraries isn’t such a bad idea.

I’m big on fostering and participating in communities of likeminded people, both in person and online. Have I established that well enough already? You all know that about me, right? Right. It’s why I immediately jumped on board when Jessica started the collaborative Library Talk blog and Library Links blogroll. Sadly, Library Talk hasn’t really taken off. (Library Links also seems to have stopped growing, but I have hopes that it’s only temporary and that more people will jump on board sooner or later.)

So, if I were wearing a cap right now, I would doff it to Bill Drew, who took advantage of the improved Ning to create a Library 2.0 social networking site that is growing quickly, and fun to boot!

If you haven’t already, I encourage you to join the Library 2.0 network. And when you get there, add me to your friend list. Here’s my personal page. The librarian party continues. First round is on me.

I let my ALA membership lapse a while ago, so I have no idea if the March issue of American Libraries is in people’s hands yet, but if it is, you may have seen that the cover story is on librarian bloggers–and I’m one of the bibliobloggers in the article. Back in January, I got an email request to answer some questions and be included in the article. I was incredibly surprised and flattered, but I had no idea which other bloggers would be in the article. Kathleen de la Pena McCook, also in the article, posted about it with a list of the bloggers interviewed and…Holy Macaroni! I’m in there with Jessamyn West, Sarah Houghton-Jan and Jenny Levine! They’re well-known, well-respected, well-connected library professionals and bloggers. Me? I’m just some two-bit wiseacre with a keyboard and a website. I feel like Marlin swimming with the turtles on the EAC. Not that Jessamyn, Sarah and Jenny are turtlish in any way, it’s just, well, next to them I feel sort of small and inexperienced. And orange.

At any rate, I’m very excited to be included in this article (although I don’t know how much of what I said was included, and if what I said makes me sound like a doofus) and this group (which also includes brilliant bloggers Rochelle Hartman and Nicole Engard, more awesome company for me). If the article has led you to my blog, welcome! Feel free to stick around for a while. Leave me a comment of two if’n you feel like it. Try the corned beef, it’s very good this week.

With some help from Chris at Libraryola, I got my Library Links button and blogroll set up in my sidebar.

“Library Links”?

Oh, yes. Jessica the Cool Librarian has decided to start a librarian community blogroll. You stick the button and some javascript somewhere on your blog, linking to her Library Links page, then shoot her a message and get added to the list. It’s fast, it’s easy, and it helps build the web strands that are the biblioblogosphere. Why not add your blog to the list? Linkage makes the web go ’round!

“If only every library had a John.” So said Sarah Houghton-Jan, talking about John Blyberg and the SOPAC features he designed for AADL. (Although it does sort of sound like she’s talking about something else, taken out of context. There are some days I wish my library had 4 or 5 johns. But no one consulted me when the building was being designed.)

Wouldn’t that be swell? I would love to have a John Blyberg at MPOW. But my library doesn’t have someone like him right now, and I don’t see us getting someone like that anytime soon. And what about those smaller libraries, with a staff of one? How are they supposed to get someone with John’s imagination and mad coding skillz?

John has made the source code for the SOPAC available, and I think this is really the most significant aspect of the AADL SOPAC. (Richard Wallis of Talis seems to agree.) Because not every library can have a John Blyberg, and every library shouldn’t have to hire a John Blyberg to get access to innovations like this. And we shouldn’t have to sit around and wait for ILS vendors to start releasing these kinds of innovations for free. Are we not librarians? Are we not all about the free flow of information? John giving out his source code for free shouldn’t be remarkable, because we librarians should be doing this all the time, as a matter of course. Isn’t sharing information and innovation the most cost-effective way of improving our systems and services? What do we have to lose?