LISNews Librarian And Information Science News

As I write, Twitter has been unreachable for a little over forty minutes. The outage is starting to stretch into an hour. Frankly I question what will come first tonight, the return of Twitter or the kick-off to Uncontrolled Vocabulary #42. This ping shows that the machine lives but is just not responsive:

PING twitter.com (128.121.146.100): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 128.121.146.100: icmp_seq=0 ttl=245 time=315.044 ms
64 bytes from 128.121.146.100: icmp_seq=1 ttl=245 time=219.245 ms
64 bytes from 128.121.146.100: icmp_seq=2 ttl=245 time=447.906 ms
64 bytes from 128.121.146.100: icmp_seq=3 ttl=245 time=221.922 ms
64 bytes from 128.121.146.100: icmp_seq=4 ttl=245 time=238.351 ms
64 bytes from 128.121.146.100: icmp_seq=5 ttl=245 time=216.497 ms
64 bytes from 128.121.146.100: icmp_seq=6 ttl=245 time=233.835 ms
64 bytes from 128.121.146.100: icmp_seq=7 ttl=245 time=227.089 ms
64 bytes from 128.121.146.100: icmp_seq=8 ttl=245 time=276.421 ms
^C
--- twitter.com ping statistics ---
9 packets transmitted, 9 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 216.497/266.257/447.906/71.099 ms

This has given me pause to think. Yes, online services that are free can be nice things. As CNet's Charlie Cooper has noted in a column, there is even some talk about nationalizing Twitter. The biggest question is what people want and how is it going to be paid for?

Free services online truly are not free. There are fixed overheads to consider such as connections between the server and the rest of the world let alone the electricity to keep the server running. Without an influx of cash regularly, such things do burn out. This is a fear expressed over Twitter.

While Twitter is a nice thing, I have migrated more of what I do over to Pownce. On Pownce I do have my own site where I can post Twitter-like things but can also do more. For the things that Twitter needs extensions to do, Pownce seems more readily equipped to handle such.

Why do I bring this up? The key question in dealing with free services is their reliability. Is Twitter something that is necessarily reliable for what one might do on a day-to-day basis? Do you truly get what you pay for with Twitter? Think about that for a moment.

I am not against micro-blogging. As a way to promote comity it serves a good purpose. I would almost be more in favor of a subscription site being created for library types using WordPress and the micro-blog template known as Prologue. A subscription rate of USD$1 per month per participant would certainly not pay for all costs but it would defray some.

As we enter into what will be the second hour of the Twitter outage, I can only wonder if this makes more sense than what we're in now. After all, doesn't this outage show we've gotten our money's worth? My pinging of Twitter will likely continue until they're back up.

If they're back up today...which may be according to Lynx. They're perhaps just getting crap-flooded right now. Then again, maybe I am too optimistic.

The planning wiki for Uncontrolled Vocabulary showed a piece from ACRLog impacting NexGens.

Some days it is a good thing I can somehow afford VOIP service through something like Skype. Skype allows me fairly cheap rates for calling outside the United States. Considering that the per-minute rate for calling abroad with my cell phone is USD$1.49 I think I can manage paying around USD$0.20 or less per minute with Skype.

Fortunately I got up early on Tuesday morning. The time difference between the Las Vegas and London is 8 hours. Yes, I refer to the London that is home to several palaces including one that houses the United Kingdom's parliament. Calling the London found in Ontario would only result in a three hour time difference.

With a service that only went live last Friday and had not been promoted yet there was a bit of a disturbance in the Twitterforce that morning. A ruckus was raised about text lifts from LISTen as well as other US-based library science podcasts. The text concerned was found on a website operated by the British equivalent to the American Library Association, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals.

After getting a wee bit concerned by what was brewing on Twitter, I called the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals to speak to their web manager. The web manager and I had a great chat when we talked about what his organization was intending and how I could assist them in working with our content. In more than a few respects it appears that the team's goals with LISTen match those held by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. The goal is to create somewhat of a mirror portal to help bring other perspectives on librarianship to British librarians.

As the effort coincides with the matter that LISTen's audience is concentrated throughout the British Commonwealth, this has implications for us in producing the podcast. As much as I might wish otherwise, the podcast's listeners are found most frequently in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Great Britain. As the effort is one to help increase exposure of the podcast without drawing away traffic from us I have no problem with it. Although the beginning of the effort might appear unusual from an American perspective, it can be considered okay from others.

I applaud the British equivalent to the ALA undertaking an effort like this. Even though Computers in Libraries 2008 just ended and we learned about great undertakings in technology, where is there any sort of directory for this? This would be an excellent opportunity for the ALA and yet I have not found any action there. While there is a wiki devoted to matters like this, I would imagine that this is an area where a directory should be created that would help exemplify best practices.

I've made inquiries to radio stations here in the United States as well as beyond about syndicating the show over the air. So far, I have gotten no replies whether up or down. As this situation is effectively akin to syndication, I have no problem with it. All that remains is working out technical details so that everybody is happy on either end.

Admittedly, this is not an optimal situation. Then again, what is in this contemporary world?

Here is the whole video even though the first ten minutes have no audio due to a technical issue on our end:

The official podcast episode will be available for download as an audio file at the usual date and time.

To donate funds in a one-off manner, clicking the relevant link below will take you to PayPal where all you need is a credit card:

US

Canada

New Zealand

UK

To spread out support over a three month period, the links below may help:

US

Canada

New Zealand

EU

For those interested in supporting LISTen and getting a physical item out of the deal, the online web outlet has new items being added over time.

How odd is it that Twitter offers up a 503 error again? This means that it is very possible that the servers are overly taxed. I cannot fathom how such traffic might be arrayed, though.

This poses an interesting point. With all of the chatter about Web 2.0 over the past few years, where does our infrastructure fit into the picture? While talking about infrastructure is not as sexy as showing a slide-sharing presentation, the slide-sharing presentation would not be possible otherwise.

Our economy pursued flash over substance. As the flash fades, what is there really to fall back on?

This is one of the few times I am blessed to write a blog post on LISNews from another land. Right now I am trying to eat dinner at the Turtle Restaurant. It has been an interesting trip in and out of the British Virgin Islands. If anything I will spend more time airborne than I will on the islands.

Will LISTen happen this week? One way or another, yes. The dominant US-flagged air carrier out here is American Airlines and so far there have been only minimal flight disruptions. Saturday may be a different story.

Have a beautiful day and, barring anything unforeseen, LISTen returns at the usual point.

I imagine that the opening to this week's podcast was a little jarring. All I can say is that that was necessary. I will try to explain such further.

What was in the script was:

The production team for Listen is looking for a new home. Due to workplace uncertainties we want to move the show soon. Any library, whatever the type, willing to host the production team that might have related tasks the team could work on is asked to think about it. Provided that work visas are possible, we are willing to consider moving to locations in the Commonwealth of Nations. Our main preference is to stay away from Lake Erie Lake Effect Snow areas within the United States. With a former federal contractor computer technician on the production team, we have knowledge and skills that could bring value to your institution. To talk about this, hit us at the contact form on LISNews but please make sure you complete ALL options shown so Blake is not flooded. You can also send us faxes and e-mails by following the instructions found at lisnews.org/podcast.

Perhaps I might have been too delicate in writing that. Unless we hear otherwise my father is out of a job on April 28th. To use a slang word popular in local television ads, we do not need a blamestorming session for that. Efforts are underway to keep him in place but due to the budget at work being in deficit for the second fiscal year running his departure may be unavoidable. In my own workplace environment things have become unstable due to circumstances beyond my control and the likelihood of a RIF is increasing.

Can the team find new work locally? Right now the mix of available jobs is not pretty in Las Vegas. I do not see either of us able to pull off being waiters all that well. Beyond that, there is not a whole lot out there.

For the purpose of having it on-hand, I put together a budget showing hold-in costs to keep us in place in Nevada until the end of the calendar year. The budget would assume that we would handle the podcast full-time with other production duties mixed in. The total budget including payroll, fixed costs like rent and utilities, and other such expenses came out to a little under sixty thousand dollars. The budget assumed nothing for benefits as frankly nobody here has that at the moment.

So, what was the pitch about at the beginning of the podcast? A potential way around that hold-in scenario would be to have the production team relocated. If there happened to be a library that could host us we would be happy to join your team on a visiting basis. The podcast audio engineer has a few years experience as a computer technician making all sorts of things work ranging from old boxes running CP/M to Sun SPARCStations to SGI Indy and beyond. I have limited experience in electronics and have been a serving cataloger.

The notion would be that a library, preferably academic or public, would host the production team on a visiting basis. The team would have normal and appropriate day to day duties but also have podcast production included in the mix. In terms of relocating, we will be free pretty soon to do such I fear. Some areas we would consider relocating to include:

• Pacific Northwest
  
• Areas of the southern United States not prone to hurricanes and otherwise not California
  
• West Virginia
  
• Mid-Atlantic states except for Lake Effect Snow areas
  
• Canada
  
• England
  
• Guam
  
• Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands
  
• Australia
  
• New Zealand

I am trying to be prudent in bringing this up. If anything I want to throw the notion out there for folks to consider. There are several ways to reach me. You can find those at http://lisnews.org/node/29265 with telephone numbers in standardized format. If anybody has interest in exploring this seemingly radical notion that is somewhat old-fashioned outside librarianship, please let me know.

Life sometimes throws curveballs. Living is not always a matter of determining how one might act. All too often this modern life requires more attention to how to react.

I try to keep editorial statements to the podcast alone.

Yes, you read that title right. As of this morning there were some calls made. None were fruitful. A somewhat positive e-mail was received later in the day from one potential radio affiliate.

LISTen has gotten longer lately. If anything this was an accident. At the time of the review it was said that folks wanted more meat. Well, you've certainly got that now. The podcast has stabilized at just under thirty minutes in length. In dealing with network issues out here in Las Vegas there have been unique gyrations undertaken to ensure the episode gets posted. The compression has been somewhat harsh at points and I can imagine that that ticks some folks off. All I can say is that I am working on it. I just have not found an acceptable solution.

With a thirty minute run time I have started looking into what it would take to get LISTen available on radio stations. Since many college radio stations are looking for material to fill empty time slots I have started identifying prospects. The team here have been reviewing the prospects to see who to contact. Since the means of production result in modular files we can readily produce an edition that could be released to air for a radio audience while also preparing the podcast. The biggest thing I would have to do to make a radio edition is scrap all the advertisements due to legal restrictions placed on the stations seen as prospective affiliates.

For one thing, I see why Leo Laporte associates negative connotations with the term "podcast". Podcasting is merely a transport medium. In functional respects the use of RSS feeds to make materials available is no different from what comes over a feed for a radio station operating under automation. While one may quibble about the differences between "push" and "pull" it should be remembered that on the front line that is not a big concern. A radio show can be a radio show whether it is available via RSS straight to an iPod or available via a stream to an FM radio transmitter that results in what you hear on your radio.

So, what does all this mean? I have heard from one Canadian radio station already that is looking at the podcast. Calls made Wednesday morning by someone other than me were not necessarily fruitful. Efforts are continuing to see if we can get at least two stations to pick up a radio edition of LISTen. No money would be changing hands on either side in such transactions as presently envisioned. LISTen needs to reach more listeners. Campus radio stations have dead air to fill. This would effectively be a radio barter and not leased access which is good as LISTen has virtually no budget.

Why do this? The unique thing found in the research that was undertaken was that podcasts appeared to be times to gather around and listen to a show. While this makes it practically impossible for me to see any ad buys it does also indicate behavior. Podcasting has a unique reach. While the means of distribution are similar to journal distribution the content remains similar to radio. As violative of paradigms as this is an attempt to be rebroadcast via radio helps make content more accessible to more people.

So, what can a listener do to aid this project? Talk to your local campus radio station. If you think LISTen is a great program that more should have access to, tell the program director at the station. Mention that it is a podcast trying to make a leap into radio. Give them a way to contact us here in Las Vegas. You can find those details at http://lisnews.org/node/29265. If you local campus radio station is at an institution home to an ALA-accredited graduate program in library science it can be noted that carrying a radio version of the podcast would help support an academic program on-campus. Always remember to be nice, respectful, and moderate in talking to the folks at those stations. In many cases they are volunteers and have a ton of things on their docket leaving them with precious little mental capacity to devote to listening to you talk about a podcast out of Las Vegas on a strange topic.

Please remember that if you do not like what we have on LISTen, please contact us. The production team is open to suggestions.

You can find the wish list for the LISTen team in terms of equipment purchases online.

That list contains some of the bigger pieces that we are seeking to acquire. Right now we do not have the funds to do such. Our top two priorities on the list are the Mac Mini and the Nokia N800. The Mac Mini would swap out for the studio computer that is frankly getting very flaky. This is not to say that this would replace the non-networked computer that recordings are made to. We need a computer that is somewhat more reliable for proceeding with Skype calls and other matters. The Nokia N800 would allow for field recordings to happen. I am still trying very, very, very hard to get things in order so I can get into ALA Annual. Unfortunately I have been waiting over a month to hear back from the ALA Public Information Office.

The LifeBook and the external Sony drive are lower priorities. While they would be nice they would not necessarily reduce some of the interesting issues that arise with the hardware we've got right now. The LifeBook would be a more technically capable alternative to the N800 for doing fieldwork in terms of carrying out interviews. The Sony drive would help allow us to be able to back up the show's archives.

Just as episodes of LISTen are not released under Creative Commons, neither are script texts. I try not to release such for multiple reasons. One of those reasons is that not releasing scrip texts help ensure you listen to the verbal delivery first. The rightsholder for the scripts and the episodes is Erie Looking Productions. In response to an inquiry received, the text of the most recent commentary script is posted here.

WARNING! This is a commentary. The views expressed in this particular segment do not necessarily reflect those of Erie Looking Productions, LISHost, or pretty much anyone besides myself for that matter.

While possibly not John N. Berry's intent, his recent piece on "Vanishing Librarians" has brought light on a symptom to a bigger issue. What are libraries? What are library values? Is there anything intrinsic in a library's value?

Have we lost our past? It seems that while we follow the zeitgeist, that is to say the spirit of the moment, we only chase the wind. In a time with ignorance on the rise, the choice to chase the wind has led to libraries trying in some respects to be all things to all people. In some ways we are not doing this well.

Although we have "foundations" classes in the MLS programs, what are indeed our foundations? Do we promote our foundations as being stability to a culture that seeks it or do we instead perpetuate the "Wizard vs. Muggle" scenario I have mentioned previously? For as closely tied as librarianship is to religion over the centuries, we end up facing much the same problems. People are seeking meaning. A problem facing so-called "megachurches" in the United States is that while they can get people in the door they have significant troubles retaining them. While we chase after the zeitgeist do we then provide merely an attraction to get people in the door without retention also occurring?

The problem in contextualization that Berry and Gorman seem to face is explaining that chasing the wind seeking to latch onto the next big thing can detract from philosophical purposes. Although they seem to only refer to libraries of yesteryear, that is the only reference point they have to a quality they perceive to be missing. In short, where has the magic of the library gone? The magic of the library, in this case, is being more than just a passing thing. People often seek substance but do not want to admit it.

Where does your library stand today? Is it an intellectual bedrock to help people build dreams and fuel imaginations? Or is it focused on glitz while not providing the fuel for imagination? In some respects our calling in librarianship is to open new worlds so that people might dare to dream. Chasing the wind is not a bad thing necessarily but is one part of a bigger whole that involves retention and more.

The Annoyed Librarian has similar thoughts that were posted right after the episode was posted. I should note that I am not the Annoyed Librarian. Both of us appear to be somewhat in agreement with John N. Berry.

Please do not skip through the podcast solely for a commentary by me. There are two fantastic interviews that present cataloging as something that is "fun". When laying out show order my usual goal is to keep commentaries towards the end. Commentaries will not be a regular feature on the podcast, though.

Today has been a sufficiently aggravating day. I should not focus on that, though. I should openly give thanks to Blake for adding new subscription buttons for the podcast. Such appears on every page and is as discrete as possible. After an exchange on Twitter earlier I thought it best to simplify things for folks. Blake and I were testing the e-mail subscription in the background for a while and I am happy to report that folks are already using that service. If that makes getting to the podcast easier for you, why not sign up? New e-mails come out only after I post an episode.

One of the big issues tonight is network connectivity. Cox high speed Internet has been anything but. Right now connection speeds are more akin to what I experienced while living in American Samoa. In that part of this country top speeds for an individual run around 24.4-33.0 kbps. For producing LISTen, this makes a huge difference.

As of late we have had to punt in terms of taking calls. Doing such requires Internet usage. Although a prepaid cellular telephone was obtained for use in taking calls we still do not have an adequate bridge to use audio from such. The funds are not on hand to build such and I do not want to go with any suction cup options at all.

Outages are strange things in the Las Vegas metro. I had a less than pleasant experience on the phone with customer service. Although I may be able to get this posted to LISNews the problem remains of having sufficient bandwidth to do interviews. The question on Wednesday around this is if service will be back up to par in time to use Skype for one or two interviews. Both interviews are on subjects that caught my interest.

Are there workarounds to this? I suppose so. The problem is cost. The only other viable option would be to secure a mobile broadband account with a wireless provider. Such would run USD$60 per month for a two year contract term. Right now that is not financially viable. While outsourcing the conduct of interviews to somebody else is possible the problem is getting such into editing. With Internet access being pretty heavily attenuated, how could I even receive such outsourced audio to edit in?

Right now I get to wait. It is all I can do. Hopefully this gets resolved by afternoon tomorrow. For now I get to wait.

What holds LISTen back in some respects? Funding is the key issue. The audio engineer has a regular job. I have as much work as I can get each week but hours have been declining heavily. The slightly unstable job I have is all I have as the gambling inherent in job hunting has not borne fruit yet. Outside the podcast I know I just had to pay out to replace tires on a vehicle due to an incident at the on-ramp from Russell onto the 515. Before upgrading hardware or software there are day to day living expenses that have to be handled.

An ideal scenario in LISTen evolution is for the podcast to be housed somewhere that it is part of the service of a parent institution. Examples of doing such would be creating a Center for New Media or other type unit in which the podcast is produced while teaching is provided in terms of production. We have been working on lesson plans and course outlines to offer such instruction. If a sufficient offer is made it will be considered. As long as Lake Effect Snow is not a local issue we are willing to consider locations. I must note as well that nothing says such work need necessarily remain within United States jurisdiction either.

I recognize that that ideal is not too likely. This is why the donation buttons always seem to pop up. This is why the Lulu web outlet was put together. If funds were obtained from those means I can rest easy in terms of money matters. Right now I am worried about going bald from tearing out hair over money matters. Relatively speaking it would be far cheaper for somebody to sponsor the podcast month by month rather than bringing us under an institution's umbrella. Bringing us under an institution's umbrella would cost around USD$60,000 to USD$70,000 in payroll. Sponsoring the podcast as constituted now would only run about USD$18,000 to USD$20,000. As counterintuitive as that appears, it actually would be cheaper if the production effort remains as presently constituted but with my being freed up to work on the podcast full-time. A podcast is a cost center that does not necessarily "monetize" by itself. In that respect, the seeking of donations and the sale of items through Lulu makes better sense right now compared to being under an institutional umbrella.

Wednesday is another day...

This form may help folks who want an e-mail whenever a new episode of LISTen is posted:

As a means of helping folks out who might want to support LISTen financially I took action. I have put together small items on Lulu. These item are reprints of two conference papers I have presented. The papers look at an intersection between library science and Christian life.

You can find such at Lulu. If pricing seems strange, please remember that it is an interesting task finding the right balance between no margin at all and a margin that produces at least some revenue. Lulu's cost of print production is certainly not under three dollars, too.

This is a wee bit of an experiment. Hopefully it turns out well.

The Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science defines podcast as:

A digital media file (audio or video) syndicated over the Internet via an RSS feed. The author or host of a podcast is known as a podcaster. Once available online, podcasts can be downloaded for listening on portable media devices (MP3 players, pocket CDs, cell phones) and personal computers. Despite the similarity in name, listening to or watching a podcast does not require an iPod, although the device can be used for that purpose. Online directories of podcasts are usually browsable by subject and searchable by keyword(s) (examples: Podcast Alley, Podcast.net, and Podfeed.net).

This describes the program produced here in the Las Vegas metro. This also describes the method of normal distribution. Is this the normal means of accessing LISTen, though?

I have a wee bit to say relative to LISTen and US Presidential Politics.

Considering the global reach of LISNews I figured it was probably best to put forward more button options. It finally hit me last night that folks outside the US would want to donate in their own local currency if they felt so moved. PayPal handles the currency conversions more cheaply than I can so due to infrastructure limits a slew of buttons is needed. Such is presented below.

Donation button for US listeners:

Donation button for Canadian listeners:

Donation button for listeners in New Zealand:

Donation button for listeners in Australia:

Donation button for listeners in the UK:

Donation button for listeners in the Eurozone:

Way to subscribe to support the podcast for one year at USD$20 per month:

Although LISTen remains on hiatus work continues. There will not be an episode released on Monday. Right now the production team is doing work to make things even better.

A question has arisen, though. We have learned from the demographics survey responses so far that quite a number of respondents serve in public libraries in reference capacities. This impacts how we start setting up shows.

What sort of segments would be useful? Interviews with political leaders like Senator Harry Reid, a US Senator for Nevada as well as Senate Majority Leader? Interviews with leaders in technology inside and outside the world of librarianship? Field reports from other parts of the librarianship Anglosphere such as Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom? A weekly tech report contributed by a someone to be lined up?

There are two ways you can make suggestions in this matter. The first is to write to the LISTen Production Team at listen@lisnews.org. The second is to leave a comment on this post.

We cannot promise anything as to what will come of what is suggested. We have to consider what is realistic in terms of production complexity and financial limits. For now this remains a no-budget operation.

Short term funding is sought to keep the host out of hock while issues persist at the host's present day job in terms of deepening cutbacks. Such donations to help during the short term are received using PayPal. Inquiries about other ways to give can also be received via e-mail. To the best of my understanding, PayPal handles currency conversions if you are located somewhere out the United States and feel moved to contribute. This might be important to the seemingly large population of listeners in Canada who might donate.

I have gotten a rather quite small amount of survey responses.

I noticed this morning in the Twitter stream a series of posts from ALA Mid-Winter relative to a document giving a step-by-step guide to podcasting.