Nothing

Cringeworthiness

StephenK — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 00:09:26 -0500

I am posting this early although it is a draft script and quite subject to revision prior to airing on the next episode of LISTen.

As this is recorded, ALA Annual 2008 is underway. I will admit upfront that I am not a member of the American Library Association and never have been. I simply cannot afford it while I can afford Christian College Librarians which is headquartered at Harding University in Arkansas. I can manage annual dues of twenty dollars far more easily than what is asked by ALA.


While following Twitter and lurking on Blip-Dot-T-V, I have noticed some things.  While librarians are supposed to be masters of information, we cannot present it all that well.  Although we like the new vistas opened to us by today's great Web 2.0 tools, we are somewhat lacking in understanding how to use them effectively to serve those we are supposed to serve.
When I see a technology thought leader post a video running only seven minutes but with a file size in excess of three hundred megabytes I cringe.  When I see Twitter used for things it was never meant to support I cringe.  I wouldn't be surprised if such was why Twitter would not even give me a "fail whale" for a good chunk of Friday as ALA Annual began with I presume plenty of tweeting librarians.
Just as much as there are style guides for students who write papers, there are also guides for production.  We try to follow a blend of TV and radio pacing in the production of LISTen where our "ads" are used basically as transitions between segments.  There are styles of presentation that exist and can be chosen among.  When we produce for video we follow prevailing standards for how things are done in that form.  We rarely release things in video with dimensions beyond 720 by 480 pixels because that is equivalent to analog broadcast television in North America already.  While we could provide more resolution the problem is a lack of viewers who can use such.  Sticking to a web standard of 320 by 240 pixels in MPEG4 format allows us to post video that is the most portable whether watching it on-screen, on an iPod, or eventually on a device like an iPhone.  For other cell phone types, 3GP is the encoding standard used to knock things down to a format accessible over current networks even though it is somewhat degraded through fairly severe compression.
While I see "disruptive technology" applauded, I can say it is perhaps a mis-appropriation of a phrase.  Librarians have championed disruptive technology advances in the past.  The engineering feat that was the shared academic catalog now known as WorldCat is one of them that continues today to impact the world around us.  My biggest fear, though, is that we use that turn of phrase as an excuse for creating things with tools we don't know fully how to utilize and to accept such produced items regardless of their quality.
I am sometimes outright horrified at what I do see by way of Twitter in terms of what is being said at ALA Annual as to tech.  While we fancy ourselves as being quite adept at tech, it should be noted that systems administration abilities to keep an integrated library system running do not translate well into handling Adobe Premiere or Final Cut Pro let alone Audacity.  We do not teach showmanship in library school and assume that students pick such up during their undergraduate studies.  In a world where we are expected to perform for an amorphous, faceless audience, librarians are ill-equipped to handle things.  Just as much as we can "write" with Word we cannot have something accepted if style conventions are not followed.  Why is it any different from the tech tools we have like YouTube and social networks?

We must avoid the cloister. Librarianship is turning upon itself to be a monastery that keeps to its seemingly pious works while feeling it does good for a world it is increasingly not connected to. I can only hope that we are at a precipice now rather than having already taken a leap off it.

Sitting at the bar at Turtle Restaurant in the Lambert Beach Resort

StephenK — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 19:39:57 -0500

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.

"Thank you for helping me die."

mdoneil — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 23:00:24 -0500

Someone said that to me this week.

You may read the full post at my personal, infrequently updated blog.

I am not about to whack myself so cancel the parties.

Parts and Equipment Wish List for LISTen

StephenK — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 23:26:26 -0500

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.

Preparing a good podcast is not easy and not cheap. I recommend the O'Reilly text known as Podcasting Hacks to help understand some of the issues we go through. The book is very good and is recommended by the podcast audio engineer for use as a textbook. I bought him a copy out of my pocket so that there could be a reference on-hand in case folks in LibraryLand need additional help in creating podcast magic.

If anyone would like to contribute to the purchase of any item on the equipment wish list, please contact me by any of the means available. If you want a shipping address to just send things please contact me by any of the means available. You do not necessarily need to be within the United States to contribute.

Inside a building in China

Bibliofuture — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 22:27:24 -0500

Want to see some architecture that is WOW?

Take a look:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ijsendoorn/2233761018/

Choose Your Own Adventure Map

anderskb — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 16:29:51 -0600

There is a fun post at Boing Boing that showcases a visual map of a Choose Your Own Adventure book.

As requested, the text of the commentary from LISTen #10

StephenK — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 14:21:03 -0600

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.

Thoughts after a strange enough day

StephenK — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:50:14 -0600

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...

Alternative means of getting LISTen

StephenK — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 01:20:20 -0600

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

Signing up now means you will not get an e-mail until the next episode is posted.

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:

Canada

New Zealand

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

Canada

New Zealand

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.

A new way to support LISTen financially?

StephenK — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 03:48:05 -0600

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.