January 20th, 2009

What should a modern library's website be?

Geoff DiMasi
Founder


Last week, I posted some thoughts on what a modern library should be, and promised to follow it up with a post on how a website could support that mission. In case you didn't read the previous post, it can be summed up as: learning needs a clubhouse, so why not the library? Of course, libraries have always been a place that supports learning with it resources, but I envision a place where the library community facilitates that pursuit further.

This is where the website comes into play. I envision a library website that has an Ebay reputation system, a Digg voting component, a room reservation system, a Google Books repository, a WorldCat list and notes feature, Amazon reviews and Facebook profiles. (I realize that it can be annoying to read a sentence like that if you do not have intimate knowledge of the way the sites work. However, it is good short-hand for me as I explain what I mean.)

Let me start with the obvious. Everyone assumes that a library website should have digitized information. I do not disagree, and in many ways that part it is a forgone conclusion that sites like Google books will replace the need for extensive physical repositories. Recently, Steven Johnson wrote an inspiring story about how he used Google Books to research his recent book, The Invention of Air:

An amazing number of Priestley's original writings (along with other texts from that period) are available from Google as downloadable PDFs, with scans of the original page design and typography, along with full-text searching. Many of these are texts that would be very hard to find even in a major research library, and of course, even if you could find them, you wouldn't be able to search them. (You'd barely be able to turn the pages, given how old the books are.

Online repositories are better in lots of ways. They allow for searching, hyperlinking, multiple displays of the same information, aggregation and calculation to be done on them, and they are more accessible. Libraries should be glad that they can get out of the boring business of maintaining acid-filled pieces of paper and cardboard as a means to preserve human knowledge. If we, as a collective society, can move our stored knowledge to a more searchable and accessible medium, I am all for it. I don't think it is valuable to be sentimental about the codex book format. At one point, it was the most convenient portal medium for spreading human information, but its day has come.

I think it is fair to say that information that you would formerly access at a library is already online, and that it is only going to get better. With this in mind, I ask once again, what should a modern library's website be?

Before I answer that, I am going to take another step back to talk about how professors earn their rank and reputation. The basis of the promotion and tenure system for universities is peer review. This process of having other peers read or review your work has a long history, but it is not without fault. At its root the process is intended to provide a mechanism for checking the accuracy of work before it is published. It has been accused of slowing things down and bringing up petty disagreements, but when it is working well it embodies the possibility for mentoring and sharing.

There is no reason why this type of peer-based reputation system could be not be brought over into the library environment. In last week's post, I brought up the idea of peer learning, mentoring and apprenticing happening at the library in a Barcamp-like style. One way to facilitate that process would be to have an Ebay like reputation system built into the library website. It would provide a publicly accountable way to track the quality and integrity of one's contributions to this learning community. I see it as a way to bring out the best in people since they know that if they lead a session without doing a little research and preparation in advance, they might get rated poorly. Everyone has the potential to lead a discussion session, so there is less incentive to be malicious. (What comes around goes around in this system.) Pragmatically, these reputation ratings help people make decisions on what sessions to attend or who to approach for information in this community in the same way that people use Ebay reputation ratings to decide to buy an iPod from this seller verses that seller.

Reputation can also be increased by making thoughtful commentary to the online collection. I find the story of marginalia to be romantic and often talk about it. In short, it is the notes that scholars would write in the margins of manuscripts. Other scholars would often travel to certain libraries to read the marginalia of a respected scholar. (In my mind, I envision a scholar making an arduous journey to read the notes of someone that passed away 100 years ago for the sake of sharing in human knowledge pursuit.) A book could exist in multiple places, but the marginalia was only in a specific library. Digital marginalia is much more accessible. (In many ways, the reviews that people write on Amazon products are a commercial cousin to this scholarly practice.) Digital marginalia also has the potential to be voted on. In a Digg-like way, commentary can be rated or voted up so that the well regarded posts rise to the top. If you make a lot of respected comments, your rating would increase (and vice-versa.)

Another component of the system would be a way to track your own progress. WorldCat lets you create public or private lists of books, cds, dvds or articles you recommend, have read/viewed, or any other custom list you determine. It also lets you review it, share it and tag it. Features like this should be folded into your personal profile on the library website. It will allow you to track your progress and also allow people to see what type of interests and expertise that you possess. So for instance, someone may connect with you because they have read the same book. In the course of their interactions they may realize that you have a lot of knowledge to share in the area and then encourage you to lead a session at the library so that people can gather to talk and learn.

You agree and you go over to the room reservation section of the website and reserve a small informal space since it is a more focussed topic. This reservation triggers an announcement to the community of people that have opted in to get notified about this subject. It also goes on the library calendar and shows up on your profile as an upcoming way to connect up with you. If someone signs up in advance to attend, their profile page would also note that they are attending.

I think you get the point.

If you think about it, this proposed website would allow for an alternative university or educational environment to exist. (I discuss this in more detail in my previous post on modern libraries.) The system replaces the functions that the administration at most schools provide. This is not to say that this will replace all formal schools or universities. They certainly have their roles in our society. Much in the same way that vinyl still has a role in the digital music age. (It has a unique sound quality, but it is not a necessary medium for most people that want to listen to music.)

As an aside, I would see this as a positive in terms of quality of experience for those that are part of a traditional university or school environment since only those that want that experience would attend. I could imagine a decrease in the size and number of these institutions, but on the positive side they would be freed from the mission of trying to be everything (job training, scholarly training, coming of age facilitation) for everyone and have the opportunity to focus and refine.

The library would also evolve in new and rich ways. It would provide the physical local gathering hub, the clubhouse, for all of this activity. The website would provide access to information, track reputation and progress, augment the exchange of information and ultimately encourage people to get together in real space.

A couple of things should be noted. These kinds of online interactions can already happen if you have Facebook and WorldCat or other combinations of social media accounts. I know that people are already connecting over shared interests and engaging in peer learning and mentoring. If you are not, I would certainly encourage you do so. Also, there is a good chance that libraries will be able to tap into existing web infrastructures through the use of APIs and plug-in architecture as they build out these modern websites. This will reduce the investment and time necessary to get these websites up and running.

The real value add that the library provides is that physical space that already has a long history with encouraging and supporting self-learning.

There are lots of nuances to the role that the website could provide that I want to delve further into, but I will stop now because I want to hear from you. What do you think? Can we make this happen? What would you add?

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I wanted to add a quick addendum. We are going to be holding a Junto on rethinking the library on February 5th at 6pm. Hope you can make it to continue the conversation.
Geoff DiMasi
Founder

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