Roast of Marion McFaden

This is the roast I presented at the retirement ceremony for the legendary Marion McFaden sometime in mid-1983. To those who loved and feared her, Marion was known as "the M." For the sake of anonymity, I've disguised the names of branches and people who might still be alive. About one-third of this is exaggerated; the rest, sadly, is all too true. Please note: This was in a simpler time when Branch Managers were Branch Librarians, there were no computers or three-letter branch codes; a time when men were men, women were women, and Librarians were terror-inducing figures who weren't afraid to pucker up and give the whole world a great big Ssshhhhhh!!!

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My first exposure to Marion McFaden was in 1974, when I was a green and innocent page at the Airport Branch, fifteen and a half years old, and she was already Branch Librarian at McKinsey. When in the course of my duties I first entered the basement of the Airport Branch, I was confronted by a sign what said "DO NOT CLOSE THIS DOOR -- M. McFaden." Little did I know that this was only the first in a long series of M's signs that would haunt my days.

There were simple signs: "This door must not be unlocked." "Return these scissors or lose your life." And my personal favorite, "Do not drip on the toilet seat." There were authoritative signs: "Anything left in the sink will be thrown out!" and "Refer all scheduling complaints to M. McF." And there were the charmingly M-ish signs: "Godammit, if I ever find out who left these magic markers on my desk, I'll stuff them one at a time down your throat!!!!!" Even patrons weren't immune from such cheerful notices as "DO NOT PUT BOOKS IN THIS SLOT WHEN LIBRARY IS OPEN" and "NO STAPLE REMOVING ON COPY MACHINE. Use Table. Staples have been the cause of THREE RUINED ROLLERS."

M has always known how to take proper action to deal with any circumstances. On her first day on the job, back in nineteen mumble-mumble, she was assigned to help on the bookmobile. Well, in the course of the run it broke down, causing a traffic backup the equal of later lineups at the Bay Bridge. While her supervisor struggled to repair or move the stranded bookmobile, M seized upon the root of the problem and responded by standing in the middle of the road and laughing.

Later came another example of M's ability to do the right thing at the right time. She was in the children's room helping a young boy, when the kid chose that moment to upchuck. M, never one to be outdone, leaned over next to the lad and vomited herself.

I don't want to give the impression that the big M doesn't know how to cope. Indeed, coping is the best thing she does. And she quite often forces others to cope a bit more.

When Esther King needed someone to run the Airport Branch out of an old trains station, M was picked. And run it she did, with the legendary McFaden iron fist. I thinkit was at that time that the grand parade started, as employee after employee fell under that iron fist.

Some lasted only a few days, like the elderly woman who couldn't cope with our cataloging system. "JE's, JP's, one dot, two dots, three dots..." the woman muttered one day while shelving books in the children's room. Shortly after, M was forced to let her go when the woman went on a rampage and started pitching books out onto the train tracks.

Some employees lasted longer. A certain Librarian, for example, who started in children's services and then managed to escape, only to return in a fit of what could only have been masochism. This Librarian is still with us today, although I won't embarrass her by mentioning that her name is Susan B.

And then there was a certain Librarian who lasted several months at the job and then, in a conference with M, asked when she would get time to think her "deep thoughts"....

The train station years passed quickly, with little of note except various tipsy staff members and other minor adventures. Many people don't know the real reason that M left the train station to open the new Airport Branch. Some have speculated that the old branch became too palstered with notes and signs, forcing the construction of a place with larger wall area; but tonight I'll tell you the real reason. You see, M was cleaning one day, and when she finished throwing things out, well, the library was gone. The Administration decided to start over with a more durable building made of brick.

So M started a new hobby: opening library branches. She's opened three of them, you know: Airport, Big City, and McKinsey. As a matter of fact, when Bowie was built it took three strong men to hold her back, so firmly was the habit established.

It was during the Airport years that M began to communicate her philosophy of patron service. One employee remembers a day when the Library received a brand-new information service called Value Line. She spent hours trying to figure out the mysterious charts and graphs, until finally M came to her rescue. "Just learn where it is," she said. "If anyone wants to use it, they'll know how."

Eventually it came time to move on to Big City. The Big City branch is right next to an elementary school; and the little darlings who flocked to the library after school were a constant source of amusement and high blood pressure. Once again, though, she managed to cope in true McFaden style -- even when that involved chasing kids on top of the book stacks with a baseball bat.

There were adventures at Big City -- remind M to tell you some time about the snake in the bookdrop -- and there were also warm moments: like the staff member who used to spend Saturday mornings in a large comfy chair sleeping off the effects of his Friday nights.

In due time, M moved on to the McKinsey Branch. The community thought they were ready for her, but in truth she was ready for them. M always had a special relationship with patrons. Take Colonel Lamb, for example, who took it upon himself to issue a weekly newsletter of his opinions to the whole community. One day the good Colonel presented the library with a box of past newsletters, which M accepted with (I'm sure) her usual squeals of glee. Much later, Colonel Lamb visited and found that his precious offerings were not being maintained in correct order by the staff, and wrote a letter bemoaning the fact. Fortunately the branch had been vandalized recently, and M's soothing reply to Colonel Lamb managed to blame the disorder on the vandals, not us.

And then there was the time when a child was being more than unusually noisy in the branch, and M commented that she'd like to pay someone to strangle the kid. Unfortunately, she made this remark to the child's mother.

M has always had a special relationship with her staff. As a matter of fact, whenever a few of us get together off work time, one name is absolutely sure to come up....

But I mustn't let you think that the big M is all business. She has a fun side, and nobody has seen it better than we who worked with her. Who can forget M's memo on proper patron service, in which she proposed some different -- and honest -- answers to such questions as "Where is the Xerox?" and "What does F mean?"

Then there was the time that M spilled something on her dress, and had to wander about in a housecoat while the dress dried. By the time she returned to the staff room, her dress was gone -- it took her nearly half an hour of shouting and swearing before she found it, hanging from the ladder halfway up to the roof.

This story reminds me of the inventory we took when M was preparing to leave. Here's a partial list of what we found: Two dozen apples, three pounds of cheese, two copies of Winning Through Intimidation, five sweaters, two dresses, three pictures by Pat Batovsky, two tablecloths, a hundred and four receipts from Hutzler's for returned merchandise, and sixteen pairs of shoes.

M was always tolerant of people -- to a certain extent. One thing she couldn't tolerate in an employee, though, was tardiness. You haven't seen anything until you've seen Marion McFaden at 5:06 on a Friday evening, waiting beside the road for the night crew with a big clock in her hands. M was subtle, she was.

A lot went on at McKinsey that M knew about -- and one or two things she didn't. For example, each day started with one question uppermost in our minds: what kind of mood would M be in? We discussed the matter, gave our opinions, tooke bets, and then waited apprehensively. If she entered the back door in curlers and humming, then we knew we were safe!

M has always had a sense of justice. I can think of no better example than the social event, one of many, in which all the participants were supposed to bring some home-made goodies to eat. When one person showed up with store-bought cookies, M refused to put them out on the table.

In May of 1977 McKinsey suffered vicious acts of vandalism that did nearly six thousand dollars worth of damage. After that, the county installed burglar alarms in all of the libraries, and in the years since these alarms have been a thorn in everybody's side. Let me share with you a memo that M sent to Headquarters regarding a particularly bothersome alarm malfunction. This memo is presented exactly the way M typed it.

THE SECURITY ALARM WENT OFF A FEW MINUTES AFTER CLOSING SATURDAY AT 5:00, JANUARY 15. WE CAME BACK IN AND RESET IT. IT WENT OFF AGAIN AT APPROXIMATELY 6:30 - 6:45 FOR NO APPARENT REASON. MOE HAS THE DETAILS.

I HAD JUST GOTTEN IN THE HOUSE WHEN THE ALARM CALL CAME, I WAS SO TIRED I WAS NUMB. I WORKED THE DESK, WE HAD THE BOOK DROP TO DO AND OUR CIRCULATION WAS 3300 (i think 6,000 came back in) I CALLED MOE HE CHECKED SECURITY WITH THE POLICE CALLED ME BACK SAID IT WAS OKAY AND I DIDN'T NEED TO COME.

BUT
EITHER BECAUSE MY DRINK WAS TOO STRONG OR MY GIRDLE TOO TIGHT I COMPLETELY FORGOT THAT THE d----- THING WOULD DING ALL NIGHT. I WOKE UP AT 3:30 THE NEXT MORNING AND REMEMBERED THAT DETAIL, CALLED MOE WHEN "THE THING WOULDN'T RESET" HE CAME OUT AND FIXED IT, HE WAS GREAT ABOUT IT.

NOW YOU HAVE THE WHOLE SAD STORY.

A while ago I mentioned the grand parade of employee after employee that has worked under Mrs. McFaden, and in a way I was being unfair. I don't want you to leave here with the impression that M uses up staff members the way other people use up kleenex.

As a matter of fact, we were going to have everyone who ever worked for M to this party -- but Madison Square Garden was booked for tonight.

Right now, once and for all, I'd like to put to rest the rumors that McKinsey Branch Library under M was known as "the Death Camp." Just to prove that turnover is no higher than any other branch, we've put together a little list of the people who worked there, as near as we can all remember. You'll see that the rumors are wrong.

First, the Professionals. Alphabetical order would be simplest, I guess. Mary B, Susie B, Susan B, Nancy C, Ruby G, Lois Ann G, Gail G, Sue G, Maryann H, Penny H, Andrea M, Lena P, and Diane T.

Now the Library Associates. Jane B, Carla B, Ann C, Jack D, Kathy F, Stanley H, John M, Cathy O, Lita R, Connie R, Don S, Sue S, Irma S, and Sarah W.

Things have been a bit more calm among the clerical staff. Er...let me rephrase that....

Our clericals have been: Pat B, Lynn C, Beverly C, Sandy G, Jean G, Donna H, Jan J, Kay L, Dee M, Jean O, Dorothy S, Barbara S, Nola S, and Jim T.

In addition, we've had three Custodians: Charle G, Buck P, and Bob K.

And then, of course, there has been a constant procession of Pages: Mrs. Dulaney, Helena, Cathy, Barbara, Margie, David, Clayton, Jan, Karen, Rosie, Tom, Jean, Eileen, Ginny, Mary, Kim, Bob, Bet, Nathaniel, Cheryl, Cheryl, Petra, and Alvin.

By my count, that makes 44 full-time staff members among thirteen positions and ten years. And people say we have a high turnover rate....

But things are not as bad as they seem. A little calculation shows that if M has kept up the same rate throughout her career, there ought to be over a hundred and ten people out there who worked for her at one time or another, in one branch or another. A hundred and ten people who have worked through good times and bad times, and each one of them has learned from M, you can be sure. A hundred and ten people, including among them Branch Librarians, teachers, tour guides, workers in private industry, full-time parents and grandparents, writers, artists, and a lot of people making big contributions to the Library System. For all that we kid her, this is not a bad legacy for M to leave behind now that she's done with the System.

And I know that each and every one of those hundred and ten people wishes her the very best of luck as she makes an equally big impact upon the future.

Ladies and Gentlemen...I give you Marion McFaden -- the M!

Long Range Plans

You gotta love our organization.

I just ran across the binder containing our previous Long Range Plan, and noted the dates: "July 2004 - June 2007"

In the past, we used to have (in the best Soviet tradition) Five Year Plans. Then it was decided that five years was really too long, given the modern pace of change.

So now we have Three Year Plans...which take a year to plan, three years to execute, and an additional year to evaluate.

Our next Three Year Plan will start in July 2009...exactly five years after the last one started.

Just think...if we planned and evaluated more deliberately, we could have a One Year Plan that takes two years to plan and two years to evaluate!

Gotta love our organization.

Best...Footnote...EVER

I recently ran across the best footnote ever in the history of publishing. It appears on page 140 of Why is Snot Green?: and Other Extremely Important Questions (and Answers) by Glenn Murphy. Here, in all its glory, is the Best Footnote EVER:

* See What would happen if you sneezed and farted at the same time? (page 158) for more details about snot.

It just doesn't get any better than that.

Incidentally, this reminds me of my all-time favorite bit of errata, which appeared as a special page at the beginning of a long-forgotten book about World War II:

ERRATA: The caption to Plate XII should read: "Winston Churchill in the bombed House of Commons."

Sure enough, when you turned to Plate XII, the existing caption read: "Winston Churchill bombed in the House of Commons."

A Fable

(This is a work of fiction. No resemblence to any real organization or people is implied, or should be inferred.)

Once upon a time, there was a business that really valued its employees. Although the business was small and struggling, each year it gave awards to outstanding employees. Those who won the awards split a small honorarium.

Then came bad budget times, and money for the honorarium was cut. This presented a problem, because the business really, really valued its employees, and wanted to continue demonstrating that with the awards. But where to find the money?

The Board of Directors really valued the employees...but not enough to chip in $25 or so apiece to fund the honorarium.

The CEO really valued the employees...but not enough to cover the honorarium out of his or her own pocket.

Upper Management really valued the employees...but not enough to take up a collection among themselves to fund the honorarium.

All seemed lost, until someone in Management said, "I know! Let's ask the employees to fund the honorarium. That way, the business gets credit for awarding star players, the employees will know exactly how much we value them...and it won't cost any of us one red cent."

Someone else said, "Oh, the employees aren't that stupid."

The first person answered, "Oh, I think they are."

And guess what? They were!

...And they all lived happily ever after.

Computers in Libraries

Here's my report on the Computers in Libraries Conference in Crystal City, VA. I attended on Monday March 30, 2009 and Wednesday April 1, 2009.

MONDAY:

The first session I attended was Digital Preservation, E-Government, and ERM. The presenters were from MERLN: the Military Education Research Library Network. They have a website that indexes government documents relating to international matters; i.e. under "Iraq" they have everything that the various Federal departments put out about US involvement with Iraq. Their database started with the second Bush administration. In addition to government documents, they also index several journals and popular news sources.

Their biggest challenge came with the 2008 election. Until then, all their listings were links to content on other government websites. With the new administration on January 20, all those websites would change, and suddenly the MERLN site would be nothing but dead links.

Responding to this challenge, they downloaded and archived all the government documents to which they had previously just linked. That effort, involving tens of thousands of documents, was finished well before Inauguration Day.

In designing a user interface for searches, the MERLN team were guided by these principles:

-Give users what they want.
-Don't startle user with changes
-Limit how much metadata you show users
-Be flexible
-Ongoing usability testing
-Never limit to one product or one way of doing things

"What do users want as an interface for databases? Hint...it starts with G."

Presentation slides (Powerpoint) are here.

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My next session was Digital Rights Management (DRM), Copyright, and Creative Commons. In this session, presenters talked about Librarians' changing roles in the world of Digital Rights Management. Libraries and Librarians are faced with two sometimes-contradictory missions: as Librarians, we want to disseminate knowledge & information freely; but as agents and customers of publishers and database vendors, we want to control access to the same knowledge & information.

Slides are here.

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Following lunch and a visit to the exhibits area (where I saw a familiar face at the Sirsi booth: former AACPL staffer John McGarty), I proceeded to Moving Libraries to the Cloud. This was a fascinating presentation by Roy Tennant and Andrew Pace of OCLC on their efforts to assist in moving library applictions & services to the internet.

The benefits include: low cost, don't need local resources & staff to maintain them

Among the major drawbacks to this approach are: dependence on network connectivity & speed, loss of control

Amazon offers S3 (storage) & EC2 (computing power)

Cataloging is moving toward a cloud-based model - allowing wiki-like editing of Worldct records - fix something as soon as you see it, and changes propogate to all member libraries

API Programming allows output from one program to be read by other programs in a structured manner - so output from several different programs can be arranged to suit user (ie pass ISBN to Amazon to retrieve & display cover)

According to the presenters, libraries (like most organizations) spend 70% of time building systems & infrastructure, and only 30% on their core mission - by moving applications & services to the internet, the team hopes to reverse that ratio

Example: Why should IT run a mail server, listservs, spam filters? Move all that to GMail so IT can concentrate on other matters.

More information, including various library-specific web apps, is at the team's website worldcat.org/devnet/.

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WEDNESDAY:

I returned to the conference on Wednesday. My first session was Mobile Practices and Search: What's Hot?. I learned that one of the new buzzwords is extelligence (vs intelligence): knowledge and information stored and available on the internet rather than kept in the brain. Mobile devices are excellent portals for accessing extelligence, and Librarians are in the business of making extelligence accessible.

There is a new top-level internet domain for sites optimized for mobile devices: .mobi Many libraries are putting out mobile versions of their pages.

Worldcat has a mobile version at www.worldcat.org/m/

DC Public Library has an iPhone app for accessing their catalog.

Some vendors are working on a function that would send call numbers from the catalog to a mobile device via SMS (text messaging) so that patrons don't have to scribble down call numbers before going to the shelves to find an item. If the catalog has mobile access, patrons can browse the catalog while standing in the stacks.

Some libraries are deploying services like our "Ask a Librarian" or "Ask Us Now" via SMS texting so they are available to mobile device users. I wonder if Ask a Librarian or AUN use SMS texting?

A pdf of the presentation is here.

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My next session was Mobile Usability: Tips, Reserach, and Practice. The biggest tip I picked up from this session is that patrons can easily send text messages from their cellphones to an email address (i.e. reference questions to Ask a Librarian or a branch email address). All of the cellphone companies have this functionality built in. Messages are usually short (i.e. 160 characters). You will recognize them from the format of the return address: it will phone-number@cellphone-company.com. Replies should also be short in order to fit within the 160-character limit.

This functionality requires no additional software or effort on the part of the library IT dept. It is there right now. Libraries can (and should) promote this on their website (i.e. "Ask a Librarian is available thru your phone: send text message to this address.")

As far as I know, AACPL does not take advantage of this functionality.

Powerpoint slides are here.

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On Wednesday we got a free box lunch. I suppose I shoudln't call it "free," considering what prices were for attending the conference.

My last session was Mobile Library Apps. First, folks from the University of Connecticut Health Center Library discussed their PDA Program - the library provides training & support for PDAs (which students are required to purchase.) The Library also has sync stations for updating databases, and negotiates contracts for databases. The main thing I learned from this presentation is that Windows Mobile comes in a bewildering number of variations, and which version you have matters a whole lot.

Slides from their presentation are linked on this page.

Then DC Public Library presented their iPhone app, which works with Sirsi/Dynix EPS discovery tool & could work with other Sirsi/Dynix tools. The app allows searching their catalog and placing holds, as well as branch names, hours, and contact info. Their IT department wanted to do this because it's fun, and also because everyone is dissatisfied with their OPAC. Other projects are in the pipeline: A Blackberry version, new OPAC interface. They hope to use the upcoming iPhone 3.0 software to allow patrons to pay fines & fees via their iPhone, etc.

There have been 2200 downloads, and 85 people used it to place holds last week. Took about 100 hours to create app - the whole package will be available for download for iPhone developers. DCPL can help libraries who wnat to set up similar apps.

DCPL SMS text messaging capability was added to catalog in mid-February. They use it for Notes & Announcements (hold pickup, overdue, etc.) there's also a link to renewal page. SMS is also used for PR for programs & events. Patrons opt-in on website registration page. Aimed at gen x, gen y, but also parents/guardians who are comfortable text messages to communicate with kids. Messages tailored to requirements of SMS - short, abbreviated, to-the-point. 1 text per item. No cost to library once all this is installed. Text messages are scheduled differently than emails and phone calls. Currently system generates about 100 texts per day. Uses email gateway to send text messages on back end.

In designing their iPhone app, they did extensive user testing with pen-and-paper mockups. Potential improvements include using the iPhone as a barcode scanner: for example, in bookstore a patron could take a picture of a book's UPC barcode, then place a hold on that title at the library.

The DC Public Library website is www.dclibrary.org.

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I shared a Metro ride back to New Carrollton with Joanne Trepp, then returned home through the legendary B/W Parkway traffic.

And that's my experience at Computers in Libraries 2009.

Computers in Libraries: Monday Morning

Greetings from the Computers in Libraries conference in rainy, dreary Crystal City, VA. Today I got to play Urban Commuter. I drove to the New Carrollton Metro station, and took the train to Crystal City. There, a shuttle bus took me (and various other librarian-types) to the Hyatt Regency for Computers in Libraries.

Until I have time to put up some more details, here are some pictures to get you started:

Digital Preservation & Government Documents

Librarians with Laptops


Exhibits

FYIRALNRNTYEOM

I see that it's becoming trendy to send email messages consisting of only a subject line, along with catchy little abbreviations like EOM (end of message), NRN (no reply necessary), and other (increasingly cryptic) variations.

(Here is a post that lists a good many of them; I'm sure there are similar lists elsewhere.)

I applaud the impulse to save time and effort. If I receive an email whose subject line says Got your request and sending item EOM, then I don't even have to open the message, which easily saves me a second or two. Those seconds add up; over the course of a BUSY work week, we could be talking whole minutes saved!

[Although I must deduct points from the staffer who ended a subject line with EOM (end of message) -- I mean, if you had time and room to type the phrase "end of message," why use the acronym at all?]

Anyway, in the interests of saving those valuable seconds, I offer the following list of email subject-line acronyms:

IID: It's In Delivery
IBIDFTWN: It's Been In Delivery For Three Weeks Now
FIIBOTHSAAA: Found It, It's Been On The Hold Shelf All Along
DIBITAHFSE: Discharged It But It Trapped A Hold For Someone Else
OIWIWDIDN: Ooops I Withdrew It, What Do I Do Now?
OITM: Order It Through Marina

SiP: Sirsi Problem
SaP: SAM Problem
SuP: Sunday Problem
SoP: Same Obnoxious Problem
SeP: Somebody Else's Problem

LITPAPM: Look In The Policies And Procedures Manual
TTTSHS: Then Try The Sirsi Help Sheets
ITIITCDM: I Think It's In The Collection Development Manual
MTEPM?: Maybe The Emergency Procedures Manual?
HYLOTI?: Have You Looked On The Intranet?
IGBOABOWOS: It's Gotta Be On A Blog Or Wiki Or Something
IKISIIAMTOW: I Know I Saw It In A Memo The Other Week
IWITMFSMOO: It Was In The Minutes From Some Meeting Or Other
NMIJCA Never Mind I'll Just Call Around

WYMUYCITL? Would You Mind Using Your Cellphone In The Lobby?
WYMUYCITNC? Would You Mind Using Your Cellphone In The Next County?
WYMFYCDTT? Would You Mind Flushing Your Cellphone Down The Toilet?
PPYPOSOV: Please Put Your Phone On Silent Or Vibrate
PPYCOSOV: Please Put Your Child On Silent Or Vibrate
PPYVOSOV: Please Put Your Voice On Silent Or Vibrate
PVSOOH Please Vibrate Silently Out Of Here

I've spent enough time on this; now I'll turn it over to y'all for more suggestions. EOM

PS: Oh, yes, the title: For Your Information, Reply At Leisure, Nor Reply necessary, Thank You, End Of Message

Shady Character

Reginald Kenneth Dwight, a Shady Character

We're having a Forensics program on Tuesday the 24th. Today some of us dressed up to have our pictures taken so we can be suspects.

I'm not going to give away the solution to the crime...but if Reginald happens to visit you, you might want to count the silverware before he leaves.

Our New Homepage

Bindela is right, of course.

Instead of negativity, we should all (myself most definitely included) be guided by Mom's advice: "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."

The new homepage is pretty. It is definitely a step forward for our system.

That is all. You may now return to your normal lives. :)

Digital Intimacy and Ambient Awareness

Here's a great article by Clive Thompson on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and all them kewl Web 2.0 thingies.

Specifically, Mr. Thompson tries to answer the question that so many of us have: Why do people participate in these social networking sites & services? What do people get out of them?

Twitter, in particular, has been the subject of nearly relentless scorn since it went online. “Who really cares what I am doing, every hour of the day?” wondered Alex Beam, a Boston Globe columnist, in an essay about Twitter last month. “Even I don’t care.”

Mr. Thompson tells us that:

Social scientists have a name for this sort of incessant online contact. They call it “ambient awareness.” It is, they say, very much like being physically near someone and picking up on his mood through the little things he does — body language, sighs, stray comments — out of the corner of your eye.

He describes a friend's experience with Twitter:

Ben Haley, a 39-year-old documentation specialist for a software firm who lives in Seattle, told me that when he first heard about Twitter last year from an early-adopter friend who used it, his first reaction was that it seemed silly. But a few of his friends decided to give it a try, and they urged him to sign up, too.

Each day, Haley logged on to his account, and his friends’ updates would appear as a long page of one- or two-line notes. He would check and recheck the account several times a day, or even several times an hour. The updates were indeed pretty banal. One friend would post about starting to feel sick; one posted random thoughts like “I really hate it when people clip their nails on the bus”; another Twittered whenever she made a sandwich — and she made a sandwich every day. Each so-called tweet was so brief as to be virtually meaningless.

But as the days went by, something changed. Haley discovered that he was beginning to sense the rhythms of his friends’ lives in a way he never had before. When one friend got sick with a virulent fever, he could tell by her Twitter updates when she was getting worse and the instant she finally turned the corner. He could see when friends were heading into hellish days at work or when they’d scored a big success. Even the daily catalog of sandwiches became oddly mesmerizing, a sort of metronomic click that he grew accustomed to seeing pop up in the middle of each day.

This is the paradox of ambient awareness. Each little update — each individual bit of social information — is insignificant on its own, even supremely mundane. But taken together, over time, the little snippets coalesce into a surprisingly sophisticated portrait of your friends’ and family members’ lives, like thousands of dots making a pointillist painting. This was never before possible, because in the real world, no friend would bother to call you up and detail the sandwiches she was eating.

He goes on to quote another scientist:

“It’s an aggregate phenomenon,” Marc Davis, a chief scientist at Yahoo and former professor of information science at the University of California at Berkeley, told me. “No message is the single-most-important message. It’s sort of like when you’re sitting with someone and you look over and they smile at you. You’re sitting here reading the paper, and you’re doing your side-by-side thing, and you just sort of let people know you’re aware of them.” Yet it is also why it can be extremely hard to understand the phenomenon until you’ve experienced it. Merely looking at a stranger’s Twitter or Facebook feed isn’t interesting, because it seems like blather. Follow it for a day, though, and it begins to feel like a short story; follow it for a month, and it’s a novel.

I think that the regular Twitterers in our system would tend to agree with that.

There's a lot more in the article. It's really good, and I think it gives a great feeling for the appeal (as well as some of the drawbacks) of online social networking.

Google Meeting Room Calendar

Here at BCY we have our Meeting Room Calendar on Google Calendar, and it is a thing of beauty.

Want to meet every second Tuesday of the month? Sure! Click, click, type, type, and it's done. Wait, let me zip through each month to check for conflicts. Oh, in April the second Tuesday is taken, how about if we move you to the third Tuesday for that month only? Right, click, click, that's taken care of.

What? You want a list of all your group's meetings for 2009? Sure, I'll just type the group name, hit search, and print out the list for you.

Change your contact person, phone number, anything? Easy...change it once and it's all done.

Okay, I'm at HDQ for a committee meeting, and someone wants to know if we can meet at BCY on Wednesday the 14th at 2 pm. Hold on, I'll just log onto Google Calendar and check. Okay, it's free, I'll book the meeting right now.

Or we're at Bill Bateman's Bistro and someone in the costumer's group asks if the library meeting room is available on the 20th at 7 pm. Whip out my phone, log onto Google Calendar, and I can tell them at once.

But here's the kicker (and you folks at HAR and AIR, pay attention): If you ask me nicely, I will add your account to the select list of people who are allowed to view our calendar. Imagine that a patron comes into your branch and wants to use the meeting room tomorrow night. You say, "Our meeting room is booked. But I checked BCY, and they seem to be available. Do you want me to call them?"

Is that customer service, or what?

How much would you pay for this tremendous service? Don't answer yet, because we also have the following:

- Automagically repeating entries for holidays, Children's Book Week and such, and even elections! We will never have to enter Thanksgiving or Election Day again.

- Access from home. Have an emergency closing? Want to notify the groups that are scheduled to use the meeting room? Log onto Google Calendar and there are all the names, phone numbers, and other contact information you could wish.

- Slices and even makes julienne potatoes at the click of a mouse *

NOW how much would you pay? Put away your wallets, because it's free.



* Potato-slicing options only available in Idaho.

Vacation and Web 2.0

I'm on vacation for the next two weeks; we're taking a road trip out to Denver for the World Science Fiction Convention.

Not to worry, though, I will keep in practice with my Web 2.0 skillz. I'll be blogging on my personal blog (meerkatmeade.blogspot.com) and will send updates via Twitter.

Back on August 18th. Everyone behave themselves while I'm gone. :)