June 2008 Archives

I am here in Anaheim, currently the land of orange tote bags and over 20,000 librarians.  When I am at ALA, one of my favorite things to do is canvass the children's book exhibits.  There are always author signings aplenty, and lots of chances for me to indulge my latent children's librarian self.

You've been out of children's librarianship for too long when you no longer have name recognition for most of the authors signing at the conference.  Which is why I was so excited to find Fine Lines--a Friday feature on Jezebel dedicated to reviewing hale and somewhat forgotten young adult novels of the past. And they include images of the original paperback covers for many of these books!  It really does not take much to make me happy.

This week, Lizzie Skurnick reviewed The Pigman by Paul Zindel, one of my very favorite books and authors.  A while back they covered My Darling, My Hamburger, another Zindel gem.  I am waiting for them to discuss the all-time best Zindel book, Pardon Me, You're Stepping On My Eyeball (another blogger described this book as "One flew over the cuckoo's nest for the adolescent set."  Yes.  They have also reviewed the Long Secret (sequel to Harriet the Spy) and Jezebel itself discussed iconoclastic Harriet.  (NPR did too!)

If you're looking for some great, retro YA reads, I recommend Fine Lines.  If you want to talk with someone about these or other old children's books, you know where to find me.  Until then, I'm here, in strip mall-laden Anaheim, buying NYRB children's titles, and wishing I could have been a librarian about twenty years ago, when so many of the authors I love would have been here.

The always insightful Chris Stubbs had a great post last week on the social web, community building and most especially the fact that in order to participate, there is No Invitation Required.  This was one of those blog posts that packed an immediate impact.  It referenced the Learning Design Summer Camp--a new campus event and one that I had been reading about for weeks on the ETS RSS feed.  Before I read Chris's post (and the ensuing discussion over on Cole's blog) I thought this event was perhaps not open to me.  I don't teach credit courses.  I am not an instructional designer, nor am I employed by any of the campus e-learning institutes.

I took Chris's post to heart and realized that there was absolutely no reason not to participate in the Learning Design Summer Camp.  If I was interested, that was reason enough to sign up.  And if I could attend the Camp, why not offer to house the entire camp in the library?  :)  Loanne agreed that this was a great idea.

Thanks to Cole and Allan's kind acceptance of our offer, I'm happy to share the news that the Libraries (the Pattee and Paterno Libraries, specifically) will house the first annual Learning Design Summer Camp!  The camp will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, August 12 & 13, and centers on discussions about learning design, educational technology, student outcomes, innovation and lots more.

If you're interested in participating in the Camp, take a look at the event wiki (linked above, but what the heck, I'll link it again.)  There are open opportunities to help plan the event, attend the sessions, and suggest presentation topics.   Registration is on there as well.

If you want to participate, you should!   This goes for the Camp as well as anything else on campus or beyond that piques your interest.  No invitation is required----my thanks to Stubbs for this truly important, absolutely needed reminder.

I skimmed this article.

Here's Mark's web page for this presentation

He showed the very first web browser (from Cern): W3

Slingbox--Mark loves these.  You can watch your tv over any computer, regardless of where you are.  Cool!

Mark's Top 10 Web Trends
10. Print is dead. (talks about the death of newspapers; the Kindle; the possibility of a Kindle-like device replacing the need for textbooks)
9.  The World network.  Ubiquitous computing.  Web 3.0 is about connecting things. (2.0 was about connecting people)  Taking the Internet, combining with GPS, combining with RFID and everything talks to each other.  (Side note:  I read an interesting article in the Times Magazine yesterday that referenced this sort technology in use in Korea).
8.  Virtual Reality.  Second Life, Club Penguin, talked about the future of MMORPG's with the youngest generation of tech users.
7.  Web as Platform.  The Web is the operating system.  Example: Google Docs.  What does the Web as Platform mean for security?
6.  Syndication.  Interesting implications for the higher ed web in the future.  Does syndication help reduce the importance of the home page as information resource?  How does RSS change our approach to web analytics?
5.  E-mail is sooooo Dead. :)  From an article in CNet.  Email is very good for asynchronous communication--and it replaced a mode for synchronous communication (the telephone).  A step backward.
4.  Rich Media. Podcasting, YouTube, screencasting etc.... (showed MS Silverlight)
3.  The Read/Write Web.  The ease of creating web content.  64% of teens create web content.  The rise of the 'prosumer' (the roles of producers and consumers merge)
2.  Community (i.e., the Social Web)  The importance of Facebook.  Niche social networks.  Showed Ning as an example of this.  (I'm not a fan of Ning, personally.)
1.  Mobile. The power of txt messaging.  Higher ed has focused on using txt in emergencies only.  Txt messaging already outweighs email user internationally.
--3G technology.  This brings broadband speed to your cell phone (The newest version of the iPhone will have this.)  The ability to project mobile media is coming as well.

Strategies for maximizing the Web
Mark recommends reading Groundswell  (great book on the Social Web)
He discussed the idea of organizational transparency (see Wired issue on this), noting that in order to do this, you need to:
--Be authentic
--Cede control
--Conduct dialogues, not monologues.

Will Higher Ed. Web Sites Become Irrelevant?  (I have a one-word answer to this question that starts with the letter 'Y', but here's what Mark thinks:)
--They will become less relevant.  Distributed content is the future. (Ok, that would be my longer answer as well!)

Mark also recommends reading:
The Singularity is Near
A University for the 21st Century (Future of Higher Ed.)

All of the sessions I attended today were terrific, but I especially loved hearing Mark's insights on the future of the Web.

Go Binky and Chris! (They started off the session with the Facebook Stalkin' song!) and they showed Emily's awesome profile photo!)

The ETS Facebook App White paper was referenced. 

Chris shared some data from the recent Facebook survey: (125 respondents--we'll be blogging more on this to come)
70% of our survey respondents said that the app helped them find the resources they need.
40% appreciated Libraries efforts to engage them in Facebook
8% disapproved of an educational presence in Facebook

Here are Binky & Chris's lessons learned:
More social = better
Some students just don't use apps
Some students don't want us in Facebook
Spring board for other integrated 2.0 tools

Next steps...
Styled results in the Facebook interface. 
Share results with other users.
Map my book
Swem signal for Penn State
Holds and overdue reminders
Games

Binky put it really nicely:  "Building connections and building community...That's why the Libraries is in Facebook!"

Question from the audience:  Could the data be interactive enough with the Libraries databases so that it could mimics Amazon.com's "People who checked out this book also checked out..."

In another session at the Penn State Web conference with Steve Krug, focused more specifically on usability testing.

Here's what works (in his opinion):
--simple, frequent, iterative user testing (i.e. watch people try to use what you build)

Reinforces his idea of effective testing:
--A morning a month
--Three or four users is enough if you iterate (references Nielsen--says it depends on what you're testing--but you can get enough serious problems to work on for a month if you only use 3 or 4 testers.)
--Get fresh users every time.  Can people who know almost nothing about this figure this out?  This means we do not need to worry about usability testing the expert users.
--We tend to think that people from our target audience know more than they do.  You must test users who bring a fresh perspective to our site.
--No lab; no mirrors; recruit loosely
--Recommends recording with Camtasia, Morae or CamStudio
--No big report--just watch the sessions live---and talk about it over lunch. Get stakeholders to come--anyone who is interested.
--Use Camtasia recordings during debrief and discussion.

Testing specifics
3 or 4 people; one hour each; have them look at your home page and tell you verbally what they make of it
--Have them try to do several pre-specified tasks
--Do think aloud protocol (hello, Eric N.!)  (Remember this is qualitiative testing where you are in it for the insights.)
--Have them do the same process with one or two competitors' sites.  (Great idea!)

Live test
(Steve tests the prospective students portion of the Penn State web site)
Here's the script he used during this test.
Started off by having the test subject give her thoughts on the top-level Penn State home page.  (She was too kind.)
I'm now flashing back to my CAT usability testing and remembering why this stuff is like watching paint dry.
(This is actually is sort of funny.  The test subject is trying to find Penn State University Park--and UP is not listed on the campuses page as a campus!)

Post-Test
Steve recommends using a USB microphone for testing.
He also recommends:
--Writing tasks that avoid words that are already used on the screen in question.
(Bad:  Customize your LAUNCHcast station.  Better:  Choose the kind of music you want to listen to.)

When fixing usability problems, your motto should be:
"What's the smallest change we can make that might solve the problem?"

Steve recommends Letting Go of Words and a Step by Step Guide for Usability Testing.

Steve Krug started off by defining usability.  A nice quote from his wife:  "If something is hard to use, I just don't use it as much."

Make everything you publish on the web as self-evident as you can.  Users should know what is important and unimportant (although he questioned why the unimportant stuff is there to begin with)  I question this as well.

Biggest problem in web design:  Disparity between what we think people are doing and what they really do.  We design as though they're going to read most of what's on the page.  The truth is they don't read--they look for clickable half-matches to what they are looking for.

Omit words.  "Delete half the words on each page, then get rid of half of what's left."

Make your text scannable.  This is what people are doing most of the time.
--Headings; sub-headings; bullet lists; highlighting key words (in paragraphs)
Steve showed a page from the undergraduate course bulletin.  He used it as an example of a page with too much text.  He showed a reformatted version of the page with the content broken into paragraphs, with bolded text, etc...

Why it sucks to be us: (web developers in higher ed)
--Corporate expectations on a non-profit budget.
--Stakeholders can be petty and whiny
--Finding and implementing a cms in your spare time, and herding kittens into using it
--Subsite/fiefdom hell (every Department wants its own look/feel)
--Multiple audiences and many disparate databases

Home Page Death Match! (love this)
--Tons of dynamic content of variable quality and enormous importance (to its creators)
--Steve likened web 2.0 technologies to the previous need for Flash on web sites (YES!)
--Consensus decision making

Steve's Recommendations for Penn State:
--Read his book.  :)
--Focus on navigation.  Impeccable navigation.  Break nav down into short lists.
Search is often not as good a way to get people to stauff as navigation.
--Unsubtle "you are here" indicators (breadcrumbs)
--Big page titles that match page text.

Steve said the PSU homepage menu was TOO LONG.  Prospective students page--left sidebar list of links is also too long.

Steve noted that he could not find a higher ed site that said in 20 words or less why this was a great place to go to school.  Who are you?  Where are you?  Is this something we need to think about for the Libraries site? Quantifying what the library is and what is held there in a few simple words (and perhaps dare I suggest, an image.)  Steve says home pages are for first-time visitors but this is not true (at least I don't think it is) for the Libraries home page.)

--Fix the serious problems uncovered by usability testing.
--For each round of user testing, fix the three most serious problems.
--Try to do usability testing one morning a month. 
--Watch the tests live. (Set up a monitor in another room so that others can observe.)
--Over lunch, compare notes with team and decide what to do to fix issues identified in that morning's testing.

Off to another session with Steve on conducting usability testing!

I'm here today at the Web2008 conference at the Penn Stater--the very first one I've attended.  I was struck by this pre-conference post from Dave Stong, which reflected pretty much the same sentiment I've had anytime I go to a library-related conference.  Since I was feeling excited about this conference, it was a nice reminder that I should try to go to conferences outside traditional librarianship more often.

Although I have to say, I've never seen so few laptops at a web conference!  Interesting.  I'll try to cover all of the sessions I attend today, focusing on the library-as-web-site perspective.

--Have you heard about the GPhone yet?  If I was not already committed to buying the new iPhone when it comes out, I would wait the long wait for one of these.  (I pay practically nothing for my cell phone use via PagePlusCellular--I can be patient.)  The completely open platform, the possibilities for maximizing Google Apps on this...I would love to have one.

--Speaking of Google Phones, have you tried GrandCentral yet?  GrandCentral (which I have posted on before) is a web-based phone service from Google.  Essentially, GrandCentral provides you with a global phone number, and you link all of your existing phones to it.  The result is that you control your phones--where you receive your calls; if you receive your calls (you can send all incoming calls to voicemail with one click), web-based access to voicemails, call logs, and more.  I'm like a paid advertisement for them.  I now know if I'm receiving a truly important call if all my phones start ringing at once (I only give out GrandCentral to places like the Dr.'s office, day care, and of course, my mother and Loanne.)  Give it a try and let me know what you think.  I have a long way to go in customizing and optimizing my account.

--One of my favorite quotes of the year was in this ReadWriteWeb post about the pros and cons of API's (from Marshall Kirkpatrick):

The web of the near-term future isn't about pages any more. It's about data, flying around, hopefully under the control of users, and offering a world of possibilities that few of us could have imagined just a few years ago.

Amen to that. 

--And last and completely unrelated to my toblog folder--I posted some of my favorite summer reads on Anne's Leisure Reading blog.  Take a look!