The Hyperlinked Library

10 Lessons I LearnedBy Kathy Anderson

1. Change Is Always Coming -Embrace It• Approach change purposefully and thoughtfully.• One of the most important things I’ve learned in this class is

that the library is always evolving as “the library is a growing organism.” So we, as librarians, must continue to evolve with the library.

• The good libraries and librarians among us are in a state of constant

change because our communities are in a state of constant change,

or better yet, evolution.

2. The Library Is Everywhere• We need to go where the people are.• I agree that with today’s on-the-go society, we need to make

the library more mobile.• I was inspired by the examples we learned in the Module 3

lecture:• Roving Librarians with laptops• Taking a wheelbarrow full of books to the beach• Opening a branch library in an

airport• And of course, making our

library services accessible through mobile devices

3. Need to focus on our community 1st

• Libraries are defined by the services they provide to their communities.

• A library is more than a storehouse of books

• I learned that we can’t just use quantitative surveys to look at our patrons because they live very rich digital lives online. Then, we need to learn how to serve those Hyperlink communities.• Only then can we push our

profession or libraries forward

4. The Library Is Transparent• The transparent library has no secrets.• I learned that we need to build a community that involves

everybody so that everyone feels ownership for the library.• It’s important that the transparent library gives everyone an

avenue to talk.• We must speak to our users and staff in a human voice.

5. Focus On User Experience• The whole building at all times should be managed in the broadest

spirit of hospitality; the atmosphere should be as gracious, kindly and sympathetic as one’s own home. Then do away with all unnecessary restrictions, take down all the bars, and try to put face to face our friends the books and our friends the people.

I love this quote by Gracia Alta!

• I learned it’s so important to break down barriers that interfere with users interacting with our resources, our services, and our people.

• “Every decision we make affects how people experience the library. Let’s make sure we’re creating improvements.” Aaron Schmidt

• I now realize these seemingly small things, like unfriendly signs, can make such adifference in a person’s library experience.

6. Mobile Devices Are Changing Libraries• A world of information in my

hand.• I think it’s very exciting that

Mobile apps are making unique collections available to everyone – they enable us to give access to more people than we could before & they can make it interactive too.

• I found the topic of the Mobile Device so fascinating that I did my Director’s Brief on it (23 Mobile Things).

7. Maker Spaces Engage Community• Sometimes you have to create what you want to be a part of.

Geri Weitzman

• I think it’s so ground breaking that libraries are shifting from the consumption of knowledge to sharing and producing knowledge.• I really enjoyed learning about Maker Spaces like the Idea Box

at Oak Park Public Library. I would love to work on a project like this.

8. Learning Isn’t Just About the Classroom• Where imaginations play, learning

happens.• I think the Learning 2.0, 23 Things

program is a brilliant idea. In fact, it’s something I’d like to participate in myself. When I was doing research on my Director’s Brief project, I discovered there’s a SLIS 23 Things program. I’d love to join it when they restart the program.

• I thought David Perkins, author of Making Learning Whole, made an important point, “We need to help students understand not just the ‘what’ but the ‘why’ in learning.”

9. Diversity of Ideas Create Knowledge• Only when we have diversity will great ideas

come about.• The idea of Echo Chambers really resonated

with me. I first heard about this concept from David Weinberger, the author of Too Big To Know, who I was introduced to in Module 4 while studying the Hyperlinked Library Communities. Because this struck a chord with me, I wrote about echo chambers in my September 8 2013 Blog post:• “. . . We need to teach our children about the problems of

the Echo Chamber. Too often on the Internet and in life, we like to hang out with people we agree with who have the same ideas. However, you can become more extreme in your beliefs; more polarized. We need to teach our children to act against this and have “real conversations” because when people disagree, minds become open and then real thinking occurs and true knowledge takes place. . . “

10. Key Takeaways

• Be explorers• Consider what the possibility of the future could be – see the

bigger picture• Embrace change• Play!• Be human

Thank you Michael& Kyle

for an amazing class!