"You're lost between the lines, behind so many covers" (aka the one where I find something that resembles an unconference)

This is a write up of my notes from Library Camp 2012. Sessions I attended in the morning can be found here.

Session 4: Living Books - Borrow a Prejudice

This session was based on an idea from public libraries in Sweden who run sessions aimed at overcoming prejudice and stereotyping by getting to know a 'living book'. Each book is a person who is part of a specific group about which there are stereotypes (e.g. vegan, elderly person, immigrant) and the borrower talks to that person, hopefully breaking down the barriers between them.

• Borrow a librarian?
  Some people thought one of the first people to be borrowed could be a librarian to breakdown stereotypes about the job
• Like language practice?
  Interesting point raised about whether this could be a virtual thing, citing example of online conversation with native language speakers when learning a language
• Needs safeguards
  Potential problem if the people who come to 'borrow' the living books use personal information they've gained against the person in the future. One way around this could be to make people 'borrow' with their library card so records are kept.

I have had experience of this sort of project and shared a bit about how it had worked. I think the main difference between the idea being discussed and my experience was a focus on sharing people's stories rather than on breaking down prejudice (even though that was still the driving idea) and I think that works well and fits in more with the ethos of public libraries.

Session 5: Ipads and their use in libraries

This session was about use of ipads, generally in academic or educational settings. People tended to be recounting what their organisation does already.

• Different settings use ipads in different ways
  e.g. lending out to students, displays, marketing, surveys
  Taking the ipad to the collection rather than the collection to the computer
• Problems of multiple use
  Some people who lend out devices raised the point that wiping the passwords and settings after each use is time-consuming. Is there a better way?
• Other mobile technology is available
  Question raised about why it's always ipads rather than other brands. People's experiences were that they had been bought a while ago when alternatives were less sophisticated/not available (*Early adoption for the sake of it?). Also perceived bias towards apple products.
• Need to have a use for them not buy them for the sake of it
  This is surely the same for all technology. Can come under pressure from stakeholders to have the latest gadget.

Session 6: 3D printing in libraries

This was the session which most lived up to my preconceived ideas about what an unconference would be like, partly because no one knew who had proposed it and they didn't show up to run it! (Did we ever find out who this was?) This meant a discussion in which knowledgeable people contributed and less knowledgeable people could ask questions. It certainly felt more like a sharing of knowledge than the other sessions and the smaller size of the group helped with that too. 

I went to this session because I've read some stuff about 3D printing and been intrigued but didn't know much about it in the real world. Now I do. (Cheered me right up it did...)

• Justification for use in libraries
  This was really the big question (after the technicalities), as much as we would like it to, "I want a 3D printer to play with!" is not going to cut it in most organisations.
  One person mentioned architectural students using it to make prototypes. Some libraries are working with maker spaces/groups and the library as public space belonging to the community would be a good reason for having one.

There were up to 6 sessions running at any one time during the day, so there was lots of stuff I didn't attend which seems interesting. Details for some of the pitches can be found on the Library Camp wiki here. As is inevitable, some of slots were full of sessions I would like to go to and other slots contained things I wasn't too interested in. 

"Bookstore Girl" - Harrison Hudson