"Adventure and shenanigans, the two go hand in hand" (aka the One with all the Cake)

I wanted to write about the whole Library Camp experience once I'd had a bit of time to reflect properly. This was my first time at an unconference and I was interested to see how it'd work. I had to get up very early in the morning in order to get there even remotely on time (in the event all my journeying worked perfectly and I arrived slightly early!) and this was an adventure in itself. One of the important things I learned from reading about last year's event was the need for cake, cake and more cake to sustain campers throughout the day. Cake, I'm good with, so I armed myself with some vegan chocolate brownies, which all got eaten so presumably went down OK. The whole day was long and exhausting, so it has taken me a while to do some personal reflection about the day and what I got out of it.

My brownies look quite unimportant next to all the exciting cakes!
Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/c_l_b/

The experience you have of Library Camp seems to depend on the sessions you attend. Reading other reports of sessions after the event has been really interesting and made me wish I'd gone to other things or glad I went to some of the things I did. Choosing sessions to go to so quickly probably means your selection will always be a bit hit and miss, but therein also lies the appeal. Perhaps I should have gone to more sessions outside my comfort zone. (I missed the controversial session by Red Quadrant that's talked about here, for example) Notes from the sessions I attended are here and here. A pinboard linking to pictures, blogposts and tweets is here.

One thing that reflection affirmed to me on a personal level is that I'm such an improver. I spend lots of time at work saying 'What if we...?', 'Why don't we...?', 'How about...?' and this day was no different. My notes are littered with 'how could we make this better/do this differently?' suggestions. 

I'm naturally quiet and not given to speaking out unless I'm certain I have something interesting and unique to say¹. One of my best friends described me years ago as 'quiet but not shy', and it's an accurate description that has followed me ever since; I'm happy to talk when there's an opportunity, but I don't force that opportunity. During the morning I tweeted:

Not doing well at saying things at #libcampuk12. I'm not a good butter-inner.
— Joy (@_joelfe) October 13, 2012

Don't forget the people who aren't saying things in your sessions have good ideas too #libcampuk12
— Joy (@_joelfe) October 13, 2012

Some of the responses I got on twitter carried the implication that this was a fault in me, and maybe it was; attendees drive the agenda and content of an unconference so should be prepared to have their say. However, the number of people in each session and the way each session I attended (can't speak for the other sessions) was structured as a whole group discussion meant that quite a lot of us settled into non-speaking roles very quickly and didn't move from them. While I appreciate not everyone has ideas all of the time and silent listening is fine, I suspect more people could have shared more and done it more successfully. This is not in any way a criticism of the organisers or anyone who led or participated in a session. It's just an expression of the way my brain works!²

Some ideas, not a perfect or exhaustive list, and each with its own inherent problems:

• Smaller groups
  Having less people in a group would mean that more people could put their ideas forward. I think more, smaller sessions would lead to difficulties with rooms and clashing timetables, but perhaps large sessions could incorporate some small group chatting and then feed back to the whole room. 
• Splitting into different sectors in sessions
  Sometimes the sheer variety of experiences provided by the library world meant people were starting from very different points of view. Grouping together people of similar experience may help to move a discussion forward more quickly. However, sharing with people of different sectors and hearing a variety of experiences is part of what Library Camp is all about, so this probably wouldn't work for the whole of a  session.
• Think about different learning styles
  Invite contributions in different ways in sessions. E.g. writing, drawing, role play, collage making... I appreciate the spur of the moment proposal of sessions means that leaders are less likely to resource them in advance, but perhaps a range of useful things (flip chart paper, pens, glue, playdough, whatever!) could be available on the day for anyone to use.
• Non-pressured ways to share
  Talking in front of a large group requires confidence (and a loud voice!). What about a large piece of paper stuck on a wall somewhere so that those who went to a session could write down ideas and thoughts after the session? (These then photographed and shared online afterwards.) Or take a poll with a show of hands on one or two questions that are important in the session?

These are not answers, I know. Most of them rely on some form of planning from the session leader and one of the positive things about the unconference format is that anyone, with any degree of experience, can propose and lead a session. I have a teaching background and I'm used to leading activities for children and young people, so thinking of a variety of ways to approach something comes naturally to me. It is in no way a fault of other people that they don't have the same viewpoint as me and these are not criticisms, only ideas.

Being able to express myself on twitter during the day certainly helped me to feel more involved, to ask questions (I was confused about the session proposing business and got several answers straight away) and to share concerns and discuss them with others (e.g. the need for a session on how to speak loudly in your big voice so everyone can hear you!).

People have emphasised the social nature of the experience, meeting friends and twitter acquaintances and chatting throughout the day. While it was good to meet people, for me, attending alone meant almost every conversation was with someone new and there was no-one to 'default to' (stand with, chat to, be at ease with) as there is if you've travelled with a friend, so I got tireder and more taciturn as the day went on. Added to the 5am get-up, this meant I effectively hid during each afternoon break. However, I got more chatty again on the walk to the pub and did meet some very nice people! Altogether, the day was very well organised and ran smoothly, the venue and food were great, having the wiki beforehand helped to create an expectation of the day and set the mood beforehand. Good work from all who helped to organise it and all who proposed and ran sessions!

Would I go to Library Camp again? Maybe. Probably. I think I'd do better at a smaller regional Library Camp though. Did I enjoy myself? Meh. Not desperately, if I'm honest. But the day made me think, which is probably more important and ultimately more useful.


____________________________________
1. As described by Elizabeth Bennett: "We are each of an unsocial, taciturn disposition, unwilling to speak, unless we expect to say something that will amaze the whole room..." Or by me: I'm not going to say something unless I'm absolutely certain you'll find it interesting.

2. I suspect this is something to do with my inbuilt desire to make things fair for other people. For example, I'm not vegan but make vegan brownies because I have a vegan colleague and think people should have equal access to my cake. These were my CakeCamp contribution too. Cake for one, cake for all!

Andrew Dost - Adventure and Shenanigans

"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

"I lost myself in a sea of dreams, I was gone" (aka the one where I go to Library Camp)

Last weekend I went to Library Camp, an unconference held in Birmingham. This was my first time at Library Camp (at any unconference) and I'm planning a post on the experience in general (the early start! the cake!) when I've had chance to reflect a bit. 

However, I want to type up my notes from the sessions I attended while they're fresh in my mind. I'm not going to try to give an overview of each session (I'm sure other people will do that much better than I could), but these are some of the things I thought were useful in each (I don't necessarily agree with all these points, but they are things I took away as as worthy of further consideration. Strictly my impressions of each session, suspect the beauty of a group of attendees with such different experiences is that different people's impressions will be very different).

Session 1: Swearing

This was about being sworn at, not us doing the swearing! How to deal with aggression and bad language when we encounter it at work. Found this session really interesting as there was a range of different experiences, sectors and personal views.

• Response will vary depending on context
  e.g. if there are children present, whether it's a conversation between two library users or aimed at you
  Point was made that some people just use swearing as part of their vocabulary (e.g. a prison librarian's experience) and it's not always personal. If it is personal, it's generally warrants more of a reaction because of aggression behind it. 
• It might not always be the library users that are swearing at staff
  Some people reported that it's sometimes other members of staff/organisational partners that treat library staff badly.
• We shouldn't be looking for antagonism
  Sometimes the way we treat people can put them on edge and lead to a confrontation. This can be due to our own prejudices and done unconsciously e.g. watching a group of teenage boys carefully because we've had a bad experience with other teenage boys in the past
• Often the aggressive person isn't angry with you but has been made so by a different situation
  Trying to understand the problems of the person who is aggressive can help diffuse a situation (empathy strategy). However, it may be difficult to have the time/staff/capacity to do this. Point made that we may need to consider how to balance the needs of all service users. Need to consider whether there's an acceptable standard of behaviour users should abide by no matter how much we empathise with the reason behind their behaviour.
• The way the problem is later treated by management has a big impact on the way a member of staff handles the problem earlier
  Some training courses are more useful than others, some staff feel more supported than others. Most agreed it's important for management to accept it is a problem and value staff by acknowledging the upset they have had if there's a problem.
  

Session 2: Marketing

This was about how we market libraries. This is an area I spend lots of time thinking about, and I didn't get too much new out of it though it's always interesting to hear other people's experiences. (I think at the time I tweeted that I was using this session as 'no time', which I then realised was a pretty esoteric Gwyneth Jones reference. This gave me chance to have my own ideas. Incidentally, some lectures used to have this same effect, which is why my lecture notes are full of random pages of ideas of things I could do only vaguely linked to the topic.)

• What's in a name?
  Branding/image can be difficult to achieve. Some people liked the idea of moving from 'library' and 'librarian' to an alternative that encompasses their role more e.g. 'information consultant'. Not worth change for change sake though, some places moving back to more traditional language.
• Are we in business?
  Yes! Promotion of services is key, partnership working, networking etc
• What do we want to market? What is our offer?
  Our offer is often too wide, we have something different to offer to everybody so should target our marketing. Identifying difference between core service and added value services and finding ways to market these effectively.
• How do we do it?
  Variety of experiences for people in the room, including: getting press to talk to members of public about services to personalise the story, having non-threatening outreach such as market stall or kiosk and allowing people to approach, using ipads to demonstrate a range of services remotely, charging deposit for course/event which is given back on attendance to ensure turnout 
• Barriers can exist in organisations
  e.g. some libraries have to go through the marketing department of their organisation for everything, which can lead to not being able to use social media to promote services, extra cost of marketing materials within guidelines etc

One of my ideas which was vaguely on topic was a branding with 'library as...' with different things (Library as place, library as books, library as information, library as support etc). I imagined how it would look and the potential use. Maybe one day...


Session 3: Media Literacy with young people 

This session wandered round a bit with a variety of issues to do with media, information literacy and varying ages of children/young people.

• What is media literacy? Critical thinking? Searching skills? Validity and reputability of sources?
  
• How can plagiarism be stopped?
  One way could be to use blogs/wikis to get children involved in their own content creation to emphasise how they would want their work to be treated
  (I think you could probably teach this very well with pretty small children by putting their work on display on the wall with the wrong names on - young children have a well developed sense of what's fair and not fair)
• Is this the job of the library?
  People from different sectors in the sessions so this came from different perspectives. School librarians trying to get media literacy into their schools can find it difficult to teach in isolation from subject. Ofsted inspection might make it more likely for schools to see library teaching as valuable but as it's not mandatory for schools to even have a library this could be a way off. Public libraries might run sessions about information literacy but get better take-up with names such as 'Helping your child with their homework'. No-one mentioned school visits to library/partnership working (*of interest for dissertation..)

Afternoon sessions to follow...


"Come Follow Me" - Sophie Madeleine