Librarians as rational optimists: using top tech trends to build our future

Librarians as Rational Optimists
Using Top Tech Trends to Build Our Future

eResource & Emerging Technologies Summit

MSU University Libraries
August 4, 2012

Nicole Hennig
MIT Libraries

Saturday, August 4, 12

Trends

• Human-centered design
• Learning by creating


Libraries are re-deﬁning
and re-inventing themselves.


The mission of libraries

Expect More: Demanding
Better Libraries for Today’s
Complex World


The mission of libraries

The mission of a library is to improve society through
facilitating knowledge creation in the community.

- R. David Lankes


Human-centered design


Three themes

• natural user interfaces
• accessibility
• importance of beauty


NUI: natural user interface


From
GUI to NUI

“natural user
interface”

Touch & gesture

http://pugetworks.com/blog/2011/01/what-is-a-natural-user-interface/


GUI: Graphical user interface

WIMP: windows, icons, menus, pointers


NUI: Natural user interface


http://www.realmacsoftware.com/clear/
video: 51 secs

gestures, no buttons


Touch interfaces enabling learning

Heart Pro III


Touch-enabled learning

video: http://j.mp/heartpro2

audio & visual input


Voice control

Text

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/427793/where-speech-recognition-is-going/


Voice search


Voice search

by Dragon

Nuance, makers of Dragon
Dictation


Visual search


Leafsnap


Leafsnap
browse by location


Accessibility


Success stories of children with
disabilities

http://bridgingapps.org/2012/05/ivans-story/


The importance of beauty


Attractive things work better.

- Don Norman

Norman, D. A. (2002). Emotion and design:
Attractive things work better. Interactions
Magazine, ix (4), 36-42.
http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/emotion_design.html


iOS Human Interface Guidelines

Apple’s
guidelines

http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/MobileHIG/Principles/Principles.html%23//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40006556-CH5-SW1


Apple emphasizes “aesthetic integrity”

Aesthetic integrity is not a measure of how beautiful an application is.
It’s a measure of how well the appearance of the app integrates with
its function. For example, an app that enables a productive task
generally keeps decorative elements subtle and in the background....

Similarly, in an app that encourages an immersive task, such as a game,
users expect a beautiful appearance that promises fun and
encourages discovery.

--------------------------

All Apps Need at Least Some Custom Artwork
Even if your app enables a serious, productive task and uses only
standard user interface elements, you still need to provide a beautiful,
custom app icon that people will enjoy seeing in the App Store and
on their Home screens.

http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/
MobileHIG/Principles/Principles.html%23//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40006556-CH5-SW1


Infographics


collecting
infographics on
Pinterest


Infographics

A look at the
modern
college
student

http://www.the-digital-reader.com/2012/05/22/tech-changing-college-life-infographic/#.UBw22DFSgVp


Infographic

A look at the
modern
college
student



Create your own infographics

http://visual.ly

all of this is human-centered design


human-centered design makes it
easier to learn and create


what can libraries do?


The mission of a library is to improve society through
facilitating knowledge creation in the community.

- R. David Lankes


Apps are facilitating knowledge creation


Librarians can become “app-literate”


Recommend & review apps

http://libguides.mit.edu/apps


Hold workshops


Learn about apps in
this online course.

http://apps4librarians.com/


online course

begins Oct. 15

http://apps4librarians.com/bookapps


Sign up to be notiﬁed:
http://tinyurl.com/nicole-courses


apps are where
innovation in human-centered design is happening


Ideas

- co-create apps
with our students or faculty

- offer workshops on app-creation
or ebook creation


Digital Divide

But what about?
- people who can’t afford iPads
- people in without connectivity


Donations

http://www.mactrast.com/2011/09/
apple-donates-thousands-of-ipads-to-
volunteer-teachers-in-low-income-areas/


Schools
providing
iPads

http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2012/03/23/
schools-textbooks-ipad


Grants

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-
and-regional/montana/business-gives-to-
scobey-schools-for-ipads/


Cell phones in
developing
world
1. Improves profits for farmers and business owners

2. Facilitates a consumer society

3. Provides less expensive access to communication

4. Replaces the Internet for those who cannot afford computers

5. Makes banking services accessible

6. Circumvents the frustrations of other infrastructure

7. Improves public health

8. Boosts national productivity

9. Helps vulnerable populations cope with natural disasters

10. Creates new jobs and business opportunities

http://dsc.discovery.com/technology/tech-10/cell-phones-help-nations.html


Cell
phones
instead of
computers

https://chronicle.com/
article/Laura-
Czerniewicz/130937/


http://www.itproportal.com/
2012/05/15/one-tablet-per-child-
technology-making-a-difference/


Solar
panels

Kids
learn on
their
own

http://www.itproportal.com/
2012/05/15/one-tablet-per-child-
technology-making-a-difference/


Explosion of
iPads in schools


http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/joepemberton/4831122143/in/photostream/


Be where the future is happening
with human-centered design.


Learning by creating


Three themes

1. Libraries as maker spaces

2. DIY education

3. Startup culture


DIY is “in”


1. libraries as “maker spaces”


What is 3D printing?

Software

http://www.123dapp.com/



Hardware

Low-cost kits available



$290 kit
$400 built

http://www.pcworld.com/article/255867/cheap_3d_printer_pops_out_parts_with_blazingly_fast_speed.html


$500

http://youtu.be/A6z6kyISTR4

Revolution in Art & Design using 3D Printing

3D printing with biomaterials

http://www.ted.com/talks/anthony_atala_printing_a_human_kidney.html


hackerspaces
makerspaces
fab labs


Hackerspaces

http://www.npr.org/2011/12/10/143401182/
libraries-make-room-for-high-tech-hackerspaces


Fayetteville Free
Library

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tjmccue/2011/11/15/ﬁrst-public-library-to-create-a-maker-space/


Maker spaces


http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2011/11/the-public-library-completely-reimagined/


http://youtu.be/K0LkGJFjh38


Maker spaces

http://www.shareable.net/blog/everyone
%E2%80%99s-a-maker-at-this-library-
maker-space


http://www.shareable.net/blog/everyone%E2%80%99s-a-maker-at-this-library-maker-space


Fablab

Univ. of Nevada,
Reno

Science &
Engineering Library

http://acrl.ala.org/techconnect/?p=1403


Rapid prototyping

But… the academic library? We would argue that the DeLaMare Science &
Engineering Library and academic libraries in general are about
knowledge creation, and “rapid prototyping represents the kernel activity of
knowledge creation through action.” Spraggon & Bodolica, 2008.

http://acrl.ala.org/techconnect/?p=1403


2. DIY Education


DIY Education


http://uncollege.org/

Uncollege
resource list


Young people blogging about learning without college.

http://www.davidmansaray.com/about


Learning four-year MIT
computer science
curriculum in one year,
on his own.

http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/

Other information industries, from journalism to music to book
publishing, enjoyed similar periods of success right before epic
change enveloped them, seemingly overnight. We now know how
those industries have been transformed by technology, resulting in
the decline of the middleman — newspapers, record stores,
bookstores and publishers.

Colleges and universities could be next, unless they act to mitigate
the poor choices and inaction from the lost decade by looking for
ways to lower costs, embrace technology and improve education.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/26/opinion/ﬁxing-college-
through-lower-costs-and-better-technology.html


Outside of traditional professions, however, these days you simply don’t need a stodgy old
professor or some crapulent college dean in a ridiculous faux-medieval gown to tell you–and the
world–that you’re credible in your field of study.

Rather, you can go out and build a business that demonstrates your credibility. You
can put up a bunch of great blog posts or videos that demonstrate your credibility. You can build
a following that demonstrates your credibility. You can get referrals from within a trusted social
network attesting to your credibility.

http://business.time.com/2012/07/12/the-glorious-end-of-higher-educations-monopoly-on-credibility/


MITx

http://mitx.mit.edu/


edX

https://www.edx.org/


Researching how students learn

“Along with offering online courses, the institutions will use
edX to research how students learn and how technology can
transform learning—both on-campus and worldwide.”

https://www.edx.org/about


Credentialing

Course free,
credentials not

http://web.mit.edu/newsofﬁce/2011/mitx-faq-1219


MOOCs

massive, open, online courses


Video: What is a MOOC?

Dave Cormier, Univ. of Prince Edward Island

http://youtu.be/eW3gMGqcZQc


Knowledge is not “a thing to be acquired,” but an
activity.

“Good MOOCs, Bad MOOCs”
At the heart of the work of Siemens and Downes is connectedness.
Both have written importantly about the social character of learning,
the way that actual learning means entering a community of persons
asking tough questions, with a shared passion, etc. Relatedly, both
insist that knowledge is not “a thing to be acquired,” but an activity.

http://chronicle.com/blogs/brainstorm/good-moocs-bad-moocs


“There is no benefit in giving kids iPads in school if you
don't change school.”

You cannot replace the Model T model of education with an iPad
if you still believe learning can be produced by assembly line
standards and standardization.

- Cathy Davidson

http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/
11092746/article-In-schools--are-iPads-
anything-but-a-toy-


Libraries & MOOCs

get involved


3. Startup culture


Entrepreneurialism in libraries

http://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/18649


http://theleanstartup.com/


minimum viable product

http://theleanstartup.com/

http://theleanstartup.com/principles

http://www.designthinkingforeducators.com/


User needs research

Ethnographic methods

http://www.slideshare.net/nic221/academic-ereading-themes-from-user-experience-studies


Themes from our research

http://www.slideshare.net/nic221/academic-ereading-themes-from-user-experience-studies


Design thinking

user needs research


Design thinking

gamestorming techniques


compendium of
techniques

http://www.amazon.com/Gamestorming-Innovators-
Rulebreakers-Changemakers-ebook/dp/B003XDUCLS


Design thinking

rapid prototyping
build, measure, learn


http://harvardmagazine.com/2012/07/library-test-kitchen


Design thinking

pivot


Startup culture is learning by creating.


7 skills students need for their future
Tony Wagner - Harvard’s Change Leadership Group

1. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

2. Collaboration and Leading with influence

3. Agility and Adaptability

4. Initiative and Entrepreneurialism

5. Effective Oral and Written Communication

6. Accessing and Analyzing Information

7. Curiosity and Imagination

http://portlandwizkid.wordpress.com/2011/06/24/7-skills-students-need-for-their-future/


play, passion,
purpose

http://www.amazon.com/Creating-
Innovators-ebook/dp/B005GG0NFU/


Learning by creating

1. Libraries as “maker spaces”
2. DIY education
3. Startup culture


What can libraries do?

- Begin to “think like a startup.”

- Do rapid prototyping.
- Build/measure/learn.

- Get involved with DIY education.


Librarians as rational optimists


http://techliberation.com/2010/01/31/are-you-an-internet-optimist-or-pessimist-the-great-debate-over-technology%E2%80%99s-impact-on-society/


Pessimists


Optimists


Information overload - a pessimist
Swiss scientist, Conrad Gessner.

The modern world overwhelms people with data.
This overabundance is both "confusing and harmful" to the mind.

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2010/02/dont_touch_that_dial.single.html


Conrad Gessner

He died in 1565.

His warnings referred to the
ﬂood of information unleashed
by the printing press.

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2010/02/dont_touch_that_dial.single.html


There is reason to be
optimistic.


Peter Diamandis

http://youtu.be/BltRufe5kkI

http://www.xprize.org/


http://www.xprize.org/

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-10/x-prize-challenge-seeks-new-designs-and-inspiration-
clean-future-oil-spills


Exponential growth

http://uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2009/02/patterns-in-ux-research.php


Dean Kamen - Inventor: SlingShot

water
puriﬁcation

sudden
breakthroughs

http://youtu.be/VOQbVD7F1f4


As rational optimists we can:

- facilitate knowledge creation

- enjoy using natural user interfaces

- use startup culture & design thinking

- combine optimism with realism

- leverage our desire to do good


Let’s use top tech trends to build
our future.


Nicole Hennig
hennig@mit.edu

http://apps4librarians.com/

Sign up to be notiﬁed:
http://tinyurl.com/nicole-courses


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