Digital dancing in the virtual world and beyond

Jayne Gutry, professional development adviser attended a presentation by Richard P Hulser on 16 March 2009 at the LIANZA Hikuwai regional event. Richard spoke about Digital dancing in the virtual world and beyond.

Issues and trends

• Information delivery to Smartphones is now an expectation by people demographically
• There are new ways to get and deliver information through social networking. Twitter and Facebook is talked about through the media (i.e. CNN & Oprah). It is becoming common so that most people at least have an understanding of what they are
• Virtual worlds are slowly becoming of interest to businesses, not just individuals
• Most library vendors are incorporating web 2.0 tools into software. It is interesting to note that most of these are currently owned by venture capital companies
  

Information is growing exponentially
Have you heard of a Petabyte or an Exabyte? These are names given to units of computer information storage. They have already given names to future units of storage such as a Yottabyte. It is estimated that only 300 exabytes of information is available on the internet. To put this in perspective what these storage units mean:

• 1 Gigabyte = 1.7 hours uncompressed cd quality sound music:
• 1 Petabyte – Facebook has just over 1 petabyte of users’ photos stored, roughly 10 billion photos
• 1 Exabyte - As of December 2008], The world's total printed material could be stored in about 5 exabytes
• 1 Zettabyte – this is so large that it currently doesn’t have any practical use i.e it could store the phone records and their history for everyone worldwide
• 1 Yottabyte – doesn’t exist yet but it could store almost any imaginable digital data i.e. 1 copy of every movie ever made including copies for every single person.
  

Social networking sites

Richard challenged libraries to think about the number of people using social networking sites and asked:

• What is your libraries plan to be part of this network?
• How do you intend to target this online audience?

Richard mentioned some social networking sites that I haven’t covered in our web 2.0 programmes:

• Orkut – google’s answer to social networking
• Linkedin – professional networking
• Plaxo - see what the people you know are creating and sharing all over the open web
• Knol – another google project where contributers can create articles about a range of topics
• Mixi – japanese social networking site
  

How we carry information
Richard talked about how we are changing the way in which we carry information. Organisations have been branding USB devices for some time and there is an emerging market in purchasing personal USB devices that are fashionable and perhaps even wearable. Digital paper will be released in the USA in January 2010. Digital information is embedded in the paper, and when it is touched, the information comes out via printed speakers Eye scanners and microchipping are probably technologies that you originally saw at the movies but are now beginning to emerge in our every day life. Virtual keyboard has been out for a few years now, and people are using this along with their smartphone technology

Secondlife
With the economic downturn, conditions are right for libraries to explore how to engage the virtual world. Companies are using secondlife to meet online and you can use your own voice at meetings, making this an accessible option without the need to purchase conferencing equipment. IBM holds virtual Christmas parties and invite current and past employees.

To see how libraries are using secondlife, take a tour to see some librarians on second life and check out a book review.

Sixth International Indigenous Librarians Forum - Judith Waaka

Judith Waaka, our collection librarian attended the Sixth International Indigenous Forum in Otakei on 1-4 February 2009.

On Sunday 1 February, Te Wānanga o Raukawa (TWOR) welcomed over 70 delegates from Canada, USA, Australia, Hawaii and all over Aotearoa on to Raukawa Marae in Ōtaki for the Sixth International Indigenous Librarians Forum. The theme of the forum was Maku ano e hanga toku nei whare - Determining our future.

Presenters spoke about initiatives, services and resources developed by indigenous people for indigenous people. The first example of this was Whatarangi Winiata who spoke about how mātauranga Māori principles can be used to enhance professional practice. He used TWOR as an example of how this can work, and identified the 10 guiding principles/kaupapa that influence all policy and operations at TWOR.

Ruakere Hond’s presentation was about the progress of Te Pūtē Routiriata, a digital archive that builds on the Kete Horowhenua open-source software. The archive has some really dynamic features that have been designed to suit the Taranaki people, of particular interest is the Taranaki reo online dictionary, which allows users to add words in their own dialect, with definitions and examples of use. He spoke about permission levels for the protection of cultural and intellectual property, which is something ACL may need to consider in the future for our own online databases.

Other issues discussed at the forum were:

· Intellectual and Cultural Property Rights
· IT innovations and applications
· .indigi domain name
· indigenous thesauri
· The future of IILF
· Knowledge transmission – traditional and contemporary
· Digitisation

Culture was an exciting bonus of the forum with many delegates sharing songs, dances and stories from their home nations. The grand finale, being a Māori cultural show on the final night, mixed with all the best Māori kai, such as paua, kina, eel and tītī (mutton bird)

Overall, the forum was really enjoyable and allowed me to learn from others’ experiences and connect with information professionals from all over Aotearoa and the world.

He mihi aroha, he mihi maioha ki a koutou Te Wānanga o Raukawa me te komiti whakahaere i o koutou manaaki ki a mātou. Kei runga noa atu koutou

International Perspectives on Digital Preservation forum

David Ashman, our preservation manager attended the "International Perspectives on Digital Preservation forum" at the National Library of NZ on February 2nd 2009.

It was a stimulating and well attended event. The auditorium at the National Library was near capacity to hear Speakers from New Zealand, Canada, USA, Australia, Finland, and Singapore.

A common theme that repeated throughout the day was that whilst storage space is plentiful and cheap at the moment, we still have the question of how to guarantee authenticity of the original.

• Will we be looking at the same item in 200 years time that was created today?
• Can we migrate safely and still maintain the integrity of an item?
• Has sufficient metadata been accurately collected?
  Do file names clearly identify the items so they can be easily found when required?

The issue of hardware and software obsolescence continues to be an issue, leaving some vintage storage media unreadable. Storage media carry there own inherent risks and will in time fail. The National Library of Australia have been working on a database of storage media named "Mediapedia". It is going to be a valuable resource for assisting with collection planning, assessment, documentation, infrastructure and preservation.

Check this site http://www.nla.gov.au/mediapedia/
To find out more about the forum visit this webpage http://ndha-wiki.natlib.govt.nz/ndha/pages/InternationalPerspectives

All the presentations were recorded and will be uploaded to the NDHA site in the future.

A key message that I took from the day was that change is inevitable, we don't know what we don't know and will need to be flexible in our approach to facing the challenges posed by the fathomless quantities of digital material coming our way.

This was an exceedingly enjoyable day that, in addition to learning more about digital preservation, allowed me to reconnect with old friends /colleagues and make contact with others wading through the digital preservation quagmire.

Study Options

There are lots of study options if you wish to further your library career through study. Here are a few tips to help you choose a course that suits your lifestyle and learning style.If you are under 20, have young children at home, or have not participated in any tertiary education then you may want to consider one of the following courses. Over half of this course is by correspondence and will be a good introduction to libraries.

• OP5205 Diploma in Information & Library Studies (Level 5)
• OP5101 Certificate in Cataloguing
• OP6273 Certificate in Literature and Library Services for Children and Young People

If you have already studied for a degree then you may want to consider one of the following courses. LIANZA professional registration supports these courses and the MLIS course is held at the central library, Waitemata room each week.

• Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS)
• MA in Library and Information Management
• PhD in Library and Information Management

Key enrolments dates for Open Polytechnic

• Enrolments close for semester one on 13 February 2009
• Enrolments close for semester two on 10 July 2009
• Enrolments close for semester three on 19 October 2009

Key enrolment dates for Victoria University

• Enrolments close for semester one on 23 February 2009
• Semester two begins on 13 July 2009

Approximate costs

Open Polytechnic courses are $560 per paper

Victoria Univeristy courses are $945 per paper

ACL study support scheme

Don't forget that ACL has a study support scheme to assist staff while studying. Basically we reimburse up to 50% of your fee if you pass, and you can negotiate time off for study with your manager. As a guideline we suggest to managers that full tme staff can negotiate 1 hour per week for each paper per semester and this time can be saved up to be taken as a whole day.