Good for Whom? Using Technology in the Service of People

As libraries evolve, technological solutions for many of the problems librarians face on a daily basis become more and more enticing. While many of the technological wonders do make our work lives better, they often affect our members in ways that are not well understood. How do we find solutions to our problems that are good for everyone? By rethinking what are tools are and how and why we choose them.

Transcript

1. GOOD FOR
   WHOM?
   MATTHEW REIDSMA
   GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY
   

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2. These wonderfully intricate
   things we build have become
   part of people’s lives, things
   they use every day.
   “
   Trent Walton
   “Tongue-Tied,” The Manual, Vol. 2, 2011. p.70
   

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3. http://sitorsquat.com
   

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13. “ Indifference towards people
    and the reality in which they
    live is the one and only cardinal
    sin in design.
    Dieter Rams
    

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16. FEEL
    WE MAKE PATRONS
    STUPID INSTEAD OF INSPIRED
    OOPS
    

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21. In an email to me, March 21, 2013.
    So how do you fix this
    if your tool is, indeed,
    just a label-maker?
    “
    William Keillor, Bethel University
    

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22. GET HERE?
    HOW DID WE
    

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23. MY LIBRARY
    

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24. SIGN
    MY LIBRARY
    

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25. SIGN AESTHETICS
    MY LIBRARY
    

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26. CARD CATALOG &
    CIRCULATION
    SIGN AESTHETICS
    

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27. CARD CATALOG &
    CIRCULATION
    RESOURCES RESOURCES
    RESOURCES
    SIGN AESTHETICS
    

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28. CARD CATALOG &
    CIRCULATION
    RESOURCES RESOURCES
    RESOURCES
    SIGN
    WAYFINDING
    AESTHETICS
    

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29. REFERENCE
    DESK
    CARD CATALOG &
    CIRCULATION
    RESOURCES RESOURCES
    RESOURCES
    SIGN
    WAYFINDING
    AESTHETICS
    

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30. REFERENCE
    DESK
    CARD CATALOG &
    CIRCULATION
    EXHIBIT
    EXHIBIT
    NEW BOOK
    DISPLAY
    BULLETIN
    BOARD:
    EVENTS,
    NEWS,
    ETC.
    RESOURCES RESOURCES
    RESOURCES
    SIGN
    WAYFINDING
    AESTHETICS
    

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31. REFERENCE
    DESK
    CARD CATALOG &
    CIRCULATION
    EXHIBIT
    EXHIBIT
    NEW BOOK
    DISPLAY
    BULLETIN
    BOARD:
    EVENTS,
    NEWS,
    ETC.
    RESOURCES RESOURCES
    RESOURCES
    SIGN HOURS MAPS HELP
    WAYFINDING
    AESTHETICS
    

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34. http://usablelibrary.com
    

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35. http://usablelibrary.com
    

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36. CHOOSE
    HOW WE
    OUR TOOLS
    

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37. FUNCTIONAL
    1
    WHAT CAN THIS DO FOR US?
    Powers, William. Hamlet’s Blackberry: Building a Good Life in the Digital Age. New York: Harper Perennial, 2010. p.160.
    

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38. WHAT
    TO DO
    

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39. BEHAVIORAL
    2
    HOW DO BEHAVIORS CHANGE?
    Powers, William. Hamlet’s Blackberry: Building a Good Life in the Digital Age. New York: Harper Perennial, 2010. p.160.
    

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40. HOW
    TO DO IT
    

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41. 2
    1
    INTERNAL
    QUESTIONS
    

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42. “ The library world has been far
    too gullible, far too willing to
    regard any technical advance
    as a service advance.
    Jonathan D. Lauer & Steve McKinzie
    Lauer, J. & McKinzie, S. (2002/2003). Bad moon rising: a candid examination of digital reference and what it means to the profession. The
    Reference Librarian, 79/80, 46..
    

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43. Your members don’t come to
    the library to find books, or
    magazines, journals, films or
    musical recordings.
    “
    Hugh Rundle
    http://hughrundle.net/2012/04/04/libraries-as-software-dematerialising-platforms-and-returning-to-first-principles/
    

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44. They come to hide from reality
    or understand its true nature.
    They come to find solace or
    excitement, companionship or
    solitude.
    “
    Hugh Rundle
    http://hughrundle.net/2012/04/04/libraries-as-software-dematerialising-platforms-and-returning-to-first-principles/
    

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45. HUMAN
    3
    HOW DOES THIS AFFECT
    HUMAN EXPERIENCE?
    Powers, William. Hamlet’s Blackberry: Building a Good Life in the Digital Age. New York: Harper Perennial, 2010. p.160.
    

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46. FEEL
    HOW DO PEOPLE
    

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47. The Timeless Way of Building, p. 65
    The life of a house, or of a town,
    is not given to it, directly, by
    the shape of its buildings, or by
    the ornament and plan—
    “
    Christopher Alexander
    

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48. The Timeless Way of Building, p. 65
    it is given to them by the
    quality of the events and
    situa ons we encounter there.
    “
    Christopher Alexander
    

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49. People will forget
    what you said, and
    what you did,
    “
    Maya Angelou
    

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50. but they will never
    forget how you made
    them feel.
    “
    Maya Angelou
    

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51. Aarron Walter, Designing for Emotion
    THEM
    

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52. Aarron Walter, Designing for Emotion
    THEM
    

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53. Designing for Emotion
    Designing an interface
    to be usable is like a
    chef crea ng edible
    food.
    “
    Aarron Walter
    

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54. http://whitneyhess.com/blog/2012/02/27/don-draper-is-the-antithesis-of-user-experience/
    User experience isn’t
    about expert intui on,
    it’s about expert
    listening.
    “
    Whitney Hess
    

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55. 3
    EXTERNAL
    QUESTION
    

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56. FUNCTIONAL
    1
    

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57. FUNCTIONAL
    1
    BEHAVIORAL
    2
    

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58. FUNCTIONAL
    1
    BEHAVIORAL
    2
    HUMAN
    3
    

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59. FORWARD
    A WAY
    

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60. FORWARD
    A WAY
    (OR, DITCH THE LABEL MAKER)
    

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61. USERS
    PRIORITIZE
    YES!
    OVER PROCESSES
    

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62. HUMAN
    1
    FUNCTIONAL
    2
    BEHAVIORAL
    3
    

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63. “The Space Between You and Me,” The Manual, Issue #1, 2012.
    The web is not an interlinking
    of servers and scripts. Each
    node is a person.
    “
    Frank Chimero
    

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64. Designing for Emotion
    “
    Aarron Walter
    We [should] stop thinking of
    the interfaces we design as
    dumb control panels, and think
    of them as the people our
    target audience wants to
    interact with.
    

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65. PEOPLE
    YOUR LIBRARY IS
    

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66. Junod, Tom. “Can You Say...Hero?” Esquire. November, 1998.
    We make so many connec ons
    here on earth. Look at us—I’ve
    just met you, but I’m inves ng in
    who you are, and who you will
    be, and I can’t help it.
    “
    Fred Rogers
    

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67. USERS
    PRIORITIZE
    YES!
    OVER PROCESSES
    

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68. THANKYOU
    

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71. weaveux.org
    

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