2018-06-01 SPLAT Curiosity Report: Volume 1, Issue 1
Featured Story
Thoughts on My Data: Raising More Questions than Answers
Like many folks, I’ve been thinking a lot about data. Lost bitcoin keys, DNA databases, the number of steps I take, old email addresses, Facebook data. A white paper from International Data Corp Data age 2025 estimates that by 2025, there will be ten times the data generated in 2016 alone. It’s enough to make your head spin! So, let’s take a moment to pause and think a little about data and the libraries role.
Many folks use some sort of device to automatically track their steps. I’ve been pondering, Is the significance of the step count changed if done manually vs. automatically? I don’t have time to count, remember, and write all that down! However, would I have a better appreciation of my steps if I actually counted them? I can see how many steps I took at the end of the day, but I’m realizing that isn’t the whole picture. Can I trust that my step count is accurate? Who else can see how many steps I’ve taken and where I went? Like I said, this all raises more questions than answers.
From a librarian’s perspective, I think personal data is just another form of information. So, is there a role for libraries to play in the ever increasing wave of data we create about ourselves? What if library staff were seen as surf instructors, helping the public understand what makes the perfect wave, and empowering users to successfully ride it?
One of ALA’s Key Action Areas is, Literacy…the ability to read and use computers-understanding that the ability to seek and effectively utilize information resources is essential in a global information society. In support of this, ALA has their annual Choose Privacy Week (#chooseprivacy). On their site you’ll find a wealth of resources to increase understanding of patron privacy, event ideas, and promotional materials that can be used all year round.
Start a dialogue with your users about their data privacy, because you might be the only one giving them the opportunity to question it.
Fail Forward
We’ve all been there. You pour your heart into a program, and no one shows up. You try something new, and you fall on your face. Sound familiar? Fail Forward is the place to share your failures, and give you the opportunity to share what you learned from them. Did you promote your program in a different way after no one showed up? Maybe you took a new approach to the new thing you were excited about? Awesome! Share your story via our online form so others can learn, and realize that failure is often part of the process.
Planning for the Weather
Last Summer the Nampa Public Library had a series of concerts located outside on the library’s terrace. When planning the schedule, we failed to account for the weather. The first concert date was scheduled in the Spring. Due to the unpredictability of Idaho weather, it started storming as soon as the band set up their equipment. We shuffled everybody inside and reset the concert inside the building. We learned from this abrupt change in plans that our Local History room has amazing acoustics. Because of this experience we decided it is safer to plan outside events during summer months, when the weather is more predictable, as well as make weather contingency plans.
Crush Corner
Is there a library you follow on social media who is always doing new and exciting things? How about a blog you follow that inspires you in the work you do? Library Crush Corner is a place for those working in Idaho libraries to share what inspires them, and who they’re crushing on… in a professional sense. Share your story via our online form so we can publish it in a future issue!
Imagine IF Libraries
Lately, I’ve totally been crushing on Imagine IF Libraries in Flathead County, Montana. Their Instagram highlights a variety of programs, projects, events, and experiments. What I love most about Imagine IF’s Instagram is how the Libraries’ focus on people, innovation, creativity, community, exploration, and collaboration shine through in every post, from the Scream Room art piece by Kylin O’Brien to their nifty Connections Board (used multiple times for multiple themes) to collaborative art projects like the Creative Castle to a science cake workshop where teens made motherboard cakes. Find them at imagineiflibraries.org, instagram.com/imagineiflibraries, and facebook.com/imagineiflibraries.
P.S. PNLA 2018 will be in Kalispell, MT this year. If you’re going, be sure to check Imagine IF out!
SPLAT explores new ways to build capacity and support library folk as they serve their communities. Library folk throughout the state of Idaho volunteer to serve on the Special Projects Library Action Team (SPLAT). SPLAT is funded in part by a grant from the Institute of Library and Museum Services, Library Services and Technology Act. Learn more about SPLAT at splat.lili.org