CLA 2007

It's been forever since I've been to a library conference and I had forgotten how exciting they can be. I was so taken with the first master speaker that I ended up staying for the rest of them.

The opening general session on October 27th, featured best-selling author Chip Heath. He is a professor at Stanford Graduate School and the co-author of the book, "Made to Stick." Why do some ideas die while others (which may not be good or even true)survive? In order for an idea to stick, it needs to be simple, unexpected, concrete, credible, emotional and have a story attached to it. Libraries need to make their ideas or publicity stick. Here's an idea for libraries: Have a CSI room with 12 crimes to solve. Have mysteries and true crime books in it which will lead to the answers.


Improving Online Catalogs speaker Roy Tennant, author of "Managing the Digital Library."
When people try to find book titles, they think of Amazon. When customers type in "Shakespeare", they get a good selection of reasonable choices. When they do the same thing in our catalog using keyword, only 4 out of 20 are likely to be what they are looking for. Automation began in the back rooms of libraries and were really made for staff and not the public. It was intended for circulation, cataloging and acquisitions. It was moved into the public areas as an afterthought, otherwise why call them "Online Public Access Catalogs?" Only librarians like to search,customers like to find. Libraries need to take lessons from Google and Amazon.

Tried to get in to Why We Borrow! Redesigning Libraries Using Retail Touchpoints. Unfortunately, it was more than filled and standing didn't work for me. So I moved back to hear the next master speaker, Bob Treadway. His Web address is trendtalk.com His talk was called Blueprint for the Future: 20/20 Foresight. Bob's main point seemed to be that customers expectations from libraries are far higher than they once were and that it's important to make educated guesses about the future. I liked the Noah Principle--"Predicting rain doesn't count, building arks does."
Push Customers or Pull From Them
Tell Ask
Hours 24/7
Fixed Configuration Customized
Provider Control User Control

Stayed for the last master speaker, Shawn Gold, who talked about My Space. I've heard of My Space but have never been on the site.
Why do people like it so much? It gives opportunities for self expression, connection and discovery. My Space is in 17 countries and rapidly growing. 12% of all time spent online is spent on My Space. To market on My Space, you need to understand core needs and address them as well as facilitate social networking platforms. Word of mouth plays a really big part on My Space. The 5 top categories for word of mouth are:
food, media and entertainment, beverages, travel and shopping.