The MS Library 2.0 Summit is back! We’ve re-imagined it as the MSU Libraries Emerging Technologies Summit, and we are already starting to get great submissions for the Steal-This-Idea sessions. We are so excited to have Jason Griffey as the keynote this year!

This conference started in 2007 with Michael Stephens introducing about 100 folks from eight states in the region to new technologies that were poised to change the library world. Along the way, some have–and some have disappeared–but the culture of learning that took hold after his visit has changed the MSU Libraries. We had cutting (bleeding?) edge presentations that have echoed in the library community since (mind you, this in was 2007):

A report from Southeastern Louisiana’s SMS virtual reference project (an early report from the pioneers of text messaging reference)
A workshop on the impact of social media, and Facebook in particular, for marketing in academic libraries
A panel on the challenges of institutionalizing 2.0 technologies in libraries

Enthusiastic about our work in the area and wanting more, we invited Sarah Houghton-Jan to come in 2008 to give us a big-picture for the state of 2.0 in the library world. Her timely keynote, Sustainable Web 2.0 Services for Small and Underfunded Libraries, came just as we were all beginning to feel the pinch of the economic downturn. Other sessions were perfectly timed for this Wild West period of 2.0 development in libraries, including:

Managing Identity in Social Networks / Information Overload
Using Google Analytics in Libraries
How Viral Marketing Can Help Your Library

Though we weren’t able to host the Summit in 2009, it has given us time to reflect on what we would like to know about (and talk about) at this point–in particular issues around assessment, sustainability and the future of social media in a post-2.0 environment. Now that we are using these tools, doing this outreach, in a culture of learning and growing, what’s next?

As we’ve done in the past, we’ll be podcasting and archiving the Summit, but nothing beats actually being a part of the discussion. If you’ve got something you want to talk about, consider submitting a proposal.

We’ve got two reference positions open at the Mississippi State University Libraries. Both are for subject specialists. The first is for a Business/Social Science Reference Librarian, and the second is a new position for the library, an Education Reference Librarian. These reference librarians support two of the largest academic colleges at Mississippi State University. The positions are critical for our reference department and the library as a whole. We work as an eleven-person team (including these two!) to provide Reference Services in person, both at service points and through consultations. We also do email and CHAT reference, and we are very actively engaged as liaisons to our respective departments on campus.

The MSU Libraries are progressive and very engaged with applications of emerging technologies to public services. You can find links to our 2.0 services on our website. We also host a 2.0 Summit each summer which has brought both Michael Stephens and Sarah Houghton-Jan to our campus. Both are terrific references for our programs, AND our hospitality.

Mississippi State University is has approximately about 17,000 students, and we are located on a beautiful bike-friendly campus in a progressive Southern town. Starkville has active an active arts community, green movement, film festival, music festivals (including the Johnny Cash Flower Picking Festival!) cycling clubs, a grass roots organization dedicated to making Starkville cycling and pedestrian friendly, independant coffee houses, an (amazing!) community theater, a community market, a vibrant downtown, great places to eat, remarkable nearby state parks and spots for hiking, and a smoke-free ordinance!

We’re looking for two special people to join our team and share our vision of being where our patrons are, when they need us. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Reference desk loses to Internet searches – News

First–read the above from the U of Illinois Champagne-Urbana student paper.

Well, yes. Do we close the desk when we are finally on Facebook and IMing with our undergraduates? What is the value of F2F reference anyway? Is it the infamous Reference Interview that makes it essential? Are there people out there that still want to talk to a human being when they have a Ready Reference question? Or is it another point-of-entry to funnel people toward a more appropriate resource?

And, of course, should Reference Librarians be staffing a desk that has so little traffic? Where do we put our eggs?

I’m just saying.

I go to myspace to “visit” my friends, people I see sometimes on a daily basis anyway (this blog has lots of quotes–I don’t know why). It is “going visiting” in the small-town Mississippi Sunday-afternoon sense, but done as digital, public performance art. And at some point I crossed over from ironic observer to impassioned denizen.

danah boyd has just blogged about the recently released Pew Internet & American Life Project study on “youth” behavior on the Internet, and how we (yes, I know, I’m 34) are not creating new social networks online, but rather modeling existing networks of relationships. Defining actual “in real life” social networks, projecting them into places like myspace and facebook.

So–what does it mean for libraries? And for Library 2.0 research? And for trying to get the library and librarians into those spaces? How on earth can we become compelling enough to become part of the social network they are modeling online?

I think it may be that our bricks and mortar space is still relevant–that we are still relevant as flesh and blood librarians. Even if everyone is moving their intellectual or information gathering selves into this live web, it may be that we still matter behind our Ready Reference Desk. We just have to figure how to make them want us. But why would they? Why do we want them to want us?

I think they should want us because we have incredibly cool tools and information that will help them do what they want to do. That’s it.