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I still have a blog? It’s 2016, so I guess it’s time for my yearly blog post.

2015 was a crazy year. I was part of the implementation team as we moved to a whole new system, one that was replacing ALL THE THINGS; we moved to a LSP (library services platform). We moved our ILS, our link resolver, our discovery layer and we’re in the middle of moving to a new research repository and digital preservation system. My primary responsibility, along with an awesome colleague, is the discovery layer and user experience. The projects are huge and took the vast majority of my time. Needless to say, there have been some bumps along the way. We’re still working on cleanup from the move and we’ve got lots left to do. One day, I’ll blog more about the project – I’ve learned lots from the project, including the importance of good project managers and communication – both internal and external.

So, what does 2016 have in store? I hope to get back to my website work. This time last year, I had just launched our new website. With a year under our belt, I’m really hoping to spend more time on usability testing and improving the user experience for our website and other online products. I also plan to do lots of testing on our new discovery layer.

In a surprise move, I’m now the VP/Pres-Elect for the Newfoundland and Labrador Library Association. I had recently worked with the NLLA as part of the executive in my role as VP for NL for the Atlantic Provinces Library Associations. I’ll take on the role of president for NLLA in May and I’m looking forward to working for the members again. We may be a small association but we can do great things!

I’m quite excited – I’ve been invited to contribute to the blog Binary Chalk, a blog about technology and higher education. I hope to write on a number of topics over there including libraryland technology, instructional technologies, tech in higher ed, mobile tech and more. My first post is about open access in higher ed. While 500 words isn’t enough to talk about open access, I’m hoping it’s a topic I can come back to again.

I’ll continue to blog here as well and will link when I have a post up at Binary Chalk – be sure to check it out!

There’s been a lot of discussion about Aaron Swartz’s suicide and the case against him, especially in the library world. Aaron worked towards opening information – from his work on RSS 1.0 to his work on the Open Library. There have been some great posts about Aaron and his work – be sure to check them out.

I remember first hearing about the case against Aaron and it left my mind as I focused on my own work. I didn’t think about it much, but I’ve been thinking a lot more about it since his death.

The one that has me thinking is a post by Jonathan Rochkind over at Bibliographic Wilderness. He makes some great points but the line that many seems to resonate with many is

But I know that a few other libraries or librarians were standing with Swartz, and we all should have been, and we largely did not, and it’s a shame.

Aaron was doing what we, as librarians, say we want to do. We didn’t support him while he was alive, and it is a shame. So, let’s do something about it. Let’s support the work he was doing by taking it up ourselves. No, I’m not saying we should all go and download thousands of journals. His death does have many of us talking about open access and scholarly communication. #pdftribute has started taking off – let’s keep it up. If you have an IR, now’s a great time to remind faculty about it. The Internet Archive has also started the Aaron Swartz Collection, for those without their own institutional repository.

Let’s not let the momentum go, let’s actually start doing something. We’re great at the talking, but not great at the doing. Aaron was a doer – let’s try to be more like him.

We’ve started doing some usability testing. I’m quite excited about doing usability testing. As the first go, it’s been quite enlightening. First, I’m terribly surprised by the number of people who are willing to stop to help out with testing. Sadly, I am usually one of those who looks away when survey takers look my way in the mall. Perhaps my new role will change this outlook – perhaps I’ll be more sympathetic and participating in more surveys.

The other thing I’m interested in more than I expected is designing better surveys and questions. Again, I suppose this isn’t terribly surprising given my position – I need to know how to do this better. As we go through our first testing, I’m finding issues with wording. I’m seeing the advantages and disadvantages of open questions and other testing methods. I find I’m interested in reading more about creating proper surveys, better forms and figuring out the best testing for given situations. Now, I just need the time to get all of this reading done.

I have a feeling that another thing I will need to learn is not to over test – it is possible to ask about the same element using two or three different methods. In some cases, follow up will be required but it is important not to fall down the rabbit hole of continuous questioning. Like all projects, it’s important to know when to stop. I’m looking forward to more testing so I can hone these skills. Bring on the testing!

Libraries – all libraries – need to pay attention to recent legislative moves. The United States has two worrisome pieces of legislation at the moment. There’s been a lot of discussion about SOPA and now there is the Research Works Act (RWA), which is in opposition to recent Open Access movements and barrs federal agencies from unauthorized free public dissemination of research funded in part by federal money but published by the private sector.

Some Canadians may be thinking so what, that’s the US, but it’s vital we stay vigilant and be aware of what is happening. We are going through our own issues with copyright; bill C11 is in second reading. Is what is happening in the US a sign of things to come elsewhere? Maybe. At the very least, it gives us good insight to what publishers are thinking. Libraries are still fighting the ebook fight: experiencing limited uses, differing catalogues of items, and the issue of renting rather than owning material. This is not the last time copyright, ownership and open access will be battlegrounds.

Both SOPA and RWA are library issues, regardless of borders. We need to not only be aware of what’s affecting our field but to take action where we can. There are still things that can be done, as New Jack Librarian points out.

Publishers are trying to figure out new models for publishing and it’s affecting all libraries. This will not be the last battle – stay vigilant and be ready to fight.

Well, I suppose it’s that time to the obligatory end/new year post. What a year 2011 was, filled with high and low points, change, excitement, conferences, networking and more.

I’m not one for resolutions but I do have a number of things I’m looking forward to this year. One of my goals is to learn more about programming. While this is particularly important in my new role, I don’t seem to be alone in this goal. I signed up to learn code in a year with CodeAcademy – over 100 000 others also signed up within 48 hours and I’m not the only librarian. Even if I was in my old position as a liaison, I think I would have learned more about coding. As more of our world is about interacting with technology, I think it’s important to have a basic understanding of what’s going on. We need to be able to talk with other coherently if we want our library resources to function in ways that make sense to the user (stress on the to the user part, something we don’t seem to be great at yet). If you know of other good training opportunities, lemme know.

I will have another full plate this year – we’re going through strategic planning and I’ve got some lofty plans I hope we can accomplish this year: a new CMS, moving forward with mobile resources for the library and more. I also have a number of research interests, including responsive web design in libraries – if you’re doing something with this, lemme know, I’d love to chat. I’m finishing up as President of OLITA and slipping into the less demanding role of  past president/treasurer this year – a great group that I highly recommend and will be posting more on in the future about my time as pres.

And of course, I’ll be learning more and settling into my new job. It’s hard to believe I’ve been here 2 months. Still lots to learn!

So, 2012, bring it!