IFLA 2005, Oslo: Reading up

It's almost 4am now and I'm still reading up on Norway and Oslo for my trip for IFLA 2005. Picked up two travel guides from the library a few days ago:

1) Norway (series title = Lonely Planet guidebooks)

NLB Call No.: 914.81 N -[TRA] (Travel Guides section)
ISBN: 174059200X
Click here to check for item availability.

2) Norway: The rough guide

NLB Call No.: 914.81 N -[TRA] (Travel Guides section)
ISBN: 1843530546
Click here to check for item availability.

Reading the guide books thus far, I have three major impressions of Norway:

• It has beautiful wilderness areas (which I doubt I'll have the chance to visit, as the conference is in the city area)
• It's a cold country (highest average temperature is around 20 degrees Celsius. Brrr... I can't stand cold)
• It's terribly expensive and things are heavily taxed (which means being a miser, I'd be doubly miserable. At least it's a good excuse not to buy presents for the missus)

Anyway, I'm so glad there's the public library. It's so easy to go pick up a few books to learn about the country (I mean, the Internet is convenient, but the books tell a whole lot more). I'm not the adventurous type, so filling the information gap helps reduce much of the anxiety I face in travelling to a new country.

Maybe I should go search if there are any Norwegian librarians who are blogging (in English preferably). That might be helpful, I think.

Tag: IFLA

Library staff jamming at the library

Ever so often, a few library staff would get together and jam (as in, play music) at library@esplanade (EPCL). Friends of one of the EPCL Library Officer would also join in.

Here's a recent picture (from Isaak).

EPCL is a Performing Arts library, for those who aren't aware. So it's most appropriate for library staff and friends to have the jamming session there. It's a public performance, and free. Part of the gig is also to get people from the audience to sing, but none have done so for the sessions I was at.

In recent gigs, in between songs, the band would explain things like the origin of the song, information about the singer etc. To add that learning-dimension to the whole programme.

I missed out from playing at the last two sessions. OK, I chickened out 'cos my guitar-playing skills are really rusty.

The band isn't a formal grouping, and there are usually one or two practice sessions before the event. On at least two previous occasions, we actually pulled it off without practicing. The audience didn't walk.

Songs are mostly from the 90s, with a preference for Rock Ballads. Last session featured quite a few Bon Jovi hits, and I think the latest session had some songs from Skid Row (one of the singer can really hit the high notes. Powerful lungs.)

Oh, here's a thought: What if we started podcasting the jam sessions?


Tag:library event

Our local version of Desperate Housewives (revised)

PREAMBLE: Encouraged by the comments from local and overseas readers about a recent post that I'd (willingly) removed, I've decided to post this edited version so that it still meets my original intent to (1) highlight a minor but real problem faced by my public library colleagues, (2) share with non-librarians of another aspect of working in a public library setting, (3) simply engage my blog readers in meaningful conversation about a library-related issue.

So enjoy, and I look forward to your comments:
==================================

There's what I'd call our local version of "Desperate Housewives" in the libraries. Forget about the sexy & glam-looking ones from the ABC drama series though.

You'll see them at new library openings without fail. They are the ones who will run towards the chinese Romance Fiction collection. I've personally encountered them in action when I was managing a few library branches before my reassignment.

Individually they look like any ordinary reader but it's their group behaviour in the library that stands out.

Working in book hunting-packs, they work almost SWAT-team style to grab books from shelves, book trolleys, and sometimes from opposing rival groups. Staff have been known to be scratched during their micro-second melees.

Reminded me of Piranhas feeding.

Their love for reading has really gone beyond what is reasonable. Some groups exhibit ungracious behaviour by blatantly grabbing and hoarding books, then dividing their spoils of war among their comrades. It wouldn't be so bad if they did not leave books lying around afterwards.

I'm not exaggerating. You've got to see them to believe. Personally, I'm desensitised to them and I don't have good ideas on how to change their behaviour. But I still think about it from time to time, especially when part of the NLB mission is to "promote a gracious society".

It just so... odd... and frustrating to have such people go nuts over books. What would the kids think when they see adults behaving like that? That it's OK for them to do that too?

I've been asked why don't the library just ban these people from coming in. My take is that it wouldn't solve the problem. The way I see it, they are just being ungracious and don't really break any library rules. No innocent bystanders hurt. They don't cause outright trouble for staff or other readers.

They are only guilty of making themselves look bad.

Can ungracious behaviour be corrected by shaming them? But how to do shame people when they are obviously not embarrassed in the first place?

I thought of suggesting to our local TV station to do a documentary on them. On why they are so hungry for Chinese romance fiction. I wonder if it was their way to make up for the lack of romance in their lives. If that's the case, the root cause of this phenonmenon may lies with their husbands!

Another suggestion was to stop acquiring those books, so that these desperadoes stop coming. But that would be like punishing the many for the ungracious behaviour of a few. Totally unfair to the majority of readers of whom we have no problems.

What gives hope is that some of them do listen and engage in more constructive use of their free time. Like one group who agreed to start a bookclub on romance-related themes. I have to take my hat off to one of my library manager colleague who convinced them to do so at her library.

Recently, I heard one of the "ex-desperate-housewife" share that she has since expanded to reading beyond Romance Fiction and is reading Singapore history even. Something she'd never have done if it weren't for the bookclub.

BTW, seems that the Desperate-Chinese-Romance-Housewives phenomenon isn't limited to Singapore. A librarian from a Hong Kong public library shared that the same phenomenon also happened in Hong Kong.

Strangely, I found comfort in knowing that.


Tag: customer service, public libraries

I only have a Masters degree in Information Studies

QQ*Librarian shares an encounter with a library customer:

I used to have this guy who would come and harass staff. One day, he said to me in the most condescending tone and smirking expression, “What’s your qualification that you should sit here at the counter?” To Mr Smirking face, I said calmly, “Not very qualified, Sir. I only have a Masters degree in Information Studies to sit here at the counter.” (and that is true, because a number of my colleagues have double masters and PhD holders too). After that, I have not seen Mr Smirking face near our counter anymore.

I wonder what's the proportion of library staff getting harassed compared to sales and retail staff. Do libraries have higher incidences of unreasonable customers?

QQ*Librarian sugggests in her post that certain customers harass the service staff because those customers perceive that the service staff is lowly educated. I think the closer truth is that certain customers are just plain arrogant and nasty, who think highly of themselves.

Period.

Tag: customer service, librarianship

Thoughts on blogging: What would you do if someone took issue with your blog post and think you should take it down?

I guess it had to happen sometime. I'm referring to the situation where a reader of your blog takes issue with your post, and you have to decide whether to take down the post.

PLEASE READ THIS:

Let me clarify that (1) this is NOT a rant or a complaint, (2) the post was taken down willingly. No law or employee rules were broken. I'm discussing this as an issue relevant to blogging. Besides, a few people have asked me about it, so I'm pre-empting any unnecessary speculation.

OK, preamble over -- I'm referring to my previous post about some ungracious library users. (To those who didn't get a chance to read it, too bad. I've had comments that it was a fun piece).

The details of why the post was "discomforting" isn't the issue here. What I'm sharing are the thoughts that I went through. I view this as part of continual learning.

So what did I learn or observe from this episode?

1) If you are prepared to post it, also be prepared to take it down -- I decided to take it down because it was making some people at work uncomfortable (no, things didn't get ugly. All very civil). It was an easy decision for me to take down the post. Basically it had the potential of being blown out of proportion so you could say it was a "tactical withdrawal".

2) The "Principles of Pragmatism" works for me -- meaning, if I write about work, I have to give weightage to the opiniions my colleagues and employer. The post was meant to be entertaining and informative but if it made people uncomfortable, it's better to take it down.

3) This is no blog-crusade -- It's all an experiment. And in experiments, you need to step back, evaluate, review, and try again.

4) "Blog Smart" applies to the post, and after -- It occured to me that Microsoft's "Blog Smart" guideline for its blogging employees makes sense here. Being "smart" means that sometimes, to advance forward, you gotta take two steps back.

5) It would really help if the organisation had some guidelines on blogging -- that way, we cut down the "gray" areas, reduce subjectivity and ambiguity, increase clarity etc. It all adds up to productivity and empowering the employee.

6) In my case, not being anonymous helped! I think matters would have been worse if I blogged anonymoysly. Being upfront (about what I was blogging about, and who I was) helped prevent pointless prying and speculations over who wrote what. "Honesty is the best policy" is what I learnt from young.

7) If you don't dare to put your name to the post, you're probably better off not posting it. Enough said.

Oh, I'm IMing with a librarian from Sugargrove PL right now (Ms. B). Incidentally, she mentioned my post. We were discussing if a post like mine could have painted the library in a bad light. Here's an excerpt of what she shared (posted with permission):

it is a fine balance.

so many "Professional" lists dis-the customer and in the back room we each share stories. all under the "need to know" this situation and how i dealt with it heading.

it is likely (that the post was) too close to personal with the photos and too public for the comfort level of some.

all that said I STILL loved it. hope it wasn't too UGLY for you at work

Yeah, I thought it was a fun piece too. And no Ms B., things didn't "get ugly" at all. As I said, it was all very civil. I guess librarians tend to be that way : )

Tag:blog ethics

LKCRL rare materials collection

On Level 13, you'll find the Rare Materials Collection. Access is limited even to staff. I could only access the room housing the glass shelves but not to the other rare materials. The glass shelves themselves are locked.


The restriction is necessary to protect the materials, as normal handling would speed up the rate of deterioration (not to mention wear and tear). For details on access, ask the reference librarians or write in to the National Library via this link.

"The Hikayat Abdullah 1849, autobiography of Malaccan Malay scholar, teacher & writer, Munshi Abdullah (1795-1854), is among the many precious items in the Rare Materials Collection."

~ See image link

Some samples of what's in the glass shelves:

(click to see larger images)

Tag: new national library, national library board singapore

The National Library at night

Night-time just brings a different feel to everything.









There was a Acapella performance at the Events Plaza.


(This was about an hour later, when the building was closing for the day)


The lighting gives the place a different ambience at night. This was the lobby (as viewed from level 2):


This is the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library (L 11).


Even the photo wall (at level 11 of LKCRL) looks more vibrant. I like this segment of the wall best, with our National Flag on the left and Sir Stamford Raffles on the right. The picture sits on top of the bookshelves. It says to me that our history is founded upon learning.


If you go to the garden ("The Courtyard")...


... and look out, you'll see the Intercontinential Hotel.


This was what I saw looking out of the lift (the only one that has a glass view):


Over at Central Lending Library: The parents and kids have obviously raided the shelves.



If you know of better ways to encourage more civic-mindedness from library users, we'd sure like to hear from you. Parents, try to remind your kids to pick up the books and back on the browse-bin on your way out (rather than leave on the table). Pretty please :)


I overheard some people saying they couldn't understand why there's only one lending section in such a large building (which could explain why some felt there was a waste of space). Maybe this might help them appreciate what the other floors contain:


Tag: new national library, national library board singapore

Pointers on the National Library (and why such a huge space?)

Thanks to Tinkertailor for mentioning my post in Tomorrow.sg just hours after I blogged about it. Ah, the beauty of RSS.

I left a comment over there for those who intend to visit the National Library/ Central Lending Library (CLL) this weekend. Thought it's useful to post it here as well:

1. If your intent is to borrow materials (as opposed to browsing), please be mentally prepared for a packed house.
2. The Central Lending Library (CLL) is at the basement, and it's the only floor with lending materials. The rest of the National Library is actually for reference and research materials and aren't for loan.
3. Loosely speaking: Public Library = mainly lending collection; National Library = mainly reference materials (i.e. not for loan)
4. Payment of fees & fines is via Cashcard, NETS (yes, we have that now), Ezlink (non-GIRO linked) and cheque. No cash accepted since 5 years ago (so please please don't ask why no cash and isn't it legal tender etc etc *sigh*)
5. Please be nice to the staff. If the queues are long or shelves are messy, it's not entirely our fault 'cos not all readers are considerate users like you :)
6. CLL doesn't have AV materials (as of this post).
   

Kevin left a comment, asking if a library like the National Library has to be that big. Well Kevin, it depends on how far we plan ahead, and whether we have thoughtful plans for the use of the space.

"The library is a growing organism" ~ S.R. Raganathan

Let me explain it this way (this is my personal view):
Suppose you are building a study-room and you're asking yourself how much space you intend to set aside for your bookshelves. If you project 2 to 3 years ahead, thinking that you'll throw out most stuff, a relatively small room might suffice.

But let's say 10, 20 or even 50 years passed. With a space that could accomodate only 2 to 3 years worth of materials, if you want to expand then it's probably more expensive to retrofit or even recontruct the room. Or you might not have the budget to build it by then.

Granted that technology could develop into something very advanced, and eliminate the need for large physical spaces. But that is not a certainty. What is certain -- at this point -- is that much of the Society's Heritage, Institutional/ National Knowledge exists in print form. Hence, we plan for what might be certain (or perhaps a "worse-case" scenario).

But suppose we manage to digitise (or "virtualise") all the books in the library in 5 years time. Does that mean the National Library, being so spacious, becomes a "white elephant"? No, because we can always convert the space to something else. But it's a lot harder to create additional space once something is built.

Ok, I'll be there tomorrow evening to look-see (off-duty mode). If you recognise me, come over and say 'Hi'.

Tag: new national library, national library board singapore

New National Library opens - 22 Jul 2005

Something I can now say with certainty: I was witness to the closing of the old National Library (at Stamford Road) and the opening of a new one.

Reached the National Library at 8.00am and all was calm. I spent the next 1.5 hours checking out all 16 floors before the speech-giving ceremony at 9.30am.

8.00am. All quiet at the Events Plaza.


This was what you'd see if you were giving the speech.


Still at the Events Plaza, standing near the entrance to the building, I looked up and saw this:


Cool and calm at the foyer...


... same at the various floors of the Lee Kong Chian Library...





... and the garden at level 10...


... and the Observatory Pod at 16th level, which looks out to the Marina.


Peaceful at the Central Lending Library at the basement.






All that changed after 10.00am, when the library opened to the public.


A large crowd streamed down to the basement.


Long but orderly and calm queues at the borrowing stations. I think if anyone wants to borrow books from CLL this weekend, be prepared to queue.


Things were a little quieter at some areas of CLL.



Ok, that's the first day. I didn't stay for the evening crowd, but I'm sure more people will be dropping by. Am grateful that the majority was calm and patient. As usual, there were the few cranks who seemed to complain about everything, but that's expected.

BTW, most people wonder why the lending section was limited to the basement. I think the message has not sunk in that the National Library building houses mainly the Reference materials (meant for research and in-library use).

Click here for directions to the National Library.

I'll have more pictures to post, and more thoughts to write about the opening of this truly iconic landmark and institution that we call the National Library.

Tag: new national library, national library board singapore

New National Library opens tomorrow

It WILL NOT look like this (via BiblioAcid).

I'll try to take some pictures tomorrow.
I wonder how many will turn up.
I hear free ice-cream is being given away.

Try not to push, ok :)

Tag: new national library, national library board singapore