EBSLG 2011, HEC Paris: Innovation in Libraries (Part 2)

Day 2 (continued)
Lunch on the second day provided an opportunity to meet Anna Drabble of Emerald (@anna150 on twitter), Head of Digital and Product Development at Emerald Group Publishing, who was the only other person tweeting at #ebslg11 (although there were plenty of lurkers). As well as our shared interest in the impact of social media we discussed the specific matter of live-tweeting at conferences. I find that it helps me to process the events I attend and, of course, it gives access to the event for those unable to attend. I wrote about this issue at some length after last year’s BLA conference and upon reading that post again, apart from being amused to see I was still resisting an iPhone back then (I couldn’t live without now), it made me realise how much more accepted device-use is at conferences, just one year later. I distinctly remember dark looks at last year’s EBSLG when I got my laptop out, but this year, loads of delegates were on iPhones, iPads, laptops, even if only two of us were tweeting.

However, we’re not all the way there yet… one sponsor made the mistake of demanding we switch our phones and laptops off at #ebslg11 - ironically during the mobile tech roundtable! – presumably on the basis that we weren’t concentrating. I refused on the basis that I was tweeting (others could have refused on the basis that they were taking notes) and realising his mistake, he quickly, and unconvincingly, pretended it had been a joke. Today’s speakers need to realise that devices are now part-and-parcel of their teaching experience. If it makes some of them try harder to grab our undivided attention then that can’t be a bad thing! Although doing so by making a whole conference hall do aerobics and air-kisses is probably not for every speaker – apologies Cambridge librarians, but I just couldn’t resist it.

Thorsten Meyer of the German National Library of Economics (ZBW) was the first speaker after lunch (and now the new president of EBSLG – congratulations!) on the topic of Open Innovation, the process by which customers are actively integrated into the innovation process via Web 2.0. At ZBW open innovation has been employed by ZBW labs and for an ideas competition: The EconBiz challenge. Essentially, ZBW is sourcing input form the outside world in order to improve and develop new and existing products. One soundbite from this session that I particularly liked (tweeted by @anna150): It is important to have good ideas – but an idea is not yet an innovation…

Veronique Mesguich, Library Director of the Leonardo Da Vinci University spoke next. There were plenty of ‘take-aways’ from her session. Firstly, the simple statement (that I think I’ve been saying since circa 2001): ‘We are in the age of access not property’. Secondly, the observation that librarians are more like teachers and teachers more like librarians (because the latter are searching for, and retrieving, more data from the web with which to present). Finally, the fact that librarians now have many new territories and, because of this, collaboration with those already in these territories is key. She talked specifically about ‘soft empowerment’ as her preferred approach to this collaboration.

I personally find that because ‘the game has changed’ and librarians now must actively embrace technology and marketing that I am perceived as encroaching on other departmental territories more and more and it is a challenge to square that with all parties. I agreed with Veronique and, later, Dominic of MBS, that communication, listening and building relationships is key. Unfortunately there is sometimes little difference between positioning and empire-building in the eye of the beholder. I guess I just have to try harder to be understood and to make it clear that what we’re about offers the opportunity for collaboration and a fuller overall service to our users and does not constitute a threat. After all, we’re all cogs which go to make up a larger organisational mechanism.

The remainder of the afternoon was given over to the Bazaar of Ideas which this year saw the following projects/topics explored: implementation of an open-source LAS system at INSEAD (Pascale Pajona) – very neat it is too; a database of research publications at University of Paris Dauphine (Andre Lohisse); library book events and social reading at HEC Paris (Sylvie Marion); Manchester Business School’s excellent Business Research Plus blog service (Dominic Broadhurst); more on the EconBiz challenge at ZBW (see above); development of the Cranfield Research Information System (CRIS) (Mary Betts-Gray); use of Twitter at EADA library (Carolina Sanmartin); and finally, my own presentation on our adoption of a WordPress blog as the new front-end of our service here at Judge.

Thanks to my switched-on team the demo involved some instant chat (a component of the new site) in French for the benefit of the continental audience. As each of us taking part in the Bazaar had to present 4 times with the audience circulating, I found it interesting to see how I could improve on my content and flow as I progressed, with the third session probably  the best and the first outing definitely the weakest. Practice absolutely does make perfect. The prezi presentation I used is available by clicking on the image below.

The Hall of Mirrors, Palace of Versailles

The day was rounded off in style with a virtually private tour of the Palace of Versailles which is usually heaving with visitors. The Hall of Mirrors was my  particular highlight due to its historical significance as the venue of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, although it was also great to see the door through which Marie Antoinette fled when the French populace stormed the palace at the outset of the Revolution in 1789.

Versailles was followed by a return to the HEC Campus in Jouy-en-Josas and the gala dinner at the CRC castle at which the company and  food was superb and the wine flowed freely.

Next time in my final #ebslg11 post (Part 3 of 3): Google Books; the impact of mobile technologies and social media, and a visit to Maxim’s.

EBSLG 2011, HEC Paris: Innovation in Libraries (Part 1)

Graves wine, an endearing robot dog, exploration of the impact of social media and mobile technologies, Pierre Cardin’s priceless art nouveau collection, the Versailles Hall of Mirrors, and a refreshing dip in an inviting hotel pool – just some of my personal highlights of this year’s packed EBSLG (European Business Schools Librarians Group) conference, with the theme of ‘Innovation in Libraries’, which took place at the HEC business school Paris.

Day 1
On Wednesday 22nd June, head librarians and library directors from all over Europe descended on the HEC business school campus at Jouy-en-Josas, just south of Paris.  I ended up travelling with Chris Flegg from Said Business School, Oxford and we made a good team as we journeyed across Paris from Charles De Gaulle Airport by train, with Chris, who was born in France, taking on language duties while I navigated. Arriving late afternoon, there was just time for a quick freshen up and change of clothes before the ’Welcome cocktail’.

The hotel on the HEC campus

This took place in the hotel (which was connected to the HEC MBA building where all the conference sessions took place) and was fronted by our host Agnes Melot, Library Director of HEC and Veronique Malleret, Faculty Dean. It was great to reconnect with colleagues and meet new ones too, including Matthew Kelleher of IMI, Elena Kosareva of St Petersburg University and Elke Parrez of Gent Management School.

Day 2
The next morning we were welcomed to HEC by Laoucine Kerbache, Associate Dean of HEC Paris who offered a memorable story about a student who left a 50 dollar bill in his thesis for anyone to take if they read it, only to return some 25 years later to find that the bill was still there!

The first keynote speaker was Etienne Krieger, Affiliate Professor at HEC who focused on how entrepreneurs need libraries, drawing on the example of the use of the HEC library by HEC’s Centre of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. It was affirming to hear him recognise the importance of information to the innovation process and describe us librarians as information architects rather than passive custodians.

Bruno Rives and his robot dog

Next up was Bruno Rives of the Tebaldo Observatory, a Paris-based consulting agency specialising in trends and usage of new technologies. There was common agreement that Bruno’s presentation was the most entertaining and engaging of the entire conference due to its often mind-blowing content and an incredibly cute robot dog. The dog was a static prop to begin with, but he later came to life and responded to his owner by stretching and wagging his tail. Take a closer look at the robot dog.

We were also privy to some other prototype devices such as re-usable electronic paper with obvious application in a library setting as signage, maps, or even wallpaper. The paper can also be used to transmit information to user devices. We went on to watch a video which demonstrated ‘augmented reality’ by presenting us with a cartoon boy called Milo who responded intelligently to a person via a television screen, begging the question whether whole swathes of professionals – not just librarians – are required in person any longer? You can watch the 5 minute Milo video, which I discovered post-session to be regarded by some observers as a fake demonstration, below:

Carolina Sanmartin examines the e-paper

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Bruno described all this technology as disruptive and, interestingly, cited twitter as the most important tool of all when it comes to developing disruptive technologies. He also sagely observed that users don’t know what they want until they see it because technology changes, and disruptions occur, too fast.

Thanh Nghiem

Thanh Nghiem, founder and president of the Angenius Institute presented next on the the concept of collective intelligence and social innovation, with particular reference to sustainable lifestyles. I was particularly intrigued by her description of ‘gateway openers’ in this area and the term “Me 2.0″ for those creative people who are socially aware and see connections and solutions to global problems. I also promised myself that I would check out those ‘social business’ models, which she mentioned, that I haven’t come across before: airbnb (a global network of accommodation offered by locals), letsdoit (a movement of people wanting to make real changes in their countries by tackling illegal waste and other issues), zipcar (car sharing as an alternative to car rental or ownership) and couchsurfing (an international network for making connections between travellers and the communities they visit).

In my next post (Part 2): open innovation; the bazaar of member projects/ideas; our private visit to Versailles and the Gala dinner…

Minutes taken – hours wasted?

‘A meeting is an event when minutes are taken and hours are wasted’

What words or phrases first spring to mind when you hear the word committee? Ineffective? Waste of time? Politics? Hidden agendas? And what are the chances of them ever being the reverse of this?: Effective? Productive,? Apolitical? With a shared agenda? Well in my experience, slim, however, I’m pleased to say that I do have experience of one committee that in the past 7 years has regularly succeeded to be all of the above: that of of the British Business Schools Librarians Group (BBSLG). Now as some of you may know I’m currently Chair of this Group (and have been for the past three years) but this blog post is not an attempt to blow smoke up my own ****, but rather an examination of why this might be.

BBSLG, as its website accurately declares, exists as a forum for the discussion and exchange of ideas and to facilitate networking opportunities, co-operation and participation in joint activities. Its members are business librarians at institutions across the UK and Ireland. Its committee  is tasked with promoting these objectives, ensuring that connections and communication continues to occur. It also meets in order to organise an annual conference (usually attended by 70 business librarians) and training events throughout the year, discuss the website and deals brokered with database vendors exclusively for the group,  to construct and review surveys, and enagage in a myriad of other Group-related activities.

So why is its committee so darned productive and why are the meetings (held quarterly and lasting around 4 hours) so friendly and, dare I say it, fun? My suspicion is that this is largely down to the fact that we have common goals and objectives – none of us are manoeuvring for position, we all want the conference and other events to be a success and for the worth of the Group to be recognised. Another element is probably just the simple fact that it gets us of out of the office 4 times a year and gives us a chance to share with like-minded individuals and get some perspective on the daily grind, as well as some much-needed breathing space. Indeed, this is perhaps the key function of the whole of BBSLG: the communication of that assurance that none of us are alone and that we are all experiencing the same challenges and problems and if we only share them, then we can often solve them together.

An obvious reason for our meeting success is that every member of the committee has a clearly defined role and area of expertise, be it liaison with database vendors, budgeting, website or marketing and communcation. Another element that is perhaps easy to overlook is the importance of the regular venue for the committee meetings – the cosy 2nd floor meeting room at Aston University Library with coffee and biscuits on tap. I’ve been regularly travelling to that room since the autumn of 2002 and without getting too misty-eyed about it, it feels to me like the home of BBSLG. It’s a place where genuine sharing has taken place, and excellent innovation has been dreamed up.  

Egos do not thrive there, so I have to keep mine in check. I may have a loud voice and hold forth too much sometimes, but as Chair I’m really there to: facilitate the sharing; ensure that the great ideas are seized upon and developed; and ultimately to make sure we’re on course with all our plans.

The one element that I’ve not mentioned yet is the undoubted contribution of the fact that the committee members are all incredibly friendly and open people and, unless the memory cheats, have always been so. Perhaps this is because we’re all enthusiastic about the profession, motivated and selfless enough to use the fringes of our time for this – largely selfless - activity. We all want to be there. We all freely volunteered for this and have not been instructed to attend. How many meetings do you go to simply because you have to? 

To recap, I think the committee works so well for the following reasons:

• Common goals
• Breathing space
• Defined roles
• Complementary expertise
• The right setting
• No egos/selflessness
• The room for sharing and innovation
• Motivation and enthusiasm of committee members

I’m not saying that the BBSLG committee meetings are perfect, but I do suspect that sometimes we drift dangerously near to becoming that ’virtuoso team’ (which sounds so unattainable and unlikely!), that I often hear about in management development training.

Yay us. (Being British that’s about as far as I can go with the trumpet blowing!)

Andy

10 challenges for the library profession

Over the next week or so I’ll be posting summaries and reviews of the many excellent sessions presented at the recent EBSLG conference at Ashridge Management College (5-8 May 2009), The first session was led by Tony Sheehan, Ashridge’s Learning Services Director.

Tony identified 10 challenges that currently face the library profession and which were also intended to answer the increasingly asked question: “Do we need libraries at all?”

Tony’s 10 Challenges:
1. Business
Librarians should be integrating with all parts of their organisation and avoid their library becoming a silo. Collaboration and connectivity are therefore key.
2. Workload
Information has grown exponentially but our capacity to absorb it has not. There is an ever widening zone of ignorance.
3. Search
Librarians are now answering more complex research questions than ever. This shift is important and will help us to erode the zone of ignorance (see above). 
4. Attention
We are now driven  by info-lust and distracted by content and therefore hyperlinking off in our own minds all the time. Mistakes arise from our ‘emotional tagging’ of information and recognising misleading patterns. After Bazerman and Chugh, we need to bring the right information into our conscious awareness at the right time.
5. Complexity
Librarians are now facing brand new problems and the answers are frequently to be found in different disciplines.
6. Connections
The Internet now offers us connections. Shirky: “Each URL is a latent community” – the trigger for richand engaging conversations – the launch point for creativity”. Technology is providing us with connections that should be fully utilised. e.g. the lizard spit that may provide the answers to diabetes.
7. Communities
Networks of knowledge (such as EBSLG) are now more important than ever for librarians. See book: The Wisdom of Crowds and e.g. of checking out TripAdvisor before choosing a hotel.
8. Technology
What we all now experience at home, technology-wise, is setting the standard for our experience at work. We can do almost everything electronically now. e.g. of use of World of Warcraft by CISCO for job selection process!
9. Personalisation
Eagleton refers to the human situation of ”hasty, random choices with little thought and evaluation”, which we’ve arrived at through Google and the search engine revolution. Critical information skills have been lost and librarians have to ensure that they are still on the agenda by providing the best of both worlds (Google and information portals/services).
10. Reflection
We should be spending more time reflecting, thinking and learning and less time doing. Space is important. We need this in order to keep up with the latest trends.
Conclusion:
Libraries and librarians can still be valuable if they can keep up-to-date and respond to organisational, individual and environmental needs. The problem is that many library services are currently invisible.

Although there was nothing particularly groundbreaking about Tony’s presentation, I found it to be both affirming and relevant.
His call for librarians to spend more time relecting and learning in order to keep up-to-date was actually the final catalyst for me to start blogging. As for the invisbility factor – promoting my own library service to make it as visible as possible is easily my number one priority on a day-to-day basis.

Andy