Law Libraries Reaching for the Sky Practical Applications of Web 2.0 Technology

Darlene Fichter

May 26, 2008

Photos by: Courtney Milne

(for use by Saskatchewan teachers and students)

If the Sky is the Limit

• I will (hopefully):• Share knowledge via media, drama, stories• Get to the “Practical”• Have some fun

• You will (hopefully):• Stay awake• Participate and have some fun• Be open minded• Change your world

Web 2.0 / Library 2.0

“Web 2.0 is a name for a bunch of new web-based applications.”

Cal Henderson from Flickr

What’s at the Heart of Web 2.0

• Social phenomena, people to people

• Freedom to share

• Decentralization of authority

• Ridiculously easy group forming

• Easy collaboration

• Abundance of content

Theme Songs ?

I am a rock

I am an island

Photo: thoth92

Some rights reserved.

Theme Songs ?

Your Space My Space

So happy together

But, how does “it” feel?

Need legal info/article?

Finding Journal Articles / Legal Info#1. Go to Library home page#2. Where is the link to online legal info …?#3. Guess which link to click to find x#4. Dozens of databases in an A-Z list “What were they thinking?” #5. “Which one should I try?

What does this stuff mean?  HeinOnline, LegalTrac, Decisions on CanLII, Index to Legal Periodicals & Books”

#6. “I have no idea what database to pick.” #7. “Where is LegalTrac– I’ve used that before.”#8. Okay, picked it but does it have “online” stuff?#9. Enter some keywords.#10. Cross fingers, feel lucky.#11. No results aaargh! OR 1000 results …#12. “Why can’t I limit to Sask/scholarly?”#13. Sift through the results one by one.#14. Here’s a result that could work! #15. Click on “Find It” – “aarrgh” no full text#16. Try again – Yes - this could work!#17. If lucky, repeat #9-#11 till done.#18. Otherwise, repeat #4 to #11 till done.

Need Info?

I’ll just Google it!

Maybe my buddy

will IM it to me.

In the midst of Tech Storm

The only safe ship in a storm

is leadership.– Faye Wattleton

Tech Storms

The Perfect E-Storm: Emerging Technology, Enormous Learner Demands, Enhanced Pedagogy, and Erased Budgets – Curtis Bonk

Emerging

Technologies

Erased

Budgets

Escalating

Demands

Enhanced

Services

Look away! Look away!

Photo: Spartacus007 Some rights reserved.

Look Away with a Friend

Photo: Rita Willeart via Flickr

You Can’t Control My Mind!

http://eclectech.co.uk/mindcontrol.php

I’ll Just Watch from Over Here, Thanks!

Photo: Eggybird Some rights reserved

Photo: DavidDMuir Some rights reserved

Stabilo Boss Some Rights Reserved

Embrace it! - Digital Native

Other Responses Include:

• Butting

• Digesting

• Debating

More Responses

• Skeptics• Canaries

Let’s Get Practical

Let’s Get Practical

• To banish ants from the kitchen, find out where they are coming in and cover the hole with petroleum jelly. Ants won’t trek through the jelly.*

• If they are coming under a door, draw a line on the floor with chalk. The little bugs also won’t cross a line of chalk.

50 Amazingly Helpful Time-Tested Tips for the Kitchen by The Life Hackery

Making Sense of Web 2.0

• Making sense of information and acting on it requires not one brain process, but several.

3 Elements of Sense-Making*

1. Do we see the data?

2. Do we pay attention to the data?

3. Can we act, or get others to act on the data?

David Snowdon, “SEE-ATTEND-ACT”http://www.cognitive-edge.com/2007/05/seeattentact.php

SEE

Photos by: Courtney Milne(for use by Saskatchewan teachers and students)

ATTEND

Photos by: Courtney Milne(for use by Saskatchewan teachers and students)

ACT

Photos by: Courtney Milne(for use by Saskatchewan teachers and students)

#1. Learn with Others

• Learn from others in the profession and create learning opportunities for our users

• Web 2.0 is about the sociality of everything we do*

skills: listen, filter, search, tag, annotate,

Nancy “Snow” White: Seven Competencies of Online Interaction Presentation at Northern Voice Blogging Conference, www.archive.org/details/ConferencePresentation

Photo by davezilla was taken

What is a “Wiki”?

• Tool that allows a group of people to

quickly create and edit a web site together

Wiki Design Principles

Wiki Design Principleshttp://www.c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiDesignPrinciples

• Openness and trust – if a page is incomplete or inaccurate anyone

(you allow) can edit it

• Incremental – pages can cite other pages, even those not

yet written

• Observable– you can see the changes being made

• Organic– site structure is up to everyone, and it will

evolve and change

Why wiki?*

• Heather Coleman - Quick and easy way to publish info

– litigation practice group– another for articling students – all

training materials & a forum area to post questions and get answers

• Connie Cosby – inexpensive Intranet for small firms

Wiki me this. Canadian Lawyer Magazine, May 2008

Why not Wiki?

– Document content management system

Wikis in Law Firms – An Alternative View?by Ted Tjaden on Slaw.ca

Culture Shock

Photo by Childish David

Other Uses

• Entire library site

• Subject guides

• Event planning

• Support for Project or Team

Social Bookmarking

• Way to filter (by humans)– Winspear Business Library

• http://del.icio.us/Winspearlib

– University of Michigan Dentistry Library • http://del.icio.us/dentlib

– Bibliothèques de l’Université Paris-Sorbonne (Paris-IV)

• http://del.icio.us/bibliparis4

Del.icio.us libraries http://angelacw.wordpress.com/2007/06/04/delicious-libraries/

#2. Mix It Up a Little

Just Add Content & Stir

• RSS - The majority of English Canadian legal publishers now have feeds for their new titles

• Steve Matthews: put together this demonstration site aggregating Canadian legal publisher new title RSS feeds: http://www.legalpubs.ca/

River of News

Cut and Paste

Grazr.com

Possible Uses

• Keyword search to – build lists by practice group– list articles by professors– news about your firm, partners,

competitors

• Your better idea here ….

#3. Share What You Know

• Be a filter and guide for your community of users

• Instruction– Blog it– Podcast it– Screencast it– Videocast it

Examples

• Blog current info for practice group

• “Beauty contest” blog– Attract a MAJOR client– Key part of the package

Screencast It!

• Just in time training

• Keep it short

• How to (drop down list here)

• Show and tell

• Dozens of free and low cost ways to share your screen and/or have a shared white board

12 Screencasting Tools For Creating Video Tutorials - Mashable

Example

• The British Columbia Courthouse Library video tutorials– Listed on their site– Hosted on YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/user/bccourthouselibrary

Browser Based Webcasting

• Free: – Dimdim– Yugma + Skype– Vyew– Zoho

• Commercial– Lots of options

#4. Network Online

http://lawlibraries.ning.com/

Web 2.0 is “Social”

Why Network?

• Networking is one skill you need to practice to get ahead and survive these uncertain times. - Effective Networking for Professional Success: Making the Most Your Personal Contacts (Better Management Skills Series) by Rupert Hart

Twitter @legalvoices

• Follow @legalvoices to be added to the stream on legalvoices.com.

• For lawyers & those connected to the legal industry.

Understand Online Community

• Canada has more Facebook users per capita than any other country

• Major US law firms have Facebook groups for articling students

The Gentle Art of Inviting Participation

• Heart of the social networking– http://www.davidleeking.com/

2007/01/03/inviting-participation-in-web-20

#5. Time to Play and Learn

• To use these tools, you need to learn the tools

"It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?" - Henry David Thoreau

#6. Quicker To Try

• Test fast, fail fast, adjust fast - Tom Peters

• Learn from what works and what doesn’t

• Create a Library “beta”

#7. Remember to Wear Good Shoes

Photos by: Courtney Milne(for use by Saskatchewan teachers and students)

Summary

SEE-ATTEND-ACT

Photos by: Courtney Milne(for use by Saskatchewan teachers and students)

Keep Your Eye on the Horizon

Photos by: Courtney Milne(for use by Saskatchewan teachers and students)

Photos by: Courtney Milne

(for use by Saskatchewan teachers and students)

Questions?

"And now Edgar's gone... something's going on around here“ Photo: Manu, via flickr

Thank you

• Connie Cosby• Cindy Chick• Mary Tastad• Sabrina Pacifici• Peta Bates• Nina Platt• Jim Miles• Steve Matthews• SLAW bloggers

Contact Me

• Email me:– Darlene.Fichter@usask.ca

• Follow me on Twitter– http://twitter.com/fichter

• My Blog– Library2.usask.ca/~fichter/blog_on_the_side

• Facebook– http://www.facebook.com/people/Darlene_Fichter/122200386