Week 4: A Proposal for Implementing Social Software in the San Jose Library

(A very crumpled draft)

This proposal is designed to use the wonderfully rich multicultural heritage of San Jose to build a wiki, A Thousand Flavors of San José, that will collect through personal accounts a historical portrait of San Jose life from 1900 to the present with a focus on family and communal celebrations during which a sharing of traditional ethnic foods strengthened old ties while creating new friendships. Any photos or artwork contributed to wiki would be stored on Flickr.

According to Wikipedia, "A wiki is a collaborative website which can be directly edited by anyone with access to it. Ward Cunningham, developer of the first wiki WikiWikiWeb, originally described it as 'the simplest online database that could possibly work'." Wikipedia describes Flickr as "a photo sharing website and web services suite, and an online community platform..."

The implementation of A Thousand Flavors of San José wiki would require
collaborating with such library departments as Partners in Reading (PAR), Adult Services, the California Room, and our Multicultural Committee, and partnering with such community organizations as the Mexican Heritage Center, Japanese American Museum of San Jose, Viet Heritage Society, and Chinese Historical and Cultural Project. A few examples of possible collaboration: PAR could incorporate entries to the wiki into its Learners program; Adult Services could design a program to elicit family reminiscences, for instance a Vietnamese New Moon festival gathering or a Mexican Quinceañera. The stories collected could be used to enhance other library programs. Contributors would have the satisfaction of sharing their experiences with a wide San Jose audience through technology utilized by their library.

Obvious roadblocks to this sort of project are: 1) Selling this project to administration and department partners. 2) Deciding whether wiki should be hosted or on the library's server, in which case software would need to be selected and purchased. 2) Finding staff time to discuss idea, address any legal or policy issues, set up the organization of the wiki, inform the library and public about it, provide instruction in how to contribute text and photos, review entries on a weekly basis, and plan ways to use the material accumulated in this wiki database. 4) Locating and involving community groups. 5) Addressing question of legal ownership of the material/photos.

These roadblocks could be addressed by: 1) Submitting a detailed, carefully researched proposal with realistic goals and measurable benefits. 2) Researching hosting and software and presenting this information to administration and library IT for a decision. 3) Assigning a scheduled block of time per week for staff involved in project. 4) Utilizing already developed contacts with community organizations, placing a visible promotion of the wiki on our library website, and producing handouts about the wiki for library programs. 5) Adding a legal disclaimer/policy statement to wiki.

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"Not yours?" queries the crow. "Not a jot!" Zhar looks offended. Despite his fiery personality, my friend hasn't the claw for cooking. I, on the other hand, have stirred up a tasty pot of stone soup, baked Pompeii bread in hot ashes, and attempted Mouse ala Kiev. This proposal could elicit some flavorful recipes. "Too frivolous," is Zhar's considered opinion. "Not at all," I retort. "Food preparation has always been a way of bringing folk who have mouths and stomachs together - whether human or not. Sharing communal feasts promotes better understanding of each other's preferences and eating habits." Mr. Publicity (whose indelicate corvid eating habits are far too well known) is poking his beak into A Proposal to discover its content. Next moment he bops up with "Could I interest you, sir and madam, in a tasting tour of downtown's best restaurant garbage bins?" But, of course. We just need to find napkins.

Week 4: Effectively Implementing Social Software

Ah, virginal September, proffering us grateful creatures her harvest cornucopia. Zhar and I are once more enjoying an early morning view of the SJSU campus from our library perch while nibbling on grapes, pomegranates, and insect tidbits borrowed last night from that well-stocked garden. Two small white dogs who could be litter mates of the garden's guards are chasing each other and the squirrels. Does the university also employ a spitz security service? A flap of untidy wings announces our new friend, Mr. Crow who bumps down beside us. "Thanks for that expert advice. I've met with a librarian lady as you suggested. She's considering how we can collaborated. Plus the troupe's got an interview this afternoon with one of the local papers. Mr. Goodnight sent me to look for you two to ask if you would be interested in staying on for a bit in San Jose as our technical consultants? By the way, did you drop this?" Mr. Publicity extracts a very crumpled bit of paper from under his wing feathers. Fastidiously smoothing the sheet out with a golden beak, Zhar declaims, "A Proposal for Implementing Social Software in the San Jose Library."

Week 3: Flickr, Podcasting, and Vodcasting

Determined to introduce our equally famous selves to winged San Jose City media stars, the three peregrine youngsters, Zhar and I are still roosting on campus. Zhar, preening his glowing plumage, considers "Would I be as photogenic as those falcon triplets?" I've been digesting peaches and attending to a few still sticky feathers, so my answer is succinct. "It depends on the camera, the vision of the photographer, and clever editing." Tonight I intend to secretly fly into David Free's wiki and David Lee King's website to hunt for pod/vodcasting tools that will fit into Zhar's sturdy satchel. "Excuse me, sir, madam." We both look up startled. A large crow has quietly (for a crow) joined us. "You appear to be of a theatrical character, yes?" "Yes, and no," says Zhar. "It so happens that I am the publicity agent for a newly formed San Jose theatre troupe and thought you might be members of a foreign touring company." We stare at him so he goes on, hopping back and forth on black stick feet. "We are as yet a small number of actors and actresses, with a property manager, Fluffovits, a director Mr. Osmandius, a producer Mr. Goodnight, and myself. It's an all animal/bird troupe. No humans to allowed to join." "What sort of repertoire do you perform?" asks the experienced Zhar. "Aesop's Fables for starters, but we are working up some original material to fit our special talents. What we are most in need of is a venue, a place to perform, a stage to strut on." The peaches must now be thoroughly digested, because a clever idea pops into my head. "What about making a video of your act?" I've caught Mr. Publicity by surprise. Crows do think they know all the tricks. "How would we do that?" he croaks. "See this lovely bird hotel we're perched on? It's a library. A library means an audience of kids and a gaggle of librarians hoping to find programs to entertain and instruct them. As a novice troupe you might not want to perform publicly but a video of your act added to this library's website could be a perfect solution for their problems and yours." "I see I have a lot to learn from such well-travelled, technologically aware avians," says Mr. Crow (quite humbly for a corvid). "I'll get right on this proposal. Thanks, and hope to see you around later." Zhar and I watch him take off a bit awkwardly with my idea in his craw. What do they teach these Silicon Valley avians!

Week 3: Flickr, Podcasting, and Vodcasting

A dip in the campus fountain removes the incriminating peach juice. Zhar reminds me Flickr is next on our itinerary. Naturally he wants to find a picture of himself. But I instruct him first to pick the "jaguar" tag (I'd never seek out a member of the cat family unless it was a sphinx) while I search for "librarian" (and "Melusina"). Then together we'll browse the Libraries and Librarians group. My Melusina search led me to Sirena del Sol, who has a wonderful gallery of siren artwork. I've left her my Flickr nest address in case she would like to meet a real sirin of the air and view my collection of watercolors which include Awakening. Question after sorting librarian by "most interesting": Are human beings always more interesting if they wear glasses? Zhar joins me, puzzling over the oddities of tagging. "What do a cat and a car have in common besides the letters "ca?" "I suppose you found the tag "Firebird?" He inclines his head glumly. Our group exploration proves very tantalizing. We swoop into several links, finally landing in a Second Life virtual world inhabited by Rowdykians. Another question: Where are these Rowdykians living their First Life? Time to take care of our present avian one by filling our empty stomachs.

Week 2: RSS, Wikis, My Space, and Other Online Communities

Far better than a market stall is a peach tree heavily laden with fragrantly inviting fruit. I am not a fruitarian but neither will I ungraciously refuse nature's proffered menu. We munch messily and review our travels. As required in my flight instructions for Week 2, I have set up a roost at Google Reader, installing 5 blog feeds: Caveat Lector, The Goblin, Leaping Librarian, Librarian in Black, and Tame the Web. Then we doubled back to Bloglines, as I had promised Zhar, to drop these same "feeds" (what a satisfying term) into my library folder already packed with goodies. Browsing here saves me foraging. As thoughtfully suggested by our travel guide we visited her Bloglines roost, opening the Librarians & Library Related folder to excitedly discover A Wandering Eyre. "An avian's journal?" Sadly, no. Merely the peripatetic musings of a human librarian. Once again airborne Zhar asks, "Do you think I should sign up for a roost in MySpace such as Ann Arbor District Library created?" forgetting how many centuries ago he was a teenbird. "That would be like choosing a diet of pretty sugar-frosted confections, not at all good for an adult avian," I admonish, noticing my chest feathers have become sticky. "My Own Cafe isn't a bonbon." In fact, it isn't even the sort of cafe Zhar imagined it when he had proposed visiting to order a glass of tea. We agree that My Own Cafe was a treat while we eye a lovely fat bunch of grapes in this garden. Unfortunately the grape vine is guarded by a green macaw wearing a soldierly red feather headband, who upon sighting us shouts "Thieves! Police!" from his window post, immediately alerting two small spitz dogs armed with vicious barks. To our further discomfiture a black cat smirks from an adjacent window. Not the spot for more quiet conversation.

Week 2: RSS, Wikis, My Space, and Other Online Communities

Zhar and I are perched companionably near the SJPL Staff Development & Training blog, which we have graciously been permitted to visit even though we aren't employees. "Very useful," Zhar concludes from his experience working for theatre and opera companies, while I attend to cleaning my claws. It's been a busy seven days darting from wiki to wiki, chasing RSS feeds, and hanging out on MySpace branches. We searched Hennepin County Public Library's Catalog for cookery (an excellent breakfast choice); darted back to Ohio University to see the Biz Wiki (good resources); hopped over to St. Joseph County Public Library; roosted briefly in Roc Wiki, then zoomed back to Davis Wiki in California. Having flapped through several thousand birthdays, one's wings will ache after such overexertion. So, why wiki? There seem to be many reasons to do so. I've been swinging thoughtfully on our bough by the library, listening to Zhar's musings on the value of blogs and wikis. "A wiki is like a larder where one stores supplies. Suppliers can pop in and put goods on the appropriate shelf." "This century, humans would think of a refrigerator," I amend. "Whether you call it a larder, pantry, or refrigerator, we can't do without a place to put food. Now a blog gives me a stage from which to discuss something, preferably of immediate concern, such as what are we having for dinner tonight, while providing you, the audience, a way to express your opinion. Let's take this San Jose Library. It's got a lot of goods stacked up in its website; the problem may be to find out on which shelf in which pantry. Keeping stock fresh isn't a difficulty since designated staff can add content to the various refrigerators (or databases). Would a wiki system offer a quicker way to retrieve the ingredients for one's meal?" Zhar pauses for dramatic effect. "It's easier to blog-talk, than to wikiize information. Now, how about a bit of San Jose farmers market research while stalls are still open before we go on to the topics of RSS and MySpace?"

Week 1: More about Social Software, and Blogs

An easy flight west again to San Jose's Dr. King Library and San Jose State University on whose campus we hope to meet a famous peregrine falcon family. "Does this library have a blog," asks Zhar. "There are several branch blogs on this library's tree: Almaden and Seventrees. I expect every branch will have one, once library administration has come up with a design template, guidelines for content, a plan for sharing skills and responsibility for weekly postings." This sort of complicated planning always delights a byzantine bird. "The SJLibrary.org website," I explain, "is very complex because it provides information about two different entities: a public library and a university library. Imagine two trees grafted together which still branch out to produce different fruit." (Oops, Zhar is looking hungry again.) "The website is shared wood, but blogs could be the several sorts of fruit, satisfying very different customer needs." "Immediate needs," murmurs, Zhar, eyeing a campus fig tree. "Blogs are a comfortable way of making friends," I continue, ignoring his hint. " I suppose it's a question of deciding which communities of friends a library wants to attract. There could be a blog for seniors (sort-lived humans have serious problems with aging), for children (Conroy Cougar can earn his keep), for business-minded city citizens, for parents who never have enough time or resources, and a blog to assist students find their library footing, and so on." "I might have an idea, too," suggests Zhar, "if I just munch a fig or two." Well, that's a firebird's genetic relationship to a kitchen stove for you.