Page History

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1. Deliver WOW Through Service
2. Embrace and Drive Change
3. Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
4. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
5. Pursue Growth and Learning
6. Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
8. Do More With Less
9. Be Passionate and Determined
10. Be Humble

Some ideas for core values that would make sense for MIT Libraries:

1. Advocate for open access. No DRM.
2. Be flexible. Break the rules when it makes sense.
3. Be one library.
4. Create fun and a little weirdness
5. Be where our users are, virtually and physically. (Leave the library).
6. Be adventurous.
7. Collaborate.
8. Observe user behavior.
9. Get ideas from other types of organizations (bookstores, etc.)
10. Provide timely service.
    

5.  Exercise:
Reversing assumptions
We brainstormed a list of assumptions about the MIT Libraries or academic libraries in general.

Common assumptions:

• We have books and we loan them out.
• We have internet access.
• We have quiet places. 
• We have group study space.
• We provide instruction on how to use databases.
• We have digital images.
• We buy what we need.
• We have knowledgeable staff.
• We answer reference questions.
• We have a web site and a catalog.
• We work with faculty and staff.
• We have a good catalog.
• We are better than Google.
• Only librarians can provide the best answers.
• We maintain relevant and useful collections.
• We preserve things for the long term.
• We can digitize anything.
• We have text books for every class.
• We can find complete citations with only a little info.

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A. Craigslist: what if libraries were like Craigslist?

1. Craigslist makes it easy to find any city from one particular site. Each Craigslist looks about the same, simple.
Libraries could have a very simple UI that looks the same for most libraries anywhere.
(maybe Worldcat Local is like this if lots of libraries use it)

2. Craigslist allows for anonymous temporary email communication.
Libraries could have an anonymous email service to protect user privacy.

3. Craigslist has a very simple, text-based UI. Content matters, not flashy look.
Our web site could be a very simple text only site that looks like a Craigslist home page. The focus is on the content, not the look and feel.

4. On Craigslist you can post what you are looking for and easily find someone who has what you want (jobs, for sale items, etc.)
Libraries could have a way to post what you're looking for and others in the MIT community (not just librarians) could provide answers or help.

5. Craigslist is all user-created content and is self-policed.
Librarie sites could be user-created and self-policed.

6. Craigslist has one name that's easy to remember. Generic.
Libraries could have one simple name instead of weird particular names (barton, vera, etc.)

7. Craigslist connects people with complementary needs.
We could enable collaboration more with a site like this.

B. Flickr: what if libraries were like Flickr?

1. Flickr makes it easy to upload your pics.
Libraries could make it easy for users to create lists and submit content (Worldcat Local does this).
Libraries could be the place to store your stuff (like an Endnote, Zotero, etc. but with more features, even store your photos).

2. In Flickr the user organizes the information with several ways:  sets, tags, groups.
The OPAC could be rearranged by the user in different useful ways.

3. In Flickr the user has the option to choose their copyright statement (all rights reserved or various creative commons licenses or free). Users can search for images by type of license.
Libraries could find ways to make different copyrights clear and obvious and allow searching by those different types of licenses.

4. In Flickr you can search by tags and combine tags in a search making it easy to find photos by interesting characteristics (always changing).

 C. YouTube: what if libraries were like YouTube?

1. YouTube has a mix of orginal and produced content.
Libraries could contain a wider mix of types of content (more "gray lit" mixed with published content).

2. YouTube has old and new content.
Libraries could more effectively mix and display old and new content together. New stuff along with older digitized stuff.

3. YouTube has streaming video.
Libraries could buy access to streaming video rather than DVDs. We could digitize every we buy in hard copy, such as buy a DVD, then stream it to make it more available.

Exercises were inspired by the book: Thinkertoys