Reading Notes: March 16, 2012

The article in New York Times entitled: Google’s Quest to Build a Better Boss http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/business/13hire.html?pagewanted=all describes Google's Project Oxygen, a statistics driven research project to study what makes a good manager.  Google's People Analytics team studied the attributes of high-performing teams and published the "Eight Habits of Highly Effective Google Managers." As Google believes that its management style is very unique, so their goal in this effort was to uncover the "secrets" to excellent management at Google.

What are the eight findings?

1.  Be a good coach. (One couldn't agree more - in fact the best way to characterize great managers is to think of them as coaches - someone who brings out the best in people and helps them succeed)

2.  Empower your team and don't micromanage. (One of the biggest findings for Google’s High-Impact Learning Culture research program that only setting goals and letting the team do all the work with very minimum supervision is considered one of the biggest new "competencies" in leadership development.  Google mentions "stretch assignments" in this category, as a way of helping the team improve its performance)

3.  Express interest in the team's success and personal well-being. (A pretty important factor in any manager's success, and a skill for new managers to develop)

4.  Don’t be a sissy:  be productive and results-oriented. (This is a way of stating "manage by objectives" and "focus on results" - which is often a challenge with new, technical managers)

5.  Be a good communicator and listen to your team. (Effective communications with an open door policy are very important leadership values, and Google specifically recommends that any boss hold all-hands meetings.  As we all know, listening is a vital leadership skill and the best leaders are really the best listeners, and they have a unique ability to hear "reality" and then communicate a vision which fits "reality."  Much harder said than done)

6.  Help your employees with career development. (The Talent Management Factbook research found that companies with mature development planning processes far outperform those that don't - and in fact this is one of the most highly correlated talent management dimensions with business success.  The problem is that doing this is far harder than it sounds - and the entire organization must be enabled for career development. Providing equality in access to career development opportunities is always the guiding principle for any good manager)

7.  Have a clear vision and strategy for the team. (Clearly an important leadership competency)

8.  Have key technical skills so you can help your team.  (Having key technical skills is a very important characteristic of strong leadership in a technical company such as Google. However, in services-related businesses this can be far less true - and there is somewhat of a truth to the point that "good managers can manage anything."  Technical skills are important to leadership, but in many roles less important than one may think)

Some additional characteristics of good, effective managers that I learned in the MLIS managing libraries course:

Communication

Fairness, equitable treatment

Consistency in interactions and dealings with others

Good political instincts

Understanding “lay of the land” before instituting change (in most cases)

Empathy

Respect

Inspiring others

Listening

Encouraging sharing of different viewpoints, perspectives, ideas

Avoiding “group think”

Sharing credit when applicable

Praising, acknowledging good work, extra effort, sacrifice, commitment, etc.

Building trust

Having a vision, communicating that vision, achieving that vision

Taking a stand when needed, “fighting the good fight”

Standards

Accountability

Integrity

Transparency

Visibility

Intellectual humility

Mentoring

Commitment to professional development for self and staff

Flexibility, adaptability, embracing change

Comments for 12/18/2010

http://magpie-maggiemagpie.blogspot.com/2010/12/week-14-readings.html#comment-form

Reading Notes for 12/13/2010

1)      Galen Gruman. “What cloud computing really means” InfoWorld, April 2008. http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/04/07/15FE-cloud-computing-reality_1.html

I learned from the above article how the idea of cloud computing and shared storage space evolved from the need of shared data across communities of the world. This idea would be amazing for libraries in a conflict environment, where the data from these libraries can still be stored and shared via cloud computing.

2)      Explaining Cloud Computing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hplXnFUlPmg&NR=1

During my work, I was part of a project where the database we work on was stored on servers in other country but which we can access and work with it, because this type of database leasing agreement is for only 10 percent of the cost of having it on our servers in addition to human resources cost. This is a very interesting development, and shows how cloud computing can benefit libraries in countries with developing economies.

3)      Thomas Frey. The Future of Libraries: Beginning the Great Transformation

http://www.davinciinstitute.com/page.php?ID=120

In the above article Mr. Frey makes important assumptions on how libraries are shifting from being centers of information to cultural centers. He points out the idea of changing roles for libraries and how this will affect the type of work done in libraries in the future.

Assignment 6

http://www.pitt.edu/~iaw5/

http://www.iaw5lis2600.moonfruit.com/

Reading notes for 12/6/2010

1)      No place to hide site: http://www.noplacetohide.net/  

This website includes very thoughtful discussions. I first read the interviews contained on the homepage. They really did an excellent job at conveying how data collection tools and security measures increased after 9/11, and these interviews served to outline some of the major players involved in this change. 

I then clicked the link to read Robert O'Harrow's book "No Place to Hide." This reading was actually quite shocking. The extent to which one can be followed, tracked, and monitored is astounding. This text arose many questions for which I have not formulated any sort of conclusive opinion to share. But for me, it seems like all of the devices that supposedly make my life so much easier are the same devices that are taking any rights of privacy. But as more and more we come to depend on these technologies, more and more we in a sense submit to the idea of being "monitored". Do we not have the right to in a sense opt out; is this right taken away from us?

At any rate, this reading brought up a lot of very important questions that I think, noting the present state, everyone should at least be considering.

2)      TIA and data mining http://www.epic.org/privacy/profiling/tia/

This website provided information regarding the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency's (DARPA) creation of a tracking system called Total Information Awareness (TIA). From what I understood, the system sought to collect as much data or information about people as possible (via multiple sources), and then through algorithms and human analysis, create a database that would be able to aid in the capture of terrorists, but the funding was cut by congress in 2003.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hS8ywG5M_NQ

I was not able to access the above video and was not able to locate it on the internet.

Reading Notes for 11/29/2010

1)      John Blossom (2009). What makes social media tick: seven secrets of social media. Content Nation, chapter 2. Wiley Publishing Inc. http://www.contentnation.com/wiki/chapter-2-what-makes-social-media-tick-seven-secrets-of-social-media

This article takes an in depth look at various functions of social media such as the role of Weblogs in both library and personal settings. I like how the author points out a key feature of Weblogs being the archival tools in which many blogs have. This class has actually afforded me my first opportunity to work within a blog setting, and I am finding the archiving feature to be of great value.  It has even been useful to me outside of this class. For instance, if I am in another class and they make mention of a topic that has been discussed in this specific class, all I have to do is enter into my blog and search my archive. Once I find the articles dealing with this subject, I then am brought to the particular entry where my notes and the exact articles I read dealing with this subject are stored, which is much more efficient than having to haphazardly skim a bunch of papers. This article also mentions, and I had not thought of this possibility until now, the benefits that blogging can have in a group project setting. I don't know how many times I have, during group projects; I have run into the problem of e-mail organization. Blogging seems like a much more efficient alternative. I also like the idea presented in this article regarding establishing a "reference blog" for those that may be working reference in a library. It may be a very viable alternative to the old reference binder. In addition, I think this article did a good job in relaying the opinion that librarians need to acquainted with the technicalities of blog creation in order to assist patrons who may benefit from the establishment of one. 

Charles Allan, “Using a wiki to manage a library instruction program: Sharing knowledge to better serve patrons, C&RL News, April 2007 Vol. 68, No. 4 http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/crlnews/backissues2007/april07/usingawiki.cfm

This article also points out the increased benefits for librarians in using social software applications. In this particular article the benefits of creating a Wiki are discussed in order to affect more efficient communication processes in the realm of library instruction. It was interesting to learn that many companies actually offer Wikis (I had thought that this specific social software was only available via Wikipedia). Basically, a wiki works by establishing a list of users (via their e-mail address) who have rights to contribute to the material within said Wiki. Unfortunately, I have had no experience with using Wikis in the past, but this article definitely provides great incentive to get familiar with them in the future especially within a library setting.   

2)      Xan Arch, “Creating the academic library folksonomy: Put social tagging to work at your institution” C&RL News, February 2007 Vol. 68, No. 2 http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/crlnews/backissues2007/february07/libraryfolksonomy.cfm

This article provides an overview of the benefits of social tagging or “folksonomy”. Then the article further outlines how social bookmarking sites such as Delicious.com can make the life for World Wide Web frequent users so much easier. I also learned about Delicious.com from this class which very much helped me organize the sites I find interesting or worth bookmarking. This article explains another benefit of social tagging being, through the creation of additional subject access by users to library materials. The article explains that this system can be largely fruitful for those users who are unfamiliar with controlled vocabularies and so these user supplied folksonomies will allow other users to retrieve information available in their fields easily. Also the use of social tagging in a library setting can be a way for librarians to point out good information resources that are available on the web. The article then states, that this would assist library patrons with the task of searching and bookmarking websites from the World Wide Web. 

3)      Jimmy Wales: “How a ragtag band created Wikipedia” http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jimmy_wales_on_the_birth_of_wikipedia.html

I had previously understood how certain aspects of Wikipedia worked, but this video further explained to me how decisions are made about what entries should be included. I learned that this is done via the vote’s page which was actually new to me, and how votes and discussions among volunteer editors makes the process about which entry can be determined to be significant enough to make its way into Wikipedia. I also learned at the end of this video about how Wales discussed the creation of socially generated textbooks, and this idea sounds interesting.

Reading Notes for 11/22/2010

David Hawking , Web Search Engines: Part 1 and Part 2 IEEE Computer, June 2006.

    This information is vital in understanding how to tackle various threats to the PC.  As librarians, I was wondering if there is anything that we can do more than a simple virus scan.  What else we can do as information professionals in order to contribute to the war on various Trojans? 

2) Shreeves, S. L., Habing, T. O., Hagedorn, K., & Young, J. A. (2005). Current developments and future trends for the OAI protocol for metadata harvesting. Library Trends, 53(4), 576-589: http://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/609/Shreeves_CurrentFutureTrends.pdf?sequence=2; 

I learned from this article how OAI-PMH will allow users to search many catalogs and repositories simultaneously. However, the different metadata schemas and controlled vocabularies used in the harvested catalogs and repositories could be the main barrier.  However, the expansions made on OAI-PMH gives a new hope for overcoming these barriers using a consistent approach. 

3) MICHAEL K. BERGMAN. “The Deep Web: Surfacing Hidden Value” http://www.press.umich.edu/jep/07-01/bergman.html
 
      I learned from this article how much we are missing out when we conduct our searches via Google.  That’s why librarians should further understand and implement Deep Web, such as searching electronic resources for patrons. However, I think that Google Scholar somewhat allows librarians and users to search the web as well as scholarly electronic resources in the same time. But still the user needs access to these electronic resources via library account as these resources needs subscription fees to be accessed.