[OPLINLIST] What if the opposite is true?

[SWON Info]

At Tuesday's Membership Meeting, Cindy Tripp had us practicing some of 
the moves of Design Thinking. An essential challenge of innovation is to 
understand /the need/ of a problem as well as /the fact/ of a problem. 
Blindness may be the fact, but if navigation is the need, it can lead to 
solutions like echolocation 
<http://www.npr.org/programs/invisibilia/378577902/how-to-become-batman?showDate=2015-01-23>.


    Where can I look that up?

When the first edition of the /Encyclopædia Britannica/ was published in 
1771 
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/186618/Encyclopaedia-Britannica>, 
it combined short reference articles with longer treatises, which helped 
those who needed to define terms as well as those who needed in-depth 
information. Encyclopedias filled a need for stable, centralized 
reference materials that could gain broad acceptance and respect.

*Wikipedia asked, /What if the opposite is true/?* What if stability and 
centralization are less valuable than a broader expanse of topics with 
real-time changes available from all of its readers? Wikipedia prizes 
immediate updates (the FIFA <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA> page 
already reflects yesterday's indictments 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/28/sports/soccer/in-a-five-star-setting-fifa-officials-are-arrested-the-swiss-way.html>) 
at the cost of reliability. But since revisions are only shown if you 
log in and look for them (FIFA's page has been revised nearly 50 times 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=FIFA&action=history> in the 
last two days), Wikipedia offers an illusion of constancy.

Wikipedia's solution rightly draws strong criticism, since the 
reliability of its information is always in question. Are published 
updates the result of rigorous debate or simple pranks 
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-c5gCloESM>? Since citations for 
online sources break <http://worrydream.com/TheWebOfAlexandria/2.html> 
as external sites update or go offline, even strong evidence can fall 
into doubt.


    What if the opposite is true?

Reframing the problem creates opportunities to discover new solutions, 
as you look from different points of view. Trying on different 
perspectives--a student looking for sources for a poster presentation, 
someone trying to remember the plot of a movie, or a cook who wants to 
know the safe minimum cooking temperature for chicken--can help you spot 
different needs, and different solutions.

Looking for opposites can be uncomfortable, but it can help you ask new 
questions and open new alternatives. For more information, try Stanford 
Design School's virtual crash course in design thinking 
<http://dschool.stanford.edu/dgift/> (or Wikipedia 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_thinking> if you really want to).

  * Nathan Swartzendruber, SWON Technology Educator

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    Why do people visit your website?

Before you answer, think about the different people who visit your 
library. Think about the different resources available. Paying attention 
to this diversity of needs and solutions can help you understand if your 
website is /usable/. To understand usability, we have to get past what 
it looks like to see what it does and how it works.

At SWON's Level-Up Lab on Website Usability Testing, we'll discuss and 
practice several usability tests that can help you discover if your 
website is a success for you and for your patrons. *Join Nathan on June 
10 for this free 2-hour session at SWON's office in Blue Ash. Register 
now <http://swonlibraries.org/events/event_details.asp?id=599104&group=>!
*

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    Coming up on the calendar
    <http://swonlibraries.org/events/event_list.asp>

  * *Outreach (Special Interest Group) Meeting
    <http://swonlibraries.org/events/event_details.asp?id=575841&group=>*
    May 29, 2015 - Boone County Public Library, Main Branch
  * *Using YouTube to Enhance Your Marketing
    <http://swonlibraries.org/events/event_details.asp?id=612244&group=>*
    June 2, 2015 - Online
  * *Public Library Adult Program Planners (Special Interest Group)
    Meeting
    <http://swonlibraries.org/events/event_details.asp?id=574714&group=>*
    June 3, 2015 - Boone County Public Library, Main Branch
  * *Winning Library Grants
    <http://swonlibraries.org/events/event_details.asp?id=612265&group=>*
    June 4, 2015 - Online
  * *SWON Executive Board Meeting
    <http://swonlibraries.org/events/event_details.asp?id=459392&group=>*
    June 5, 2015 - SWON Meeting Room
  * *Ethnic Librarians & Staff (Special Interest Group) Meeting
    <http://swonlibraries.org/events/event_details.asp?id=575784&group=>*
    June 5, 2015 - UC Blue Ash Library
  * *Level-Up Lab: Website Usability Testing
    <http://swonlibraries.org/events/event_details.asp?id=599104&group=>*
    June 10, 2015 - SWON Meeting Room
  * *Weeding 101: What to Keep, What to Toss, What to Replace
    <http://swonlibraries.org/events/event_details.asp?id=612278&group=>*
    June 11, 2015 - Online
  * *CLEAR Literature Review (Special Interest Group) Meeting
    <http://swonlibraries.org/events/event_details.asp?id=509740&group=>*
    June 11, 2015 - Kenton County Public Library, Covington Branch
  * *CLEAR Literature Review (Special Interest Group) Meeting
    <http://swonlibraries.org/events/event_details.asp?id=510051&group=>*
    June 11, 2015 - SWON Libraries Meeting Room

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