Hi-Fi Sci-Fi Library
Wed 27 Aug 2008, 12:33 am
By now you have probably seen Michael Porter and David Lee King‘s video, “Hi-Fi Sci-Fi Library.” If not, here it is:
And here are a few blog posts about it from the men themselves: “hi-fi sci-fi library” video is here!+story and hi-fi sci-fi library: The Lyrics and Credits (Michael) and New Song & Video: Hi-fi Sci-fi Library (David).
These guys took something that they are serious about–the need for libraries to change and adapt–and made an endearingly silly video around it. When it comes to the specifics of what libraries should do to change and adapt, I’m not always on the same page as David and Michael, but I love the way they aren’t afraid to go out on a limb, and the way they invited us all to go out there with them in the making of the video.
It is fun to see all those familiar faces in the video, but it does bring up something I have been wondering lately. When we try and include images of librarians to make a project seem more human and inclusive, is it counter-productive if many of those images are of the usual suspects? Or do only the usual supects even notice that the images are of the usual suspects? We have been talking about this over on FriendFeed w/r/t Laura‘s suggestion that we prominently feature the LSW dogs photo on thelsw.org and I’m still not sure what I think.
One thing is for sure, though: I crack up every single time I see Cindi’s Miss 2 wipe out at the end of the hi-fi sci-fi video.
- License:
- File under: Librarians and the profession,Public relations,Uncategorized
- Tags: David Lee King, Michael Porter, video
- Comments? 6
Hi Steve,
First, thanks much for mentioning the song and the video. It a labor of love for sure, as you thoughtfully pointed out. :)
Second, thanks for sending in such a cool clip! I used a brief edit but it helped a lot with pacing I thought. Perfect!
Third: What do you mean by “usual suspects”? Do you mean the way we look or the people that participated? Both David and I had an open invite up on our blogs and I hit up both twitter, fb and finally email for submissions. That was a self selecting group to some extent I guess, but the invite was WIDE open. There is even one (adult;) person in the video that has nothing to do with libs (other than the fact than his mom was one I suppose). If you can think of a way to loop folks into another video I say go for it! It’s a GREAT idea!
I’d imagine a library could get patrons to join in the fun pretty easily if they did a similar project, especially if they had the camera, etc.
I would also guess that if David and I do another song and video more people will be eager to join in after they see this one? lol! Or maybe I am deluding myself with that sentiment! ha ha! Either way, thx, man!
Comment by Michael Porter — August 27, 2008 @ 1:10 am
I’m still not sure what I think about using that picture — or photos of people in general — in such a project. Part of me says, “Oh, what the hell, the LSW is already a clique,” and other part takes your questions very seriously.
Michael, I appreciate your efforts to spread the invitation far and wide, but I expect there are a lot of people it didn’t reach. Take, for instance, a typical employee in my system. They don’t use Twitter or FriendFeed. They may have a dim idea about blogs because I presented about them at an all-county staff meeting, but they don’t read them regularly. They wouldn’t recognize the names of anyone involved in the video, and I can guarantee you that most of them would say, “Webcam? How do I use a webcam?” I think there are natural limits to anything we try to make all-inclusive. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do them, but it does mean, I think, that we need to keep in mind what those limits are.
Steve, sorry to hijack your comments thread!
Comment by laura — August 27, 2008 @ 6:57 am
There is only so much you can do to communicate something like this. And then, like Laura said, it only gets to those who are listening/reading. I appreciate the anti-exclusionist sentiment though. I have found the LSW to be very inclusive if you present yourself as a participating member.
There may be lots of lurkers, and it may be that the some folks just didn’t feel comfortable bing silly on camera.
I think you are on to something Steve, but I’m not sure how to get folks to participate. I struggle with this everyday. :-)
Comment by Chadwick Seagraves — August 27, 2008 @ 7:46 am
Michael, I hope you didn’t take my questions about the “usual suspects” as a criticism of what you and David did. It’s just true that the same group self-selects for these kinds of projects. It’s not a bad thing in itself, but I wonder how most people react when they see those faces (including mine, of course). Do they think “Steve Lawson AGAIN!?” or–since, as Laura says, most people don’t read blogs, couldn’t pick the usual suspects out of a lineup–do they even notice?
When we put our faces on the screen, do people see us as stand-ins for them, representative of librarians in general? Or do they see us as egomaniacs?
Comment by Steve Lawson — August 27, 2008 @ 8:31 am
No, this is good stuff to talk about and I appreciate the back and forth a lot.
For me, I just try to be honest and have fun and be myself while putting some extra effort in to trying to inspire and excited. I don’t know if it will work. But I can this: The video has been up less than four days and already has almost 3,000 views. I’m SURE at least a couple of those folks at least thought about something new. And *maybe* a few of them might look into something and learn something new and practical. And heck, maybe next time THEY will be in the video (and send it to their friends what might not otherwise give half a hoot).
Another thing to point out is that it sure can’t *hurt* your career to do extra stuff like this. That wasn’t the main driver, and some folks might not like that, but seriously, it is true. And I don’t think that is a bad thing at all. If our motivations are pure and we can be more successful all around I see that as a good thing. Uh, oh, did I just start a kerfuffle? ;) jk!
Anyway, all that is the hope behind this project. And plus, it was fun, and that is important too. Well, at a certain point it became work, but there was plenty of fun too. :)
I suppose its also possible to over think all of this! lol
;)
Comment by Michael Porter — August 27, 2008 @ 2:53 pm
I think the video was ‘just great’ to us, librarians in Singapore. It goes some way to debunk certain stereotyping of librarians, that is all too common here too.
At the very least, at least some librarians here would know what Raganathan looks like … For those whom I showed the video to [all librarians], they all thought it was such a hoot … I end by saying … yo, pump out some more !
Comment by Lily aka sgpix on flickr — September 12, 2008 @ 9:48 pm