Clued In: What We Need to Know to Direct Our Future

Darlene Fichter, Data Librarian, University of Saskatchewan Libraries

library.usask.ca/~fichter

Internet Librarian International

March 21, 2001

What is “cluetrain”? Why did folks sit up & take notice? But what’s it got to with us anyway?

Overview

www.cluetrain.com

About the web 95 theses about the Net brash, ironic voice

THE CLUETRAIN MANIFESTOthe end of business as usual

Rick Levine• was Web Architect for Sun Microsystems’ Java Software group

& Sun Guide to Web style

Christopher Locke• worked for Fujitsu, Carnegie Mellon, Mecklermedia, IMB,

MCI

Doc Searls • senior editor for Linux Journal, marketing veteran form Silicon

Valley Ad agency

David Weinberger• – publishers Journal of the Hyperlinked Organization, writes for

Wired, KMWorld, The New York Times …

These guys are hard to dismiss.

Written by 4 technology industry veterans

Rang an alarm for business [institutions] as we know them

Alarm!

A powerful global conversation has begun.

Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct results, markets are getting smarter faster than companies. [non-profits, public institutions, libraries, …]

People of the Earth ….

Real voice – open, honest, funny, often shocking

Corporations only talk in a soothing, humorless monotone of mission statement, marketing brochure, “your call is important to us” …

#1 Market are conversations.

Bazaar

Chaotic, real – the “ancient” market.

Employees are getting hyperlinked even as markets are. [Institutions / Companies / Libraries] need to listen to both – they carry genuine knowledge instead of sterile happytalk ….

#5 The internet is enabling conversations among human beings that were simply not possible in the era of mass media

Andrew Pace, colleague said:Librarians can’t afford to stand on high

morale ground – need strive to do right for our users, not be right

In academia, students want it digital, they want it

now and they want to click “show me only

the scholarly articles in full text that you have”, but …

#11 People in networked markets have figured out that they get far better information and support from each other than from vendors.

False?True?

#12 There are no secrets. The networked market knows more than [companies / libraries] abouttheir own products. And whether the news is good or bad they tell everyone.

#21. [Libraries / Companies] need to lighten up and take themselves less seriously. They need to get a sense of humor.

Not about jokes About big values, little humility, straight talk, and

a genuine point of view.

#22. [Libraries / Companies] attempting to position themselves should take a position. Optimally it should relate to something [our users] actually care about.

Bombastic boasts do not = a position Complaining that things should be different We should be recognized/valued, doesn’t make it so

#25. [Libraries/Companies] need to come down from their Ivory Towers and talk to people with whom they want to create relationships.

-hiding behind policy

- what teens what …. Big comfy chairs, lots of paperbacks, places to hang out ….

#19 [Libraries / Companies] can now communicate with [markets/people] directly.

How well do we really do? Interesting what shifts are happening with KM – moving out – working with people creating “common knowledge” – being members of the team – saw this push in medical librarianship …

#44 [Libraries/Companies] typically install intranets top-down to distribute HR policies and other corporate information that workers are doing their best to ignore.

Intranets naturally tend to route themselves around boredom. The best are built bottom up by engaged individuals cooperating to construct something far more valuable: an intranetworked corporate conversation.

#50. Today, the org chart is hyperlinked, not hierarchical. Respect for hands-on knowledge wins over respect for abstract authority.

#73 You're invited, but it's our world. Take your shoes off at the door. If you want to [barter] with us, get down off that camel!

Do we park our camel at the door when we talk to our users?

“Us vs. Them”

#77 You're too busy "doing business[real work]" to answer our email?

Oh gosh, sorry, gee, we'll come back later. Maybe.

You have 2 choices

You can continue to lock yourself behind facile corporate words and happytalk brochures [mission statements, policies]

Or you can join the conversation.

See who has signed the cluetrain manifesto at:

www.cluetrain.com

Darlene Fichter University of Saskatchewan Librarieslibrary.usask.ca/~fichter/

Thanks!