Revitalizing the User Experience

My notes from a Presentation given by Joan Frye Williams at the Library Of Virginia 9/17/2009.

I was lucky to attend this presentation last Thursday and I here are my notes. They are quick and not comprehensive but are comments or ideas that made an impression on me. She made a lot of good points, brought up some good questions, and presented some very good ideas about the future of libraries that I’ve been thinking about since. They may turn into longer posts eventually but for now they are still bouncing around in my head.

Notes:

Revitalizing the User Experience

• Trying to keep up with all the latest and greatest will drive you crazy.
• Pay attention to people
• Point of view is worth 80 IQ points
• People have choices and we aren’t the only game in town for information
• Experience doesn’t get off shored
• Is the library someplace I want to be?
  • Of all the places I can be…
  • Not just the physical but online
  • She made a claim that TV has been hit very hard by the Internet

Reading Evangelism

• We own reading!
• Oprah wouldn’t be doing book clubs if there wasn’t something going on
• Why aren’t we more active in kicking adults to read more (were great at it for kids why not when they grow up?)
• Don’t walk away from books and reading

Hospitality

• What do people see when they walk into your library?
• Do we act like we want people there or do we see them as walking workload?
• You can’t teach people/staff to like people
• Why do people came to the library?
• The more people want something we ration it
• It might be important to do some things pretty well than do everything below standard (!!!)

• Destination facilities are always clean and smell good.
• More concerned about people space than the book space
• Be creative in enforcing policies: she mentioned that San Jose Public Library has Library Godmothers. They are a group that is there to enforce library policy but in a softer way (at least that’s what I think she said…)

• Lending is a classic GREEN scenario (reusing instead of everyone buying their own)
• Being GREEN is important to people 15-30

• Do people feel like we’ve set the library up for them to succeed or feel stupid?
  • especially for common tasks (checking the availability of materials)
  • Is is set up for the people to be successful or for the librarians to look smart?
• Far too many libraries are set up like a research library
• Need to set up the collection so people can find things by accident (serendipity)
  • Not many people come in with known author/title searches…they are browsing for something good to read
• Simplified Wayfinding
  • De-clutter –> Too many signs
• Bring a stranger you trust into your library and let them tell you what they see.
  • Can he/she find things easily?
• Different loan profiles for different people? (I have never thought of this before)
  • Loan time defined by usage
  • The patron has a choice of loan times that suit his/her the reading style
    • 10 books for 3 weeks or 3 books for 10 weeks?
    • Would this be hard?

• She quoted by Roy Tennant: “Only librarians like searching, everyone else likes finding”

Staffing

• The number one rule for staffing a desk: If you can’t staff the desk get rid of it.
  • A desk is a promise – that someone will be there to assist – if there is no one there what message are we sending?
• If you find you can’t staff a desk then it may be time to consider Zone Staffing.
  • Staff members are responsible for specific zones
• I’m not too sure I quite understood this…I’ll have to look into it more.
• When approaching someone who looks like he/she needs help we should say “What can I do for you?” instead of  ”Do you need help?” or “May I help you?” (that’s new to me)
• Librarians should be more active in helping with online forms; especially governmental forms.
• Helping people get through their lives. Connecting people with a reasonable experience with government will be good down the road.
  • We should try to work out ways to help people with the forms (volunteers, set aside staff etc.)
• Library as Reading Spa
  • The library should encourage people to come in and read.
  • A space with comfy chairs is a must

• Do we see the public’s time as important as ours?
• Self Directed Service – sometimes people don’t want to speak with staff.
  • is confidential
  • Don’t abandon the people; just be there to help them when they need it.
  • Podcasts as self directed service
    • $$ spent on podcasting equipment will help people catch library programming on their own time
• Online donations (great for library foundations-why doesn’t my library have one?)
  • When people donate online they are beginning a conversation
  • We should give them more than a form for their taxes in return

Interface

• The library website/catalog should be compatible with mobile devices
  • see DC Public Library for an example
    • they use the same ILS as my library so we could do this! They are willing to share too!
• Are we making them be compatible with us?
• OPACs dying? 5 years? (Statement from her-worth considering…)
  • too difficult; opacs should be more accessable
• We should acknowledge that we are just one part of the public’s information experience

Collaboration

• We should honor and support collaborative learning
• Maybe we should be reading and commenting on local blogs instead of starting another library blog…
  • How we can help the blogger…
  • I like this idea!
• Embedded library staff —- My favorite idea from this presentation!
  • Send staff out as participants (not missionaries) to local organizations/community groups to find out what they want to accomplish and see how the library can help.
  • The key here is to LISTEN to the groups…not make a big presentation about “all the really neat stuff you can do at the library”
  • Providing service into the situation where the information will be applied.
  • Infiltrating where things get done
• Libraries are neutral territory
  • Are seen as not having an agenda

• Every rule comes at a cost

• Ideas don’t get offshored

Less Perfectionism

• Making something easy is not the same as making it dumb
  • Need to make some amateur tools

• People will ding us for putting stuff out that isn’t perfect.
  • We need to use those dings to help us get better
• Perfection is not a character trait
• Don’t be shy about jumping in
  • Waiting to jump in may be detrimental
  • Make it okay to do something and pick yourself up if things don’t go as planned

Confidentiality

• Confidentiality is not the same as anonymity
• People want a relationship based service and we are giving them a transaction based service
• Ignorance is not the best defense to confidentiality

Cross Reality and Libraries

My library system has recently added a committee called Futures and Trends.  It’s purpose is to:

To recognize, review, and evaluate new or future trends in library service and communicate with Library Administration and related committees.  To consider feasibility, priority, and planning of new ideas for system wide needs that improve or enhance public service or efficiency.

I am fortunate enough to be on this committee and am really looking forward to seeing what it can do!

With this in mind I read 2 posts recently on ReadWriteWeb about a new technology being developed at MIT’s Responsive Environments Group.  You can read the posts here and here and what they describe is quite fascinating. These people are wicked smart!

What is cross reality? It is a way to connect information on-line and in person via ubiquitous sensors in a kind of virtual reality. But really, read the articles…they explain it much better. From RWW:

Cross Reality is about connecting “location-specific 3D animated constructs” in virtual worlds to in-building sensor installations.

In the second post on RWW they use bookstores as an example of how cross reality could possibly work.

Imagine for example walking down to your local shops and entering a bookstore. Theoretically, the bookstore would recognize you as you entered and would ‘ping’ your mobile device, which then might bring up that wish list of books you’ve been compiling…The app would let you know which of your wish list books are available. Also it would display a virtual map on your phone of exactly where each book is located in the store, via the barcodes of the books. Armed with all of this handy, very contextual information, you make your way to the first bookshelf.

This example just screams library to me. Really, just imagine a person walking into a library with a list of items they are looking for in their phone, a map of the library coming up that helps them locate those items.  How cool is that? Granted, it may make the reference desk a thing of the past but that is something that some have been advocating for a while. What are some other possibilities? I don’t know but it is exciting!

I’m sure something like this is a few years away from becoming an everyday thing but just thinking about how the use of technology is mixing with real life is mind boggling.  For an example of the “Tip of the Iceberg” check out this video.

Thanks to DCPL Labs for posting this video so I could find it.

Light at the end of the tunnel

IMG_1496

Originally uploaded by mwphillips75

Had a good meeting today in preparation for our presentation for the big boss. Tomorrow we have our first run through with an audience and will receive critical feedback on where we can improve. We have another run through in a few weeks then the big show early in August. Hopefully all of this will pay off and we will be able to move our library web presence into a more collaborative, innovative and dynamic direction.

I see light!

Big boss

Been reading A LOT lately about the use of online social networking tools (I just can’t use the term web 2.0…really I just can’t anymore…aren’t we past that? – And don’t even get me stated on Library 2.0!)  in relation to government use.  Not just libraries (there are TONS of articles about that!) but local, particularly county governments using SNT’s to connect with the people.  There’s plenty out there but I’m trying to find some good concise (recent) articles that I can share.  We’re trying to obtain approval from the Big boss to use stuff like facebook, blogs, twitter and flickr for the library.

So, I’m in over my paygrade and hoping I help more than hinder.  Should be fun though! I’ve learned a lot already.

We think…

Helen Blowers has this on her blog and she mentioned it in her session at Computers in Libraries last week.  It’s an intriguing video about how we think about ourselves and how the web is shaping those thoughts.  Very thought provoking.  This was done by Charles Leadbeater.

As I watched this video I kept asking myself  ”where does the library fit in to this?”  One point sticks out for me.  At about the minute mark the statement is made:

New ideas usually come through conversations…and the web is a mass of conversations

This fits with some ideas being promoted by R. David Lankes and the Participatory model of Librarianship.  

Here’s an idea: if we are facilitators of knowledge we should do our best to encourage our community to use us to find and share new ideas because it is through the sharing of ideas that new knowledge is created.  

How to do that?  I’m unsure but a step we can take is to continue to provide

• space for people to meet
• access to information
• a means for people to create

Any others?

Googlization & Gadget Support for the Library

This session was really two different topics, two different libraries/audiences, and two different presentations.  The slides for both presentations are available here.

The first speaker was Lorette S.J. Weldon.  She discussed how she was able to increase the use of her library by using Google.  She began by replicating (?) her small library’s (I apologize for missing the name of the library) collection by using Google Docs and creating Google Groups for her users.  The groups were used to hold online presentations/group discussions twice a month.  She found that the researchers really liked the new method of content delivery and the collaboration of research that it enabled.  The users were able to share information and work together in ways that they were not able to before.  The use of her library’s collection jumped from 200 users per quarter in 2007 to 2000 users in 2008.  She did exceptional work and I only wish it were more applicable to my work environment.

The next group of speakers was Jenny Norvalis, Elisa Day, and Dawn Fischer from the Bedford Public Library (VA). They discussed their ‘Tech Chat’ series of programs.  This is an amazing service!  The ‘Tech Chat’ program allows the people of Bedford to come to the library, ask questions about new gadgets or social networks and receive informed assistance from the staff.  It is kind of an open house where people can bring in their new stuff and the staff also provides examples of gadgets they have.  These monthly programs allow people to get hands on experience with new (expensive) gadgetry and ask questions they may be a little hesitant to ask their kids/family. 

They have set up a wiki for quick access to tutorials, frequently asked questions and reviews for different technology related categories.  It is available online as a quick reference for anyone wanting to know more about the selected topics. 

Select staff has been trained as ‘Tech Authorities’ at each branch.  It is their responsibility to support other staff members, contribute to the wiki and be the ‘go-to’ person at his/her branch for tech questions.  They are educated by the staff at library administration and their colleagues. 

I really think this is a great way to serve the community!

New Strategies for Digital Natives

My first session of the day and I feel that it was a great way to begin.  Helen Blowers discussed some things that I have been reading/thinking about recently and her presentation helped get me focused on what I wanted to get from my day.  Unfortunately my notes do not do her presentation justice so I’ve embedded her slideshow here.

What is a digital native?  Anyone born after 1980

            There have always been computers, cell phones, and internet 

Digital Pioneers/Digital Immigrants = anyone born before 1980 

Web 1.0 = Find –>  Built on accessing information

Web 2.0 = Connect –> The ability to engage and share information 

We don’t (shouldn’t) chase information anymore; we have the ability to make it come to us (RSS) 

Engagement is the web now 

9 Digital Native Realities

Digital Identity

For many Digital Natives their online ID is the same as their ‘real’ ID.

Their digital identity is how they influence their authority online

“We leave our digital footprints out there to be discovered” 

Digital Creativity

The ability to create and leave your imprint.

Content Creation 

Digital Information Quality

There is a shift from authoritative control to collaborative control

How do we enable our information to get to the users?

Encyclopedia Britannica has recently added a wiki layer so users can do some editing. 

Digital Safety

DNs have grown up in a ‘safe’ world

Only .08% have actually met someone in person that they met online

DNs are smart, they know how to judge safety 

Digital Opportunity

The world is more accessable

Digitally…

            There are no barriers

            Playing field is leveled

            Access in universal

            Connection is ubiquitous

            All about me

                                    = Opportunites

Digital Piracy

Is sharing piracy?

There is influence through sharing

DNs come from a world of creative commons (copying and remixing are ways to create and make new things from other things)

Digital Privacy

There is none

Life streaming

Digital Advocacy

The voice you create can make a difference

Creating their leadership potential 

What does this mean for libraries? 

What elements need to be present in order for our strategies to support our users? 

Engagement –> How –>  Enable customers to connect with library and each other

            (People want to feel connected) 

Enrich –>  Provide a rich online experience that enhances their local branch & lives

            We want people to feel they are getting value 

Empower –> Personalize & add value to their library experience & celebrate themselves

            Want people to feel good about themselves 

When considering a new tool or service (especially online) we should ask the following questions

Does ___ engage/enrich/empower our users?

How does ___ engage/enrich/empower our users? 

We should look for tools that meet the needs of Digital Natives.  

I really enjoyed this session and wish I could remember everything she said.  This is a relevant  discussion for libraries and as we move forward in librayland we should consider the Digital Native more and more.  Not only with our online presence but with what we offer in our facilities.  

Some other good notes on this session can be found at these sites:

utopianlibray.com

Infotodayblog.com

davidleeking.com

Hurst Associates

Wired Librarian

Library as Conversation

Last week I was able to watch an interesting lecture by R. David Lankes titled “Library as Conversation”.  He presented it at the Free Library of Philadelphia in 2007.  If you want to view all 1 hour 14 minutes of it click here.

He makes many points about how libraries operate and how he thinks they should operate in the future.  

One of his main points is that libraries are in knowledge business.  Not the book business, not the computer business.  Libraries, to him, are not in competition with google or amazon.  Everything we provide, books, dvds etc.,  are here to help people learn (Zane? Really? I guess a case could be made…).  What people learn is entirely up to them but we are here to assist them with whatever they need.

The way libraries can foster the creation of knowledge is by facilitating conversations.  Pask’s Conversation Theory is something he mentions that I’ll have to look into.  As far as I understand it the theory goes something like this; knowledge is created through conversation.  By communitcating, sharing ideas and differences with each other, people create agreements which can be the basis for new knowledge.  (There is MUCH more but I’m just learning this stuff)

So, how can a library facilitate conversations?  

Lankes proposes a new mission for libraries.  It is comprised of the following parts:

Access 

• Provide meeting rooms
  • ‘hybrid’ meeting rooms to extend meetings beyond ‘one place and time’ 
  • video conferencing capabilities
  • record meetings so they can be viewed later

• Promote sufficient bandwith for information

• Collection of unique resources for the local community
  • allow community groups to build and maintain collections
  • VERY local history, citizen collections

• Promotion of long term storage

Knowledge 

• Training & Education
  • provide a ’standing’ curriculum and offers of certification

• Mentoring and access to experts
  • partner with educational organizations to create  ’Citizen Scholar Diplomas’

• Standing dissemination of information

• Pathfinders & Synthesis
  • use the CSD  student projects to build collections and provide additional library services

Environment 

• Free & Open Access

• Safety & Acceptable use

• Community norms

Motivation

• Recognition of effort

• Pushing people first on the web

• Ownership
  • crete ‘innovation spacaces/incubators for entrepreneurs’ (not just for business)
• participation
  • create tiers of volunteers and paraprofessionals

This is quite a list.  Can all libraries do all of these things?  No.  But we could try.  Many of the things he reccommends will require a shift in focus for libraries, librarians and adminstrators.    Policies will have to be revisited but most of all our attitude toward the public will need revision.  We should see our library:

…not as a collection of stuff but as a collection of the community…

-and we should see 

everyone who walks into your building is an item in your collection…

What does this mean for library staff?  

Something we should be doing to help facilitate conversations with our communities is to take the concept of roving reference and put some mileage on it.  We could try to attend community meetings and listen to what they discuss.  We wouldn’t speak about “what the library can do for you” but simply sit, listen to their concerns and try to find a way the library can assist them.  By being present we would send the message that we are here, we care and we can help.  

We could also actively develop staff talents in ways that will make them more able and confident to meet the new kinds of information needs of our communities.  We should encourage anyone who wants to learn how to develop web pages to do so, regardless of wether they design web pages for the library.  We should promote the idea that  it’s okay to tinker with things at work.  Try new things, see how it works and if it can be used for the library, great!  If not at least you have someone with enough intellictual curiosity to investigate a new technology with the library in mind.  The things learned while tinkering will help some people who visit the library.  Allowing all library staff to be curious, explore new things and learn on the job would be a boon for the library and the community.  

I’m no expert on anything mentioned here but I think there are some good ideas that are worth investigating.  By encorporating some of these ideas we could make ourselves an even more important part of our local communities.  I’m always learning and trying to develop my personal philosophy of Librarianship and I’m beginning to see this set of ideas as a blueprint.

Participatory Librarianship Characteristics

In my haste to post yesterday about Participatory Librarianship I neglected to mention some of its characteristics. According to what I watched yesterday by David Lankes they are:

1. Collection of services (acess to the collection)
2. Allow for user supplied organization (tags and more)
   • provide the means for users to reorder and restructure information in a way that makes sense to them
3. Provides tools for content creation
   • allow users to build on original content, make derivitaves and add new content
4. Provides conversation that match the norms of the community
   • have space available for users to communicate 
   • our system needs to let them converse about what they find
5. Go where the conversation is

He explaines these very well in his video and I tried to take notes but I couldn’t really keep up.  I will watch it again.  There is so much to learn!

Now I’m listening to a lecture he gave at the Free Library of Philadelphia (I think) that is part of the Participatory Librarianship Starter Kit.

Fascinating stuff!