Always Assessing

I'm sort of a nerd about how library services are evaluated and get all annoyed by some assertions that simply providing a service makes it "successful." 

The Librarian in Black (Sarah Houghton-Jan) posted this bit about evaluating a library's web presence.  I'm posting it here so I can revisit it when I have more time to dig in. http://librarianinblack.net/librarianinblack/2010/04/socialroi.html 

Now Do This! (Techie Ideas for Your Library - Pronto)

Since our current NetTrek unit focuses on successful technology or Web 2.0 implementations for libraries, the link below is particularly relevant.  (But don't forget!  Don't get sucked into the technology-for-technology's-sake trap!   Just slapping together a new blog or wiki or Facebook page without some sort of strategic goal and basic plan for evaluating its success is bad!  Bad I say!  Whew. Forgive the excessive use of exclamation points.)
10 technology ideas your library can implement next week.

Is Facebook in DBRL's Future?

In “Making Web 2.0 Work—From ‘Librarian Habilis’ to ‘Librarian Sapiens’” librarian Milica Cvetkovic asks and answers a key question about library 2.0 initiatives:

“Why do Library 2.0 services so often fail to have the expected impact? In my opinion, the most important reason is that the services have not been tied to the library’s strategic goals. . . . We first need to understand the needs of our patrons and then implement whatever technology will best meet those needs.”

In so many respects, public libraries have made great strides in shifting their focus from what is good for librarians to what is good for users.  The question is no longer, “What services and materials do we want to provide our patrons?”  Now we ask, “What services and materials do our patrons want and need?”  Here at DBRL we have more copies of popular fiction titles to meet increased demand.  We are arranging our collections so items are easier to find.   We have a smashing (super-cool, user-friendly, knows-just-what-I-want) new catalog that moves beyond providing access to materials through Library of Congress Subject Headings (which privileges the way librarians are taught to categorize items) and allows patrons to tag items (which privileges the way users want to categorize items).  Using this catalog, the public can share information and create lists – it’s a perfect example of a thoughtful implementation of Web. 2.0 services.

What we haven’t figured out yet is how to use a social networking site like Facebook as an extension of our web site or other services, as Cvetkovic suggests.  We have a Facebook page for “fans” of DBRL, but it simply exists as a place for Facebook users to say that they like us.  That’s nice and all, but it doesn’t really provide any sort of service or add value.  Some of the library Facebook pages we’re exploring in this NetTrek unit show how Facebook can be used to promote programs, provide library news, or provide opportunities for people to ask reference questions in a space where a number of our users already spend a lot of time.  We can also follow the lead of some book retailers.  (Heck, we already do this with some of our collections marketing in our physical facilities – why not take it a step further?)

I’m thinking of Powell’s City of Books (pause for a moment of reverent silence for the greatest bookstore on earth).  I am a “fan” of Powell’s Facebook page, and so I get a daily post in my newsfeed from them, often highlighting a new book that just hit the shelves or a rediscovered staff favorite.  This is usually accompanied by an appealing picture of the book’s cover, much like those appealing book cover pictures in our new catalog.  We could use Facebook to bring people directly into our catalog, just as we might use Facebook to bring them into one of our facilities for a program.

Does such a use of Facebook help us achieve a strategic goal, Cvetkovic’s recommended measurement for a Library 2.0 service’s success?  In our recently created strategic plan, one of our service goals is to provide comfortable physical and virtual spaces, which includes “virtual spaces and services that expand access to information and online services.”  An effective Facebook page could eventually be a part of meeting this goal, if we create that page in such a way that it acts as a portal to our web site, to our catalog, to our online resources, to the information our patrons seek.  I understand that creating and continually updating a Facebook page takes resources in the form of staff time and expertise.  But after our NetTrek training, we should have many staff members who have the basic skills to take on such a project.  And perhaps the maintenance tasks could be shared among a group of staff members so that the time commitment isn’t too much for any one person.  Is DBRL ready for Facebook? 

Last Child in the Woods | Daniel Boone Regional Library | BiblioCommons

Last Child in the Woods | Daniel Boone Regional Library | BiblioCommons

I am sharing this link with my vast readership (ha) directly from our library's new rockin' catalog! This book is one I've been meaning to read since it was first published. As the parent of small children, a person whose fondest childhood memories are of fishing and hiking, and someone who has what appears to be an allergy to video games and reality TV, this book is right up my alley!

BiblioCommons will get you your pie

Can you imagine how frustrating it would be if you went out to eat and ordered apple pie, and the server brought you Waldorf salad? You’d say, “I asked for pie,” and he’d say, “Well, this has apples in it. I thought the apples were the important part.”

This is kind of what it is like to search with our current online catalog (and the majority of other libraries’ online catalogs). But with BiblioCommons, we get to have a catalog that uses search algorithms that make sense! Huzzah! Ask for apple pie and you get apple pie!

Comparing keyword searches performed by both catalogs was most revealing. I used the suggested search term of “24,” expecting to get the DVD of episodes from the TV show of the same name. BiblioCommons returned the record for the expected DVD as number three on my list of search results (after 2 popular YA graphic novels, both entitled “24”). Our “old/current” Sirsi-based catalog placed at the top of the search results list a novel entitled Blue Moon and the easy fiction title Curious George at the Parade. Wha???? I scrolled through the first 100 search results (after that, my eyes got buggy), and the DVD of 24 was nowhere to be found.

Simple pleasures (things I like):

• Not having to click “new search” when I want to look for a different item – I LOVE that the search box is always at the top of whatever page I am viewing.


• I appreciate the “did you mean . . .?” feature when I’ve misspelled search words. So much better than showing me a list of those Library of Congress subject headings that start with the same letters as whatever I typed. Not helpful.


• Saving items for later. This is like shopping! Only without the guilt! And I love having all those titles I want to read when I’m done with school and my kids are a little older and I have more free time (and this is going to be . . . when?) saved in one place.

So far I have little to criticize. A couple of thoughts:

• Having everything I rate or review added to a “my collection” list that everyone can then see makes me a little nervous. And yes, after searching the help documents I realize I can click “Add Details” and mark each item as private. However, this is sort of tedious to do every time I comment on an item, and time consuming because I have to do it for each item separately. I also have to remember to take this extra step! Is there any way to make all items in my collection private by default?
  

• In the record for each item, instead of a field identifier like “author/creator” it says “Statement of Responsibility,” which is very much a cataloger’s term and probably doesn’t mean much to regular folks.

Overall the new catalog rocks. DBRL rocks! I can’t believe I’m crushing on a library catalog. But I am. Just a little. Because it brings me pie when I ask for it.

Everybody Sing Along

Thanks to my brother, here is a virtual mixed tape of "10 Best Songs About Libraries and Librarians." Any rap lyrics that reference the poet Keats are okay with me. Enjoy.

Free is Good

I love lists. To-do lists, bucket lists, packing lists, and now my library account's "for later" list where I can keep track of all of those books I intend to read once I'm done with school. And lists of free stuff? I love those even more. Thanks to the Librarian in Black, here is a list of free technologies and online tools budget-strapped libraries (or individuals) can use for word processing, staff scheduling, web site content management, conference calls, eBook providers, and much, much more.

Librarians as "User Experience" designers

For now I will ignore the fact that the abbreviation "UX" for "User Experience" bugs the crap out of me. There is something pretentious or faux-techie about it. I react in the same sort of way to products and advertisements that spell the word "extreme" as "Xtreme." *Shudder*

But I digress.

I like this article on The User Experience by Aaron Schmidt, and I particularly like this bit about empathy:

When we are mindful of our roles as library experience designers, we can make more informed design choices. This awareness can provide better experiences for our patrons and demonstrate that we care about them.

Really. People will notice, though not necessarily consciously, if we take the time to think about them when we're developing our services. The secret here is not to think of library patrons, users, or customers: we need to think of people. We need to consider their lives and what they're trying to accomplish. This act, which can only be done by cultivating the skill of empathy, is the most important—and perhaps the most difficult—part of user experience design.

YouTube can teach you to knit

Well, that isn't entirely true, but it's close. I had learned the basics of knitting from fellow knitters, but I wanted to try my hand at a pattern after creating about a thousand simple baby hats knit in the round on circular needles. The pattern I chose kept telling me to sl1k1psso, and I kept telling the pattern to freaking speak English already. Being a library type, I tried consulting a BOOK with diagrams. The diagrams looked like piles of spaghetti with knitting needles in the middle, and let's face it, trying to describe knitting techniques in words is nearly impossible. Here is where YouTube comes to the rescue.

Very kind, patient knitters out there in cyberspace have taken the time to create videos of techniques (like the aforementioned slip 1 knit 1 pass slip stitch over) so that visual learners like me don't set their yarn on fire or flush it down the toilet out of frustration. And they film these from the viewer's point-of-view, so it's like you are looking at your own hands knitting, which you will be once you've taken a gander at something like this:

So THAT is what RSS stands for

Really Simple Syndication! Genius.

I have to say, however, that my first tendency was to subscribe to waaaaaaay too many blogs and immediately become overwhelmed by all of the unread posts in my reader. Here are the newsfeeds to which I am currently subscribing. Because this is a work-related exercise, I did not add The Society for Librarians* Who Say [a bad word I won't type here but you know what it is], but I was very, very tempted.

1. The Librarian in Black
http://librarianinblack.net/librarianinblack/

2. In the Library with the Lead Pipe
http://inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/feed/

3. Librarian and Information Science News
http://www.lisnews.org/rss.xml

4. Library Journal News
http://feeds.feedburner.com/LibraryJournalNew