Balancing Statewide and Local Digital Reference Service

Abstract

As digital and chat reference services become established as another way to do business, many libraries juggle the delivery of consortial and local virtual reference services. Balancing services without overtaxing staff and resources presents a number of challenges. How, for example, do libraries staff more than one chat reference service in addition to traditional services? Or more critically, how are subject specialists used to their greatest advantage in a multi-type library service? This article explores the benefits and issues of offering service at the statewide and local level based on OSU's experience and describes how OSU responded to these issues.     

Tell Me More: The Operational Style of Maxine Bleiweis

Abstract

An interview with former library director Maxine Bleiweis explores leadership, staffing, and operations from the perspective of interpersonal connection. How can real conversation – asking questions, listening, and remembering – lead to a stronger staff engagement, innovative programing, and community investment in the library? How can directors find the best candidates for their staff and then assemble energized, complementary teams? How can libraries find support from their local business communities? Bleiweis, winner of Charles Robinson Award for Innovative Leadership from the Public Library Association, is now a consultant who encourages libraries across the country to tap into their community networks to explore bold new directions.     

The Delphi Project: Transforming Flemish Libraries Into User-Oriented Points of Information

ABSTRACT

Flemish libraries have historically been praised by visitors and valued by the general public, but since the turn of the century, they have seen a decline in usage. A group of libraries in Flanders believed the role of libraries should be substantially reevaluated. They embarked on the “Delphi Project” to establish methods for libraries to become centers of their local communities by focusing on the information needs of their customers. The emergence of technology supported a shift from libraries as lending institutions to information centers. In addition to a customer service philosophy and training, online tools have helped staff reach library users. An online tool called the “Bronnenwijizer” combines searching the local library catalogue, provincial and state catalogues, and the Internet. The tool also supports the creation of “baskets” for a patron's information needs that can be shared with other staff. Delphi libraries have also used “Infopleinen,” Web-based guides to topics featuring printed media and online sources. Finally, a new online question registration system was developed that fit the new Delphi service philosophy. Over half the libraries in West-Vlaanderen are entitled to call themselves Delphi Libraries, and the philosophy is being disseminated more broadly through the Delphi Project Web site. Due to governmental changes in provincial authority, the future of the project is challenged because coordination among libraries has been critical for the project's success.     

So what are you going to do with that?: The promises and pitfalls of massive data sets

ABSTRACT

This article takes as its case study the challenge of data sets for text mining, sources that offer tremendous promise for DH methodology but present specific challenges for humanities scholars. These text sets raise a range of issues: What skills do you train humanists to have? What is the library's role in enabling and supporting use of those materials? How do you allocate staff? Who oversees sustainability and data management? By addressing these questions through a specific use case scenario, this article shows how these questions are central to mapping out future directions for a range of library services.     

Difficult Library Patrons in Academe

Summary

Difficult patrons have been considered primarily from the perspective of the problem behaviours they present in libraries. Many have attempted to define the problem patron and to provide advice and develop guidelines for frontline public service staff. To understand the difficult patron in academic libraries we need to answer three questions-How well do we know our patrons? Do we unwittingly create difficult patrons through our failure to appreciate their needs? Do we regard patrons as difficult because the way they use libraries and conduct their information research does not match our idea of how it should be done? The answers to these questions suggest that we need to reconceptualize both our patrons and the services we provide. Library staff need to see difficult patrons not as problems but as challenges to the service ideas and standards we hold. A paradigm shift is necessary if we are to reconstruct our beliefs about our patrons, their information seeking behaviours, and the services we provide to meet their needs. Some strategies for developing the skills of library staff to work effectively with difficult patrons are presented.     

How It's Done: Examining Distance Education Library Instruction and Assessment

ABSTRACT

While articles on individual studies, surveys, and programs abound, there is a lack of baseline data regarding what and how libraries provide instruction for their distant populations. Do libraries generally provide information literacy or library instruction to students at a distance? How is instruction usually provided? Is instruction generally assessed? If so, how is instruction assessed? These questions were asked of librarians in an online survey of 143 institutions offering distance programs, randomly sampled from the College Blue Book. With a 55% response rate, data about instruction offerings and assessment were correlated with information about library staff size, budget, and student enrollment. The expectation was that larger libraries with more money and students would provide more and better services, but interestingly these factors had far less influence than anticipated. It seems that the individual efforts of librarians were the major determinants for services offered by libraries at institutions with distant students.     

Going the Extra Mile

Abstract

Even though every library, whether research, academic, public, special, or school will tailor their service to accommodate the specific needs of their customers or community, a common thread-our attitude toward customer service-bonds all librarians. How can we improve our desire to serve with a smile? Does a smile make a difference in customer service? What are some libraries doing to motivate their employees? How can we help one another on the job? This article will explore these and other related questions. Today's libraries are competing with a variety of information sources, some of which are easily available to the user through the Internet. In order to help preserve our most valued asset-our customers-libraries need to incorporate a well-developed, quality customer service program in their operational plan and budget.     

Library Ranking Europe: A New Tool

ABSTRACT

The interest to improve library services is worldwide. Standards, various kinds of assessments and customer surveys are used as tools. To be more successful in their business libraries should pay more attention to the customer experience and use qualitative methods in evaluating services. Library Ranking Europe (LRE) is a pilot project which looks at public libraries from a customer perspective. The method is mystery shopping, anonymous visits to libraries. The aim is to create a ranking system that stimulates benchmarking. The ranking system consists of different factors – categories and subcategories – which reflect library services. In the evaluation, every category is scored. The LRE scale generates a ranking system that categorizes libraries according to the scores from one to six stars, from Poor to Exceptional. The system will be developed further but after five years of testing, we find that LRE offers a relatively easy way to compare public libraries in different European countries. It even makes it possible to evaluate and compare libraries in big cities and small villages. The ultimate goal of this method is to enhance quality development.     

Google的成功给公共图书馆网站建设带来的启示

21世纪是信息的社会,更是网络的时代.因此,公共图书馆不能再仅仅局限于重视馆舍面积的多少,是否为城市标志性建筑等外在的内容,而是要顺应时代的潮流,转移到构建优秀的网站建设上来.如何构建优秀的公共图书馆网站呢?众所周知,Google搜索引擎以其雄厚的技术为支撑,凭借其强大的检索功能和高质量的检索服务,脱颖而出,成为了世界上最著名的搜索引擎之一.文章介绍Google的成功秘诀、独特的检索功能、技术优势,论述其对我国公共图书馆网站建设带来的启示.     

Customer Satisfaction Management with “Counting Opinion” Surveys

This article tracks how Ajax Library Services, located in suburban Toronto, followed up on its designation as the only ISO‐certified library in North America by its adoption of the computer‐based, computer‐survey tools of Counting Opinions. Use of the online survey tool helped to inspire reforms in customer service, collection development and many other library policies. And, with before and after data reports, library administration could see how the library's users reacted to the changes. This intermixing of quantitative and qualitative data represents a level of customer‐opinion‐and‐data analysis seldom seen in public libraries. Collecting Opinions has expanded its public library analytical utilities to include access to data on additional public libraries so that customers can do statistical rankings to rank their own service levels to other libraries who serve communities with similar demographics.     

Building dynamic capabilities of an academic library: A research agenda

Though academic libraries do not compete with others in the real sense, every ambitious librarian would want his or her library to be better than the others. How would a librarian be able to achieve this? Traditionally, librarians have focused on building excellence in processes and operations. However, such processes and operations can be imitated and implemented by other libraries, resulting in those competencies being short lived. Researchers in strategic management have developed theories on how organizations can build competencies that cannot be imitated, and thus be ahead of their competitors. One such theory – referred to as the dynamic capabilities – is adapted to identify the micro-foundations including the roles, activities and competencies required to build these capabilities for academic libraries. Four themes – searching & sensing, shaping, seizing, and transforming – related to developing dynamic capabilities of academic libraries have been identified. Potential research questions have also been formulated to direct future research.     

Reference Staffing

Abstract

In spring 2006, 404 medium-sized academic libraries participated in a survey to determine their reference-staffing practices. A medium-sized academic library is one affiliated with a bachelor's degree granting institution where the FTE enrollment is 3,000-9,999. Libraries reported their type of service model, number of questions asked, number of staff, variety of service points, types of staff utilized, hours and other factors used to make staffing decisions.

What are the staffing practices in reference departments at medium-sized academic libraries? How many reference and non-reference librarians are scheduled to work at reference service points? How many questions are typically asked during a week? Are students or support staff utilized? What type of model is most prevalent-one central desk with one librarian, several distributed desks with one or more staff members, a tiered service model or something else? What factors do reference managers consider when determining the hours and types of staff scheduled? These questions, and more, are explored in this report.     

澳大利亚公共图书馆微探

论文通过对澳大利亚公共图书馆文献资源、组织管理、读者服务、社会活动、技术设备等方面的介绍和描绘，揭示了澳大利亚公共图书馆先进的办馆理念、新颖便捷的服务方式和丰富多彩的活动内容，以期对我国公共图书馆建设有所启示。     

Space and the Social Worth of Public Libraries

In spite of the growth of digital information and the resultant questioning by some of the value of public libraries, library usage data indicate there were 497,600,000 more visits to public libraries in 2013 than in 1993. Why do people still visit public libraries in the digital age? While many factors drive people to visit public libraries, one thing that public libraries offer that cannot be duplicated online is physical space. Over the decades, library space has been the glue holding the library universe together even as the specific activities that take inside libraries have evolved. While public libraries do an excellent job of promoting their important role in providing access to information, educational resources, technology, and a host of valuable services, they must also promote the value of public library space itself. This requires more than trotting out numbers; it requires telling compelling stories of how public library space is used and reminding the public that the kind of spaces public libraries provide are, in fact, a vanishing resource. The post-911 tightening of security in public buildings of all sorts—coupled with the increasing privatization of what were once public spaces—has left public libraries as perhaps the last remaining indoor public spaces where an individual can remain from opening until closing without needing any reason to be there and without having to spend any money. Public libraries should promote the uniqueness of their spaces in much the same way that National Parks promote the unique spaces they preserve and make available to the public.     

Data Rules: How Mapping Technology Drives Better Customer Service

Is your library market-driven, product-driven or customer-driven? New internet-based data and tools are now available for public libraries that enable you to be customer-driven—for your own unique service area. This article shows how three library systems are using these tools—focused on market segmentation data and geographic information system (GIS) technology—to deliver more relevant customer services. Each solution described in the article was developed in close collaboration between CIVICTechnologies and the library, involving research to understand the library's objectives and desired outcomes, and using the data needed to meet each library's unique challenge.     

Goodbye,Paley… Hello,Charles!: Marketing a Library Move

How do you prepare a campus for the closure of one main library and the opening of a brand-new building? Temple University Libraries faced this question in 2019. Their marketing team answered the call by creating a campaign that honored their original Paley Library while building excitement for the new Charles Library. As part of this campaign, library staff worked together to create their own “Mean Tweets” video, reading real tweets patrons had posted about Paley over the years. In this column, the team's director reflects on the process and how it changed the tone of their overall campaign.     

Hiring in an Academic Library: Fit is Essential

Candidates readily assure search committees that they will join up, collaborate, and participate in a group. The challenge for the search committee is learning whether the candidate will truly fit with the existing group and organizational culture. How do we gauge how a new hire will fit? Hiring for fit is critical in libraries because each member of the group interacts on behalf of the library with students, faculty, administrators, and staff. Such work demands not only collaboration but also a shared vision. This article describes how one library altered the hiring practice to address the issue of “fit.”     

英国公共图书馆的管理、服务与发展趋势

文章首先简介了英国近年来公共图书馆发展的概况,其次从宏观和微观两个角度论述英困公共图书馆的管理和服务.作者从法律保障、管理机构、经费支持和政策引导四个方面论述了英国公共图书馆管理的体制,并重点从服务内容、品牌意识、信息与通讯技术的应用等方面介绍了英国公共图书馆读者服务的主要特点、英国公共图书馆的建筑设计和馆员资格认证与培训,最后对英国公共图书馆的发展趋势进行了简单的分析和总结.     

荒岛图书馆的建设现状与发展研究

荒岛图书馆是民间公益图书馆之一。荒岛图书馆在建馆模式、运营方式、持续发展等方面具有其自身特色。荒岛图书馆大多开设在私人经营场所,办馆经费来源于社会公益活动筹款,图书来源依靠捐赠、寄存、寄售,管理人员均为志愿者。荒岛图书馆具有距离社区居民近、开放时间长的优势,但同时也存在着缺乏长效的管理机制、图书与资金短缺、社会知晓率低等不足。荒岛图书馆只有通过塑造自身文化品牌、积极参与社区公共文化建设等方式,才能持续发展下去。     

“Lots of Questions about ‘Fake News’”: How Public Libraries Have Addressed Media Literacy, 2016–2018

ABSTRACT

This exploratory research investigates how American public libraries have addressed the issue of media literacy in their communities from 2016 to 2018, including programs, partnerships, and other initiatives. The authors selected this period because events, such as the 2016 U.S. presidential election, contributed to an increased national concern about media literacy. This study fills a research gap by providing a broader assessment of public library responses to this issue, as most of the published literature thus far stems from academic libraries. An electronic survey solicited data from both a stratified purposive sample and a self-selecting sample of public libraries throughout the United States (U.S.). Analysis of qualitative and quantitative data from sixty-five public libraries revealed several key themes related to media literacy initiatives, including types of initiatives developed, initiatives deemed most successful by staff, community response to initiatives, and reasons for not pursuing initiatives. Findings denote the current state of how public libraries address media literacy and offer practical guidance for those developing media literacy initiatives. Key findings are as follows: lack of staff time is the reason most often cited for not engaging in media literacy initiatives; more effective measurements are needed to assess both community needs and outcomes of library initiatives; “fake news” is a topic of interest in the community and among library staff; and there appears to be a relationship between staff interest in the topic and perceived interest on the part of the public, which may impact efforts to address the issue. Implications for practice resulting from those findings include engaging in initiatives that maximize service while minimizing staff time involvement; measuring and assessing community interests as well as outcomes of initiatives; using trending topics such as “fake news” to increase interest in library services; and continuing to increase staff awareness of and training in issues deemed important by the library community.