The full podcast of the keynote speakers' presentations will be available shortly (and links will be added to this post and the following one), but to tide you over, here's a recap of some of the items that stuck with me. Please note that these are my notes on what the speakers said, not my personal opinions. (For those interested I will have those available at my personal blog sometime in the next week.)
Steve Brown introduced the speakers saying "When you're going to move a big edifice, first you have to shake it loose from its foundations." George and Joan were here to do just that.
Before they started Lou Wetherbee gave us some valuable suggestions on how to listen. I think they are worth considering as you read below (or listen to the podcast). She told us that absorbing information will be critical. We should listen with an open heart and a questioning mind, suspend our judgment (as much as possible), and carry with us an interest in the questions they raise. She challenged us to step outside our own frame of reference. If you're a reference librarian, imagine yourself as IT, a friend of the library, or a cataloger. Put on the hat of a library user. Take notes on words that trigger a strong reaction - positive or negative - that the speakers say, or that come to your mind as they speak.
George began the presentation by explaining that transformation doesn't start with institutions. It's not some big thing out there. It starts at home, with us. He said that they would be pointing out some inconvenient truths. They are based on OCLC reports and his 30 years of experience, but they are all his opinions, not rules set in stone.
Joan said that she is often called a futurist, but in libraries that's an easy job since we just get the same things everyone else has, 5 years later.
We were asked to consider "Who are we supposed to serve and what do they value?" Not just what do they value in a library, but what do they value period. How can we contribute to our constituents to fit their quality of life, work and learning - on their terms? Joan said she uses the word constituents rather than patron/user/customer because it includes everyone who is eligible whether they are using our services or not.
Slide quote - "It is not necessary to change. Survival is optional." - W. Edwards Deming
George told us that time is the new currency. Our system is still set up the old way where information was limited and we expected people to take the time to learn our system. They said we like for it to be hard to find things because then users need us to help them. Whereas our constituents see us as providing a service. They argued that we need to move away from seeing libraries as a helping profession. People feel confident that they can find information by themselves.
George reviewed the 2003 OCLC Environmental Scan and discussed three trends that were found. Self-service, disaggregation, and collaboration.
Self-service:
People feel very confident online doing things that were previously done by experts or intermediaries. Example: Travelocity rather than a travel agent. The main difference between experts and civilians is access to information. Subscription databases are not built for civilians. Remember that self-service is not the same as no service. If we set them up to fail they will leave and not come back. If we set them up to succeed on their own, they are more likely to come back and interact with staff. When someone says, "I know it's a stupid question but..." what we should hear is "Your system made me feel stupid."
How can we set up the library to make it easy for our constituents to succeed?
Simplified wayfinding
- less clutter
- civilian terminology
- situational directions
- power paths and nodes (retail store layout terms)
- layout by activity, not collection
If we expect someone off the street to do it, all our staff should be able to do it. (Example - find X book. A person shelving should be able to answer questions there, not send someone back to a desk.) Information at point of use.
Disaggregation and recombination:
People are becoming their own librarians. The iTunes store is an example of disaggregation. My personal iTunes is recombination.
How can we make library information more exportable and remixable?
- Allow user generated data
- Enhance discoverability
- Engines not OPAC
- Crawlable databases
Collaboration:
How can we extend the library's reach via interdisciplinary collaboration?
Collaborate with any organization with which we have constituents in common. Talk about ourselves in terms of abundance:
- focus on assets not deficiencies
- demand-based resource allocation
- fast convenient service delivery
- minimal rationing
- appreciate inquiry
- no victims
They also talked about Radical Trust - Focus on building relationships. Know that there are degrees of collaboration - glance, date, engagement, marriage...
Next George reviewed the OCLC report Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources
He told us it's our job to make libraries convenient.
70%of those asked saw no difference in trustworthiness between the library and search engines.
We talk about educating our users. The speakers told us it's a bad strategy to create a service where people have to change their mind.
Joan recommends getting pros off the desk - no other profession has the best people at the walk up desk. (And top chefs don't chop their own parsley.) By doing that we're telling a person coming in - forget everything else you've learned. She is also not a fan of lurking librarians. She argues for the idea of dispatched reference. She said of course, a small library can't do it.
She argues that a benefit of dispatched reference is that the librarian takes the user away from the desk. We all learn not to hold up the line, so those users aren't going to say all they need. Instead of staffing the desk, reference librarians can use their time creating prepackaged info, doing research, being available for individual appointments, acting as learning specialists, specializing in people and process, not just materials. She argues for "upselling." Front line staff, when recognizing a question calls for a reference librarian, can say, "let me introduce you to the pro." This lets patrons feel they are getting valuable service.
Something revealed in the survey is that libraries are seen as a place for learning and reading.
What does it take to be an inspiring destination?
- cleanliness
- hospitality - get rid of the "no" signs
- improvisation
- views
- pleasure
- surprises
The final OCLC report discussed was Sharing, Privacy and Trust in Our Networked World.
We were shown a chart of what people consider private - it wasn't much and library directors' views were not in line with the general population.
Joan discussed 2.0 services. They allow people to find, use, share, and expand. She said that libraries are decent at find and use, but need to move into sharing and expanding. She talked about virtual outreach. Make an entry for your library in Wikipedia. Have a real time activities buzz. She gave an example of a library showing what has just been checked in. She said this is a hot service. Other examples: today's hot topics, wireless strength, parking cam (letting people see how easy it is to park out front of the library at any given moment).
The speakers said that studies have overwhelmingly shown that people think libraries are about books. There are big corporations that would kill for that strong a brand identification. How can we leverage the books brand? The association of reading with success?
George then showed us a study asking people where they would go for information in four categories. Libraries scored last every time and rarely got above 1%. The report was from 1947.
The positive note? People asked for certain things and libraries started to provide them. This gives us hope that we can do this again.
Focus on the users and all else will follow.
1 comment:
Impact of the "Millennials" was discussed extensively in sessions. These are the constituents that we really need to redesign our services and products to meet their needs. Who are the millenials - There are about 80 million of them, born between 1980 and 1995. They are tech savvy, with every gadget imaginable almost becoming an extension of their bodies. They multitask, talk, walk, listen and type, and text. Read an article and view video of report by Morley Safer on the new generation of American workers. Article and video are located at:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/08/60minutes/main3475200.shtml
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