August 23rd, 2008 Brian Herzog
A few months ago, I listed online services that provide answers to peoples’ questions.
In the library world, the big concern is usually the quality of the answers - do these services provide the same level of quality in the answers that someone would get from a librarian?
As I read on studio twentysix2, perhaps we should be more concerned with the quality of the question.
See Also
Posted under Conferences, Library, Random, Reference Question | No Comments »
July 29th, 2008 Brian Herzog
At the Simmons Tech Summit, we talked about more than just tech stuff - we had a good discussion on customer service in libraries, too.
A few of the attendees visit lots of libraries, and so witness different levels of customer service in action. Since good customer service is absolutely fundamental to libraries, we talked about a new trend that is a bit alarming.
We dubbed it “reverse justification,” but what it boiled down to was libraries claiming “customer service” as the reason for continuing to do something “the way it’s always been done” - regardless of whether or not patrons benefit from it. Examples:
- We only allow patrons to use the internet for 30 minutes a day … because it’s good customer service
- Bathroom doors are always to remain locked … because it’s good customer service
- Patrons cannot use flash drives, only floppy disks … because it’s good customer service
I’m not saying there aren’t legitimate reasons for rules like these - technological limitations, staff shortages, etc. - but “customer service” is not it. Customer service is very important, so some serious critical thinking should always be applied when customer service is cited as a justification for something. Are the patrons really being served, or it is that policy/rule/situation just easiest for the library?
See Also
Posted under Conferences, Library, Service | 4 Comments »
July 24th, 2008 Brian Herzog
Last week, I was invited to participate in the first Simmons Tech Summit.
Organized and hosted by a few instructors in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Simmons College, it was a small unconference of tech librarians discussing using web 2.0 tools to reach out to patrons.
It was fun. I was the only public librarian there (and, it seemed, the only one without an iPhone), and it was interesting to hear how academic librarians approach web 2.0 tools. Also, I like meeting other librarians, especially when they’re doing cool things.
We created a del.icio.us account for the tools we covered - a lot I don’t use, a few I’d never heard of, and some I need to investigate further. Check out the full list, but here’s a few highlights:
- VoiceThread and Animoto are different, but similar in that they are both easy tools for creating videos. Animoto puts music over photos, to create fun music videos. VoiceThread is a bit more powerful, and is a tool for creating presentations with slides and voice - but best of all, viewers can leave comments on the slides. Great for interaction in the classroom, but questions/feedback is also great for instructional screencasts or collaborative creativity
- LibraryFind came up early in the day, as any meeting of tech librarians will quickly turn to lamenting the state of ILS software. LibraryFind is an open source metasearch/federated search tool developed (and in use!) by Oregon State University - definitely worth some play time
- ChaCha was new to me - it’s basically a reference service for mobile devices. Send them a reference question via text message or phone call, and they send you back an answer. Registering your mobile devices means it can log the questions you ask, so you can see who answered it (the “Guide”) and where they found the answer. It looks like Guides can be anyone, and are paid $0.20/answer
- Wordle.net was new to me, too - upload a block of text to it and it creates a pretty “word cloud.” Like a tag cloud, but not linked, so it can be eye-catching but not inherently useful. But I like the concept, though, and it’s fun: here’s a wordle of the Tech Summit delicious feed, this blog, and the White House’s news feed
Keeping up by reading journals and blogs is okay, but I usually learn a lot more by talking to people and hearing their ideas on tools. Yay for sharing and working together.
Tags: 2.0, gslis, libraries, Library, library 2.0, public, simmons, simmons tech summit, tech, Technology, unconference, web 2.0, web2.0 See Also
Posted under Conferences, Library, Technology | 2 Comments »
July 5th, 2008 Brian Herzog
I really like answering reference questions using print resources. But I also get just as much satisfaction answering a question using a tool I read about on someone’s blog.
In honor of the Fourth of July this year, a patron was doing off-beat research into things that have happened on July 4ths past, to develop a trivia game for his cookout.
I knew of plenty of “in this day in history” type resources, but he had already found a lot of that kind of information. Happily, I remembered reading a library’s blog post mentioning a website listing #1 songs for a given day in history.
With just two clicks, we had a list of the Billboard #1 song for July 4th for the past 100+ years. The patron was very happy with this, and proceeded to our CD collection to get as many July 4th #1 songs as he could to use as music for his party. It’s rare to see a patron walk away giddy, but this was one of those times.
This website will also be handy with a annual cub scout project. To earn one of their merit badges, the scouts have to find out what happened on the day they were born. Not that knowing the #1 song will make them better scouts, but it does add a fun new dimension to the project.
Also, I would like to point out that in my birth year of 1974, the #1 song was “Rock the Boat” by The Hues Corporation. That’s a good song title for a holiday celebrating revolution and independence (even if that’s not what the song’s about).
Tags: #1, billboard, birthday, history, libraries, Library, music, number 1, number one, on this day, public, Reference Question, song See Also
Posted under Conferences, Library, Personal, Random, Reference Question, Resources | 1 Comment »
June 12th, 2008 Brian Herzog
Library-Wide IT Proficiency Workshop
New England Library Association, Information Technology Section
June 12, 2008 - Bryant University, RI
Gary McCone & Grace Sines
I’m writing today from the NELA-ITS Spring 2008 workshop. The handouts are available below, so I’ll just be annotating with a few points throughout the day, and also trying to add pictures to flickr.
Here are the handouts, that were provided to all attendees on a flash drive:
Part I
Overview of the National Agriculture Library, and the services they offer. Being a national library, they are a resource for everyone, so check them out.
Library-Wide IT Proficiencies
- Why are IT proficiencies important? It’s important to get IT support right the first time with the end-user, so front-line staff need to feel comfortable in both doing the support and managing expectations (we cannot “fix the internet”).
- Keys to success Enable non-IT staff, excellent communications, understand end-users (needs, vocabulary and skills), know where knowledge or information lies within the organization, don’t get stressed - we’re all working towards the same goal
- Get to know your users Know their generation, but get past stereotypes - teach based on how different generations learn
- Expect things to change Technology will change, staff and users needs and skills will change - must expect change and be flexible to accommodate it
- Listen to end-users Meet with end-users in a non-threatening way to learn directly from them what they need (although it might be delicate, focus on what is wrong, because no one is happy with IT), and work to get ongoing feedback
Part II
Roadmap to creating an IT-Savvy Library Staff
- Technology Core Competencies Abilities, knowledge and skill required to do the job - can be itemized based on areas or tasks, such as “printer & copier,” “operating system,” “email,” etc.
- Types Can be task-based (skill: refill printer paper) or descriptive (knowledge: know how to surf the internet)
- Get involvement from everyone Everyone should be involved in defining them and what is needed to achieve them (management, professional staff, front-line staff, etc)
- Plan implementation Everyone knows what’s happening and what to expect, and how competencies can be met
- Resources
- Why have them? Promote customer service, increase motivation, address fear/threats of technology or people with limited skills (and don’t be afraid of providing incentives and praise)
- IT Liaison Program Designate one person from each department to be the lead liaison with the IT department - hopefully someone interested in IT, to be the first point of contact
- Ideas for training Experts in the library leading sessions, creating fact sheets (your own knowledge base), online training/webinars (free and fee), weekly tips. mentoring programs, regional trainers, keep track of what library staff don’t know (FAQs)
- Topics for training Evolving technologies, real-world issues (spam, phishing, flash drives, etc), tour the library website, Google labs, digital rights management, RSS, media formats (flash, audio, interactivity, etc), hardware petting zoo (new gadgets, gizmos and games)
Tags: competencies, conference, information technology section, it, its new england library association, its08, nela-its, Proficiencies, spring08, staff, tech, workshop See Also
Posted under Conferences, Library, Technology | 2 Comments »
A few months ago, I listed online services that provide answers to peoples’ questions.
Hiya. My name is Brian Herzog, and I am, among other things, a reference librarian at a public library in MA, USA. more about me...
