Archives for Library:
October 7th, 2008 Brian Herzog
Last week, a library volunteer and I were working on a project together. We each needed to work on a computer, but be close enough together to talk. The only arrangement like this in the library are the public workstations, so we worked out there.
In addition to getting the work done, I learned a few things:
- some of the keys of the keyboard didn’t work very well
- the monitor had streaks and fingerprints on it
- it was hard to concentrate with people walking and talking around us
- both of us forgot to bring a flash drive to save our work
This experience reminded me of a post I read on Walking Paper (but I couldn’t find it again). Aaron mentioned how important it was to put ourselves in our patrons’ shoes, so we can see the library as they see it.
That’s why I’m proposing “Work Like A Patron Day” on October 15th. In honor of the day, I think library staff should (when possible):
- enter and leave the library through the public entrance (not the staff doors)
- use the public restrooms
- use the public computers to do your work
- reserve public meeting rooms for meetings
- follow all library policies
Obviously, exceptions will need to be made. But, much like a sheriff spending a week in his own jail, this would give library staff a different perspective on the library. Experiencing the library in this way will make sure the library isn’t just the place we work, but it’s where our patrons work. And play.
As for the date, I picked October 15th because it is six months after Library Appreciation Week, which was April 13th-17th. Not that working like a patron is the opposite of appreciating the library, but it seemed to fit. Or maybe the week surrounding Oct. 15th should be “Library Patron Appreciation Week,” of which “Work Like A Patron Day” is just one day.
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Posted under Library, Service | 6 Comments »
October 4th, 2008 Brian Herzog
Sometimes, an innocent reference question has the potential to turn into a multi-million dollar industry.
Late one evening, a man in his early-forties came up to the desk:
Patron: I’m looking for someone to drive my kids.
Me: Um… where to?
Patron: My kids get home from school about 3 o’clock, but wife and I don’t get home from work until about 6 o’clock. Most of the activities they want to do (sports, dance lessons, piano lessons, etc.) are after school, but they can’t do them because I can’t drive them there. I’m looking for someone who can drive my kids to their activities and then bring them home afterwards. Can you give me the number of the group in town that does that?
Me: I don’t know of any group that does that specifically. I think most people use nannies or babysitters, or carpools or relatives or neighbors. But I’ll check around and email you what I find.
After a little more talking, I learned that he and his family had immigrated here from India a little over a year ago, and so didn’t have family in the area and hadn’t met many people yet. They couldn’t afford to pay a babysitter, especially since the kids were old enough to be home alone, but just not old enough to drive.
I first checked with our Childrens Librarian, as the Childrens Desk usually knows about kid- or mom- or family-related resources in the area. And I was right. She told me that the middle schools in town have buses that move kids between the various schools to get them to school-related after-school activities. Also, she said that high school kids volunteer around town after school, and that perhaps he could find one of them that could drive his children around.
I next checked our Community Information database, which is a listing of social services and non-profit organizations in the area. Most of what I found were child services for low income families or at-risk kids, but there was also a listing for the Chelmsford Mother’s Club.
This club is kind of like a support group for new and expectant mothers, so I didn’t think it would help him directly. But I linked to the Mother’s Club website from CommInfo, and found that they had put together a great resources page. I couldn’t tell if any of them could help the patron, but it was a good list to start with.
I emailed these three options to the patron, but haven’t yet heard back.
And after thinking about this question for a few days, this really does sound like a business that could make a fortune.
Tags: activities, after-school, children, drive, driving, kids, libraires, Library, public, Reference Question, ride, Service See Also
Posted under Library, Reference Question | 1 Comment »
October 2nd, 2008 Brian Herzog
Most of the talk about ALA’s new website redesign has died down, but I noticed something this week I want to comment on.
On the whole, I think the new site is a vast improvement over the old one. And with any new site, I understand they’re still shaking out the bugs, and dealing with lots of dead links.
But: for my previous post, I wanted to find information from the ALA about library activity rising in time of economic trouble. A search on Google linked to something sounding exactly like what I was looking for on the ALA site. However, the link was broken.
By searching the ALA site itself for the title displayed in the Google results, I ultimately found the article’s new location. Which is fine, but I have to say I am disappointed with the new website’s 404 page.
When the 404 “Page Not Found” page loads, the most dominate thing on the page is the search box right in the center. So of course I clicked on this to search for the page I wanted. But - surprise - it’s not a functioning search box. It’s just an image of what the search box at the top of the page looks like. Of course the text above this image tells you to use the one at the top, but who reads? I don’t - especially when a dominate image draws my attention away from the text.
So ALA, how about making the search box in the center a functioning search box, instead of just teasing us? It would add utility to the page, and make the 404 page incrementally just that much more user-friendly.
But otherwise, I think this is a pretty good 404 page, as far as they go. It customized and nice-looking, and gives some tips for finding what you’re looking for. It also includes an email address to contact a person for help, which is great. I think I only noticed this because I talked about library website 404 pages before, and gave my library a fancy-pants 404 page.
I don’t understand why it doesn’t show up all the time, but maybe that’s in the works, too.
Tags: 404, ala, american, american library association, association, error, libraries, Library, missing, new, page, pages, public, redesign, revamp, website See Also
Posted under Library, Technology, Websites | 4 Comments »
September 30th, 2008 Brian Herzog
This post ended up being much longer than I expected, so I added subheads in bold. I ask librarians to read and comment on the first part, and the rest of the post is background information.
When Does A Library Become Biased?
Last week on my library’s blog, I posted information about the three questions on Massachusetts’ statewide ballot in November. One of them, Question 1, calls for doing away with personal income tax in Massachusetts.
I feel the duty of libraries is to present unbiased, timely and reliable information. However, Question 1 potentially has a huge impact on Massachusetts libraries, and I’m really torn on where to draw the line on this one.
In the post, I include summaries of each question, and what a Yes or No vote would mean. However, for Question 1, we also decided to include a link to the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners’ stance. We did this because, since so many library services are funded by the state, if this initiative passes, library services may revert to the way things were in 1889 - yes, 1889 (read the MBLC stance to find out why).
It doesn’t feel like biased information, because it is timely and from a reliable source. However, since there is such a self-interest involved, it feels kind of unseemly. Does including the link to MBLC overstep the library’s role? Are libraries allowed to present the case for their own existence?
Question 1, and Why I Don’t Like It
First, I have to say a few things:
- A similar issue was narrowly defeated in 2002
- New Hampshire doesn’t have income tax, or sales tax, and they seem to do fine
- It appears my job could very well be on the line because of this initiative
In a broad sense, I can agree with parts of the initiative - Massachusetts’ state government does seemed to be wasteful, and I do feel over-taxed. But this initiative seems, I don’t know, kind of myopic and not realistic.
In the Information for Voters booklet [pdf] from the MA Elections Division, Carla Howell, Chair of The Committee For Small Government lists points in support of doing away with income tax:
- Your “Yes” vote will create hundreds of thousands of new Massachusetts jobs
- Your “Yes” vote will NOT raise your property taxes NOR any other taxes
- Your “Yes” vote will NOT cut, NOR require cuts, of any essential government services
I haven’t completly researched this issue, but I see no facts or logical basis that support the first point, and the last two seem mutually-exclusive. By taking away a major source of revenue and not replacing it, they are essentially forcing the government to cut services, many of which will be essential services.
The actual text [pdf] of the question itself also seems, I don’t know, less-than-professional. The biggest goal seems to be to label Massachusetts state government as “Big Government,” and repeat that phrase as many times in the question as possible, as if just by establishing that label they are assured victory.
Question 1’s Impact on Patrons and Libraries
And this issue seems especially poorly-timed, too. In times of economic troubles, the idea of not having to pay income tax certainly appeals to a base sense of self-preservation. But it is precisely in times of economic troubles that the use of libraries increases.
It seems to me that, especially in times of trouble, a community is better served by comprehensive services provided by a stable government, rather than by self-interest.
Tags: 2008, income, libraries, Library, ma, mass, massachusetts, Personal, public, question 1, question1, tax, vote, voting See Also
Posted under Library, Personal | 8 Comments »
September 27th, 2008 Brian Herzog
I really don’t like stereotyping patrons, or thinking that patrons who look a certain way will use only a certain type of information and stay away from others. But in this case, a patron breaking out of a stereotype made his reference question even funnier.
A guy in his late forties walked up to the desk. He was scruffy, wearing a flannel shirt and jeans with paint and putty smears, and looked very uncomfortable in the library. He more or less looked like a stereotypical construction worker, and lately when a skilled tradesmen comes in, he is coming to ask for help with writing a resume or with searching the internet for job ads.
So this is what I was expecting, but this guy showed me how wrong I am to stereotype:
Patron: I just bought an iPhone, and the guy at the Apple Store said that I should come here to get the manual.
Me: Oh… Well, we have books about the iPhone, but not the actual manual. Maybe we can download it from their website - so you didn’t get any manual in the box?
Patron: Yeah, it came with one, but the Apple guy told me that the best one that could be included is always missing, and I should get it at the library.
Ah. When he said “missing,” it dawned on me what the guy at the Apple Store told him about: iPhone: The Missing Manual.
I took the patron over to the 004’s and showed him the book. He looked at it skeptically, and said “this is a book; I want the manual the Apple Guy was talking about.”
I tried to reassure him that I was 99% positive this is what the salesman sent him to the library for; we don’t have product manuals, this one is called “the missing manual,” and I even pointed to the “The book that should have been in the box” slogan on the cover. The patron flipped through the pages, and eventually said, “well, even if this is the wrong thing, it looks like it’ll show me how to use it.”
After he seemed comfortable, we started walking back out towards the Reference Desk. Just then another patron, dressed exactly in exactly the same stereotypical way as the first, walked up to him. As they walked away from me up the stairs, I could overhear their conversation:
Patron 2: Did you find that book? It ain’t going to help - you can barely dial a phone, let alone use a computer.
Patron 1: Shut up - with this thing, I won’t need a computer. It does it all for me.
Perhaps in addition to our basic computer classes, we need to start a series on iPhones, iPods, and other new devices. Then again, teaching a beginner how to sign up for an email account is one thing; teaching a beginner how to use an iPhone might be more than one hour-long session.
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Posted under Books, Library, Reference Question | 2 Comments »
