August 7th, 2008 Brian Herzog
In response to a comment on my post about good and bad library signs, I’m posting this photograph, too.
These are the signs next to the button that automatically opens the Library’s front doors, to provide easy entrance to people who have trouble opening the door.
As the comment mentioned, it of course is a great play thing for children. I don’t know how effective our signs are, but I have a feeling that the big arrow is probably irresistible to kids - even those who can’t read.
But I think signs, in general, are band-aids, and a real solution (or the real problem) lies in the very design. I don’t know how this could be designed differently, but there’s got to be a more effective approach to the situation.
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Posted under Library, Service | 5 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?
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Posted under Conferences, Library, Service | 4 Comments »
July 19th, 2008 Brian Herzog
I got these two reference questions within an hour of each other - they can be filed under “All Patrons are Local” (or “Yogi Berra sayings“).
First, an older couple walked up to the desk and the husband said:
Patron: We’re just in town from Florida for a funeral, and don’t know our way around. Can you suggest a good pizza place for lunch?
I am a big fan of pizza, so this is a question I can answer with some personal expertise. There are four pizza shops within walking distance of the library, so between the yellow pages and a local map have at the desk for patrons, they were on their way in just a couple minutes.
A little while later, the phone rings:
Different Patron: Hi, I’m one of your local patrons, and am in Florida for vacation. We don’t know our way around and don’t have a map, but we’re looking for this particular pizza place. Can you look it up on the internet and give me directions?
Finding the pizza shop wasn’t hard, and me giving her directions from where they were was a bit tricky, but we worked it out.
Before we hung up, I asked out of curiosity why her solution to this problem was to call her library in Massachusetts. She said it was because she had our phone number in her cell phone, and since we had access to the internet (and Google Maps), she felt my answer would be more reliable and safer than asking for directions from a stranger or at a gas station.
I thought that was nice, and something I hadn’t though of before. Maybe libraries should encourage patrons to add us to their cell phone contact list, to make it easier for them to call us when they need to know something. Or maybe we should all install pizza ovens.
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Posted under Library, Reference Question, Service | 2 Comments »
July 16th, 2008 Brian Herzog
One of the local television stations in Boston, WHDH 7, just aired an investigative story into libraries:
Theaters and video stores usually require an age of 17 or older to see or rent an R-Rated release, unless there is parental permission. But something altogether different is going on in some local libraries. 7News’ Jonathan Hall investigates.
Read the transcript, or watch the video.
This is similar to the situation we had here a little while ago (except without the undercover investigators), which prompted us to put label ratings on VHS and DVDs when possible. And it looks like the Boston Public Library, “in line with American Library Association guidelines,” is on the same page as us.
Libraries do not raise children, we provide access to information. Parents raise children, and we do what we can to support that need - while at the same time supporting the informational and educational needs of everyone else in the community.
I found this news report interesting, but a bit sensationalized. I’m sure as long as there are parents and children (and news outlets in need of ratings), issues like this will never die.
Tags: children, dvd, dvds, libraries, Library, movies, mpaa, parents, public, rating, ratings, television, vhs, video, videos, whdh See Also
Posted under Library, Service | 2 Comments »
July 15th, 2008 Brian Herzog
A project we’ve been kicking around at my library for a long time is creating some kind of town-wide centralized volunteer listing. The library is a natural place for such a resource, but it’s a big project.
To fill this need, we just launched ChelmsfordVolunteers.org. The end product was not really the goal we set out with - and I don’t think it’s the last version of the resource, either.
Originally, we wanted a tool that would list groups in the area that need volunteers, and also a calendar of upcoming events with volunteer opportunities. We also wanted the local organizations to be able to update their listing and event information themselves, without any library staff intervention.
As part of a grant, a local high school student explored a few different software options. We started with a WordPress version, then a Drupal version, then a WebCalendar version, but we kept running into the same problem: the tool did either the database part well, or the events calendar part well, but not both. Each solution also had other pros and cons, which is why we kept looking at different options.
The current iteration of volunteer listing actually uses two existing tools, which are combined under one domain name (chelmsfordvolunteers.org). From a single web page, we link to each tool, but tried to make it look like it was all integrated together.
The two tools are the Community Information database, which is run by the consortium and is (supposed to) list all non-profit groups in all communities of the consortium. I edited the records of the Chelmsford organizations to make sure they all had a reference to “volunteers,” and these records provide all the contact information for the groups.
The other tool is the Calcium Calendar from Brown Bear. The library has been using this as our main events calendar for years, so it was easy to set up another one just for volunteer events.
Between these two tools, we’ve got both an events listing and an organizations database, although they are not connected. Using Comm Info is nice in that we don’t need to maintain two records for each organizations, but we are limited at the same time to only non-profit groups - which excludes some hospitals and other businesses that offer volunteer opportunities.
Another drawback of the current setup is that the organizations do not have direct access to update their information and events. We set up two web forms to handle submissions and updates, but it’s an extra layer and more of a hassle for everyone involved than it needs to be.
But it works, and it’s better than nothing until we find the ideal solution. So if anyone knows of a tool that will fill this need, or another library doing something similar, I would appreciate hearing about it.
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Posted under Library, Service, Technology | 2 Comments »
