Another year has passed, which means another round of staff reviews and setting goals for the next fiscal year. Bleh.
In contrast to pastyears, I was encouraged to be brief. So this years goals are a bit more quantifiable, and a bit less “well, that’s part of the job description anyway.” You know, the way goals should be. GOAL #1: Improve access to information resources and library services
Weed the reference collection, refine the ref standing order list, and reevaluate how the reference shelving area is used and begin to develop a plan for alternate uses1
Work with Tech Services to refine standing order list and evaluate reclassification of subjects to better group similar topics together
GOAL #2: Expand and improve the library’s technology offerings
Work with web committee to migrate website to new content management system2
Add more website subject guides to tie together print and electronic resources, and link to expanded offerings of BPL and other MVLC libraries3
Work with IT staff towards expanding technology offerings, such as wireless printing and loaning laptops
Review current offerings utilizing new technologies, prioritize those needing ongoing maintenance, and document procedures to support maintenance by other staff
GOAL #3: Maintain and/or support web-based resources beyond the library’s core collection
CommInfo: utilize staff to contact and update organizations every Jan-Feb
ChelmsfordVolunteers.org: work with other departments and organizations to keep listings up to date
ChelmsfordHistory.org: provide leadership for the Chelmsford History project, coordinating with other organizations and volunteers to locate and index Chelmsford’s historical resources
Look for ways to better organize and provide access to the library’s historical collections, such as the Vertical File, microfilm records, etc.
Admittedly, much of this still falls into the “continuing things we’re already doing” category, but that is a large part of my job. And something else covered elsewhere in my review is encouraging all staff to attend at least 5 hours of some kind of training or professional development.
I think it’s all doable. I can probably even manage to squeeze in helping patrons at the reference desk, too.
Notes: 1. I’d like to interfile the ref books with the circulating non-fiction, and put into the reference area more quiet study rooms or subject tables –Back to Goals–
2. Right now we’re using Dreamweaver, but I’d like to see us move to a real CMS - NELA-ITS’ CMS Day workshop is this Friday, so yay for good timing –Back to Goals–
I have always struggled with doing selection, but it only recently occurred to me that technology could make the process easier.
My normal procedure for selection was to pick one Friday a month and go through whatever review journals I could find in the library that I hadn’t already looked at and read reviews. This rarely happened each month as planned, and I’d slip further and further behind - making catching up that much more daunting.
I decided my relying on journals was the problem - it wasn’t something I routinely did, so it was easy to forget or ignore. But, I do check rss feeds in my Bloglines account almost every day, so I thought if I could get reviews delivered to me (into a “Selection” folder), selection could become something I did for a few minutes each day, instead of an entire afternoon once a month.
So far, I’ve found a few good sources for rss feeds, and am always on the lookout for more:
Feeds from Amazon.com
Amazon also offers both best seller and new release lists as rss feeds. Each grouping is also broken down by subject, so I can grab the feeds for just the nonfiction subjects I do selection for - for instance, Travel best sellers and Travel new releases
Feeds from Library Journal Library Journal offers a ton of different feeds, but I’m still experimenting to see which is the most useful. Most include subjects I’m not interested in, or news and articles beyond just book reviews, so I’m going to keep refining how I use their feeds. However, as opposed to being a “new” source like BookLetters and Amazon, this is just getting in a new format the same information I’ve been using for years
Of course, I’m not abdicating my responsibilities as a professional librarian just because I’m getting information from sources other than print journals and vendor catalogs. I still read the reviews, check local holdings, and make educated decisions about the books on these various lists, just like I would if I learned about a book from a print journal.
As I see it, here are the pros of this method:
It fits better into the way I work, which means it gets done better and faster than something that doesn’t (which means my patrons get better service because I’ll mark books to order on a daily basis instead of a monthly [or worse] basis)
My library is very much a popular materials library, and these are reliable sources for what’s popular right now
When reviewing books on Amazon, a greasemonkey script linking right from the Amazon page to our catalog makes seeing if we already own it very easy (another greasemonkey script lets me add it to our ordering queue with just a single click, too)
If a title is showing up on multiple lists, it’s a pretty good indicator of how many copies my patrons will demand
However, there are also things to watch for:
Amazon often pushes things, like Kindle editions, that I’m not interested in
Re-releases and paperback editions will also show up on these feeds, and since the greasemonkey script does an ISBN search, double-checking with a title search to make sure we don’t already own a copy is important
I’ve only been using this method for a couple months, but already I feel like I’m ordering more books, and more quickly. Anything that makes selection easier is a step in the right direction - and it’s certainly easier than trekking all over the building to find out who had Library Journal last.
Last year I learned about a video-based book review contest for students called StoryTubes. It’s happening again this year, and the deadline for submissions is fast approaching.
I think this is a great idea for any librarian or teacher with creative kids and a video camera. All the details are available on their website, but basically a kid makes a video reviewing a book they’ve read, the video is uploaded to teachertube.com or YouTube.com, and then submissions are judged and the winner announced. But more importantly, kids are involved with creating something that is their own.
And this idea goes along with my “Information in Context” push, in that any video created can be embedded back into the library’s website to showcase the kids and their reading - and hopefully encourage more kids to read and review books. If you are able, make a video and enter the contest. Or, at least keep tabs on the entries - last year’s were quite entertaining.
A librarian in Maine recently posted to MELIBS-L that one of their local patrons was a finalist for the 2008 StoryTubes contest. I had never heard of this contest, but I like projects where patrons get involved, so I checked it out. I loved it.
Kids make a video of themselves reviewing a book on a particular theme (that week’s was “Facts, Fads and Phenoms”) and submit it to StoryTubes. Finalists get posted on the website (via YouTube), website visitors vote, and four winner win $500 in books (and their sponsoring school or library receives $1,000 in books).
This year’s contest is winding down, and I’m sorry I missed it. It’s sponsored by publishers and libraries, and the finalist videos are great (my two favorite are below, and more here).
But even outside this contest, I think this would be a fun thing to do in the library. All it would take is a basic digital camera and a YouTube account, and I can see parents, kids and librarians getting really into it. It gives kids an opportunity to create, and in a public way. You always hear the phrase, “it’ll be something to tell your grandkids about.” This gives kids something to be proud of and tell their grandparents about.
Your Chickens: A Kids Guide to Raising and Showing
The end of May is always staff performance review time in my library, and it seems unpleasant for everyone. Staff doesn’t like it, department heads don’t like it, and town hall doesn’t seem to like it. So why do we do it?
One reason is because we always have done it. But other reason, as cheesy as it sounds, is because it really can help. Whether it provides an opportunity to address an ongoing problem, a pat on the back for a staff person who otherwise might go unnoticed, or just to make you sit down and really think about the way things are going in the library, as awkward and uncomfortable as they are, performance reviews and setting goals are beneficial.
That being said, I loath them. And I’m even lucky - I only have four staff people at the reference desk, and they’re all pretty good.
This year, the union requested we use a new, much more simplified form for staff reviews (down from eight pages to three). As department heads, we modified a form that the town already used in other departments and customized it for library staff. The most challenging part was defining which each job criteria entailed, but I think the result works pretty well:
And as ever year, I developed goals for the reference department for the coming fiscal year (if anyone is keeping track, you might notice much repetition from last year):
Reference Department Goals for FY2009
Continue to improve patron access to information resources1
Look at ways to improve access to the collection
Continue to weed and refine print reference materials to coordinate with non-fiction collection
Continue to work with Tech Services to improve standing order list and recataloging of computer books to better group similar topics together2
Finish weeding and shifting of the non-fiction collection, and then maintain collection by implementing a continual review through assigning sections to staff members for weeding, shelf-reading, straightening, order suggestions, etc.
Continue to add online access listing to the website’s comprehensive print periodicals listing
Add more website “Subject Guides” to tie together print and electronic resources3
Continue promoting database usage through existing methods (bookmarks, signs, links, staff training, etc.) as well as new technologies, and link to expanded offerings of BPL and other MVLC libraries
Continue with website improvements, both to Reference section and all of website
Work as part of web committee to revamp entire website to meet new design goals and accessibility standards
Assist with development of town-wide events calendar
Provide better access to the Vertical File, now that indexing is complete and files reorganized4
Maintain Chelmsford listings in MVLC’s Comm Info database and try to improve data and access
Work with Childrens, Teen and Community Services departments to finally launch and maintain a local online volunteer resource5
Work with IT on patron-related technology issues, such as timer software for public computers, internet access issues, printing from wireless computers, public faxing, etc.
Help coordinate town-wide historical records project to improve access to historical resources both inside and outside of the library
Continue to refine desk area and operations
Ensure all procedures and policies are documented and easily available to desk staff
Review new technologies and tools to see if paper-based methods can be improved upon
Concentrate on professional development
Keep current on journals, literature and blogs, for articles, book reviews and library trends
Attend MVLC, NMRLS, NELA and other regional reference meetings
Participate in staff, local, regional and national training opportunities
Promote training opportunities to staff
Brian Herzog
Head of Reference
5/22/08
Footnotes
Like last year, my base assumption is that there is no different between print and electronic resources - back to note 1
Such as, we want to make sure all “powerpoint” books are together, all “sql” books are together, etc., instead of being shelved by dewey and then by author - back to note 2
By this I mean creating subject pages that list research databases, print resources, and links to websites (via del.icio.us), to display all related materials in one place (like this) - back to note 3
Reference staff went through and indexed everything in the vertical file into an Excel spreadsheet, and now we just need to find a way to make that easily searchable by patrons - back to note 4
Another year has passed, which means another round of staff reviews and setting goals for the next fiscal year. Bleh.
