Here are my notes from the training on May 12. Please fill in any blanks in the notes.
In general, what did everyone think about the future of libraries? What trends do you see happening for SCLD already? What direction would you like to see SCLD go? Did anyone leave the session with some ideas?
Principles
- freedom of information
- best customer service we can provide
- open access
- equity of access
- community education
- lifelong learning
- tools change, principles don’t
Civilian perspective
- it’s not their job to understand libraries/librarians
- get me started
- get me unstuck
- keep me interested
- do it on my terms
Get me started – what we do to help
- talk to them
- signs
- roaming
- OPACs
- Apologize
Get me started – trends to watch
- communications as lifestyle
o expectations are different (cell use, texting)
o always communicating
o start search with a cell phone
- CDPL, NYPL, WorldCat apps
- social networking as an introduction
- bokomaten
- death of the OPAC à search engines
Get me started – questions to ask
- Who’s really out there?
- Do we know our real community?
- What are their top priorities?
- Where is our community gathering now, physically and virtually?
- Can the public see what’s available to them?
- we will have our feet in multiple worlds for a long time
o tech-savvy vs. non tech-savvy
o treat non-techs like the exception – don’t design services for the lowest common denominator
- ask community what they want out of life
o it’s the library’s job to find a way to help them achieve that
Get me unstuck – what we do to help
- talk to them
- see what they’ve done already
- provide options
Get me unstuck – trends to watch
- services where they’re needed
- mobile/embedded staff
o don’t just talk to city council to advocate for the library, meet their needs (answer reference questions at the meetings)
- services designed around predictable life passages (retirement, marriage, kids)
Get me unstuck – questions to ask
- What policies and procedures don’t make sense to our users?
- Is our service plan based on routine occurrences rather than exceptions?
- How are we demonstrating that we value “yes” over “no”?
- Can most members of the community use our services without extensive assistance?
- Do we use tools that are compatible with those our community is already familiar with?
- rationing items/service means the community really wants this – get more, don’t ration
- asking for an exception is a point of pride for many people – they will not ask for exceptions to rules though they want/deserve them
Keep me interested – trends to watch
- hyperlocalism
- crowdsourcing
- shared learning
- service life cycles
- augmented reality
- growth of the creative economy
- social networking as a way of sustaining and improving the conversation
Keep me interested – questions to ask
- Does what we’re doing target a growing clientele?
- How do we encourage repeat visits?
- How/what can we refresh? (services just as much as collections)
- What should we retire?
- let people share their learning (reviews, physical space)
- quit investing in things on a downhill slope
Do it on my terms – trends to watch
- mass customization
- collaborative filtering
- eReading
- online registration and account management
- my interface
- podcasts/webinars/time shifting
Do it on my terms – questions to ask
- What experience are they telling us they want?
- How do other service providers affect our community’s service expectations?
- What do “real people” call this stuff?
- How do we demonstrate the presumption of innocence?
What can we do now?
