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?
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Friday, April 30, 2010
Notes from Black Belt Librarians: Dealing with Difficult Patrons
Swiss Army Librarian recently posted notes from a Warren Graham session at the Massachusetts Library Association conference. There are some really useful tips and guidelines, including elements of library security and how to (safely) approach a stranger and get them comply with policy. Good stuff.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Do you use your local library?
Librarian.net recently posted a link to a thread on Ask Reddit. I found the responses to "Do you use your local library?" to be revealing and uplifting. Try sorting the comments for even more perspective.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Staff Day Notes
I took some notes during staff day. Some of the highlights I came away with were:
Get a camera
Get with social networking, particularly facebook and flickr
Should we delve into the social networking arena, we will need to commit to updating it and creating a presence (be reliable, be responsive, be available)
Create, foster, nurture partnerships
If libraries do not stake their claim in the digital realm, it will move on without us - we will lose leverage; we have expertise in organizing and providing information, regardless of format
Our Future Library: Evolved, Even More Practical, Everywhere and Different
Michael Porter
Libraries = content + community
photos
- get cameras
- record memories – makes people feel good
What makes you love your library?
- people
- help
- books
- internet
- needs met
technology
- libraries are well-placed in community to take advantage of technology
fidelity
- defines what we are as institutions
- things that used to be sci-fi aren’t any more
library 101
- whole new set of basics
- find ways to engage the technology
-technology innovations are jumping exponentially every year – what does this do for libraries?
What do we adopt?
What’s part of our mission and vision?
- we are getting leapfrogged by for-profit companies (i.e. facebook)
- we need to jump onto their platform to compete with them
- we could get usurped if we’re not careful and adapt to the changes – find new ways to provide access to content
- we have a window of opportunity we need to plan for and we need to talk about
- what we do in libraries that doesn’t have to do with technology is not matching up with what we do that has to do with technology (we’re good at interacting with community but not good at the software side)
- digital content – libraries don’t have a platform to circulate
- we don’t own or have control over it
- articulate what you do well and say it
- take blinders off when we look at what we offer on the web
- what could we try?
Get a camera
Get with social networking, particularly facebook and flickr
Should we delve into the social networking arena, we will need to commit to updating it and creating a presence (be reliable, be responsive, be available)
Create, foster, nurture partnerships
If libraries do not stake their claim in the digital realm, it will move on without us - we will lose leverage; we have expertise in organizing and providing information, regardless of format
Our Future Library: Evolved, Even More Practical, Everywhere and Different
Michael Porter
Libraries = content + community
photos
- get cameras
- record memories – makes people feel good
What makes you love your library?
- people
- help
- books
- internet
- needs met
technology
- libraries are well-placed in community to take advantage of technology
fidelity
- defines what we are as institutions
- things that used to be sci-fi aren’t any more
library 101
- whole new set of basics
- find ways to engage the technology
-technology innovations are jumping exponentially every year – what does this do for libraries?
What do we adopt?
What’s part of our mission and vision?
- we are getting leapfrogged by for-profit companies (i.e. facebook)
- we need to jump onto their platform to compete with them
- we could get usurped if we’re not careful and adapt to the changes – find new ways to provide access to content
- we have a window of opportunity we need to plan for and we need to talk about
- what we do in libraries that doesn’t have to do with technology is not matching up with what we do that has to do with technology (we’re good at interacting with community but not good at the software side)
- digital content – libraries don’t have a platform to circulate
- we don’t own or have control over it
- articulate what you do well and say it
- take blinders off when we look at what we offer on the web
- what could we try?
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Tutor.com Feedback
Michelle had the SV information specialists study the tutor.com website and provide feedback so that we would be more familiar with its offerings. Per Michelle and Ellens' request, I'm sharing my feedback with ya'll.
I got online at 9 AM on a Monday and played around with Tutor.com – the “live help” portion of the website was closed, but there is a quite a lot that it offers in the SkillsCenter Resource Library, including tutorials and practice tests for math subjects such as absolute values and inequality (I tried to read a couple of these and they were way over my head – not surprising considering I haven’t taken a math class since high school), for science subjects (categorized both by grade and also by subject), for Social Studies and also for English. For Social Studies I clicked on “Middle Grades” and then a host of subjects came up – I chose “India” and then four links to websites/articles appeared from various sources on The Ancient River Valley, Buddhism, Hinduism and the history of Bangladesh. Interesting reading even for adults, really.
Also in the SkillsCenter Resource Library is information for State Standardized Tests, including a link to a sample WASL that kids can take. This will be a great reference tool to use for parents wanting to find WASL study guides for their children. Also included in this section – and also incredibly important – are sample quizzes and tutorials for the AP tests, SAT, ACT, GRE and other college entrance and graduate school entrance exams. Great to know for when you’re working at the second floor information desk.
It’s not just young children that can benefit from Tutor.com – Live Help is available for both college students and for adults trying to find a new career. College students can read about and take sample quizzes on Calculus, Physics and a host of other advanced subjects, and adults have tutorials available to them on resume and cover letters, job searching, helping their kids with homework and even citizenship testing. Adults can also upload resumes for proofing, as can college students who want another eye to comb over their research papers (this, of course, is also available to the younger kids who need help with papers, etc).
When I got online later, during hours when the Live Help was available, I was impressed to see that you can start with the most basic inquiry (ie, I don’t know where to begin with a paper that’s due in a week!) to the final editing process (where you upload a paper in Proof Point and have a tutor thoroughly check it for you). I wrote a convoluted thesis statement about Edith Wharton and sent it in to be evaluated but then was asked to come out to a reference desk and had to abandon the experiment. Nonetheless, seems like this is a great service, although I can only imagine what the tutors must read everyday – guess it’s probably not much different from what we experience working in a public library – some requests end up being rewarding, some are just plain weird.
I got online at 9 AM on a Monday and played around with Tutor.com – the “live help” portion of the website was closed, but there is a quite a lot that it offers in the SkillsCenter Resource Library, including tutorials and practice tests for math subjects such as absolute values and inequality (I tried to read a couple of these and they were way over my head – not surprising considering I haven’t taken a math class since high school), for science subjects (categorized both by grade and also by subject), for Social Studies and also for English. For Social Studies I clicked on “Middle Grades” and then a host of subjects came up – I chose “India” and then four links to websites/articles appeared from various sources on The Ancient River Valley, Buddhism, Hinduism and the history of Bangladesh. Interesting reading even for adults, really.
Also in the SkillsCenter Resource Library is information for State Standardized Tests, including a link to a sample WASL that kids can take. This will be a great reference tool to use for parents wanting to find WASL study guides for their children. Also included in this section – and also incredibly important – are sample quizzes and tutorials for the AP tests, SAT, ACT, GRE and other college entrance and graduate school entrance exams. Great to know for when you’re working at the second floor information desk.
It’s not just young children that can benefit from Tutor.com – Live Help is available for both college students and for adults trying to find a new career. College students can read about and take sample quizzes on Calculus, Physics and a host of other advanced subjects, and adults have tutorials available to them on resume and cover letters, job searching, helping their kids with homework and even citizenship testing. Adults can also upload resumes for proofing, as can college students who want another eye to comb over their research papers (this, of course, is also available to the younger kids who need help with papers, etc).
When I got online later, during hours when the Live Help was available, I was impressed to see that you can start with the most basic inquiry (ie, I don’t know where to begin with a paper that’s due in a week!) to the final editing process (where you upload a paper in Proof Point and have a tutor thoroughly check it for you). I wrote a convoluted thesis statement about Edith Wharton and sent it in to be evaluated but then was asked to come out to a reference desk and had to abandon the experiment. Nonetheless, seems like this is a great service, although I can only imagine what the tutors must read everyday – guess it’s probably not much different from what we experience working in a public library – some requests end up being rewarding, some are just plain weird.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tutor.com webinar
Hello all:
I signed up for yesterday's "webinar" (I was the only person from SCLD) and I thought I would heads up everyone about it. I have already sent an email to Region II supervisors on what I discovered.
Tutor.Com has a new look and a new name. It used to be "Live Homework Help" and it is now "Learning Suite" and one of the first things they do is show you the new look, log on to an actual session and pull up some new features such as graph paper and more white board capabilities. I thought this would be the focus of the session: using Tutor.Com., but that part was very short--less than 10 minutes.
Most of the time was spent showing us how to download and customize posters, fliers, bookmarks, etc. and how to market Tutor.Com. The marketing section went beyond what we do when talking to customers in the library. They have power point presentations that you can take to a PTO meeting, for instance, webinars that you can set up for educators, things like that. Certainly helpful tools, but not things most of the staff will use.
There are some training features. They have always had an online power point presentation about Tutor.Com; you have always been able to ask a tutor about the website and soon there will be a four minute video tour you can take. I am not sure if these online options are available from our link on SCLD's website or from a client access. This second option requires a password. Staff logging in to later sessions might inquire about this if we don't already have the information.
Even though the material covered was not what I expected, it was fun doing it. You can send in questions during the presentations and at the end they unmuted the link and people could ask questions (there weren't many). I was impressed by their responsiveness: one person in West Virginia was brand new to her job (second day on the job) and brand new to Tutor.Com and the presenters arranged right there for the account person for that region to call her and help her get up to speed.
If anyone has any questions, give me a call.
Mary Kay
I signed up for yesterday's "webinar" (I was the only person from SCLD) and I thought I would heads up everyone about it. I have already sent an email to Region II supervisors on what I discovered.
Tutor.Com has a new look and a new name. It used to be "Live Homework Help" and it is now "Learning Suite" and one of the first things they do is show you the new look, log on to an actual session and pull up some new features such as graph paper and more white board capabilities. I thought this would be the focus of the session: using Tutor.Com., but that part was very short--less than 10 minutes.
Most of the time was spent showing us how to download and customize posters, fliers, bookmarks, etc. and how to market Tutor.Com. The marketing section went beyond what we do when talking to customers in the library. They have power point presentations that you can take to a PTO meeting, for instance, webinars that you can set up for educators, things like that. Certainly helpful tools, but not things most of the staff will use.
There are some training features. They have always had an online power point presentation about Tutor.Com; you have always been able to ask a tutor about the website and soon there will be a four minute video tour you can take. I am not sure if these online options are available from our link on SCLD's website or from a client access. This second option requires a password. Staff logging in to later sessions might inquire about this if we don't already have the information.
Even though the material covered was not what I expected, it was fun doing it. You can send in questions during the presentations and at the end they unmuted the link and people could ask questions (there weren't many). I was impressed by their responsiveness: one person in West Virginia was brand new to her job (second day on the job) and brand new to Tutor.Com and the presenters arranged right there for the account person for that region to call her and help her get up to speed.
If anyone has any questions, give me a call.
Mary Kay
Monday, June 8, 2009
WLA: Benefits You Can Afford
James F. Brown, who puts together Health Services for the Actors Fund of America, flew in from New York to share all of the goodies he's managed to put together in one, multi-purpose website. Funded by grants supporting artists health service needs, the website also serves any self-employed person seeking health insurance benefits. There is even good info for people who have health insurance, but don't seem to be covered for what they need.
The Health Insurance/Resources for Health Care (AHIRC) database, can be accessed at: http://ahirc.org/. It focuses on resources for the self-employed, lower income workers, and the under- and un-insured. For Washingtonians there are two main points of access located on the homepage. Click on the Map, on Washington State, for the usual links and resources. And, click on Washington State in the lower right hand corner of the homepage under Regional Healthcare Guides, to link to a special information project for 2008-2009.
Regional Guide for Washington
This special aggregation of healthcare resources for Washington State, includes links to: kinds of health insurance, COBRA, employment related options, private insurance, government-subsized programs, programs for special health conditions, obtaining medications, dental coverage, mental health options, Community Health Centers, and 24-hour pharmacies, and much more.
Choose Washington on the Map
Includes full menu of options for:
* Getting Health Insurance (including info for Children, Veterans, Uninsurables, Long-Term Care, Legal Assistance, etc.),
* Affording Health Care (costs, programs, assistance opportunities, etc.),
* Finding Health Care (organizations, programs, etc.),
* Changing Health Care
I invite you to spend some time working around the website, to know what's there -- lots of good resources.
The Health Insurance/Resources for Health Care (AHIRC) database, can be accessed at: http://ahirc.org/. It focuses on resources for the self-employed, lower income workers, and the under- and un-insured. For Washingtonians there are two main points of access located on the homepage. Click on the Map, on Washington State, for the usual links and resources. And, click on Washington State in the lower right hand corner of the homepage under Regional Healthcare Guides, to link to a special information project for 2008-2009.
Regional Guide for Washington
This special aggregation of healthcare resources for Washington State, includes links to: kinds of health insurance, COBRA, employment related options, private insurance, government-subsized programs, programs for special health conditions, obtaining medications, dental coverage, mental health options, Community Health Centers, and 24-hour pharmacies, and much more.
Choose Washington on the Map
Includes full menu of options for:
* Getting Health Insurance (including info for Children, Veterans, Uninsurables, Long-Term Care, Legal Assistance, etc.),
* Affording Health Care (costs, programs, assistance opportunities, etc.),
* Finding Health Care (organizations, programs, etc.),
* Changing Health Care
I invite you to spend some time working around the website, to know what's there -- lots of good resources.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)