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Among the more recognized and often repeated findings emerging from Ithaka S & R’s faculty research studies, including the recent 2012 report, is the revelation that faculty primarily perceive the academic library as their purchasing agent. [...] Four levels of user experience (column titled “Building Customer Communities is the Key to Creating Value“) and how to get there:
1. In Level One the organization is perceived by its customers as simply the supplier of some commodity 2. A Level Two experience would represent an improvement for librarians because it moves beyond content to a state where community members believe you help them accomplish something, but it’s more than just basic productivity. 3. At Level Three there is more engagement, emotional connection and relationship building. 4. the library achieves platform status.
Mark Coker: Libraries are uniquely qualified to orchestrate community resources and talent to help local writers become professional self-publishers. By holding seminars and classes, and by bringing local authors together face to face with readers and aspiring authors, libraries can help unleash the talent locked inside the minds and fingertips of their local community's writers. They can also help ensure a steady future supply of library-friendly authors who will want to supply their ebooks to libraries.
Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/17571498#
Libraries are losing out to the Internet as the new generation of researchers is switching over to social network technologies to gather, create and share information, according to an expert. Addressing the National Conference on Reaching Out to Users Through Technology (ROUTE 2013) – Enhancing Innovative Library Services in Open Environment recently, R R Hirwani, director of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Unit for Research and Development of Information Products, said the need of the hour is that libraries should plan for and build services that fit the work habits of new researchers, with an emphasis on the flexibility and remixing of content and services.
by Katie Kormann: "Fort Smith Public Library cardholders can now do more than check out books. The library has partnered up with Freegal Music – a combination of the words “free” and “legal” – to offer its cardholders access to millions of free songs."
Libraries are changing. They're becoming an online resource for students of all ages and a meeting place for the entire community of a school.
Via gwynethjones
By Cynthia Nikitin and Josh Jackson
...new libraries serve as centers of discovery and communication–places where people gather and where information comes alive through teaching and personal interaction. Indeed, to distinguish themselves in a world where Google is well on its way to digitally scanning most of the books ever written, libraries are learning to take advantage of the simple fact that they are centrally located in almost every community. In other words, libraries now see success being linked to their role as public places and destinations.
Amarillo Public Library introduces Book-A-Librarian Amarillo.com Computer-shy library patrons now can learn to navigate the internet with a new service offered by Amarillo Public Library. Some of the resources available through the Amarillo Public Library website include: ■ Text-a-Librarian: Reference assistance from anywhere ■ Cypress Resume: Program to create professional resumes, cover letters and reference sheets ■ Automotive Repair Reference Center: Recalls, service bulletins and repair info ■ JobNow: One-on-one assistance, including resume polishing, interview preparation and career assessments ■ Library Elf: Email notices for approaching due dates, overdue items and requested materials ■ Mango Languages: More than 30 foreign language and 15 English-as-a-Second-Language courses in audio-based format ■ Tumblebook Library: Online story/audio books that introduce children to reading in a dynamic format ■ Overdrive: Downloadable ebooks and audio books ■ TexShare Databases: Online access to full-text articles and entire books ■ Learning Express: Skills building and practice tests for scholastic and professional exams ■ Global Road Warrior: Information on other countries and cultures ■ World Book: Online encyclopedia in three levels, with additional databases and Spanish language"
We are talking about reference and how it is changing in UPLIFT this week: August 15 at the Utah State Library & August 17 2012 in Ephraim, at the Karen A. Hunstman Library on the Snow College campus. Reference and Services Trends in Public Libraries, 2012: - Traditional reference work is less relevant to the needs of users
- Rather than worrying about reference’s demise, many librarians have been energized by their newly expanded roles
- Reconfigured or eliminated reference desks
- Consolidated desks and services
- Librarian and support staff work together on the one main desk
- Librarian can handle more complicated questions
- Increased training for support staff to handle basic reference questions
- The reference interview is as pertinent as ever
- Roving reference is more important—getting out to where people are
- Expansion of self-service options (self-checkout, online group study room reservations, self-service holds, and touch screen frequently asked questions (FAQ’s) on your website/ library catalog
- Reconfiguring online reference resources for smartphones and other mobile devices
- Librarians are exploring new roles in reaching out to meet information needs
- Reference through the stacks and other indirect means
- Reduction/elimination of print reference collections
- Greater marketing and promotion of online resources and services
- Librarians will spend less time staffing desks and more time outside of library walls
- Online reference: email, chat, Instant Messaging, and SMS (short messaging services) reaches users who may not visit the library
- Online reference requires continual marketing to be successful
- Collaborating with other organizations will do as much to keep libraries alive as any project or program
- Embedded librarianship: becoming an integral part. Getting close to users by getting out into the community; being actively present with the user at the point of need.
- The big shift: we’re not doing things “for” the community, but we’re being a part “of” the community
- Libraries are shifting from the physical to the virtual facilities and media; from an individual to a community focus; from being a collection library to being a creation library; from being an archive to being a portal
The Boab Health Services counselling team and the Kununurra Community Library hope to help people access information about mental health issues by offering high-quality self-help material for loan.
Lauren Page: "Self-proclaimed radical librarian to speak at MU on Monday -Columbia Missourian "Lots of people know how to use computers, and lots of people don't — more than you think," said Jessamyn West, community technology librarian at Randolph Technical Career... "Radical librarians are people who feel one of the things they should be doing as a public servant is advocating for the public," she said. West thinks librarians should advocate for the public by making library services more accessible to people who have difficulty reaching them, such as the homeless and people in jail. It's also important to her that a library's collection represents all of the people of the world. "We represent the public, so we need to serve the public," West said."
Canadian Libraries: Innovating and Creating Inclusive Services Pilar Martinez Edmonton Public Library Executive Director, Public Services Canadian Library Association Vice-President/President-Elect... Final thoughts by: Pilar Martinez & Kenneth Williment "The traditional service development process provides a number of ways in which library staff can internally generate programs and services to meet library staffs’ perceptions of community needs. Community-led service development provides a new set of tools which library staff can build upon to ensure the continued relevance of public libraries that truly meet community needs. Unfortunately, systems which continue to guess at community needs will run the risk of being left in the 20th century. This may lead to the development of two tiered library service development, where 1. dynamic library systems respond to community needs beyond those of traditional library users while 2. other systems minimally engage users and try to maintain their relevance to community by marketing and informing communities of ‘their’ services. As with all other professions, industries and organizations, public libraries need to embrace innovation, thus ensuring that their services are relevant to both funders and the people they are meant to serve. The discussions and innovative practices occurring in Canadian public libraries are exciting because – ultimately – change will occur. The question will always remain – who will determine how public libraries will adapt? It will either happen proactively and internally, and hopefully based on collaborative decisions made with library staff and their communities – or else passive public libraries will be at the mercy of the outside forces imposing the change."
Via Donna Watt
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Librarians and the book industry have different interests. But without getting future generations into the book-reading habit, both will perish, says Stuart Hamilton of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. Library lending plays a big if unquantifiable role in nurturing a love of reading. Some even wonder if e-lending is in the libraries’ interests, since it encourages people to stay at home, rather than use them as a public space (one reason why they enjoy taxpayers’ backing). One critic privately calls e-lending the “Librarian Unemployment Act of 2013”. But Pew, a research firm, reckons 62% of American libraries are the only source of free internet access and computers in their communities. Many patrons also come in to ask for help with learning to use their e-readers. The libraries’ story has plenty more pages yet.
By Russ Van Arsdale, Executive Director, Northeast CONTACT Patrons of Maine’s public libraries will soon have a chance to hear from experts on a number of legal issues at no charge. Low income people may be able to confer one-on-one with those experts, again at no cost. The reason is what’s becoming known as “Lawyers In Libraries.” It’s an outreach effort coordinated by the Volunteer Lawyers Project, or VLP. A grant allows VLP to arrange clinics by video conference; a lawyer speaks in real time at one location while people at libraries across the state watch and listen. After the lawyer’s presentation, viewers can ask general questions about the law, although the lawyer cannot serve as a questioner’s legal representative.
Beyond using the library as a place to study, here are some other ways students can make use of library services provided by their universities: • Check out laptops, iPads or calculators • Go beyond Wikipedia and Google Term papers and theses rely on more than a simple Google search. Professors encourage students to use scholarly and peer-reviewed articles. University libraries have more than 600 databases... • Ask a librarian 24/7
by TONIA MOXLEY Welcome to the modern research university library, where new skills and even new spaces are being developed to serve the needs of scholars, scientists and students working in the digital age. From a digital-ready classroom to furniture reminiscent of the starship Enterprise, library officials say they are developing new ways to serve the campus, and the public. As libraries transform for the digital age, “it’s an exciting time,” said Judy Ruttenberg of the Association of Research Libraries, a membership and advocacy organization for 125 of the nation’s largest research libraries, including the Library of Congress. “When university libraries housed large print collections and people had to come there to use them, that was a different model. Now students, scholars and researchers have many options, and the library serves in a different way,” Ruttenberg said. To keep libraries relevant amid the rapid expansion of Web-based information, Tech officials are using architects and student advisory committees to develop spaces and services that draw the campus into the library.
By Mike Gleason/Daily News staff: The town library has joined a service that allows it to offer free online courses to its patrons. Library Director Matthew Bachtold said the library started the service, called "UniversalClass" in mid-February. "We're trying to branch out into more online accessible things that people can do from home," he said. "Last year, we started offering online language instruction courses through Byki, which stands for 'Before You Know It.'" The success of that program, he said, led the library to consider further online offerings. "The biggest issue we have is space limitations," Bachtold said. "We wouldn't have room on our shelves for 500 textbooks, but we can offer 500 courses through this service."
Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x898138140/Upton-library-provides-free-online-classes#ixzz2LtrJ9OBC
"Shelf life: Missoula library's Web on Wheels brings tech help...
Joshua Kim: "RT @mrlibrarydude: Librarians already know this - but good to see it advocated by a non-librarian: Academic Librarians As Campus Hubs http://t.co/lqc6cPo4..." "The library, and the librarians connected to the library space, seem to have some key advantages as connectors. These include:
A Physical Space: And not just any physical space, but in most cases the campus library is at the geographic, intellectual and emotional center of the campus and/or school. Librarians seem to think about and pay great attention to their spaces."
An Interdisciplinary Focus: I work with quite a number of subject librarians at my institution, and all of them are amazingly knowledgeable about the disciplines in which they partner with faculty around teaching and research. Even subject librarians, however, retain a wide range of knowledge and a fluency in the language of the contiguous disciplines.
A Service Orientation: Service to our students, service to our faculty, service to colleagues, service to the mission of the institution, and service to larger ideals such as privacy and the availability of information (regardless of rank or status at the institution)."
Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/academic-librarians-campus-hubs#ixzz22qGTatZy ;
Inside Higher Ed
"Virtual Dave" Lankes is a professor at Syracuse University's School of Information Studies: The tweet that led to this post: “Bad Libraries build collections. Good libraries build services (of which a collection is only one). Great libraries build Communities” "There is nothing that says that good and great libraries don’t or can’t build collections. It is a matter of focus. If librarians focus solely or disproportionately on the collection, that is bad...If we are talking focus, what is the difference between bad libraries and good ones? Good libraries focus on users. That is they evaluate the utility of the collection [in] relation to user needs. What do people want and need in terms of the collection, and how does that balance with all the other things the library does (reference, programming, digital resources, instruction, etc.). Here not only do we look at user data such as circulation and such, but the whole user experience."
Via Miguel Mimoso Correia, Robin Illsley, Errol A. Adams JD/MLS
@ReelYouth "Vancouver's Public Libraries have seen a lot of change in the last few decades. The change is not just technological, it is in the way they provide services, why they provide it, and the types of resources they have built and deliver with their communities. Their innovative approach has brought the librarian out of the library and to the people."
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