 Your new post is loading...
Real life accounts from library patrons whose lives have been changed for the better by libraries. Libraries Changed My Life (LCML) is the brainchild of two librarians from two parts of the country. Ingrid is a children’s and teen librarian from New York City. Natalie is a systems librarian from rural Florida. Together we’re hoping to create a place where people can tell their library stories, and those who are questioning the value of libraries can see their amazing impact. LCML is an independent, grassroots movement to spread library love across the country. Why we’re here:
Libraries are valuable—and valued. In addition to traditional services like book lending, research help and children’s programs (still the services Americans value most), libraries offer free wifi, technology training, free or low-cost public meeting spaces, affordable printing, access to music and the arts, and other services our neighborhoods need.
"Teaching tech in isolation never works. When a reluctant tech user learns how to do something with a project about which they're personally passionate, they're gonna be instantly engaged, work hard at it, and feel super exultant when it works!" 1. Make it personal 2. Show and tell 3. Small steps, etc"
Lisa Carlucci Thomas: "What attracts library customers to today’s libraries? The rise of mobile culture and the smart phone society brings a dynamic shift in expectations about how, when, and where to access information. Endless media streams, interactive news feeds, and autonomous research options provide numerous avenues for information-seeking customers. What factors draw their attention to the library, rather than a crowdsourced data channel, commercial service, or search engine? 1. Convenience. 2. Community 3. Immediacy 4. Accuracy 5. Customization 6. Privacy 7. Service" Read more: http://www.textalibrarian.com/mobileref/7-things-library-customers-want-now-customer-service-and-library-patrons/
Via Sophie D.F.
What Patrons Teach Us—and Publishers Should Learn - http://t.co/bMG7Oo4a via @ShiftTheDigital #libraries #ALIA..." A new report from LJ indicates that it is vital for libraries to connect with digital patrons, especially ebook readers, and satisfying their expectations has a meaningful upside for both the library users and the publishing community.
The report, “Mobile Devices, Mobile Content, and Library Apps,”(http://www.thedigitalshift.com/research/patron-profiles/) a part of LJ’s ongoing Patron Profiles series, points out that even though digital users—defined as a patron who uses a smartphone, ereader, or tablet—remain a minority, they are, nonetheless, more active than the general patron not only in digital services but also “in virtually every metric of library activity.” As such, they could guide librarians in understanding the intersection of their print holdings and their growing digital collections.
New post to the blog from @Looptopper on the tension between librarian selection and a patron-driven acquisition http://t.co/LH7LTCa4... "As budgets get tighter and prices keep rising, libraries are increasingly forced to think about ways to minimize waste in their collections. A sudden sharp interest in patron-driven acquisition solutions is one indicator of this concern, the idea being that when we let patrons select the books we buy, the less likely we are to buy books they don't want. But this trend gives rise to deeply uncomfortable questions. What does "waste" actually mean in a library collection—especially in a research library? Can we ever know for certain that an uncirculated book won't be important at some point in the future? Won't patron-driven processes lead to a breakdown in the collection's coherence? And if we're just here to "give the people what they want," what meaningful function do librarians serve? Do we just become shipping-and-receiving clerks?"
|
"[...] free web tools that teachers can use to gather feedback from their students both formally and informally" 1- Poll Everywhere 2- Kwiqpoll 3- TodaysMeet 4- SimpleMeet Me 5- Utrack >> Also useful for user / customer feedback!
Via Tom D'Amico (@TDOttawa)
Libraries Built by Users – An Interview with Annette Klein http://t.co/J2pHyiw0... [...] the library can use an acquisition profile to select relevant eBooks from the total collection of titles available. Library users are given access to the desired titles on the aggregation platform, and the title data are entered into the library’s online catalogue. When a user comes across a PDA eBook in the catalogue, it will look just like any other eBook in the library’s collection. Via a link contained in the title data, the user is rerouted to the provider’s platform, where a free preview of the book is initially available prior to purchase. Full access, which requires payment, is only triggered by more intensive use – just what constitutes intensive use is defined differently from one platform to another: it may be if the same title is accessed several times, if it is accessed beyond a certain time limit or if the book is copied, printed or downloaded." [...] The library can determine whether a book should be purchased permanently upon initial intensive use, or whether access should first be granted in the form of a temporary personal loan."
Stepping out of the library to increase user satisfaction and use. Aaron Schmidt: User experience, librarian-style http://t.co/FqP6ubnc ; "It takes practice to get the hang of thinking and talking about user experience. Here are some tools that will help you develop these skills and offer some insights about your library at the same time."
Based on in-depth research among a national sample of nearly 2500 participants and Library Journal editorial analysis, this groundbreaking study—the first to target library consumers in the context of all consumers—unveils who uses public libraries" "... regular public library users don’t just borrow books. They are also active books buyers who make many of their purchasing decisions based on the authors or books they first discover in the library. In fact, over 50 percent of all library users go on to purchase books by an author they were introduced to in the library. This finding is just one of the many key insights to emerge from “Library Patrons and Ebook Usage,” the first issue of Library Journal’s Patron Profiles: Understanding the behavior and preferences of U.S. public library users. Based on in-depth research among a national sample of nearly 2500 participants and Library Journal editorial analysis, this groundbreaking study—the first to target library consumers in the context of all consumers—unveils who uses public libraries, why they use them, and how that use may change.
“Patron Profiles looks at the library patron as consumer of content—physical and digital—and analyzes the relationship between the library and other channels, from brick-and-mortar bookstores to ebooks to Netflix,” said Ian Singer, Library Journal’s VP and Group Publisher. “At a time of rapid technological and social change, librarians, publishers and technology providers need to understand consumer attitudes while developing approaches to meet market demand and needs, and this in-depth research will help inform strategic planning.” http://www.thedigitalshift.com/research/patron-profiles/
This study would be valuable worldwide as well: We will be following: "What does your community want and need from a library? If you’re a librarian, chances are you’ve made efforts to find out, to strategically plan, to adjust services to local interests and changing needs. What does your community want and need from a library? If you’re a librarian, chances are you’ve made efforts to find out, to strategically plan, to adjust services to local interests and changing needs. Rarely, though, do any of us get to see a broad view of our library community through the filter of independent data. The Pew Internet & American Life Project is going to give us that view. Over the next three years, new research will investigate the role of libraries in the digital age, focusing on the ways libraries serve their users and their communities. Supported by a $1.4 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the study will be implemented by the Pew Internet Project, a nonpartisan “fact tank” that conducts nationwide surveys and qualitative research to help us understand the evolution of internet use." The grant will allow researchers to concentrate on libraries in a way they never have before. “It’s enormously exciting to be doing something very focused on libraries and librarians because they are primary stakeholders of our work,” says Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet Project. “I know from all the conversations I’ve had with librarians how interested they are to find out where they stand in the world, what services people expect of them, and where they might fit into the world of ebooks.”
|
