Lurking Spelling Errors

Last week I noticed a spelling error on TCCL’s children’s website, and I finally remembered to mention it to Mr. Escobar two days ago.  I wanted to find out the process for reporting and correcting such an error.

I noticed that on the website under Books & Reading, submenu Find a Good Book, submenu If You Like…, submenu Fractured Fairy Tales, several books by the author Jon Scieszka were listed with Scieszka’s name spelled in a variety of ways.

Based on other misspellings of the name within the TCCL catalog, Mr. Escobar believes the name was spelled incorrectly in the Library of Congress bib record that was downloaded by TCCL years ago.  The Library of Congress bib record has since been corrected, but the error in TCCL’s catalog was missed until now.  Mr. Escobar sent an email to staff members in the IT Dept. and the Cataloging Dept. with a screenshot of the error on the TCCL webpage and a screenshot of the Library of Congress Authority Record for Jon Scieszka.  Some misspellings on the webpage have already been corrected, and hopefully all will be corrected soon. 

Mr. Escobar was very kind to give me credit for the discovery within the email he sent.  He stressed the point that we should always give credit where credit is due, to coworkers and subordinates, in order to make staff feel recognized, valued and appreciated.

Project Projections: Plans A, B and C

One of my goals for my internship at Hardesty Library is to develop a project that demonstrates many of the principles and skills I’ve learned through my LIS classes and my internship.  I want a showcase piece that I can include as the keystone of my portfolio.

Mr. Escobar asked me to develop plans for three possible projects: a Plan A, a Plan B and a Plan C.  The object lesson of this exercise is to understand that your first plan doesn’t always work out the way you expected: sometimes you get partway through a project or study and realize it’s not actually feasible.  Sometimes you can’t get administrative support or funding for your Plan A.  This is why you should always have a backup plan or two up your sleeve.

I asked Buddy, the head of the Hardesty Children’s Department, what the children’s department needed—what would he like to investigate if he had time, or what projects did he have on the backburner.  He said the children’s department really needs more pathfinders for books on holidays and frequently-asked-for subjects like pirates, princesses and hamsters.  (Apparently the book The World According to Humphrey has made hamsters all the rage!)  I thought developing pathfinders sounded like fun, so I started brainstorming.

Here are the project plans I developed:

Plan A: Children’s Pathfinders

Goal:  Assist children and parents to locate books of interest on popular and frequently requested subjects, including educational, informational and recreational resources.

Objectives:

1. Provide ready-made lists of library resources for parents and children seeking popular genres of library materials, including scary stories, mysteries, adventure stories, animal stories, funny stories, fantasy stories, historical fiction and sports stories.
2. Provide ready-made lists of library resources for parents and children seeking books similar to popular series, such as the Junie B. Jones and American Girls series.
3. Provide ready-made lists of library resources for parents and children seeking award-winning children’s books beyond the well-known Newberry and Sequoyah award-winners.
4. Provide ready-made lists of library resources for parents and children seeking popular subjects, including pirates, princesses, hamsters, holidays, and tree and animal track identification resources.
5. Provide ready-made lists of library resources for parents and children seeking specific formats of library materials, such as manga and books with movie tie-ins.
6. Make pathfinder information available in both print and online format to expand access to librarians and customers.

Activities:

1. Create paper pathfinder bookmarks for the 14 categories listed on the children’s website under Books and Reading/ Find a Good Book/ If You Like… (http://kids.tulsalibrary.org/books/like.htm).
2. Create paper pathfinder bookmarks for award-winning children’s books, including those awarded the Zarrow Award for Young Readers’ Literature and the Pura Belpré Award.
3. Create paper pathfinder bookmarks for subjects frequently assigned for school research, including tree identification and animal tracks identification resources.
4. Create paper pathfinder bookmarks for popular subjects and formats frequently requested by children, including pirates, princesses, hamsters, juvenile manga, and books with movie tie-ins
5. Create paper pathfinder bookmarks for holiday books and media, including Valentine’s Day, President’s Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah and Ramadan.
6. Include URLs to quality websites for additional resources where applicable.
7. Create template for website layout of these pathfinders, with links to printable pathfinders.
8. Distribute sample pathfinders and collect customer feedback via brief interviews.

Budget:

Design of Pathfinders

            2 Staff Hours @ $15/hour X 29 Pathfinders = $870

Paper

            3 Reams @ $4 per ream = $12

Printing

            $0.03 per Sheet X 1,500 Sheets = $45

TOTAL: $972

 

Plan B: Survey of Children 

Goal:  Increase awareness and usage of Books and Reading resources on children’s TCCL website (http://kids.tulsalibrary.org/books/).

Objectives:

1. Survey children to assess knowledge of Books and Reading resources on the children’s TCCL website and assess children’s comfort using these resources.
2. Use survey findings to inform possible redesign of this portion on the website.
3. Use survey findings to inform marketing tactics for Books and Reading resources.

Activities:

1. Design anonymous, child-friendly surveys with simple words and no more than five questions.  Include at least one open-ended question, where children can suggest ways to make the Books and Reading resources easier to use.
2. Create parental consent forms.
3. Request approval of surveys through IRB.
4. After receiving parental consent, administer surveys to children between ages 7 and 11.  Read questions aloud if requested.  Assure participants that there are no wrong answers.
5. Analyze results.

Budget:

Creation of Surveys and Consent Forms

            4 Staff Hours @ $15/hour = $60

Paper

            6 Reams @ $4 per ream = $24

Printing

            $0.03 per Sheet X 3,000 Sheets = $90

Analysis of Survey Results

            10 Staff Hours @ $15/hour = $150

TOTAL: $324

  

Plan C : Children’s Book Talk

Goal:  Increase children’s and parents’ awareness of various genres of children’s literature and tools for locating items of interest.

Objectives:

1. Cultivate children’s and parents’ interest in various genres of children’s literature
2. Teach children and parents where to find and how to use tools for locating library materials in these and other categories.

Activities:

1. Provide snacks, themed to tie in with books where possible.
2. Create displays of three books for several genres, such as horror, adventure, mystery and humor.
3. Introduce each genre, noting appeal factors.
4. Introduce each displayed book briefly (approx. 2 minutes) with descriptions designed to hook the audience.
5. Introduce paper pathfinders for each genre.
6. Show location of these and other pathfinders on children’s TCCL website by projecting website on a screen or wall and demonstrating navigation to Books and Reading resources.
7. Invite questions from children and parents.
8. Try to limit program to 30 minutes or less, not including Q&A.

Budget:

Planning for Book Talk

            9 Staff Hours @ $15/hour = $135

Paper

            50 Sheets @ $0.01 per sheet = $0.50

Printing

            $0.03 per Sheet X 50 Sheets = $1.50

Snacks = $15

TOTAL: $152

Management Notes

Mr. Escobar has provided many words of wisdom in regards to management philosophy, and how to use psychology to foster good morale.

According to Mr. Escobar, managers should pitch in and assist their employees with heavy workloads.  This boosts morale and fosters a sense of teamwork.  When the carts of books needing to be checked in are piling up, Mr. Escobar chips in with the discharging.  If circ staff are shifting books between carts when Mr. Escobar passes through, he stops to help.  I’ve worked in places where the manager never comes out of his or her office, no matter how overwhelmed the frontline staff are, and working in that environment can be frustrating and draining.  But seeing your boss toiling in the trenches right beside you makes a big difference.

It is very important to be sensitive to the personal styles, physical needs and social and cultural differences of coworkers and employees.  Staff members may observe different holidays, have different dietary restrictions, have transportation issues, physical challenges or health issues, etc.  By being flexible and understanding of varying staff needs, managers can often arrange work schedules and requirements around the needs of staff.  Making such accommodations wherever possible nurtures good morale and team spirit.

Be flexible regarding staff scheduling as much as possible.  It is important for  managers to be sensitive to the personal needs of staff, such as  car trouble, child care issues, vacation requests, personal or family illness, etc.  Be sure sufficient backtime is provided to give staff time to destress and to limit need for taking work home.  Ensure that all staff members get to take the breaks and vacation time they are entitled to.  Paying attention to these things will help to eliminate the common assumption that library staff must be martyrs.

It is important to be careful with humor, because taste in humor is likely to vary widely among staff members.  What is humorous to one person may be downright insulting to another.  Poorly timed humor can destroy relationships between coworkers and make working together uncomfortable at best and impossible at the worst.

When keeping notes for personnel files or reporting incidents to other supervisors, always record/report only unbiased facts explaining who, what, when and where.  Avoid putting an emotional interpretation on these facts.   Avoid recording or reporting other staff members’ accounts of who said and did what; this is heresay.  Only record or report things you have witnessed firsthand.  These guidelines will protect staff members and yourself problems born of incorrect information.

Pay attention to the exisiting work culture.  This will inform the unspoken guidelines for appropriate behavior in regards to humor, interaction with customers, interaction with coworkers, dress code, etc.  For instance, in a small, quiet library where the staff know all their customers by sight, it may be acceptable to look up a customer’s record without requiring the customer to present identification.  In a large, busy library, this is not feasible.  Furthermore, problems may arise if customers are not required to present ID in one library branch, but are required to do so in another branch.  Consistency in policy throughout the library system will help to reduce misunderstandings and complaints about unequal treatment.  Derive clues for expectations of customers and coworkers from the behavior of “old hands.”

As much as possible, managers should avoid making changes too quickly.  Observe conditions before you decide whether change is necessary, and allow changes to take place gradually so that staff may acclimate to the change.  Introduce changes first to staff members most likely to be open to the change.  These individuals may be able to help ease staff through the transition process by helping to sell the value of the changes.

Hardesty Library: Then and Now, Part 2

This post continues the discussion from my previous posting, explaining the various changes instituted by TCCL and Hardesty in policy, procedure and facility design since my early days of library circulation work (1998-2003).

TCCL now provides a number of important and valuable resources for staff on its Intranet.  The Intranet provides access to the TCCL policy manual, staff contact information, an online timesheet for clocking hours worked, and information related to health insurance, dental insurance and insurance coverage for various prescriptions.  Templates for printing CD labels and labels for boxes of magazine back issues are available on the Intranet.  Librarians can access listservs to discuss issues with other TCCL staff, such as children’s services or outreach issues.  Also, the Intranet provides forms frequently required by staff, such as vacation request forms, accident forms, incident forms, donation forms, forms for customers who want to request that TCCL purchase a book not currently in the system, and forms for customers who want to request that TCCL remove a book from the system.  Gone are the days when library staff had to rummage through the backroom filing cabinets for these forms.  Now staff can easily access and print these documents from any staff terminal.  I’m sure TCCL had an Intranet in my early circ days, but I don’t remember anyone showing me how to use it.  In the old days, we only had paper time sheets to log our work hours and paper vacation requests.  I remember reading many pages of library policies, but I only had a paper copy, which wasn’t always easily accessible if you needed to refresh your memory on a specific point of policy.  The new Intranet makes a wealth of information and documents easily accessible to all library staff.

TCCL’s children’s website has been expanded significantly in the last six years.  It allows children to search the catalog by text or by picture, and it provides a number of helpful resources like pathfinders, reliable websites for homework research, games, children’s attractions in the Tulsa area and local libraries, and resources for parents and teachers.  There are some navigational features missing that would enhance usability if added, such as links to allow users to navigate from a submenu to a main menu.  The word on the street is that TCCL is preparing to redesign the children’s website soon, so I am sure a number of improvements will be made in the process.

During my internship hours spent in the children’s department, I have not seen any children using the children’s catalog.  I’ve seen them playing games on the computers, and I’ve seen parents using the general catalog at the two kiosks in the children’s department.  Mostly I’ve seen parents and children asking the librarians when they need help finding something.  I asked Buddy, the head of the Hardesty Children’s Department, if they had ever offered a class to show children how to use the children’s catalog.  He said they had tried to offer classes before, but attendance numbers were very low.  At one such class, parents dropped their children off, and the kids didn’t seem to absorb the information very well.  Buddy says they are going to try to offer another class where parents and children can sit at the computer and learn together.  The children’s librarians are anticipating better results with this set-up.

The library has also created a new Tween fiction collection for children and parents who want longer, more advanced books without the adult content that appears more often in young adult and adult fiction collections.  As more and more parents have asked librarians for help in locating challenging reading material without sexual content for their children, the Tween collection was developed to meet this need.  The TCCL catalog reflects the location of these books in the Tween section, just as it reflects the location of books in the Juvenile fiction section.  Tween books are identified by a T sticker on their spines, just as juvenile fiction has  J stickers on their spines.  This collection is located just inside the children’s department, right next to the door, since tweenage customers are almost ready to graduate from the children’s department and to move on to the young adult department.

Another change in the Hardesty children’s department involves the arrangement of the story time room.  When the story time room was originally designed, there was an erupting volcano in the midst of a jungle scene painted on the north wall, and steps carpeted in orange and yellow, looking like lava flowing down a hill, for children to sit on during story time.  A short stairway outside the story time room led up to a child-sized door that opened up at the top of the carpeted stairs inside the story time room.  This arrangement was very visually appealing, and the children enjoyed climbing up the steps and having a special place to sit.  However, the story time room did not have continuous adult supervision when story time was not in session.  The steps inside the story time room were feared to be unsafe for children to climb on without adult supervision, so they were removed, and the child-sized door was sealed.  The jungle painting was expanded to cover where the steps had been, and the room looks very nice despite the changes.  But this situation demonstrates the importance of carefully planning and thinking through facility designs when refurbishing or building new library facilities.  It’s very difficult to foresee all the possible flaws in a plan still in blueprint form, but it costs a lot of money to have to go back and change things later.

TCCL is working hard to polish and update the image of the library, to dust off the collections and make things look shiny and new.  In support of this effort, Mr. Escobar and his staff have been weeding heavily.  When checking in library materials, staff are encouraged to set aside items that look ragged—books with broken spines, ripped pages or covers, water damage, pages falling out, broken media cases, etc.  Covers and media cases can be easily replaced, but if the item itself is damaged and ratty, it is placed in a tote in the workroom so that a librarian can assess it for withdrawal.  Like new library materials and magazines, withdrawals are processed daily.  Since the catalog shows books in the withdrawal box as being available for check out until they are withdrawn from the system, processing withdrawals daily reduces the amount of time staff must spend looking for items that are not on the shelf because they have been set aside for withdrawal.  Hardesty’s shelves are no longer crammed with old ratty books that never circulate.  This makes it easier for shelvers to do their jobs and for customers to browse without feeling overwhelmed.

A number of libraries have book sale areas, where books and other media that have been donated or withdrawn from the library catalog can be sold for a dollar or less.  Hardesty’s book sale used to be located just inside the front doors, next to where the coffee shop used to be.  However, in the interest of maintaining the library’s new and shiny image, Hardesty’s book sale has been moved upstairs to the southwest corner of the library.  This shift means that the first library materials that customers see upon entering the library are the new items, rather than the old, faded, sometimes ragged donated and withdrawn books of the book sale.  True, book sales have decreased, but the money collected is all profit.  Because volunteers organize the book sale, the library incurs no cost by providing it.  Moving the collection to a more discrete location supports the library’s clean and revitalized image.  And as customers find the book sale’s new location, hopefully sales will increase again.

Computer usage policies and maintenance procedures have also changed a bit in the last few years.  During my early circulation days, TCCL had to institute time limits for customer computer usage in order to ensure that a few customers didn’t monopolize the computers while others were denied access.  I was there when librarians tried instituting sign-up lists for the computers, but that didn’t work so well.  Some customers signed up but didn’t show up on time while others beged and pleaded for more time.  Now every customer with a library account can use the computer for 60 minutes per day at branch libraries, and for 90 minutes per day at regional libraries like Hardesty.  Before 2 pm and after 5 pm, customers can request to have their computer time extended if they need it.  The librarians can remotely add time to a customer’s account, without leaving their station at the desk.  This is very beneficial when the staff have a long line of customers to serve.  At the end of the day, the computers are automatically and remotely shut down by the Central Library IT Dept. 10 minutes after closing time.  In the old days, the librarians had to walk around shutting off each computer in the library, and occasionally had to try to extract customers who didn’t want to relinquish a computer.  Now librarians can simply tell these customers that if they don’t save their work and log out, their work may be lost as the computers are remotely shut down.  This setup saves a great deal of time at the end of the day.

I was surprised to learn that the magnetic security strips in library materials are being phased out, and that all library materials are already receiving RFID tags.  I hadn’t really thought about how the magnetic security system and the RFID system would work together, and I didn’t expect TCCL to already be RFID compatible.  I thought that shift would still be a few years down the road, for some reason.  I remember back in 1998 or 1999 when the libraries shut down for a week in order to apply the magnetic security strips to the collections.  It was a time-consuming process, and we only had enough resources to tag every third book or so.  Although the staff terminals still scan items for check-in and check-out via barcode readers, the self-check machines are able to scan the RFID tags in library materials.  According to Mr. Escobar, the magnetic security gates had no discernable effect in reducing the number of stolen library items.  I wonder if one day there will be no need to check out books to customers by hand—perhaps scanners will read the RFID tags on library items as customers walk out the door?

As you can see, Tulsa area libraries have come a long way in just a few short years.

Hardesty Library: Then and Now

A number of changes in policy, procedures and facility have been instituted, both at Hardesty and within the TCCL system, since I resigned from my circulation clerk position in May 2003.

Today, the Hardesty Library uses a tracking system to monitor when a cart of checked-in books is queued to be shelved, who puts the cart in order and when, and who shelves the cart and when it is completed.  When a cart is full of books to be shelved, a staff member pushes it to the designated location for carts ready to be ordered and shelved and tapes a pre-printed tracking slip to the end of the cart with the current date and time.  When a staff member puts the cart in order, he or she circles “in order” on the form and initials the form.  Thus the shelvers can easily tell when a cart is in order and ready to shelve.  At last, when shelvers take carts to be shelved, they note the time and date they started, the time and date completed, and their initials.  The form is then removed from the empty cart and placed on a spike with other completed forms in the shelvers’ area of the staff workroom.  These forms are reviewed by the head of the Circulation Department, Laura, so that she can monitor shelver performance. 

In my days of shelving (1998-2000), we were instructed to simply tag carts with the date they were queued for shelving and mark carts that were in order as such.  There was no method of tracking the number of carts any particular shelver put in order or shelved in a given period of time.  This was at times frustrating to shelvers who worked hard while other shelvers took their sweet time.  Supervisors tried to monitor shelver progress through simple observation, but they had too many other responsibilities to really keep an eye on shelvers’ progress.  In a large library with more than two shelvers, sporadic observational monitoring alone simply wouldn’t work.  Hardesty’s tracking system allows supervisors to give credit where credit is due, provide shelvers with accurate performance reviews, identify shelvers who are underperforming, and address any difficulties with which those shelvers may be struggling.  Maybe certain shelvers work more slowly because they are taking extra time to clean and straighten the shelves, or maybe they aren’t applying themselves enough.  In any case, supervisors can identify performance trends and work with the shelvers to optimize efficiency.

For the purpose of transporting books, the TCCL system has replaced tote boxes with book carts.  When I was a young whippersnapper in the circulation department, we would empty the book drop into tote boxes and then carry the tote boxes out to the circulation desk to check in the materials in between checking out customers.  Tote boxes were also used for delivery by labeling each tote with a branch code, like PH for the Peggy Helmerich Library, or KW for Kendall Whittier.  These totes could be very heavy, and we were encouraged to ask a staff member for help with carrying totes.  However, other staff members weren’t always available to help, so I often carried or pushed totes by myself.  I remember coming home with a very achey back many nights, but luckily I never hurt myself too badly.  TCCL now has carts designated specifically for interlibrary delivery, which must greatly reduce backstrain among delivery staff.  Also, items from the overnight book drop are now loaded onto carts and checked in first thing in the morning.  This stops staff from breaking their backs hauling totes from the drop to the circ desk.  Checking in these carts of materials ASAP is important so that discharged items are not mixed up with undischarged items.  This new strategy must significantly reduce the amount of workplace injury.

Another change is that library staff no longer give customers their library card numbers when they have left their cards at home.  Customers can still check out library materials as long as they have some form of identification, and staff can log customers onto the computers if they wish, but staff no longer give customers their card numbers on a slip of paper.  Apparently the previous practice of handing out card numbers led to a number of identity theft instances.  Customers would leave their card numbers lying around, and other customers would pick them up and check out library materials on someone else’s card.  Library cards also qualify as a secondary form of identification at most banks, so you can imagine the problems a stray library card number could cause.  Thankfully, changing this policy has eliminated this avenue of identity theft, preserving library materials and customer privacy.

TCCL has also made some changes to the meeting rooms usage policy.  Meetings in library meeting rooms can no longer take place before or after regular library business hours, and individuals reserving a library meeting room must have a valid library card.  Under the previous policy, organizations could use meeting rooms after library business hours and were supposed to drop the key to the building in the bookdrop after the meeting was over.  Library staff who coordinated meeting room usage struggled with all sorts of difficulties, such as unreturned keys, doors left unlocked over night, meeting rooms left in disarray, etc.  Under the new policy, keys are not loaned out and lost, and library staff can ensure meeting rooms are clean and orderly and doors are locked by the end of the business day.  Requiring meeting room users to have a valid library card ensures that library staff have valid contact information for the customer.  This allows staff to contact meeting room users if room usage policies are not followed.  This policy also draws meeting room users into the library proper, at least briefly, increasing the possibility that the user will access the library’s information resources.  Library meeting rooms have been offered to the public to entice people to come to the library and to provide a forum for information seeking and exchange.  The new policy is meant to keep the library’s physical resources from eclipsing its informational resources.

Since this entry seems to have rambled on long enough, I will continue discussion of library changes in my next blog entry.

Internship Itinerary

Mr. Escobar and I have agreed to address the following subjects over the course of my internship, according to this approximate schedule.

June 12, 2009

• Intro to location, staff, services; overview of duties; overview of training
• Code of ethics, standard operating procedures, Intellectual Freedom
• Governing structure
• Agreement about schedule

Week of June 15, 2009

• Training in use of Millennium Circulation System
• Training in use of Library’s webpage
• Training in use of Library’s Intranet
• Overview of Summer Reading Program duties and activities

Week of June 22, 2009

• Training in the use of NoveList, Readers’ Advisory
• 1 hour of desk duty in Children’s (observation)
• 1 hour of desk duty in Circulation (observation)
• Audit 1 story time session
• Audit 1 summer performance (Connor’s Cove)

Week of June 29, 2009

• Refresher of Millennium Circulation functions
• 1 hour desk duty in Reference (observation)
• 1 hour desk duty in Children’s
• Meet to discuss training and observations
• Marketing collections

Week of July 6, 2009

• Discussion of plan for project
• Creation of project plan
• Teaching customers how to use library resources effectively
• Programming, challenges

Week of July 13, 2009

• Elements of Collection Development for children, including Acquisitions and Processing
• Elements of Collection Development for Tweens
• Elements of Collection Development for Teens
• Elements of Collection Development for Adults
• Handling challenges to materials
• Material formats

Week of July 20th, 2009

• Role of Statistics in library service
• Community data (Census and Community Development figures), how to use and extrapolate from
• Update on project

Week of July 27, 2009

• Elements of supervision
• Supervision of volunteers
• Supervision of Shelvers, Circulation Clerks and Part-time staff
• Community relations (and relations with Municipal, State, Federal agencies)
• Library Boards and Library Management

Further reflections on Internship Day 1

On our tour through the library collections and facilities, Mr. Escobar drew my attention to features such as designated safe areas for wheelchair-bound customers in the event of a fire, and the location of safe areas in the event of a tornado.  On the second floor, stepstools are provided to help customers to reach books on top shelves, and we took time to move these stools to locations where customers were less likely to trip over them.  As students learn in LIS 5023, attention to these aspects of the physical library facility facilitates customer comfort and accessibility.

One particularly ingenious resource location feature involved the use of inflatables in the children’s nonfiction collection.  By suspending an inflatable dinosaur from the ceiling above the dinosaur books, a rocketship over the space books, etc., children’s reference staff can help children locate books on popular subjects even when they are swamped and cannot leave the desk.  The librarian can simply point to the appropriate inflatable and tell the child that the books they want are located under it.  Of course, when few customers are present, the librarian can walk the child to the appropriate shelf, but as the Hardesty Library is one of the busiest libraries, and the children’s department is especially swamped in the summer, this feature is very helpful for staff and customers.

Mr. Escobar also illustrated the challenge of catering to the needs and desires of various interested parties, including customers, donors, staff, volunteers, administrators and board members.  The literary criticism collection had been located directly behind the reference desk on the second floor, but has since been relocated.  A Tulsa City-County Library executive said that the placement of these bookshelves spoiled the view of the large arched window which faces northwest.  Moving these shelves was not particularly detrimental to customer access, thus in the interest of aesthetics and accomodating the powers that be, this collection was relocated.

Internship: Day 1

While the sky grew dark and poured out torrents of rain, I waded into an information storm of policies, procedures and best practices this morning.  Today was the first day of my summer internship at the Hardesty Regional Library.  I had forgotten how much there is to learn when first entering into a new professional arena; the policies, procedures, best practices, cultural aspects—it’s a lot to absorb.  All told, I completed seven hours toward my internship today.

Mr. Louix Escobar very generously dedicated most of his day to my orientation, reviewing policies and best practices, explaining administrative structure, and providing a tour of the library collections and facilities.  By relating personal experiences, Mr. Escobar illustrated a number of very useful lessons in best practices for personnel supervision and collection organization. 

Mr. Escobar explained Hardesty’s new practice of rotating staff between the circulation desk, children’s desk and reference desk.  This system helps all staff members to understand the responsibilities and challenges of each work station and enables staff to fill in for each other when someone is absent due to vacation or sickness.  This practice also helps to eliminate the perception that some staff teams are more important or more powerful than others.  I can imagine that if staff did not rotate among all three departments, some staff members might feel that working in certain departments was beneath them.  I think this rotation practice is an excellent means of fostering a unified sense of purpose and a team spirit among all staff members. 

Additionally, each department is equipped to provide circulation and reference services, which reduces the need to bounce customers from department to department.  It is not transparent to customers as to why only certain staff can check out books or accept overdue fines, so now all Hardesty departments can perform these functions.  The circulation desk can answer some reference questions as well, but certain reference questions that require lengthy research and/or special expertise must still be referred to reference staff.  This arrangement makes customer service much more efficient and effective.

Several changes have been made in the arrangement of furniture and collections since the new Hardesty building first opened, and Mr. Escobar’s explanation of the reasons for these changes was very enlightening.  Origninally the entrance hall was filled with armchairs, but now only a bench is provided in front of the new books shelf.  Apparently when the comfy chairs were present, families were likely to linger and talk in this area, and because of the tile floor and vaulted ceiling, this made the entryway very noisy and crowded.  By replacing the comfy chairs with a less-comfy bench, customers are less likely to linger in the entryway, and instead move on to the comfortable seating in carpeted areas, which are quieter.

When Hardesty first opened at its new location, it included space for a coffee shop.  However, the coffee shop has closed and the space has been remodeled into a study room for customers and a catering kitchen for groups utilizing library meeting rooms.  The coffee shop represented part of an effort to create an atmosphere more like large bookstore, like Barnes & Noble or Borders.  Mr. Escobar said he does not believe the bookstore model works for libraries.  He asked what I thought about the trend to make libraries like bookstores, why the recent push for this design.  I didn’t have a ready answer, although I said I had certainly read about this trend.  I haven’t read enough to know if a bookstore design has worked particularly well for any particular libraries.  Now that I’ve had time think about it, I’m certain that the reason behind this trend is an effort to make libraries trendy.  Library professionals believe that the public views libraries as outdated, fusty, dusty, restrictive and unaccommodating.  We are trying to reinvent the library’s image and reassert our relevance in today’s society.  Some have thought that trying to imitate the trendy bookstores with trendy little coffee shops was the way to do this.  However, we’ve seen recently, even before the economy tanked, that bookstores are struggling.  Borders could be on the border of bankruptcy.  Mr. Escobar argues that it never works to pretend to be something you are not.  This makes sense.  Libraries need to update their image based on the relevant and useful services they provide.  It’s important not to lose focus on the library’s mission and purpose. 

I would like to know more details as to why the coffee shop didn’t work, though.  Not enough business?  Too many spills?  Too many noisy bean-grinding and frappe-blending machines?  I’ll see what else I can find out.

I will continue my first day of library lessons in the next post.

Library and Literature Podcasts

In the intercession between spring semester and my summer internship, I’ve been delving further into the realm of podcasts, looking for resources to enhance my Library & Information Studies education.  I’ve located and subscribed to a number of library and book related podcasts, which I believe will help me to expand my awareness of current events as well as popular, award-winning and recently published books that library customers may want.  These podcasts allow me to make better use of my time—hours spent driving, exercising or washing dishes now become opportunities to cram more useful information into my head.

To expand my knowledge and awareness of noteworthy current literature, I am listening to the following podcasts:

New York Times Book Review

NPR Book Tour Podcast

NPR Books Podcast

BBC World Book Club

To increase my knowledge of classic literature, I am following the Classic Tales Podcast.

To follow current events, hot topics and developing issues in the library and information service arena, I have subscribed to these podcasts:

Book Lust with Nancy Pearl

The Library 2.0 Gang

Library Geeks

Library Luminary Lectures

LISNews Netcast Network

Longshots: Library-Related Commentary and Interviews

Uncontrolled Vocabulary

All of these podcasts can be located and subscribed to through iTunes.

Assessment of the International Children’s Digital Library

My final project in LIS 5053: Information Users in the Knowledge Society involved the preparation of a detailed critique of the International Children’s Digital Library (ICDL) web site as an information resource and recommendations for improvement.  By analyzing characteristics of the target audience and the web site’s application of information behavior models, cognitive and learning styles, design principles and environmental factors, I evaluated the ICDL web site’s success in meeting user needs.  This blog represents a summary of my findings.

Audience:

The ICDL is designed primarily for children approximately ages 3 to 13, but also serves the parents, teachers and librarians who seek to provide reading material for these children.  Individuals of any age who are conducting research in the area of children’s literature or are learning a new language may also benefit from the ICDL’s multilingual resources.  Launched in November 2002, this information product provides an online forum for users to browse, search, read and write reviews for children’s books.  The ICDL web site provides access to 3,887 children’s books in 53 different languages (ICDL Fast Facts).  Over one million unique visitors have viewed the web site since its debut, including users from 166 different countries (ICDL Fast Facts).  The variety of the ICDL collection fosters appreciation for cultural diversity and development of a global perspective.  The multitude of languages and cultures represented in the ICDL collection allows readers of almost any cultural or ethnic background to feel a sense of membership and of sharing a common world (Trace 2008, 1542) with other users of this resource.

Information Behavior Models:

The ICDL web site particularly appeals to users whose information behavior maps to the models described by Marcia Bates, David Ellis, Robert Taylor and Sanda Erdelez.  Berrypicking; Starting, Chaining, Browsing, Differentiating, Monitoring and Extracting; Information Retrieval Filters; and Information Encountering are all evident within the ICDL design.

Learning, Thinking and Cognitive Styles Best Served:

The ICDL makes an exemplary effort of accommodating the variety of its users’ learning and cognitive styles.  The concept of cognitive style refers to “a person’s typical or habitual mode of problem solving, thinking, perceiving and remembering” (Riding and Cheema 1991).  The ICDL best serves visualizers, verbalizers, reflective and impulsive users, convergent and divergent thinkers, holist and serialist thinkers, analytics, abstract sequential learners, abstract random learners, concrete sequential learners, concrete random learners, field dependent and independent users, and all types of thinkers identified by Li-fang Zhang and Robert Sternberg.

Recommendations:

The ICDL web site is a fun, vibrant information resource for children and the adults who work with them.  The content, organization and design of the ICDL web site exhibit a remarkable amount of consideration for the needs of diverse users with a wide variety of cognitive and physical preferences and abilities.  Nonetheless, a few improvements could significantly enhance the accessibility and utility of this resource.

1. Provide Audio Format for All Books in the ICDL Collection

Offering an audio version of each book in the ICDL collection would enhance accessibility for users with auditory perceptual modality preferences (Keefe 1987, 8 ) or with visual disabilities.  An audio format for content would reinforce the experience for linguistic learners who learn best by saying, seeing and hearing words (Learning Disabilities Resource Community 2002) and verbal learners who absorb information more easily when it is presented in written and spoken format (Felder and Soloman n.d.).  Users who are learning to read a given language can access information in that language by having it read to them, even when no fluent speakers of that language are physically present to assist them.  An audio component would also assist users with disabilities like dyslexia and aphasia, who often have difficulty reading.  Users could choose to have the book read aloud in its entirety or page by page by clicking an audio button located either on the About This Book page or on the book page-viewing screen.  Including a pictorial representation of an ear or speaker on the button would express the purpose of this feature to visualizers (Riding and Cheema 1991), and listing the words “hear it” beneath would clarify the purpose for users with limited literacy skills.  The ICDL currently offers audio content for only five books.  This burgeoning effort is applauded and should be expanded to include the entire collection.

2. Provide Video Format for All Books in the ICDL Collection

A video component would enhance accessibility for users with visual and interpersonal preferences as well as users with both literacy and auditory limitations.  Making a video recording of a child reading the selected book aloud while another child or adult interprets the words in sign language would allow deaf users with low literacy skills to enjoy the books in the ICDL collection.  The visual stimulus of seeing other people engaged in reading books from the collection will also appeal to users with external or interpersonal learning styles, who are only minimally served through this resource at present.  If the user clicks the video icon, a small video window would appear in the bottom corner of the screen while the remainder of the screen would display the page currently being read.  Additionally, highlighting each word as it is read or signed would help children identify the sound of or sign for the word with its textual representation.  Currently the web site only provides four video clips about the creation and design of the ICDL.   

Of course, audio and video enhancements may be cost prohibitive.  Perhaps students working towards a degree in deaf education or an interpreter’s license could be recruited for video production with the incentive of receiving credit towards their degrees.  Audio and video applications should not be designed to play automatically as this would slow the time required for pages to load.  Users should be able to select these features by clicking a button or opt to not use these applications.  ICDL could utilize plug-ins such as RealPlayer or Windows Media Player to provide these features.

3. Provide Textual Content for All Books in More Languages

While the ICDL makes an exemplary effort to provide some information services in a wide array of languages, many books in the ICDL collection are only available in one language.  The ICDL’s presence on the Internet makes it internationally accessible to users, most of which only speak one or two languages fluently.  Offering all ICDL books in multiple languages would expand access to users not comfortable or fluent in a book’s original language of publication.  However, translating each book would require ICDL staff to secure permission from each author and/or publisher, which may be difficult if not impossible in some instances.  The ICDL currently has several books with text available in more than one language, although the majority of books are only available in one language.  While current progress is commendable, efforts should be continued to provide all web site and collection content in as many languages as possible.

4. Provide Search Box in Consistent Location on All Web Site Pages

The ICDL does not provide a search box on all web site pages.  The search box tool is very familiar to users with even a basic level of Internet experience.  Keyword searching will appeal to verbalizers and help to orient them within an exceedingly image-rich web site.  Providing access to this tool on every page within the ICDL web site will enhance site navigation and searching capabilities.  The search box provides another means by which users can recover from navigational errors and allows users to locate desired content regardless of memorability issues.  Placing the search box in one consistent location on each page will enhance the learnability of the web site.

Bibliography:

Bates, Marcia J. 1989. The design of browsing and berrypicking techniques for the online search interface. Online Review 13 (5): 407-24.

Ellis, David. 1989. A behavioural approach to information retrieval system design. Journal of Documentation 45 (September): 171-212.

——. 2005. Ellis’s model of information-seeking behavior. In Theories of information behavior, ed. Karen E. Fisher, Sanda Erdelez, and Lynne McKechnie, 138-42. Medford, NJ: Information Today.

Erdelez, Sanda. 2005. Information encountering. In Theories of information behavior, ed. Karen E. Fisher, Sanda Erdelez, and Lynne McKechnie, 179-84. Medford, NJ: Information Today.

Felder, Richard M. and Barbara A. Soloman. (n.d.). Learning styles and strategies. http://www.4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm.

Keefe, James W. 1987. Learning style: An overview.  In Learning style: Theory and practice, 3-15. Reston, VA: National Association of Secondary School Principals.

Krug, Steve. 2006. Don’t make me think: A common sense approach to Web usability. 2nd ed. Berkeley: New Riders Publishing.

Learning Disabilities Resource Community. 2002. Multiple intelligence inventory. http://www.ldrc.ca/projects/miinventory/miinventory.php?eightstyles=1.

Nielsen, Jakob. 2003a. Homepage real estate allocation. Alertbox 10 February.

——. 2003b. Usability 101: Introduction to usability. Alertbox 25 August.

North Carolina State University. College of Design. Center for Universal Design. 2008. About UD: Universal design principles. http://www.design.ncsu.edu/cud/about_ud/udprincipleshtmlformat.html#top

Rayner, Stephen and Richard Riding. 1997. Toward a categorization of cognitive styles and learning styles. Educational Psychology 17 (1/2): 1-24.

Riding, Richard and Indra Cheema. 1991. Cognitive styles- An overview and integration. Educational Psychology 11 (3/4): 193-215.

Sadler-Smith, Eugene. 1997. Learning style: Frameworks and instruments. Educational Psychology 17 (1/2): 51-63.

Taylor, Robert S. 1968. Question-negotiation and information seeking in libraries. College and Research Libraries 29 (May): 178-94.

Trace, Ciaran B. 2008. Resistance and the underlife: Informal written literacies and their relationship to human information behavior. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 59 (August): 1540-54.

Wooldridge, Blue. 1995. Increasing the effectiveness of university/college instruction: Integrating the results of learning style research into course design and delivery. In The importance of learning styles, ed. Ronald R. Sims and Sebrenia J. Sims, 49-67. Westport, CT: Greenwood.

Zhang, Li-fang and Robert J. Sternberg. 2005. A threefold model of intellectual styles. Educational Psychology Review 17 (March): 1-53.

Celebrity Readers

I always wondered how effective the READ posters were.  But here’s further evidence that celebrity sells books as well as name brands.  I wonder if Obama’s done a READ poster?  If not, libraries should definitely ask him to.  The results could be huge!

Amazon’s Algorithm “Glitch”

For those of us who support freedom of expression and the right to read, this is rather disturbing…

Literacy 2025

Does it make me a literary elitist if I find this disturbing?

“It’s Life, Jim, but not as we know it…”

Went to a very cool lecture by Carl Zimmer about the definition of life at the University of Tulsa last night.  You can listen to part one of the podcast of his Microcosm lecture series or read the transcription here, and part two is here.

Beyond the Dewey Decimal System

Library classification and collocation could be so much more exciting…

The Supermarket Strikes Back

How can real world stores cope with Amazon’s information services like purchase statistics?  How about this?

Amazing Wireless Technology!

Oh brave new world that hath such media in it!

Skills and Free Will

In response to the question, “Can we assume all students are competent at seeking and using information?”

 

In the provision of information services, we cannot assume all students are “competent at seeking and using information.”  The age and education level of the students in question have a significant effect on their info seeking abilities.  That said, I have seen students make it all the way through high school without developing proper research skills.  It seems to me that individuals who are students by choice, such as college students, are more likely to be skilled info seekers, and are certainly more likely to improve their info seeking skills the longer they pursue their education.  K-12 students, who must attend school by law whether they want to learn or not, may be less inclined to develop their info seeking skills than individuals who have chosen to attend school and have paid a lot of money to do so.  Avoiding assumptions about customer skill level, among other characteristics, will enable information professionals to provide information services more efficiently and effectively.

Farming in the Digital Age

Here is a digital collection for EveryMan: a place of preservation and dissemination of the images, stories and humor of rural farm life in Ohio.

The digitial divide still exists, but the point of crossing over–where analog culture first embraces the digital–is a facinating place.

Aspirations: Check! Perspiration: Check!

Whew!  This semester has been like being tied by the ankle to a runaway llama so far…  Which is why I’m so woefully behind on updating this blog.  So here’s an essay I wrote about my aspirations for the profession:

My long-term career goal is to serve as a public librarian, specifically in the areas of reference, readers’ services and children’s librarianship.  As the field of library and information services continues to expand at an exponential rate, it is clear that serving as a librarian means being a perpetual student.  Through my career, I aspire to be knowledgable of the unique and changing needs of child library users and to sythesize theories of child and adolescent learning as I develop library services for this population.  I will strive to stay informed about current practices, trends, and standards in the field by reading journals, attending professional meetings and conferences, and discussing current issues with colleagues.  Following listservs and the blogs of colleagues will also assist to expand my awareness of new developments in the field.  My duty as a public librarian is to be aware of new resources available in all formats so that I can quickly guide customers to the information and resources most likely to meet their needs.

Librarians are called to serve not only as stewards, but also as advocates.  I intend to advocate for customers’ right to read and access materials and to provide for diverse information needs through ethical collection development.  It is vitally important to foster a welcoming and comfortable library environment by ensuring that collection organization and arrangement facilitates access for all potential customers, including those with special needs.  I will make every effort to connect children with the resources they need by encouraging browsing and questions, and enabling them to use the library effectively.  Perhaps one of the best ways to engage children in the library is to consider the children’s opinions and requests in the development and evaluation of library services.  I will promote library resources by providing bibliographies, book talks, displays, electronic documents, and other tools.  I will promote children’s services through storytelling, book discussions, puppet shows and a variety of other programming.  By networking with other local agencies, I will provide outreach to underserved populations to promote literacy and reduce the digital divide.

I have some experience working in library settings as well as experience with research and records management through my work as grants coordinator for The Salvation Army.  My grant experience taught me how to locate funding opportunities for varied services and manage multiple deadlines.  Working as a shelver and circulation clerk for the Tulsa City-County Library between 1998 and 2003 allowed me to become familiar with the library OPAC and the Dewey Decimal System of organizing resources.  The majority of my time was spent ordering and shelving returned library resources, checking library resources in and out for customers, creating and updating customer records, issuing library cards, processing fines for late items, and placing hold requests for customers.  Yet these activities taught me the importance of customer service in every role in order to cultivate a welcoming and accessible library environment.

Libraries are forums for information and ideas provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people.  It is the mission of the library to challenge censorship and provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues.  Libraries should promote free expression and free access to ideas in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all.  I feel strongly protective of our first amendment rights and the freedom to share information.  In my opinion, education and the stewardship of information are among the noblest of professions.  Through my career as a public librarian, I will endeavor to perpetuate knowledge and education by promoting the accessibility of information for all people and encouraging and assisting others in their information quests.