Internet Librarian 2008: Solving the Interest Problem

Internet Librarian 2008: Solving the Interest Problem
Cliff Landis and Kelly Czarnecki

Cliff started by pointing to library competition online: sites like BookSwim that is a book rental service (books are sent to you by mail for a monthly fee).  There  has been discussion for a long time in libraries about "Netflix for Libraries" but we haven't capitalized on this user need.  Users are willing to pay a certain amount of money so they can have direct delivery, no due dates, and no late fees.  Cliff talked about how they did some usability testing - they started naming their librarian chat "Ask a Librarian" then changed it to "Live Chat" then "Live Help" (all based on user feedback)... getting closer and closer to what the users understand most.  Cliff recommends talking about intriguing topics when teaching users - talking about sex, drugs, and disease as sample topics.  They also do blog posts asking users to recommend materials that they would like in the library.  Cliff warns against basing too much of what we do on super users because they are not typical users.  We often forget the "out" in outreach - we advertise a lot to those who already come in to the library, to those who use the library.  Cliff says "For God's sake, ask your users."  We create things and do stuff but never ask our users if they're actually using it or liking it.  In a usability study about the library's website they also asked users about where they found out about the study - a good extra bit of information to have (in this case flyers and blog posts didn't work - they had heard about it from an email).  Assessment is the terror of many a librarian because we fear that we'll have to do statistical analysis and other hard stuff. 

Kelly talked about their bookmobile.   They also work with incarcerated teens where they can teach them online skills.  She also mentioned OPAL - Online Programming for All Libraries (it advertises online programs from participating libraries to all libraries and anyone, really).  Kelly talked about online learning - an author came to the library and they audio-streamed the presentation so they could put it on their website for later access.  They also use UStream.tv to stream some of their presentations.  Instead of flying in a presenter, they use this free streaming program which also allows for recording.  If they're giving a presentation online you can stream the screen as well for live screen capture presentations; it also includes chat.  They are also starting an alternate reality game based on their Big Read program.  Their Big Read is To Kill a Mockingbird and have partnerships, book discussions, etc. but wanted to develop an alternate reality game.  They'll have GPS units with caches in the community related to the book, and will have blogs and websites that will be about different puzzles and clues forcing people to work together to build collective intelligence to solve the game.  It's being launched December 1st and lasts for two months.  She also recommends hiring non library staff for programming and other positions.  Blend the traditional and nontraditional in the library.  Develop out of the box partnerships.  Make sure sites and presences are interactive and encourage that interactivity.  Let teens post their content to the library website to showcase what they've made.

IL2008