Things to Think About in These Bad Economic Times

The 15 June issue of Library Journal (v. 134, no. 11) has two columns that you should read.

Be Selfish, Promote Service, The Transparent Library, by Michael Casey and Michael Stephens, p. 23
In these times of diminishing resources, it is more important than ever to provide excellent customer service. “Anyone can shine when money and time are in abundance. It takes a positive and progressive individual to stand out when things are difficult.” The Michaels have some excellent ideas that bear reading—and implementing.

Libraries & the Inspiration Business, Backtalk, by Brian Mathews, p. 38
“With federal, state, and county budgets drying up as record numbers of users flock to libraries, now is an excellent time for introspection about our profession. What exactly is our line of work?” “One of the great things about our profession is that we have the chance each day to make a positive impact on our community. Don’t miss out on your opportunity to inspires someone today.”

SOCIAL MEDIA AND YOUR CUSTOMERS

Jay Ehret, founder of The Marketing Spot, had this to say about social media on the Flooring the Consumer blog.

1) Start now. Establish a presence and get comfortable using social media. It’s not yet imperative that use social media, but it probably will be someday. You need to be ready.

2) Don’t try to do everything. Pick one thing, the most appropriate for your [library], and get good at it.

3) Don’t ignore traditional media. It’s not dead and never will be. However, look for traditional media that are innovative and also understand the new media.

4) Don’t get evangelized. There’s a lot of hype out there coming from so-called social media evangelists. I’ve seen the question asked by one social media evangelist: “Can social media save (a particular) small business?” Turns out, no. That particular business went out of business. A [library] will not live or die based on involvement with social media.

5) Do what your customers will accept, not what you want them to do. If your customers do not congregate on Facebook, there’s nothing you can do about it. Be where your customers are likely to be.

URL: http://flooringtheconsumer.blogspot.com/2009/04/social-media-series-jay-ehret-on.html

GUEST ARTICLE--THE FUTURE OF LIBRARIES

Think For The Customer .....The Future of Libraries
by John Stanley, John Stanley Associates, Kalamunda, Western Australia,
Australia

Libraries are no different to any other business as they face the challenges of 2009 and beyond. What worked in 2008 may not work in a changed market place. The consumer has changed their shopping habits and their buying habit, probably for good. This has real impact on the role of the library in the community.

In more difficult times the consumer relooks at the way they spend their money. As a result, small luxury items sales increase. Small indulgencies increase in popularity during tough economic times. Businesses that believe they do not have small indulgency items for sale often succumb to playing the sales game to generate sales on the High (Main) Street. The result is the consumer is being trained to accept the 70 percent off sales as a norm.

But, how does this affect Libraries?
In more difficult economic times, libraries come into their own again. People who have not walked into a library for many years are rediscovering, or discovering, libraries for the first time. The challenge is, are you marketing your library to attract the consumers who at times may find a library uncomfortable and forbidding?

I was recently intrigued to see a banner [in the photo above] over Balham Library in London ,UK promoting free reading in the library. This was a direct marketing campaign aimed at promoting the benefits of the library in the community when the consumer was thinking about how they could save money. This was especially relevant, as the local bookshop was offering an incentive for their consumers to get a discount if they returned the bookshop books back to the bookshop once their customers had read them.

Reading is recognised as a small indulgent luxury by more people during tough economic times. This is a marketing opportunity that can be used by the library service to increase patronage. The key is to observe how consumers think and adapt your library service to the new thinking process and at the same time, you need to make your library more consumer friendly to these new patrons.

By nature, a librarian, like many other industry experts, tends to think about the product first and then secondly think about how the consumer will react to their product. A classic example of this is laying a library out using the Dewey System; the Dewey System alone can deter many people from going into a library. The entrepreneurial thinker will think differently; they will put themselves in the customer’s shoes first and then arrange the product and signage system to help the consumer.

However, with new consumers looking for access to a wide range of reading material, they may choose to venture into libraries. That creates an opportunity for librarians to re-think the presentation of their “products” and offer new ideas on “merchandising.” Try the new ideas and then test them to see if they work and whether they are worth adopting in the library.

Libraries, in my view, will have a new role in the community over the next few years and will become a lot more relevant than they may have been perceived to be in recent past years. Libraries today have an opportunity to attract new consumers, and that means it is also a time to experiment with new ways of attracting new consumers. It is time to brainstorm with the team how you can present library products and services in a way that could attract more consumers to your library. The library industry is entering a new and exciting era and now is the time to grasp those opportunities and run with them.

John Stanley is a world-reknown library and retail consultant, speaker and author. John helps libraries: lay the library out with the consumer in mind to increase lend rate, create displays to maximise lend rate potential, and market their services to increase patron count.

URL: http://www.johnstanley.cc

GETTING TO YOUR CUSTOMERS, WHEREVER THEY ARE

Computers in Libraries 29(1), January 2009

The entire issue is on Providing Access When & Where They Want It, which is good reading anytime, but there are two articles that think are especially important:

West, Jessamyn, Checklists for the Distributed Librarian (tech tips for every librarian column), pp. 38-39.

West provides good ways to make sure you are getting to your customers via the website, the catalog, and social networking services. I like that she ends with a section on “counting what counts.”

Chudnov, Daniel, Practical Geek-Keeping, or, How to Hire—And Keep—Good Technical Staff, pp. 25-26.
Librarians and IT people are often at odds, so making sure you hire good ones and can communicate with them is critical. He emphasizes the importance of communication in the hiring decision.

COULD YOUR CATALOG DO THIS?

The Florida State University library catalog can draw you a map to show where the book you want is shelved—or at least it can for some books. This is a really neat feature and should be something that many libraries can implement. What a wonderful service to your users!

To see it in action, go to the URL below and search for Pushing the limits: new adventures in engineering by Henry Petroski, (hard copy, not the e-book). Then click on “Map It” by the call number.

Cool, huh?

URL: http://www.lib.fsu.edu/

TOP 250 BLOG POSTS: ADVERTISING, MARKETING, MEDIA & PR

From British PR firm Spotlight Ideas, here are more articles on marketing than I’ve ever seen in one place. They are divided into the following categories: general marketing and branding (50 articles); digital marketing (35); social media (45); general blogging (25); blogging on copywriting (20); public relations (20); creative and design (20); customers and customer insight (10); search engines (10).

URL: http://www.spotlightideas.co.uk/?p=677

IS THE ACADEMIC LIBRARY FALLING BEHIND?

A study in the UK by Sero Consulting and the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) reported that “library management systems are not fully fit for purpose because they do not allow seamless integration with teaching, learning, and research behaviour in the Web 2.0 environment.” Users expect a seamless, easy searching experience, which most LMS do not provide. Mostly, the systems were designed to serve backend users (technical services), not customers. “The report says that the business case for libraries is that they provide authoritative information, and access to it in the most efficient way. However, libraries ‘are not yet exploiting intelligence about user habits to enhance their position in the information value chain.’”

Is your OPAC (online public access catalog) as easy for your customers to use as it is for you? How can you make it easier for them?

Library+information update 7(5):15, May 2008.

GOOD TRAINING RESOURCES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE, REFERENCE, AND MARKETING

I just found the Houston Area Library System's training site. They have three great training "courses," one on customer service, one on reference, and one on marketing. They are easy to use and understand. Not too in-depth, but worth a look.

URL: http://www.hals.lib.tx.us/

ANOTHER GREAT ISSUE OF COMPUTERS IN LIBRARIES

Even without Kathy Dempsey at the helm, Computers in Libraries is still pub]lishing great stuff--way to go, Dick (Kaser, new editor).

The first goodie is an article on redesigning your web site, The Secret to Patron-Centered Web Design: Cheap, Easy, and Powerful Usability Techniques by Erica Reynolds of Johnson County (Kansas) Library. The emphasis is teamwork and listening--to both customers and staff.

Cassi Pretlow [Denver (Colorado) Public Library] lists 10 Web Tools to Create User-Friendly Sites. She includes old favorites and some neat new ones like Browsershots, to check how your site looks on various browsers (http://www.browsershots.org).

Finally, read Fast and Easy Website Tuneups by Jeff Wisniewski [University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania] to get some great ideas. You can read this one online for free at http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/jun08/Wisniewski.shtml.

THE AUTHORITY OF THE LIBRARIAN

Did you love the Unshelved strip for Tuesday, 18 March as much as I did? It speaks to the authority (or perceived authority) of librarians, but read it for yourself.

URL: http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20080318

The 15 March issue (v. 133, no. 5) of Library Journal also has a bunch of articles, etc. on the same subject. Get an issue and read them!

Memphis PL Led by Nonlibrarian (p. 18) -- it was all political, but this is a very disturbing trend, first in academic and special libraries and now in public ones.

The Borders Concept, editorial by Francine Fialkoff. "Bookstores modeled on the library--minus the public service ethos." (Did you read that Borders and Barnes and Noble are both in financial difficulties--welcome to the club!) (p. 8)

What's Your Role? Nextgen column by Cari Dubiel (p. 48). "Will the changes you're considering truly enhance your service?"

and a feature article by Debra J. Stone, After Oil (pp. 28-31). "Public libraries will have an important role to play in our new post-peak-oil society. The aftermath of this 'long emergency' must be understood by those in positions to help society adjust to new ways of doing everyday things."

IDEAS FOR BETTER CUSTOMER SERVICE

These ideas are some of the ideas from Andy Sernovitz [GasPedal, Chicago, Illinois, USA] and his blog, Damn! I Wish I’d Thought of That! Via Nancy Dowd at The “M” Word: Marketing Libraries.
1. When you open up to customer participation, your brand belongs to your customers, not you.
3. Turn the bullhorn around. Stop talking. Give the community a chance to speak.
4. There is no such thing as a "community strategy". The community will do what it wants. Go with it.
5. Join conversations early. Negative gets worse if you don't respond. Positive grows when you do.
6. Why pay for product photos? Encourage your community to share their product photos. They may even blog about the fact that you chose their photos.
7. Sounding "professional" does not require you to sound like an ass. You don't need formal language or big words. Talk like a human being. Talk to people online like you talk to your friends.
8. The great thing about communities is that you can hear from everyone. The bad thing about communities is that you can hear from everyone.
9. It's ok to moderate and set rules of civil discourse. You can politely refuse to engage with ranters who don't want to have a civil conversation.
10. Your community will support you if you enable them. When a critic gets vocal, let your fans reply instead of you.
11. Listen to experts but design for novices "

URLs:
The “M” Word: http://themwordblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/ideas-from-customer-service-is-new.html
Andy Sernovitz’ blog: http://www.damniwish.com/

TWO GREAT ARTICLES IN ONLINE

I want to call your attention to two articles in the January/February 2008 issue of Online (v. 32, no. 1). The first is When Internet is InterNOT (pp.32-36), by Arno H.P. Reuser [Ministry of Defence, the Netherlands]. Reuser writes that the Internet is NOT: international, easy, just like Google, large, objective, or anonymous. This is a good article to send to your boss (and his or her boss, too).

The second article is Put the “Service” in Self-Service (pp.55-57) by Darlene Fichter [University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada] and Jeff Wisniewski [University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States]. “To improve online customer service, be willing to do two things: Act quickly and fail.” They really “get it.” Unfortunately, neither is available for free online.

WHAT DO PEOPLE WANT FROM LIBRARY TECH? CHECK OUT THE LATEST ISSUE OF CIL

Editor Kathy Dempsey has done it again! The latest (January 2008) issue of Computers in Libraries is fantastic. The theme is “Finding Out What People Want From Library Technology.” Here is her editor’s notes, Why Assume When You Can Ask?

“In the library world, many processes are still done the way they were years ago. The old adage ‘because we’ve always done it that way’ still holds sway, and entangled layers of bureaucracy can make real change incredibly slow, if no impossible. But as I preach in keynotes and workshops while I’m wearing my other hat, as editor of the Marketing Library Services newsletter, what you’ve ‘always done’ doesn’t cut it anymore. You’ve all heard that sermon before, but hearing it doesn’t really help. What you need is a place to start. How should you change? What should you change? What do people want you to do differently?
“That’s why I chose the theme Finding Out What People Want From Library Technology for this issue. It’s perfect for January; the month of changing and renewing and starting fresh. And I have the only logical answer about where to start the process. Start with your patrons. Your collections and services are all for them, so update them to match patron wants and needs.
“But what do these users want and need? Even more important, what do nonusers want and need that you’re not offering? You could read other people’s research, you could make assumptions, or you could guess. Or you could do the only sensible thing—just ask them!
“If this concept makes you picture in-depth focus groups and expensive market research, stop right there. That stuff is great, but you can do it on a more manageable level. This month’s features show you how. I can’t explain their simple brilliance without getting up on my marketing soapbox and orating exorbitantly, so I’ll let you explore them for yourselves. What I will do with my remaining space here is to implore you to take these concepts to heart, to share these articles with your manager, and to push the issue until you can start surveying patrons. Only then can you be sure you’re delivering what your constituents need. And isn’t that what your work is really all about?”

I absolutely could not have said it better!

To carry out this theme, Dempsey chose the following articles, columns and departments:
Features:
How We Surveyed Doctors to Learn What They Want from Computers and Technology (by three librarians at New York City’s Bellevue Hospital)
Building a Web-Based Laboratory so Users can Experiment with New Services (available for free at http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/jan08/Battles_Combs.shtml
Using Focus Groups to Learn about My Wiki
Columns:
An Analytical Approach to Assessing the Effectiveness of Web-Based Resources, by Marshall Breeding
The Joy of Finding out What People Don’t Want, by Terence K. Huwe
Departments:
Asking Users What They Want, by Janet Balas (other sources of information)
Data and Desires: What Users Really Want, by brand-new to CIL Jessamyn West

What more could anyone want? Get this issue and read it all!

CUSTOMER SERVICE—A NEWBIE GETS IT!

Cynthia Lambert, a MLIS candidate at Rutgers University (New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA) has an excellent post on Library Garden on customer service. In it she writes,
“As I start my career of library work, I pledge the following:
1) No matter what is happening in my personal life, while at work, I will smile at every person I come in contact with.
2) When a patron apologizes for bothering me (as is often the case), I will assure them that it is no bother--I am here to help them and happy to do it.
3) I will remember that the person asking me for assistance has chosen the library over many other resources. I will do everything I can to make them happy about making that choice.
4) When I am not at work, I will promote libraries every chance I get. If anyone tells me of a bad experience, I will encourage them to try again--most librarians are in the business because they want to help, they want to make a difference, they like people.

URL: http://librarygarden.blogspot.com/2007/12/bill-ted-had-it-right.html

BOOK A LIBRARIAN

Paul Signorelli [San Francisco (California) Public Library, USA] has a post on InfoBlog about a neat service provided by his library. Here is the description from their website.

“Do you need personalized help using a computer or the Internet? Do you have questions on a topic not covered in one of our free classes or simply need more help with a specific computer or Internet task? During the month of December, the library is offering limited one-on-one training sessions. Sessions are limited to 30 minutes and require advanced sign up.”

Help can be with anything from Internet or email assistance to in-depth reference assistance in a subject area familiar to the librarian—far more than customers can gain from brief exchanges with staff at busy reference desks. It started in April and has expanded from one librarian to four. Some branches are also considering offering the program. It is so popular that it’s booked about 50 days ahead and they’ve had to expand their hours.

URL: http://infoblog.infopeople.org/2007/11/best_practices_

book_a_libraria.php

THE 10 THINGS COLLEGE STUDENTS DON’T KNOW ABOUT MARKETING

Carol Phillips wrote a cute (and true) article for Advertising Age titled, Millennials: Clued in or Clueless? Four examples: The average household income does not support a cleaning lady (or an iPhone); Facebook is an advertising-supported, commercial service; Retailers, not manufacturers, set the price; and Brands influence buying behavior. Each comes with more on how the millennials think and the implications for marketers.

URL: http://adage.com/cmostrategy/article?article_id=122041

SIGNS TO EMULATE

Librarian Woes has a post with five great “NO” signs. They promote cooperation with library rules by using humor.

URL: http://librarianwoes.wordpress.com/2007/11/23/signage-fun/

RANGANATHAN'S FIVE LAWS REWRITTEN FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

Michael Stephens asked his library students at Dominican University (River Forest, Illinois, USA) how they would rewrite Ranganathan’s Five Laws of Librarianship. Here are the original laws and two newer versions.

Original Laws

1. Books are for use.

2. Every reader his or her book.

3. Every books its reader.

4. Save the time of the reader.

5. The library is a growing organism.

January 2007

1. Collections are for use.

2. Every collection its user.

3. Every user his collection.

4. Save time and energy of user.

5. The library is a growing organism.

September 2007
1. Materials are for use and not just in library
2. Every user his or her material
3. Materials are for all
4. Save the time of the user
5. The library is an evolving organism (catering to the needs of the community)

Fascinating.

(As seen on Michael's blog, Tame the Web.
URL: http://tametheweb.com/

GOOD IDEAS FOR BETTER REFERENCE SERVICE

Warren Cheetham and Mei Lin Gray of the Thruingowa Library Service (Queensland, Australia) presented a paper at Information Online Australia on their use of a wireless tablet PC at the reference desk. It is a great idea—they sit next to the customer at a table, not face-to-face over a reference desk.

Also in the article were the Thuringowa Library Services’ Customer Service Standards. They include:
We will:
Allow you time to enter the library and orientate yourself before we approach you.
Make eye contact, smile, and use open body language.
Tell you our name.
Not ask you if you need help, but simply state that we are here to help you.
Be interested and curious about your requests.
Acknowledge you, even when helping someone else.
Break off conversations with other library staff, and attend to you first.
Leave you to browse and search by yourself. If you are looking lost of puzzled, we will offer our assistance.

When seated at the Information Desk, we will:
Be aware of you approaching and greet you first.
Turn in our seat to face you, not our computer screen.
Have a clean, uncluttered Information Desk.
Be ready to help you first and not be busy with other library work.

We will also:
Provide a range of written guides to help you find information.
Explain how we are conducting a search for your, so that you may also learn how to search.
Ask you, as you leave, if you found the information you were looking for, and if there is anything further we can help with.
Commit to staffing the Information Desk during advertised hours.

URL: for the entire article:
http://www.information-online.com.au/docs/Presentations/cheetham.pdf

RESPONDING TO CHANGING USERS

The latest issue of the Journal of the European Association for Health Information and Libraries has as its theme The Changing of the User Environment. There were two articles that I thought were especially good. Here is a bit of each.

Guus Van den Brekel [University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands]: “The awareness of our quality resources and ways to find them, is no longer present, or being pushed aside, even swept away by the simplicity of searches via Google and others. How did (we let) this happen?” A combination of the ease of searching Google and PubMed, sticking to traditional library systems too long, and the new attitudes of the net-generation and gamers. “How can we change this?” Move from being product-oriented to user oriented. “Shift from ‘This is what we offer to you. Come and get it if you want to use it!’ to ‘You choose the services you need, when and where you need them.’” Get out of the library. Over the long-term, rebuild library systems “with open standards focused on modular web-based services.”

Tuulevi Ovaska [Kuopio University Library, Finland]: Divides users into three groups: “1. those who want to be totally served, 2. those who want to do things themselves but need assistance, and 3. those who are able to do everything they need for themselves.” “How should we, and how can we, provide the services for each group in such a way that we do not give less than they require but also not more than they need, or , what is more important, wish from us.” Group 1: perceives the quality of service to be equal to the speed of delivery, is becoming smaller. Group 2: must do more than provide access and written instructions, especially if English is not their native language; need hands-on training; problem is lack of time—both for users and staff. Group 3: “It is enough to inform them about the new services and resources available….”

References:
Ovaska, Tuulevi, Coping with different user habits and the changing user environment, Journal of the European Association for Health Information and Libraries 3(1):17-18, 2007.
Van den Brekel, Guus, Into the user environment now! how users have changed and how libraries can adjust, Journal of the European Association for Health Information and Libraries 3(1):8-16, 2007.