Designing Customized Library Services: Book-A-Librarian and Bookmatch

1. Designing Customized Library Services:Book-A-Librarian and Bookmatch September 14th, 2010 12:00 – 1:00 PDT Toby Greenwalt theanalogdivide@gmail.com An Webinar Infopeople webinars are supported by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.

2. Today’s Agenda • Principles of Custom Library Services • Designing 1-on-1/Book-a-Librarian Service • Crowdsourced Service: Bookmatch • The Long Haul: Promotion and Evaluation

3. Things Are Getting Busier Skokie PL, FY 09-10: • Over 274,000 desk transactions (up 9%) • Face-to-face, phone, email, IM, Twitter, and Facebook • Staff juggling basic and in-depth questions http://flic.kr/p/6YrKWT

4. Step Away From the Desk • Create a more comfortable environment • Eliminate “time pressure” • Works toward a more participatory model (Lankes)

5. Personalize It: 2 Methods Book-A-Librarian • 1-on-1 session • Focused interview, typically 30 min. • Based on Over-the-Shoulder Learning BookMatch • Distributed workflow • Assembled piecemeal over days

6. Getting Started: Policy and Buy-in Start with the skills audit Choose a “minder” for all BaL sessions Allow staff to set their own availability http://flic.kr/p/im9gn

7. Brainstorming Time: Perform a Skills Audit Which questions are best suited for a 1-on-1 consulting session? What do you think you could cover with a little practice? Which questions should be off-limits?

8. Put the Audit to Use

9. Making the Appointment Schedule at least a week in advance Secure private space for session Will you need a computer? Contact patron 1-2 days before to confirm

10. Showtime Treat like a standard reference interview Set realistic goals for the allotted time “Teach a man to fish…” http://flic.kr/p/7ihDXU

11. Know your limits Avoid liability-prone topics Provide referrals if necessary Determine follow-up protocol, and if subsequent sessions are necessary Provide evaluation

12. Bookmatch Based on Barry Trott’s Reader Survey Gives both patrons and staff time to approach reading interests Open to interested staff at all levels

13. Brainstorming Time: Readers’ Advisory Which RA questions garner the best patron responses?

14. Creating the Survey Follow the inverted pyramid SurveyMonkey allows for branching paths Use a mix of multiple choice and essay answers Not every question will be answered

15. Rotating Minders

16. Gettin’ Wiki With It Survey pasted directly into Wikispaces page

17. Gettin’ Wiki With It Discussion section used for book recommendations

18. The Home Stretch Minder has responsibility for compiling list Check for formatting issues, compatibility, and extras

19. Putting It Into Practice Hold test sessions with friends, family and staff. “Soft launch” for new services Build opportunities for word-of-mouth

20. Promotion Too much is a good start.

21. Evaluation Contact selected patrons for feedback What has worked? What hasn’t? What features should/shouldn’t you add?

22. Long-term effects: staff development Book-a-Librarian Identify training areas based on interest Train the trainers Bookmatch Self-identify strengths and weaknesses ID genres for further study Survey for 2nd-timers

23. Thank You! Toby Greenwalt theanalogdivide.com theanalogdivide@gmail.com Twitter: @theanalogdivide