Nanette… Champaign Public Library

First step: user survey on the website

• what do you currently use
• What types of enhancements would they like to see?
• etc

Results? most came to use the online catalog, many ONLY came to use catalog – and many thought it was clunky.

Goal setting:

• integrate online catalog into website
• focus on ease of use

planning:

• study what other libraries have done to make online catalogts more attractrive and usable
• talk to the administrators of catalog to see what can be done without affecting others in consortium
• investigate third-party solutions like aquabrowsers, endeca
• work with automation staff
• consider public service straff opinions
• prioritize features into must-haves and can-wait-for-phase-two features

finally in planning:

• we dreamed big
• they didn’t want to dismiss anything…
• they had a grant, so they had money…

implementation –

• roadblocks – ILS vendor was upgrading
• Vendor was unwilling to provide API
• consortial concerns
• time concerns

Online Catalog 2.0: where do we go from here

• what can libraries do? Hire programmers.
• support vendors who are willing to release the API for their software and support third-party development of enhancements – or go open source
• Insist on features that our power users want – these are the fetures your power user will want two years from now

What ILS vendors can do?

• anticipate user’s needs
• look at what libraries are doing with your products – implement some of their innovations
• understand that no company can do it all and well. Release your API – even Microsoft is doing it

what catalogers can do?

• competition with google, amazon, etc  is good
• understand that user tagging is not the end of controlled vocabularies
• provide adequate subject access for all types of materials in all formats

il2006

Kathryn Deiss – Content Strategist, ACRL
Matt Gullett, Technology Education Librarian, PLCMC

New technologies are changing possibilities and roles for both IT and library cultures and for library customers.

The players/actors: IT, Librarians, Customers…

Gave some definitions of organizational culture

Discussed definition of “we” – sometimes it’s IT, sometimes it’s MLS holders. It needs to be both!

Historic common ground – IT and library cultures share:

• desire to do the right thing
• intention to create security and integrity of systems, networks, etc
• concern for stability of systems and services created
• hard work to develop services for others

Tension (especially the emerging environment):

• disruption is the norm (external environment)
• customer create their own solutions (web 2.0)
• diverging cultures

Discussed a study comparing Dunkin Donuts vs Starbucks customers… they are very different!

Peculiarities of each group:

• mls – focused on process and discussion
• IT – closed in their approach to sharing info for specific reasons – not because of mal-intent or evil motive

quick discussion of the terms user/customer/patron/public…

Perceptions of the customer:

• library – the customer as primarily using physical product and services
• IT view

IT sees librarians:

1. underestimating the complexity of technoligies
2. undervaluing the expertise of the highly knowledgeable technologist

Librarians see IT as: – over-complicating the easily accomplished; controlling the reins of technology to maintain power and sovereignty

Meanwhile, customers are inventing thier own environments – authority leaping, boundary leaping, learning-oriented

Ripe times for synergy – IT and Librarians need to work together…

Creating the “”new” is fun AND critical!

il2006

Glenn Peterson, Hennepin County Library

OPAC Developments 2006:

• ILS Customer Bill of Rights – blyberg.net
• patREST – Blyberg developed this
• NCSU/Endeca catalog
• NGC4LIB – new listserv discussing next-gen catalogs
• Catalog search everywhere! Amazon, Google, MySpace

Glenn mentioned these trends:

• Go to userscripts.org – amazon and B&N scripts… add it to firefox
• Personalized Google pages… include live search to catalog, Library news..
• Myspace library search right in MySpace

Synergy:
How can your website and catalog work together… add value and save the time of the user…

Two Approaches

1. portal – something vendors are offering. bringing library content into the catalog interface.
2. integrating catalog as one of many web-based resources

Examples:

• Fort Collins library – includes menu on all pages, even library catalog
• aadl.org and Phoenix Public Library – both hacked their ILS to integrate it into the whole library website experience

Opportunities:
1. links to titles

• not too hard to do
• booklists – link to the catalog record!
• newsletters – online newsletter – link to those catalog records when a book is mentioned
• new book alerts – link to those records… even using email
• event listings…
• etc…

2. links to catalog searches

• on subject guides – link to the subject heading in catalog
• pathfinders – same thing
• reader’s advisory

3. make your links smarter

• create a script that points to catalog records

4. single login

• log in to catalog, databases, website, etc with one login.
• HCL is displaying My Account info within the website. Cool.

il2006

I just skimmed the book Good to Great by Jim Collins, and want to remember a few things, sorta kinda about change management:

Pg. 89: “Spending time and energy trying to “motivate” people is a waste of effort. The real question is not, “How do we motivate our people?” If you have the right people, they will be self-motivated. The key is to not de-motivate them. One of the primary ways to de-motivate people is to ignore the brutal facts of reality.”

Pg. 163: “Good-to-great organizations avoid technology fads and bandwagons, yet they become pioneers in the application of carefully selected technologies.”

“The key question about any technology is, Does the technology fit directly with your Hedgehog Concept [which is a cool concept – it’s a venn diagram, with three circles: 1. what are you deply passionate about, 2. what you can be the best in the world at, and 3. what drives your economic engine – the hedgehog concept is the stuff that intersects all three circles – that’s the stuff you should do]? If yes, then you need to become a pioneer in the application of that technology. If no, then you can settle for parity or ignore it entirely.”

“The good-to-great companies used technology as an accelerator of momentum, not a creator of it. None of the good-to-great companies began their transformations with pioneering technology, yet they all became pioneers in the application of technology once they grasped how it fit in their three circles and after they hit breakthrough.”

“How a company reacts to technological change is a good indicator of its inner drive for greatness versus mediocrity. Great companies respond with thoughtfulness and creativity, driven by a compulsion to turn unrealized potential into results; mediocre companies react and lurch about, motivated by fear of being left behind.”