acpl reference librarians

See pics from our visit today!

Blogs!

Maire and Sarah showed us their public blog

• great way to reach out to patrons, get feedback
• 50+ bloglines subscribers
• comments disabled due to comment spam
• collection development head librarian is in charge of moderating postings

- they also have a game blog

• comments enabled, must register and have first post approved
• hopefully participants will be able to post once issues have been worked out

Suggestions:

• Allow comments (see Ann Arbor’s success): let your patrons talk to you! Keep it a two-way conversation. Why?
• Don’t necessarily have to call it a “blog.” If people don’t understand what that is, that’s OK, it’s the importance of getting the information out there.
• “Cluetrain Manifesto” (2000) - people will talk about you regardless. Give them a forum for it so you can follow it (and respond!)…

ACPL could use a public blog so librarians can easily create content, get information out immediately about new services, book reviews, etc. Postings about personal preferences make librarians real people! Puts a face on everything. Hennepin County Library has staff pictures posted on their subject guides; Glenn Peterson told librarians they could do whatever they wanted on their pics to make people feel more comfortable.

SJCPL has a staff blog to facilitate internal communication - keep up on hirings, programs, etc.

• It is the home page on many staff computers.
• They use their staff blog more than email for many things so staff with little computer access can easily keep up.
• Now use centralized selection - staff can submit suggestions to collectors and receive feedback on the decision. They are heard!
• Agency forums are available for intradepartmental communication, and also to reach out to particular agency staff. These can be used similarly to how we now use email groups, but is more transparent to those outside the group.
• Great way to share information (links, etc.) among different physical locations.
• Who to ask (organizationally) when you have a question about X.
• “Librarian’s Rolodex” (handy links staff use often) are available on staff sandbox wiki.

How to keep track of all of this? Some staff are overwhelmed by the amount of information available. We discussed RSS and using bloglines as a feedreader to keep track of many sites/blogs all in one place. We have had staff training on these topics, but could use more.

Wikis!

SJCPL just launched (yesterday!) their subject guides wiki, to keep track of their subject links.

• More of a pathfinder model, it incorporates local content.
• Kansas City was their inspiration, and the wiki grew from that.
• Librarians can directly post information instead of sending to a developer for coding input.
• This content was already created for other purposes (bookmarks, other paper handouts), just placed in a more accessible format.
• You can “watch” the page so you’ll know when there is a new update, correction, or discussion.
• Librarians can collaborate and help edit each other’s content.
• Began with 4/5 staff, and interest quickly grew among librarians to participate.

Gaming!

Maire, Pedro and Julie helped us through the process fun!

• Game Cubes are all set up with Mario Kart.
• SJCPL has gaming two Saturdays a month - one open play, one tournament - builds up to grand tournament with cool prizes.
• Tournaments are limited to grades 7-12.
• Boys may sometimes be more prevalent, but girl participation is growing.
• Staff attended the Gaming in Libraries symposium in Chicago (pics).
• Remember: you are not there to sell/push other parts of the library - they will discover it on their own. You got them in the library already!
• So many parents are thankful for the program and attest to the participants’ enjoyment.

ACPL staff had a great time “driving” their Mario Kart characters around Peach Beach!

Why Mario Kart?

• Everyone gets a fair shot - people in later positions get “help” from the game.
• Appeals to a younger audience - “cleaner” content, more appropriate rating.

IM!

• Staff started personal IM accounts and played with the technology, and then later did a soft rollout (link on home page).
• Staff uses IM to request books between buildings. Some branches are in a different area code and calling them is a long distance charge.
• They answer IM questions on the desk (two or three people on central reference desk). Primarily the IM service runs on a computer in their phone room, right behind the ref desk. A speaker points out towards the desk and a sound notification alerts them to a new IM.
• Use is higher during the school year. SJCPL prioritizes service: 1)in person, 2)phone, and 3)IM/email.
• They have screen names for the three main IM services (AIM, MSN, Yahoo).
• In the past, they used virtual reference software - paid lots of money, staff training, publicity - with low use. ROI was perhaps greater than $500 per question(!).

Provide the service (blogs, wikis, etc.) - people will use it. Some people will be hip with the technology (”Hey, I can add this blog to my bloglines account!”), some will use it without as much indepth knowledge (they follow on the link on the home page), but they will use it nonetheless. Blogs, wikis, and IM - other than staff training - are FREE!

We can’t thank SJCPL enough for their enthusiasm, knowledge, and hosting of our group today.