OPAL: Creating Staff Buy-In For New Technologies

Presentation by Michael Stephens

notes by Starr Hoffman

6.15.2006

 

"Why are we doing this?"

  • common staff question about new technology
  • give a reason -- there should be a reason
    • reaches a population of users that might otherwise not use the library

 

User-Centered Planning

  • find new ways to deliver services that meet their needs
  • involve users in planning
    • survey
    • ask informally
    • get focus group of users
  • ask what they want (not what we think they need)

 

OCLC's Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources

(can download pdf)

Subset of this report, on students:

Top 3 Criteria for Deciding Which Electronic Resource to Use

    • provides worthwhile information
    • provides free information
    • based on ease of use
  • hence: Google

 

Common Reasons for Not Using Library Site

  • didn't know about it
  • other sites have better info
  • can't find it

 

To Change This

  • we need better marketing
  • current trends
    • self-service (online services)
    • seamlessness (all services in one place, one interface, one design scheme)

 

More OCLC Survey Results

  • 51% have used IM
  • 30% never heard of online databases

 

OCLC Survey User Suggestions

  • how to make the library like a bookstore, etc.
  • see suggestions in slide #8

 

(aside comments, off-topic from slides)

  • need engaging & safe places for teens (to create content, etc.)

 

Starbuck's is More Than Just Coffee

  • wifi
  • place to sit
  • buy music
  • downloads
  • need to emulate this with the "library brand"

 

"Reinvigorating the Library Brand"

 

Services We Could Emulate

 

The Gamer Generation

 

Beck on Gamers & Boomers

  • create zones in your library
    • for different ages, cultures
    • spaces to study vs. spaces to socialize
  • expand your A/V collection
  • know each culture
  • go global
  • be a guide, not a boss
  • personalize your web services
  • be attentive

 

Pew Study on Millennials

  • related: Pew Report Demographics, Generations Online
  • team-oriented
  • immersed in media & gadgets
  • use the social web
  • accept loss of privacy in exchange for accessibility
  • learning is shaped by technology & collaboration
  • learning through games: article

 

To Serve Millennial Users

  • give users a digital creation studio
  • give them a place to play

 

NextGen Users

  • Library Journal, Born with the Chip by Stephen Abram & Judy Luther
  • format agnostic
    • "information is information"
    • they see "little difference in credibility or entertainment value between print and media formats"
  • nomadic
  • multitasking
  • experiential
  • collaborative
  • integrated
  • principled
  • adaptive
  • direct

 

5 Factors to Consider

  • does it place a barrier between the user and the service?
  • is it librarian-centered or user-centered in conception?
    • i.e. is it born from complaints from librarians about users
  • does it add more rules to your bulging book of library rules, procedures and guidelines?
  • does it make more work for the user or the librarian?
  • does it involve having to damage control before you even begin the service?
    • if so, you might want to rethink

 

(aside: teen services)

 

10 Steps for Staff Buy-In

1) Listen

  • your staff knows of potential problems & barriers
    • they can help you fix them
    • ask them to anonymously write problems on index cards
  • listen to users

 

2) Involve Staff in Planning

  • staff will care if they're involved

 

3) Tell Stories

  • about "Rock the Shelves" (also on flickr)
  • illuminate potential & happenings elsewhere
  • need to get away from stats -- tell stories about how people are served in our libraries
  • human touch

 

4) Be Transparent

  • tell your staff what's going on
  • have IT department blog about what's going on (on their end)
  • communicate
  • administration transparency about staff changes, construction, technology, etc.
  • give staff __a way to respond__

 

5) Report & Debrief (from conferences)

  • have staff list the top 3 "rock their world" things that they learned at the conference
  • vote on favorites from master list
  • #1 service (rated by users) = reader's advisory
    • we need to perform this service well
  • so:
    • RA blog
    • RA online products

 

6) Do Your Research First

  • be prepared before a meeting
  • evidence-based decision-making; is it right for your:
    • audience
    • context
    • staff (number of staff & their skill set)
    • budget
  • mine the biblioblogosphere
  • talk to other librarians
  • travel to visit places implementing these services / technologies
  • what are successful libraries doing?

 

Library 2.0: taking traditional library services out where people are.

 

7) Managing Projects Well

  • learn to have effective meetings
  • make a timeline: get things done, less talk
  • __Death by Meeting__, by Patrick M. Lencioni
  • __Getting Things Done__, by David Allen
  • [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson's_law Parkinson's Law]
    • "work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion"
  • establish a point person
  • effective meeting method:
    • start
    • update
    • sign-off

 

8) Train Your Staff

  • in-person, online, offsite
  • part of culture, "up & down"
  • a well-trained staff can carry your message to users
    • example:
      • user asks: "do you have wifi?"
      • staff: "I don't know; no one ever tells me anything"
  • train staff in an aggregator to keep current

 

Training Web 2.0

  • the sandbox
    • should be immersive, playful, experiential
    • jump in and try it
    • learn this aspect from gamers
  • "why are we doing this?"
  • form an Emerging Technology Group
  • trendspotting
  • ZEPHYR
    • help library create new services
  • take time to plan innovation
  • ask staff, "Are You Dreaming?"
  • let staff play
    • experiment
    • let them unwind

 

(aside)

Possible Library Staff Orientation

  • fieldtrip: student union arcade
  • involve students
  • see what it's like, witness what's going on
  • team-building

 

9) Celebrate Successes

  • stop before next project
  • staff lunch / party

 

Breathe & Take Care of Yourself

  • unplugging
  • relax
  • take time with a hobby, family

 

10) Embrace Change & Learn

  • "we've always done it that way" --is it the best way?
  • "there's no time" -- can we let go of something else?
  • never stop learning: challenge yourself

 

Ideas...

  • sponsor DDR tournament to advertise new IM reference service?

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