NetTrek: Online Staff Training

Delivering on Yes
“Know” Logs
 Highlights DOY 2010
• Books to Movies – 9,300 checkouts Dec.–Feb.
• Public Notary – 48 times
• Color printers at CCPL & SoBoCo
• Self service faxing
• Postal box, envelopes & stamps
• Courtesy phone
 Why are we doing another study?
• The no logs study helped us to find out:
– Do we inadvertently place obstacles in the way of the user?
– Are we keeping up with trends, questions, expectations ?
– Are we getting perspectives from all our service points and staff?
– Are we putting the user first in the delivery of our services or materials?

• Now, we want a broader picture of our “user experiences” as logged by you.

• We want to measure progress by comparing the results with last year’s
survey.
• We want to find out if patrons are getting what they want or are they walking
away empty-handed?
• We want to capture “hard to track” user impressions or comments.
• Another way to help us realize our service goals
 Action Plan
• Action plan will be impacted by personnel changes this year
• Know Logs will be recorded from March 21 through April 8
• Results will go to standing Customer Services Committee (CSI)
for review
• CSI will review, research, and make recommendations to the
Administration for further consideration
• Results will influence implementation strategies for 2011-2012
strategic plan
• Any budget implications will go to next budgeting cycle
What do I do?
Use the online log form on
the Intranet to record any
interaction with a patron
that reflects positively or
negatively on the user’s
experience using library
facilities, collections or
services.
 How do we find out about
our patrons’ experiences?
• Measuring usage patterns from website, including holds
• Keeping track of visits to libraries and bookmobiles
• Hearing unsolicited patron comments
• Monitoring program attendance
• Reviewing program attendance and “How are we doing” forms
• Tracking comments made through social media like Yelp, Twitter,
“Ask a Librarian” and other staff assistance points
@www.dbrl.org
• Noting responses when staff ask patrons, “Did you find what you
wanted?”
 How do we find out about
our patrons’ experiences?
• Hearing comments in community settings such as community
service organizations, club meetings or one-on-one interactions
with groups we work with directly
• Receiving formal recognition like the Chamber Award given to
the Southern Boone County Public Library
• Snapshots surveys & logs:
– 4 Q survey at dbrl.org – current online users
– Community survey mailed – capture some non-users
– “No Logs” 2010, “Know Logs” 2011
What do we want to know?
• Access
• Ambiance
• Collections
• Programs
• If staff procedures, routines or
departmentalization affect staff
problem-solving and impact the
user experience
• Collect user comments & invite
users to suggest ways for a better
outcome
 Access
• Site & site constraints – space, distance, parking, hours, signage,
plain language, safety, number of overlapping programs,
convenience, appearance, staffing
(Example: Get me out of here.)

• Digital branch - speed, design, delivery of information, use of

social media, “digital library” content “have we determined
what jobs people want to perform on our web sites and have we
tailored our sites to make those choices obvious?” *
(Example: I could not access my account)

*Libraries and 'Milkshake Marketing' by Toy Tennant, LJ 3/08/11

 Ambiance
• Noise
• Cleanliness
• Service desks
• Privacy vs. safety
• Furniture arrangement
• Emergency Shelter issues
• Proxemics - personal space, crowding, clutter
• Convenience (Example: Do you have a vending machine?)
• Lighting adequacy (Example: patron using lighter to see his library
card number to get on the second floor computer on a rainy day.)
• Way-finding, layouts – “What clues do we provide for all the
various jobs our physical spaces try to support?”*
*Libraries and 'Milkshake Marketing' by Toy Tennant, LJ 3/08/11
 Collections
• Crowding
• Arrangement – “ I must be stupid”
• Signage, way-finding, “right clues”
• All checked out – leaving empty-handed
• Organization – Dewey who?, formats
• Can I find someone to ask?
• Look attractive – visual elements, shelf
straightening
• Comments about displays,
merchandising & marketing
(Examples: Where are the biographies,
where are the books I can check out?)
• Knowledge about our digital collections,
eBooks, databases, guides
 Programs
• Room issues
• Equipment issues
• Information about programs, who is contact?
• Using our digital branch for info, links to programs etc.
• Delivering programs via digital branch, local media
• Overlapping programs – parking, crowding
• Timing of programs (Example: I can’t come at that time of day.)
• Booking issues – can we book online, wait for Admin’ office hours?
 Staff

• Log user comments or

observations
• Work functions & routines
maximize efficiency which
benefits user but at other times …
• Situations where internal routines
or inter-departmental procedures
impede service
(Example: I talked to someone but
I never heard back.)
 User Expectations
• Other libraries do it?
• Time staff can spend on a question
• “Do we really understand the various motivations of our various
user groups? Do we know what jobs people expect to be
performed by our services?”
• Community needs – can they come to us?
– Bookmobile Junior
– www.dbrl.org
– Community Referral
 You Need to Know
• Personnel changes may affect organizational routines & response to
the logs.
• Users won’t always have a “good” experience, some expectations are
unreasonable e.g. help a patron produce a resume in 10 minutes
• Many things are not under staff control e.g. parking, space issues
• Use the “suggest a way to improve the user experience” at the bottom
of the form.
• Invite the user to suggest a way to improve the situation or point of
service.
• All comments will be treated in a supportive, non critical manner
when they are reviewed.
• Your comments are anonymous.
• Write as little or as much as you need.
 Where is the log form?
On the Intranet or at the NetTrek blog, where you
can also review this presentation:
–http://intranet.dbrl.org
–http://NetTrek.dbrl.org
 What the Know Log is Not
• It is not an evaluation of how you answer a question or how you
respond to a patron.
• It is not an evaluation tool to see how much you know about a
subject or how much you know about library policy or
procedures.
• It is not an evaluation of other staff and their personal response
to situations although internal or departmental factors may be
part of a less satisfactory user experience.
• It is not an observational study.
 Review of 2010 No Logs &
New Library Literature
• DOY 2010 summary – handout in package

• Fit Libraries Are Future-Proof:

http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/features/09212010/fit-
libraries-are-future-proof

• 12 Ways Libraries Are Good For the Country:

http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/features/12212010/12-
ways-libraries-are-good-country
 “Delivery on Yes ” Committee
The Delivery on Yes committee is happy to hear from you. Please
ask us questions or add any comments that might improve this
project.

• Chair: Patricia Miller pmiller@dbrl.org

• Tim Dollens tdollens@dbrl.org
• Jerilyn Hahn jhahn@dbrl.org
• Althea Harris aharris@dbrl.org
• Judy Pruitt jpruitt@dbrl.org
• Mitzi St John mstjohn@dbrl.org
• Nathan Thomas nthomas@dbrl.org
NetTrek.dbrl.org