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Library Photo Friday 1
New library services: order tracking & event search
Recent library experiences made me think of two more items for the list of services I’ve proposed as a standard suite of public library offerings.
Order tracking. I’ve submitted a few ILL requests to my library in the past 2-3 weeks and have no idea of their status. For all I know, my requests may not have even been received. It would be awesome if I could simply log in to my secure library account and check status. (And, if the system was well-designed it could serve up an “advertisement” for a new program or service, present me with a poll or a reminder to donate to my library.)
Search library events by proximity. The other night while researching a blog post, I browsed library websites in my area. Some of the scheduled programs looked interesting although I won’t take the time to search these sites again. The value of the results wasn’t worth the time spent to retrieve them. Now, it would be a different story if I could log in to my secure library account, enter a smart event search (that indexed a number of fields on the back end), plug in my zip code and indicate how far I was willing to travel and be presented with a single list of events. It would be even better if the system gave me the option to turn the query into an email alert when new programs that matched my criteria were posted. (These “content” emails would be another vehicle to advertise or solicit feedback.)
How to pay for these fancy systems you ask? Actually, I’ve got some ideas on that …
Tough questions, good ideas, photo Fridays
For me, library advocacy means celebrating achievements, asking tough questions, and sharing good ideas. I’ve tried to do that here. The blog archive has a number of essays, images, references and kudos that celebrate the contributions of American public libraries.
For the tough questions and good ideas, I’ve collected posts on a single page, entitled “Good Ideas for Public Libraries“. Please pass the link along.
I’m also expanding on an idea to leverage a single logo to help elevate libraries in the public consciousness and facilitate an understanding that our public library system is a national resource. Beginning this Friday, I’ll share high-quality images using the internationally recognized library logo. Hope everyone enjoys them!
