The high point of my library advocacy has been attending Reference Renaissance 2010 this past August. The conference attracted progressive, dedicated professionals and it was such a learning experience for me to be there while they sharpened their saws. This week, Library Journal published articles from the plenary panelists and it brought the excitement and privilege I felt sitting alongside them right back to me.
In Fish Market 101: Why Not a Reference User Experience?, Steven Bell speaks to the need to “transform a mundane transaction into a different, memorable, personalized interaction that creates loyal community members.”
Wayne Bivens-Tatum follows with Imagination, Sympathy, and the User Experience and encouragement for library staff to look at their organization – not as users who have learned how to master its resources and effectively tap their value – but as average users who want “simplicity, ease of use, and quality resources“.
And in an essay that warms my radical heart, The Visibility and Invisibility of Librarians, Jamie LaRue lists a few features of a library user interface I envision being delivered by the NPL. He also describes the professional pitfalls of being an invisible librarian and offers a different conception:
The visible librarian has a prominent seat at the community decision-making table, actively clarifies choices, provides reputable and relevant information, and through every action trumpets the unique contribution of the professional.
Need a little inspiration today? Take 15 minutes to read through these short essays. You’ll be glad you did.
I too attended the Reference Renaissance conference and found it inspiring and memorable. Your article about no longer using libraries for reference made me wince, however. Unfortunately, I can envision your experience happening more often than not, especially for people who are unconnected to either large or academic libraries. At the (public) college library where I am employed, we don’t inquire whether patrons are affiliated with us at the reference desk, we help everyone, but our interlibrary loan service is only available to our current students, faculty and staff. We refer others to their local public library – for better or worse, it appears. Before I worked here and subsequently got my MLS, I was the only librarian in a tiny public library and I know I would have been hard pressed to provide the kind of reference service you describe in your article, not because it’s an esoteric request, it’s not, but because I was so ill-equipped to handle it, both in materials available and in my own training. I remember a librarian in one of the courses I took through the state library at the time telling us that libraries don’t exist to offer the latest best sellers, a startling idea to me then. She said, “your patrons can buy the latest fiction, but they aren’t going to buy reference sources.” The ideal for us librarians is that all patrons have their research needs met, but the reality is far from that ideal for many reasons, some of which you and your respondents have cited. I don’t have any answers, but at least now I am confident that I would be able to help you find what you were looking for and my current library would have the appropriate sources. Still, you have given me a lot to think about. Sometimes we don’t understand what the reference experience feels like on the other side of the desk. Thank you for the eye-opener.
Hi Lois – I’m so grateful my LJ article has sparked some good dialogue (here and on the LJ site) instead simply being a complaint released into the ether, which was not at all my intent.
For me, the real tragedy in my story is that every person’s position is understandable. Everyone in my story tried and we all failed, because the systems don’t let us do better. I have plenty of library resources around me (26 libraries in a 10 mile radius) but there are so many barriers to access and consistent gaps and overlap that when I try to use libraries for reference I either bump up against a wall or fall into a hole.
The folks at Whatcom County Library System in Washington State are trying something I hope works; they’re providing seamless user access to area academic and public libraries. They describe their new OneCard initiative as one “spearheaded by Whatcom Libraries Collaborate, a group of library directors and deans dedicated to expanding library access for better stewardship of resources and greater community impact.” Makes a lot of sense to me!
Hi Jean, glad to see you’re still fighting the good fight.
As you know, I enjoy doing and reading about secret shopper exercises. I find that, as yours obviously did, they really does put into perspective the flaws in public libraries, librarians, and collection development.
While I can’t speak for others, I know that I thrive on questions like yours. Sure, it’s partially because I’m a litnut, but more so because it is a real, juicy reference question; as long as it’s not ready-reference or a computer reservation, I am known to sit with a patron for twenty minutes (or more) looking through options. This is obviously difficult when there are large lines (like today and many other days), but I think we must persist. Rarely do people complain about wait times when they see my colleagues and I deeply engrossed in a question. They know, perhaps, that I will devote the same attention to their needs…
I suspect a lot of the foul answers librarians give arise from fear — your question is literary in nature, try asking a law or heaven forbid a business question. There are those librarians that fear what they don’t understand. I fear those librarians.
Hello Oleg – so good to hear from one of my inspirations again! Thanks for adding to the conversation.
The libraries available to me have been disappointing information resources,and I attribute this to the incredible challenges of contemporary librarianship and an outmoded national library structure rather than a deficit in the people working within the system. In terms of the challenges: communities have become diverse as have their users’ needs and expectations; needs have become more sophisticated as education levels have risen; the sheer volume of info has risen exponentially at the same time info industries are in a state of mega-disruption, and libraries are now one of many info intermediaries and competition has raised the bar. This list isn’t exhaustive and it still makes my head spin!
Also while library fragmentation & inefficiency are particularly acute in Massachusetts, I wonder how many others across the nation would fit my description: “they’re numerous, small, quaint and essentially stand-alone units staffed by a handful of individuals who must do everything from turning off the alarm systems in the morning to [name all traditional library services here], managing meeting rooms, programming, promotion, updating the website, and in the case of some directors also managing the facilities. Staff try really hard, but there’s only so much they can do given the way these libraries are currently conceived, structured and funded.”
We can do better. I’ll “keep up the good fight” if you will
I very much enjoyed your post. I’m doing some preliminary research for a paper about “the future of reference services” and you have given me a lot to think about.
Hi Sara – good luck with the paper. I work as a technical manager at a prominent STM publisher and get lots of intelligence about how the information world is evolving.
Here’s a short essay on what our information environment will be like in the near future that may help you formulate your ideas:
http://www.radicalpatron.com/imagining-scarcity-as-an-organizational-strategy-tool/.