Good Signs

I have been trying to find ways to promote use of our databases. My first thought was that the problem was the term “Database.” It didn’t convey the right message. Then I focused on trying to show individual customers how to find things they were looking for by using our databases. Next I began passing out the brochure and bookmark that helped explain what they might find in the databases. My next step was to work with my branch staff to develop a simple program to teach parents how to help their children with homework by using the databases or at least rescue them from that frantic 8:30 dash to the library! Then one day I decided to do a walk through the library just to try and see it from the customer’s perspective.

What I discovered surprised me. We told them where the non-fiction was located, where the mysteries were and where the catalog was, but we never mentioned that those catalog computers had databases full of wonderful information. According to our most recent survey many of our patrons don’t know anything about the databases. We are adding new signs as quickly as we can. Hopefully maybe we will get more questions about these wonderful sources.

What is Krug’s Law?

Why is Google so appealing? I think the first answer is that it is so simple.

Steve Krug, the author of Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability says the most common problem with Web sites is “too much--of everything.” On the basis of this premise, Google wins. I cannot think of another Web site for anything that has chosen to say so little. If you pull up Google.com, there is no question about what you should do or where. There is a lot of white space and almost no room for confusion.

Krug’s Law is actually “don’t make me think.” Google makes it very simple and does not distract the user. Then it provides a wealth of information and things are no longer so simple. Sorting out the relevance and accuracy of the information is where librarians can save the day. Anyone can google, but people often need help sorting out the results.

What other Web sites appeal to you for their simplicity?

Happy Birthday WWW

We can all celebrate the birthday this week of the world wide web. Sir Tim Berners-Lee developed the web at the CERN Particle Physics Laboratory near Geneva in November of 1990. His vision was “that people should not have to deal with the technology stuff." The WWW was launched on August 6, 1991. Time magazine named Tim Berners-Lee as one of the top 100 people who have changed the world, http://www.time.com/time/time100/scientist/index.html and in July 2004 he was granted knighthood by the British Empire.


Sixteen years ago most of us probably didn’t really know what we would do with this new technology. Today most of us don’t know what we would do without it. The WWW has changed how business is conducted throughout the world and without a doubt it has changed how librarians obtain and distribute information. We depend on the web for news, shopping, banking, travel and even use it for spelling… if only workflows was more forgiving!

How has the WWW affected you?

Shelfari.com

We often have requests from customers who want to know the titles of books they have checked out over the some past period of time. Since our system shows only currently checked out or overdue materials, we are unable to satisfy these requests for assistance.

In the past, there was only Librarything. Now there is Shelfari. Shelfari was launched in October of 2006. In February, Amazon invested a million dollars in Seattle-based Shelfari.

Shelfari is a social network for book lovers, but for those of us not yet up to social networking on the Internet it is also a wonderful place to keep a list of what we have read and what we want to read in the future. The site is clean, easy to use and best of all it is free. There is no advertising. Of course, if you wish to buy a book there is a quick link to Amazon and Shelfari earns an affiliate commission. Shelfari offers book clubs, reviews and recommendations for those who are ready for more networking.

Mixed Messages?

Do we send mixed messages in our libraries? We want to provide excellent customer service. We make every effort to locate our information desks so they are easy to find and make them very approachable. We work on presenting ourselves as friendly and helpful. We are continually making efforts to improve the appearance of our libraries and rearrange and display our resources in ways we think will make it easier for our customers to find what they are looking for or even those things they didn’t realize they were looking for. We try to offer assistance in every way we can. Then we change signals and offer self service check out. We want them to do this for themselves.

I often watch, from my info desk vantage point as our circulation department staff chat with and assist patrons as they are checking them out. They may be telling them about a program or just commenting on having enjoyed a book themselves that the patron is checking out, but people seem pleased for the interaction. Self check out doesn’t talk back.

Can we encourage both personal interaction and self-service? How? What do you think?