Recommended
Recommended
More Related Content
What's hot
What's hot (12)
Similar to 5 pecha kucha roll
Similar to 5 pecha kucha roll (20)
More from TDBaldwin
More from TDBaldwin (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
5 pecha kucha roll
- 1. Measuring Visitor Satisfaction Martina Brooks- User Services Manager Rachel Ashtari – User Services Supervisor
- 3. Why we measure visitor satisfaction? • To maintain high standards • Shape the future of our services • Identify trends • Identifies areas of dissatisfaction • Evidence to make positive changes
- 4. How did we do it before? • Closed question surveys • Paper-based surveys • Little-used feed back mailbox • User groups that were poorly attended • NSS Survey results • Non documented feedback comments given to staff
- 5. Why did we want to change? We needed more real-time feedback to enable us to deal with issues as and when they arose. We needed users to tell us in their own words instead of using closed questionnaires. We needed more supporting evidence to drive changes to improve our services and environment.
- 7. ServMetric ServMetric as part of rol Solutions Ltd., software range is a market leader in measuring customer experience. ServMetric and sister brand GovMetric, launched in 2006 and is the most widely used solution for capturing the ‘Voice of the Customer’ within the UK recording over since 30 million customer interactions since 2011.
- 8. What did we do? • ServMetric went live in the Drill Hall September 2016 • Since then we heavily marketed the use of the system to staff and library users • We immediately began collecting valuable data and responding to feedback • Staff and users were empowered to leave honest opinions • Feedback could be left 24/7 365 days a year
- 9. A ‘widget’ is embedded onto the PC desktop allowing the student to report issues or provide feedback How to leave feedback
- 10. A kiosk has been placed at the exit to the library allowing visitors to provide feedback on their experience
- 11. The Smileys’ image sits on the global template of the website and allows the customer to feedback at any time
- 12. Reporting – Key Features Simple to access and use online reporting suite including: • Dashboards • Alerts • Tracker
- 13. What did we learn in 2017? 11284 2470 3397 70% 12% 18% Since the launch we have received feedback from over 17,000 library users
- 14. Actionable Insights Over 1,200 actionable feedback from Visitors Issues included: • Noise or disturbance reports • Library opening hours • Equipment broken • Request for additional equipment • Building Issues – toilets, cleaning, building temperature • Signage
- 15. Lessons Learnt • You need to get staff buy-in to promote the use of the system as a positive thing • Positive marketing campaigns for the use of the system, quick, easy and your opinions matter and will be answered • Consistency – reply to everyone who requests a response and action changes where possible • Keep staff informed on the feedback received
- 16. Changes we have made • Improvements to library environment and facilities offered • Improved library resources available • Improved relationships with campus partners i.e. Estates dept. , Stakeholders and partners
- 17. Benefits of Change • Empowering our users to make a positive change • The voice of the user is heard and evidenced • Evidence to present to partners and stakeholders on the mood of the users • Staff and Users feel they have more ownership and give weight to changes that happen
- 19. Broadstairs Library The Future Drill Hall Library Tonbridge Library Avery Hill Library Templeman Library Salomons Library Augustine House Library Stockwell Street Library
- 20. Come and talk to us for more information Martina Brooks - M.Brooks@Greenwich.ac.uk Rachel Ashtari – R.Ashtari@Greenwich.ac.uk
- 21. What about us? UX = Staff 2 Regina Everitt Interim Director, Library and Learning Resources SOAS University of London www.soas.ac.uk/library
- 22. Library staff 22 SOAS students SOAS academic staff Professional Services staffresearchers public corporate users exec leaders External students partners
- 23. 23 SOAS at a glance • SOAS has over 100 graduate programmes • SOAS offers an unparalleled range of non-European Languages • More than 400 degrees combinations are taught here • 50% of our students are from outside the UK • SOAS has the largest concentration of specialist staff at any university in the world Photo: G. Ratcliffe
- 24. SOAS Library • One of five National Research Libraries • Over 1.3 million items, 35,000 e- journals and 100 databases • Stock is arranged by region, with several non-regional collections (e.g. Law, Art, journals and Humanities & Social Sciences) • Archives Collections 24 Photo: G. Ratcliffe
- 26. 26 Customer Collaborator Um, we need this…. Let’s develop this… You’re gonna release when!? We can release then…
- 27. ‘Management’…don’t have a clue….!!! 27
- 28. OLE Day... • Self-service in operation….no on-counter duties • Populated demo system….’sandpit’ • Function-focused training sessions • Floor walking by confident team members • Think-tank sessions on work flows • Coordinated load testing • Documentation drafting 28
- 30. ‘Management’…don’t have a clue….!!! 30
- 32. Objectives…. •Staff user experience •Culture change •Resourcing 32
- 33. Approach… • Voluntary – staff of varying levels • Two interviewers – varying levels • Not about performance management • Interviewer notes anonymised • Notes high-level – not verbatim • One month period 33
- 34. Functions observed… • General circulation tasks at the counter (including self-service machines) • Claims returned management • Cataloguing (non-Roman) • Acquisitions (including purchasing, invoicing, receiving orders; discussed year-end processing) • Looking up records (non-Roman) • Lost item management • Council meetings • Reservations management (including cancellation, drop off, collection) 34
- 35. Proforma… • Anonymised • Function • Went well • Challenges • Recommendations 35
- 36. About the volunteers… •9 out of 48 daily users … 19% of eligible users •Staff-selected representation •Confident users 36
- 37. Overarching themes… • System performance • Potential of open source • Training need • Communications • Streamlining • Workflows 37
- 38. Recommendations for SMT… • Communications to support collaborative working • Technical resources • Cross-team decisions on workflows • Training • Review of job descriptions 38
- 39. Where we are now… • System performance and technical resources • Open source…user control • Confidence and training • Collaborative working and workflow design • Job descriptions 39
- 41. Introducing the human touch to information provision: Human Book Events at Middlesex University M25 Conference April 2018
- 42. The context
- 45. • Homeless • Refugee • Unemployed • Religious Group • Young single Mother • PTSD • ADHD • Autism • Mental Health issues • HIV • Sexually abused • Drug/alcohol dependent • Lifestyle choice • Sexual orientation • Image/appearance
- 46. Library and Student Support (LSS) Academic Writing Counselling and Mental Health Disability Finance International Student Advice IT Library Maths and Stats Support Student Welfare
- 47. Strategy Refresh The People and Culture strand Recognising that the diversity of our students and staff is an incredible resource Finding new ways of putting students at the centre of everything we do Human Book Event Books are people, and reading is a conversation Making it happen..
- 49. 3 Hours 81 Readers 149 Conversations 43 Books 3 eBooks 33 Librarians
- 50. It worked….evaluation Information gained - useful / very useful Overall experience – good / excellent Interested in attending future Human Book events – yes 89% 94% 92%
- 51. And there’s more
- 53. • Misunderstood • Timing Lessons learnt
- 54. • Logistics • Advanced bookings • Timing More lessons learnt
- 55. “I found the questions engendered a level of reflection and emotion in me which I did not see coming.” “Powerful and lovely but heady in the moment.” “The whole thing is such a positive experience for students.” “Readers seemed very pleased with the information I was able to give them, so it felt very worthwhile.” “It is always useful to get out there and talk to as many students as possible, whatever their prior level of knowledge about the subject.”
- 56. “Very helpful and useful service” “[The Human Book] was very knowledgeable” “It was brilliant” “Everything was fantastic!” “Great service”
- 57. Speed Dating Human Books on Library Catalogue Embedded in the curriculum Ideas http://bit.ly/HBALibrary University of Alberta
- 58. • Mental Health Awareness • Role Models More ideas http://bit.ly/HBRoleModels Strathclyde University
- 59. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SF_Legion_of_Honor_Thinker_2.jpg Resource specific: NVivo Even more ideas Festival of Learning https://www.festivaloflearning.org.uk/
- 60. Monna Rizvi m.rizvi@mdx.ac.uk Vanessa Hill v.hill@mdx.ac.uk Thanks for listening
- 61. Beate Follmann Academic Liaison Librarian (Law) St Mary’s University,Twickenham Beate.Follmann@stmarys.ac.uk
- 62. The Start
- 63. InitialWorkshop
- 64. Fun and Games at the Library Services Away Day
- 65. Fun and Games at the Library Services Away Day
- 66. Fun and Games at the Library Services Away Day
- 68. Dewey Game with Law Students fromYear 1
- 69. Dewey Game with Law Students fromYear 1
- 70. Dewey Game with Law Students fromYear 1
- 76. Academics and games for learning
- 77. Academics and games for learning
- 78. Academics and games for learning
- 79. What we think about games for learning
- 81. www.bl.uk Introduction 81 Image Credit: The British Library
- 82. www.bl.uk Background 82 Image Credit: The British Library
- 83. www.bl.uk Reference Services 83 Image Credit: The British Library
- 86. www.bl.uk Do’s and Don’ts 86 Image Credit: MorganK
- 87. www.bl.uk Challenges 87 Image Credit: Chris Greevebiester
- 88. www.bl.uk Challenges 88 Image Credit: The British Library
- 89. www.bl.uk Public Space Roving 89 Image Credit: Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net).
- 90. www.bl.uk Can you tell me where…? 90
- 92. www.bl.uk Collaborative Working 92 Image Credit: rawpixel
- 93. www.bl.uk Roving Pilot 93 Image Credit: Kristopher Allison
- 94. www.bl.uk Business Case 94 Image Credit: Clem Onojeghuo
- 95. www.bl.uk Moving Forward 95 Image Credit: Annie Spratt
- 98. www.bl.uk Growing the Service – 2017 and beyond 98 Image Credit: United States Mint
- 99. www.bl.uk Be Prepared For Change 99
- 100. www.bl.uk In Conclusion... 100 Image Credit: C. G. P. Grey
- 101. www.bl.uk Image Credits The British Library http://www.bl.uk FirmBee https://pixabay.com/en/imac-apple-mockup-app-ipad-mouse-606765/ MorganK https://pixabay.com/en/checklist-check-yes-or-no-decision-2313804/ Chris Greevebiester https://www.flickr.com/photos/92139090@N04/16805019500/ Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:View_of_the_Kings_Library,_British_Library.jpg rawpixel https://pixabay.com/en/action-analysis-business-2277292/ Kristopher Allison https://unsplash.com/photos/KU4zYj4u0mo Clem Onojeghuo https://unsplash.com/photos/7kNcci1MrsE Annie Spratt https://unsplash.com/photos/-KKLWDAgj2Q Ev https://unsplash.com/photos/C7h_31Lz16Y United States Mint https://www.usmint.gov/ C. G. P. Grey https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:British_Library_Gate_Shadow.jpg All uncredited photos taken by Jaimee McRoberts 101
Editor's Notes
- The Drill Hall Library at Medway may seem like a normal campus library from the outside, but it is in fact a unique collaboration of three of South East England universities: The University of Kent The University of Greenwich Canterbury Christchurch University. We manage three different collections, three different sets of library requirements and three different sets of student expectations
- Because of this it is important that we maintain a high standard of service expected by ourselves as well as our three university partners and we use data we collect to help us improve and mould the future of our services. Collecting regular feedback not only enables us to monitor the overall mood of the library but it enables us to continually make improvements to our library services and resources based on what our ‘customers’ actually want.
- In previous years, we did what I expect most university library’s have done. We gave out slips of paper with various questions and asked for people’s thoughts and opinions. We invited users to termly meetings to voice their opinions and we waited for the NSS Survey results to find out how we have performed.
- We realised that waiting for the NSS survey results to tell us where we were falling short was very far from proactive and gave us no chance to rectify some of the minor issues that could be an easy fix, or some of the bigger issues that were really causing problems for our users. We were slower than we should have been in making improvements and dealing with problems.
- We needed to a way to collect and respond to feedback, complaints and queries in real time; a one-stop shop solution to collect data using different resources already available to us. We wanted to be able to accurately record statistics and respond to users as and when the issues arose. Over the course of the year this would help us address any major and minor issues which would positively impact our NSS Scores. After researching the range of what was on offer we approached ServMetric
- ServMetric is a software solution designed to measure the customer experience. It allows us to ask survey type questions but whilst also giving our customers the option to provide a wide scope of verbatim feedback in their own words, positive and negative.
- We contacted ServMetric and they gave us an excellent demonstration of their product capability, which ticked all of our boxes. The system could notify the selected library teams instantly if a negative comment was left, giving us the ability to respond quickly and deal with any issues. There were several methods the system used to collect feedback and it was all measured and collated in a dashboard for us so analysing data would be quick, easy and efficient.
- We placed the Servmetric widget on each of our 450 desk top PC’s allowing users to provide feedback on their experiences or report issues such as noise, mess or system errors. Since we launched in 2016 the desktop widget has been used nearly 9000 times. This is a combination of a tap of a smiley to reflect their experience or to provide verbatim comments. This is our most used feedback channel.
- We strategically placed a kiosk by the exit of the library to allow all library users to provide feedback on their experience, including those who did not use a pc or worked from their own laptop. We also encourage visitors to provide feedback on their experience, such as the helpfulness of staff and was the library east to navigate. The kiosk has been used nearly 8,000 times since the launch of the system.
- We added a familiar smiley feedback icon to the front of the Drill Hall library webpage, allowing all website visitors to provide feedback at any time. This channel has been used nearly 500 times, making it by far the least used feedback channel, which is interesting because before Servmetric we assumed our website would be the go-to place to provide feedback.
- One of the big draws for us was that all feedback is recorded on a dashboard and each dashboard can be customized depending on your focus. You can see here that my dashboard records overall library satisfaction broken down by channel from which it was received. You can also create custom reports to run weekly, Monthly, annually etc which presents the feedback results in a report ready for distribution.
- 2016/17 was our first year of running the servMetric software and in the space of 18 months we received over 17,000 pieces of feedback, both positive and negative. But overall we could see that satisfaction in the library reached 70%. This gave us an accurate representation of the overall ‘mood’ of the library and it was something we could compare against our partners library survey as well as the NSS.
- Much of this feedback was quality feedback - comments our customers had made regarding our service, not only allowing us to make changes to our service where necessary but also collecting feedback to make cases to address larger scale issues such as improving the library facilities and changing opening hours etc
- We learnt that Staff buy-in is important to encourage use of the system for all issues. We introduced and let staff play with the system well before it went live. The use of the system still needs to marketed as a positive addition to the library through regular marketing channels Response times should be consistent to encourage further use and trust in the system. So we have trained a number of staff who respond to feedback during opening hours.
- Evidence collected has allowed us to make changes to the timing heating system, purchase additional resources, change our opening times and improve roaming and security to better meet the needs of our users. We have built stronger relationships with our campus partners such as facilities and estates based on the use of this system.
- We have seen a change in the culture of the library because users feel empowered and can see changes happening as a direct result of their feedback. This promotes the feeling that this is ‘their library’ rather than ’a library’ so users feel they have more of an ownership of the Drill Hall and respect for the resources. We have also been able to access all feedback in one place reducing staff time spent on running feedback campaigns
- We have since modified the system to notify us of the exact room or zone the feedback has been sent from, so issues regarding working environments such as noise and temperature etc can be addressed as quickly and efficiently as possible.
- Since the successful installation of Servmetric within the Drill Hall the evidence produced has resulted in the system now being used at two other libraries within our partnership and is currently being assessed for use by our other partnership libraries at Kent and Canterbury Christchurch. We have recently installed a new library management system in our collaboration and we are looking into the possibility of integrating ServMetric into our catalogue. We have found the system flexible with lots of potential and we fully intend to capitalise on this for the benefit of our users.
- Thank you for your time. Please feel free to contact Martina or myself if you would like to find out more about our ServMetric journey.
- Cambridge, LSE, Manchester U, Bodleian – Oxford U, SOAS
- In April 2015, SOAS moved to an open resource LMS called OLE. Roll back to 2011 (before my time) when the time was reviewing LMS options after running Millennium since 1999. At the time Sierra was not yet developed. Like many Libraries, the team sought a solution that could manage print, e-journals, e-books, databases, on- and off-site access, repositories, digital archives and the emerging field of Open Access and Research Data Management. Ultimately, a decision was made by the team to look to open source solutions – and OLE was chosen.
- Moving to an open source system meant a culture change for staff members. They needed to move from being a customer – reliant on vendor releases for system enhancements – to collaborator, working with partners in the US to develop the system.
- There were a few challenges… This was a new way of working after more than a decade of using one system. So, staff members were navigating the ups and downs of the change curve. Staff members who were not confident using IT were frightened that they would look foolish if they did not catch on quickly. Staff who were confident in using IT didn’t think it was their job to develop a system. And of course there were some staff members who were up for the challenge of a new system.
- To assist staff members with their transition to OLE….
- We were the first to implement OLE in April 2015. University of Chicago and Lehigh University in America joined later. However, as the first implementing site we had a number of teething problems: slow system performance, some features not immediately implemented such as fines calculation, rogue notices being published… I will be unpopular and say that some teething pains are expected when you consider the scale of migration of nearly a million bib records and thousands of user records and transactions.
- Front line staff members felt that senior managers in the Library had no idea of the issues that they faced. Beyond the embarrassment of having users stand before them while they waited for transactions to churn through due to poor system performance and complaints about incorrect notices….did ‘management’ understand or even care how staff members’ jobs changed? But how much did staff members’ jobs change? Would they not normally flag bugs or enhancements for vendor-based systems? I wanted to understand staff experience of using the new system so embarked on a UX mini-project.
- There are a number of approaches to UX analysis. Customer journey mapping is a popular approached used by some Libraries in understand how customers use their spaces. Ethnographic studies are used to study users in their working environment. I chose to use ‘contextual inquiries’. The *interviewers used contextual inquiries to gather qualitative information about staff experience of using OLE. Contextual inquiry is an interview method where users are asked a set of standard questions then asked specific questions as they are observed performing their tasks/functions in their work environments
- VH I’m Vanessa and this is Monna and we’re both Librarians at Middlesex University. This is where we work. As librarians we all think about libraries quite a bit and back in 2014 we were discussing how to encourage students to use the library……the assumption is that they will just turn up because they instinctively know that the library is important to their academic success…….obviously this is not the case.
- VH Libraries and the information landscape have changed a lot. We are no longer the Guardians of Information……our users can go it alone and don’t need us to provide information….they can access it 24/7. Libraries have had to adapt to these changes and all have had to reconsider their role and how best to serve their users.
- VH The following publications inspired us. They emphasised ‘community’ as the traditional defining feature of libraries and the need for them to be the “hub of a community”………what they said resonated with us. How do we keep the library relevant to our users and central to their academic lives? This question got us thinking about Human Libraries. So what exactly are they?
- MR The Human Library is a place where real people are on loan to readers. A place where difficult questions are expected, appreciated and answered. The original event in 2000 featured over 50 different titles, over a thousand readers and between them challenged stereotypes through dialogue, demonstrating the incredible impact of the Human Library.
- MR The concept has since been adopted internationally and public libraries have been at the forefront of the movement. The books are people with a story to tell who are generally stigmatised, misunderstood, controversial or on the edges of society. The possibilities are endless as can be seen from this list. So why did we think the Human Library concept might work for us?
- MR Over the last few years our Library service has expanded as we have been joined by a broad range of student support services from around the university to form what is now known as Library and Student Support. We felt that Human Books with real life experiences could act as a link between the help, support and advice available from the library and student needs and promote our service as central to student life.
- VH We put our idea to the Library executive and then to the wider University. Nothing happened for a few months until the introduction of our University’s new strategy which included a ‘Culture and people’ strand. Our Business School offered to pilot a Human Library event where the books were Middlesex Alumni from the business world. This was not quite what we had envisaged, but it allowed us to try out the concept.
- VH The event was held on 23rd May 2016. Although based on the Human Library concept we had to change the name to Human Book Event as the creators of the original concept are rightly protective of it. Here’s a rough plan of the event layout……how could it fail!! We used Springshare’s LibGuide and room booking software to promote the event, provide information about our books and enable online booking in advance.
- VH Here are a few stats. All the panic, sleepless nights and hard work were worth it. Over 3 hours, 81 students had 149 conversations with 43 books including 3 ebooks which were conversations via Skype with Human Books based abroad. 33 colleagues mainly from LSS including Student Learning Assistants managed the event working as Librarians.
- VH And it was a success…..the numbers speak for themselves. It was also interesting to know why students had chosen to borrow specific Human Books. Many chose books related to their course, career path, or because they were interested in a particular company. Others wanted to challenge their perceptions, start up a business or were interested in a particular aspect of a book’s career such as charity work or working in Africa.
- MR We have held 3 subsequent Human Book Events. The first of these was much easier to manage. There was no online guide, no online booking and only a couple of weeks to arrange, so less time to panic. This event was part of the annual Research Conference and the books reflected relevant expert advice and resources and was much more effective than our approach in previous year at the same event.
- MR The last two Human Book Events have been part of a general Student Success Festival held most recently in March. Our books reflected the wide ranging support available from LSS to help students succeed. This is more like our original concept of linking student needs with library services.
- VH We’ve learnt a few lessons along the way: The concept is misunderstood and student feedback suggests that we should change the name. Therefore promotion is key. Students and staff are not on campus every day and other factors such as holidays, exams, and reading weeks means that there is never a good time to run a Human Book Event in a University even though there is a lot of interest.
- VH Such events take a lot of planning and staff time to ensure that everyone is in the right place at the right time and the event runs smoothly. Advanced bookings don’t work. Students book but don’t always turn up for their appointment. The events are staff intensive……from recruiting the books, creating the publicity to actually running the event. Ideally one librarian is needed for every 2 books to make the event run smoothly.
- MR However Human Book Events do work. They provide an alternative to accessing support in more traditional ways. Real conversations happen and some of the books actually followed up conversations by sharing further information with their readers. These quotes reflect how our Human Books have found the experience to be worthwhile, powerful, positive, emotional and valuable.
- MR From the Readers perspective the feedback has been equally positive. Readers said: It was brilliant Everything was fantastic! Great service Very helpful and useful service and….. [The Human Book] was very knowledgeable
- VH We continue to have ideas around how to address some of the issues encountered so far. These include: Adding our Human Books to the Library Catalogue to build on the experience and further promote our services to users. Using a Speed Dating model might alleviate the need to take bookings and reduce the numbers of staff to run the event. Attendance might be improved by embedding Human Books into the curriculum as inspired by the University of Alberta.
- VH We’ve also had ideas around how to develop the concept including: Running a Human Book Event as part of Mental Health Awareness Week…….a great way of promoting relevant support available from our service. Also using Human Books to inspire young people from disadvantaged backgrounds who lack information and role models as inspired by research carried out at Strathclyde University on widening access to HE.
- MR Another idea is resource specific Human Book Events. For example we are considering an NVivo event where people with a unique project can talk to an NVivo representative….getting more from it than a normal workshop. Finally Human Books on different hobbies, so a University wide Festival of Learning might be an option. This could also be opened out to the local community offering master classes, the opportunity to learn something new and to see what goes on in their local Uni.
- MR There isn’t time to tell you everything we would like to, but we are happy to take questions this afternoon or via email. Thank you very much for listening.
- https://contentbuilder.merlot.org/toolkit/html/snapshot.php?id=79735763072721
- Wordle https://www.flickr.com/photos/tessawatson/5677232026
- http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dis/research/collaborativeprojects/on-the-move
- I’m Jaimee McRoberts and I’ve been working in Reference Services at the British Library for 7 years. I’m here to talk to you about how we designed Fit for purpose Roving Reference services. As a National Library we have elements of public, academic, and special libraries all combined into one and needed a service to meet our needs.
- It’s estimated that we have around 100,000 current registered users at any given time. The Library itself is built on a large scale, with room for 1,200 reading room desks and around 200 additional study spaces throughout the building.
- We have around 50 staff members within 9 subject specialist teams. Our duties include desk coverage, an online chat service, responding to written enquiries, and holding reader workshops. We wanted to expand our offering, and wanted to explore the possibility of Roving.
- Of course, as luck would have it, we’d recently invested in a range of portable technologies, primarily iPads – around a dozen iPads and a few other devices such as Chromebooks and one or two Android-platform tablets. We were itching to find a way to use them.
- We visited a number of libraries around London to find out more about Roving, including UCL, King’s College, University of East London, London School of Economics, the Wellcome Library, and an Idea Store in Tower Hamlets. UCL’s Science Library KCL’s New Hunt’s House Library Tower Hamlets’ Bow Idea Store Wellcome Library UEL’s Stratford Library LSE’s Library
- From these benchmarking exercises we started to build up an idea of what we wanted to do, based on our reading room spaces and staffing structure. In particular, we wanted to focus on increasing the presence of our reference staff and the number of reference enquiries we were handling.
- In Spring 2014, a Reader Satisfaction Survey highlighted ‘noise’ as a major issue in our reading rooms. This eliminated our initial idea of using Rovers to act as ‘queue busters’ or to respond to ad-hoc queries around the room.
- With Reading Rooms no longer a viable Roving space, we had to look outside of these spaces to identify other opportunities. We came up with two ideas: First, the entirety of the public space as a whole. Second, our Reader Registration area.
- Our approach to whole building roving involved walking around the whole of the public space, including our cafes, external study spaces and networking areas. One thing is for certain, it was excellent exercise – you might go through the whole building 3 or 4 times in a one hour Roving session.
- Public Space Roving seemed to drum up only one type of enquiry – ‘where are the toilets?’. Over a one week test period we only had a few enquiries, even fewer of which were reference-based queries. Despite the health benefits, it didn’t seem like this type of Roving would be a good fit.
- We then tested Roving for one week in the Reader Registration area of our building. This space is operated by another team, known as the Welcome Team, who are responsible for completing the registration process for all British Library readers. In order to make Roving in Reader Registration a success, we needed to work together.
- Before launching the service, we met with the Welcome Team to explain our concept. They were enthusiastic, as staff changes meant they no longer had the resources to answer reference enquiries themselves. We then attended team meetings to generate more interest from the team, and emphasised that our success was based on their referrals.
- Our first proper Roving pilot in the Reader Registration area was a real success. We achieved over 1300 enquiries in a 5 week window, which represented 14% of all reference enquiries handled across the whole of reference services in the same month.
- A Business Case was put forward to the Head of Reference Services in support of launching Roving Reference Services on a regular basis. This was evaluated and given go-ahead based on positive feedback and the high statistical impact achieved from Roving.
- With regular Roving services approved, we worked to establish a framework for the service. We decided to focus on Roving during the busiest time of the year at the British Library -- around the Easter holidays. We also needed to expand our team, and we were able to nearly double our numbers.
- We developed training to cover not only the basics of Roving itself, but also to develop staff familiarity with tablet devices, as several Rovers had never used a 'smart' device before. We deployed special training including a worksheet for staff to do-it-yourself with step-by-step instructions to guide them through using a touch-screen tablet.
- In 2015 we launched our first annual Roving session. We had a team of 35 Rovers which covered a 4-week Roving window. Our Roving team is comprised of both volunteers and dedicated Roving staff. For 2015 and 2016 we averaged around 1,000 enquiries each year.
- In 2017 we moved from Roving on an annual basis to a quarterly basis (hence the quarter!). Looking back at usage statistics, we focused on the busiest times of the year during each quarter to target for Roving. Our figures continued to grow, reaching almost 3,500 enquiries in 2017.
- At the end of 2017, the reader registration process was streamlined, which meant that customers were no longer using the space designated for Roving in the same way. Since then, we have had to rely solely on the referrals from the Welcome Team to encourage customers to speak with us. The dynamics of Roving have changed, but our service is still thriving.
- Roving can be fit-for-purpose: Design service to work in your environment Ensure sufficient staff training Encourage buy-in support from impacted teams Maintain flexible service to combat change