We participated in an Information master's program assigned to a project in Trivandrum, India. We were tasked with providing assistance on the management of a library in a college specifializing in teaching Deaf students as well as research in Audiology and Speech Language Pathology. They have a very small collection of about 2000 books and 24 journals, and no website prior to our arrival. Our understanding was that it would be difficult to make correct assumptions about the academic and technological environment given lack of experience in the region and the culture, as well as working with students with disabilities in general. We were not prepared for the rudimentary or non-existent policies and infrastructure that we met once we actually arrived. This presentation would detail the strategies of assessment and decision-making we employed to work with their available resources as well as deal with the lack of buy-in from various stakeholders. Among these include user interviews in translation, collecting and incorporating examples from other library sites in building a new website, and above all trying to figure out ways to communicate the importance of working with library online resources upon a population that is relatively new to them. Presenters: Jharina Pascual, Electronic Resources Acquisitions Librarian, University of California Irvine Sybil Boone, University of Michigan School of Information

1. Library Management in
Trivandrum, India
NASIG 2016 | Albuquerque, NM
Jharina Pascual
Sybil Boone
University of Michigan School of Information
10 June 2016
1

2. Jharina Pascual
@librarypj
2
Sybil Boone
@syboone

3. Topics
• Background on GIEP/NISH
• User assessment
• Deliverables
• Lessons learned
3

4. The Global Information Engagement Program
• University of Michigan
School of Information
• Spring 2015
• Interdisciplinary teams
4
Screenshot from https://www.si.umich.edu/global-information-
exchange-program

5. National Institute of Speech and Hearing
• Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), Kerala
• Degrees
• Bachelors (HI): Computer Science, Fine Arts Commerce,
• Diploma: Early Childhood Education (HI)
• Bachelors/Masters: Audiology/Speech Language Pathology
• Community services and outreach
• Parental training and support
• Early intervention programs
• Promotion through word-of-mouth
5

6. National Institute of Speech and Hearing: Faculty
Research
• ASLP
• Psychology, ENT,
physiotherapy
6
Teaching/Therapy
• Student materials
• Pedagogical materials
• Tools: A/V, computers,
therapy/assessment
devices
Screenshot from http://www.nish.ac.in/

7. National Institute of Speech and Hearing:
Administration
Short-term goals
• Physical expansion
• University
accreditation
7
Long-term
• Exposure for NISH
• Distinguish NISH from
similar institutions in
India

8. All India
Institute of
Speech and
Hearing
8
Screenshot from
http://aiish.ac.in/digital-
library.html.

9. 9
Print
● Books - 1901
● Journals - 24 (Print and
Online)
● Back Volumes - 304
● Dissertations - 52
● Projects - 110
Non Print
● CD and DVD – 64
No separate online presence
Library: Collection

10. 10
UGC
INFONET
Screenshot from
http://aiish.ac.in/digi
tal-library.html. .

11. 11
Library:
Administration

12. Deliverables
12
Library Administration
• Wiki
• Collection Development Policy
• List of future projects
Website

13. User Experience (UX)
Design & Research
@ National Institute of Speech & Hearing

14. “User experience encompasses all aspects of the
end-user’s interaction with the company, its
services, and its products.”
- Donald Norman & Jakob Nielsen
www.nngroup.com

15. Why is UX important?
• To provide insight into how to design a
product/service
• To meet the needs of the user of that
product/service

16. Not just for bikes

17. RESEARCH

18. Research Methods
• Contextual Inquiry
• Research organization
• Collect Information
• Ethnographic observation
• Comparative Analysis
• Interviews
• Personas & Scenarios

19. 5W’s of UX
• WHAT problem are we trying to solve?
• WHO will be using the product/service?
• WHERE can we improve on existing products?
• WHEN should we get user feedback?
• WHY does the product solve the problem?
• HOW can data help us understand what we are building?

20. Research Method: Comparative Analysis

21. Wireframe

22. Site Map

23. Building the website
ameexusa.com
Drupal 7
Free, Open Source Content Management System (CMS)
Supportive community of users
NISH IT Administrator knows Drupal

24. Research Method: User and Stakeholder Interviews
• Stakeholders (Director)
• Librarian
• Hearing impaired students and faculty
• Non hearing impaired students and faculty

25. User and Stakeholder Interviews
User interview questions:
When was the last time you were on NISH’s website?
When you went to NISH’s website, what information on the site were you looking for?
How long did it take you to find the information?
What do you like about NISH’s website?
What is not on the site that you would like to see there?
When you are not at NISH, how do you find or get information to use in your
assignments?
Can you show me how you would do this? (if the answer is mobile device)

26. Research Method: Observation
Observed students and faculty:
•Using the library (computers, socializing)
•Interaction with the librarian
•Classroom presentations

27. UX assessment: Context
• Infrastructure limitations
• Hierarchical view of academy/memorization
• Library as warehouse
27

28. UX assessment: Context
• Silos between print/electronic and
local/consortium
• No standardized/controlled vocabulary
used in classifying materials
28

29. UX assessment: Student needs (4 HI, 3 H)
• Searching
• Evaluating information
• Productivity
• Citing resources
• Visual elements (for HI students)
29

30. UX assessment: Faculty
• Research support
• Pedagogical/clinical support
• Information Literacy instruction tools
30

31. Scenario:
Last week Shahid’s teacher assigned everyone in his class a report on a U.S. president. Shahid was assigned Abraham Lincoln.
Unfamiliar with the name, Shahid goes to the NISH library to see if they carry any books or reference material on U.S. presidents. He
presents a piece of paper with “Abraham Lincoln” written on it to the librarian. In ISL, Shahid asks the librarian if the library carries
information on Abraham Lincoln. The librarian looks on the shelves, but does not find anything related to Lincoln or any of the U.S
presidents. He then tells Shahid to use the computers in the NISH library to see if there is any information available on the Internet
that he can use for his report.
Shahid looks over at the computer station and walks to the only computer not in use by one of his classmates. He signs in with his
login ID, and waits patiently for the computer to boot up. After 2 minutes, he is still waiting on the computer to load. He continues to
wait another minute. His computer finally boots up and he types in “Abraham Lincoln” in the Google search bar. Frustrated with the
long search time, he goes over to talk to one of his friends. After a few minutes he returns to his computer to see a long search result
for Abraham Lincoln. Not knowing which one to choose, he clicks on the top result, which is in English. He tries to wait for the page to
Persona 1
Name: Shahid Mattar
Age: 22
Occupation: Hearing Impaired (HI) Student at NISH
Hobbies: Cricket, learning English, Running
Internet use: 4 hrs/day mostly via mobile phone
Tech Skill Level: Average
Goals: Be fluent in ISL, wants to be an ISL teacher to
hearing impaired children

32. Why is user research important for libraries?
• You get a sense of the needs of the users of your library.
• You can determine what kind of items that you should
carry and make available to those users.
• You will be able to project future needs or what can be
offered to individuals.

33. Takeaways
• HI and nonHI students did not know that NISH already had a website.
• Three different languages being used at NISH (Malayalam, ISL,
English), different levels of fluency.
• Library staff not prepared for new accreditation status. Culture of
organization not in line with a service model library

34. Filming instructional videos for
the website.

35. Website instructions in ISL

36. Website homepage

37. Library Services

38. Faculty Support page

39. Student Topic Help

40. Access to Online Books and Journals

41. Material Request Form

42. Lessons
Learned
42

43. 1. Collection Development policy
2. Information Literacy concepts are difficult but
critical
3. Librarian as instructor/facilitator
4. Organization of information for access
43
Library Science is fundamental

44. 1. Lack of institutional buy-in for new practices
2. Lack of administrative follow-through on tech
implementations
3. Misunderstanding of the library OPAC/website
44
Technology is not a panacea

45. 1. Revealing context and circumscribing solutions
2. Periodical UX research can reveal collection
gaps
3. UX vs. institutional inertia
45
User experience is relevant to technical services

46. Thank you!
jharinapascual@hotmail.com
saboone@umich.edu
46
• GIEP: https://www.si.umich.edu/global-information-exchange-program
• NISH: http://www.nish.ac.in/
• Project blog: https://umsi2kerala.wordpress.com/
• Seelio (with documents): https://seelio.com/w/1tzu/library-management