Ubiquitous Readers’ Advisory Services for Public Libraries’ Online Communities
1. ‘ Ubiquitous Readers’ Advisory Services for Public Libraries’ Online Communities’ A presentation for the Queensland University of Technology, Australia. Presenter: Paul Brown. June 20 2011
2. Webinar outline Introduction Chapter 1 Context building Chapter 2 Social media Chapter 3 ‘Exclusivity for the masses’. Form-based RA Chapter 4 Future now “ “ That’s Auckland mate. The Queen of the North” “ The what?” “ That’s what they call it. This is God’s own, this country.”
3. Chapter 1 Context Building “ ..it’s about what you can offer when you have collected enough ‘content about content’ to provide a meaningful context media.” Is Was
4. Need to Know Over 70% of Australians access mobile information services for internet browsing. 1 The social web is increasing at 3x the speed of the internet. 2 43% of Australians own a smartphone. 3 92% of mobile social networkers visit Facebook. 4 Mobile services are now “a commodity as opposed to a luxury for many Australians” [Dr Marisa Maio Mackay]
5. Need to Know More valuable than content is the stuff that surrounds it: “ Reviews, recommendations & ratings are not only a by-product of consumption, they also make media more visible and in doing so, increase its underlying market demand.” “… aggregators of the future will create value by understanding the individual preferences of customers and creating personalised slices of entertainment for them.”
6. A B Need to Know A. Industrial Age model of information production & distribution: one-to-many channelling. B. Disruptive Age model: libraries remain in the mix but the clearly defined relationships of creator, aggregator & consumer have gone. “ There is a revolution taking place…people are changing the way they discover, share and consume media – and that will turn every aspect of the traditional content business upside down.”
7. Need to Know This graphic depicts how the complex world of mobile platforms, devices and channels interact, and their relationship to customer driven strategies. The key here is: the closer to the foundation of the pyramid, the higher the importance in the mobile space.
8. Need to Know 3. Syndicated content & services Implication: seamless syndication across multiple channels requires minimalist information architectural design with few customisations. Need to Know 2. Mobile internet drives devices towards smaller screens. Implication: Focus on content and solutions, not navigation features. Base micro-content upon task analysis of specific user groups & needs. Need to Know 1. Users will spend most of their time on other sites. Implication: ‘Zero learning time or die’. Your users prefer your site/s to work the same way as others they are already familiar with. If the site does not offer intuitive usability it will suffer. Jakob’s Law of the Internet User Experience
9. Mobile Friendly Library Information Services: Interface Architecture Need to Know 1. Los Gatos Library, California: reading lists, plus blog & Twitter posts. 2. Santa Clara County Library: mobile app by Boopsie . 3. Auburn Univ. Libraries: link to social media sites 4. Fondren library, Rice Univ. Texas: alternative downloadable media. 5. Seattle Public Library: Books / DVD & CD lists (New & recommended). 6. National Library Board of Singapore: sometimes it’s as simple as ‘ASK! a librarian’.
10. Need to Know Manukau Libraries: 1. ‘Reading & Reviews’ link featured on a ‘primary’ link leading to… 2. A reading hub: a ‘Reading & reviews’ page, containing... 3. A clear visual grouping of 11 book related sections, clearly arranged for quick viewing & accessibility. “ No more than three touches before the customer gets the answer is the key.” John Anderson, Chief Executive, Yeahpoint.
11. Need to Know Manukau Libraries: 1. ’NextReads’ a subscription based NoveList product. 2. Standardised format for website book reviews. 3. ‘Top 5 Goodies’ blog. A varied mix of reading, viewing & audio recommendations packaged into convenient Top 5 lists. “… it’s about what you can offer when you have collected enough ‘content about content’ to provide a meaningful context media.” [Mike Walsh]
12. Need to Know Twice a year the library staff at SLCL display their current book favourites which customers can rate and vote for. Each book post is accompanied by value added features, including links to book trailers, author websites, book group reading guides, & read-a-likes.
13. The global infonet: a place where “ignorance meets egoism meets bad taste meets mob rule.” Your Webinar GPS Netherlands (US) California (US) Illinois (US) Ohio (US) Oregon (US) Utah (US) Virginia (US) Manukau (NZ) Christchurch (NZ) Waimakariri (NZ)
15. Need to Know An excellent example of truncated book reviewing on Twitter incorporating several features: Reference to another popular literary work, linking the book to an area of reading interest. ‘ Power’ words for strong impact (“Best”, “Chills”, “Masterful”, “Supercharged”). Star rating offering instant ranking recognition.
16. Need to Know Waimakariri District Libraries tweet 2 -3 times per business day. First lines from books comprise each tweet to entice readers. Tweets link directly to item’s catalogue record.
17. Need to Know Almost 80 libraries (college, public, and university) collaborate to provide a rapid information service across Ohio state. The 24/7 IM and email service includes a RA function: “…suggestions for good books to read.” Library Journal’s Index of Public Library Service (2010 ) named Ohio as the top state possessing the best public (or ‘star’) libraries in the United States.
18. Need to Know Multnomah County, and Cuyahoga County Public libraries libraries trialled book recommendation services via Facebook. 1. MCL: in 6 hours the library team answered almost 100 enquiries. 2. CCPL: over a 12 hour period 200 library customers participated & the library acquired 300 new fans. “ Looking for a good read. We’d love to help. Send in the last three titles you’ve read and we’ll suggest your next read. Operators are standing by.” [Multnomah County Library]
19. Need to Know Simultaneous syndication of a RA post. 1. A CCL blog post promoting parenting support books. 2. Notification of the post appears via a tweet (link is to blog). 3. And is repeated on the library’s Facebook site.
20. Need to Know LTFL is a mobile app adding enhanced features into the library’s OPAC, including: Customers can rate & review titles. Access to over half-a-million reviews on LibraryThing.com. An ‘At My Library’ Facebook app allowing customers to show what they’re reading from the library’s collection.
21. Need to Know High Plains District Library (Colorado) 1. Record entry on catalogue. Includes ‘Shelf Browse Enhancement’ providing customers with context & serendipity of browsing book shelves. 2. Book reviews can be selected for viewing and customer can add their own. 3. ‘Similar Titles’ feature.
22. Need to Know 1. Digital Royalty. Companies need to achieve ‘Reach’ & ‘Frequency’ in SM activity. 2. The Klout Score measures online influence based on ‘True Reach’ (audience size), ‘Amplification Probability’ & ‘Network Influence.’ 3. Howsociable.com. A combination measurement tool across 32 metrics. 4. Twitalyzer Measuring Social Media strategies
23. Chapter 3 ‘ Exclusivity for the masses’ Form- based RA Intelligent, customer profiling.
24. Need to Know ‘ Skokie Public Library’s Readers’ Choice’ survey takes about 10 – 15 minutes for the user to complete. Customised BookMatch reading list is produced within 10 business days. Service available through “…the Library’s expert readers’ advisory staff.” “ What are your favorite types of books? Who are the authors you can't stand? What book can you not live without? ”
25. Need to Know Library supplies a personalized list of 3 to 5 books. List produced within 10 working days. Selection criteria includes: ‘Focus’, ‘Main Character’, ‘Mood’ ‘Setting’, ‘Time Period’ and open-ended questions focusing on reading likes & ‘Turn-offs’. “ Librarians can help you find the perfect book”
26. Need to Know The turnaround time for personalized requests is about one week. Patrons receive a list of 10 to 12 annotated titles. 81% of patrons using the service have completed & submitted the form electronically. WRL has been offering form-based RA since 2003. “Among the benefits of form-based RA are enhanced interactions with patrons and enhanced circulation of the collection.”
27. Need to Know The ‘Reader Profile Form’ contains 8 sections, each offering various selection criteria. Sections are: Character Content Genre & Format Length Peeves & Pleasure Reading History Setting Tone & Style WRL’s Blogging for a Good Book blog has been described as “the future of book reviewing.” Established in 2007, the blog regularly receives approx. 15,000 hits a month.
28. Need to Know Customers can select from: 24 genres & formats 10 categories in ‘Tone, Mood, Style & Language’ 5 preferences under ‘Focus’ (of story) 13 options for ‘Setting’ 20 categories in ‘Character’ 15 categories in ‘Peeves & Pleasures’ Williamsburg Regional Library ‘ Looking for a Good Book’ [ Reader Profile Form]
29. Chapter 4 Future Now “ The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed.”
30. Need to Know 1. Southwest Iowa Library Service. List of QR codes on a formatted sheet ready for printing as labels. Codes link to read-alike lists & book reviews hosted on the library’s web pages. 2. Chili Public Library. QR codes in a display of teen books link to the library’s youth blog. 3. Vancouver Public Library. QR codes on collection signage. QR Codes 1: “It’s one of those technologies that, to paraphrase Arthur C. Clarke, is significantly indistinguishable from magic the first time you see it.”
31. Need to Know 1. Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) billboards 2. Books nominations for YALSA Teens’ Top Ten tagged with QR codes offering additional interaction. 3. Partnership with WestCat bus company for download of audio books. 4. Text-a-Librarian: responsive information provision service. QR Codes 2: ‘Snap and Go’ at Contra Costa County Library (California)
32. Need to Know Helsinki City Library has a long history of innovative, technology-based services (it was one of the first public libraries in the world to offer Internet access) . Introduced in 2000, the iGS serves customers by phone, email, fax or text. It is a portable unit that can be moved to different parts of the city, serving as a library "branch" at festivals, parks, malls etc. iGS: information Gas Station at Helsinki City Library
33. Need to Know Library-a-Go-Go are automated book dispensing machines, targeting underserved populations in the Bay area (California). Library members can select from approx. 400 books that are delivered through a front slot in a plastic case. Customers make their selection via a touch screen. At any given time, 25 – 30% of vending materials are checked out. “ Library-a-go-go” at Contra Costa County Library
34. Need to Know ‘ TANK U’ at DOK Library Concept Centre (Delft, Netherlands). Download stations located in library and around Delft (including public transport hubs, supermarkets & Schiphol Airport). Passers-by enter their details and select from choice of music, ebooks, film trailers, audio books, lists and new additions in the library. “… to inspire users with suggestions for reading, viewing or listening. Not the usual run-of-the-mill stuff, but suggestions that broaden one’s horizon and get the user in touch with all things beautiful the library has to offer.
35. Need to Know “ RFID is an evolutionary dead-end … semantic web or RFID is things “wearing name-tags”. We’re getting to that kind of augmented reality, where our contextually-aware devices will have senses that are as good as ours or better … they are going to recognize faces, they are going to recognize objects, they gonna have immediate recall.” Augmented Reality: “AR will be the next web revolution… forget about that semantic web nonsense… stronger devices and better algorithms will enable us to merge the real world with cyberspace.”
37. Need to Know 1. State Library of Queensland 2. NSW Readers’ Advisory Services. 3. Australian Library & Information Association. 4. State Library of Victoria. Australian Resources
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39. “ Business gets better right after the people in business get better.” 2 PAUL BROWN [email_address] You are warmly invited to join me at: “ Do what it is that you do so well that others will come just to see what it is you do.” 1
Editor's Notes
Image: Not the latest 3D sensory device for experiencing the web. Here, therapists in Guangzhou, China, employ ‘nanometer wave machines’ to treat addictions – including internet obsession. Picture Credit: National Geographic magazine, May 2008.
Fred Dagg look-alikes. Picture Credit: New Zealand Geographic magazine, Issue 85. Quote from the landmark New Zealand novel ‘Man Alone’ by John Mulgan, originally published 1939.
Quote from Mike Walsh, author of ‘Futuretainment. Yesterday the world changed now it’s your turn’ . (Phaidon Press Ltd, London and New York, 2009) Illustration left: revolving book wheel for heavy volumes. 16 th century France. Illustration right: iPad app for Yellowhead Regional Library (YRL) Alberta, Canada.
Picture credits: ‘The Way We Were’ (Hodder Moa Beckett Publishers Ltd, Auckland, NZ, 1996) Quote from Australian Interactive Media Industry Association survey of mobile phone usage reported in Sydney Morning Herald, September 29, 2009. 1. Australian Interactive Media Industry Association survey (2009) 2. The Bookseller, 18 September, 2009, p.26. 3. Nielsen Scan. http://heidiallen.id.au/2010/07/mobile-usage-stats-australia-2010/ 4. Ibid.
Mike Walsh, futurist, author of ‘Futuretainment’ and CEO of innovation research agency Tomorrow. Picture Credit: http://www.amsrs.com.au [Australian Market & Social Research Society Limited (AMSRS)] Quotes from Mike Walsh, author of ‘Futuretainment’ .
Picture Credit: ‘Futuretainment’ by Mike Walsh Quote from ‘Futuretainment’ by Mike Walsh
Source: http://www.siteminis.com/images/case_studies/Mobile%20strategy%20pyramidv_2_4.pdf CCD: Connective Convergent Device (mobile internet devices). APP: A product designed to be downloaded to a specific device but only capable of operating on that device’s native operating system.
Jakob Nielsen: “Users are highly goal-driven on the Web. They visit sites because there's something they want to accomplish. The ultimate failure of a website is to fail to provide the information users are looking for.” Source: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9605.html Image: web usability guru, Jakob Nielsen. Picture credit: http://www.useit.com
Images from http://musingsaboutlibrarianship.blogspot.com/2010/04/comparison-of-40-mobile-library-sites.html
Quote by John Anderson in ‘NZ Retail’ magazine, September 2009 Issue 677, p.27.
Quote from Mike Walsh, author of ‘Futuretainment’ p.228.
Salt Lake County Library Reader’s Choice blog at: http://www.slcreaderschoice.blogspot.com/
Quote from author Andrew Keen.
Quote from Judy Franks, The Marketing Democracy, coining the speed at which compelling content travels in any media. Picture credit: http://www.fredcavazza.net/files/Q2-08/SocialMediaLandscape.jpg
Library Journal’s Index of Public Library Service (2010) is based on 2008 data. Index scores correlate to four per capita service outputs: library visits, circulation, program attendance, and public Internet computer use. By definition, service outputs don't measure quality, value, excellence, or relevance of services to the community. Population is est. 11.7 million residents (2010 US Census Bureau). Source: http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/articlereview/886941-457/americas_star_libraries_2010_whos.html.csp
Multnomah County Library on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/multcolib Cuyohaga County Public Library on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cuyahoga-County-Public-Library/61234117754
Christchurch City Libraries website: http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/ Christchurch City Libraries blog: http://cclblog.wordpress.com/ Christchurch City Libraries on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ChristchurchCityLibraries
Information about ‘LibraryThing for Libraries’ at: http://www.librarything.com/forlibraries
Information about ‘LibraryThing for Libraries’ at: http://www.librarything.com/forlibraries
Video by Digital Royalty presenting their propriety method and formula for measuring a brand’s online ROI and social media effectiveness at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx74jrzBRsU Information about the Klout Score at: http://corp.klout.com/kscore
Image: Either, a typically hectic behind-the-scenes RA department of a busy, modern library with an expert team processing customer’s reading profile forms or, a computer room in a Los Angeles bank (circa 1970’s).
Video explaining Skokie Public Library’s BookMatch service at: http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/collectiondevelopment/collectiondev/856353-291/story.csp
SLCO Library Read-a-Like Book Request form at: http://www.slcolibrary.org/rc/rcwr/forms/readALikeBooklistForm.htm
Quote: ‘Webcast Report: 24/7 Readers’ Advisory’ by Dodie Ownes in ‘Library Journal’, June 14, 2010.
Williamsburg Regional Library ‘Reader Profile Form’ at http://www.wrl.org/books-and-reading/adults/looking-good-book ‘ Blogging for a Good Book’ at http://bfgb.wordpress.com/
Image: RadioShack ad campaign, 2009. Quote: cyberpunk author William Gibson.
Quote from Donna F. Ekart, ‘Codify your collection” in ‘Computers in Libraries’, April 2011 Vol31 No3, p38. Picture credit: Chili Public Library (Rochester, New York): http://www.slideshare.net/vacekrae/qr-codes-and-augmented-reality-help-librariesextend-services Picture credit: Southwest Iowa Library Service Area (SWILSA): http://www.swilsa.lib.ia.us/qr/docs/popularcodes1.pdf Picture credit: Vancouver Public Library: http://www.slideshare.net/vacekrae/qr-codes-and-augmented-reality-help-librariesextend-services
More on Contra Costa County Library’s use of QR codes at: http:// guides.ccclib.org/content.php?pid =105914&sid=797175#4638359
Information about iGS at: http://igs.kirjastot.fi/index3.html and at: http://www.gatesfoundation.org/atla/Pages/2000-helsinki-city-library-information-gas-station.aspx
Further information about Library-a-Go-Go in the Library Journal article ‘Self-Service to the People’ at: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6674915.html Video of vending machine in use at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzpF9FQtoR8
Video ‘Visiting the DOK Library Learning Centre’ on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKpH8fwfqNs
Quotes from Tom Carpenter, The Future Digital Life blog (http://thomaskcarpenter.com) 1. YouTube video: ‘Layar – Impactful Augmented Reality in Your Everyday Life’ ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW9gU_4AUCA) 2. YouTube video: ‘Augmented Reality by Hitlab’ ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKw_Mp5YkaE)
1. State Library of Queensland ‘Professional development for public library staff’ at: http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/info/publib/libs#comm 2. NSW Readers’ Advisory Working Group wiki at: http://readersadvisory.wetpaint.com/ 3. aliaRead at: http://lists.alia.org.au/mailman/listinfo/aliaREAD/ 4. State Library of Victoria ‘Professional Development’ information at: http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/learn/professional-development
Full competency listing available at: http://www.arrowhead.lib.mn.us/renewal/readers.htm
1. Wendy Barry & Jo-Anne Cole, ‘Don’t stuff up the retail sale. The definitive guide to the retail sales process’. (Future Dream Express, Victoria, Australia, 2008). 2. Larry Winget, ‘It’s called work for a reason! Your success is your own damn fault’. (Gotham Books, New York, 2008).