OK, enough repetitive, sorry posts about navel gazing pain. Thought I'd bring up a nice positive bit of progress resulting directly from my persistent use of an RSS aggregator. We have been buried (truly) in forms and spreadsheets lately and all of us are really getting burned out on paperwork. But today, we had to present a short regurgitation of statistical info to represent "A Day In The Life Of insert library here". Examples were provided to us that would bring us to present data looking like this:
Visitors: 3,585
Circulation: 4,986
Total Program Attendance: 242
PC Sign-ups: 764
Web page Hits: 697
Database Searches: 656
But after reading Jill's brilliant post on IBS, a few of us to a couple of minutes to repackage it for non-librarians, and this is what we submitted:
3,585 people connected with ideas, information and their community by visiting the library.
4,986 items went home with citizens to enrich their home and work lives.
242 patrons of all ages shared their community’s diverse cultural life by attending a library program.
764 library users connected with the world and their full potential through the use of a public computer.
697 people started their quest for trusted information by visiting the library web page.
656 queries of our research databases helped the citizens support their lifelong learning efforts.
I love Library Marketing - Thinking Outside the Book ... It's on my "every day" list.
It's just an up moment when a little reading has a good little effect on a little task at hand.
Tada! Our library is human!
Made us all really proud.
technorati tags:library-20, library2.0, library 2.0, libraries, policies, customers
Monday, May 21, 2007
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Excusez la.
Man, this is embarrassing. I start writing, save as draft, chicken out, repeat...
I have never been one to censor myself, I swear, I don't know what's wrong with me these days. People are doing great stuff everywhere... What's up with me?
I have been wrestling with ideas of efficiency, cost cutting measures and human sensibilities. The emphasis here is on the wrestling. I always juggle thoughts of efficiencies and cost cuttings. I usually don't wrestle with these thoughts, they have been part of my work for over 10 years. Lately though, everything seems different and people are defensive, sectarian (yep, I said it) and can no longer think beyond one possibility or another for the sake of consistency and balance.
Perspective! It's always my focus in all the training I give. It's always my need when deploying systems and it's still what I seek when faced with hard decisions. Why is it that some can't look beyond their shoe tips? We need to make solid choices based on long term objectives, even when the goal is immediate result.
We cannot hope that if we stop serving some users who are not "prepared enough for us" or who "create the largest workload" or worst yet, who "come to us for just anything" ( I really heard that one once!) we will have succeeded in managing our services. Yes, staff will feel relief if there are shorter lines, but how will they feel as lines get shorter and shorter.
I am not trying to preserve the "perfect" library we had 2 or 3 years ago, I am trying to preserve the great one we can have 5 and 10 years form now.
See, this is the type of post I usually write and delete. Too many "I"s in it. Way too editorial and self indulging. Feels like I am chasing my tail. But here goes. Maybe now it will be out of my system. Excusez la.
technorati tags:library-20, library2.0, library 2.0, libraries, policies, customers
I have never been one to censor myself, I swear, I don't know what's wrong with me these days. People are doing great stuff everywhere... What's up with me?
I have been wrestling with ideas of efficiency, cost cutting measures and human sensibilities. The emphasis here is on the wrestling. I always juggle thoughts of efficiencies and cost cuttings. I usually don't wrestle with these thoughts, they have been part of my work for over 10 years. Lately though, everything seems different and people are defensive, sectarian (yep, I said it) and can no longer think beyond one possibility or another for the sake of consistency and balance.
Perspective! It's always my focus in all the training I give. It's always my need when deploying systems and it's still what I seek when faced with hard decisions. Why is it that some can't look beyond their shoe tips? We need to make solid choices based on long term objectives, even when the goal is immediate result.
We cannot hope that if we stop serving some users who are not "prepared enough for us" or who "create the largest workload" or worst yet, who "come to us for just anything" ( I really heard that one once!) we will have succeeded in managing our services. Yes, staff will feel relief if there are shorter lines, but how will they feel as lines get shorter and shorter.
I am not trying to preserve the "perfect" library we had 2 or 3 years ago, I am trying to preserve the great one we can have 5 and 10 years form now.
See, this is the type of post I usually write and delete. Too many "I"s in it. Way too editorial and self indulging. Feels like I am chasing my tail. But here goes. Maybe now it will be out of my system. Excusez la.
technorati tags:library-20, library2.0, library 2.0, libraries, policies, customers
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
of natural selection
I've been slacking off, in the blogging department, lately. Big money worries here and everywhere. It's so tough to face cuts, how ever small they are. Then, when they are large and potentially larger, as we face here at MPOW , it down right ruins everything. Well, nearly. It sure ruins the ambiance, though. It seems like it always ends up creating a paranoid climate of sorts. "Don't even look at my services!" and then the terrible sequel: "Why don't you look over there?". Of course, we have been evaluating processes for a long time, on a continuous basis, what should we keep doing, stop doing, start doing, right? We know SWOT and all that...
So how do you squeeze blood for a turnip? What is left for us to sacrifice?
I was asked recently how does innovation survive in this kind of climate? Seems some feel we cant be expanding our horizons, adding new services and working on new projects if we also have to cut/delete/discontinue some others.
It dawned on me that this may not be the best question. What I want to know is, how do we survive in this kind of climate without innovation? The only way we can manage the crisis instead of the crisis managing us it to be REALLY INNOVATIVE. It's so corny to state but only the one that adapt will survive. Some of the choices should be really (listen to me?!) easy. Instead of (Believe me, I hear it often..) trying to impose limits the popular service, let's look at what does not support our most popular services 1st. We don't want to take our best, most appealing to the community offerings, and render them cumbersome and inconvenient, so we can continue to dedicate time and effort to sustain options that not many users even wish for.
John Blyberg smartly reminded us in a recent post:
I don't want to spend my time preserving the great library we had last year, I want to work at creating the great one we'll have next year.
SERENDIPITY
I have been muling this over in my pea brain fro a good while now, then finally commited to spread it on the screen... Look what Steven Abram published today.
technorati tags:library-20, library2.0, library2.0, libraries, policies, customers
So how do you squeeze blood for a turnip? What is left for us to sacrifice?
I was asked recently how does innovation survive in this kind of climate? Seems some feel we cant be expanding our horizons, adding new services and working on new projects if we also have to cut/delete/discontinue some others.
It dawned on me that this may not be the best question. What I want to know is, how do we survive in this kind of climate without innovation? The only way we can manage the crisis instead of the crisis managing us it to be REALLY INNOVATIVE. It's so corny to state but only the one that adapt will survive. Some of the choices should be really (listen to me?!) easy. Instead of (Believe me, I hear it often..) trying to impose limits the popular service, let's look at what does not support our most popular services 1st. We don't want to take our best, most appealing to the community offerings, and render them cumbersome and inconvenient, so we can continue to dedicate time and effort to sustain options that not many users even wish for.
John Blyberg smartly reminded us in a recent post:
I’m afraid to say that delayed gratification is not something we can sell.Let's not work so hard at self preservation and think more globally about satisfying the needs of current customers. We need to go forward with new and exciting things that will meet their expectations, not ask them to measure up to ours. After all if they were perfect, they might not need a library.
I don't want to spend my time preserving the great library we had last year, I want to work at creating the great one we'll have next year.
SERENDIPITY
I have been muling this over in my pea brain fro a good while now, then finally commited to spread it on the screen... Look what Steven Abram published today.
technorati tags:library-20, library2.0, library2.0, libraries, policies, customers
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Parlons d'EPS
Continuing this belated superconference blogging, it is high time I talk about EPS, Sirsidynix's Entreprise Portal Solution. It was definitely the most talked about product, with many many sessions, by sales staff, libraries and software development alike. It was also the product that conjured the most passion, both on the "excited to have all these features" side and the "this is not what I want" side.
Je m'explique:
Great dissatisfaction was expressed from many academic (and other) sites that this portal solution was clearly the next generationopac and came with so much "other duties assigned" add-on features. Many customer, academics in particular, complained about the out of the box, cookie cutter, seemingly public library focus. On the other hand, EPS customers seemed very pleased with their experience implementing the product, excited about the 2.2 version that should deliver both most fixes to theoriginal implementation bugs AND add the features that were not delivered in the 1st version. SD SD (sirsidynix software development ;) staff sounded very roud of the product and its great improvements for 2.2. (note some of these may not impress you but were long time wished of a number of sirsi customers...)
RSS feeds, CGI forms, spellcheck, the use of Central Search for federated searching and of Fast Search for faceted searching were at the top of the bragging lists. Especially exciting to me was the ability to "assume the quotes" to facilitate keyword search (eliminate the use of Boolean in quick search.) and the ability for users to a-view their accounts and renew their materials in the same page (!) and b-to modify their own holds pick up branch. I will post more about this product as we will implement at MPOW as soon as 2.2 has been in the real world for a little while. (hey, we had webcat 1st, we were the 1st unix install of iBistro, I'd like to give someone else a chance at pioneering this time...)
THIS JUST IN (unrelated to EPS) :
from a SD press release: "...Peter Gethin, SirsiDynix managing director for Europe, Middle East & Africa, has decided to retire..." I guess Peter wouldn't mind me referring to him as part of the old guard (the good old guard). Hoping everyone will know he was not only famous for the traditional joke and the Gethin report at superconference, he was a force, a smart, original, free thinker. I hope to hear from him again.
technorati tags:sirsidynix, EPS, opac,library-20, library2.0, library 2.0, libraries, customers
Je m'explique:
Great dissatisfaction was expressed from many academic (and other) sites that this portal solution was clearly the next generationopac and came with so much "other duties assigned" add-on features. Many customer, academics in particular, complained about the out of the box, cookie cutter, seemingly public library focus. On the other hand, EPS customers seemed very pleased with their experience implementing the product, excited about the 2.2 version that should deliver both most fixes to theoriginal implementation bugs AND add the features that were not delivered in the 1st version. SD SD (sirsidynix software development ;) staff sounded very roud of the product and its great improvements for 2.2. (note some of these may not impress you but were long time wished of a number of sirsi customers...)
RSS feeds, CGI forms, spellcheck, the use of Central Search for federated searching and of Fast Search for faceted searching were at the top of the bragging lists. Especially exciting to me was the ability to "assume the quotes" to facilitate keyword search (eliminate the use of Boolean in quick search.) and the ability for users to a-view their accounts and renew their materials in the same page (!) and b-to modify their own holds pick up branch. I will post more about this product as we will implement at MPOW as soon as 2.2 has been in the real world for a little while. (hey, we had webcat 1st, we were the 1st unix install of iBistro, I'd like to give someone else a chance at pioneering this time...)
THIS JUST IN (unrelated to EPS) :
from a SD press release: "...Peter Gethin, SirsiDynix managing director for Europe, Middle East & Africa, has decided to retire..." I guess Peter wouldn't mind me referring to him as part of the old guard (the good old guard). Hoping everyone will know he was not only famous for the traditional joke and the Gethin report at superconference, he was a force, a smart, original, free thinker. I hope to hear from him again.
technorati tags:sirsidynix, EPS, opac,library-20, library2.0, library 2.0, libraries, customers
Friday, March 16, 2007
finally back...
Sirsidynix Superconference blogging, take II.
There has been a lot of talk about the latest announcement from Sirsidynix. I promise I will update and comment a little later, after getting caught up on the session blogging . Note the certain irony of any the "coming in GL3.2" announcements, keep in mind they all are very likely to still materialize, but that these days, I wouldn't swear to anything.
Superconference, day 1:
Opening night, Steven Abram boldly "flies without slides" which is pretty damn brave in a big dark conference room full of people whispering about the surprise announcement of SD's CEO leaving the company. Stephen continues to rightfully preach "Go where your users are!" and to point us all in the right direction to discover where that is. He saved a few minutes in the end to mention Pat Sommers and how much good he did at Sirsi. How much he would be missed and to point out that "He never told me not to say something." It was a heartfelt moment, touching.
The whole conference felt a little awkward to me, everyone was very positive, looking forward etc. etc. but you could tell most SD personnel was somewhat tired and tense. I got offended when some customer would ask SD staff it WE should be nervous about the change of ownership. It is obviously so much for them to deal with, and all the while they were all very focused on us as customers and how were doing and what we needed. I have known some of the Sirsi staff for many many years, they are a smart, classy, dedicated bunch.
technorati
tags:sirsidynix,library-20, library2.0, library2.0, libraries, policies, customers
There has been a lot of talk about the latest announcement from Sirsidynix. I promise I will update and comment a little later, after getting caught up on the session blogging . Note the certain irony of any the "coming in GL3.2" announcements, keep in mind they all are very likely to still materialize, but that these days, I wouldn't swear to anything.
Superconference, day 1:
Opening night, Steven Abram boldly "flies without slides" which is pretty damn brave in a big dark conference room full of people whispering about the surprise announcement of SD's CEO leaving the company. Stephen continues to rightfully preach "Go where your users are!" and to point us all in the right direction to discover where that is. He saved a few minutes in the end to mention Pat Sommers and how much good he did at Sirsi. How much he would be missed and to point out that "He never told me not to say something." It was a heartfelt moment, touching.
The whole conference felt a little awkward to me, everyone was very positive, looking forward etc. etc. but you could tell most SD personnel was somewhat tired and tense. I got offended when some customer would ask SD staff it WE should be nervous about the change of ownership. It is obviously so much for them to deal with, and all the while they were all very focused on us as customers and how were doing and what we needed. I have known some of the Sirsi staff for many many years, they are a smart, classy, dedicated bunch.
technorati
tags:sirsidynix,library-20, library2.0, library2.0, libraries, policies, customers
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)