crosslegged and thoughtful November 12, 2009
Posted by Jenica Rogers in Libraries, Library As Place, Musings, Users.5 comments
Usability. Great buzzword in libraries right now. I think we’re not at all certain what it all means, but we care about it…
I’m thinking about usability in libraries from the perspective of usability everywhere. What do I mean by that? Two examples.
I shop online a lot, because I live in an area where my brick-and-mortar shopping options are limited. And so that means I shop from my couch. And when I shop from my couch, I am always filled with glee when I can PayPal something, or use my Amazon account, because it means i don’t have to get up to go find my wallet to enter a credit card number. Does that mean I’m lazy? Possibly. Does it mean that I have more loyalty to sites that allow me to shop with the fewest inconveniences? Absolutely.
I’m also writing this while sitting in Hancock Airport in Syracuse, sucking up free wireless. That? Is awesome. I’ve gotten used to paying between $8 and $15 per day for airport wireless, and while I’ll do it if I need to work, I don’t appreciate it. Free wireless makes me smile, and like flying out of Syracuse. However, I’m also sitting crosslegged on the floor next to a pillar. I forgot to charge my laptop before I left home, and the only power outlet I can find in this terminal is nowhere near a chair. Fine. I’ll sit on the floor; I don’t actually mind, given that I’m going to spend the day on airplanes. But a chair would be nice.
And so. Back to libraries. What extra steps are we putting in the way of our users getting from point A to point B that aren’t onerous, but might be inconvenient? Do those steps have to be there? And what are we missing when we think about services our users want and need? Are we providing wireless but no power? (That works as a metaphor, but sad but true, it also works very well literally in many of our aging facilities.)
I ponder, as I sit on the floor.
Site changes and arrest warrants September 28, 2009
Posted by Jenica Rogers in Misc., Users.add a comment
One of these days, I’m moving this whole thing over to the domains I bought this summer. Not yet, but I did take a bit of time to fix the borked CSS in the old template by slapping a new out-of-the-box WP template onto this site. Everything’s still here, it’s just bluer, with less photographic Jenica on the front. Easier to replace than to fix, and I have limited time to fiddle right now… and when i do start fiddling, it’ll be to move the whole deal to a new host. So. There. It’s bluer.
Also, a colleague forwarded me this today: U. of Arizona Student Faces Criminal charges in Chalking Crackdown. He and I appear to agree: Goes a bit far. There are *ahem* more balanced responses one could take than arresting your students.
Chalk notes as a valid communication format September 22, 2009
Posted by Jenica Rogers in I amuse myself, Libraries, Users.26 comments
Days like today provide one of the reasons I’ve always wanted to be a library director. I want to be part of the library’s outreach efforts, to direct them toward goals that make sense to me, and to have the chance to make meaningful connections with users. I didn’t expect that chance to come from sidewalk chalk, but I’ve been having fun, even so.
I came in Monday morning to see these messages all over our sidewalks. Every approach to Crumb Library had been tagged:
A very public complaint, and a very clear one. I don’t feel comfortable ignoring or responding privately to public complaints. So, later in the day, I replied:
While I was writing my replies, I was stopped by a few students. One said, “More chalk?” And I grinned, said, “The libraries’ response.” He was flabbergasted that we were replying to chalk notes. I said, “Hey, you want to talk to me in chalk, I’ll respond in chalk.”
Except I really responded with a poster.
The poster, as a .jpg on Flickr (click through for larger version):
So there it is. People have been complimenting me on the response all day. We’re working up a similar poster for the Crane Library to respond to concerns from the music school students. I was aiming for fast, transparent, and public, and I think I hit all three goals. I realize, as I type this, that I was also aiming for personable and approachable, and I hope I hit that one, too. I spent half an hour talking to people and soliciting opinions about approaches, and a few hours fiddling with a poster design… and maybe, just maybe, as a result of my decision to take those few hours last night to respond, the people who’re frustrated that we close at 6 on Fridays will understand why that is. And maybe we’ll get some suggestions about what they’d prefer we do.
Either way, it was fun. C’mon, who doesn’t like sidewalk chalk?
*beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep* September 1, 2009
Posted by Jenica Rogers in Libraries, Library As Place, Users.26 comments
It’s the first week of the semester. As I noted on Twitter (and therefore FriendFeed) yesterday, one of the recurring side effects of that is that the emergency exit alarms go off all the time.
See, we have a structural problem: The lobby of Crumb Library was designed to have four entrances. Four sets of doors, two on each side of the lobby. In order to not need four sets of security gates, we have permanently closed off one set, replacing them with a glass wall, and a second set is an emergency exit. Two sets of doors remain, one on the east and one on the west side of the lobby. (We’re a popular cut-through across the Quad for just this reason, but it does provide steady traffic for the Minerva’s Cafe, which sits just off the lobby by the traffic pattern.)
It’s the emergency set that are the problem.
They are always a problem.
Those of us who have watched them be a problem are baffled by it.
I mean… really. Yes, there is a giant lit EXIT sign. I know. It’s required by law. It makes people think this is the way out of the building. Yes, it looks just like the doors that people normally come and go through, but, well, that’s because it is, and was designed that way.
There are also three foot-wide STOP signs on the doors, at eye level, in red, octagonal in shape… all of the traditional STOP indicators.
And yet people walk on through.
Daily.
So we end up putting up temporary signs for the first part of the semester, in a vain attempt to steer students away until they learn.
People have suggested that we lock the doors. Can’t do that; Emergency Exit.
People have suggested we take down the EXIT sign. Can’t do that; Emergency Exit.
People have suggested we use velvet rope to block it off. Can’t do that; Emergency Exit.
People have suggested clearer signage. We’re at a loss as to what would be clearer than what we have.
Mostly, I think the problem lies in two things: One, most people don’t read ANY signs, even good ones. And Two, lots and lots of our users leave the library talking on their phone or chatting with friends. And they’re not paying attention to anything but what they themselves are doing in that moment.
Makes you fear for the ones talking and texting while they drive, doesn’t it?
So I guess this is all just to say that I want to make the best possible library experience for our users… but sometimes I think the users are just gonna have to pay attention to their world. There’s only so much I can do for them.
Of course, any brilliant ideas on how to solve this problem are totally welcome. I’m tired of listening to the alarm go off!
ETA: You can all stop suggesting we buy new gates and open the doors. That is not a practical option. Try again!
Rambling about possessiveness August 25, 2009
Posted by Jenica Rogers in Libraries, Musings, Users.7 comments
I’ve been in the President’s Leadership Retreat for the past two days, with the rest of the College’s senior administration. Lots of big picture thinking about strategic goals, long-term planning, student recruitment and retention, fundraising, and finances. And a lot of cameraderie, too; this campus has a very strong community in a lot of different directions, and the goodwill and general affection that resonate between this group of people is an indicator of why that’s true through so many other facets of campus life, as well. Trickle-down attitudes, if you will.
One interesting facet of these two days, as I reflect on them, is that I haven’t talked about the libraries nearly at all, in our big-picture discussions. I’ve set up two appointments, talked to another Director about a mutual problem, chatted with several colleagues about construction issues, and reconnected with faculty members who were gone for the summer — all in my role as the Director of Libraries. But I haven’t talked much about the libraries. I’ve listened, and studied documents, and when relevant, talked: about student retention and recruitment, about campus programs, about finances and goals… I know I’ve contributed substantively to the discussions about our campus, just not by insisting we speak about my area of expertise.
And that’s absolutely okay. If the libraries and our skill set and services were relevant to the discussion of our campus needs, I’d be sure to make certain that was brought up. But in these particular moments, it wasn’t relevant. What was relevant was having a group of engaged, interested, and dedicated administrators looking at issues that matter to our communal future in broad, orer-arching strokes.
In a recent meeting, a library staff member referred to a library project as being “mine” while describing it, and I stopped and corrected, “It’s not ‘yours’, it’s the library’s.” I felt a bit mean correcting that comment, because in some contexts, I honestly appreciate that kind of perspective and understand it — I sometimes think about projects as mine, of the Libraries as mine, about new ideas as being mine — because I think it indicates a certain kind of dedication and investment that’s both personal and proprietary, usually in good ways. The things we take ownership of and cherish are things we give of ourselves to promote. But there are limits to possessiveness, productively, which is why I chose to make that verbal correction. We may do things because we’re personally invested, but we must always also know that what we do, we do for the College, in service of our mission to educate students.
Which is why I like days like today. I’m in this group of planners and thinkers because the Libraries, and by association, their Director, are a valued part of the institution. I’m participating in these discussions not because the Libraries are key to them, or set to gain or lose from the direction of them, but because even though my responsibility is for management and leadership of the Libraries, my responsibility in doing that is ultimately in serving the greater good of the College.
Because the Libraries aren’t mine, or even ‘ours’ in the context of the staff: The Libraries belong to the College, which supports them in service of our students.
It’s a good reminder in the week before those students return. When they show up, our world changes, both for the better and for the more chaotic. Things are going to go wrong, be messy, be hectic, and stress people out for the next two weeks. Students will have holds on their accounts because of library fines, users will appeal existing fines, we’ll push our technology to its limits and see where it fails, and we’ll spend a lot of time assisting with email accounts and Blackboard and the printers. We’ll get frustrated, and stressed, and at times defensive. We’ll also get the satisfaction of helping a student get to their next class on time, of providing that friendly face that makes someone’s day a little bit better, and of giving a job to a student worrying about money. We’ll go home each day knowing we helped our users.
We do it for them. Not because the Libraries are ours, but because the College is theirs.
Jenica Rogers
