Rethinking How We Help Those Who Don’t Ask

"Rethinking How We Help Those Who Don’t Ask." American Libraries / Meredith Farkas.
Chicago: American Libraries Online, October 23rd 2012.

"For years, my experiences fueled my desire to make the reference desk more approachable. There’s considerable research on library anxiety, and many people see libraries as a place with lots of rules they don’t understand. I still believe in the value of making the library more user-friendly, but I don’t think approachability is the only reason why people aren’t using reference services.

Like me, many people simply want to figure things out for themselves. And when there’s something about the library they don’t understand, they won’t go to the reference desk. They’ll go elsewhere."

Ask a Librarian, & Then Listen

"Ask a Librarian, & Then Listen." The Reader / J.R. Jones.
Chicago: The Reader Online, September 12th 2012.

"As they say in the south, you can't get there from here—you have to find a car, drive out to the research facility, pull on some white cotton gloves, and page through the stuff yourself. No matter how detailed the library's finding aid (a document that lists everything in a particular collection), you may need to leaf through page after page to find whatever you're after. But make sure you're sitting down, because when you find it, the rush can take your head off."

Libraries Connect Communities

Libraries Connect Communities: Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study 2011-2012 / ALA.
Chicago: American Libraries Association Digital Supplement, Summer 2012.

You Can Get That At The Library?

"You Can Get That At The Library?" Chicago Tribune / Gregory Karp.
Chicago: Chicago Tribune Online, August 26th 2011.

"Librarians. Perhaps the greatest resource of all is free access to an information expert, your local librarian, who, coincidentally, can turn you on to all the new offerings the library has."

Study: College Students Rarely Use Librarians' Expertise

"Study: College Students Rarely Use Librarians' Expertise." USA Today / Steve Kolowich.
Chicago: USA Today Online, August 23rd 2011.

"[Lynda] Duke and [Andrew] Asher said they were surprised by "the extent to which students appeared to lack even some of the most basic information literacy skills that we assumed they would have mastered in high school." Even students who were high achievers in high school suffered from these deficiencies, Asher told Inside Higher Ed in an interview.

In other words: Today's college students might have grown up with the language of the information age, but they do not necessarily know the grammar."

See:
Ethnographic Research in Illinois Academic Libraries Project

"Some Cardinal Principles of Librarians' Work." Public Libraries / Sam Walter Foss.

Chicago, IL: Public Libraries 14 77-81, 1909.

  

“Don't stay in the library all the time yourself and stagnate in the musty atmosphere of your dead books. Be a public and not a private man. Get out and feel the dynamic thrill that comes from contact with live men. The club, the exchange, the street, the philanthropic and economic organizations that are feeling out for the betterment of mankind are the places where the librarian should be found frequently. He should be the best known man or woman in the city.”

Libraries Connect Communities: Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study 2010-2011

Libraries Connect Communities: Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study 2010-2011 / American Library Association.
Chicago: ALA, 2011.

Nice Marketing, Chicago Public Library!

How Customer Service Principles Ensure the Library’s Relevance

"How Customer Service Principles Ensure the Library’s Relevance." AALL Spectrum / Mark P. Bernstein.
Chicago: AALL Spectrum Online, November 2008.

"Set goals through strategic planning or a similar staff development program.  Planning allows an organization to adapt, evolve, and successfully take on new challenges, thus preventing stagnation and apathy. Change is constant; continuing to do something simply because you have always done it that way can often lead your customers to turn elsewhere for information.  Consider using a library e-newsletter, blog, or intranet as a current awareness tool to keep clientele abreast and reflect a proactive stance."

Who's Killing the Dewey Decimal System?

"Who's Killing the Dewey Decimal System?" Chicago Tribune / Robert McCoppin.
Chicago: The Chicago Tribune Online, February 18th 2011.

"A handful of pioneering suburban libraries are transitioning from the librarian-loved but misunderstood Dewey to the type of organization system used by booksellers. The new layout groups books by subject rather than number, uses signs to highlight contemporary, popular categories, and displays books by their covers.

Critics say the new system is a nightmare for anyone trying to find a specific book that doesn't fit into an obvious category. Supporters counter that the system does what libraries should be doing: encourage people to read more books."

2011's 11 Crucial Trends

"2011's 11 Crucial Trends." American Libraries / Sean Fitzpatrick.
Chicago: American Libraries Magazine Online, December 1st 2010.

"11. Owner-less

According to Trendwatching, access is more important than ownership in 2011. This one is a natural opportunity for libraries. Most of the materials libraries lend and services they offer are far too expensive for most consumers to afford. From books and DVDs to databases, videogame platforms, and even ad hoc office or meeting spaces, libraries can offer serious benefits in an ownerless society."

New Media & Literacies: Amateurs vs. Professionals

"New Media & Literacies: Amateurs vs. Professionals." First Monday / Tibor Koltay.
Chicago: First Monday 16 1-3, January 2011.

"New media are not supportive of critical thinking and conscious selection of information. Literacies of our age stress critical thinking and take many forms. Despite differences and similarities among information literacy, media literacy and digital literacy, all of them have to differentiate between amateur and professional contents produced in new media. Similarly to the traditional division of labor among libraries, the needs behind amateurism and professionalism have to be satisfied differently.  ...

There is no single literacy that is appropriate for all people or for one person over all their lifetime that would not require constant updating of concepts and competences in accordance with the changing circumstances of the information environment (Bawden, 2008). In the world of new media, literacies have to be different not only because they originate in different traditions and practices, but by the recognition of differences in the use of information. Instead of accepting without criticism that new media can change everything disregarding our needs, we have to try to differentiate and use the “old” example of work distribution between academic, special and public libraries."

What Do Librarians Think About Marketing?

"What Do Librarians Think About Marketing? A Survey Of Public Librarians’ Attitudes Toward The Marketing Of Library Services." Library Quarterly / Marilyn L. Shontz, Jon C. Parker, & Richard Parker.
Chicago: Library Quarterly Online 74.1 pg 63-84, 2004.

"However, very few studies have examined the attitudes of librarians toward marketing. As discussed earlier, some writers have speculated that many librarians lack knowledge of marketing, have negative attitudes toward marketing, or believe that marketing is relevant only to businesses, but not to libraries.

Most of the respondents in this study tended to express generally positive attitudes toward marketing. However, there were some statistically significant differences between subgroups. For example, more positive attitudes toward marketing were expressed by administrators and public service librarians than by reference and technical services librarians. Those with more years of library work experience and those who had taken a course or workshop in marketing also expressed more positive attitudes toward marketing."

Friday At the Library

Libraries Reinvent Themselves as They Struggle to Remain Relevant in the Digital Age

"Libraries Reinvent Themselves as They Struggle to Remain Relevant in the Digital Age." Chicago Tribune / David Sarno.
Chicago: The Chicago Tribune Online, November 12th 2010.

"Some traditional librarians worry that experiments aimed at making libraries more accessible could dumb them down. ... Joan Frye Williams, a library consultant and futurist, believes that the underlying purpose of libraries will not change, even if bookshelves disappear."

It's A Fact.

Reference Librarians Search the Stacks

"Reference Librarians Search the Stacks." Neighborhood Star / Stephanie Gehring.
Chicago: Southtown Star Online, August 29th 2010.

Are Libraries Necessary, or a Waste of Tax Money?

"Are Libraries Necessary, or a Waste of Tax Money?." Fox News / Anna Davlantes.
Chicago: MyFoxChicago Online, June 28th 2010.

See Also:
Response from Mary Dempsey, Chicago Public Library Commissioner

Kids Find Summertime Haven in Libraries, Parents Find Day Care

"Kids Find Summertime Haven in Libraries, Parents Find Day Care." The Chicago Tribune / Lolly Bowean.
Chicago: Chicago Tribune Online, July 5th 2010.

"Librarians … they are the hidden stars of our communities," Neuman said. "Librarians act as substitute mother teachers. They have taken it upon themselves to fill this role. They are doing it and doing it well, even if it is not something they wanted to do."

Library Use #2: Pursuit of Education