Thing 2

Providing a Library Service

 I work in HSC Library Craigavon located in Craigavon Area Hospital which is under Queen's University.  We provide a Library service for Healthcare Professional and also University Students, each with their different information requirements.

There are many elements to providing a good Library Service from issuing and checking in books to helping researchers access the information they require for writing paper/dissertations etc.

Why do people come to the Library?

Our customers come to the Library to get the information they require for study, professional development or for to equip them with knowledge about medical conditions. The information they require may be found in a book, a journal, database.

Customers also come to the Library to access Library facilities such as computers, printers and study space. Finally, the customer's come when they need help and support in finding the information they require.

When we look at the reasons a customer comes to the library, then the customer needs are addressed with a service that is a customer focused service and empowering either in their studies or within their profession.

This is an evolving service as customer requirements and needs change we have to be prepared to be proactive to those changes and fulfil their requirements.

I came across a blog entitled Know Any “Gen-Req’ers”? How Academic Library Use Evolves. Within a section of the blog it looks at the four categories of researchers which I  think helps us identify our customers.The link to the blog is below. 

Pasted from <http://www.proquest.com/blog/pqblog/2016/Know-Any-Gen-Reqers-How-Academic-Library-Use-Evolves.html>

Four categories of researchers:-

The study found that Student researchers can’t be lumped into a single category. Instead, student study habits evolve as they grow academically.

- Students new to the higher education landscape are characterized as “Gen-Req’ers” –seeking content to satisfy general requirement coursework. Time is of the essence for these newbies, who want to spend less time searching for information and more time writing.

- The “Domain Learner” has a stronger handle on their field of study and tailors their research needs accordingly, identifying key journals and other sources that will enhance his assignment outcomes.

- The “Apprentice” is working toward their capstone project: a thesis, dissertation or other graduate-level assignment. For them, comprehensive content that keeps up with the current developments in their field take priority. They also feels the pressure to discover something new to report.

- Finally, the “Seasoned Scholar” can take the form of a professor or professional who is entirely invested in his or her discipline. They establish collaborative relationships with leaders in their field of study, but ironically may be intimidated by the ever-changing technology that informs today’s online research.

I found this article very interesting and enlightening as I don't tend to categorise customers when they approach the desk other than by HSC Staff or Student.  The article does help to focus on each categories requirement and therefore begin to recognise that in customers category and help understand their needs.

I have looked at how we provide these four categories a Library Service at Craigavon.

How do we address the information requirements of each group?

 Students when they first arrive in the Library they want directional support and want to be aware of the facilities such as computers, printing and study areas, opening and closing hours and access out of Library hours to the other facilities.  When there are Student induction meetings a member of Library Staff will attend and give a short introduction to the Library its location and facilities available to them.  Sometimes staff from within the hospital will bring a small group to the Library and we will give them a tour of the Library.  This gives a valuable opportunity to promote the Library and its resources and it gives the student a face that they can recognise, feeling comfortable to ask for help and support when needed.  We have more organised tours scheduled for HSC Staff so that they can recognise that there are more resources the library has to offer and which they can freely access and receive help and support when needed.

Domain Learner knows where to access books and knows the library facilities but sometimes needs that extra help and support in locating information and needs some directional advice.  We have Library Workshops to support our HSC Staff be more focused in their research and help them to use the databases more effectively.  We also help by ordering requests of books and journal articles via our article request service, from other Libraries such as the British Library, if they are not freely available or they are unable to access them.

Apprentice can need some support and reassurance in knowing that they have the most up to date information available. We have an Information Request form which can be filled in and passed on to the Librarian and they will search and respond with whatever information has been found via email, post or collection from the library.  Again, the customer can be supplied with article requests via our article request service.

Seasoned Scholar needs support in accessing and using various databases to support his research but may not have the time to sit down work out how to use various databases. For this customer if they don't feel comfortable attending a library workshop we would organise a private appointment with the Librarian who would go through relevant databases and how to create alerts about topics.

Most of the information the users require can be found on the Library Website but,sometimes they don't have time to familiarise themselves fully with the website. Library Staff can point out the key features that are relevant for the customer and recommend that they explore the website at leisure or attend a Library Workshop. When customers are at the desk who are wishing to join the Library I ask if they have been on the Library Website and if not I will give them a guided tour of the website pointing out key features and advise them to ask for help 

Promoting the Library and its resources

It is important to promote the library and its services, it can be done in many ways such as social media, notice boards, student induction meetings etc.

The Library in the past had been promoting the old fashioned way, by word of mouth.  When a good service is received and the customer feels helped, support and empowered they tell others.

We have been using Twitter to promote workshops and any information which is useful to the customer about the library services.

The Library has four rooms - the library, computer room, training room and reading room.  Most customers know the Library and the Computer Room which can be accessed via the Library as well as corridor but the other two rooms were being under used. I created a poster for all the doors showing all the rooms associated with the Library and the hours that they are open. The rooms are along one corridor and the poster shows the relation of one room to the next. The result is the customers are now aware of all the rooms associated with the Library and the Training Room and Reading Room are being used more. See poster below.

Customer Requests

Our student customers felt we hadn't enough study space and we responded by re-organizing the layout of the library floor to allow extra study space in the library and also, we put extra study tables in the reading room.

Customers were asking for mobile phone chargers and headsets which we now have and customers can borrow.

To let our customers, know when new books we have arrived, we display them on a shelf for a few weeks before they are added to stock.

Beside the new books we put a book display which is relevant to a current health promotion.

I created new shelf signage with the shelf mark and a graphic beside to make it easier to find professional areas. See example below.

Customers were asking for a piece of scrap paper to write notes and so other than using new paper, to help the environment, we now place a small box next to the issue desk and any printouts left at the printer, which had nothing printed on the back are placed in the box for use.

At the telephone people were asking for paper to write notes and now we cut some of the paper up from the scrap paper box and put in a notelet holder.

We created a Book Swap section for to give our customers some leisure reading.

The role of the Library is to connect people with the information and resources they need which will empower them and which will help them achieve whatever goals they have through academic achievement or professional development. Whenever this is achieved a good library service will be provided.