Having a colleague next door has been a godsend. My office is hidden away and I have to go out of my way to interact with people.
Having a new library hire next door has been doubly useful because we can discuss library and technical issue, but also the issues that new hires face. Sometimes you don't notice something is an issue. But if someone else mentions it, then you get to mull it over, hear it in a different language, and figure out if it is an issue or not. It is also really useful to hear her experience as a new employee at NSCC. Sometimes I can help. Other times she helps me.
Having someone in the library trenches who is very forward thinking is also very useful. Our “small talk” is usually work oriented and it becomes an opportunity to kick around ideas. I’ve worked on a lot of things she’s currently working on and vice versa.
Andrea, my boss, used to have the office next door. That was useful for getting informal feedback and direction quickly, but I think I prefer having a colleague who has done a job similar to mine and is also new here. Besides, I hate seeing my boss walk by my door whenever I am struggling with something.
Theses insights are not brain surgery and I’m not sure if these are the kind of reflections you are looking for. I’ve been in tons of meeting and workshops all week so I’ve not had much time to reflect. Even when I put a meeting with myself in my Outlook Calendar, I skip over it to get something pressing done. I have to say, when I have a project deadline breathing down my back, or someone is asking me for help figuring out a library software issue, the "dismiss" button in outlook tasks is too tempting.
Right now I'm working on my Employee Success Plan. I slipped through the cracks in that process, so now my director and I are playing catch-up. I once that is done I'll look at my plan and duties and break them up into responsibilities and accountabilities. After that we should determine at if there are any reports or reflections I should do for this journal.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
Back from vacation
I got back from my 2 week vacation on Monday. It was a great break: 5 relaxing days in Prague and 5 in Paris. I got robbed on the train (they got 300 euros and my visa). Then 3 days of one of the worst colds I've ever had.
When I got back, I had a chance to meet the Library's newest employee, Denise Parrott, our new Technical Services Librarian. Basically, her job is to take care of the metadata for items in our catalogue and to oversee the development of our library collection. She's a very positive, practical person who is open to new ideas. That reminded me of my Biggest Surprise at NSCC....
I've given it a bit of thought. There have been a couple of surprises. The biggest one is how some employees seem more concerned with their job than with learner needs. NSCC has a very positive mission statement and values, and I've heard a lot of positive comments about working at NSCC. It is odd when I meet people who are not very forward thinking or service oriented, but then again that could just be because of the geeks I normally work with outside of NSCC.
The other thing on my mind is that I have to give my recommendation on a software product. It is called WorldCat Local. I am on the fence about this one. It does some things well and others very poorly. It makes a good overlay for our OPAC (our library catalogue) but it mixes up that data with results from a bunch of free databases. It is supposed to search our other database, but it does not work with 75% of them. Finally, the technical service of the company is very very bad.
However, it is cheap.
I'm pulling together all data, but I am still on the fence. I have to focus on what it does do well, what it does poorly, and then decide.
When I got back, I had a chance to meet the Library's newest employee, Denise Parrott, our new Technical Services Librarian. Basically, her job is to take care of the metadata for items in our catalogue and to oversee the development of our library collection. She's a very positive, practical person who is open to new ideas. That reminded me of my Biggest Surprise at NSCC....
I've given it a bit of thought. There have been a couple of surprises. The biggest one is how some employees seem more concerned with their job than with learner needs. NSCC has a very positive mission statement and values, and I've heard a lot of positive comments about working at NSCC. It is odd when I meet people who are not very forward thinking or service oriented, but then again that could just be because of the geeks I normally work with outside of NSCC.
The other thing on my mind is that I have to give my recommendation on a software product. It is called WorldCat Local. I am on the fence about this one. It does some things well and others very poorly. It makes a good overlay for our OPAC (our library catalogue) but it mixes up that data with results from a bunch of free databases. It is supposed to search our other database, but it does not work with 75% of them. Finally, the technical service of the company is very very bad.
However, it is cheap.
I'm pulling together all data, but I am still on the fence. I have to focus on what it does do well, what it does poorly, and then decide.
Friday, October 8, 2010
NSTU
I decided to try to get a little more involved with NSCC so I could understand this place a bit better. Today I went to my first NSTU local meeting. (Don't worry I won't be giving away any secrets). I need to record some observations and to think out loud a bit.
The group dynamic and composition of the local NSTU is a bit different than what I'm used to. I'm used to dealing with university faculty and administration. This is a different pond and it makes me wonder if I am a bit of an elitist.
I've only been in two unions: CUPE in Newfoundland 25 years ago and the Atlantic School of Theology Faculty Association (ASTFA). There's a big difference between the two. The education level in both is different and their dynamics and militancy are also different.
The NSTU local seems more like CUPE. Some of these people seem to have a chip on their shoulder. They are suspicious of everyone. Well, two of the 14 people in the room were like that. That's just over 14 %. I doubt if this reflects the rest of the union. Sometimes it's the pissed-off people who show up and voice their opinions. Some of local NSTU members want old-school militancy and are very adversarial. It's like they are stuck in the 1960's.
I'm used to working with egg-heads. People with Phds who are organized, educated, and strategic. People who don't interrupt the speaker every time they think of something "funny". People who try to understand the other side. (In negotiations this means understand the other side so you can get the best deal possible. Which works). This is what I worked towards in forming the ASTFA, using a more trust-based approach in the negotiations. Both sides enjoy it more and it is very successful.
I've decided to keep my mouth shut at these meetings for a while and to just listen.This is all part of the acclimatization process. This could get interesting.
The group dynamic and composition of the local NSTU is a bit different than what I'm used to. I'm used to dealing with university faculty and administration. This is a different pond and it makes me wonder if I am a bit of an elitist.
I've only been in two unions: CUPE in Newfoundland 25 years ago and the Atlantic School of Theology Faculty Association (ASTFA). There's a big difference between the two. The education level in both is different and their dynamics and militancy are also different.
The NSTU local seems more like CUPE. Some of these people seem to have a chip on their shoulder. They are suspicious of everyone. Well, two of the 14 people in the room were like that. That's just over 14 %. I doubt if this reflects the rest of the union. Sometimes it's the pissed-off people who show up and voice their opinions. Some of local NSTU members want old-school militancy and are very adversarial. It's like they are stuck in the 1960's.
I'm used to working with egg-heads. People with Phds who are organized, educated, and strategic. People who don't interrupt the speaker every time they think of something "funny". People who try to understand the other side. (In negotiations this means understand the other side so you can get the best deal possible. Which works). This is what I worked towards in forming the ASTFA, using a more trust-based approach in the negotiations. Both sides enjoy it more and it is very successful.
I've decided to keep my mouth shut at these meetings for a while and to just listen.This is all part of the acclimatization process. This could get interesting.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Reflections on Team Building.
NS1011: Working Effectively in Organizations was "interesting". It looked at things like the resistance to organizational change and the importance of demographic diversity. Those two topics were covered quite well, but a big part of the course was forming a team from 6 random colleagues who we've never met before. Sounds easy but we were practically at each other's throats within a day. Some of the other groups were also not jelling well. Fortunately our team realized we had a big problem and worked on it.
On the second day the instructors gave everyone a team exercise. Each team had yard-long dowel which was placed on the floor. Each team had to pick it up by placing one finger each under the stick and lifting it up. Everyone on the team had to do it at the same time. If a finger came off, we had to start over. We could not do it. Three of us had great ideas for lifting the stick, but no one was listening. Ten minutes later we took a time out and listened to what we all had to say. We then put all the ideas together and ended up finishing first.
After the exercise, while we were waiting for others to finish, we had some individual conversations. We realized that the team was not working as a team. Every team member I spoke with had this insight. Most had a theory on why we were not working together. I've listed the three most common ones below.
Later that day, with the course 2/5's over, we took two hours and went around the table to introduce ourselves, explained how we liked to work, and how we thought we could contribute to the team. We even discussed our Strengths a little and used that as a starting point to figure out why we were getting on each other's nerves. Although using Strengths in that way is a bit superficial, it was useful in helping us be more patient with each other and to listen to what each other had to say.
The first problem was that we were not given any guidelines on how to form teams. We had to teach ourselves how to do it. The course essentially became a living lab on teamwork. Once we accepted that and focused on getting the team to work together things went a lot smoother. It also gave us a goal and theme for our final group project. So this problem because an opportunity.
The second problem was leadership. We did not have a team leader. No one in our group took on the role. Everyone at the team were experienced leaders but was too "polite" to volunteer. It was odd, but we were so concerned with being good colleagues and classmates that none of us pushed for the leadership role. In the end it was rule by consensus, which was fine because at that point we were all on the same page. A course on how to form and lead a team would be useful at NSCC.
The third key problem was that we did not communicate well. Initially we did not have a means for everyone to be heard. To illustrate, at our first meeting we all sat along two picnic tables placed end to end. People at either end could not hear what the people at the opposite ends were saying. It was an ineffective layout for a meeting. When we did the stick exercise the people at either end had good ideas on how to lift the stick, but they could not get the message to the others at the far end . At our first successful meeting we sat with our chairs in a circle and made sure everyone was heard. When we saw how well that worked we kept having our meetings at a round table and made sure everyone was heard and understood.
Overall, we were initially so keen to get group project started that we did not take the time to form a team properly. We did not have a leader. We did not communicate well. Luckily we were all mature enough to recognize and address these problems. It became a living lab where we learned as we went along. At the time I suspected that this was the objective of the group project -- to form a living lab and make order out of chaos. Nothing else made sense. We were giving no guidelines on how to form groups or to work as a team. We had to extrapolate some ideas from the course content, and some of our own knowledge, and work it out ourselves. It could have all gone very wrong.
In the end, we were very satisfied with our group project and the process of building a team out of nothing. But that part of the course could have been better organized.
On the second day the instructors gave everyone a team exercise. Each team had yard-long dowel which was placed on the floor. Each team had to pick it up by placing one finger each under the stick and lifting it up. Everyone on the team had to do it at the same time. If a finger came off, we had to start over. We could not do it. Three of us had great ideas for lifting the stick, but no one was listening. Ten minutes later we took a time out and listened to what we all had to say. We then put all the ideas together and ended up finishing first.
After the exercise, while we were waiting for others to finish, we had some individual conversations. We realized that the team was not working as a team. Every team member I spoke with had this insight. Most had a theory on why we were not working together. I've listed the three most common ones below.
Later that day, with the course 2/5's over, we took two hours and went around the table to introduce ourselves, explained how we liked to work, and how we thought we could contribute to the team. We even discussed our Strengths a little and used that as a starting point to figure out why we were getting on each other's nerves. Although using Strengths in that way is a bit superficial, it was useful in helping us be more patient with each other and to listen to what each other had to say.
The first problem was that we were not given any guidelines on how to form teams. We had to teach ourselves how to do it. The course essentially became a living lab on teamwork. Once we accepted that and focused on getting the team to work together things went a lot smoother. It also gave us a goal and theme for our final group project. So this problem because an opportunity.
The second problem was leadership. We did not have a team leader. No one in our group took on the role. Everyone at the team were experienced leaders but was too "polite" to volunteer. It was odd, but we were so concerned with being good colleagues and classmates that none of us pushed for the leadership role. In the end it was rule by consensus, which was fine because at that point we were all on the same page. A course on how to form and lead a team would be useful at NSCC.
The third key problem was that we did not communicate well. Initially we did not have a means for everyone to be heard. To illustrate, at our first meeting we all sat along two picnic tables placed end to end. People at either end could not hear what the people at the opposite ends were saying. It was an ineffective layout for a meeting. When we did the stick exercise the people at either end had good ideas on how to lift the stick, but they could not get the message to the others at the far end . At our first successful meeting we sat with our chairs in a circle and made sure everyone was heard. When we saw how well that worked we kept having our meetings at a round table and made sure everyone was heard and understood.
Overall, we were initially so keen to get group project started that we did not take the time to form a team properly. We did not have a leader. We did not communicate well. Luckily we were all mature enough to recognize and address these problems. It became a living lab where we learned as we went along. At the time I suspected that this was the objective of the group project -- to form a living lab and make order out of chaos. Nothing else made sense. We were giving no guidelines on how to form groups or to work as a team. We had to extrapolate some ideas from the course content, and some of our own knowledge, and work it out ourselves. It could have all gone very wrong.
In the end, we were very satisfied with our group project and the process of building a team out of nothing. But that part of the course could have been better organized.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Personal Stategies exercise in NS1011, Working Effectively in Organizations
On the second day of the NS1011 course we did an exercise for a) finding personal opportunities or challenges in our jobs & lives and b) finding what was keeping us from succeeding with those changes. The exercise was called "Language of Change". I developed two specific goals. I feel they are a lot more practical and less philosophical than the goal from my "Individual Work Challenge and Opportunity Statement" from Day one.
Two specific goals I can work on are:
The goals are complementary. Finishing my projects on time will help alleviate stress. Alleviating stress will help me to work more productively and finish my projects on time. It will also help me to think more creatively. I'll discuss the second goal, reducing my stress levels, first.
Reducing my stress levels.
Working with my strengths or at least understanding them might also help to reduce my stress levels. For example, I realize that I feel great when I accomplish something, but I do not necessarily feel as energized while I am working on a project that takes a long time. If I break long projects into small ones, it gives me a lot of accomplishments and feeds the Achiever side of my personality.
Finishing Projects on Time
Plan for Feedback.
I am thinking about showing these ideas to my supervisor and my mentor to keep them in the loop. I'll ask them for feedback on this and if they notice any progress in my work or stress levels.
My doctor will also give me feedback on my physical progress. I have what used to be called juvenile diabetes and have to start seeing my endocrinologist twice a year. Both doctors help track my blood pressure, weight, and general health. I can also keep a journal of how I am feeling.
Regarding finishing my projects on time, I will ask for feedback from my supervisor, mentor, and anyone with who I am collaborating. I will also track how I feel as I hit the milestones in different projects.
Two specific goals I can work on are:
- To finish projects on time, and
- To reduce my stress levels.
Reducing my stress levels.
To reduce my stress levels I will have to:
- Get more exercise.
- Give my office a more relaxed atmosphere -- I recently moved to a nicer office which immediately seemed to make things less stressful. I can improve on this by getting rid of the ugly plants I inherited from the last occupants. I can also bring in nicer plants and have some music in the background.
- Take breaks -- I have a bad habit of not taking breaks and working through lunch. I can at least go for a walk and get away from my desk during lunch.
When I exercise I think more clearly. During exercise my mind wanders and I find connections between things. (Ideation is one of my strengths so I enjoy this process). I have also noticed that my lack of exercise over the last two years has reduced my ability to deal with my normal of stress. My response to that was to work through lunches bring work home to get the work done. Exercise will also improve my general health.
I recently developed adhesive capsulitis (i.e. frozen shoulder) in my right shoulder, which means I can no longer fence or swim very well. When my shoulder heals I can also start doing yoga again which should help tremendously. I recently tried my girlfriend's elliptical machine and it did not aggravate my shoulder, so I can use that for now.
To achieve the goal of finishing my projects on time I will have to make some adjustments to my behaviour such as:
- Become more comfortable about asking for help.
- Set more reasonable deadlines.
- Not fear failure or see failing as a necessarily bad thing.
- Not let the fear of failure cause me to over-think the projects.
- Managing my workload better and not take on too much work.
- Learn to not let other projects get in the way.
Each of these things will help me to work more effectively and help me to finish projects in the long run. There are other things that will help. For example, we did a drawing exercise on Day Four to describe our work history. I found the drawing exercise be a lot of fun and very energizing. I finished it in about 5 minutes and had time left over to read a couple of pages of a book. This seems to be a good method to brainstorm, to plan projects, or to get a fresh perspective on an issue.
I am thinking about showing these ideas to my supervisor and my mentor to keep them in the loop. I'll ask them for feedback on this and if they notice any progress in my work or stress levels.
Individual Work Challenge and Opportunity Statement from NS1011
At the beginning of NS1011: Working Effectively in Organizations, I had to make a "Individual Work Challenge & Opportunity Statement". I decided to get a head start and do some thinking about it before the course even started. I rationalized that it would at least be interesting to see if my experiences of Day One changed how I considered my work and what I’m doing at NSCC as the Electronic Services Librarian (ES Librarian).
Before the course I saw my personal goals as the ES Librarian as:
This is not an original idea. I first heard it 15 years ago from Ernie Ingles, the current Vice-Provost and chief Librarian at the University of Alberta. A lot of my colleagues thought it was a scary idea or at least an ethical quandary. Why should we put ourselves out of a job? Shouldn’t we try to keep our skills in demand? What about those thousands of librarians across Canada who would be unemployed? Others laughed because we thought the goal was unattainable.
We missed the point. As one door closes another opens. In my own case, my knowledge, skills and experience in technology are easily transferable to other areas. In fact I feel pretty confident that if I ever achieve my new goal of making the Electronic Services Librarian redundant, I will be able to grow into another position at NSCC or elsewhere.
One thing worries me. Namely, that I forgot Ernie’s principle for 15 years. I think it was hidden in the back of my mind, tucked safely away under the fear of unemployment. Perhaps I forgot it because I did not think the goal was attainable. For every technological advance we make in library technology we find more problems. For example, we set up federated search engines that search all of our databases but it takes so long to run a search that most students hate using them.
If the goal is attainable, I should have the moral courage to strive for this goal and risk unemployment. And if it is not attainable, well, there is nothing wrong with having a dream.
Before the course I saw my personal goals as the ES Librarian as:
- To select, setup, and maintain library technology that will make everyone’s work easier, faster, and more efficient.
- To design and create a Library Services website that is easy to use and helps students, faculty and staff to learn, find information, and do research.
- To solve things. (I love solving technical problems, especially ones that other ES librarians cannot figure out).
My goal at NSCC is to end my job at NSCC.That is, if I do my job exceptionally well, then my job as Electronic Services Librarian should become redundant. In the ideal library, users could do their own research easily, quickly and efficiently without the help of Librarians. In the ideal library, my job would no longer be necessary.
This is not an original idea. I first heard it 15 years ago from Ernie Ingles, the current Vice-Provost and chief Librarian at the University of Alberta. A lot of my colleagues thought it was a scary idea or at least an ethical quandary. Why should we put ourselves out of a job? Shouldn’t we try to keep our skills in demand? What about those thousands of librarians across Canada who would be unemployed? Others laughed because we thought the goal was unattainable.
We missed the point. As one door closes another opens. In my own case, my knowledge, skills and experience in technology are easily transferable to other areas. In fact I feel pretty confident that if I ever achieve my new goal of making the Electronic Services Librarian redundant, I will be able to grow into another position at NSCC or elsewhere.
One thing worries me. Namely, that I forgot Ernie’s principle for 15 years. I think it was hidden in the back of my mind, tucked safely away under the fear of unemployment. Perhaps I forgot it because I did not think the goal was attainable. For every technological advance we make in library technology we find more problems. For example, we set up federated search engines that search all of our databases but it takes so long to run a search that most students hate using them.
If the goal is attainable, I should have the moral courage to strive for this goal and risk unemployment. And if it is not attainable, well, there is nothing wrong with having a dream.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Professional Action Plan
In the course The Learning-Centred Community College I had to develop a Professional Action Plan. I've shortened it a bit for the journal. The exercise was a little odd because I was not given time to consult with my director... but it was a good exercise so here it is.
In this entry I look at how I understood my postion at NSCC before and after the CCEDP course NS 1003: The Learning-Centred Community College. This was instended to help me assess and plan my contribution to a learning-centered approach at NSCC.
When I was hired for my position at NSCC it was because I had a lot of experience in Library technology, as a Librarian, and as a website builder and designer. According to my job description the main challenges of my position are:
So, I did not predict much of a change in how I see my contribution to NSCC when I started NS 1003: The Learner Centered College course. There were a couple of changes.
Librarians and web designers focus on the patron's or user's needs, but they refer to them as “users”, “patrons”, “students”, or “customers”, but not “learners”. This difference, among other things, this changes the focus from them as passive recipients to them as participants. It gives a clearer context to their actions. That is, they are learners not just students, users, or customers. So Librarians have to use methods that involve the learners as participants. It would be interesting and hopefully useful if I could find online tools that allow learners to participate in how information is presented, or allow them to customize the research tools. (This is something I'll have to look into).
Another change is NSCC includes faculty, staff and Librarians in the term “learners”. Just because they already have a job, it doesn't mean that the learning has stopped for faculty and staff. Many of the electronic tools I develop and maintain for the Library will be new to these people, so I have to see everyone who uses them as learners. In other words we have a community of learners supporting a community of learners, so I have to see everyone, not just the students, as the learners. At the very least I will have to make sure I accommodate the faculty and staff needs when I choose or design tools for the website. Just a day ago, on September 15th, I met a faculty person who said that he and most his colleagues do not know what resource the library has for his students nor how to use them. We assume they know it. We have to assume that they don't.
The tools I develop and maintain are part of the learning process. Being able to find and access information is a necessary part of learning. If the tools don’t work well or learners are not willing to use them, then I need to find those tools and resource that work better. This gives an extra impetus to finding out what the learner needs. That can be a long and difficult task and will form a major part of my contribution. I've talked to Librarians at a couple of universities who have done studies on the usability of their library website. The planning, implementation, and interpretation process usually takes about two years. So this is something I have to learn about.
So after taking the course and reflecting on the NSCC mission, vision, values, and the principle of a learning college, I feel I have a richer understanding of my position. My key realization is that if I am to contribute to the success of learners I have to understand their needs as learners. Tradition works against me here. Traditionally Librarians felt they understood what was best for students in terms finding information. After all, Librarians were the experts in information sources and organizing information.
In recent decades it has become apparent that while Librarians are the experts in the use, selection and organization of information sources, they have a lot of room for improvement in sharing that knowledge. Students often find libraries and their website confusing, especially compared to simpler and more available tools such as Google. Initially Librarians ignored Google. Then we vilified it. Now we are trying to learn from it. Google pays attention to its users. It conducts usability studies. It puts the user first. Librarians on the other hand taught students how to do research with fairly unfriendly tools and jargon. For example if you look at the current NSCC Library Services website you'll find a lot of jargon that really only Librarians understand. This is a good example of a Library doing a poor job of understanding its users needs.
The best way to fix this is to ask learners directly what they need and how they would improve the tools that are supposed to lead to these learning outcomes. There are a number of good ways to do this.
I feel I have sufficient Librarian and technological skills to carry out the majority of my position's responsibilities. I am also constantly polishing these skills with professional education. However, I will need to develop some expertise in creating surveys. I have to ask surveys that learners will answer and that give us sufficient information to meet the need of our users. I also have to develop expertise in running focus groups or user groups. It would also be useful to find people to collaborate with in this project, for example Marketing and Communications might have some expertise in conducting surveys or focus groups.
Conclusion and Action Plan
While I feel that I have always been well equipped to do my job at NSCC, this course has given me a better orientation for contributing to NSCC. I see the students, faculty and staff as learners rather than as just users. I see them as people who should ideally contribute to the development of the website and library tools, rather than as people who just have to learn how to use them. To do this I will have to learn about their needs as learners. That in turn means I will have to learn how to do effective surveys and focus groups.
Developing a library marketing cycle will also help to this process. There are three stages in a traditional marketing cycle:
In libraries this becomes
These three stages repeat themselves. After we communicate the tools or services to the learners we get feedback on what their needs are and whether they are being fulfilled. This not only helps the Library orient its efforts but it also helps document where we are having success.
Third part of my action plan is to maintain the flexible delivery of resources, services, and instruction. Currently we instruct our learners through several means: the LiveHelp online chat service, our website, email, over the phone, in person, and in classroom. This looks like an exhaustive list, but I should search for new ways to deliver services. For example, more people have mobile devices now than computers, so I have to start developing services for mobile devices. This assumes that our learners would want to use library resources on their mobile devices, so what I should do is find a way to survey them on what kind of applications they want the library to make available.
So in sum, the key points of my action plan are:
These are long term goals and will require the collaboration of the library team and probably the help and expertise of other NSCC staff such as Marketing and Communications and Information Technology.
In this entry I look at how I understood my postion at NSCC before and after the CCEDP course NS 1003: The Learning-Centred Community College. This was instended to help me assess and plan my contribution to a learning-centered approach at NSCC.
When I was hired for my position at NSCC it was because I had a lot of experience in Library technology, as a Librarian, and as a website builder and designer. According to my job description the main challenges of my position are:
[…] to ensure College students, faculty and staff have effective and easy access to the Library’s web-based resources and services and that Library Services is responsive to the Novanet library consortium’s requirements as they relate to electronic services and technological applications. This involves ensuring that Library Services remains relevant to the users in the face of rapidly changing technology. [Source, my job description, emphasis is mine.]Some specific accountabilities were:
- Provides effective and easy access to licensed electronic resources to College students, faculty and staff.
- Develops and maintains a dynamic and user-centric Library web site, ensuring current outreach tools and applications are utilized effectively.
So, I did not predict much of a change in how I see my contribution to NSCC when I started NS 1003: The Learner Centered College course. There were a couple of changes.
Librarians and web designers focus on the patron's or user's needs, but they refer to them as “users”, “patrons”, “students”, or “customers”, but not “learners”. This difference, among other things, this changes the focus from them as passive recipients to them as participants. It gives a clearer context to their actions. That is, they are learners not just students, users, or customers. So Librarians have to use methods that involve the learners as participants. It would be interesting and hopefully useful if I could find online tools that allow learners to participate in how information is presented, or allow them to customize the research tools. (This is something I'll have to look into).
Another change is NSCC includes faculty, staff and Librarians in the term “learners”. Just because they already have a job, it doesn't mean that the learning has stopped for faculty and staff. Many of the electronic tools I develop and maintain for the Library will be new to these people, so I have to see everyone who uses them as learners. In other words we have a community of learners supporting a community of learners, so I have to see everyone, not just the students, as the learners. At the very least I will have to make sure I accommodate the faculty and staff needs when I choose or design tools for the website. Just a day ago, on September 15th, I met a faculty person who said that he and most his colleagues do not know what resource the library has for his students nor how to use them. We assume they know it. We have to assume that they don't.
The tools I develop and maintain are part of the learning process. Being able to find and access information is a necessary part of learning. If the tools don’t work well or learners are not willing to use them, then I need to find those tools and resource that work better. This gives an extra impetus to finding out what the learner needs. That can be a long and difficult task and will form a major part of my contribution. I've talked to Librarians at a couple of universities who have done studies on the usability of their library website. The planning, implementation, and interpretation process usually takes about two years. So this is something I have to learn about.
So after taking the course and reflecting on the NSCC mission, vision, values, and the principle of a learning college, I feel I have a richer understanding of my position. My key realization is that if I am to contribute to the success of learners I have to understand their needs as learners. Tradition works against me here. Traditionally Librarians felt they understood what was best for students in terms finding information. After all, Librarians were the experts in information sources and organizing information.
In recent decades it has become apparent that while Librarians are the experts in the use, selection and organization of information sources, they have a lot of room for improvement in sharing that knowledge. Students often find libraries and their website confusing, especially compared to simpler and more available tools such as Google. Initially Librarians ignored Google. Then we vilified it. Now we are trying to learn from it. Google pays attention to its users. It conducts usability studies. It puts the user first. Librarians on the other hand taught students how to do research with fairly unfriendly tools and jargon. For example if you look at the current NSCC Library Services website you'll find a lot of jargon that really only Librarians understand. This is a good example of a Library doing a poor job of understanding its users needs.
The best way to fix this is to ask learners directly what they need and how they would improve the tools that are supposed to lead to these learning outcomes. There are a number of good ways to do this.
- Library staff helps students every day. If they notice the problem areas and communicate them to the rest of the library staff, then we can try to find ways to improve them. This applies to our website, databases and everything else.
- Solicit feedback using online surveys. Short online surveys are easy to setup. The trick seems to be asking the right questions and convincing learners to answer the surveys.
- Use more in dept methods for understanding learner needs such as focus groups.
I feel I have sufficient Librarian and technological skills to carry out the majority of my position's responsibilities. I am also constantly polishing these skills with professional education. However, I will need to develop some expertise in creating surveys. I have to ask surveys that learners will answer and that give us sufficient information to meet the need of our users. I also have to develop expertise in running focus groups or user groups. It would also be useful to find people to collaborate with in this project, for example Marketing and Communications might have some expertise in conducting surveys or focus groups.
Conclusion and Action Plan
While I feel that I have always been well equipped to do my job at NSCC, this course has given me a better orientation for contributing to NSCC. I see the students, faculty and staff as learners rather than as just users. I see them as people who should ideally contribute to the development of the website and library tools, rather than as people who just have to learn how to use them. To do this I will have to learn about their needs as learners. That in turn means I will have to learn how to do effective surveys and focus groups.
Developing a library marketing cycle will also help to this process. There are three stages in a traditional marketing cycle:
- A needs assessment of the customers,
- Fulfillment of customers needs, and
- Communicate to customers
In libraries this becomes
- find the learners' needs and assess if they are being met,
- find a way to fulfill those needs, and
- communicate to the learner what tools or services fulfill those needs.
These three stages repeat themselves. After we communicate the tools or services to the learners we get feedback on what their needs are and whether they are being fulfilled. This not only helps the Library orient its efforts but it also helps document where we are having success.
Third part of my action plan is to maintain the flexible delivery of resources, services, and instruction. Currently we instruct our learners through several means: the LiveHelp online chat service, our website, email, over the phone, in person, and in classroom. This looks like an exhaustive list, but I should search for new ways to deliver services. For example, more people have mobile devices now than computers, so I have to start developing services for mobile devices. This assumes that our learners would want to use library resources on their mobile devices, so what I should do is find a way to survey them on what kind of applications they want the library to make available.
So in sum, the key points of my action plan are:
- to develop effective surveys and focus groups,
- develop a marketing cycle for the library, and
- to continue developing flexible access to our resources and services.
These are long term goals and will require the collaboration of the library team and probably the help and expertise of other NSCC staff such as Marketing and Communications and Information Technology.
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