Library Mobile Services

The library organization that offers mobile services is County of Los Angeles Public Library (COLAPL) that I will evaluate how they use their technology and how they incorporate into their services. Offering digital services is a new realm they are exploring and trying to understand what works for them and for the patrons. So many of their services are what I classify as beta stage as they are figuring how to make services work such as mobile.

As someone who has a background in dealing with similar technologies, COLAPL has an unconventional way of offering mobile services to patrons.  Most other websites will offer web forms that patrons will input information like contact number, name, text field for the question and some sort of security captcha feature to filter out spammers to get processed and be replied.  COLAPL offers in the reference web page a phone number for patrons to text their questions. Seems unconventional as a user experience when reaching out. Also for security reasons giving out a number to text will be an open target for spammers. My observation COLAPL doesn’t offer any back-end software for the mobile services aside from providing a number.

In addition to mobile services COLAPL also offers other forms of online contact like social media and digital services. They have native mobile apps which is a mini representation of the county library’s website. Offers all the information an individual on the go will need. They do offer instant-messaging services, as like mobile service, only works during branch hours.  Also an initiative for COLAPL is having a social media presence but there isn’t customer support or reference services offered through those portals. As mentioned COLAPL is going through beta phase in working on their digital services.

In reviewing their reference contact page on their site, it does feel very plain and limiting on how patrons can get the information they need. There should be some functionality where a patron’s question can be searched and auto-answered by the website. Similar to other sites where a user ask for help and the site tries to answer the question before it gets escalated to customer support. Overall the only questions that this mobile services seems useful are basic questions like library hours, where to find specific materials for non-library cardholders and questions about the website. Also as a user navigating the website, the reference mobile contact information took several steps to get to, this should be a quick find and ease to use.

As our culture becomes more connected with their mobile devices, the need for services that caters to geo-located services will be important. This is why mobile services should be a focal point for COLAPL to develop to grab the younger generation that is always connected. This also applies to chat/IM as most phones can operate SMS and chat/IM. As mentioned we are a culture always connected and seeking information.

Library Mobile

My local county library offers native iPhone app for reserving books, looking up library hours and other library services such as reference help. I have been able to really look at this app and determine what areas are a success for the patron and what other areas fall short.

The fact you can reserve materials on the go and get library working hours on you smartphone is practical. I can imagine college students looking for materials and they can reserve it via the app or just call the library to put it on hold while they are driving there. Also there is a "Ask a librarian" feature but turn around time for response is never consistent.

The bad side of developing mobile native apps is the constant need to make updates to accommodate technology change. With the recent release of iPhone 5, the County of Los Angeles Library app does not take advantage of the larger screen size. Unlike a native app, WAP (Wireless application protocol) are more flexible since they are websites built just for mobile experience and tend to be more flexible with whatever device being viewed. In addition with libraries having budget problems WAP is more economical compared to native app.

Some suggestions for new iteration of this app:

• More integration of social media, so patrons are checking in libraries so their friends can see people go to the library.
• People have enough gadgets to carry around them daily, add library card to the app so it’s a digital library card.
• Have a section of the top picks or most check out when searching materials. Sometimes people need a pre-selected list of materials to help them get started on reserving items. That feeling of I wants to read something but not sure what... so patrons expect the library to give them suggestions.
• Utilize QR codes on materials and built in the mobile app to give an enhance experience when viewing materials.
  
  http://www.colapublib.org/gomobile/

Exercise 5: Youtube Introduction

Library User Generated Content

In reading Derek Powazek, "The Wisdom of Community" he provides a type of golden rules in encouraging user generated content that is useful to the community overall. Noting to have content that is successful its making sure it follows the KISS principal (keep it sweet and simple) don't overly complicate how users contribute contribute but make it easy for them to want to participate. One interesting issue Derek noted that user-generated sites have persistent issue with power-posters, nickname commonly used for those who are major contributors of content, may sway content to a direction that really does not reflect the overall community.

One great and simple user generated content libraries can offer is book reading club on social platforms. Any social media tool can be utilized for this such as Pinterest, Facebook and even Twitter. the point is the question for book reviews is simple for anyone to contribute content to, "What do you recommend to read?" This is a great starting point for patrons and libraries to collaborate together in knowing what the favorite book is for the community during a set time. Also great way to allocate budget for materials that are needed.

There are some drawbacks to library user generated content since librarians cannot control 100% what is posted on social media it can go in bad directions if not planned properly. Content that libraries put up must be neutral of any two-sided arguments such as politics or religion. Avoid mentioning controversial library materials.  Also libraries should not make the process of being a content contributor not a big hassle, people are taking personal time to contribute to a community and should not feel like they need to devote so much energy.

Pin this library!

http://pinterest.com/lacountylibrary/

Having reviewed this library system for my research in final group project. I realize they have interesting and fun information in addition to what you would get in going to a library. The realization I see is that there is nothing connecting Pinterest and the actual library. How are patrons using Pinterest to increase their visits at libraries?  is something I feel the Pinterest board could really grow on and really create a fun environment of patrons generating content for the library. As far I see it there are no boards where users can contribute to book reading or some sort of activity. Even children's librarian can share cool things here amongst themselves and share it with patrons. Its creating a back and forth relationship and not a one way information flow, that is the joy of social media, we all want to be part of a community and help it grow.

Reivew of Pinterest Tutorial - Buffalo & Erie County Public Library

 

I was rather surprised on the low amount of videos in Youtube.com done by libraries about social  media. There is a niche for tutorials within the library community.

The tutorial focused on understanding the basic use of Pinterest. This video is most likely oriented for individuals who are not involved with social media. For more technical and social media user this video will not contribute much to their knowledge. The video tutorial will lead the user from registering and basic usage.

There are areas that can improve how the tutorial is being presented. Narrator should practice reading out loud the script as it did sounded monotone and awkward pauses. While looking at the areas in Pinterest the tutorial was talking about it would make it easier to zoom in to those parts since its unnecessary to see the browser as it just taking up video space. Enlarging key elements for those learning Pinterest would make it easy to register what each element will do. Final feedback is the video discussed a lot of important feature a newcomer will need to know so to make it easy for them, break the video in chapters or divide the content into smaller digestible pieces.

Community Management

 Managing online communities can be enjoyable but also requires a delicate dance to make sure users are engaged and avoid negativity. For now I will use library demographic to build a community management. Best practices can be developing content that surrounds a certain theme and to leave it open ended to give a welcoming sense for people comment. The content should be set up like opening that leads to a group conversation. This does take time to see how the community takes content and where the discussion leads. Through the learning gained the community manager then can better prepare content that caters to the people participating. This is one thing many organizations fail to notice is that they build the architecture of this community envisioning a certain type of personas is setting up to fail because you cannot choose who becomes part of your community. So the main importance of community management is to evolve rapidly.

The community manager needs to realize that there are both extremes of who are contributing to your community. Anonymous users who are either reading but not participating or those out to cause trouble is every community managers struggle in getting the good ones and expelling the bad ones. This is the normal package of maintaining a community, the only thing is to sway away bad community members and foster the most welcoming environment for those to shy to participate. Aside from that I believe everyone at one point was a lurker it takes a great community manager to make the steps of registering and participating.

My fondest experience on a great community management is from Pennyarcade.com for gaming environment without the teenage immaturity many will assume it will be about. It fosters a great community where I have personally grown through the advice and information shared.  Just recently went to the forum to get some feedback about preparing myself on career change now that I am almost completing MLIS program. I feel the information I get from this site is not biased or skewed but fairly given compared to some news communities many would use for information.

Building a community can be daunting but if there are basic guidelines such as Rules of Conduct that all new community members must follow in being respectful and non-abusive to other members. Through constant evolution in adapting to what community is becoming will allow for an engagement community.

Tweet tweet...better listen the those birds libraries

Wikipedia
 Based from personal interactions speaking with librarians about using Wikipedia that really showed effectiveness of using such collaborative tool. Many of the children public librarians in County of Los Angeles created wiki account all to share tips and advice about projects and programs. This is a great way to help librarians find resources among local colleagues. There are numerous benefits to this collaboration such as they all deal with the same budget, resources and similar demographics. On top of that having ideas and discussions become archived is an excellent reference tool for future new employees to help them start their programs and understand resources they have.

 Overall Wiki is a great tool used for public librarians but in-house collaboration tool not for the public. If the public feedback is needed then this is where we can utilize other social media tools for feedback. Wiki is not really known for back and forth but more collaboration to work on content.

Twitter
 In Steven Bell's article, “Students tweet the darndest things about your library - and who you need to listen" really hits the importance of library utilizing this social media tools when he noted the following statistics:

Twitter communication, the customer experience and communications consulting firm Maritz Research (2011), found that only 29 percent of organizations responded to a consumer’s twitter complaint, while 50 percent of the consumers expected a response to their complaint. Among those who did receive a response to their tweet 86 percent said they liked or loved hearing from the company, while 86 percent of those who did not receive a response said they would have liked or loved getting one.

 Showing how engagement and addressing customer’s questions or complaints are crucial because these angry twitterers are only going spread among others. We see many times how one slip of the tongue in Twitter can devastate a brand's identity and cause major PR nightmares. Not many libraries feel comfortable using this tool due to lack of training or no management requirements to utilize. The best approach is just to monitor what the community is mentioning about the library at the very least.

 Steven Bell really shows his argument the importance of knowing what people are mentioning about the organization. Though an interesting observation in his article is most libraries that utilized Twitter are mostly private. I really thought the reverse would be the case since public libraries need to keep connected to their customers to help them with fundraisers, budget issues or anything since privately held libraries tend to have bigger budgets.