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How do we serve invisible users? Future of Libraries 2007 Anthony Costa

How do we serve invisible users?

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How do we serve invisible users?. Future of Libraries 2007 Anthony Costa. Invisible (Remote) Users. Telephone Reference Website Users Database Users WebPAC Users Virtual Reference (Email, Chat, IM) Web 2.0 (Blog, Wiki, RSS, Second Life…) users. Who are these invisible people?. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Page 1: How do we serve invisible users?

How do we serve invisible users?

Future of Libraries 2007

Anthony Costa

Page 2: How do we serve invisible users?

Invisible (Remote) Users

• Telephone Reference

• Website Users

• Database Users

• WebPAC Users

• Virtual Reference (Email, Chat, IM)

• Web 2.0 (Blog, Wiki, RSS, Second Life…) users

Page 3: How do we serve invisible users?

Who are these invisible people?

• The same ones who come to the library?– A subset?– A totally different population?

• Geographically isolated

• Too busy

• Limited Mobility

• Fans of specific technologies - techies

Page 4: How do we serve invisible users?

How do we know they’re there?

• Statistics– Sarah Says… six times per year– ALA says physical visits are between 6 and

11.– Beth Jefferson says library Websites have

more impact than Flickr, NY Times, Craigslist,

Page 5: How do we serve invisible users?

Beth Jefferson. Netspeed 2006 Plenary Address. http://thealbertalibrary.ab.ca/viewPosting.asp?postingID=217

Page 6: How do we serve invisible users?

ALA National Survey Results 2006

http://ala.org/ala/ors/reports/KRC_Detailed_Slides.pdf

Page 7: How do we serve invisible users?

So if they are already coming…

• How do we serve them?

• How do we embrace them?

Page 8: How do we serve invisible users?

Services for the Invisible User

• The challenge:– To adapt library services to keep up with the

changing world.– To learn from the outside world, beyond

libraries, while maintaining the core of library service

Page 9: How do we serve invisible users?

Learn from others without losing our core

• We are not a search engine but we can’t ignore the search engines

• We are not a bookstore but we can’t ignore the bookstores

• We are not a café but we can’t ignore the cafés

• We are not a software company but we can’t ignore the software companies

Page 10: How do we serve invisible users?

Social Software

• Denver Public Library MySpace page– Undeniably clever– http://www.myspace.com/denver_evolver – Is this how we should be spending our time?

Page 11: How do we serve invisible users?

Services Without Sites

• The Invisible Library

• How do they know we’re here?

• Outreach and promotion.

• Look at successes from outside the library world

Page 12: How do we serve invisible users?

Collection Development

• Targeting the e-branch community

• What do we know about them?

• Back to Who are these invisible people?

Page 13: How do we serve invisible users?

Who are these invisible people?

• The same ones who come to the library?– A subset?– A totally different population?

• Geographically isolated

• Too busy

• Limited Mobility

• Fans of specific technologies - techies

Page 14: How do we serve invisible users?

Luddites vs. Technophiles

• Have no fear!

• Nor infatuation.

• Technology provides tools.

• Make optimum use of the appropriate tools.