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?

• 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

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,

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

ALA National Survey Results 2006

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

So if they are already coming…

• How do we serve them?

• How do we embrace them?

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

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

Social Software

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

Services Without Sites

• The Invisible Library

• How do they know we’re here?

• Outreach and promotion.

• Look at successes from outside the library world

Collection Development

• Targeting the e-branch community

• What do we know about them?

• Back to Who are these invisible people?

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

Luddites vs. Technophiles

• Have no fear!

• Nor infatuation.

• Technology provides tools.

• Make optimum use of the appropriate tools.