Libraries (and Your Staff!)in a Transliterate,

Technology Fluent World

Colleen S. HarrisUniversity of Tennessee at Chattanooga

warmaiden@gmail.com

http://guardienne.blogspot.com

November 2010http://www.flickr.com/photos/tabithahawk/566748316

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be

those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn,

unlearn, and relearn.”~Alvin Toffler

http://www.flickr.com/photos/protocol/3244887521/

Service Fluency: A Starting Point

More than customer service, which is making user happy at point of contact.

got vision?

got mission?

Your Staff Have Seen and Troubleshot

• Punch Cards and Excel spreadsheets• 5 ¼” floppies and USB drives

• Typewriters and mini-netbooks• Beautiful penmanship required in job ads

• Real card catalogs and OPACs• Paper indexes & abstracts, Dialog and Google

http://www.flickr.com/photos/spadgy/313252882

Not just our Budgets, But Our Staff

You: The Manager

Environment Creation and Staff Development

How are you arming your staff?

Intended and Serendipitous Use

Planning & Evaluation: I

WHAT DOES EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE LOOK LIKE?

AND…CAN YOU MEASURE IT?

Planning & Evaluation: II

Cecily demonstrates her superior webcam abilities for her colleagues

Focusing on Staff Needs

http://haochen.wordpress.com/2008/05/20/i-made-a-lolcat/

Arthur C. Clarke’s 3rd Law:

Any sufficiently advanced technologyis indistinguishable from magic.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/smanography/2299171379/

The Stumbling Blocks on the Road to Fluency

Lack of Knowledge Lack of Execution

FATIGUE & FEEDBACK

Real Library Examples• Merging Service Points• ILS/e-reserves migration• Updates to staff clients• Changing ILL workflows• Website redesign• Tech lending expansions• New software installs• Social networking presence• Student assignments• Professional Networking• The Cloud• Patron Outreach• Experimenting (QR codes)

“I'd be happy if I could think that the role of the library was sustained and even

enhanced in the age of the computer.”

~ Bill Gates