Using social media to improve user experience

Kathy Faubion

Price, E., & Richardson, R. (2017). Eavesdropping on the user experience. College & Research Libraries News, 78, 16-19. Retrieved from: http://crln.acrl.org/

Descriptive Summary: Libraries need to pay more attention to social media feedback in order to provide good customer service and maintain the integrity of our “brand”. Yik Yak is a mobile app which is kind of like a local public bulletin board, and is popular on some college campuses as a feedback outlet. This study harvested the data from Yik Yak about the college library and found out what the students had to say about their user experience.  Things like not enough computers, poor directional signage, and overall not enough access to new technology in an old building. The study concluded that libraries need to monitor social media feedback to find ways to improve customer service.

Evaluation: It seems to me that more and more folks will look for reviews on a product or service before they buy or use it. Many businesses monitor their feedback and customers look for businesses which are prompt in response. The library should do the same. Although surveys can be useful, I see this as the future way to respond to customer needs.

Keywords: mobile apps, librarians, libraries, user experience

College students usage of academic library

Kathy Faubion

Soria, K. M., Fransen, J., & Nackerud, S. (2017). Beyond books: The extended academic benefits of library use for first-year college students. College & Research Libraries, 78, 8-22. doi:10.5860/crl.78.1.8

Descriptive Summary: This study looked at the correlation between students’ use of library classes, and library resources and databases, with academic performance. It attempts to understand how use of library resources promotes critical thinking skills and also how it affects grades and other academic measures of success. Academic resources studied were books, reference use, web use, databases, and library classes. The primary correlation was to grade point average since this is measurement closely looked at in accountability. The study recognizes that student academic success seems to go hand in hand with library use, but it is unclear whether it is a case of a motivated student using the library, or library users becoming motivated students. Using an Input-Environment-Output model, this study measured precollege variables, college experiences, library usage, and grades to look for relationships. The study concluded that students who used the library resources were more likely to do well academically. 

Evaluation: I thought this a valuable study. In a time when libraries have to prove that they are still useful, this study highlights that library users are engaged students and engaged students use their library resources.

Keywords: library resources, students, academic libraries

Apps- e-books and audio books

Apps for free e-books and audio books from your library.


https://app.overdrive.com/

https://www.hoopladigital.com/

Teens, Technology, and Libraries: An Uncertain Relationship

Thoai Truong

Agosto, D.E. Magee, R. M.  Dickard, M.  Forte, A. (2016, July). Teens, technology, and libraries: An

          uncertain relationship. Library Quarterly, 86(3), 248-269. Retrieved from   

          http://www.journals.uchicago.edu.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1086/686673

Descriptive Summary:

The goal of this study is to find the relationship betwee teens, libraries, and technology.  25 high school students were surveyed and interviewed at an urban magnet public school.  They all volunteered and were paid $20 for their time.  Students were asked about their most recent library visit.  What exactly did the do in the library and why?  The data collected revealed that most students use the library for social interaction and leisure opportunities.  Most claimed that their limited library use was due to a library being equated with books.  They also viewed the library as having limited resources.  The physical space of the library became a place to do things for non library purposes.  Overall, the library was not a place where students were seeking to use technology.  Most had access to the Internet and computer at home. There were a small number of students that enjoyed checking out books over e-books.

Evaluation:

Although the research only surveyed 25 students, it provided insight into the thinking of teenagers. Today most families have Internet access at home and a smart phone, which makes information retrieval at the library not very important.  Their reasoning and purpose for library use makes sense. I would like more students to be interviewed. I would also like to see if this is the same sentiment across the United States. Follow up questions allowed for more understanding to their reasons for using/not using the library. I like the fact that the researchers allowed the students to define the library.

Perhaps we are seeing more maker spaces and learning commons taking shape in libraries due to this attitude by teenagers.  Libraries are trying to draw in patrons, and need to find alternative ways, besides technology, which is no longer the main draw to libraries.

What Makes a Great Librarian?

Langstraat, Carina

Stephens, M. T., (2016). The heart of librarianship :Attentive, positive, and purposeful change.
       Chicago; 4: ALA Editions, an imprint of the American Library Association

Descriptive Summary:

This book is a collection of articles and insights from Michael Stephens, Associate Professor of Library and Information Science at San Jose State University.  Its title aptly describes the book's content:  what kind of heart is required to be an effective librarian? Among other things, the answers Stephens provides include a heart filled with empathy for not just patrons but other staff members and colleagues.  "For me", writes Stephens, "the heart of librarianship is learning.  It's a cyclical process of support, engagement, and discovery with deep roots in service, access, and freedom to pursue interests of all kinds".

Evaluation:

It’s hard not to let Stephens’s enthusiasm seep into you as your read this book.  He boldly confronts the stodged librarian waiting to retire who is uninterested in change, asking them to get out of the way so work can be done.   He asks new librarians to be risk takers, innovators, and creators.  He challenges one to proceed rather than sitting around and waiting for permission.  He asks for project management, planning skills, and the ability to make decisions when it comes to any new hire.  He wonders why academic papers have to be so boring, encouraging students to put their own personal slant into their work as a means of showing what they learned, understood, and comprehended. He refers over and over again to librarianship being the “ultimate service profession”, asking students why they are going into librarianship. 

If you are in library school and have occasional doubts late a night about why you are doing this, will you ever get a job in this field, and are their aspects to it that are less dry than your least favorite class, then I encourage you to read this book.  You'll walk away energized and simultaneously grounded about the profession you've chosen.