Tuesday, September 28, 2010

ILA 2010 Goodbye Reference Desk, Hello Information Commons

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Patrons evloving, must evlove service to reach them where they are working. Evaluate, synthesize, create. Information Commons may be the way to work information literacy, technology, troubleshooting, subject specialists, added to collaboration, social aspects, creating a dynamic diverse service model. Ripe to move beyond academic libraries. Change in attitude & policy vs. huge outlay of money.

Honor the Past & Invent the Future
The conundrum for companies is that good products or services aren't enough.”  Made To Stick By CHip & Dan Heath:
"Arriving at meaningful solutions is an inevitably slow and difficult process. Nonethless … better is possible. It doesn't take genius. It takes dilligence...”

Engagement – taking part, devotng effort & attention, being in gear. Understand needs, bring our gift to bear to take needs, map them into something more than users can imagine. The Cluetrain Manifesto, people are in conversation with information, “the human voice is unmistakable and can't be faked.”

Innovation – Book: How to Get Ideas. Be idea prone. Need thousands more than we ever implement. Be entrepreneurial, rebound from setbacks to success.

Value – Degree of importance, relationsjip between cost & expectation. Could be economic, social, utility, justice, impact, outcome.
7 Levels of Change by Rolf Smith:
LEVEL 1:Effectiveness DOING the right things
LEVEL 2:Efficiency DOING things right
LEVEL 3:Improving DOING things better
LEVEL 4:Cutting Stopping DOING things
LEVEL 5:Copying DOING things other people are doing
LEVEL 6:Different DOING things no one else is doing
LEVEL 7:Impossible DOING things that can't be done
Level 8 (added): Audacity – Doing things that just aren't done.

Several areas of the library serve different collaboative purposes. They meet the needs of academic patrons. Gaming center, social cafe, reference desk, but as just a small facet of a several area multi-floor library area. Twitter to share reference tips. Chat references are longer, more complex. Texting librarians. All ways of pushing out the commons. Suggestion board “what book would you like us to buy?” Jing captures a URL and sends it back.


Loyola University
Information Commons meant to be service oriented. A good partnership with IT is crucial. Wireless, Internet Access, Access to experts (librarians, IT). Three C's.
Collaboration – Group work, respond by having 30 group study rooms. Online reservation system. Large tables, Soft seating clusters. Physical, technological collaboration.
Connectivity – iPad, cellphone, constantly connected. Wireless, 222 computers, 50 laptops. Restaurant style pagers for when a laptop is turned back in.
Community – Cafe, etc. has made the library the de facto student center.

Had 2 reference desks. Had to cut the one in the library, put staff just in the IC. Decline in reference questions due to move, but also a shift to RUSA guidelines (no directional, facility questions) for stats. No longer have to answer tech questions—frozen laptops, printer problems, etc. IT person answers those while reference staff answers reference questions.

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