Focusing on the customer: assessing electronic resources through all stages of collection workflows

Northern Ohio Technical Services Librarians Spring MeetingApril 4, 2014

Juleah Swanson

Assistant ProfessorAcquisitions Librarian for Electronic ResourcesThe Ohio State University

Swanson.234@osu.edu

“Social Media Information Overload” by Mark Smiciklas http://www.flickr.com/photos/intersectionconsulting/7537238368/

DINOSAURS! HIGH FIVE!Cool things found at OSU

OSU Library Love

NOT GOOD AT EVERYTHING

Agenda• Concepts• Examples• Activity• Discussion

PRESENTATION TITLE:

Focusing on the customer: assessing electronic resources through all stages

of collection workflows

Source: http://library.osu.edu/sites/exhibits/borninadversity/

“Shaping the future of education in the History Classroom Gabrielle Sutherland + students” by New Media Consortium CC By: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nmc-campus/5100940630/

Focus on the customer

Assessing

Source: by kotonamii http://kotonamii.deviantart.com/art/Information-Overload-388665814

Electronic Resources

“big-data_conew1” by luckey_sun http://www.flickr.com/photos/75279887@N05/6914441342/

workflow

Workflows

“workflow at the most basic level” by wlef70 http://www.flickr.com/photos/wlef70/6818768830/

Why does it matter?

“Information professionals and librarians in particular are in a unique position to bridge the gaps that exist between people, information and technology. ”

https://ischool.uw.edu/academics/mlis/what-is-library-science

What are the stages in collection workflows for Electronic Resources &

what are the possible forms of assessment?

LibQual DataReference StatisticsInstruction EvaluationsGeneral Patron feedback

Usage/COUNTER Stats

Trouble/Problem Reports

Website AnalyticsCitation Analysis

DiscoveryCataloging

IT workflows

Public ServicesReferenceInstruction

Subject Librarian workflows

AcquisitionsElectronic Resource

Management workflows

Types of assessment data found within workflows

Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/opensourceway/4371000486/in/set-72157628736972485/

What customer feedback can reveal about our work

New Resource Proposal Process

• Subject Librarian requests a new resource & provide justification on why OSU should buy

• Committee recommends resources to buy• Acquire and monitor usage

Activity Time: Electronic Animals

Objective: To determine what Electronic Animals to buy for the NOTSL library.

Customer population is everyone in this room.

• Need 4 Volunteers (for a paper based activity)– 2 Subject Librarians– 2 Selection Committee Members

Subject Librarians

• Responsible for your subject matter on either:– Cuteness– Intriguing/Interesting

• Objective:– Using your available resources, make a request for

electronic animals, with a justification– Give request to selection committee

Selection Committee Members

• Responsible for reviewing subject librarians requests & purchasing, within budget, the finalized list of electronic animals for the NOTSL library

• Give finalized list to me.

Audience Participation

http://tiny.cc/notsl

If you have a laptop, tablet or smartphone, visit this site & click on your favorite electronic animal. Multiple clicks for favorites encouraged.

Think about why you like the animal, is it the cuteness & or the intrigue?

Discussion & Debrief

Final Thoughts:• Focusing on the customer is our

professional responsibility• Assess electronic resources holistically• Think about what the data doesn’t tell us