Unleashing your potentialProviding a 21st century enquiry service

Emma IllingworthSarah Ison

University of Brighton

•The 21st century library user

•The 21st century librarian/information professional

•What we’re doing at the University of Brighton

•The future

What we’re going to look at today

The 21st century library user

Brophy, 2007

‘The role of libraries in facilitating access to

information remains central. In order to be effective however,

there is a need for understanding of the ways in which users seek, acquire and

utilise information.’

Students

• Undergrad• Postgrad• Full time• Part time• International• EU• Distance• Partner

college

Researchers

• Full time• Part time• International• EU• Collaborative

Staff

• Full time• Part time• Technical• Administrative• Academic• International • EU• Collaborative

External

• Public• Visiting

scholars• Members of

other universities

Defining the 21st Century library user

University of Brighton library users

The 21st century library user - students

Oblinger, 2003

‘An essential component of facilitating learning is

understanding learners.’

The 21st century library user - students

The 21st century librarian - skills

“Professional boundaries are continually evolving and (that) our professional competency needs continue to be

multifaceted, with demand for both breadth and depth of expertise.”

Law in Mcknight (2010) p10

The 21st century librarian - skills

“just as we are experts in information...we need to become expert anthropologists of our user communities.”

Rettig quoted in Gibbons (2007) p97

The 21st century librarian - skills

Promoting yourself to library users

Get out of the library! Offer library tours and welcome talks to new members of staff

Brush up on your presentation skills

Follow up after events with an email or letter

Participate in library promotion events

Share good practice with colleagues

Promoting yourself to library users

Peer to peer networking – use online toolsTwitter

Subscribe to blogsNew Professionals Network: www.lisnpn.spruz.com

Send a welcome pack to new members of staff

Regular reading of professional articles and books

Get to know colleagues outside of library, in your workplace

A 21st century enquiry service at the University of Brighton – the story so far…

Our vision

Many libraries = one service

ConsistencyEqualityUnified

Information Services

Strategy

Library Strategy

Communic- ation Strategy

Customer Service Strategy

One-stop- shop

3-tier delivery model

Self service

Integrated service

delivery

Providing a 21st century library service at the UoB: realising the vision

Information Commons, University of Sheffield, UK

Transforming the space

‘We are seeing a huge resurgence of interest in creating these new ‘places’ designed to enhance learning, teaching and research and to ‘inspire’

succeeding generations of scholars.’

McDonald in McKnight (2010), p33

‘Poor space can constrain the development of the service.’

Transforming the physical environment: joined up spaces

Issue

Desk

Enquiry Desk

Unified Helpdesk

• Introducing self service• Remodelling of library entrance area - eventually

Transforming the space

‘Good, well-planned space enables the library to fulfill its mission and underpins the development of all other library resources.’

McDonald in McKnight (2010), p33

Transforming the electronic environment:joined up systems

Information Services

@ UoB

What are the challenges?

• Money• Time• Implementation : multi-site issues• Expectations • Managing change

The future

• Exciting times• Scary times• Uncertainty• An improved service for all• Will we be fit for purpose in 5 years time?

•The 21st century library user

•The 21st century librarian/information professional

•What we’re doing at the University of Brighton

•The future

Recap…

References and ReadingAlvite, L. (2011) Libraries for users : services in academic libraries . Oxford:

Chandos

Brophy, P. (2007a) Communicating the library: librarians and faculty in dialogue. Library Management Vol 28 (8/9)

Brophy, P. (2007b) The library in the twenty-first century. London: Facet

Farkas, M. (2006) Riding the Shift: On Being a Successful 21st Century Librarian. Accessed February 2011.http://meredithfarkas.wetpaint.com/

Farkas, M. (2008) Beyond 2018: Transformation and Future of Academic

Libraries. Accessed February 2011.http://meredithfarkas.wetpaint.com/

Garfield, D and Rule, R. (2009) Bringing it all together: working in partnership across our university. SCONUL Focus 46, p35-37

Garcia, J. (2000) Dispelling the myths: Quantifying what librarians really

do. Business Information Alert 12(6): 1-3, 6. Cited in Siess, J.A. (2003) The Visible Librarian: Asserting your value with marketing and advocacy. Chicago: American Library Association.

Gibbons, S. (2007) The academic library and the net gen student : making the connections . Chicago : American Library Association

Mcknight, S. (ed) (2010) Envisioning future academic library services:

initiatives, ideas and challenges. London: Facet

Mi, J and Nesta, F. (2006) Marketing library services to the Net Generation. Library Management. Vol 27 (6/7) p411-422

Moffat, L.. (2010) Marketing Libraries. Panlibus 18, Autumn 2010, p6-7

Oblinger, D. (2003) Boomers, Gen-Xers and Millenials: understanding the new students. Educase review, July/August 2003, 37-47

Researchers’ Use of Academic Libraries and their Services. A report commissioned by the Research Information Network and the Consortium of Research Libraries. Accessed February 2011 http://www.rin.ac.uk/files/libraries-report-2007.pdf

Sharp, K. (2001) Internet Librarianship: traditional roles in a new environment. IFLA Journal 27(2):78-81

Sykes, J. (2007) Improving the Student Experience – how can the library help? New Review of Information Networking Vol 13 (1) p23-30

Venkatraman, A. (2010) Getting to the source. Information World Review, September/October 2010, p4