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11th National Library Technicians ConferenceDigital service and the communityLyn McDonald Brimbank Library and Information Service
Abstract BLIS services a broad socio-economic municipality of 163 823 people. Both Brimbank City Council (or BCC) and BLIS have a firm commitment to the provision of a high level of service to its customers. This commitment is reflected in BLIS's vision statement then reaffirmed in the BCC vision statement. 'BLIS creating avenues of opportunity to enhance our community'. To this end, and in an environment of digital information explosion, BLIS has sought to identify how best to satisfy the ever increasing information needs of a community demanding rapid and relevant information delivery. Our aims have been to:
Objective of session:
Intended outcomes for participants:
Introduction - the Brimbank odyssey Since the creation of Brimbank, the library service has sought to identify how best to satisfy the ever increasing information needs of a community demanding rapid and relevant information delivery. I began my library career with Sunshine Library and Information Service 11 years ago, as a very green, very keen library officer. One thing was immediately obvious to me on joining the service. The ethos of the organisation and the people who worked within it was that the library system existed for the benefit of the community. In short, the primary concern was to understand what it was the community needed and wanted and to provide that service. We seek comment and discussion, we interpret said comment and discussion thoughtfully, and implement where possible within the availability of resources. We actively seek customer feedback on the level of their satisfaction. Eleven years later, that ethos and primary objective still drive the library system today.
Demonstrating our commitment to ensuring a dynamic and evolving library service: Compliance with this policy has come easily to BLIS, because in fact we have ad piloted such a concept and were early exponents of a customer service focus. In a time when other services viewed visitors to their libraries as 'borrowers', BLIS saw their visitors as clients, customers, patrons. We are therefore well placed to fulfill the principles and tenets of the Best Value philosophy. In implementing the Government policy, the Brimbank framework for Best Value is underpinned by a number of critical themes:
These themes play a major role in the delivery of our library services on a daily basis.
Facilitating avenues for feedback from the community We don't presume to know what people want. This view is expressed in the work undertaken by our marketing manager, whose portfolio encompasses not only marketing library services to our diverse client groups, but also devising appropriate customer feedback formats. Some marketing and data collection methods we have used include:
...all of which encourage customer participation and take into account a range of competencies. The Online suggestion service is a facility on OPACs at each branch offering patrons the opportunity of voicing their comments and making queries which are addressed daily, by the systems librarian. These comments and queries are sometimes in the form of a compliment, or may be a query, which needs to be redirected to the reference desk or branch manager. A comment or query made in this way can result in a policy change because of an issue raised; and purchases may be made on the basis of patrons' suggestions. This suggestion service is seen by patrons as a non-intrusive method of communicating with the library service. It is an opportunity taken seriously across the age groups, but seems to be a facility most comfortably used by the e-mail generation, or those who tend to be young in mind and computer literate. Some other popular avenues for customer feedback are BLIS postcards which ask 'Are you being served?' (and if not, why not?); and Council's compliment and complaint cards, obtainable from all branches, which patrons use to write their comments on and post back to us. Every comment or request we receive is responded to as quickly and comprehensively as possible. Our library website currently enables patrons to communicate directly, online or by phone with library management. We are approachable, accountable and we consequently project a very real desire to understand our library users' requirements. The implementation of this philosophy is fundamental to the way Brimbank Library and Information Service conducts its business. BLIS engages an external marketing company to annually survey its community by phone, selecting patrons randomly across the municipality and asking a variety of questions designed to reveal how the community feel about the library service and what they would like to see change.
Identifying what digital resources our community needs: Website access - Our "virtual library" provided through the internet, allows 24-hour access to the library service. Patrons can search the catalogue, renew loans, place reservations and online reference queries as well as get into relevant homework sites and obtain easy access to e-mail from the comfort of their own home. The response to our website has been phenomenal and patrons have definitely been voting with their fingertips. During May 2001 the BLIS site had 17 366 hits. Its popularity is demonstrated by our website reaching its 100 000 hits within six months of its launch. Our website has become a popular researching tool, which also provides the patron with opportunities to maintain social links in the cyber community. 'Staff are customers too.' BLIS Express is a new initiative of Brimbank Library and Information Service, which allows council staff and their families to search the library catalogue via our website, whether that be from work or from home. They will be able to join on line, reserve on line, renew loans online and view the latest items purchased within the month. These services graphically illustrate BLIS's responsiveness to client needs.
Delivering digital service equitably, and targeting service where most needed This research has revealed that there is now an imbalance in the provision of our library services, leaving the north west growth corridor without adequate services. Sydenham is a suburb of Brimbank and lies within this major growth corridor. It presents new opportunities in the provision of library services. BCC and BLIS have undertaken to build the Sydenham multi-purpose library/facility in the heart of that suburb expressly targeted to meet that community's needs. This facility will be the first library designed completely around customer usage and not book stacks. This branch will be a new model. It will provide:
Ensuring that access to digital technology was as easy and straightforward as possible In fact, now looking back, that system was already becoming obsolete, was cumbersome and unwieldy - although I knew of other library systems within a stone's throw who still operated card catalogues! Brimbank Library and Information Service has produced instructional literature in the form of leaflets, pamphlets, brochures and bookmarks which provide a guide to the digital technology we offer for public usage. We use professional graphic designers for all publications and keep the language simple and clear. We avoid jargon and use laymen's terms. We do not assume that borrowers accessing our system from home will be using the most current technology and therefore ensure our website is accessible to all systems. The site is fast to load as we have resisted the use of animated graphics. Accessibility was a primary consideration when we chose our font and colours. We also offer information links on our online public access catalogues within the library, as well as on our website. These links offer all kinds of assistance and guidance as well as the opportunity for the public to ask staff directly for help with reference inquiries and to make whatever comment they would like to, on any aspect of the library service. As far as we can we facilitate our patrons' access to computerised services by providing these easy to follow self help guides. Gone are the embarrassing moments a patron faced when they needed information of a personal nature. They can still obtain that information from the library, but now they can do their own effective catalogue or Internet searches. Failing that we can help them with an online reference inquiry. It is no longer necessarily a face to face working environment.
Keeping the cost of digital service delivery to a minimum A good example of Victorian libraries maximising digital potential on behalf of their community, and keeping the cost of service delivery to a minimum is the database suite called "Gulliver". An initiative of Libraries On Line, Gulliver was funded for the first two years of our usage by Multi Media Victoria (a State Government initiative), which aimed to give all libraries in Victoria free access to a core set of four databases which contained over 1000 full-text journals, books, newspapers and pictures. The database now includes World Magazine Bank, Health Reference Centre ANZ Ref and Onefile. Searchers are able to find a wide range of information, which includes the latest in scientific research, articles on medical conditions, and information on current events. BLIS felt Gulliver was a valuable research tool and could readily see the benefits to its patrons of participating in such a consortium.
Committing to ongoing upgrading of digital systems to ensure continued relevance and reliability to our community BLIS's QA procedures ensure that the website is constantly up to date, and relevant to community needs. Its architecture allows access to a wide range of sites with minimum effort on the user's part. One can access Scientific American or Oprah's Book Club according to taste. BLIS is currently investigating the capacity to provide personalised online services using Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Portal technologies. Based on user profiles, this will identify choices and priorities for patrons automatically.
Providing workshops and other digital educational opportunities for both library users and staff Since I commenced working with BLIS, I have participated in the training of all facets of service delivery to library users. I have moved from basic circulation duties, shelving and repairs 11 years ago to a position of such interest and scope, as to be hardly recognisable from its humble beginnings. Brimbank City Council and Brimbank Library and Information Service have committed time, money and facilities to ensure that staff are effectively trained in all aspects of information delivery. We subscribe strongly to the "train the trainer" concept, thus maximising our training budget. BLIS regularly implements a training audit. This allows staff to identify gaps in their training and to allow for the necessary skill development, targeted to different levels of competency. The training is ongoing in order to assist staff to keep abreast of modern technology. Last year BLIS staff participated in technology training which was made possible by a grant from the State Library of Victoria. We are keen to participate in initiatives provided by those in the forefront of digital delivery and education. The recent internet survey of Brimbank library users undertaken on behalf of the Victorian Reference co-operative indicated a need for more Internet training and in particular, searching skills. In order to meet the needs of the public, a training manual is being put together by library staff and Internet training will be offered to any patron who would like to gain a basic understanding of the internet and how to search it. Classes will be kept to a minimum of six so that each participant has individual use of a terminal. Each participant will pay a nominal fee for the manual. BLIS will be offering internet training as an ongoing service and staff are always available to assist patrons who wish to use our word-processors or need a brief introduction to finding one's way around the Internet. BLIS will also be offering basic training courses in the OPEN ROAD service, which is currently available on all BLIS Internet terminals for the use of people from non-English speaking backgrounds, and for whom English is a second language. It is provided by the State Government.
Conclusion Over the last eleven years BLIS's information odyssey has paralleled my own personal odyssey, the interests and benefits have been many, varied and mutual. BLIS has given me the opportunity to learn, test, challenge and expand my horizons and I have gained both personally and professionally from the experience. I feel both comfortable and capable with my level of skills and the ability that gives me to satisfy patron requests and queries.
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