User Services Staff Research Articles

Rancangan Sistem Penilaian Kinerja Perpustakaan Berbasis Indikator Kinerja Iso 11620:2008 Pada Layanan Terbuka Perpustakaan Nasional RI

Library performance measurement is one of a strategy to evaluate utilization of library resources. The objective of this study was to identify indicators needed to measure the performance and to design an counting system measurement at Open Service at National Library of Indonesia. The measurement indicators were based on ISO 11620:2008 consisting of 45 indicators. It was selected 10 indicators: 1) percentage of required titles in the collection (RTC); 2) shelving accuracy (SA); 3) staff per capita (LS); 4) collection turnover (CT); 5) loans per capita (LPC); 6) in-library use per capita (IUC); 7) library visits per capita (LVC); 8) percentage of target population reached (PTPR); 9) user satisfaction (AUS); 10) user services staff as a percentage of total staff (USSPTS). The indicators were selected through four stages: 1) selecting indicators related to activities in the Indonesia National Library and removing indicators related to activities that are not conducted in the institution; 2) removing indicators related to cost; 3) identifying and selecting indicators related to vision and mission by the questionnaire; 4) analizing the results of the questionnaire and setting the indicators that have an average value of the results greater than 0 as an selected indicator. The results of managements attitude that required the a performance counting system. System design was developed based on the system requirements and management’s needs. The system that was able to process data into information of performance. The system was integrated with the integrated national library system (INLIS) and the data that were not available in INLIS were manually input. Steps of system developing were defining use case, description use case, activity diagram, class diagram, sequence diagram, object role/relational mapping and entity relationship diagram. Keywords: Information System, ISO 11620, Library, Performance Indicators

Access Services—Check Us Out!

In recent years, academic libraries have seen a shift in their bread and butter operations. No longer are they primarily destinations for mediated, on-site use of collections. More and more, library users demand content when and where they can access it conveniently and most efficiently. To that end, the demand for effective access services has eclipsed reliance on most other public services functions. Managing user expectations by providing just-in-time content is no mean feat. But while appreciated by library users, access services continue to perplex many other library staff. In this column, Beth Clausen sings the praises of access services and describes strategies for promoting it and raising awareness of its value to library colleagues.--Editor MY PATH TO ACCESS SERVICES When I became a librarian, I expected to happily spend my career as a reference and instruction librarian with some liaison, technology, and collection responsibilities. I also chose, or answered the calling, to specialize in US government information and depository libraries. My career path went as expected for my first three positions. There were differences in each one, but the above description applied to them all. The third of these was as federal documents librarian in the Northwestern University Library's (NUL) Government Publications and Maps Department. The departure of the department head provided the opportunity to lead the department, and I did for about five years. Then something even more disruptive (and fantastic!) happened, and I became the acting manager for interlibrary loan while maintaining my other responsibilities. To my surprise, and to the surprise of others, I fell in love with ILL and other aspects of access services. One thing led to another, and I became the head of Resource Sharing and Reserve Collections at NUL. It has been five years since I transitioned to a permanent access services position, and such an anniversary provides an excellent opportunity or excuse to reflect on the original occasion being marked as well as on associated changes, observations, and experiences. These years were characterized by great transformation, including at least three different organization charts reflecting staff and responsibility changes, culminating with adoption of Access Services as the department name in 2011; the addition and enhancement of services; and significant consolidation of work and service delivery in the name of patron convenience. Among all the change and other happenings, the most interesting aspects may have to do with the relationships between some other user services staff in the library and our department and their perceptions of us. I've been thinking particularly about how these have evolved this past five years and the efforts to encourage that movement. PERCEPTIONS OF ACCESS SERVICES I have had experiences that I attribute to an outdated notion still held by some staff in libraries that access services functions and services are somehow lesser those of other library areas and departments. This is not across the board, of course, but there have been enough situations that lead me to logically conclude this. It was in evidence from the start of my move to access services when I was asked Why would you do that? by colleagues, and I have been consciously trying to change this perspective and show that it is rooted in a bygone era. I think my efforts, as well as those of the department's customer-service oriented staff that offers so much to the library and user community, are counteracting this perception to render it obsolete sooner rather than later. My pre-access services days seem far away, but I have asked myself how or what I thought about it and its providers before joining the ranks. I wish I could claim that I was enlightened as to the value of all types of library work, but I must admit that I may not have held circulation, interlibrary loan, and associated services in the same high regard that I do now that I have experienced them from the inside as a contributor and manager. …

Small schools, big needs

The types of technological services needed by the smaller universities and colleges are much the same as in larger schools. How to provide the increasing variety of services with a small staff and limited resources is the universal challenge of the small institution. To meet this challenge, Information Technology (IT) organizations must maximize their resources by investing in User Services (US) staff, build alliances with other campus organizations, and maximize student involvement where appropriate.

Electronic consulting

Traditional computer consultation is usually carried out by phone or in person through appointments. In addition, a desk is usually manned during normal working hours to handle walk - in problems. Given that there is a large body of users and a limited consulting staff, some users end up not receiving timely help. In addition, a user services staff that attempts to always deliver timely help to its user community runs the serious risk of "burn-out", since the load will always exceed available consulting capacity.

'Ti1 the End of Time

Stabilized or decreased staff levels, alternative means of article receipt, and automated record processing will be the three major distinguishing features of college periodicals units at the close of this century. These changes will be more evolutionary, less abrupt than they are apt to be in larger university serials sections in which the new "high tech" methods will be tested against today's time proven ones. Both technical and user services staff will welcome these adjustments as will the public they serve.

Changing your point of view

For many years, and as recently as last week, I have heard that in the computer world it is "us against them". The systems staff is on one side of this debate and the user services staff is on the other. In the fourteen months since my promotion from Manager of User Services to Associate Director for Systems & Operations my experience and my personal convictions have required me to challenge that opinion.The common perception is that systems programmers are a strange breed who prefer machines to people and who want to be left alone to "do their own thing"; while user services is a people oriented group that crusades for every outlandish request that its users make.The truth is that the goal of both these groups should be and can be to provide the best possible computer service for their community by combining their knowledge of the Possible and the Desirable.This paper will discuss why it is in the best interest of each group to work with, rather than against, the other, and suggest some practical steps toward accomplishing this.

User Services

Thea Hodge opened the discussion, remarking on the apparent tendency of User Services staff to move, via promotion, from direct user contact to systems and senior management. She suggested that this tendency would produce more user-friendly management in university computing centers.