IF WE DO THIS KIND OF THING THEY WILL USE OUR RESOURCES NO MATTER WHAT WE CALL THEM

Take a look at the Princeton Public Library Technology Center at the class calendar and gadget garage. http://princeton.lib.nj.us/research/techcenter/classes.html. We could do drop in instead of registration for a lot of the stuff. Using the gadget garage concept and classes is more effective than just classes I think.

I talked to Cindy about being able to use the laptops with wireless to show people how to download etc. She is going to look into this and I think it will be an easy thing to get going. Also John is putting up Meebo on a test site and we decided to use Google mail for the Ask A Librarian mailbox instead of Groupwise. John will let you know when you can play with IM.

What to call it?

A little discussion going on in the comments after Jessica's post -- what the heck do you call the databases? Here's what some of the others call it:

Arlington - eSources (Databases & More)
Denver - Research Resources
Hennepin - Databases
Phoenix - Databases & Websites
Seattle - Databases & Websites

Hmmm, nothing truly revolutionary here.

When you click "Subject Guides" on the Hennepin site, you go to a page that is actually called Reference & Research. It includes a link to the A-Z database listing, catalog, a subject guide that includes databases and websites, and a handy-dandy Magazine & Newspaper search that lets you choose online, print or both. Sweet! If only they included their ebooks.

They still end up with the dreaded "database" term, but when it is presented from within the reference and research section, it may be a little less confusing.

A Few of My Favorite Things

eSources or eResources seem a better title than "databases" but what about "Reference Resources" or "Research Resources" or just plain "Resources," since that's what they are, ultimately. I think we need to stop focusing so much on the fact that these things are "electronic," since this is just how information is conveyed and we need to stop making people think there's something different or special about online databases. After all, we are ditching print in-favor of these databases, we want people to feel as confident in this information as they do with print resources.

I like this a great deal. Drilling down into each database to find a list of periodicals is difficult and many patrons just want to know if we have "Gene Therapy Weekly," no matter the format, without having to jump through hoops to find out. Nice that it includes print in-library titles as well as electronic.

I like a few of the sites that include web sites along with databases under the subject headings. If we did this we'd have to take special care to keep these sites updated and relevant. Also, we'd only want to link to the best sites that are useful as reference sources. This would probably mean dropping a few of the categories from the recommended sites page and possibly leaving some subject areas without websites. I'd be in-favor of this and of dropping the separate "recommended sites" area of LCPL's website entirely.

Seattle Public Library

Seattle Public Library

• Link to Selection Criteria also gives some general hints on deciding whether a website is authoritative
• Databases and websites are on same list with nice graphics explaining the difference
• Use same basic layout as LCPL with anchors at top and entire list futher down screen, but with the use of graphics and fonts it looks nicer
• I like the library navigation links on left and tabs at top remaining on all pages – we need to do that (this is not just for the databases webpage but for all library pages)
• Digital Books and Music page is nice – everything is laid out neatly with basic info on each service
• Things here are pretty simple, not much difference in content from us but presented in a more current look

Hennepin County Library

Hennepin County Library

• Databases listed in alphabetical order
• Has topic/sub-topic lists; includes websites
• Right side has links to catalog/news/library events related to topic
• On the front database page, I like the right lower side offerings under More Information (how to connect, difference between databases and websites, etc.)
• Site is clean and easy to navigate – there’s a ton of stuff here; it may actually seem overwhelming to a new user, but once you start clicking you don’t have to go very far before finding something useful

Phoenix Public Library

Phoenix Public Library

• Not crazy about the color scheme but layout is pretty clean (if our staff monitors were larger it would look better)
• Links in column on left don’t go to same place as links in center – center goes to list of databases and websites (and sometimes suggested books), but left goes to more subcategories (I kind of like the center options better, going straight to the links intead of more lists)
• Has list of full-text magazines/journals/newspapers as well as a search for titles
• Puts Webfeat search on left as drop-down
• Also, Webfeat is called Article Searcher, a user-friendly term
• Has sign-in screens so non-patrons can’t get very far in terms of seeing how the entire process works
• Database categories are all on one page, no extra clicking to find the subjects – database names are in Java so they appear quickly and you don’t have to take yet another click to get to the database
• Databases suitable for kids and teens are listed on the Kids and Teens pages under “Homework” (good label, since “databases” is more of a library term than an end-user term)

Database Ideas

I figured discussion might be easier if each topic/library were its own post, so here's a start.

Here are a few ideas I came up with so far regarding the usage of the electronic resources in the branches:

• Combine workstations: Internet, word processing, catalog/databases (I know, we have different rules governing each one, but maybe in this multi-platform era we could come up with some way to get around this, maybe with one dedicated computer in full view of the Reference desk)
• Be more proactive about offering one-on-one database/Internet instruction, or at least be willing to spend more time with patrons in ad hoc demonstrations
• Have a computer that allows patrons to download ebooks and e-audio files, since it's frustrating not to be able to show people all the steps
• Offer database instruction times and use the branch laptop to demonstrate downloading to mp3 players
• Perhaps steer away from library jargon, like “databases,” and simply say "search for articles" or use large headings like "research" or "homework help"
• Have fewer clicks to get to actual searching; make searching across databases more seamless

First Principles

I'm glad to see that some of you have signed up as authors already. Thanks, and please post as much or little as you want.

The way I see it, we have two challenges. One is to make our public aware of the electronic resources -- selected websites, databases, and e-books -- we offer. The second is to remove the barriers to use by making them easier and more convenient to use.

To my way of thinking, we need to address the second challenge first. We can market our services, but if people come to them and then can't figure out how to use them or find the process cumbersome, then we'll lose them again.

To jumpstart the discussion, I've posted links to several other libraries that have come up with different ways of getting at these resources. (Thanks to Mary Beth and Marcie who suggested many of these last year.) If you know of other good (or bad) examples, go ahead and add them to the list. Let's hear what you like and don't like about these sites. Go wild.

Julie

Getting started

Thanks for joining. In the interests of keeping everything in one place, I decided to start blogging this process right from the beginning. I've invited the Reference Committee members to be co-authors of this blog. If there are people at your branch -- or at other branches -- who you think would be good contributors to this discussion, let me know and I will invite them as well. Once we have all the authors on board, I will restrict comments to members of the blog.

More tomorrow. Ciao.

Julie