Tuesday we had the opportunity to continue our discussion about the scenarios that we came up with last week. Before getting together I grouped the scenarios together by common tasks that people do at the SUNY Potsdam College libraries. After putting them into groups a list of ‘Common Trends’ was created based upon what people do on a regular basis. It is a listing of the items that people do here in the libraries along with the items that they need access to accomplish the given task. The additional information has been added to the Brainstorming working document.
Common Trends from Scenarios
- Find Books – Access to Library Catalog
- Put something on reserve – Information on how to put something on reserve
- Find Articles – Access to Library Databases, Access to Serial Solutions
- Locate Journals – Access to Library Databases and Library Catalog, Access to Serial Solutions
- How to cite things – Information about APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.
- Find Images – Access to Library Databases
- Print Poster – Information about Process
- AP2 Call Numbers – Information/Access to Map
As we move forward in the redesign process these items will be very important because they will help guide the information that will part of the new website. Regardless if a person is physically in the building or some place else in the world they still will be looking for books, putting items on reserve, searching for an article etc.
Organization of Common Tasks
Once we briefly talked about how the scenarios were grouped together we added one more to the list that was about a person looking for scholarly books. This was a very important addition because it will help remind us that people are still looking for books for a variety of different reasons. Next we began to talk about the common questions that get asked in the library. On one hand this is really a crap shoot because the questions that get asked are not recorded anywhere and we are doing them from memory; However, they are very useful and will serve as a guide.
Recording Questions
One thing that the College Libraries is not currently doing is recording the actually questions that get asked at the reference or circulation desks. We are keeping reference statistics in the form of how was a question asked, length of transaction, and if the question was a reference, directional, or technology question. We are not recording the actual question itself, so the common questions that we came up with may not be as common as we might think they are.
A question that was asked to me at the reference desk earlier today was “Can you help me find a review of a dance performance created by Alvin Ailey during 1970 in the New York times?”. If we start to record these questions we will have a better understanding of what people are actually asking and do not have to rely on remembering the questions that were asked at either the reference desk or circulation desk. This is very valuable information that can help everyone in a variety of different ways. In conclusion we should be recording the questions that get asked because it will help us better serve the people who use the libraries.