The three Us of mobile design: UX v usability v UI ( Library Blogs Buzz Weekly)
Andy Favell from ClickZ reviews the role of user experience (UX), usability and user interface (UI) in the mobile user-centric design and provides additional user experience and usability resources. These concepts are “commonly mistaken and/or used interchangeably.” One way to differentiate between them is to ask what the user wants to achieve from your service:
- Did they achieve this goal? How easily/quickly? = Usability.
- Did they find using the service rewarding? = User Experience. (UX)
- How do they physically interact with the device? = User Interface.(UI)
Start Your UX Journey By Fixing What’s Broken (Designing Better Libraries)
“When we first started having conversations about the user experience at our library quite a few years ago the first thing I did, to get staff engaged in the discussion, was to provide a group viewing of Godin’s classic “This is Broken” presentation. Not only is it entertaining – who doesn’t laugh out loud during that “It’s Not My Job” segment – but it really makes it crystal clear to all of us how easy it is for everyday operations in our libraries to break and remain broken for all seven of the reasons that Godin shares”
In Omaha, A Library With No Books Brings Technology To All (Library Stuff)
There are no books in the Do Space library. “Instead it’s jammed with high-end technology that it provides free to the public.Taxpayers didn’t fund this library. Instead, Heritage Services, a coalition of Omaha philanthropists, donated $7 million to renovate the building — which had been a Borders bookstore — and pay for computers, 3-D printers and the Internet bandwidth”
INFORMATION TODAY: How Massachusetts Libraries are Disrupting the Ebook System (Information Today)
“The MA eBook Project was the first ebook project in the nation where all types of libraries (public, academic, and school) had the same access to e-books. Tricia London, director of Avon Middle High School’s library and member of the CEC Collection Development Subcommittee, found that the three parts of the collection complemented each other well: Baker & Taylor’s Axis 360 offers popular ebooks such as bestselling fiction, the BiblioBoard platform provides public domain material and primary source documents, and EBL offers scholarly content.”
Topeka Wins Library of the Year! (David Lee King)
Kudos to Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library for creatively implementing a strategic plan focused on customer experience and customer and staff engagement. Read their Library of the Year applicaion to get a better understanding of the community building process.
Building Excellence | Library by Design, Spring 2016 (Library Journal)
“This year, seven libraries received the prestigious 2016 AIA/ALA Library Building Award, which recognizes excellence in architectural library design. The award recipients, chosen by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the American Library Association (ALA), exemplify how the traditional role of libraries has evolved. The designs of these community spaces differ to reflect the needs of
the surrounding residents, which vary according to neighborhood or campus.”
Google CS First free coding classes at Queens Library (Library Blogs Buzz Weekly)
I am proud to announce that Queens Library ( where I work) will be offering Google CS First free coding classes in partnership with Google. “They got to try out the same computer science (CS) activities that will be available for kids in grades 4 through 8 at twenty-six Queens Library locations this summer, and more to come this fall. Queens Library is the first library in New York City to partner with Google for this free program.”
Hartford PL Budget Cuts Reduced (Library Journal)
“That’s not to say HPL isn’t still facing budget challenges in the short term. Bridget Quinn-Carey,HPL’s new CEO clarified that “ten staff positions have been eliminated, including three outright layoffs. The system, she added, now employs about 120 people, or 90 FTEs.Saturday hours, currently in effect at six of the system’s ten branches, will be pared back to just one location: the downtown facility on Main Street. Some branches will stay open a bit longer on weekdays, according to the plan unveiled this week to HPL employees.”
David Leonard named Boston Public Library president (Library Stuff)
“The Boston Public Library has named David Leonard as president four days after a California librarian declined to take the job. Leonard was first hired as the chief technology officer in 2009 and has served as both the acting director of administration and finance and acting chief financial officer. He is earning his doctorate in library information science at Simmons College.”
38 Community Colleges to Begin Replacing Textbooks With Free Educational Resources ( Library Stuff)
” Thirty-eight community colleges will take part in a new effort that involves replacing commercial textbooks with free educational materials. The open-educational-resources project, which is being coordinated by Achieving the Dream, a network for community-college reform, is expected to bring the free materials to at least 76,000 students in the next three years.”
Gwinnett libraries to offer self-service access (Library Stuff)
“Library officials announced this week that a pilot program will be available at the Lawrenceville branch beginning June 20. It’s called “Open+” and registered customers will have access to the branch from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Open+ is a system developed by technology supplier Bibliotheca that automatically controls and monitors building access, self-service kiosks, public access computers, lighting, alarms, public announcements and patron safety. Security cameras will monitor the use of the facility.”
The Complete List of User Experience (UX) Resources & Tools (Stephen’s Lighthouse)
A comprehensive list of User experience resources compiled by Jason Hreha.
Aspen in Action | Community Engagement
In October 2014, Aspen sparked a conversation about the future of libraries with its release of a report titled “Rising to the Challenge: Re-Envisioning Public Libraries.” In response, Aspen developed a new toolkit featuring 12 chapters of “ACTivities” covering topics such as “The Library as Civic Resource,” “The Library as Literacy Champion,” and “Jobs and Economic Development” to help libraries dig into the work of transformation, released in January as the “Action Guide for Re-Envisioning Your Public Library.”
New York: Syracuse Library’s Now Waives Overdue Fines For School Children (INFOdocket)
“Syracuse school children no longer have to worry about being fined if they’re late to return a book to the city’s libraries. Mayor Stephanie Miner announced Tuesday the city will pay $7,000 per year to cover the cost of the fines, as well as prevent blocks on library cards. She says the idea is to keep children reading so they stay on track at school, especially during the summer.”
Video calls in Brooklyn libraries will put inmates in touch with their families (Library Stuff)
“The Brooklyn Public Library has been awarded a grant for nearly $400,000 to place inmate video calling services in a dozen libraries, giving inmates’ friends and family members a new way to stay in contact. In 2014, the Brooklyn library launched a pilot in one branch, setting up a connection to Rikers Island and city Department of Corrections facilities. The grant, from the Knight News Challenge, will be put toward expanding the free video services to more branches, to be picked based on incarceration rates and geographic distribution in the area.”
Aurora Library Budget Cuts Staff, Hours, Locations (Library Journal)
“It’s heartbreaking to lay off the staff,” Daisy Porter-Reynolds, APL’s executive director, said in a recent interview. “Cutting services is very difficult also. We’re all about the customers here; it’s devastating to cut services.”Staffing at APL will drop from 182 to 161 once the jobs are eliminated, library officials said, with about 82 full-time positions remaining. The library system serves about 200,000 residents, making it the second-largest city in Illinois, behind Chicago.”
Tennessee: Chattanooga Public Library’s New LoLa System Creates Instantaneous Collaborations (INFOdocket)
“What the LoLa software does is remove most of the latency, or delay, in sending audio and video over the internet. It relies on Internet2, the advanced technology community owned and run by higher education institutions across the country. LoLa allows, for instance, musicians on opposite sides of the country to perform live together without any noticeable delay. The singer in one city hears the striking of the piano key in another city at virtually the same time as the person striking it.”
Rethinking the Much-Dreaded Employee Evaluation | Leading from the Library ( Library Journal)
“They may be a bit of a pain, but employee performance assessments have their place in continuous worker improvement. The question for leaders is, is there a better way to manage the process?”
Notable Lectures & Presentations: Mike Furlough, Marshall Breeding, Micah May, Christine Peterson and Gregory Pronevitz
Future of the Research Library – HathiTrust Digital Library (Stephen’s Lighthouse)
Mike Furlough, Executive Director of HathiTrust Digital Library on the Future of the Research Library
New Conference Paper by Marshall Breeding: “Strategic Technology Strengthens the Capacity Of Libraries To Serve Their Communities” (INFOdocket)
Marshall Breeding’s research paper has a special section for public libraries reviewing the major electronic catalog (ILS) technology platforms for resource management and discovery.
How the public grades libraries – and uses libraries ( Pew Internet)
“Lee Rainie, director of Internet, Science and Technology Research at the Pew Research Center will cover the latest findings of the center’s public opinion polling about Americans use of libraries and their feelings about the role that libraries play in their lives and in their communities at the American Library Association Conference in Orlando. The new findings will cover the latest library-usage trends, book-reading trends, and insights into the ways more and more Americans hope libraries will offer community-oriented and educational services.”
Library E-book Platforms: 2016 Update (Lone Wolf Librarian)
DPLAfest 2016 presentation by Micah May, Christine Peterson and Gregory Pronevitz on “goals and states of both library-owned platforms and consortial solutions, innovative technologies, and the possibility of a “national ebook platform.
Library Blogs Buzz 