OCLC Symposium

OCLC Symposium Friday July 10, 2009 Chicago

Keynote speaker Joseph A. Michelli, PhD, did his homework before speaking before a room full of librarians at the Symposium. He had read and studied the OCLC research report “From Awareness to Funding.” He cautioned that for libraries the future cannot be “more of the same” but that they need to connect with users through a transformative experience.

The library needs to learn what is relevant to the patron in their wants, needs, & desires. Listen to the patron and treat them as if they were important. The experience that they have at the library needs to transformative, one that allows them to learn and change.

Transformative drivers are those things you can do to create EBS, experiential based services. One is to begin by making the staff have a transformational experience as employees, treat them well. This starts by designing the employee experience from their selection, orientation, and reviews where we ask “How are we doing at helping you do your job?”

We need to build loyalty and engagement with the patron. To judge this, ask these questions. How satisfied are you with library services? How likely are you to continue to use these services? How likely are you to recommend them to a friend or relative?

The library needs to move itself from

Informational > Transformational
Institutional > Infrastructure
Nice > Necessary
Past > Future
Altruism > ROI

One example of customer service comes from the Ritz-Carlton a very simple approach – described as the three steps of service:
1) Offer a Warm Welcome (look up, smile and/or greet the person)
2) Fulfill the stated and unstated needs of the guest (be attentive to and observant of the patron)
3) Provide a fond farewell (say good-bye or come back soon)

If you want to learn more about Dr. Michelli check out his website. He has written three books The Starbucks Experience, The New Gold Standard, and When Fish Fly.

Bibliographies & Citations

I don’t know about you but every time I have to create a book list or bibliography, I dread it. What style of citation should I use? Will I get the punctuation right? I just want to get it done and move on.

Now I know there are websites where you can put in the information and at a click of the mouse it is put in citation form but now I have an easier way. WorldCat. That’s right the OCLC online catalog of books, articles, DVD’s and more. There is a Cite this Item link in the record of materials found in WorldCat through First Search.

If you search through the WorldCat.org public website you can also get a citation. When the specific item you searched for is displayed look just at the top of the record are links to cite, print, email and more. Click site and you can choose from five difference citation styles--APA. Chicago (Author-Date), Harvard, MLA or Turabian

Check it out the next time you have to make up a list of books

Virtual Meetings 2

While Monday I reported frustration with the virtual OCLC Members Council meeting, I am happy to report the next two days of meetings went much smoother. I had some problems with sound but there was a backup Phone alternative that I used.

One thing we found is that on Tuesday, we were discussing some contentious issues. As members we only had chat as a way of communicating. The questions and responses were quite thoughtful and also respectful. More people seemed to be contributing, partially because there was no public speaking. Bottom line we had a good discussion and exchange of ideas.On

Wednesday, the presentation was on “What Makes Virtual Organizations (teams) Work Well? “ The idea of face-to-face meetings and when they are appropriate and when not was questioned. There are definitely times when it is imperative to have those face-to-face meetings. However, much time can be saved by using virtual methods of holding meetings for routine types of activities. Several people commented that because we had met face-to-face before, we knew each other, had a sense of who the person was and a level of respect and trust had been built. Because of this that conversation by chat on Tuesday was able to be successful.

Bottom line virtual meetings can work but, it takes effort on the part of attendees to make them work. Virtual meetings work better if there has been a face-to-face meeting prior to the virtual one. More virtual meetings will be in my future and in yours.

Virtual Meetings

This morning I had an interesting experience. The OCLC Members Council met virtually using the services of Learning Times.

Before the meeting there were tech checks and orientations that did not mean the meeting went smoothly. I had problems with sound and was told to log out then back in. It worked but when I had to do it a second time I exceeded the limit on the room so I missed about ½ of the first hour of the meeting.

Luckily for the breakout meetings of Service Groups there was a new login to try. All went well, and then the meeting was closed about ½ ways through. Logging back in, the meeting continued. However, as chair of the meeting, it was frustrating, not knowing if I could get back in and what would happen if I didn’t?

Well, after two hours the meeting was over and they put up an evaluation form, which I filled out.

Tomorrow and Wednesday we have virtual meetings again. I will let you know how they go.