Tag: Libraries
I was alerted to Toby Greenwalt’s great blog theanalogdivide by Sophie Brookover of Library Link NJ, in which Toby just proposed a series of design problems as they relate to libraries. I love a good design problem. Here he introduces the first problem, and below I answer it in my own way.
“Your first challenge? Create a online library card signup. You could say that signing up for a library card is our equivalent of what websites refer to as onboarding – the process with which a user becomes part of that site. Sites invest significant work-hours and enormous sums of money to make this process as appealing as possible?
Libraries? Not so much. Whether through requiring in-person visits, confusing policy, or resorting to PDFs, libraries tend to get in their own way when it comes to attracting new users. We can do better than this. I’d like to use this inaugural Challenge to prove it.
Your criteria:
- Design a workflow that a hypothetical user would use to sign up for your hypothetical library. You’ll need to use this design to address the issue of proving residency.
- If there’s a policy that needs to be set in order to make your design work, you’ll need to explain that policy.
- Any medium is OK. Pencil-and-paper. Google Form. Flowchart. Photoshop mockup. Working prototype.
- If you draw inspiration from somewhere, cite your sources. I’d love to hear a bit about your process.
- You must have your design published by Monday, May 5th. Remember to email me (toby at theanalogdivide dot com) with the link. If you don’t have your own web space, feel free to send me the design and I’ll publish it here.”
~ theanalogdivide » Blog Archive » The Librarian Design Challenge –
So my answer is as follows:
- Advertise a shortened URL (via whatever advertising channels you wish) to a Google Form in which you allow a new patron to fill out a form. Form logic should require all required fields, such as full name, address, email, and phone number, etc. If payment is required, payment information can also be collected, but should occur later in the process, after address is verified.
- As you may or may not know, all google forms publish results to a spreadsheet, which can be exported to a CSV for use in a mail merge.
- Daily or weekly, a mail merge can be used to create mailable postcards with a unique code (autogenerated) that is sent to the address of the new patron.
- A patron who receives the postcard at the indicated address will submit the code and payment information to a second URL (encrypted) if any payment is required. The code validation reasonably proves residence to the degree that this is possible through electronic means.
- Upon code submission and or payment processing, the patron’s new card is mailed out, or made available for pickup, depending on the patron’s preference.
This mimics Google’s own location verification process for business registration listing in Google Places service https://support.google.com/business/answer/2911778?hl=en&visit_id=637299706572194876-2550561397&rd=1).
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Please take a look at part 1 and part 2 of this serial chapter on Pinterest as well.
Who is using Pinterest?
According to a Pew study on social media user demographics in 2013, Pinterest is 5 times as likely to be used by females as males. 15% of all Internet users used Pinterest. The typical Pinterest user is white and well-educated. The system was equally popular amongst users in the 18-29 and 30-49 age groups, both making up about 19% of users each. ) As a result, you may be able to engage more successfully with this demographic using Pinterest than other social media platforms, as other systems have different demographics. I personally feel that if more diverse groups could see other ways that the system can be used that the demographic would change dramatically. I do not feel particularly feminine, have no interest in flower arrangements, and am not getting married anytime soon. Despite this, I feel like I have a great visual thinking and sharing tool in Pinterest.
What are some examples of libraries who are making good use of Pinterest?
New York Public Library Art and Picture Collection
With pins that lead to its blogs, others that focus on its elaborate art collections and media, and some that create a playlist of music and other media to check out, this amazing library shares and extends its culture using Pinterest.
UNLV Architecture Studies Library
This library takes its intense focus on the very visual topic of architecture and offers a feast of images related to the topic, organized in sensible ways. With boards that focus on things like landscape, tiny spaces, bridges, furniture, and restaurants, it quickly makes you aware of the limitless ways in which we can begin to think about architecture.
American Libraries Magazine – ALA
With boards that explore the great libraries of the world, others that focus on ALA’s presidents, and some that request that you engage in a discussion (Ask ALA), this is a great example of how larger umbrella organizations related to libraries can celebrate and incorporate all libraries while cheering themselves on.
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I recently had the opportunity via LibraryLinkNJ to speak on the topic of Consumer Device Support in Libraries at several of their Tech Speed Dating gatherings, in which librarians from across the state of New Jersey come together to learn about the technologies they might love. It is a platform for dissemination of new technologies and best practices, but also potentially a place to introduce an idea. My idea: New library policy documents about the support for Consumer Devices in Libraries. Please take a look at this document, and use it as you wish, as it is Creative Commons – Attribution licensed. If you use it as is, you need do nothing. If you decide to change it, please mention that is was by John LeMasney via lemasney.com and thanks!
[gdoc link=”https://docs.google.com/document/d/14LSmZ_oCL6EekWkCGnT7JKVQDqdfU8fWVFEiRiyBP9M/edit?usp=sharing” width=”600″]
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So, at the request of Steve Garwood, a famous and resourceful New Jersey Librarian, I decided to rework the eighties-era Library Logo. I felt the same way as Steve: The Library logo below is something I align with, philosophically, in that when I see it, I love it. I’d like to get a tattoo of it. I think of it as an extension of who I am. At the same time, I wish it was more contemporary in nature, reflecting some of the curvature and relaxation of iconography of the 21st century. In order to keep the general look and feel of the logo, I used the original logo as a starting point, and simply moved elements to shape the new logo. The color is the same. The major difference between the two is a difference I see every time I walk into a library today: a more prominent presence of laptops. When I think about the key ways that libraries have changed, and how they continue to change, I think about the way that the libraries I love most are less about books and more about learning, community, service and sharing. Very often, technology is employed to that end in libraries. Here is the original logo for comparison, after an insightful brief history.
“The image debuted in its official capacity in the 1982 ALA publication, A Sign System for Libraries, by DeVore and Mary S. Mallery, and was the cover story of the September 1982 issue of ALA’s member magazine, American Libraries. DeVore’s original design scheme for the image (similar to the image shown below) was an opaque white silhouette against a blue (specifically, PMS #285 blue) background.” ~ National Library Symbol History & Implications | Walking Paper – http://goo.gl/d6mQiL
I wanted to mention and thank both Steve Garwood, who inspired the rework, and Jane Ferrick, who gave good insights about my figure’s original posture, and the specific appearance of the laptop, both improved. To be honest, before Jane’s suggestions, my figure was practically laying down and using an ultrathin laptop, which appeared as other things. There is also an interesting echo in the laptop of the book in the original symbol.
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I am very grateful to Library Link NJ, the statewide consortium that provides technology, training, and other support to NJ libraries. I have recently been invited to do their Technology Speed Dating series, in which librarians and staff from various NJ regions come to learn about lots of technology topics from lots of NJ library resource people. I am proud to be regarded as such, and I’ve been asked to talk about library support of consumer electronic devices in the current series of speed dating sessions. I am often asked to offer handouts for my sessions there, and have been reluctant to do so in the past because (in my opinion) 1. links don’t work well on paper, and 2. paper requires the death and downing of trees. Regardless of this, I consistently get good reviews except for my handouts, which I consider electronic, but which participants often see as non-existent. I’m fixing this today by designing (hence part of this 365 series,) writing and publishing the following document, which participants will have in paper form at the tech speed dating sessions. It is freely available for reuse with attribution under a creative commons license (by John LeMasney via lemasney.com) Here’s an excerpt, followed by the link:
On the Support of Electronic Devices in Libraries
“As librarians and library staff, you are increasingly asked by patrons, students and other stakeholders for support of devices that are neither present in the library, nor well-known by staff. If someone walks in with an iPhone, and there has been no formal training or personal experience with the iPhone, for instance, then it can be a case of a disappointed patron, a frustrated staffer, potential for misconfiguration, and so on. This document seeks to give you resources and strategies for meeting the needs of stakeholders who bring their own devices (BYOD) to the library for support. ” Read more at https://docs.google.com/document/d/14LSmZ_oCL6EekWkCGnT7JKVQDqdfU8fWVFEiRiyBP9M/edit?usp=sharing
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