Real Measurements for Libraries in an Internet Age: A report on the Normative Data Project

1. Real Measurements for Libraries in an Internet Age: A report on the Normative Data Project Stephen Abram Vice President, Innovation Bob Molyneux Chief Statistician SirsiDynix Feb. 2, 2006

2. What are libraries most worried about? SURVIVAL • Sustaining Relevance • Millennial user behavioral mutations • Balancing print, electronic and new services and resources • Understanding Diversity • E-Learning and Distance Education challenges • Justifying growth and projects – Measures not Stats • Understanding mutating (not changing) usage patterns – info not data • Building community partnerships with authority • Building for the future and not repairing the present • Productivity and shifting staff resources • Budgets and Fundraising

3. Big Questions • How do we gain insights into changes in our ecology through our usability and user behavior studies, and our trend insights as shown through our statistics and measurements? • Can we really know the underlying reasons for users’ interactions with library services? • Can we easily and cheaply compare ourselves to other libraries, other agencies, or communities? • Can we back up our qualitative stories with quantitative measurements and data - proofs? • If we had the proofs, would it help our strategies, fundraising and tactical implementations? • Are we happy with the present?

4. Acting like a business but being a library • Knowing Customers like WalMart™ • Giving service like Nordstrom™ • Being as efficient as GE™ • Delivering an experience like Amazon™ • Having the budget of Google™ • Living the brand

5. The Virtuous Triangle

6. Usability Tests

7. Usability Tests Normative Data

8. Personas Usability Tests Normative Data

9. The Library World Personas Usability Tests Normative Data

10. The Library World Personas Usability Tests The Real World Normative Data

11. How do you persuade? • Data, charts and graphs – help but dry • Debate & Argument – a little confrontational • Conversation – a lot of effort, scales poorly • Narrative storytelling – captures the energy of the population and persists Read: The Springboard: How Storytelling Ignites Action in Knowledge-Era Organizations. by Steve Denning http://www.stevedenning.com/springboard_story.html

12. Personas • Start with understanding the users in terms of their real: • needs, preferences, and desires • goals and aspirations • expectations and assumptions • values and their beliefs • tolerance for risk and change 24

13. Personas • Personas are understood through discovery by: • Gathering data to identify possible “anchors” • Observing behavior • Pattern emergence in narrative 19

14. Personas 16

15. Personas • Personas are hypothetical representations of a natural grouping of users that drive decision-making for development projects. • They are defined by goals. • They focus on what is valuable to the user and subsequently on how he or she behaves. • They are not Stereotypes or Archetypes 14

16. Personas Goals: Help team build the base infrastructure for .NET products. Construct the base set of services that ship with the product and compose the core of a distributed framework for hosting distributed services. Add queuing semantics and associated locking, classification and routing of messages, subscriptions, efficient filtering, fan-out, etc., to the server. Integrate new distributed communication semantics to the existing SQL Server programming model. Demonstrate ability to communicate and work well with other teams. Usage Scenario: Henry has been around long enough to build a solid network of resources to call when he has specific questions about products or programs. He often learns about new technologies or processes through casual conversation with his friends and coworkers in the hallway. He uses Yahoo! for general information gathering because he likes the simplicity of the site design and the breadth of information available. The Portal is not his start page—he usually just types in the URL directly. He rarely reads the content on the first page because he doesn't want to know what's going on with general companywide PR information. He's somewhat cynical about "companywide" internal releases and dislikes company politics. However, on a personal level, he does want to know about the schedules that the applications are on so he can plan. He's frustrated that there's no place you can go to find product information all in one spot. Info-Seeking Behavior: When Henry needs specific information, he generally e-mails or phones a friend. He is a member of about 15 different DLs that used to be manageable, but now he finds it increasingly difficult to keep up. He typically uses the Portal to search for internal information across the companywide intranet or to find other internal sites. He comes to the portal about four-five times a week by typing in the URL and stays for less than 15 minutes at a time. He rarely, if ever, goes to there to find general information about the company or the industry as a whole. He uses internal databases to find internal information on products or code. If he's frustrated by something, he'll go there and find solutions rather than go outside to support or to a dot-com. "You used to have to drill down pretty deep to find personalized information, but now it's easier." He tends to bookmark pages in the portal because he hates having to go 5 levels down. He'll use that bookmark until it breaks, then he has to research it again. He would like to have favorites on the portal. Henry 41 Years Old, Software Design Engineer U.S. 12 Years at the company. Single, MS Comput.Sci 15

17. The Future • Public Library Pilot Project • Libraries in rural, urban and suburban Northeastern U.S. and Canada to start • March through May, 2005 • Leveraging proven techniques for understanding complex markets (Cynefin Centre) • Follow up to cover the broader U.S.A. and global marketplace • Follow through for Academic (ARL, ACRL, LibQual and COUNTER, etc.) • K-12 School personas can follow later 23

18. The Future • In summary, by seeing the world through the lens of the customer, we create an: • Opportunity to increase customer satisfaction and return visits • Opportunity for everyone in the organization to work to achieve the same goals, efficiently, and an • Opportunity to have a clear, and achievable direction. • Pandora’s Box – Exciting but a little dangerous 25

19. Sneak Peak SirsiDynix Personas

20. Summary Findings Emerging groups of archetypes, themes and values from the five workshops

21. Good Citizenship Archetypes Well-Rounded Citizen (13 attributes)

22. Good Citizenship Archetypes Strong Community Leader (6 attributes)

23. Patron Archetypes Frustrated Patron (12 attributes)

24. Patron Archetypes Inquisitive Power User (12 attributes)

25. Patron Archetypes Disengaged Seeker (9 attributes)

26. Library Staff Archetypes Ultimate Tour Guide (7 attributes)

27. Library Services Archetypes Out-of-Date IT (6 attributes)

28. Library Services Archetypes “Something for Everyone” Resources (4 attributes)

29. 7 SirsiDynix Personas for Public Libraries • Discovery Dan • Dan represents the adult non-researcher population. • Haley High School • Haley represents the high school student population. • Jennifer • Jennifer represents the parents of teenagers. • Mommy Marcie • Marcie represents the parents of young children. • Rick Researcher • Rick represents adult researchers who own a personal computer. • Senior Sally • Sally represents senior citizens. • Tasha Learner • Tasha represents adult researchers who do not own a personal computer.

30. Mommy Marcie • Caucasian American, married, 33, two children, two and four, lives in suburbs (pop.50-100,000), Northwest, bachelor’s degree, household income of 60K, works part-time as a substitute teacher. • A typical day at the library: Mother and children typically drive to the library. The four year old girl is in a reading group. The two year old attends storytelling. Each Monday they go to the library to attend the reading group and to hear a story. Afterwards they use the time to check out new books, videos or DVD’s for children, as well as to find time to look for any adult materials. • Sample Scenario: Marcy is interested in taking her 2 year old to storytime and in getting “learning to read” materials for her 4 year old. In preparation for an upcoming library trip, Marcie logs on to the library website and selects recipe and craft books for herself, and verifies the storytime for her toddlers. While at the library, she picks up her reserved books, takes her kids to storytime, may select some additional materials, and request assistance from a librarian on the topic of phonics. • Information-seeking behavior: She typically doesn’t have time to use the computer at the library. At the library she is usually busy looking after the children either participating in a reading group session, or attending a storytelling session. She uses the computer at home to put materials on reserve for herself or if she knows exactly what she wants for the kids. She picks up the books, DVD’s or videos when she is leaving the library. She uses the library website to hear more about upcoming events. • Ultimate goal: She wants her child to learn to read and to discover new ideas in a safe, informed setting. She wants her children to be exposed to books early on – even when they don’t know how to read yet. She wants to be able to find time to meet some of their own needs knowing their children are safe. • Frustrations:Not finding librarians who can help the children to learn to read, is troubled by reduced library hours (nights and weekends), and wants to have an easy way to know about upcoming events on the website. • Work activities: Part-time employment. • Computer skills, knowledge and abilities: Has an up-to-date home computer and uses the library website. • Technology attributes: Positive towards technology—early mainstream adopter. • Communicating: She uses the phone, email, IM. • Market size and influence: Significant Market presence-- • Demographic/online attributes: 83% of parents with minor children use the Internet; 63% of college educated women who have infant children work; 5.4 million stay at home Moms in 2003.

31. Mommy Marcie • Quotes: • I’d like to see the library website be more useful, to make it easier to find library events and resources—I’d really like to have that sort of information sent to me—that would be great! • Can my library institute an early reading program, or help me find relevant resources, whether online or in the library? • Actual anecdote: “like I said, I’m towing my two-year-old around, and if I’ve got -- you know, if it’s -- searching for something on the computer involves sitting there for half an hour, well, I’m trying to keep my two-year-old in check. She does not sit well. She’s trying to run around and play, do something to occupy her. If I’m having to go through too many lists, or if I don’t know exactly where I’m going to need to be looking for something, I end up looking through everything to find the information I want, then we might as well just go home and I’d try while she’s sleeping, you know?” • References: Pew Internet and the American Life Project; Census.gov; (“How Americans use Instant Messaging?”)

32. Mommy Marcie SirsiDynix Product Considerations for Mommy Marcie Complete self-service options, (i.e. online checkout, just go pick up).

33. Jennifer A typical day at the library: The parent assists the teenager in using the library website. This is usually done at home, after the teenager has reviewed what is available on the Internet. The parent is coming in after the research has begun. Once they identify the books they need they will put them on reserve or check to see if they are available. Once there, they may decide to browse the young adult library collection (if they have time). Otherwise they are focused on getting the materials for the project. Once they have the material they need, they leave. The parent will likely have to bring other children to the library at the same time. They will be pulled in multiple directions, looking after their younger children and their teens. She wants to use the library as more of a recreational facility for herself, but given her busy lifestyle, she is unable to. When she is there, the library becomes a social setting. She talks with the staff socially, and enjoys the interaction. Information-seeking behavior: The info seeking behavior of this parent is utilitarian although they’d prefer it to be more recreational. They start by working with the teenager to browse available information from the library online at home. When they go to the library they go there to find specific items (books, music) or to browse newspapers or journals. They may help a child to post a community notice on a bulletin board at the entrance to the Library for example, Scouts or Babysitting. At the library the adult may be responsible for signing the teenager on to the computer equipment. Ultimate goal: The parents want their children to know how to use the library and to use the best sources of materials to complete a project. They also may see the library as a great location to post availability to baby-sit, or to announce a community event. Frustrations:Students needing regular permission from the adult to use the computer equipment. Safety with respect to sites used. Noisy students. The parent wants to know what’s happening in the library, but is not often notified of events they may be interested in. They want communication pushed out to them in a form they find useful. Work activities: Dual-income household – both parents work. Computer skills, knowledge and abilities: Has a shared space home computer and is aware of the library website. Both parent and teenager are computer-literate. Technology attributes: Positive towards technology. Communicating: She uses the phone, Instant Messenger and Email. They prefer the phone or Email but chat with their teens over IM. Market size and influence: This group represents a large portion of the tax paying base within a community and is a great person for the library to have as an advocate because she is active and likes using the library. While frustrated with some issues at the library, it’s not for sure whether she sees her current interaction as a negative. Does she really want to not have to go to the library? Demographic/online attributes: The parent user is typically female, white, educated, married, over 35 and uses a branch library. IM and text messaging keep teens in touch with their parents. Most teens use shared computers at home and a growing number log on from libraries, school, and other locations. 67% of parents of online teens believe the Internet is a good thing for their child but are concerned about the safety of it. 90% of teens who go online say that other family members also use the computer. Many parents use various methods of filtering and monitoring teen computer use. (See High School Anchor for other related demographic data).

34. Jennifer • Quotes: • X: I took them - it was a couple of weeks ago, it was national library week as a matter of fact - it was very vibrant that day. My twin boys wanted to go downstairs, they had magic shows as part of a promotion for national libraries week, and my 13-year-old had to do a project so he was working upstairs while his brothers were downstairs so it was very, very busy. As a matter of fact they had to bump a meeting from downstairs upstairs, the Girl Scouts were meeting that day too. So there were hundreds of people at the library. It was a good experience. It was a great day in the community. • INT: And what were the boys looking for? You said one of them was working on a project. • X: A science project. • INT: A science project. And did he find the information he was looking for? • X: Yes, he did. There’s reference materials and a few books that he had to cite. • INT: Were you downstairs with the twins and you sent him up? • X: Yeah. I was doing the bouncing up and down trick. • INT: You went upstairs and what happened? What did you do? • X: He got all his work done. • INT: Do you know if he found all the stuff on his own? Did he talk to a librarian? • X: The librarians are very helpful with him. He’ll go up and ask. They’re always willing to point him in the right direction. He didn’t need the computers because any computer stuff we pretty much do at home. • INT: I’m trying to get to actual stories. Let me think. So you come to the library every day? And are you particularly – • References: Pew Internet and the American Life Project; Forrester Research • *Some parents noted that they don’t always have a working computer at home and then they take their child to the library to use the computer to complete a school assignment. We also came across several teenagers that do not have a computer at home.

35. Jennifer • SirsiDynix Product Considerations for Jennifer • Opportunities: • To get information to this user in a delivery format that meets their lifestyle (RSS, IM, Text, E-mail). This person wants information on community events, education related events for students, dates due, new books of interest (ala iTunes, Amazon). • School Rooms/Rooms has the opportunity to help this parent’s teenager to do more research from home….but does the parent want services that make it so that kids don’t even need to go to library. She likes the library and feels the need for teaching her kids the same values.

36. Tasha Learner • A typical day at the library: Goes to the library to use the computer. Is working on a project that requires the Internet, as well as completing her reading with books she doesn’t own. Is likely using the computer to print a report or to create marketing collateral. • Information-seeking behavior: Makes a specific point of going to the library to complete her project. She consults with a reference librarian to ensure she has a good starting place and then uses the online catalog and the Internet to source both electronic and hardcopy information sources. She prints out materials to work with them. She is aware that some sources are more appropriate than others, but consults with the librarians to ensure she has the best possible sources. • Ultimate goal: Wants to complete her project by ensuring all the appropriate resources are used and needs to use the library computer to do so. • Frustrations: Not finding all the sources she needs. Having to get off the computer within a particular timeframe. Inconsistencies in which library has which resources, e.g. dictionaries, inaccessible librarians i.e. not available when you need them. • Work activities: Part-time student, part-time worker. Student in a night school or junior/community college • Computer skills, knowledge and abilities: Does not own a computer but is a computer user. Knows how to search on the Internet and is familiar with the library’s website. Easily authors and prints using productivity tools. • Technology attributes: Positive towards technology. • Communicating: She uses the phone and may have access to Email. • Market size and influence: Although less than 8% of patrons fall into this demographic, it is a target demographic for our customers and the general public in the library as a community benefactor. • Demographic/online attributes: Very likely earns less than $30k per year; is likely Hispanic or African American. Does not own a computer and is likely to have a cell phone.

37. Tasha Learner • SirsiDynix Product Considerations for Tasha Learner • Features, Functionality, Content • Federated Searching • OPAC • Resource (PC) Reservations • Online holds & automated alerts • Collaborative Environment • Citations • Productivity tools • E-mail accounts • Personal online workspace • Searchable metadata for online databases (Presearch) • VRL • Printing • Current Products & Services • Single Search • OPAC • ILS Reservations Module • Online holds • SVA (Voice) • Citations • Rooms • Opportunity Gaps • Collaborative Environment • My Rooms • Presearch • STA as opposed to SVA • Packaging desktops with the ILS at a low rate perhaps with preloaded productivity tools. • Copier/Printer installs.

38. A perspective on developing better measurement and communication tools for librarians

39. What Problem do we want or have to Solve ?

40. Our Objective • Empower our Clients to Thrive – our success is dependent on their success • Get the Measurement Tools into the Right Hands • Directors and Management • Supervisors • Collection Developers • Librarians • Library boards and trustees • and also the regular folks in Finance / IT

41. Our Design Goals • Follow the BAM (Business Activity Monitoring) model • Present a more holistic view of the enterprise • Focus on underlying message in the data • Incorporate a “dashboards” format for quick access • Create a metrics monitoring tool for decision support • what-if analysis • Alert threshold triggers • Shift the dynamic from static reporting to fluid analytics • Create a “Discovery” Environment

42. Results: • Improved support for “Customer” Understanding • Encourages informed, data-driven decisions • Provides data to support the Stories • Closer alignment of library services to the customer • “Board Ready” output for effective presentations (the power of persuasion!) • Finger-tip access to management level data for deep collection use analysis • Supports strategic development of your institution’s mission

43. Director’s Station

44. Quick Peak Dr. Data and the NDP

48. Normative Data Project • Includes: • Harvested, privacy-safe data on almost everything that is tracked in a library: • Circulation • Backroom: Technical services, cataloguing • Acquisitions and budgets • Web site traffic • Licensed content usage • Currently Unicorn and Horizon datasets but more will be considered • Harvested semi-annually, reported quarterly

50. Normative Data Project http://www.libraryndp.info