Rockdale Library 8 August 2017 10:00am - 3.00pm
(what summary of the meeting goes out with the minutes)
Welcome to the meeting and to Rockdale Library.
This meeting is held on the traditional lands of the Cadigal and Kameygal people.
– Catherine Johnston, Kylie Vella
– Rebecca Cook, Kiama; Janinta Craine, Sutherland; Cherie Dickinson, Ryde; Michael Doran, Natalie Funston, Bayside, Andrew Gee, Wollongong; Kathryn Joss, City of Sydney; Annetta Kucharska, Cumberland; Sin Man Lau, Canterbury Bankstown; Samson Leung, Canada Bay; Peter Main, Camden; Robyn Menzies, Hawkesbury; Mary Mercardo, Blacktown; Kerry-Ann Prideaux, Burwood; Wanda Swierczynska, Ellen Forsyth, State Library of NSW, Online – Jen, Shiralee, Alan
– range of devices for assistance, [how much] time as part of this/computer help over the phone, those who ask/those who don’t
Discussion of how much time you can spend helping between 5 – 15 minutes seems to provide a lot of assistance, importance of counting the questions correctly, and using the enquiry completion form in creative manner,
Better tracking from some libraries, looking at how technology assistance is provided, as some of them are enquiries and others are technology help. Importance of tracking over time. For one library this led to an increase in the internet speed.
Technology enquiries are really important. Helpful to refer people to classes at times, rather than problem solving necessarily. Important to manage the enquiries with technology, so it may be lots of small sessions, managing around a series of constraints, rather than a ‘no’. So, mix of help and referral to classes seem the best solutions. Importance of libraries providing training as part of their library services.
Some libraries use volunteers to provide this training, sometimes this is a way to help a wider range of language speakers. With the volunteers, work with other sections of council. Need to have volunteer policy. Importance of volunteer form fillers (and need for them to be vetted).
Guiding the client to do the work (rather than doing it for people).
Importance of recording statistics and evaluation for these sessions.
Cross generational ideas – with high school students and older people.
Discussion of the Woollahra staff. Roving services.
Ryde – mini ipads for roving, ecollections, and LMS works, run the reserve lists on the ipad looking for the reserve lists (as part of the roving, and will assist people on computers.
Hawkesbury – tablet – on the trolley mount (tiny shelving trolley), for work health safety issues - see this photograph and this one.
Key for the staff to think about how they can help.
Question about not all staff being equally keen in helping people, technofile and technophobe? Importance of training all staff. Keep the other staff with you while you are showing the client, follow up with the staff. Cross staff training is really important on the range of devices, and library resources, important to convey to staff that they are all expected to do this. Refresher training also important. Encouragement of staff. Technology one on one training by staff for clients (and using different staff).
Camden encourages 30 minutes a day for professional development CoS includes professional development in performance management
It is not about personal preferences, it is about helping the clients.
IT Check list – see links here for a range of skills https://wiki.libraries.nsw.gov.au/index.php?title=Technology_skills
Shiralee from Tamworth, they are roving , using tablets. Upgraded wifi which has helped a lot. Some staff training, but mostly learn by doing. Still have remind staff to wear the tablets and to rove.
Challenges at Tamworth are when it is busy or quiet. When it is busy they don’t rove as staff move from client to client, and can’t leave the front area. Helping clients with self check (as only have self check). Can only take 3 books at a time to shelve, so going back and forth, going past people, etc. The three books are a policy as it means you have work to do, but don't look like you are only shelving. The tablets are great as outreach tools. Tamworth takes the tablets to festivals, and take portable modem as can join clients up at an event, can new clients can borrow strait away. Staff are identified by a tablet on a sling. Staff will be getting name badges. Used to have badges on a strap, which was something like ‘ask me’. Some kind of staff identifying could be good.
Ryde has a roving shift for every hour of opening. They have ipad with all relevant apps (including a sound meter), can reserve, look up ecollections, and check noise levels if there are complaints. They have a strap on the ipad – with help sheets for clients. They call the shift ‘engagement’. There is a pager that the staff can be recalled with. You can see the Ryde – mini ipads for roving
Woollahra has a way to call staff to the desk, using the skype for business.
Helpful to have a way to call staff back to a service point – from roving.
Hawkesbury now has one small desk, from two large desks, and some roving (working at a way to get staff called back when the desk is busy).
Delicate challenges with customer service.
Working together with the clients
Team work really important for roving, as you need to be able to work with others, and know where others are.
For Ryde Engagement shifts,work on where seating is for access, also have ipads at the desk for joining for membership, and for the apps of the library.
Mention of Woollahra – the membership card is critical, because you have to use the library card for everything
Discussion of membership for people who are homeless, or otherwise no fixed address, some libraries have limited loans, others don’t.
Roving – out there with the customers
Place for community information for people who are homeless.
Wifi discussion, some for hours of opening, some for all hours, some download limits, or time limit. Proximity to Centrelink and Courts leads to lots of internet use. Discussion of complexity of ‘basic’ services. Tech savvy classes have been useful, the email sessions are really important, as setting up people. Some libraries are doing their (own funded) training for people to learn to use computer use, lots of people have still missed out on technology training. Some libraries run ongoing training, others don’t.
Importance of talking with local agencies like Centrelink etc. Centrelink did some workshops with Burwood Library, in a range of languages, to help the community.
Article on roving, Pitney, B, & Slote, N 2007, 'Going Mobile: The KCLS Roving Reference Model', Public Libraries, vol. 46, no. 1, pp. 54-68, available on Ebsco host.
LMS and other privacy.
One library has a customer behaviour register, separate to LMS, but with a note on the LMS if name is know. Non-emotional, basic. One library has a banned borrower register, description. Discussion of GIPA.
Issues of privacy of information (help with bank accounts, etc). Issue of privacy between pc users, with clients being sitting close together, with no partition. Need to have pcs which clear/restart and delete loaded systems – preferably at the end of each session. Visibility of computers as a visual deterrent.
Blacktown has announcements about it being a public place, reminding people about safety of their equipment. CoS has safety postcards reminding people to not leave things (and postcards are left when things are unattended). Suggestion to look at wider council policies as there may be policies for other areas of council which are relevant to library.
Importance of knowing council and library policies, and what they can do (and can’t). Importance of training staff in dealing with difficult incidents. Can be council wide training. Importance of including this information in the induction for staff.
One library having an issue of religious outreach taking place in libraries, and how to manage it.
Not a good solution, so to not go on the agenda for a while.
The suggestions were:
-http://referenceandinformationservices.wikifoundry.com/page/information+and+fake+news
Reference and information services group, would like to work with other working groups to update the Enquiry completion rate form. Aim to have new form for August 2018. Robyn, Jacinta, Kerry-Ann - volunteered to work on this.
Helping staff to adapt to change
- Nowra, 14 November
(what summary of the meeting goes out with the minutes) · Once you have developed roving services in the library, you can easily take them out of the library, for example to a shopping centre · Importance for devices used for roving to be integrated into systems, such as wifi, LMS, printing… · Roving as proactive not reactive · Consider a customer behaviour register as an external document which can be referred to · Redefine your information inquiries in regards to IT, and other uses · Reference and information services group, would like to work with other working groups to update the Enquiry completion rate form. Aim to have new form for August 2018.
Don't forget to go back to your workplace and share the ideas from this meeting. Make sure you tell others about it, including your manager.
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