Many patrons come to the library but have no live interaction with library staff at all. They search for items online, place holds, get notified by text, voicemail, or email when the item is ready, come to the library, walk up to a hold shelf, and use a selfcheck system to check out their items. Yet the library has much more that might interest the patron—how to let them know?

3M took this into consideration when developing their new Self-Check Quick Connect Interface. They addressed this with two new features: Recommended Reads and Patron Promos. You may have heard about the Recommended Reads option.

3M has partnered with EBSCO to use NoveList Select to help patrons discover similar books to the ones they are checking out. When patrons check out a book, the NoveList Select option comes up on the right of the screen with up to six suggestions that are in the library’s collection. If they are interested, patrons can look at a brief description of the book and choose to place it on hold, print out the information, or receive the list via email.

The other new feature, which is exciting and can really help the library create awareness of their events, is Patron Promos. When patrons are not actually checking out an item, but are entering their barcode, or viewing their account, the area to the right of the screen can display key library events or community messages. 3M has created templates for popular library events such as summer reading, book sales, and workshops. The library can insert details such as day and time, or upload their own banners customizing the self check to reflect the library’s messages and look. Another nice feature is that a library with multiple machines can have different messages displayed that are relevant for specific locations.

The System Manager makes it easy to customize the self check and update the Patron Promos. If a library has multiple machines, a staff member can update all the self checks from a PC or tablet.

Other features include the ability for a patron to enlarge the type and receive assistance on every screen with the library having the option of a have a pop-up notifier on a staff computer if the patron needs personal attention. There are up to fifty languages available, enabling the library to select the primary languages in the community. All instructions and the receipt will print in the selected languages.

The interface for the R and BC self-check series was released February 1 and the interface for the V series self check will be available in a few months.

BookBrowse

BookBrowse recently launched a new look improving their navigation and optimizing the site for devices small and large.

BookBrowse is an online magazine about books that includes reviews, previews, read-a-likes, and author interviews as well as book club advice and reading guides. Not every book is in their database. BookBrowse’s selections are highly curated and handpicked covering over 3,000 books and 2,000 authors.

Library subscriptions provide access to all of BookBrowse’s read-a-like suggestions and offer patrons greater search filters to help them find similar books. The subscription includes BookBrowse’s “Beyond the Book” back-stories for their featured books. Beyond the Book explores topics from the book and answers questions the reviewers had after reading the book.

Also included in the subscription are: on-site and remote access, usage statistics, the ability to brand and customize the website and “brought to you by” emails for your library, one-click links for each book to your library’s OPAC, free support for both librarians and patrons, free posters, bookmarks and tent cards to promote the service as well as graphics and text links for the library’s website.

AtoZ Databases

AtoZ has been adding enhancements to their site; the most exciting is that as of February 2014, AtoZ is available in Spanish. They have also added the ability to do background searches and to show neighbors when doing a person search as well as map-based searching.

AtoZ is a marketing tool that lets you find businesses, jobs, and people. In addition to searching for a specific business, job, or person, there are seven databases that let you select numerous variables to help target your search. These databases are Business & Executives, New Business, Healthcare Professional, Residents, New Movers, New Homeowners, and Universal which searches all the databases.

One of the variables in these seven databases is map-based searching. The map-based searching lets you pull up a map of the area you are interested in and then lets you select a shape, to completely customize the area you want to cover, or you can define a radius around an address or zip code, you can define a boundary, or you can define a drive route.

The new background search lets you search for a person or a property. When searching for a person, results will show a person’s current and prior addresses, phone numbers and prior phones numbers, suggested relatives, neighbors and prior neighbors, as well as name variants. When you search for a property (address), it will show who owns the property versus who lives there.

The search to find a person will show the person’s current address and also the ten nearest people who currently live around the address; it will include multiple people in the household.

While not new, but a great asset worth mentioning is AtoZ’s email marketing feature. AtoZ partnered with JangoMail, a web-based email broadcast and email marketing system that allows you to create, send, and track email campaigns. Through AtoZ patrons can send up to 500 emails for free each month.

Making Your Patrons Smarter

There are a lot of products out there that will help your patrons become smarter. Or at least, will train them in a particular area. For many people, the library is a source of computer information; both for those learning basic skills (i.e. “how do I type a resume?”) as well as the more advanced patrons (“I’m trying to brush up on my C++”). For those more advanced patrons, there are a number of options.

Safari Tech Books Online

ProQuest offers the Safari Tech Books Online subscription, a combination of two of the world’s most prominent technology publishers, O’Reilly Media, Inc. and Pearson Education.

Safari Tech Books Online provides access to more than 21,000 digital books and videos on topics ranging from programming to IT networking to project management to graphic design to business strategy. The content includes code snippets, certification preparation materials, practice exercises, training videos, and much more.

Books24x7

Books24x7’s IT Pro collection from Skillsoft is a similar product, with thousands of searchable e-books and videos from publishers including John Wiley & Sons, Microsoft Press, Apress, McGraw-Hill, MIT Press, Intel Press, Wrox Press, Cengage Course PTR, and many others.

Lynda.com

Lynda.com has long been known as a leader in training materials for individuals learning how to do everything from build a website to develop an app for the Amazon Kindle Fire. Now they are offering tools for libraries as well; both for training staff, as well as kiosks so patrons can learn in the library. While they have been hesitant to offer remote access in the past, it seems as if they are going to start moving in this direction, offering pilot libraries the chance to have remote access. Hopefully these pilots go well, and they will start to offer the remote access option as a matter of course. The branding behind Lynda.com will be a big advantage, and should be a company that your patrons who are searching for this information will recognize.

Treehouse

Another newcomer in the library space for training is Treehouse, which launched in 2011 to the public at large with the goal of teaching people how to code for the Web, iOS, and Android.

I currently have a trial of Treehouse because we at Califa are looking to put together an offer for our member libraries with them. When I first log in, I can choose various tracks, such as web design, iOS development, WordPress development, or starting a business. Once I choose a track, the recommended courses are available for me to go through in order. Clicking on the web development track brings up courses like HTML, CSS Foundations, Build a Simple Website, Build a Responsive Website, and Illustrator Foundations, among others. As I go along through the course, I get points (instantaneous feedback that I love!) and can see other students who have taken similar courses.

The post New Product News March/April 2014 first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

The small, 4,800-square-foot space boasts 20,000 e-book titles (with a plan in place to increase that number by 10,000 every year over the next five years), 600 e-readers, 200 child-enhanced e-readers, 48 computer stations, 45 iPads, ten laptops, four interactive surface tables, two study rooms, and a small café. What you will not find is one single hardcover or paperback book.

The Big Idea

So how did Bexar County move past other counties and municipalities, many with greater resources, to construct and finance a contemporary version of the public library—all in less than fifteen months? Envisioned by Bexar County Judge Nelson W. Wolff, supported by the other county commissioners, and developed by county staff, this is an account of how county leaders used today’s technology to build tomorrow’s public library.

When most people think of a judge they think of a person in a long, black robe who sentences criminal offenders. In Texas, the county judge plays a different role, one similar to a city mayor. The position traditionally oversees the county’s main departments and services including flood control, roads, emergency management, parks, and the jail. Wolff presides over Commissioners Court, which includes him and four commissioners. Each commissioner is elected from a precinct that represents a quarter of the county’s population. Essentially they are the policy decision-makers on a variety of subjects that affect county residents.

The City of San Antonio and the San Antonio Public Library Foundation are both responsible for funding the public library system. The county, along with other charitable foundations and corporations, also contributes fiscally to the library’s operations.

A Digital Lifeline

After reading the 2011 biography Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, Wolff was inspired. “Steve Jobs was not a technician; he was more of an artist. Jobs made sure all his equipment, even the back end of it, was designed just right. That in itself was a real key part of what I learned by reading his book,” said Wolff.¹ He was motivated by Jobs’ sense of design and his complete immersion into projects. Wolff’s brainchild was not to replace the city’s library configuration, but to enhance it with a digital-only format. BiblioTech has brightly colored reading rooms resembling an Apple Store with several computer stations and a circulation desk. It is a place where patrons are able to check out e-readers and download ebooks from a cloud library. While this state-of-the-art digital facility offers its library services via the Internet, it also includes rooms for community activities and study groups.

Wolff was determined that Bexar County’s first digital library would first and foremost assist those who had the most challenges accessing digital information. The proposed location was an existing county building that was compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and was on major bus routes. BiblioTech is located on the south side of San Antonio, an underserved, mostly Hispanic area that is considered one of the most economically disadvantaged parts of the county.

A 2012 survey indicated that 18 percent of responding San Antonio households do not have a computer in the home and 45 percent do not have access to the Internet through a broadband connection. On a national level, a 2013 Pew Internet & American Life Project survey confirmed that smartphone penetration has gone beyond 50 percent of all adult Americans for the first time. It places the figure at 56 percent, up from just 35 percent in 2011.² Moreover, the number of adults without a mobile phone has dropped to just 9 percent.³ When it comes to mobile technology and books, numbers show Amazon now sells more e-books than hardback books.⁴

Yet despite these figures, surveys still show that Americans believe libraries remain critical. More than three-quarters of Americans participating in a Pew Research Center poll said that borrowing books, reference librarian services, and free access to computers and the Internet were all “very important” to them.⁵ By building the library on the south side, the county would be able to provide services to those citizens who were the least likely to have access to this type of technology. BiblioTech’s services would still be available countywide and beyond to residents with Internet access.

Implementation

To get the ball rolling, Wolff first reached out to Krisellen Maloney, dean of libraries at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). Maloney oversees libraries on the UTSA campuses. One of which, the Applied Engineering and Technology (AET) Library, was recognized by the New York Times and USA Today as the nation’s first academic bookless library on a university campus.⁶ The AET Library opened in 2010 and was an inspiration to Wolff, who wanted to bring the same kind of digital experience to all county residents.

Wolff was impressed by Maloney’s emphasis on the connection between technology and providing library services, as more than 75 percent of her budget that year was allocated to technology. She became an integral part of BiblioTech’s implementation, from participating in the staff interviewing process to helping choose the e-book provider. She also provided a wealth of information and expertise on a further variety of subjects and now chairs BiblioTech’s advisory board.

After conferring with Maloney, Wolff pitched the concept to Bexar County’s top management and what happened next is a true testament to what government can do when inclusive collaboration takes place. “What is unique about Bexar County is the system of power that was created by hiring a county manager. This position only exists in maybe one other county in the whole state of Texas. This leadership allowed the library project to consolidate power,” said Wolff.⁷ According to Wolff, having the county manager oversee all the different departments collectively was a defining element of BiblioTech’s timeline. With no focus on individual agendas, the team was highly organized and quick to respond. The time saved by not being required to get approval from multiple levels of management and filtering information where it was most needed was immeasurable.

Another part of the project that allowed it to get off the ground so quickly was the county’s decision to make an exception to the Request for Proposal (RFP) process, which is a county standard. The RFP bidding process systematically allows the county to obtain the best available pricing for commodities and professional services. The county ensures a competitive procurement process, while also encouraging small, minority, and women-owned businesses to participate. From advertising the proposal to awarding the selected vendor, the RFP process at a minimum takes sixty to ninety days to complete. The county’s decision to act as the construction manager and use internal professional staff enabled them to forgo the RFP process.

Fundraising

Funding this type of project in today’s economy, with escalating government cutbacks, was a challenge. The Hidalgo Foundation of Bexar County played a key role in that arena. The Hidalgo Foundation is a nonprofit organization created in 2001 to assist with projects that solely benefit the county and its residents.

The $2.4-million BiblioTech was much less expensive to build than a traditional public library since the usual space was not required. In comparison, the City of McAllen (Tex.) spent $24 million in 2012 transforming an abandoned Walmart into the city’s public library. It was an upgrade from the city’s old 40,000-square-foot main library. BiblioTech had a much different cost estimate. The space required for shelves, books, and physical storage was simply not needed. The county also had startup money from savings acquired from other capital projects. But when additional capital was needed, Wolff asked the BiblioTech team and the Hidalgo Foundation to raise some private funds. More than $500,000 in private donations came in. Some of the generous donors included Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas, The Greehey Family Foundation, and Spurs Sports & Entertainment.

Building

The project’s timeline again was a motivating factor when it came to the county’s decision to act as its own contractor; an undertaking never before attempted in its 100-year-plus history. The timeline was essential because Bexar County not only wanted to be the first digital public library, but also wanted to be operating by the start of the 2013-14 school year.

One of the most important duties of a general contractor is to direct the sequence of construction, which, if done correctly, can guarantee shorter timelines. Serving as its own contractor, the county was also able to select subcontractors from the Texas Multiple Award Schedule (TXMAS). This program compiles a list of existing competitively awarded government contractors that cater to the procurement needs of the state of Texas.

Betty Bueche, Bexar County director of facilities & parks, led the construction teams as the general contractor and Dan Curry, the county capital projects manager, acted as the jobsite supervisor. While this construction management team had extensive experience and expertise, it had little foresight into how a project like this should work. “I think with BiblioTech there was unlimited potential. This was the first time it had been done and the future impact had yet to be determined. It truly was a ‘transformation project’ for the community. It redefined the kind of service counties are willing to provide to their constituents,” said Bueche.⁸

BiblioTech’s interior design also played a major role in creating the kind of experience the county wanted to offer to patrons. The relationship between Bexar County and Muñoz & Company was a key component of BiblioTech’s design. “We were able to get Muñoz [& Company] to go in for free and develop the artistic design that we wanted. We told them what we were looking for . . . something that was different . . . something that represented the artistic design for this kind of space. They also came up with the name,” said Wolff.⁹ The space’s design included clean lines and bright colors. Laura Cole, special projects coordinator for the county, agreed that BiblioTech’s surroundings needed to correspond with its technology. “Not only does the space need to be aesthetically pleasing, and one in which patrons would want to spend time, the design needed to be functional for the technology,” said Cole.¹⁰

A Twenty-First Century Library

Without question, libraries in the twenty-first century will continue to focus on creating community meeting spaces and
being identified as learning centers versus being that place that houses large book collections. With today’s technology and social media demands, the days of card catalogs and bookshelves to the ceiling are most likely behind us. Today’s library patrons want interactive technology, enhanced power connections, and modern spaces to match their leading-edge technology. That’s all in the event they even want to leave the house. Now more than ever, people have 24/7 access to the Internet. E-readers allow owners to check out books whenever they want—any time, day or night. In today’s world with the amount of mobile technology available, hours of operation literally do not exist for some. And people are definitely using the technology that’s out there. Despite only being launched within the last ten years, iPad in 2010 and iTunes in 2003, both are part of many people’s regular daily routines. Technology also brings with it an excitement of what is possible and what has the potential to improve lives. This kind of enthusiasm can turn a simple project into something that has the potential to go beyond anyone’s expectations.

“BiblioTech energized a lot of county employees. It was a highly visible undertaking that lifted up our employees and gave them something new and different to do, not the everyday stuff they’re used to. When you give people the chance to do new things, many of them will step up and completely surprise you with how hard they work,” said Wolff.¹¹

Every new visitor to BiblioTech is welcomed and offered a personal tour. If the visitor is a county resident they are offered
a library card at the end of the tour and additional one-on-one time with staff until they become familiar with the technology. Out-of-town visitors are offered a guest pass so they can utilize the software and see how everything works. Everyone is shown how to download e-books to their own readers/devices or onto one of e-readers you can check out. The bilingual staff also offer individualized technology assistance to seniors and anyone with special needs. The BiblioTech staff says that for all that the library has given to its patrons, they have also been given some unforgettable memories in return.

Cole relayed a story about a young family’s recent visit, during which a twentysomething father revealed that the e-readers were of no use to him, because he could not read. “One of our staff offered him a children’s reader, which is enhanced with activities that help with learning how to read,” Cole said. “He started shaking, and his wife couldn’t stop crying. It was a really profound experience for him and the staff.”¹² BiblioTech’s current project is the mailing of 8,000 personal letters to the men and women serving in the armed forces who are from Bexar County. In each envelope, a library card with their login information will be included so they can download their own e-books. Bexar County also offered residents help signing up for coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) at BiblioTech. The free assistance was available through the end of March 2014. Former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius visited BiblioTech in February, 2014, to promote the program.

Another partnership includes Mothers and Their Children (MATCH) which began in 1984 to give incarcerated mothers more opportunities to interact with their children. BiblioTech is now providing e-readers and tablets for these mothers to use during visits with their children to read to them, and additional time to study parenting books.¹³ BiblioTech has already expanded since opening in September 2013. The first satellite location opened in March 2014 in the County Courthouse Central Jury Room. This is interesting in and of itself, as this new library technology can now be found within the oldest continuously operating historic courthouse in Texas.

Library services have expanded with the addition of Hoopla Digital, which allows patrons to access television shows, movies, music, and audiobooks for free with BiblioTech registration. Patrons can choose from more than 7,000 digital comics and graphic novels. Mango Languages offers 61 different foreign languages and 16 English courses to learn in your spare time. You can utilize Atomic Training and brush up on your computer skills with 85 different tech tutorials. Or you can browse more than 70 popular magazine subscriptions.

Since its opening, BiblioTech has averaged 300 walk-ins per day, which will equal more than 100,000 visitors in its first year. During the same time period 25,743 e-book titles have been c/hecked out, along with 3,069 e-readers.¹⁴

BiblioTech currently has seventeen employees, six of whom are full-time. BiblioTech’s core staff includes the head librarian, branch manager, assistant branch manager, IT manager, special projects coordinator, and a community relations liaison. The head librarian is Ashley Eklof. Eklof was hired several months before the library opened. She was an integral part of the implementation because she had the traditional librarian’s point of view, but in a completely non-traditional environment. “I do not miss having to hunt the stacks for a book that was misplaced, or finding a returned book that has been damaged. In a digital library, the entire collection is available at my fingertips, at all times, and will stay in mint condition for years to come,” said Eklof.¹⁵

As the first head librarian of a digital public library, Eklof had an opportunity that few librarians, if any, ever have: she was able to assemble the library’s entire book collection. “It is not often that librarians are presented with the opportunity to build an entire collection of books and resources from scratch,” she said. “In addition to developing a collection of core materials, I pay special attention to the needs of the community and the materials that are requested.”¹⁶

What is also unique about the digital library environment is that when staff members are not required to maintain large spaces and book collections it allows for more patron interaction. “I appreciate the fact that our staff spends more time face-to-face with visitors than processing physical materials. It allows for more opportunity to build relationships and acquaint first-time visitors with our collection, resources, and technology,” Eklof said. “In addition to providing reference services and technology assistance, we place a high level of importance on our customer service.”¹⁷

Either way, the technology is forcing public libraries to redefine their scope of services. Other attempts to develop fully digital public libraries in Arizona (in 2002) and California (in 2011) ultimately failed when patrons demanded to keep access to physical books. Maybe the key is not to replace the infrastructure, but instead utilize the technology by creating a whole new model like Bexar County did with the digital format. BiblioTech will undoubtedly be part of the history we read about when it comes to the establishment of digital libraries. We will have to see what happens, but this is for certain, the institution of the public library is transforming. People will have to either adapt with changing technology or the public library, as we know it, may not survive.

To learn more about the BiblioTech model or to take tour of the facility, contact Laura Jesse, Bexar County Public nformation Officer, at (210) 335-0073 or ljesse@bexar.org, or visit http://bexarbibliotech.org.

References

1. Nelson W. Wolff, Bexar County Judge, personal interview with the author, July 28, 2013.
2. Mark Rogowsky, “More Than Half of Us Have Smartphones, Giving Apple and Google Much to Smile About,” Forbes.com, June 6, 2013, accessed Apr. 8, 2014, .
3. Ibid.
4. David Vinjamuri, “Why Public Libraries Matter: And How They Can Do More,” Forbes.com, Jan. 16, 2013, accessed Apr. 8, 2014.
5. Ibid.
6. University of Texas at San Antonio, “About the UTSA Libraries,” accessed Apr. 8, 2014.
7. Wolff, personal interview with the author, July 28, 2013.
8. Betty Bueche, Bexar County director of facilities and parks, phone interview with the author, Aug. 2, 2013.
9. Wolff, personal interview with the author, July 28, 2013.
10. Laura Cole, BiblioTech special projects coordinator, personal interview with the author, Aug. 3, 2013.
11. Wolff, personal interview with the author, July 28, 2013.
12. Cole, personal interview with the author, Aug. 3, 2013.
13. Mark D. Wilson, “BiblioTech Brings Tech to Incarcerated Mothers,” San Antonio Express-News, Mar. 20, 2014, accessed Apr. 15, 2014, .
14. Laura Cole, BiblioTech, Bexar County Digital Library, PowerPoint presentation, TLA Netherlands, March 2014.
15. Ashley Eklof, BiblioTech head librarian, personal interview with the author, Apr. 4, 2014.
16. Ibid.
17. Ibid.

The post The Nation’s First Fully Digital Public Library: How a Texas County Made it Happen first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Public librarians are an essential first stop for patrons, especially young people, who seek out government information. Any librarian can take advantage of online sites to show users this unique resource. Even so, deciphering the information for a patron can be a daunting task that can confuse even the most well-intentioned librarian. It is important for public librarians to acquire a working knowledge of online government information and be able to send patrons to the nearest federal depository library when the going gets tough.

It seems to be a common assumption that anything related to the government will be tedious and undecipherable. Many people are unaware of the incredible variety of fascinating government information that is available. Recently a new acquaintance asked me what I do. When I told her that I am a government documents librarian, her response was, “That sounds boring.” By the time I had told her my story of becoming involved with government documents, she was well on her way to changing her mind.

Government information can indeed be intimidating. I remember the first time I walked into the government documents office at Southern Oregon University (SOU). At that time SOU was a nearly 50 percent depository, meaning that we received 50 percent of all government documents produced. That was a lot of paper. There were boxes stacked at the door and piles of documents on the floor. The whole place looked like a clerical nightmare. When I found my desk where I was to begin my service as an information technician, I had no idea where to start. At first it all seemed to be about processing: receiving boxes, opening boxes, checking shipping lists, stamping documents, labeling, cataloging, and so on. We moved these piles around the office, until they finally went out the door to the shelf where it seemed that no one could possibly be interested enough to want to find them. I thought I had entered bureaucratic hell and to some extent I had.

Early in my career, I was fortunate to be working with dedicated long-time government documents librarian, Deborah Hollens. She taught me to see beyond the piles and the processing to the real gold that was at my fingertips, the intricate record of our democratic process in action. Over the years, with the ebb and flow of Republican and Democratic administrations, I watched as the documents changed emphasis reflecting the current trends. I learned that government documents can make your heart beat faster, your fingertips tingle, and your mind zing with certain knowledge that you are experiencing something important and life changing. Government documents are sexy! Who can resist such a thrill?

Working with Hollens, I discovered that the government documents unit, often considered the ugly duckling of the library, is a busy place where you can’t tell if anything is getting done. It always seems to be in process. Yet here we can watch history as it happens. We can track congressional decision-making processes and find information on any number of hot issues of both national and international interest. These are issues that people need to be thinking about if they are to be effective and engaged U.S. citizens.

Engaging Our Youngest Citizens

There is a unique transformation that happens to young people when they begin to understand government information. They gain a real excitement and commitment to who we are as a nation. The way to create that engagement is to show them the beauty of government documents by actively working with them to utilize the information provided. At the university level this can be done through thoughtful reference, specialized instruction, and inclusion of government documents in basic information literacy training for incoming freshmen. However, government information also can be very meaningful to students long before they enter a university.

All public library patrons need to know that government documents are free, abundant, and available in a variety of formats. Government information addresses a wide variety of topics. Public librarians are the first stop for most of our young people. They are the gatekeepers to the deeper world of government information. Many of them maintain relationships with depository librarians at nearby universities. These relationships make it possible for them to direct their patrons to more materials and appropriate expertise.

If your library is a not a designated depository, consider purchasing government documents for your regular library collection. If you do incorporate documents into your collection, use government information to fill out your nonfiction collection. The documents you can choose from will be on varying topics and can be very useful to your patrons. There are quite a few interesting books for children such as Squeaks Discovers Type: How Print Has Expanded Our Universe (2010), GPO’s first original comic book developed to teach children about the history of print, or Coyote and the Turtle’s Dream (2013) in the Eagle Book Series focused on health awareness for middle-school level readers. Others, like Deep Water: The Gulf Oil Disaster and the Future of Offshore Drilling—Report to the President (2011) a detailed assessment of what went wrong in the Gulf, might interest older patrons and high school students. At the other end of the spectrum there are also beautifully illustrated books of art celebrating national public places such as A Photographer’s Path: Images of National Parks near the Nation’s Capital (2010) from the National Park Service or the United States Senate Catalogue of Graphic Art (2008). All of these titles are available for sale through the GPO Bookstore.

How do we start to teach a library user about the rich resource of government information without overwhelming them and miring them in musty paper or bad links? Start when they are young. Engage elementary-age students’ critical thinking about their role in our democracy. We don’t normally think of government documents as exciting or physically beautiful, but they can be. We must encourage our youngest citizens to take an interest in these “ugly ducklings” that are vital to their future. Early exposure to online government resources opens a doorway to a lifetime of involvement with the democratic process.

Ben’s Guide is a great place for librarians, teachers, and parents to introduce children to government information. It is an important K-12 teaching tool. The friendly aspects of this site are that it is simple and answers the most asked and hottest questions about the history of our government. It is both colorful and interactive. Best of all, it makes no assumptions about what you already know. You can log on feeling pretty ignorant and come away feeling just smart enough no matter what age you are. The basics are there: the election process, the Congress, an explanation of and links to the full text of the Constitution, as well as other historical documents. The site is divided into age-specific areas and no area has more than a dozen top links. What a relief! Imagine reducing the government down to twelve topics. Why not? As any teacher knows, less is more when it comes to sparking engagement from a learner. Most students soon perceive that information is layered. It won’t be long before curiosity leads to deeper study as long as the student isn’t overwhelmed from the start.

Kids.gov is another useful site that includes learning links, games, and videos for grades K-8. It also includes a grown-ups section that suggests lesson plans and activities and provides worksheets. There is a link for parents as well. The information provided covers a wide range of topics, including art, energy and ecology, government legislation, and inventions. The offerings for older students address both educational and career interests. The site is part of USA.gov and is administered by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).

An excellent way to show your older patrons the availability of government information is to use USA.gov. Explain that this is a targeted search that will take them to federal and state government agency sites. A search for “Wikileaks” in USA.gov brings up information from the Library of Congress, the House of Representatives, the White House, the Navy, and the Air Force, as well as the Departments of State, Defense, and Homeland Security. As students work with government information they will begin to see that there are agency websites that come up again and again. USA.gov searches give you the opportunity to point out the importance of understanding the agency hierarchy in the government. If they need to delve deeper, send them to a librarian who specializes in government information for more clarification.

There’s an App for That

Smart technology users will enjoy using a variety of free government apps to engage children. One that I recommend to pique young people’s interest is the MEanderthal iPhone/iPad app from the Smithsonian. The app is created so that a pair of students working together can take pictures of one another. The photographer then asks the subject to choose one of four early hominids. The subject’s picture transforms before their eyes. At the end the students can read a short description of the early human and then save the picture. This gives children practice with using the camera feature on the iPad while tickling their fancy and engaging them in learning. For older children, the Smithsonian Channel iPhone/iPad app is a great source for fascinating videos on science and social research.

Using the NASA Visualization Explorer app helps students imagine views in outer space and find information on space phenomena and the effects of the earth’s atmosphere. Each topic includes video with musical accompaniment. A NASA climate model shows a simulation of what Hurricane Katrina looked like from above created with both video and stills. Students interested in climate change issues can try out the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Calculator on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mobile site. This can prompt classroom projects for students who would like to gauge their family or school energy usage to address climate change issues in a meaningful way within the context of their own lives.

For older students, the USA.gov apps (available on iPhone/iPad and Android) and Government Accountability Office (GAO) apps (iPhone/iPad) provide a treasure trove of targeted government information, much of it available in full text. Most government apps and mobile sites can be accessed at the USA.gov Mobile Apps Gallery or can be found at specific government agency pages and iTunes. Occasionally the apps may need a reload or update.

Apps and mobile sites are just another tool to use alongside books, paper documents, and agency websites. The apps can be very broad in scope or very narrowly focused, such as the PTSD Coach app that addresses issues of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Older users may be interested in the PubMed mobile site for peer-reviewed medical information; America’s Economy, a snapshot of current census-derived statistics; FBI.gov Mobile; or the Congressional Record app. In general, the government is moving toward perfecting agency mobile sites rather than apps. These are more robust and have the added benefit of being accessible on both Apple and Android technology.

As children get older we can encourage them to read, watch, and listen to news reports as a means of discovering the relevance of government information in our daily lives. Suddenly one day they discover that government information is in the news and perk up and say: “Look at this!” Put the phrase “government documents” into a search on National Public Radio and you’ll find over one hundred instances of the phrase in news stories ranging from the disappearance of EPA libraries to telecom immunity to wiretapping, to the recent leaks of classified government information from the National Security Administration. This is a great way to show a teenager, perhaps a budding journalist or history buff, how important government documents are to research.

Government information makes young people sit up, listen, and engage in constructive debate. Government information resources are one of the best ways I know to teach students the critical-thinking skills necessary to become information literate and truly engaged as citizens. A good example is the issue of human cloning, once hotly debated in congressional hearings. The recent financial crisis generated many new government documents, as did the natural and manmade disasters of Hurricane Katrina and Deep Water Horizon.

Government information can also be useful when searching for statistical information. The newly revamped American Fact Finder, the census site where the user can create data sets to inform demographic research, is one example. On the other hand, government information can also be stunningly beautiful. The Library of Congress website American Memory comes to mind—a truly magnificent collection of digital objects celebrating American history. This collection includes text, images, sound, and video files.

Preparing Students for the University

All of these resources and more are available at the nearest federal depository library and will continue to be available to youngsters who go on to college careers. High school teachers and school and public librarians who establish liaison relationships with their local campus federal depository librarian can introduce this resource to their students early, before they start college. It is important to encourage history and government teachers to contact the government documents librarian at the local university to set up a time for students to visit and perhaps have a short instruction session. Your state library also serves as a federal documents depository; as an alternative to a local campus or university.

In the first days of freshman year, when students are writing papers with documented arguments, what better place to start than with than the hot issues available in government documents? Although the Congressional Quarterly (CQ) Researcher is not a government document, it is a resource that academic librarians use at the university level. Using the CQ Researcher database, students find topics of interest to get them started with their research. The database draws on the rich resources of government information. CQ Researcher is available online as a proprietary database at many colleges and universities. High school students who take advantage of resources at a local university may also have access to CQ Researcher for their research.

With any current issue that you try to find in CQ Researcher, there is a list of references that include news and journal articles as well as government documents and websites. This is an opportunity to point out the importance of government documents to research skills. For instance, in a CQ Researcher report on cloning, a footnote referring to a transcript of Bush’s remarks available on the White House website includes a dead link that leads to the new White House Briefing Room webpage. This is the caveat of web searching. Will the information still be there when I need it again? Currently the information resides in the White House archives. Here is an immediately teachable moment, an opportunity to point out the value of primary sources, the questionable reliability of the web, and how to track down an elusive source.

It is not the only opportunity afforded by this document. The same report refers to a Congressional Record, Feb. 9, 1998, pp. S513-14. It is a reference to a statement made by Ted Kennedy: “Brownback originally made this comment on Jan. 29, 2003, during a Senate subcommittee hearing. He has subsequently repeated it in a number of different venues.” Here we have mention of both the Congressional Record and a subcommittee hearing complete with dates, another great opportunity to take a moment to check on what the students know about the legislative process, show them tangible primary sources with valuable information, and promote that ugly duckling documents collection. A public user also has access to this information through the closest government documents depository collection. Some, but not all, House and Senate hearings for the 105th Congress (1997-98) forward are available online at the GPO FDSys (Federal Digital Systems) database. The Congressional Record, Volume 140, 1994 forward is available online as well. These online documents are authenticated by the GPO with an eagle emblem.

When students go on to college they are ready for a more sophisticated approach to government information. Often they miss out on the richness of government information simply because faculty members do not necessarily require them to use it. As Judith Downie pointed out, even at the university level, “Faculty, students, and librarians may have some vague ‘idea’ of what government documents are and how they work, but frequently do not understand the real value. There is a discomfort among faculty with requiring the use of resources they don’t fully understand, and discomfort among students in finding resources that have a completely different classification system.”¹

Public and secondary school librarians are in a unique position to work together in preparing these students to become informed citizens. Students who are prepared beforehand, who already know the benefits of government information, will be on the lookout for these valuable documents for their research. Government documents librarians routinely promote the collection to faculty in the political science, geography, and history departments. These resources are also excellent for other disciplines, such as education and nursing. Because of the wide range of information produced by the government, librarians should always be on the alert for documents on varying subjects that may help their young patrons.

At the university, government documents that are online pop up in the library catalog whether a user is looking for them or not. Thus, students may find their way to government information with little or no understanding of what it can do for them. How do we inform students about these resources, take away the fear of the unknown, and make government documents part of their research vocabulary? Clearly, we need to be introducing government documents as part of basic information literacy training for all ages, including them as a unique resource alongside books, journal articles, and databases. When students discover that government documents are valuable primary sources, this not only allows them to fulfill the need for primary source research but also helps them understand what constitutes a primary source. When they are taught about government information sources before they arrive at the university, they are much more likely to seek them out for college research.

When introducing government documents to the college freshman, I find it useful to give them printed documents that deal with hot issues they may be working with for a writing assignment. As Deborah Hollens said, in an article in Documents to the People, “Freshmen can and will use government publications, not just by accident, but by intentionally seeking them out, if they are convinced that the material is not intimidating but can be an exciting and important addition to their research.”² High school students will also respond to this type of information with enthusiasm. Students begin to see the importance of these documents when they are able to handle them or access them online and notice the breadth of what they cover.

Many of the strategies that I use with my students can be applied to public library users. I advise my students to begin with USA.gov to find new keywords for their searches and pinpoint important government agencies. I also show them the GPO FDSys database I mentioned earlier. FDsys allows users to search for specific materials within the database and to choose particular collections through the advanced search feature. FDsys features current documents on the home page and also includes a Quick Links section that points to Ben’s Guide for kids and to the Catalog of Government Publications. It also has a list of featured collections. Each collection shows the years covered.

For information on agencies, Louisiana State University’s Federal Agency Directory clearly illustrates that the government has resources on just about anything that may interest a student. While helping a patron in the public library, ask yourself: “What government agency is likely to have the information or be interested in the issue?” Of course, this is also a good question to ask when looking for information from state, county, and city agencies. On the federal level, the list of agencies is long and not always intuitive so, if you’re not coming up with it right away, it is time to check the agency list. If you have time on a slow day, check it out and play around. You’ll probably discover agencies you didn’t even know existed. Don’t forget that a USA.gov search can also help you find a likely agency. If you’re still hitting a blank wall, call your nearest government documents depository and ask the librarian. The depository library has a mandate to be available for public users so please send your patron there for answers. The librarian may not have the answer right away if it is a complex issue but will be glad to follow-through and research the information.

When students and public users need more information there are many more online resources to show them. One of these is Congressional Research Service Reports from University of Texas. These reports are not government documents but do give useful information related to government issues and are especially good for current topics. They are well written and are not overly long. The Congressional Research Service keeps Congress informed and the average citizen will also find these concise reports useful.

Parent Involvement and Home Schooling

Government information can be very useful for parents who are homeschooling their children. Often, starting them out on Ben’s Guide to U.S. Government for Kids (http://bensguide.gpo.gov) will fulfill most of their needs. Engaged parents enjoy playing with Ben’s Guide and it is an important tool for homeschooling. Many of the historical texts, such as the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, are at their fingertips online and will enhance their lesson planning. When they have exhausted the resources of Ben’s Guide they might not think to come back to you for more, so be sure to tell them up front that there are more sophisticated resources for their older children. Also don’t hesitate to show them American Memory. This site, hosted by the Library of Congress, is a wonderful collection of historical information that includes primary documents, oral histories, and audiovisual materials. There are links to American Memory from Ben’s Guide so they will eventually find it anyway. However, I like to show off American Memory because the scope of coverage is fascinating and the images always impress a patron who may be thinking that government information is going to be boring at best and confusing at worst.

For parents and teachers, Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE) is an easily navigable site that has many links that will be valuable for students. There is a dropdown menu as well as a site map to choose by subject or it is possible to select a category, such as Primary Docs. Via the Primary Docs page, there are more than a hundred resources that range from presidential papers to the birth of the recording industry. The Our Documents link leads to historical documents, three of which are featured each week and there is also a section called Tools for Educators, which helps teachers and parents with strategies for teaching students about various historical U.S. documents. The U.S. Constitution Workshop links to resources to help promote discussion of the Constitution and its relevance to the history of our government.

Another important parent and kid-friendly site comes from the Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) at the Department of Energy. The search capabilities of this site will entice the interest of your curious young patrons! When you go to the OSTI site, scroll down to the Science Education Resources link. Science Lab is divided up into resources for elementary, middle school, and high school students and teachers. Science Lab has an “Ask an Expert” feature, gives suggestions for science projects and experiments, and a host of other resources to keep children busy. Parents, teachers, librarians, and students can also become members of Science Education.gov and interact with the site by adding tags, rating the information, and sharing thoughts and opinions through the comment feature. This is interactive science at its best.For the more sophisticated patron who is interested in learning about the legislative process, Congressional hearings are excellent resources and teaching tools. When introducing hearings to the students it helps to put them within the context of the legislative process. GPO makes free legislative charts available to government documents librarians who would be happy to pass these resources along. These are invaluable because they outline the process for students in a simple way. Students have difficulty differentiating between what is actual law and what is legislation in process.³

A hearing is a meeting where different viewpoints on an issue are expressed and heard. The hearing is held to help lawmakers understand the issue and make informed decisions. When students understand this, they begin to understand the nature of the resource. The evidence presented at a hearing outlines opposing viewpoints about a hot topic. Often the evidence is printed for the record. For instance, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) may put out a report about the issue at hand that may be included in the hearing. The GAO usually creates reports that synthesize the information in an easily readable way and they also include relevant statistics that could be useful to a student in writing a paper or to a patron who is doing statistical research. Some recent Congressional hearings (1997-98 to present) and GAO reports (1995 to present) are also available online and can be found through The GPO online database, FDsys, using the advanced search.

It is getting more difficult to make the paper documents available since so many government documents are moving to an online only format. Electronic government information does come with some advantages. In the case of hearings that are also available in audio and video through C-SPAN, the online sources address alternate learning styles and enhance the user experience by adding a new dimension to their access. Also student access to smartphones and Wi-Fi connections makes it important to meet them where they are: online. The plus side of the online availability is that these resources pop up in Internet searches. It will be critical in the future for public librarians to be conversant with these online searches so that they can interpret them for the public user. Encourage parents and teachers to take students on a tour of the nearest Federal Depository Library to see the paper items, find out about online resources and talk to a depository librarian. Then students will be able to appreciate the extensive nature of the information available.

Hands-On Help

The GPO has updated many materials that can be used for attractive displays in your library, perhaps linked to special days such as Constitution Day. Your closest government documents depository is a resource for all GPO materials promoting government documents. You can also call on a government documents librarian to give special presentations in your library for general or targeted groups. In 2010, during the New Mexico State University (NMSU) library’s centennial celebration week, I gave a talk at the Thomas Branigan Memorial Public Library in Las Cruces and showed both paper and online resources to a small group of adult patrons. They were truly amazed at what can be accessed both within the library and over the Internet. Many had not previously discovered these government websites in their general Google searches. Just introducing the USA.gov search to patrons can help them more accurately target the government information they need.

Teachers, parents, and librarians may also request support from the local depository librarian for special presentations at the depository itself. During the NMSU library’s 2010 government documents centennial celebration week, I invited elementary and high school social studies teachers to bring in students for a demonstration and scavenger hunt in the government documents stacks. They searched the stacks for some of our more enticing publications from a variety of agencies. These included a document of trivia about the American flag where they learned that the ball at the top of the pole is called a “truck” and that inside the truck are three bullets. They also perused old Congressional hearings from the 1960s on the subject of the mob that contain fold-out photos of mafia family trees. As we looked at online sites, they were amazed to learn that Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel) was a private in World War II and spent his time creating cartoon pamphlets warning soldiers about the anopheles mosquito a well as other health hazards of their deployment. I also showed them old vaudeville film clips produced by Thomas Edison, accessible on the American Memory website. When I use multiple media types to demonstrate the usefulness of government information I am able to reach students of varying learning styles. I also usually get them laughing.

Virtual Help

At Southern Oregon University, I have the ability to use a content management system called LibGuides to create a research guide for a specific class, a webpage that targets students’ particular projects. LibGuides allows me to focus on particular resources and gives students a place to go that they can bookmark for everyday use. Students have my contact information and I encourage them to call me to set up an appointment for more help in finding what they need. Many universities are using LibGuides and their sites can be accessed through the library website by off-campus users as well. Most government documents librarians have created a general interest LibGuides site accessible to public users with targeted information about government information resources. My general government information LibGuides page can be accessed at http://libguides.sou.edu/federal. The various LibGuides can usually be accessed through a research link or drop-down list on the university library home page. This provides an opportunity for the savvy public librarian to promote the use of available virtual library instructional materials.

Conclusion

Once young people begin to use government information for their assignments and their teachers make it a habit to require government information resources, they will continue to use them throughout their school career. A red, white, and blue flag should go up for librarians, parents, and students anytime they are required to find statistics, are exploring issues of current concern, or are researching an issue that might be of interest to a government agency. Early on I teach them to think about who would be interested in the type of research they are doing. If they are researching education for instance, the Department of Education may be a resource for them. Public librarians can use these same strategies with their patrons at all levels.

Government documents are a valuable, freely available resource that will entice young people to participate in the democratic process. The public librarian is in a unique position to point young patrons and their parents to this rich array of research tools. When students are introduced to government information at an early age, they learn to expect access to this important information and to appreciate the
myriad resources that the government has to offer. Since the GPO mandate to make government information available online, it is easier for librarians, parents, and teachers to use government information to enhance classroom assignments and daily education. What used to be piles of paper generated by government entities is now a complex array of websites, apps, and databases that may confuse and discourage an untrained searcher. It is more important than ever that school and public librarians make government information resources part of their repertoire. They can expect full support from the closest Federal Depository Library where the librarian acts as an interpreter and promoter of government information in all formats to help patrons discover the graceful swan that lurks behind that ugly duckling!

References and Notes

1.  Judith A. Downie, “The Current Information Literacy Instruction Environment for Government Documents (Pt. I),” DttP: Documents to the People 32, no. 2 (Summer 2004): 37.
2. Deborah Hollens, “Documents to the… Freshmen!” Early Exploration of Government Publications.” DttP: Documents to the People 32, no. 4 (Winter 2004): 17.
3. For an online example of this, visit Ben’s Guide. Under the heading, “How Laws are Made,” parents can help their child with tracking legislation for the International Dolphin Conservation Program Act. Accessed Mar. 21, 2014.

The post From Ugly Duckling to Swan: The Hidden Beauty in Government Information first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

PLA and Counting Opinions (SQUIRE) Ltd. continue to partner to provide the service for capturing the data and for the PLA metrics online portal subscription service—offering access to the longitudinal PLDS data sets going back to FY2002, and data from the Institute of Museums and Library Services (IMLS) going back to FY2000. PLAmetrics provides public libraries real-time access to meaningful and relevant public library data for comparing and assessing their operations using a variety of custom report formats and customizable report templates.

This report presents selected metrics for FY2012 PLDS data and previous year results in tables and figures with related observations. The results in this report were compiled using PLAmetrics.

Research Method and Context

Participation in the PLDS is voluntary and participants have the option of providing responses to any or all of the questions that comprise the survey. Similar to previous years, public libraries in the United States and Canada were invited to participate in the survey. Emails (3,430) were sent to launch the survey in January 2013, postcards were handed out at the 2013 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Seattle, follow-up letters and emails were sent throughout March and April 2013, and the deadline for submission was extended from March 15 to April 15. State data coordinators from the U.S. and provincial/association coordinators in Canada were contacted about promoting the survey to their libraries. Their involvement again led to increased awareness and participation, with 1,949 of American and Canadian public libraries partially or fully responding to the request for data, a response rate of 21 percent (a 1.3 percent increase over the previous year). However, due to the voluntary nature of this survey, several libraries had to be contacted for additional data resulting in 1,897 libraries included in the final data analysis. This is an increase over 1,579 from FY2011 and 1,461 from FY2010.

Please refer to the online PLDS Survey site for copies of the survey and definitions of questions.

Overall Service Summary

The PLDS Survey includes questions that effectively characterize the operations (input and output measures) of each responding library. Table 1 includes a selection of summary data representingall libraries that provided non-zero values for each selected measure.

The FY2012 results include 1,897 responding libraries that reported their population of legal service area, a 20 percent increase compared to the FY2011 response count. Table 1 shows that the population served ranged between 143 to 3,819,702 with a mean and median population of 101,607 and 21,256 respectively. The results are characteristic of the overall composition of the PLDS FY2012 data set and these statistics are consistent with reality, whereby more than 82 percent of the reporting libraries serve populations less than 50,000. New this year is an increase in the number of participating libraries that serve populations of 50,000 or more (a 37 percent increase). For libraries serving populations less than 50,000, the increase in response rate is 14 percent more than last year. As a result of this increase in smaller libraries reporting data in FY2012, the mean and median values listed in table 1 have decreased. However, there is an exception of mean electronic circulation, which shows an increase of 63 percent overall and interlibrary loans (ILLs) to/from other libraries with modest increases in average and mean values compared to last year.

Population

Throughout this article, the population of legal service area is used as the basis for grouping results and for per capita ratios. It is important to note that the sample of responding libraries is variable year-over-year and within each population grouping. As such, we also include analysis of continuous responder data. This discussion includes trends and comparisons for the data segmented into either:

1. nine population of legal service area groupings (shown in figure 1); and/or
2. as a group of libraries (N=352) that have consistently participated in each PLDS survey over the most recent three and/or five years (FY2008 to FY2012).

Figure 2 shows population by legal service area (Pop LSA) reported over the past five years. The trend shows an increase in participating public libraries that serve smaller populations, as evidenced by the lower mean and median values depicted in the last two years. The second part of figure 2 displays the Pop LSA data for the continuous participants, which highlights that the population for this group has not changed much over the past five years and therefore yield more consistent and comparable per capita metrics.

Registered Borrowers

For the continuously reporting libraries, table 2 shows a 2.2 percent increase in the average number of registered borrowers per capita in FY2012 for libraries serving populations fewer than 50,000 compared to a 4.1 percent average decrease in FY2011. Libraries serving populations of 50,000 or more reported an average 0.2 percent increase compared to a 1.5 percent decrease last year. Overall registered borrowers increased by just over 1 percent for this group of libraries in FY2012.

For all libraries reporting both their population of legal service area and the number of registrations, figure 3 shows a three-year trend for mean registered borrowers per capita by population group. For FY2012:

• Overall 1,897 libraries offer services to a total population of 192,748,171 including 102,759,178 registered borrowers (>71 percent of the population)
• For those libraries with populations less than 25,000, these 1,010 libraries offer service to a population of 8,008,103 including 4,976,573 registered borrowers (>82 percent of the population)
• For those libraries with populations more than 25,000, 887 libraries offer services to a population of 184,740,068 including 97,627,462 registered borrowers (>61 percent of the population)

Some libraries, particularly those serving fewer than 10,000, reported a higher number of registrations than the actual number of people in their population of legal service area. Differences in some instances are explained by:

• 2010 census figures are often no longer accurate especially in communities with rapid expansion or contraction;
• libraries may serve surrounding communities outside their LSA; or
• influx of temporary and/or semi-permanent migrant workers.

While library registrations showed a small overall contraction in mean registered borrowers per capita in FY2011, FY2012 results show an increase for libraries serving populations less than 50,000, but a decrease for libraries serving populations of 50,000 or more. The most significant marginal change occurred in population groups under 5,000, with a 36 percent increase. For continuous reporting libraries, the most significant increase is for populations between 10,000 and 49,999. Figure 4 shows the five-year trend for all libraries, those libraries serving populations of 50,000 or more (i.e., excludes those serving populations less than 50,000), and the continuous responding libraries. Filtering out the smaller libraries indicates that registrations per capita has risen and fallen ever so slightly during the last five years for the larger libraries (varies between 56 and 60 percent). Registered borrowers per capita for continuous reporting libraries shows a stable trend (varies between 57 and 62 percent).

Holdings

The three-year trend chart for mean holdings per capita, for continuous respondents, is shown in Figure 5 (note: reverse chronological order).

The three-year trend for mean expenditures on holdings and e-materials, for continuous respondents, is shown in figure 6 (note: reverse chronological order).

Despite an average 20.98 percent increase in expenditures on e-materials as a percentage of total materials expenditure, holdings per capita for the continuous respondent group increased overall by only 2.9 percent.

When viewing the results for all respondents, the average holdings per capita show a very similar pattern as in previous years (see figure 7). The average overall FY2012 holdings per capita for all reporting libraries is 10.29 (N=1,592). This value is 81 percent greater than last year. This is likely due to the increased number of respondents serving smaller populations (< 25,000). As shown in figure 7, filtering out these libraries (populations < 25,000) the mean and median holdings per capita over the past five years is very stable with slightly more than 2 percent growth, which is similar to the continuous responding libraries (2.9 percent).

Circulation

Continuous respondent libraries circulated about eleven items per capita on average in FY2012, 1.6 percent fewer than previous year’s average, as shown in table 3 by population groupings.

Although 53 libraries within the continuous respondent group did not report electronic circulation figures, the 0.41 e-circulations per capita (an 86 percent increase from previous year) were insufficient to offset the apparent lower reported circulation per capita of physical materials. This reduced level of circulation activity likely coincides with the decrease in library visits (see Library Visits).

Figure 8 shows a similar pattern of lower circulation per capita for all libraries except for those serving populations of less than 25,000. Within this group, a 2.5 percent increase in circulation per capita was reported by continuous responders.

Table 4 summarizes the circulation per capita results for continuous respondents that reported circulation by item type, including electronic circulation (N=291). Print circulation accounted for more than 58 percent, CD/DVDs accounted for more than 34 percent, and “other” accounted for more than 5.8% of circulation. These results are similar to the proportions found in the FY2011 survey.

Table 5 shows electronic circulation per capita for all libraries reporting each item type and circulation activity for their library. Table 6 shows electronic circulation for all libraries that reported this activity in FY2011 and/or FY2012. In FY2012 more than twice the number of libraries reported electronic circulation contributing to a 161 percent increase in total e-circulations (0.40 e-circulations per capita).

Table 7 includes circulation per capita results for 242 continuous reporting libraries that reported both total annual circulation and renewals (renewals represents 27.3 percent of total annual circulation).

Collection turnover rates (circulation/holdings) are depicted in figure 8 (FY2012 results for all libraries and the continuous reporting libraries).

The rates calculated for each library, summarized in figure 9, show the effect of a higher number of reporting libraries giving rise to lower mean and median collection turnover rates compared to previous years. The collection turnover rate for the continuous reporting libraries shows a continuing softening over the past three years. Collection turnover rates are likely also impacted by the current transition to new formats of holdings (e-materials) and new ways to consume information (circulation) and the ways in which these are counted.

Annual Visits

The continuous library responder group shows fewer library visits per capita (1.5 percent fewer). Table 8 shows results for continuous respondents.

Table 9 shows results for all responding libraries. Libraries serving populations of less than 25,000 recorded more visits per capita, between 4.7 and 25.5 percent, an average of 1.6 more visits per capita than libraries serving communities of 25,000 or more. Libraries serving populations below 100,000 saw an average of at least 7.03 visits per capita very similar to the previous year.

Average library visits per capita for all reporting libraries was 7.05 (N=942) (>11 percent increase over last year). Figure 9 shows that this increase can be accounted for among smaller libraries serving populations of less than 25,000 people where more libraries in this segment contributed data this year (959 libraries reported 535,057 mean annual visits in FY2012 compared to 377 having mean annual visits of 648,273 in FY2011). Libraries serving population groups of 25,000 or more reported a decrease in average library visits per capita; a trend continuing from the previous year.

Figure 10 shows the percentage change of library visits in the past two years for each population grouping and figure 11 shows the three-year trend for the mean annual visits per registered borrower for each population grouping. This pattern of declining registrations suggests a relationship between the decreasing library visits for libraries serving populations of 25,000 or more.

Changes in hours of operation (total hours open and convenient hours open) likely impacts the number of library visits and other in-library service usage, including circulation, program attendance, and reference questions asked/answered (where staff involvement is required). Table 10 shows the three-year trend for hours open per week by population grouping. Consistent with other observations, in four out of the nine population groups, the mean public service hours per week has reduced. This reduction in hours likely explains reductions in the numbers of library visits and other activity counts.

Tables 11 and 12 show the three-year mean activity counts for in-library visits and reference questions. While fewer hours of operation are not the only factor affecting visits and related service usage, the pattern is consistent for libraries in population groups showing reduced hours of operation. The mean in-library use of materials rates per capita are 6.98 percent lower (248,766 in FY2011 to 231,396 in FY2012) and mean reference transactions are 17.89 percent lower (160,261 in FY2011 to 131,587 in FY2012).

Given the availability of remote online library services (including reference services, downloadable materials, and online databases) it might be reasonable to assume that physical visits have been displaced by remote/online visits. However, as figure 12 shows, an expected increase in web visits per capita has not occurred. Instead web visits have declined an average of 13 percent. It is difficult to ascertain the cause, but the variability of systems and methods used to count website visits is likely a factor. The count methods combined with an updated definition for how to count website visits as well as difference in systems and tools used to count this activity are likely explanations for some of the differences from the previous year.

Operating Finances

Income and expenditure measures continue to provide useful insights and therefore are a major section within the PLDS survey. For the continuous respondent group, the average overall annual library income was $14,001,457 or $53.20 per capita of the legal service area (N=351), a decrease of $0.18 from last year’s average per capita income of $53.38 (N=352).

Overall annual library expenditures per capita is $49.91 (N=351). This is an increase of $0.17 per capita from the average of $49.74 (N=352) per capita in FY2011.

As shown in figures 13 and 14, the most notable patterns for the continuous responding libraries are found in the population groups serving fewer than 50,000 and those serving 50,000 and more where average income per capita and operating expenditures per capita are reported compared to the previous two years. Increases in both per capita income and expenditures were reported for the fewer than 50,000 population groups, and the 50,000 and more group reported mostly lower income and expenditures—unchanged from the previous years, although the 500,000–999,999 population group did report higher income.

Overall average income and expenditures per capita increased in FY2012. However libraries serving populations between 25,000 and 499,999 continue to experience reduced funding and thus continue to make cuts to expenditures per capita. Figures 15, 16, 17, and 18 depict the patterns of income and changes in the expenditures over the past five years for the medium-sized libraries. The graphics show a relationship between funding and expenditure per capita levels each year and the pattern of variability in the budget among competing categories of expenditures.

These patterns of income and expenditure per capita are similar for all libraries and appear to depend on the sources of funding. For FY2012, all libraries serving populations of fewer than 25,000 reported increases in income from state/provincial and other sources, including the federal government. These libraries show higher income levels per capita and correspondingly higher expenditures per capita. This is most significant in the fewer than 5,000 population group.

One thing common for all libraries serving populations of fewer than 500,000 in FY2012 is that each has experienced cuts in income from local government per capita, often the most significant funding source for such libraries. The result of these cuts in spending is depicted in figures 15, 16, 17, and 18 for the population groups from 25,000–499,999.

These figures show the impact of cuts to expenditures and specifically reduced expenditure on staff. Interestingly, for the group of continuous responding libraries, the portion of total expenditures spent on staff has tended to grow (1.67 percent from 2008 to 2011, and -0.14 percent in 2012) relative to the other areas of spending and since 2007 the percentage of librarians on staff has been increasing while the percentage of non-librarians on staff has been decreasing; a reversal of the trend between 2002 and 2007 for the composition of staff.
Table 13 (see page 38) summarizes various library outputs as a function of expenditures per capita in each population grouping for the continuous responding libraries (N=349). Icons depict the change in value relative to previous year values. In FY2012 per $1,000 spent, continuous reporting libraries realized on average per $1,000 spent:

• 1.63 percent fewer visits
• 1.41 percent fewer circulations
• 3.36 percent more program attendees
• 6.25 percent fewer reference transactions
• 22.63 percent fewer in-library uses
• 4.36 percent more registered borrowers

Table 14 on page 38 (also reported last year) represents the overall use of funds by the libraries (activity per expenditure). As compared with results published last year, most figures have increased. Each of the population groups show similar relative changes in activities and expenditures. For example, the population groups between 50,000 and 499,999 overall incurred lower expenditures per capita (-8.56 percent) between FY2011 and FY2012 and had fewer registered borrowers (-0.29 percent) and library visits (-7.47 percent) per capita and simultaneously recorded fewer activity counts. Overall the measures show more up arrows (34) than down arrows (19). This suggest that the respondent libraries in general in FY2012 were accomplishing more with fewer dollars (or more with more dollars) and the implication being
that activity levels are proportionately higher than the operational expenditures that support these activities.

Technology

Use and availability of technology in libraries is an important part of the PLDS survey. This set of questions was unchangedfrom the previous year and provides useful comparative results, listed in descending ranked order according to the percentage of libraries that confirmed they provide the technology service.

Technology equipment available in libraries showed an increase in each category except automated systems. Tablets (127 percent), Video game consoles (60 percent), e-book readers (55 percent), other equipment (e.g., wattage readers) (15 percent), and laptops (10 percent)  posted the largest increases in the percentage of libraries confirming they offer these technologies compared to last year’s results.

Among the many website offerings, library apps for mobile devices (32 percent) showed the largest increase and user-driven content (10 percent) and streaming live programs made modest increases in the percentage of libraries confirming they offer these services.

Meanwhile, in terms of responding libraries, a smaller percentage (12 percent) indicated they offer Wi-Fi inside. Statistics concerning Wi-Fi outside, tracking of subscription databases, and access to local digitized content were unchanged in proportion of libraries offering these services.

Special Section: Facilities Survey

A report summarizing results from the Facilities Survey questions included in the PLDS 2013 special section is posted online at www.plametrics.org. If you would like to be notified of additional information about these results and future surveys, please contact pla@countingopinions.com or fill out the notification form on the PLAmetrics website.

2014 PLDS Survey

Results of the 2014 PLDS survey (FY2013 results) will be available soon. For more information, please visit the PLAmetrics website or send an email inquiry to pla@countingopinions.com. The PLDS survey continues to capture timely and relevant data about public library trends. PLA encourages libraries to use this data to enhance their decision-making and advocacy efforts. We also encourage your comments and feedback. And once again, thank you to all of the responding libraries who took the time to participate.

The post The 2013 Public Library Data Service Statistical Report: Characteristics and Trends first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Amy Dodson, director of the Pine River Library (PRL) in Bayfield, Colorado (named the “Best Small Library in America” for 2014 by Library Journal) is quoted as saying that “lots of libraries are there for the community, but here in Bayfield, the community built the library.”² At PRL, serving a community of 8,749 people, dozens of volunteers donated hundreds of hours to build a 17,000-square-foot outdoor “living library” with a 24-bed community garden and a straw bale tool shed with a living roof, from which people can borrow tools. The living library also includes a fruit orchard, a 26-foot geodesic dome greenhouse, five Nature Explore outdoor learning areas, an outdoor movie screen wall, and space for reading and relaxing.

The living library is larger than the indoor library which has just 13,000 square feet and houses a Dewey-less collection, expandable meeting room, and a mobile computer lab.³ Many of the services offered (such as technology training, access to digital resources, book group meetings, and storytimes) are common to most public libraries, while monthly teen functions held on Saturday evenings, for example, were started in recognition that there are few entertainment options for teens in the area. Clearly, the Bayfield community has helped shape a public library that is just right for local needs. However, the model could hardly transfer to metropolitan New York or the plains of North Dakota.

It may be that it is easier for public library staff in small towns to be in close touch with their communities since staff is more likely to be local, and to be an integral part of community life, than is the case in larger metropolitan area libraries. It is also true that there is frequently more commonality of interest and less demographic diversity in a rural area or small town than in an urban area. A 2013 report by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) notes that “Of the 8,956 public libraries in the United States in FY2011, 77.1 percent can be categorized as small.”⁴ Nearly 47 percent of public libraries were categorized as rural. The IMLS report also observed that rural libraries have higher per-capita levels of publicly accessible Internet computers and e-books than urban public libraries. Looking at the 2013 PLDS survey results, it is clear that these small libraries also have a higher per-capita number of visits, circulation, and program attendance than metropolitan area libraries. In many instances, the public library in a small town is the primary community center. So how are the majority of public libraries (the 53 percent categorized by IMLS as non-rural), as well as the 22.9 percent of public libraries which may be considered medium or large in scale, to emulate the role of the public library as community hub?

Many metropolitan public libraries are successful centers of community activity and engagement in spite of serving demographically diverse areas. I recently had the opportunity to visit the Miller Branch of the Howard County (Md.) Library System, which opened in December 2011. Calling itself a twenty-first-century facility for a twenty-first-century public education, the branch focuses on self-directed education, research assistance and instruction, and instructive and enlightening experiences. In a metropolitan area between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, the Miller Branch has an Enchanted Garden which is an outdoor teaching garden for health, nutrition, and environmental education, and it hosts the Howard County Farmers’ Market on Wednesday afternoons from May through November. Staff told me that the Miller Branch had 849,368 visits in FY2013 and circulated more than two million items. It was apparent to a visitor that the branch was teeming with activity, engaging people of different ages and ethnicities.

From my personal observation, staff in libraries such as the Miller Branch, which is clearly meeting community needs, are knowledgeable about community demographics and the constituent markets comprising their communities, and are actively engaged on the local level, pursuing multiple partnerships with other agencies for service development and delivery.

The latest report on public library use from the Pew Research Center, previewed by the PLA Board at the 2014 ALA Midwinter Meeting in January, is a market segmentation of the U.S. population according to public library use patterns.⁵ In general, the report revealed that 30 percent of people are enthusiastic public library users, 39 percent are moderately engaged with public libraries, and 31 percent (nearly one third) are characterized by low or no engagement with public libraries. Interestingly, the most enthusiastic two user groups are “more urban/suburban” and “less rural” than other groups. The groups are also characterized as being 70 to 80 percent college-educated, skewing female, including many parents, and having a median age range of 40 to 44. Pew Report author Lee Rainie describes two groups which are in the middling engagement status with public libraries and five distinct groups of infrequent or non-users. The breakdown of the low- and no-engagement population shows where there is real potential for increased engagement. For example, 7 percent of the population is in a low-engagement group with individuals who are young, in transition, and uncertain where the nearest library is. Twenty-eight percent are looking for a job and 26 percent are students. The public library could have a lot to offer people in this group, but staff would have to reach out to connect with them as they are preoccupied with activities related to finding a job and establishing themselves in the area. Another 7 percent of the population is designated as “rooted and roadblocked” and is characterized as being older, possibly retired, with a significant percentage having experienced a major illness in the past year or living with a disability. They are long-time residents of their neighborhoods, but socially disengaged. While they may have used a public library at some point in their lives, and have positive feelings about libraries, only about a third visited a library in the past year.

Other groups are similarly detailed, but the Pew Report shows that we need to understand more about the characteristics of those who use public libraries—and those who don’t—and how futile it is to speak generally about the non-user. Increased public-relations efforts (such as production of flyers and radio spots) are unlikely to persuade many people from either of these two non-user groups (“young, in transition” and “rooted and roadblocked”) to visit the library. Clearly, people in these two groups are in very different places in their lives and circumstances, and can only be reached through targeted outreach, perhaps by partnering with an agency that is in regular contact with them. The older population that is ill or disabled and more limited in their social engagement might be reached through a social service agency or Meals on Wheels, for example. The younger group that includes job-seekers might be reached through partnership with an employment counseling agency. Since this group is characterized by higher tech involvement, use of social media might also be effective in establishing a connection, if the message were targeted to their interests. A long, digital newsletter from the library featuring storytime news, summer reading prize announcements, and the upcoming class on flower arranging would not be likely to catch their attention. Use of Facebook or Twitter to talk about a workshop on résumé writing or mock interview sessions at the library might just draw them in.

It is vital that we think in terms of targeted groups of users as these are the multiple communities that make up our library service areas. The more diverse and complex our service areas become, the more attention staff must pay to identifying and targeting specific groups of users, with common characteristics and interests, so that we can actively relate library services to their interests and needs. We cannot continue to busy ourselves with only the people who come through our doors, knowing that about a third of the population is less library-engaged for one reason or another. IMLS funded a project of the Children’s Museum of Manhattan (CMOM) called “Built to Learn: A Model Community Engagement Project.”⁶ CMOM partnered on the project with the New York City Housing Authority to bring the museum learning experience into public housing developments, building critical academic skills and promoting healthy habits in young children and their caretakers in East Harlem. Weekly classes focus on storytelling, music, art, movement, and healthy eating. The project also provides older adults and families with access to other community resources. At the outset, CMOM completed a needs assessment with community members and parents in order to design responsive services. Such a program that takes CMOM’s resources and skills to the people will have a great impact on the lives of individuals and on the community.

How can we learn more about community needs? Five years ago, the Skokie (Ill.) Public Library (SPL) started a market segmentation project with CivicTechnologies. We at SPL discovered that our diverse and dense community of ten square miles is made up of eleven different socioeconomic groups. By geocoding patron registration, circulation, program attendance, and computer use, we were able to see patterns of library use and non-use as well as patterns in cross-use of library services that had not been apparent to us before. We identified an area, for example, that had only 36 percent registered borrowers and lower use of children’s services than would be predicted based on the demographics. Staff devised an objective to reach parents of young children through the schools and achieved 97 percent library registration for those children. Because we were able to get the children’s library card numbers embedded in their student records, we have seen increased use of library databases for homework help, independent of whether the parents are able to bring the children to the library or not.

As helpful as data is, it is a filter through which one regards the community at a distance, and therefore is an adjunct to direct community engagement. The American Library Association is working in partnership with the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation to enable libraries to transform communities. Rich Harwood talks about the “3 A’s of Public Life” being Authority, Authenticity, and Accountability:

• Authority comes with having a deep knowledge of the community and making internal decisions and external partnerships based on that knowledge.
• Authenticity is integrity and a demonstrated degree of caring through deep listening and regard for people in the community.
• Accountability is a focus on what will make a real difference in the community’s civic health, a recognition that the community changes over time, and fulfillment of promises to the community.⁷

To begin to operate with the 3 A’s, one must have public knowledge which comes from engaging with people directl around their aspirations, their concerns, and their view of the community. It helps the library phrase issues and goals in terms that are meaningful to people. It also helps shape priorities so that library services are more relevant and have greater impact.

Coming back to Wiegand’s book and what we might learn from the history of the founding and development of public libraries that can suggest a future course, he comments on the social nature of reading and the role of the library as public space. While his research stops at 1956, the observations sound quite contemporary. There is an increase in the number of book discussion groups and a current vogue for writers’ workshops as well. And much has been written in recent years about the library as “third space”—neither home nor office, but a public place to meet a client, entertain grandchildren, learn a new computer skill, or escape for a while for reading or research. What is it that people in the community are doing and what kind of a community do they want to live in? How are people’s lives changing? We know that convenience and ease of use are all important. Amazon.com has built an empire on the concept. How can the public library better meet people where they are? Wiegand suggests thinking about the “library in the life of the user” rather than the “user in the life of the library.”⁸ There’s a real paradigm shift. Do we know our communities well enough to see where the library fits in to the life of the user?

References

1. Wayne A. Wiegand, Main Street Public Library: Community Places and Reading Spaces in the Rural Heartland, 1876-1956 (Iowa and the Midwest Experience) (Iowa City: Univ. of Iowa Pr., 2011): 4.
2. John N. Berry III, “Best Small Library in America 2014: Pine River Library, CO—Building a Living Library,” Library Journal, Jan. 29, 2014, accessed Feb. 27, 2014.
3. Ibid.
4. Deanne W. Swan, Justin Grimes, and Timothy Owens, The State of Small and Rural Libraries in the United States, Institute of Museum and Library Services Research Paper #5, September 2013, accessed Feb. 27, 2014, .
5. Kathryn Zickuhr et. al., “How Americans Value Public Libraries in Their Communities,” Pew Research Center, Dec. 11, 2013, accessed Apr. 9, 2014.
6. IMLS Bulletin, Apr. 18, 2013, accessed Apr. 9, 2014.
7. Rich Harwood, “3 A’s of Public Life,” Public Innovators Lab Guide training session, Oct. 28-30, 2013, accessed Apr. 9, 2014.
8. Wiegand, Main Street Public Library, 4.

The post Knowing Our Communities first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

In case you haven’t been committing my writing to memory all this time, “big data” refers to the significant volumes of information generated by the users of a given organization or service. In the public sphere, we are seeing governments opening up these datasets to the public, allowing the civic-minded to create new applications and interpretations of this material.

This all lines up quite nicely with current library trends. It could be a next step for those working with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) students. It can connect to digital literacy efforts, offering insight to the code-curious and practical applications for those looking for some direction. And it could create a very real platform for civic participation, opening the partnership door for groups like Code for America. For libraries, embracing open data principles can allow us to revisit our own metrics and create new tools for improving public
services. As I wrote a year ago, “there’s something out there. We’ve just got to find a way to harness it.”¹

Best practices for open data in libraries are still taking shape. But we’re starting to gain some toeholds—not just for public data practices, but in examining the way we use data to measure and provide service.

Libraries as Open Data Hubs

Perhaps the easiest way to get a foot in the door with large datasets is simply to think of them as another item in the collection. Even if we are not entirely sure what we want to do with this information, we can create a space where all stakeholders can start learning together. Anastasia Diamond-Ortiz, knowledge manager at the Cleveland (Ohio) Public Library, is a strong advocate for this approach. Here are her thoughts from an interview I conducted over email.²

Public Libraries: How do you see libraries using open data?

Diamond-Ortiz: Libraries have the ability to see beyond the single use for information, including open data. That is what is most exciting. From hosting an edit-a-thon of OpenStreetMap (www.openstreetmap.org), which simply requires space, to devoting technology staffing and resources to hosting local civic data, there is an entry point for everyone. Public libraries are civic institutions that are seen as positive and open to all views. We absolutely need to embrace this and start participating in the conversations happening around us.

PL: What’s the best way for libraries that aren’t familiar with civic hacking to get oriented?

Diamond-Ortiz: The best and most accessible way is to start looking at the vast array of maps and charts being produced by cities and other interested groups. The work of Chicago’s Open City and MIT’s Civic Data Design Lab are two good examples that are very visually appealing. Seeing some of the possibilities allows libraries to start thinking about questions instead of worrying about the answers.

PL: How can we make this stuff interesting to the lay patron? What’s the lure beyond just the hacker stuff, which might be intimidating to many?

Diamond-Ortiz: Public librarians see a broad cross-section of the community walking in the doors every day. Civic data is about coding and data, of course, but it is also about listening to our patrons and engaging them in the conversations. Besides setting patrons up as informed consumers of data, we also need to consider how and why patrons might want to contribute to datasets that have the potential to improve the quality of life for everyone. This should not be a one-way relationship.

PL: What can libraries present as a dataset of their own?

Diamond-Ortiz: As an example, a library could contribute aggregated technology usage data. What if someone took those data and layered them with broadband subscribers in a neighborhood? What if the local government used the resulting layers as a planning tool when thinking
about where to locate wireless hotspots in a city? Not knowing how and where data will be used is part of the fun.

Data, Privacy, and Library Service

While there is plenty of opportunity in libraries creating open datasets, there are plenty of reasons to be cautious. Any amount of data a library makes public needs to be weighed in light of its risk to user privacy.

Does this hold us back? In the age of customized everything, does treating the information we share on our users come at the expense of better service? To test this theory, Darien (Conn.) Library (DL) recently made the decision to make its users’ reading history opt-out. I spoke with Amanda Goodman, DL’s user experience librarian, and John Blyberg, DL’s assistant director of innovation and user experience.³

PL: Talk about the process that led to making patrons’ reading history opt-out.

Goodman: Businesses have the advantage on libraries because they have so much data about their customers. They can therefore create personalized interfaces, shopping experiences, and more to entice repeat visits and spending. Libraries, on the other hand, have always valued patron privacy and therefore not kept any records [beyond] the bare minimum. In order to meet patron expectations for personalized reading recommendations and meet the frequent request for reading history, Darien Library’s staff met to discuss keeping patrons’ reading histories. Once we agreed that we would like to make this feature available, we discussed how to communicate the change, user privacy, and whether this should be an opt-in or opt-out process. Opt-out was decided as the default.

Blyberg: I would add that nobody takes privacy more seriously than libraries and we’re no exception and given the type of personal information most people willingly offer up to corporate websites like Facebook, we feel that making checkout history opt-out is a natural step to take.

PL: What kind of response did you receive in the lead-up to the big switch?

Goodman: Patrons were often surprised that this was not a feature previously available. We had around a dozen people opt-out of the system before launch on January 1, 2014, and very few since then.

PL: Did you receive any unexpected feedback after you made reading history opt-out? Has this had an effect in how patrons interact with library staff?

Goodman: I am not aware of any unexpected feedback. As for interacting, I had a patron yesterday that asked us to pull up her history to see if she had read a book before. I showed her that we only had her history since the beginning of the year. However, my colleague stepped in and reminded the patron that she had came to the book discussion for that book and she had in fact read it last summer!

PL: What’s the next step in how you plan to interact with data tied to patron behavior and library use?

Goodman: The next step is to look at models that use patron reading history to create personalized recommendation engines similar to GoodReads, LibraryThing, and NoveList. If such an implementation was built, the data would be anonymized and people would see  recommendations based in whole upon what the group read next.

Better Libraries through Data

Embracing more open practices with data could be a catalyst for reexamining privacy in libraries. As we continue to create new models of transparency and fluidity in our services, it will become all the more essential to examine these key elements of our profession.

References

1. R. Toby Greenwalt, “In Search of Better Metrics,” Public Libraries 52 no. 2 (Mar./Apr. 2013), 22.
2. Anastasia Diamond-Ortiz, email interview with the author, Apr. 7, 2014.
3. Amanda Goodman and John Blyberg, email interview with the author, Apr. 4, 2014.

The post Revisiting Open Data Practices first appeared on Public Libraries Online.