Transcript Under the Microscope: Patron and staff needs for SPPL’s Web page

Under the Microscope:
Patron and staff needs for SPPL’s
Web page
By: Ann Attig, Spring Lea Boehler,
and Nancy Knepper
Who lives in Alamosa?
Top Five Occupations
 Educational
Services (1,345)
 Retail Trade (1,124)
 Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries (540)
 Health Services (478)
 Public Administrators, including
librarians (316)____________________
 Total Workforce = 7, 501
And don’t forget the students
enrolled in...
 Three
day-cares and preschools
 Three public elementary schools
 One public middle school
 One public high school
 Six religious or private schools
 One college
 One vocational school
Here’s a breakdown of who
has cards at SPPL:
4,948 Alamosa County Adult Patrons
2,175 Alamosa County Minor Patrons
916 San Luis Valley Library Patrons
27 Organizational Cards
82 Temporary Cards
11 Staff
50 ILL Libraries
35 CLC Card Holders
19 Spanish Speaking Patrons
Of these patrons, 5,292 haven’t seen
us in at least a year.
What do our
patrons say
they want?
Adult Uses of SPPL
Recreation
14%
Research
35%
13%
Genealogy
On-Line
4%
10%
24%
Children
Other
High School Uses of SPPL
Recreation
3%6%
7%
7%
27%
Research
Genealogy
On-Line
50%
Children
Other
Middle School Uses of SPPL
Recreation
15%
23%
7%
Genealogy
8%
12%
Research
On-Line
35%
Children
Other
What else do patrons say they
want?
 More
hours after 5, maybe as late as 10
like the college. (46% adult, 70% high
school, 41% middle school)
 More genealogy service hours.
 More interlibrary loan materials.
 More ways to access the library.
How can we
respond?
This is the hierarchy of the
library personnel.
 Director--
• Children’s Director
• Information Assistant
– Pages
• Supervisor of Technical Services
– Technical Assistant
• Interlibrary Loan Clerk
• Genealogist
Staff members devoted to
each main area of service:
 Management--1
 Supervisory--4
 Children’s
services--1
 Technical services--2
 Reference (including genealogy)--8
 Interlibrary loan--2
 Circulation--7
 Computers--5
Where we can provide service:
Each staff member is an
individual.
This means that each staff
member has:
her own thoughts
 her own capabilities
 her own schedules
 her own
departmental
problems
 her own opinions

The proposed individual
survey looks like this:
1. What is your current level of computer and Internet technology
skills?
2. Would you pursue technology training if given the opportunity;
and if so, what kind(s) of training would interest you?
3. What kinds of patron services do you think should/could be
offered on our library's Web site?
4. How do you think the addition of a library Web site will affect
your job?
5. Please give any other comments related to Internet, technology,
and Web page, etc. you wish to express.
This project will also entail
group effort.
A focus group will help to get everyone’s
opinion. For the best results, we are
planning to hold one that is:
 after
the personal interviews so
everyone has a better idea of the
project
 at a time when most everyone can
attend
 moderated by a third party from the
library community
 constricted to a set time limit so it runs
smoothly
After the brainstorm, we
should have:
a
list of features we definitely want to
include
 a rudimentary idea of who is
responsible for what content
 a list of features we might include if
demand is high
 a list of features we definitely do not
want at this time
Now, it’s back to the patrons...
Our patrons are diverse
people with diverse needs.
How do we find out these
needs?
ASK
THEM!!!
An online survey is a good way to
reach people because...
Since this is a Web project, we mostly want to
hear from Web users
 It allows people to answer at their
convenience
 People are more likely to answer an email
than a regular letter
 It costs far less since there are no paper and
postage costs
 It helps us build a stronger relationship with
Amigo.net

Here are the questions we will
be asking
1. Southern Peaks Public Library is planning a Web site. How do you feel the
content of the Web site would affect your library habits?
(Please mark one)
___ I would be more likely to visit the library based on what was at a Web site.
___ I would be less likely to visit the library based on what was at a Web site.
___ A Web site would make no difference in my current use of the library.
2. The Web site would most likely link to other resources on the
Internet. What sort of content would you like to see in these links?
(Please mark one)
___ I would like good reference sources of information.
___ I would enjoy recreational sites.
___ I do not prefer one type of site more than another.
___ I would not be likely to use the links offered at the library Web site
3. The library page might include the following features. Please rank
them in order of importance to you as follows:
Label the feature of most importance with a 1.
Label the feature of second importance with a 2, and so on,
giving the feature of least importance a 6.
Please use each number only once.
___ Online interlibrary loan requests
___ Material renewal requests form
___ Genealogy question submission form
___ Material reserve request form
___ Library news and calendar of events
___ Other (please specify) __________________________
4. For our information, please indicate your home zip code and age bracket.
zip code [________]
under 10 ___ 11-18 ___ 19-25 ___ 26-39 ___ 40-59 ___ 60-75 ___ over 76 ___
4a. (in-house only) I have access to the Internet. yes____ no____
(if no) I plan to acquire access to the Internet soon. yes____ no____
If you wish to enter the prize drawing for a free book from Southern Peaks
Public Library, please complete the following information. This information will
be kept confidential and will not be correlated with your survey responses.
Name [___________________________]
Phone number
[________________________]
Address [___________________________] City, State, Zip
[________________________]
Thank you for your time!
The in-house paper version of
the survey will...
 Reach
people who are not Amigo.net
customers but are online
 Help determine the needs of people
who will only use our Web site on the
library computers
 Save in postage since it is in-house
These surveys will tell us:
 How
our Web site will affect people’s
library use
 How
much use our Web site might have
 Which
online services they want most
Talking to the school librarians
face-to-face will help us:
 Determine
how best to partner with the
schools
 Discover what needs the librarians want
met
 Think of new ways to encourage
reading in students
This is just the beginning! We
also plan to
 Have
a continuous comment form for
Web visitors
 Have
remedial surveys once a year
 Keep
our ears open always!
Our ultimate goal is to keep
our patrons smiling!
Thank you for your time!