Fall 1995 Final Exam:
Selected Questions and Sample Answers

Question:

Answer:

As funding for libraries decreases and while the cost of materials increase, not to mention the many new formats in which information is presented, the philosophy of libraries as a part of our culture is undergoing a great change. Libraries, of economic necessity, are finding it increasingly imperative to make their focus the satisfaction of customer needs and wants. Libraries can no longer afford to cling to old self-concepts, i.e. the library as the purveyor of "high culture". It is not financially expedient nor does it satisfy the goal of providing the client with the resources they necessarily seek. As a result, in terms of goals and objectives there must be a shift to attract clients, much like a business, rather than to give the client what we think they should receive from the library.

Since the mission of libraries will be to attract customers in order to remain solvent, goals and objectives must point toward identifying means of attracting people to the library and taking steps to insure that people will continue to come back. As a result, one very important activity is to know the community that your library serves in the present and anticipate what those needs may be in the future. In terms of the present, steps must be taken to scope out user needs through whatever tools the library has available, given its funding and number of staff. Clients are more likely to continue use of the library if they believe their needs will be met there. In our studies toward the degree, one of the primary reasons given for non-use of libraries is the fact that most people do not see the library as a viable resource for their needs and wants. If we want clients to come to our libraries, then we need to find out what those needs and wants are and develop ways of satisfying them, again much like the philosophy of a good business minded person. This is not the philosophy our culture has historically held in relationship to the library. However, it is evident that old philosophies, such as educating and orienting European immigrants to our culture or providing high culture materials to a small percentage of the population, are no longer viable or timely goals for libraries.

In terms of applying this philosophy to service, we begin with aligning the mission statement and the subsequent goals and objectives toward a strong customer orientation with the development of strategies we believe will aid in accomplishing our mission. This will require that we focus on what is useful to the user, not necessarily expedient or philosophically appealing to the librarian. For example, some of the readings explored the issue of so-called "minority" populations. In Los Angeles, for example, the minority is rapidly becoming the majority. In the future, if libraries in Los Angeles are to remain in business, so to speak, they must know the needs of this population and take steps to satisfy some of those needs. This means offering services that these people will be able to use. For example, service needs in this community would include materials in languages other than English, even though the norm in our culture has always been English. It would mean refraining on insisting that audiovisual materials have English subtitles. It would mean purchasing materials that focus on the norms, social practices, religious for that community. For example, in this environment some funds may need to be taken from current purchasing customs, i.e. standing orders, and reallocated such that purchases can be made in cash at book f airs and such. Smaller publishing firms, or alternative presses, may not have the wherewithal to handle purchases other than by cash. Language issues can be a problem as well in terms of purchasing by more conventional methods.

Since alternative publications from smaller presses do not get reviewed in the major review journals, other ways to find materials need to be explored, and in some cases, financed.

Since electronic information is constantly changing, those whose job it is to guide clients in using it must be aware of how to use it. Further, they must also be trained in how to communicate its use.

Finally, and if at all possible, it would be helpful if the environment of the library proved to be user friendly to the client. Is it easy to use? Are adequate directions provided such that people can find their way to the materials they desire to use? Is there adequate lighting and heating? Are there colorful displays that would appeal to the eye of clients, and if the community consists primarily of people of Latin-American background, for example, is the library environment reflective of that fact?

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Question:

Answer:

Of course, changes made in one library may not be the best changes for another library. In general though, if a library has not already done so, all programs should probably be looked at to see if they are as efficient as they could be and to see if there are redundancies. At this point in time there are probably few, if any, libraries that have not already done this.

In a library that has already taken this step, when further financial shifting is necessary, hard decisions must be made. I feel that there is probably no program or service that can't be at least scaled back or refocused if financially necessary.

The book collection of a library is important and funds allotted to collection development for books will probably already have had a chunk taken out for development of electronic resources. A library could decide to scale back its acquisition of books and/or refocus its policy for new acquisition of books to a more limited range. This area should, in my view, be one of the last ones to be scaled back, however.

Serials acquisition is another area that should certainly be looked at because of increasing costs. In some instances, electronic forms may be more cost effective. In some cases, a library may need to discontinue a subscription to a particular periodical if that periodicals price climbs too high. A library must look at cost effectiveness and how many clients need/use the periodical.

Money available for electronic resources need to be assessed as well. Before acquiring electronic products or upgrading existing ones, a library needs to carefully consider if this action is cost effective and in the library's best interests. At this point, electronic resources are "hot" and libraries want to be on the cutting edge, in part to demonstrate that they are not redundant and that libraries are still important in the electronic age. Long term goals must be looked at, however, and the library needs to decide if a change in focus might not contribute to the library's mission better. These programs should not be eliminated and if the library has looked at cost effectiveness and the need of its clientele, then funding for electronic resources should continue at current levels. I feel public libraries can be an important part of helping people who might not have any other chance become information literate.

Special programming and services for children are also important. However, there may be places where certain programs could be scaled back. Children's services may be able to reduce the number of story hours per week or reduce how many other programs are available. I don't feel story hours should be completely eliminated, however, nor should the position of children's librarian. If one of the library's mission is to have an informed public, beginning readers are an important part of the whole. Summer reading programs are probably expected by patrons and fill an important role, so I feel they also should be one of the last places looked at for funding shifts.

Outreach programs are often scaled back when financial difficulties hit. They can be expensive and only benefit a small proportion of a library's clientele. They are typically installed in order to help meet the library's vision of free access of information to all. Literacy programs can also be included in this. I feel that of all programs, literacy programs are some of the most important, for the library and the community, but in hard economic times, even they should be looked at to see if they are efficient and need refocusing or scaling back.

User education is another area that may have already been cut back. If not, a library may want to eliminate formal classes (especially if attendance is generally minimal) and rely on informal instruction as needed.

If a public library has an Information and Referral (I & R) service, it might want to consider eliminating it if the library is having financial difficulties. An I & R probably does not cost much to run, once set up, but there may be local social service groups that can fill in and perhaps moving an employee from I & R to into another area would help funding matters.

Community access to library meeting rooms may not come into the financial picture much. If it does, a library may need to start charging fees for use or consider discontinuing the practice. While important in presenting the library to the public as a public place, most patrons would probably not object too much.

Video rentals may not come into the picture much either. Some libraries actually gain revenue from this practice. If this is not the case, surely this is one of the first areas to be eliminated.

On the whole, there is probably no program or service that could not be refocused or scaled back. I feel, however, that book acquisition, literacy programs, and some children' s services should be the last restructured. I would also hesitate to restructure financing dealing with electronic resources, if the library in question was already looking at acquisition and such from a fiscally responsible viewpoint. I would be hesitant to eliminate any existing programs or services. If absolutely necessary after refocusing and scaling back, video rentals would be first to go, then I & R, community access to meeting rooms, and then outreach programs.

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Question:

Answer:

To start with, a public library has such a broad range of clientele. A designer of a user education program for a public library has to consider the range in ages of clients (pre-school to senior citizen), the range of educational levels of clients, whether clients are disabled (hearing/vision impaired), and the range of the client's library experience. A public library instructional program may not be able to schedule formal classes at a time that is convenient for a wide range of clients since some may work during the day while others do not. Therefore, most public libraries don't have formal user education classes, but seem to rely on informal, one-on-one instruction as the need arises. Libraries also can have simple instructional directions displayed at strategic areas (OPACS, etc.).

This usually means that the library collection perhaps isn't being used as efficiently as it could be, even by "experienced" users. There is a tendency for some people to be uncomfortable in asking for assistance, which means that they somehow stumble along on their own. These may be new users who decide that libraries aren't any help to them and never visit a library again. Of course, even if formal instructional classes exist, that doesn't mean that people will avail themselves of the opportunity to take them.

With the public library's vision of information access for all, instructing clients in the use of electronic resources could be one of its most important roles in today's society. When a library is designing instruction for electronic resources the challenges mentioned above may be increased and there may be additional challenges as well. A library may have to decide to limit classes to people who have some knowledge of keyboards already. Also, there are some people are "computerphobic", so_an instructional program for electronic resources will first have to deal with their fear. In fact, separate classes will probably be necessary for them and these classes will probably take more time than those for people who are unafraid. If a library relies on informal instruction, a librarian may spend more time than management considers necessary in assisting such a client. These classes may not even be well attended. Some "computerphobes" seem to take pride in the fact that they are computer illiterate.

Libraries will probably try to have the user interface to electronic resources be as easy as possible to use so that minimal instruction is necessary. However, instruction in electronic resources needs someone who is well versed in the resource being taught. Unless someone from outside the library who is a trained instructor is going to be brought in for the client instruction, staff who are to become instructors must be allowed time to use the product as well as having structured "instruction time". The ideal instruction is, of course, one-on-one instruction. However, most libraries will not be able to allow staff time to do any in-depth one-on-one instruction with clients.

The user education program of the future would have to include instruction in the electronic resources available and how they interact and complement the other aspects of the library's collection. There would have to be a combination of instruction by a professional and hands-on experience, with some instruction/tutorial being done as part of the electronic resource itself. In a public library in particular, this aspect would be challenging to program, considering the range of clientele described above. The user education program of the future will be very important in order to maximize the efficient use of electronic resources and the rest of the library's collection. It also may be important in making sure information is available to everyone, not just those who can afford a personal computer.

Alternative Answer:

Library Environment: Academic

When information came primarily in the form of print on paper, BI was a much less complicated issue. However, the development of electronic information products and end-user systems has rendered the process of educating library users much more challenging to those charged with its provision.

Of course, decreasing funding of libraries and the subsequent loss of staff are two major challenges to the education of library users. Like all other aspects of library service, these two challenges are prompting library managers to find ways of optimizing their resources in terms of staffing, space, and resources.

The resources in terms of electronic information, however, do not lend themselves to an efficient use of staff as providers of bibliographic instruction. This has to do with the nature of electronic information itself. The conventional way of providing bibliographic instruction through a tour of the library reference department, for example, where students are given an idea of where materials are kept in addition to several sheets of paper briefly describing the contents of the collection is not all that helpful anymore. While group user education programs are highly efficient in terms of use of staff and space, they do not give the user the kinds of information and training they need to survive in the electronic age.

Further, if instruction is given on how to use various electronic products, it has been my experience that most group training are of little use other than as a demonstration of how neat particular programs are, i.e. the bells and whistles show. These experiences constitute an introduction, not a training, and I think library professionals need to acknowledge this fact.

On the other hand, direct one-to-one instruction at the time of search, when the student has a definitive item to gather data on and a definitive reason for wanting to gather that data, is the most optimal classroom module for learning how to use the resources in the academic library, particularly when doing research. This is because the questions now have meaning for the students; he or she has a problem which he or she is now trying to solve--or a question that requires an answer or a topic about which a paper is to be written. So the student now has motivation for learning how to use the equipment that will get him or her to the data. In a group introductory tour, there is no reason for the student to be focused on learning how to use the equipment, other than idle curiosity and the fact that this is what is going on at the moment.

While this one-to-one training is a better teaching module in terms of benefits to the user, it is also, unfortunately, a less efficient method for the use of staff. It takes a great deal more time as well. Obviously, one staff member to several students at one time plus some prepared handouts is less time consuming than one-on-one instruction. Additionally, the ability to communicate and interact with other people is a decided plus in one-to-one instruction.

To make matters more complex, electronic information products are changing all of the time. This requires that those giving instruction be kept up to date on the older programs and the newer acquisitions such that they can teach their use to others. Again, this training of staff requires that they be away from the business at hand to learn how to handle questions that may arise while performing the business at hand. (It is also helpful if the providers of instruction are acquainted with the whims of the particular products they are teaching students how to use. For one thing, it helps to reduce the stress level of both teacher and student.)

Additionally, hand-outs are no longer that useful to student's in today's academic library environment. Rather, hands-on instruction is the optimal way--usually, in my experience, the only way--to learn how to use electronic information programs.

Consequently, I believe user education programs of the future in academic libraries need to acknowledge the importance of training staff to instruct users in the use of the programs they provide. Electronic information programs are wonderful resources, but if they are not used and used effectively, then I question the rationale for their purchase.

Ways need to be developed to reduce the intimidation factor for students. One way this can happen is through budget allocations that allow for a user education program which provides for one-to-one, on demand, instruction of users. This method would also require that training be provided to both librarians and student workers, since many students attend class during the day and use the library at night when it is less likely for professional staff to be available. These trainings could be one- hour for credit trainings to provide additional incentive for student workers.

Alternatively, curriculums could be designed to automatically include a course on the use of electronic information products. This could be a 1-3 hour course, depending upon the degree of depth desired by the student or mandated by the student's program of study.

The point is that training of professionals, staff, and student workers would be acknowledged and legitimized as an important part of the resource allocation budget and could be included as a vital item in the goals and objectives, of the library. Just like making printed material available through indexing and cataloguing, we must find a way to make the new generation of products available to today's users to justify their purchase, maintenance, and the space they fill in our libraries.

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