Library Day in the Life Project Round 8

I've been lurking on the edges of the Library Day in the Life Project for a couple of Rounds now ...   and haven't seen any South African librarians on the list (yet),  so here goes...     I'm a subject librarian at the University of Cape Town. 


This week, so far, has been very busy as we are heading into the start of the new academic year.   The library is filling up as Orientation Leaders bring groups of  wide-eyed first years through the library on a campus orientation.   If this is towards the end of the day,  these first years look glazed over, suffering from information-overload.        

But I am also preparing for the overseas leg of the Carnegie Research Librarians Academy.   There is a presentation to prepare for that, as well as doing as much of the pre-start of the academic year preparations as I can,  given that I am not going to be around for a goodly chunk of the first semester.    And trying to finish off a library guide on assisting our academic staff to track their own research. 

So this week has not really been a typical week.   And in fact,  there is no typical day (even once the academic year starts),  although somewhere in the day,  there will usually be a stint at the information desk.

I'm here at work at about 7.30 am -  depending on traffic, after doing the school run -  and find parking very easily.  (We have a huge parking problem on campus -  early birds get the parking, late birds end up circling and parking almost halfway up Table Mountain.)

Monday saw an early morning stint at the information desk followed by working on the library guide, then dealing with email, either responding to requests for setting up sessions for new students in my subject areas or quickly dealing with other queries or talking to colleagues and students who drop in.     I keep fiddling with the library guide  -  whipping stuff in and out.    And getting those colleagues who drop in, to give an opinion.  I've got to keep remembering that this is to assist staff in tracking their own research.   

I am going to be hosted by the University of Waterloo Library in Canada for about 7 weeks,  as part of the Research Librarians Academy,  so Monday afternoon saw the first Skype session with my host!    (And in the middle of the session, a student knocked on the door to ask for assistance!)  Nibbled on my lunch at my desk, while checking my Google Reader.      Where did those 1000 unread feeds come from? 

Tuesday was a looooong day.  There was a general staff meeting for the entire library first thing in the morning ...  our libraries were actually closed and only re-opened at 10 am.     Again, continued fiddling with the library guide ...   but then ran into technical problems (not sure if it was me or our network ....    screenshots wouldn't display! ).     Was going to assist a colleague with a library tour for our Social Development Honours students,  but only a small number of students arrived,  so my help wasn't needed.  (My colleague had recently  taken over the Social Development subject responsibilities from me ...).  

As part of the University's Welcome to new students,  there are two Open Days for Parents where our Vice Chancellor (or one of the Deputy Vice Chancellors) addresses the parents, and they then go off to attend talks by the relevant Deans, and hear about life at the university and what their children can expect.   There are information stands in one area of the campus, and tours to the facilities including the Chancellor Oppenheimer Library.    Tuesday evening was the second of the Open Days.   The first of the groups of parents arrived at about 3.30 pm  -  I was one of the "tour leaders" showing parents around the library.  (Love doing this ...  we have an awesome library!) and was here until 6.30 pm.    

Wednesday saw a short desk stint -  had to get a colleague to stand in for part of the shift, as there had been an invite to attend a departmental staff meeting for one of my subject responsibilities ...     I need to tell them that I will be gone for a while and what the interim arrangements are.    This was followed closely by an appointment with one of my academic colleagues who wanted to get her My Citations (Google Scholar) set up ...  which was great because this is what the library guide is all about!!

Together with my colleagues,  we then headed over to information talks to incoming groups of first year Humanities students.      The library always gets a slot.   My colleague, Alex, does the speaking while the other librarians provide a supporting presence and be introduced.    Previously,  we wouldn't accompany him, but would catch the students in the library as they were on the campus tours,  dish out library waterbottles and say a few words.    But this is not feasible now, so we accompanied him, taking over some print examples of reference books,  and journals.        We recently put together a series of slides about the Humanities Librarians (for the information slide show the library has running near the entrance and at the information desk) and this was shown ...          we certainly did not expect the thundering applause and laughter we had    (-:  

Then it was back to cover the information desk until closing time at 5 pm. 

What I did with the Prize money ....

I have been very honoured and excited to have been named 2nd runner up in last year’s Librarian of the Year competition.  It was amazing to have been nominated Western Cape Librarian of the Year, so coming in the top three of the national competition was a bonus -  a real professional boost!   I was awarded R10 000 generously sponsored by SABINET.   I was also fortunate to have had some extra financial support from UCT Libraries.

I used this money to attend the 18th International Conference on Learning which was held from 5 – 8 July at the University of Mauritius.      I registered   on the Monday and then took the opportunity for a professional visit to see Mr Cader Nunkoo,  the librarian in charge of Rose Hill Public Library.   It is a small library, situated next to the municipal building in a garden setting.

The conference attracted more than 300 delegates from all over the world, coming as far afield as Australia, Estonia, Russia, Malaysia, the States, Turkey, India,  and of course Mauritius  (and it made the evening news.)     And there were quite a number of South African academics as well, including three of us from my own institution.    

The conference provided a forum for talking about the nature and future of learning from early childhood, school, technical and vocational, university and adult education, where research and reflections on education were discussed.   Workshops and colloquium sessions completed the rest of the physical conference line-up.  It was also possible to do a virtual presentation -  these weren’t broadcast at the conference, but are available via the Conference Youtube channel.   

I am always interested in seeing how other conferences manage, and saw that sessions were chaired by by Graduate Scholar Recipients -  attendees  who had applied and received grants to attend the conference,  in return for facilitating these sessions.   And often, they were presenting as well.   

Something that I hadn’t seen before was “Talking Circles” which were supposed to give people a chance to ointeract around key ideas away from the formalities.   There were two facilitated sessions for each stream of discussion e.g. Technology in Learning or Adult, or Vocational, tertiary and professional learning.   During the first circle, participants would introduce themselves and talk about common issues, and the second session would take the discussion further and come up with possible solutions and then later report back at the closing plenary. And these sessions could be informal or structured depending on the facilitator.    Not very successful, because much depended on the facilitator …   but an interesting idea nevertheless.

As an academic librarian, I attended sessions on a variety of topics of interest to higher education -   and of importance to the work and support we provide  -   academic literacy, teaching teams, academic performance of first years, underprepared postgraduates and plagiarism in student writing.     Many of these papers were presented by  Education academics or Academic Development Units or similar units including Writing Centres from institutions across the world including South Africa.    And in almost every one of these papers, libraries and librarians were not mentioned at all.   I kept putting my hand up and asking …  and got back,  yes of course we worked with our librarian,  couldn’t do it without our librarian,  our librarian is the best ….  But none of this came out in the papers, not even a “by the way” mention.     Are we really that invisible?  

But what was even stranger for me  -  although I do think that it was just at this particular conference -  was that I was the only librarian at an international education conference!     (I have seen papers by librarians in earlier issues of the journal  “International Journal of Learning” which contains conference proceedings,  so it must have just been this one.) 

So this set the bees in my bonnet buzzing.  I’ve always kept an eye on what other academic libraries are doing for their students, particularly regarding information literacy skills and collaborating with  individual academics,  and units like Academic Development Units and Writing Centres.   

What collaborations are happening or are we working in parallel universes?    I know that we aren’t,  that there are collaborations going on  -   so here is a challenge to myself and other librarians out there:  

if you are involved, please share these with your colleagues whether it is at seminars, workshops, or conference presentations.   And not just library conferences,  but look for the opportunities at other conferences, even co-presenting with your academics.  

Thank you to LIASA and sponsors, SABINET,  for making my conference attendance possible,  and to  UCT Libraries for the additional financial support.

On another Quest

I have been fortunate enough to have been selected to attend the Research Librarians' Academy, a 2-week residential programme, held at Mont Fleur in Stellenbosch. I'm here with colleagues from UCT Libraries, Wits, University of Pretoria, UKZN, Stellenbosch and Rhodes University. This is the third or is it the fourth group to be exposed to the academy. So here I am, on another quest! In the beautiful setting of Stellenbosch, away from home and work.

There is an official blog for the Research Librarians' Academy.

The aim of the Research Librarians' Academy is to equip academic librarians to provide research support integrating skills, scholarship, and technology in a South African library consortium, generously funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. There are a number of elements to this which include the residential programme, a research space (research commons) in the library, and a research portal. As part of the residential programme, some of the attendees will be sent to the States to spend two months in a top research library.

On this particular programme, we are being exposed to the top researchers in the country. On Monday, guest speakers were Prof Wieland Gevers, the General Secretary of the Academy of South Africa, who gave an overview of research;. John Tosh spoke about history; Zeblon Vilakazi from iThemba Labs spoke about research in nuclear physics; while Cyrill Walters and Maryna van der Heever spoke about their stays in the States.

Tuesday was a really full day with presentations on becoming a researcher, and then looking at different domains and epistemologies.

There are fuller reports from the participants on the blog.
So here I am, on another quest....

Blogging in Africa

Well, here I am in Addis Abba with the Centre for Educational Technology at the eLearning Africa Conference presenting a blogging workshop. Have blog, will travel!!!!
But my luggage didn't make it on to the plane from Jhb. Seems there was a security reason, but we reckon the plane was so full, there wasn't room.

Ended up buying a t-shirt at the airport ..... Tony blogged about it last night and Andrea and I look like twins!!!

Looking back ...

After neglecting this particular blog for a while, not really having time to reflect on how I have used the experiences having other a-Ha moments, and what I have accomplished in terms of the to-do list ... it is now time.

I was certainly aware of my own personal growth and development while away, and my continuing personal and career development and the direction that I have been moving towards since my return.

Pretty easy to list is to compare what I wanted to do on my return and what I actually accomplished. And satisfying as well.

* A number of presentations on the experience and observations to colleagues at work at a colloquium, to the branch, and to the Public and Community Libraries Interest Group and the Support Staff Interest Group. Each presentation had to be adapted for the audience, as what interested one group might not interest the other. The Fall 2004 Associates were very generous with their photos, sharing them to be used to illustrate presentations.

* Article for Cape Librarian on SALLP experience -- again I was aware that the target market was going to be public librarians, so I chose to report on the more "public library" aspect of the programme.

* Customer Service using FISH philosophy -- Alvina Matthee, Nazeem Hardy (who was in the second SALLP contingent) and myself did a presentation at the branch Annual General Meeting last year. It was great fun! Judith Siess (the Invisible Librarian) was in the audience and contributed to such a lot towards the success of that session. My own institution has bought the Fish! training materials and it has already been used by me in a session with our student assistants.

* Explore possible ideas about electronic reserves -- this conversation has started and is something our library is currently exploring.

But even more exciting is my growing involvement with Library 2.0 technology -- blogging, wikis, rss and so on. And this all arose out of my experiences in the States and this blog which I shared with colleagues. More about the blogging experience in the next few postings.

Virtual Reference - 1 November 2004

We have just had a session on virtual reference which was presented by Kathleen Kern of the central reference desk at U of I Library. She gave an overview of the history of reference services in the USA, outlining very briefly the main characteristic of different types of reference services in the various sectors:-
Academic -- there is a strong commitment to information literacy; each reference encounter could be an opportunity to teach research skills;
Public: -- there tends to be some instruction, but is more concentrated on the delivery of information
Corporate:- Delivery of information only

U of I Library offers a live chat reference service which is fairly new (since 2001). They started looking at instant messaging type of software to provide a reference service - partly because there was a realisation that the students were using instant messaging for communication etc -- it was a technology that they were familiar with. Also the reference statistics had shown a dramatic drop in volume as a result of increased availability of e-resources. There was also the acceptance that there were few factual questions that could not be answered doing an internet search -- people were not using the library because of the ease of use of internet.
Currently 10 - 12 % of the reference queries are on chat.

The software they use is Docutek which allows co-browsing and enables transcripts of the reference encounter for review and quality control. They did use Instant Messaging to start off with, but the problem was that the students needed to register for Instant Messaging, but there was also no way that they could obtain statistics, get transcripts etc. (Think about the different generations in the library, particularly our users who are Millenials, so this may be just up their street. Kathleen reported that chat ref struck a chord with their student population as it could be regarded as an alternative to Google)

The ALA Guidelines for behavioral performance for reference professionals is used for training of staff as well as the guide for setting up a virtual reference service.

When they first started providing the service, there was a very low volume until they put links to the service on various places on the libraries' webpage. (Marketing again!)

So how does it work? Live Chat services are staffed from the reference desks in the various libraries during regular desk hours. Because U of I Library is a large decentralised library, there is more than one desk staffing the chat line. The software allows for the transfer of questions so should there be a specialised subject reference question, it can be referred to the appropriate library. Reference desks are manned by LIS Graduate Assistants... so there are staff resources.

Types of questions -- request for research assistance (29% of ref question), request for catalogue assistance (20%), navigation of web site (8%) and questions about ILL (5%)

One needs to determine whether LiveChat Ref is appropriate for one's library -- you need to look at aspects like the user needs as well as affordability (budget, staffing, software)

A conversation we need to start at UCT Libraries??? I can see the possibilities for Live chat ref, not only for our own users, but (radical thought coming up!) as a service to the wider community as our libraries' contribution to society. But first steps first....

Final Report to Mortenson Center

Here is a copy of the report that I submitted to Susan:

My final report is divided into three sections:
1. What I learned/accomplished while I was here
2. What I hope to accomplish on my return to the University of Cape Town Libraries as well as to LIASA nationally and within the Western Cape Branch
3. Short evaluation of the Mortenson Center program overall

1. What I learned/accomplished while I was here
During the two months spent here, the International Library Program has expanded my horizons and opened my eyes and mind to new opportunities and ideas, as well as, in some cases, made me look at old ideas afresh. The experiences and networking activities, meeting other librarians and sharing our experiences and concerns also gave me pause for thought -- I had this idea [I suppose many of my colleagues back in South Africa would have the same idea] that many answers lie in the United States – the best practices, the solutions -- and that libraries in the States are almost perfect. If there can be only one thought that I am taking back with me , it is that the problems are common all over the world, that we all face similar problems -- advocacy, budget cuts etc etc -- and to solve those problems (which come with different cultural and societal overlays) is something librarians across the world need to work on together through sharing of experiences and so on.

But thankfully, I am not limited to only one thought!

Just before I left South Africa, I was asked what my expectations were about the program, and what I hoped to achieve --- my response was that I was looking for “A-Ha” moments, and I have not been disappointed! In fact, I have been overwhelmed! These moments have come at different times, in different sessions, in mid-conversation with fellow librarians at my host institution, some at most inopportune times. I felt my horizons broaden and myself grow and develop within a couple of weeks of being here. I am certainly going back to South Africa a different person, re-invigorated and re-energized, and very much aware of myself, my strengths and my weaknesses.

It is very difficult to pick out highlights as the whole programme was inspiring and a feast and I have enjoyed every bit of it, taking what I can - eating as much as I can. I will need time to digest and mull over, and internalize my experience.

I would like to say that I cannot really pick out one or two highlights -- the whole programme was a highlight -- but I don’t think that would be an acceptable answer! Different parts of the programmes were highlights for different reasons.
Some of the highlights include are the host visit to the University of Illinois Springfield Brookens Library with my host Jane Treadwell; the ILA Conference in Chicago and the Reaching Forward South Conference. Learning to put together a country presentation with a group of 6 other very individual librarians trying to work together as a team, to get one whole integrated product which we were all happy with, was another very challenging highlight - Blood, sweat and tears! A lesson in teamwork!

The Digitization course was different -- and a major learning curve for me -- especially as it was the first online (WEBCT) course that I have ever participated in. I’m still not too sure if I am comfortable with learning something through using an online method, but this will be something that I need to work through myself. There was a lot of reading to do on the screen and that was quite hard! I can see opportunities for other courses, particularly info lit when it can be integrated into the curriculum.

Although I am very familiar with Web Design (my honours paper in 2003 was Web Design and Construction), I found this course very useful -- it served as a refresher – but also introduced me to blogging, which I had a vague idea about. The idea of learning about webblogs was to show us how quickly one would publish on the internet, and to then use it so we could practice our HTML skills. I now have my own webblog which I have been using as a diary while I am in the United States. The address is
http://www.librarianonaquest.blogspot.com and if you have a look at that, you will see that I have had many A-Ha moments or thoughts/questions that have been raised in my mind.

The chance to explore software like MS Publication and the assistive features on MS Word was great. Although I use MS Publication and MS Word, one does not often get the opportunity to explore the software when you are caught up in the day-to-day workday. You really only use the features that you can quickly discover!

What else were highlights? The sessions on Management with Dale Silver and Terry Weech; Playing Pomojo …. The Customer Service session using the FISH philosophy; the uncannily accurate DISC personality test. What can I say? The whole programme was a highlight.


2. What I hope to accomplish on my return to the University of Cape Town Libraries and to LIASA nationally and within the branch.

There are already two confirmed items on my “To Do” list on my return:
• 24 November, Alvina Matthee and myself are scheduled to do a short presentation to Western Cape LIASA members at our end of year breakfast meeting, on the programme
• An article has been commissioned by the editorial staff of the Cape Librarian (the in-house journal of the Cape Provincial Library Services) on the programme, or some aspect of the programme

Generally speaking, I will go back to share my experiences, observations and A-Ha moments with colleagues both at the University of Cape Town Libraries and other academic libraries within the Western Cape, as well as within the Western Cape LIASA branch. This may be in an informal setting such as a conversation over the reference desk or with colleagues in the staff room, or may be in a formal setting such as a presentation to colleagues or to LIS students. If what I pass on, leads to A-Ha moments for others and leads to e.g. development of services or changes in policy or direction or even changes in attitudes, then that will be an accomplishment of the programme.

Within UCT Libraries, I particularly want to take the opportunity to be more involved in policies/activities related to information literacy and the marketing (advocacy) of the library. I see the two as going together, and certainly the ideas and sessions that I have been exposed to while here, have confirmed this. I hope that my library director will continue her support of my presence on this programme by enabling me to be able to participate in these and to use the ideas, skills etc that I have developed while here.

On my return to South Africa, my priority has to be the completion of my research proposal and short project for the B.Bibl Hons degree that I am pursuing. I was due to graduate at the end of this academic year (December 2004) but this will not be possible as I have been here. However, if I can complete everything by the end January 2005, I will be able to graduate in July 2005. My research topic looks at access policies for secondary users in the academic libraries in the Western Cape. I hope to pursue this topic further for my Masters dissertation. Much of what I have seen here has indicated that we need to explore multi-type consortia in South Africa if the digital divide is not to be perpetuated.

There is one programme that I would like to develop further and offer to my colleagues and to LIASA members in the Western Cape, and that is Customer Service using the FISH philosophy. If I can persuade our colleagues that this is the philosophy and attitude to bring to work or better still, bring to one’s life, then that would be great.

Ujala Satgoor and I have already spoken about my contribution towards LIASA nationally. We have identified involvement with the LIASA webpage as a contribution that I can make, and this will be further explored on our return.

3. Short evaluation of the Mortenson Center International Program overall
What I liked:
• The full program covering a broad expanse of subjects and experiences and observations. The visit to Chicago to ALA, and ILA, the host visit to Springfield – the exposure to American culture was so positive.
• The networking opportunities were brilliant - I have now have contacts in academic libraries, who work in the information literacy field and whom I will contact once I am back at my home institution.
• The opportunity to mix with librarians from other parts of the world and learn and share with them (and realize once again, that the issues are common!)
• Friends -- I have had good experiences with the “Friends” that have been given to me, Joyce Wright here at the Undergraduate Center, Pamela Ortega from Eastern Illinois University (who introduced me to a number of librarians there who are involved in Information Literacy as well as services to the wider community by the academic libraries); and Jane Treadwell and her husband, Victor Ginsberg at U of I Springfield. The staff of the libraries that I spent time in, have been so kind, welcoming, hospitable, and ready to share and to allow me to share with them -- and the surprise visit to the elementary school with Jane Running was entertaining and informative! (I haven’t worked with young children in large groups for years!)

What I didn’t like:
There was very little that I didn’t like. We had been warned that the program was going to be very full, and that we would be moving out of our comfort zones. It did mean that a lot of material was covered in a very short space of time. As an example, the material covered in the HTML course over those few sessions, was the same material that I covered in the year-long course last year.

I would have like a mixture of practical and theory in the digitization class -- but there again, I found it a bit difficult to adjust to the online only milieu. And at the time of writing this report, we have not yet had our one-day workshop.

But the program has been long … 8 weeks is a long time to be away from home, and at times, the homesickness was difficult to cope with (both in myself and then seeing others that were homesick). Thank heavens for email, but it is not the same…

Recommendations:
I don’t have too much to recommend, other than to suggest that the HTML training happens in the program, so that the participants learn about webblogs quickly, and can then use them for recording purposes for reports, etc as well as giving them HTML practice.

Wed 27 October DiSC Leadership Trait Assessment

This was a very interesting workshop during which we took the DiSC personality profile. I've done other personality profiles, but this was so accurate, it seems uncanny. One can do the personality trait test for different circumstances (home, work etc) and it looks at the behaviour of the person. We explored our own personality types and the behaviours, as well as then other personality types and their behaviours

There are four different personality types:
D = Dominance (emphasis is on shaping the environment by overcoming opposition to accomplish results)
I = Influence (emphasis is on shaping the environment by influencing or persuading others)
S = Steadiness (emphasis is on cooperating with others within existing circumstances to carry out the task)
C = Conscientiousness (emphasis is on working conscientiously within existing circumstances to ensure quality and accuracy).

Information was given on (a) the person's tendencies (b) desirable environment and an action plan which indicated who this person needed to work with (what tendencies and characteristics those people needed) and what this person needed to be more effective.

I can see this particular tool being very useful for the BEC and at work. Yes, there are a number of personality trait tests that one could use like Myers-Briggs, but I could recognise myself in this one. We would have to access the material which includes special workbooks in which you need to scratch off the covering to reveal "the truth"

And which one am I? Well, that would be telling .... but it should be easy to guess.

DISC Classic Personal Profil System 2800. Customer Service University : opening minds to the human side of business. Inscape Publishing, 2001

Meeting Paula Kaufman, Library Director of U of I - Urbana Champaign

Paula Kaufman spoke to the group about the role of the Director. She has been at U of I for five years.

She explained that she has very little hands-on management in the library -- this role is delegated to the Associate Directors -- as she spends three-quarters of her time outside the library. Basically, her role is to secure the library's financial and political future; to make the strongest case for money on campus and to then explain to library staff why we didn't get as much as "they" gave us. Some of the difficulty in this case was getting the staff to see that the library was part of the greater whole! About 20% of the university budget was allocated to the library and these came from state funding, tuition, research grants & contracts, and gifts - funds from individuals, corporates, grants etc. There was currently a fundraising campaign for the library on campus with several campus partners. (I attended a football match - Illini vs UCLA - which was a fundraiser for the library and during which the library was promoted, and fundraisers honoured)

Part of Paula's role is to build a shared vision with staff in the library. It is also balancing the generational expectations and challenges of having four different generations in the library. Handling user expectations especially when the users demand instant responses -- she pointed out that we don't need to meet every user expectation. And then there is the challenge of recruiting and retaining librarians and staff & fostering career development.

The library is open to everyone in the local community, and has a good working relationship with the local public libraries. U of I library is also part of several multi-type consortia. (A thought here is that this is something that the libraries in South Africa should look at - yes, we have interlibrary loans etc, but maybe the issue of multi-type regional based consortia should be explored more)

Paula described the different staff that she has working in the library:-

1. Faculty who are librarians who are either research or service librarians on a tenure track; they have faculty status (my peers' business cards reads "Associate Professor"), hold advanced degrees and have excellent records of research and scholarship (means published) and service (which includes service to the professional association, presenting at conferences etc)

2. Academic Professional staff who are not librarians but could work in the Development office as fundraisers, or perhaps IT professionals and so on

3. Civil Service Staff who are not faculty -- this include library support staff (clerks and assistants)

4. Graduate Assistants who are pre-professional employees. These are usually MLS students. There are currently about 104 working in the library, covering the various reference desks etc. (Some are involved in presenting training sessions in the library, answering chat-reference queries etc)

5. Student workers who then work at the circulation and reserves desks.


(A very good book that she recommends is the Effective Executive by Peter Drucker.)

Fundraising and Grant Writing - 19th & 22nd October

Assignment: To write a grant proposal within a year of our return home.

Useful websites:-
Foundation Centre at www.fdncenter.org which is a free resource. UCT Libraries will also have access to the Illinois Research Information System (IRIS) who will be giving us a year's free subscription.

Thursday 21 October: Market Research on a Dime

This session, again at Lincoln Trail Libraries System, presented by Market Research consultant, Donna Fletcher, looked at efficient techniques for libraries to learn about their customers at a low cost. The emphasis was on American libraries (we were joined by other librarians), but much of what was said applies internationally. We all should know about our patrons and customers ...

Donna briefly looked at why it was important to do market research (what you don't know, can hurt you!) and why one needs to know one's customers. Their perspective may be totally different from how one and one's staff view things; it also allows one to be proactive in addressing customer needs, rather than reactive, and forms a basis for long-range planning and marketing plans.

She explained different types of research techniques, and looked at qualitative and quantitative research (simple, non-academic explanations) and then described some case studies, identifying where one should ideally use a professional and where one could save money. Market Research is an expensive business.

Then I got thinking .... when last did we at UCT Libraries do a survey of our users -- not something based as part of someone's Masters -- but a library survey. I know there was a pop-up online survey shortly after Aleph was introduced, but I am not aware of any other survey (and I have been at the library for 13 years!) So how do we know we are meeting user needs and what those needs are? Maybe it is time to do a survey... Would this not be part of the marketing team's brief???

Wed October 20 FISH - Excellent Customer Service

Jan Ison and Amy Weber of the Lincoln Trail Libraries System presented this workshop on Excellent Customer Service using the FISH philosophy which is more than a philosophy -- it is an attitude - based on the philosophy followed by the Seattle Fish Company (think it was). There are four principles -- Play; Make their day: Be there and Choose your attitude. And these work, not only in the work situation - but in one's every day life. I really think that more people need to be exposed to it so they can choose ... (but as Jan pointed out, not everyone is comfortable with this philosophy and idea of playing and having FUN while one works! Librarians are "professionals" and "professionals" don't have fun! )

Reminder to self: See we or CPLS have the video, and check for books by Stephen C Lundin with a view to setting up a workshop or a discussion. Don't forget to buy the fishy elements and other fun stuff!

Ideas for Workshops, Presentations, Articles, Discussion Topics

These are some of the workshops, discussion topics to "start a conversation about ..." The list serves to remind me about the possibilities and the a-ha moments that I have had - lest I forget! Expect that I will only continue with a few as there are too many in this list!

Specific tasks connected with the programme to do on my return:
* Joint Presentation to LIASA Branch on SALLP experience on 24 November
* Article for Cape Librarian on SALLP experience by 20 March 2005
* Write a grant proposal for an organisation by end 2005 -- either UCT Libraries (after discussions) or a community based organisation or school (thinking maybe College of Magic)
* Formal report to LIASA by 3rd December

UCT Libraries:
* Presentation on SALLP experience/trip/observations
* Information Literacy Practices - online courses, workshops
* Marketing - including market research on users needs and wants
* Improved Reference Services: Question Board service; Live Chat Line Reference
* Setting up a Friends in an academic library (discussion)
* Facilitate a "Generations in the workplace" discussion/workshop
* Customer Service using FISH philosophy
* Digitization Project - what about Rare Book's Fore-edge painting books?
* Explore possible ideas about electronic reserves


LIASA Branch/Interest Groups
* Presentation on SALLP experience/trip at Breakfast Meeting on 24 November
* Motivational Talk: Success
* Motivational Talk: Staff Relationships
* Team Building: Playing Pomoja
* Facilitate a "Generations in the workplace" workshop/discussion
* Workshop on Reference services across the different library sectors
* Marketing - including simple market research
* Services to disabled users (facilitate a discussion, possible article for Cape Librarian)
* Library advocacy
* Fund raising and Grant writing
* Web design training
* Presentation skills around poster sessions and table talks for conferences
* Customer Service using FISH philosophy
* Start conversation about joint info lit projects across different library sectors.

Related to Studies
* Multi-type consortia

Another beautiful image

We are experimenting with posting pictures onto the webblog. This is a picture of my favourite animal

Script for presentation to Springfield Commission on International Visitors

One presentation slide depicting the number of different types of libraries in South Africa was on the screen.

Thank you for the opportunity to talk very briefly on Libraries in South Africa. My name is Ingrid Thomson and I will be speaking on behalf of my colleagues, Alvina Matthee, Rhundu Mhinga, Raspy Ramagondu, Mariam Natalwalla, Terese Els and Ronelle van Vollenhoven.

South Africa has a population of 45 million; we have 11 official languages, 2 capital cities - in Pretoria and Cape Town and 9 provinces.

As the slide shows, we have over 11 000 public and community libraries, just under 9 500 school libraries, 88 academic and higher education libraries, numerous special libraries which includes corporte, research and medical library - A very special library to mention here is the Library for the Blind in Grahamstown - and a national library with two branches one in each capital.

The message that we would like to bring to you is that libraries are making difference in our country. As our young democracy grows, so all the different types of libraries play an ever-growing important role in our society in their own communities and jointly, across different sectors, by making information available and accessible to the citizens of our country, helping to create an information-literate society and creating a culture of reading through a variety of activities like literacy classes, reading programmes, advocacy training and so on ... with the benefits that this brings to our society and economy.

Libraries in South Africa do make a difference!

Visit to Host Library: U of I Springfield Thursday 14th & Friday 15th October

I was hosted by Jane Treadwell, Library Director of the Brookens Library at the University of Illinois in Springfield for Thursday and Friday. After the official activities at the Illinois State Library, off we went ...

A programme had been drawn up for me, which included a surprise item (surprise for me, at least) - I was visiting Matheny Elementary School at the request of the school librarian, Jane Running, in the afternoon, so the children could meet a librarian from South Africa. (Jane had previously been at the Illinois State Library and had been involved in Mortensen Center host visits -- and was very keen to have a South African librarian come to visit)

The programme on Thursday consisted of a tour of Brookens Library and the visit to the school.

Friday's programme was more intense - I spent time with Kathy Roegge in Access Services. It was very interesting to see the way they do electronic reserves -- basically scanning the article in as a pdf and making it available for a short length of time. (There is more to it than that, but that is basically what it is) The library was interviewing for a reference librarian and the candidate was being interviewed. Part of the process was an open presentation by the candidate on a brief that that had been given to her, after a tea in which we both met staff. I sat in on the presentation.

Then I spent time with Albert Whittenberg in their Educational Technology section. It seems that the library takes responsibility for IT/Media Services/Equipment in classrooms etc. I saw some amazing technology! And literally every pc in the computer lab had a scanner, plus a couple of them had some video machines attached (for the media students)

After lunch, I did a small presentation on UCT Libraries as the staff were very interested in hearing about us and what we do. Then I spent time with Stephen Smith, Head of Bibliographic Services (including Acquisitions) and a little later with Tom Wood in Archives. Ielleen Miller of Reference who is responsible for much info lit courses etc then took me through a couple of their online courses. Then Albert took me over to see some of the new classrooms -- more amazing technology .... the interactive white boards are something else!

The school visit was fascinating and totally unexpected. I spoke to two groups of Grade 4s and 5s who were scheduled to come to the library that afternoon. I told them a little bit about South Africa -- there was a map of Africa that I could use to get them to find South Africa and Cape Town on. The questions afterwards were fascinating -- do we have tornadoes, do we have hurricanes, do people live in houses, what are the stores like, are there wild animals in my garden, had I ever seen Nelson Mandela in real life... they were equally fascinated to hear that I had never touched snow and a little horrified to hear that children wear school uniform! There were three books on South Africa in the library -- a picture biography of Nelson Mandela, a book on Desmond Tutu and "The day Gogo went to vote".

A big thank you to Jane Treadwell and her husband, Victor Ginsberg, for their wonderful hospitality -- I was so spoiled and made to feel really welcome... so much so, I did not join the rest of the returning Mortenson Associates on the bus back to Urbana-Champaign, but was brought back by Jane and Victor, after a tour of Allerton Park and lunch.

I would like to thank Susan and Barbara, and Bonnie at the State Library for making the trip possible!

Visit to Springfield Tuesday 12th and Wednesday 13th October

After leaving Orchard Downs early in the morning, we arrived in Springfield around 9.30 am and checked into our hotel, the Springfield Hilton -- the tallest building in town.

The morning started off with a tour of the Illinois State Museum (a natural science museum) and an exhibition called "Changes" which emcompassed all the environmental changes that have happened in Illinois over the last few millenia. It was really fascinating and I think that we were specially honoured to have the curator of exhibition, Dr Bonnie Styles, take us around.

We then went back to Illinois State Library where we were welcomed by Jean Wilkens, Director of the State Library, and were then shown around the library by Blaine Redemer, Head of Reference with a quick visit to the Trademarks and Patents Library on the ground floor

Then off to the Old State Capitol State Historic site, and a whirlwind rush to see Lincoln's home. It poured with rain the whole day, so we did very little walking.

That evening, Kathryn Harris, Divisional Manager for Library Services, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, presented: Harriet Tubman speaks: What was the underground railroad? What a fascinating story?

On Wednesday, we were up bright and early, walking around the corner to visit the Lincoln Library, the Public Library of Springfield. And then off for a tour of the Dana-Thomas House which was designed by Frank .... who sounds a fascinating character.

Back to the State Library for a lunch meeting with the Springfield Commission on International Visitors, where each country had to do a presentation -- this time using one slide and only speaking for a max of 3 minutes. It fell to me to do the presentation -- the script of the presentation will be posted on this webblog. Susan chose the slide...

After lunch, we went off for a tour of Talking Book & Braille Service which is one of the services offered by the Illinois State Library, and then off to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library for a very honoured preview (the official opening was the next day) with Kathryn Harris. I think we must have seen every nook and cranny, -- it really is a beautiful building!

That evening, we were hosted at a dinner reception out on a farm (really the most beautiful country setting, under cover with good food and wine ...) which gave some of us an opportunity to meet our hosts.

Beautiful flower

We are experimenting with posting pictures onto the webblog.

Introduction to Digitization

This is a basic 3 -week course on digitization which has been presented as an online course using Webct. A one-day hands-on workshop will happen later in the next couple of weeks. The technical aspects of digitization have been demystified. We had to work out a possible project after learning about criteria for selection etc and then virtually purchase equipment with a virtual budget ... I thought that Tanya's collection of Fore Edge paintings would be an excellent choice - a unique collection and something different! So that is my digitization project - something different. But maybe digitizing the collection of fore edge paintings could become a real project for UCT Libraries.

Working on Webct is difficult especially with the amount of reading that we need to do -- there are several pdf documents to read and assignments/quizzes every second day. I'm not sure that I like working online like that -- my inclination would be to print off the documents so that I can read them at my leisure and page back and forth easily... but the documents are large and would cost a lot to print off!

Web Design Class

The Web Design class is being presented by Eric Sizemore and is aimed at giving the group some basics in designing a web page. The idea was to divide the class into two -- a more experienced group and one with less or no experience. As it turned out, there were only two of us with any web experience (Raphael and myself) and much of what he was planning to cover, I had already covered in the honours course. So Raphael and I decided that we actually did want to be in the groups with the others so we could brush up and also pick up other tips. I know very little about webblogs ... and in any event, it's a good way to brush up.

It would be better if the course wasn't so spread out ... much of what we are covering in two or three sessions, was covered over several months in my honours course, so some of the guys are struggling a bit... but we're getting there. The idea is that we would be able to train others on some basics of web page design.

The webblog was one way of getting published on the internet very quickly, although I tend now not to use it for practising the html coding, but rather as a diary and for reporting. But some of the odd things that appear on the webblog are exercises in the web design class.