Stephen Abram

has research that shows users are not coming in for books, even though that’s what they say
it’s about adding on, like to your house; L1 is still there, L2 is about adding on to that
talk about the family room and what you do there, not the tools that build it

I want to feel differently in this space; how should people feel in your space
sending out a brochure that you have books and databases won’t tell them how they’ll feel in your space

*context* is king, not content
it’s about unfettered experience, not about free
what’s the immersive experience we’re creating in public libraries?

five contexts about the library:
– learning
– research
– community and neighborhoods (virtual or not, all ages – knitters)
– workplace
– entertainment and culture (example of a library in an African-American community that took every item by an African-American author and put it at the front of the library – satisfaction went up and circulation went up 300%)

you don’t just pick one – you work on all of them

can make anyone click a button by making it bigger and flashier – that’s not making it usable

sides of a triangle of the library world – personas, usability tests, normative data

his project put their normative data through the same software used by the department of homeland security
can find peoples’ behaviors through their stories
led to seven specific personas

discussed millennials and their characteristics – format-agnostic, respect intelligence, high expectations, experiential, more liberal, entrepreneurial, achievement-oriented

discussed eye-tracking studies – A pattern for boomers, F pattern for millennials

grade 4 and younger don’t look below the fold; need to design web pages for these kids differently; start to go below the fold at grade 6

80% of learners are not text-based learners, yet librarians design text-heavy websites

five personality dimensions for searching (I missed the URL for reading further about this)
– extraversion was related to informal information retrieval as well as preference for thought provoking documents over documents which confirmed previous ideas
– openness to experience was related to broad information seeking, incidental information acqusition, ciritcal information judgement…
– competitiveness was related to lack of time being a barrier to information retrieval, problems with relevance judgment and competence in critical analysis of information. low levels of agreeableness forms a base for skeptical and critical thinking
– conscientiousness was related to preference for thought provoking documents instead of documents that confirmed previous ideas and use of effort in information seeking

project objective – understand and meet the expectations of public library users for services, content, and virtual interaction (interviewed 15,000 people, plus interviewed 5,000 libraries at ALA, PLA, and CLA)

a boomer would pick a topic to research, do the research, and forge ahead in a linear fashion
a millennial would pick several topics, do research on all of them, and then prune off the topics one by one until they are left with a final one

“Computers in Libraries” issue about University of Toronto personas

themes from the narratives from the project – interaction was at the top, followed by technology, efficiency, and money
wanted community, learning, quality, efficiency, money/risk from their library; not books or reading

talked about good citizenship (collaboration, encourage creativity, good use of our money, kids feel safe, nurturing, opportunities), other patrons creeped them out a little bit
imagine how powerful a brochure with the above words would be, as opposed to one about books and databases

inquisitive power user, disengaged seeker, ultimate tour guide, out-of-date IT, something-for-everyone resources

values – community, learning, quality, efficiency, money/risk

archetype of satisfied user is one that wants self-learning (cuts down searching, too many features)
two distinct groups – one that wants help, one that doesn’t; genealogists get too much help from librarians

content – library material types (frustrated patron is archetype)

service – quality librarian services (equal access, ease of use and efficiency, meeting customer needs)

7 SirsiDynix personas – discovery dan, haley high school, jennifer, mommy marcie, rick researcher, senior sally, tasha learner

example of using data – offer your internet research classes at the same time as your storyhours

il2006