1. Real Measurements for Libraries in an Internet Age: A report on the Normative Data Project Stephen Abram Vice President, Innovation Bob Molyneux Chief Statistician SirsiDynix Dec. 6, 2005

2. What are libraries most worried about? 1.Sustaining Relevance 2.Millennial user behavioral mutations 3.Balancing print, electronic and new services and resources 4.Understanding Diversity 5.E-Learning and Distance Education challenges 6.Justifying growth and projects – Measures not Stats 7.Understanding mutating (not changing) usage patterns – info not data 8.Building community partnerships with authority 9.Building for the future and not repairing the present 10.Productivity and shifting staff resources 11.Budgets and Fundraising SURVIVAL

3. Big Questions 1.How do we gain insights into changes in our ecology through our usability and user behavior studies, and our trend insights as shown through our statistics and measurements? 2.Can we really know the underlying reasons for users’ interactions with library services? 3.Can we easily and cheaply compare ourselves to other libraries, other agencies, or communities? 4.Can we back up our qualitative stories with quantitative measurements and data - proofs? 5.If we had the proofs, would it help our strategies, fundraising and tactical implementations? 6.Are we happy with the present?

4. Acting like a business but being a library Knowing Customers like Wal  Mart™ Giving service like Nordstrom™ Being as efficient as GE™ Delivering an experience like Amazon™ Having the budget of Google™ Living the brand

5. The Virtuous Triangle

6. Usability Tests

7. Normative Data Usability Tests

8. Normative Data Personas Usability Tests

9. Normative Data Personas Usability Tests The Library World

10. Normative Data Personas Usability Tests The Library World The Real World

11. ? How do you persuade? Data, charts and graphs – help but dry Debate & Argument – a little confrontational Conversation – a lot of effort, scales poorly Narrative storytelling – captures the energy of the population and persists Read: The Springboard: How Storytelling Ignites Action in Knowledge-Era Organizations. by Steve Denning http://www.stevedenning.com/springboard_story.html

12. Start with understanding the users in terms of their real: –needs, preferences, and desires –goals and aspirations –expectations and assumptions –values and their beliefs –tolerance for risk and change Personas 24

13. Personas are understood through discovery by: –Gathering data to identify possible “anchors” –Observing behavior –Pattern emergence in narrative Personas 19

14. Personas 13

15. 16 Personas

16. Personas Personas are hypothetical representations of a natural grouping of users that drive decision-making for development projects. –They are defined by goals. –They focus on what is valuable to the user and subsequently on how he or she behaves. They are not Stereotypes or Archetypes 14

17. Goals: Help team build the base infrastructure for.NET products. Construct the base set of services that ship with the product and compose the core of a distributed framework for hosting distributed services. Add queuing semantics and associated locking, classification and routing of messages, subscriptions, efficient filtering, fan-out, etc., to the server. Integrate new distributed communication semantics to the existing SQL Server programming model. Demonstrate ability to communicate and work well with other teams. Usage Scenario : Henry has been around long enough to build a solid network of resources to call when he has specific questions about products or programs. He often learns about new technologies or processes through casual conversation with his friends and coworkers in the hallway. He uses Yahoo! for general information gathering because he likes the simplicity of the site design and the breadth of information available. The Portal is not his start page—he usually just types in the URL directly. He rarely reads the content on the first page because he doesn't want to know what's going on with general companywide PR information. He's somewhat cynical about "companywide" internal releases and dislikes company politics. However, on a personal level, he does want to know about the schedules that the applications are on so he can plan. He's frustrated that there's no place you can go to find product information all in one spot. Info-Seeking Behavior : When Henry needs specific information, he generally e-mails or phones a friend. He is a member of about 15 different DLs that used to be manageable, but now he finds it increasingly difficult to keep up. He typically uses the Portal to search for internal information across the companywide intranet or to find other internal sites. He comes to the portal about four-five times a week by typing in the URL and stays for less than 15 minutes at a time. He rarely, if ever, goes to there to find general information about the company or the industry as a whole. He uses internal databases to find internal information on products or code. If he's frustrated by something, he'll go there and find solutions rather than go outside to support or to a dot-com. "You used to have to drill down pretty deep to find personalized information, but now it's easier." He tends to bookmark pages in the portal because he hates having to go 5 levels down. He'll use that bookmark until it breaks, then he has to research it again. He would like to have favorites on the portal. Henry 41 Years Old, Software Design Engineer U.S. 12 Years at the company. Single, MS Comput.Sci 15 Personas

18. Public Library Pilot Project –Libraries in rural, urban and suburban Northeastern U.S. and Canada to start –March through May, 2005 –Leveraging proven techniques for understanding complex markets (Cynefin Centre) Follow up to cover the broader U.S.A. and global marketplace Follow through for Academic (ARL, ACRL, LibQual and COUNTER, etc.) K-12 School personas can follow later The Future 23

19. In summary, by seeing the world through the lens of the customer, we create an: –Opportunity to increase customer satisfaction and return visits –Opportunity for everyone in the organization to work to achieve the same goals, efficiently, and an –Opportunity to have a clear, and achievable direction. Pandora’s Box – Exciting but a little dangerous 25 The Future

20. Sneak Peak SirsiDynix Personas

21. Summary Findings ArchetypesThemesValues  Good Citizenship  Patrons  Library Staff  Library Services and Facilities  Money Interaction  Technology  Efficiency  Money  Other  Community  Learning  Quality  Efficiency  Money/Risk Emerging groups of archetypes, themes and values from the five workshops

22. Good Citizenship Archetypes Well-Rounded Citizen (13 attributes) Collaborate Community brings people together Cozy Diverse activities Encourage creativity Good use of our money Human contact Intellectual opportunities Kids feel safe Nurturing Opportunities – social Security Willing to chat when time permits Bergen County

23. Good Citizenship Archetypes Strong Community Leader (6 attributes) Community builder Connected Connecting with community Gives people mission Networking Pulls community together SAILS

24. Patron Archetypes Frustrated Patron (12 attributes) Annoying Books out of print Disruption Indifference Lack of wireless No tape player Online services unavailable Out of date Physical pain Ripped/missing pieces, out of date magazine Wasted resources Wasted space Cleveland

25. Patron Archetypes Inquisitive Power User (12 attributes) After hours usage Broader search results Computer use Introduction to new things Lots of preferences No online access outside of library Not a free service Open to public Outside sources Search method Universal access Ways to get information Cleveland

26. Patron Archetypes Disengaged Seeker (9 attributes) Can’t get book you want (timely) Don’t listen to reviews/bad reviews (NPR Reviews) Embarrassing Fear of puppets Forgot card/license Head aches Injuries Some people consider a waste of money/space (crafts) Too long Cleveland

27. Library Staff Archetypes Ultimate Tour Guide (7 attributes) Advance reserve on new materials Abundance of items One-stop shopping Video/DVD lost in drop box Access to materials never afford Up to date, current materials Diversity of materials Buffalo-Erie

28. Library Services Archetypes Out-of-Date IT (6 attributes) Access to PC’s Message is too long (automated computer system) Not enough computers Slow re-boot Strong database Technical-media options Hamilton Public

29. Library Services Archetypes “Something for Everyone” Resources (4 attributes) Can’t remove reference material Extensive collection Library for books, not movie rentals Library for education films, not Hollywood movies Hamilton Public

30. A perspective on developing better measurement and communication tools for librarians

31. What Problem do we want or have to Solve ?

32. Our Objective Empower our Clients to Thrive – our success is dependent on their success Get the Measurement Tools into the Right Hands – Directors and Management – Supervisors – Collection Developers – Librarians – Library boards and trustees – and also the regular folks in Finance / IT

33. Follow the BAM (Business Activity Monitoring) model Present a more holistic view of the enterprise Focus on underlying message in the data Incorporate a “dashboards” format for quick access Create a metrics monitoring tool for decision support what-if analysis Alert threshold triggers Shift the dynamic from static reporting to fluid analytics Create a “Discovery” Environment Our Design Goals

34. Results: Improved support for “Customer” Understanding Encourages informed, data-driven decisions Provides data to support the Stories Closer alignment of library services to the customer “Board Ready” output for effective presentations (the power of persuasion!) Finger-tip access to management level data for deep collection use analysis Supports strategic development of your institution’s mission

35. Director’s Station

36. Quick Peak Dr. Data and the NDP

41. Normative Data Project http://www.libraryndp.info

42. http://www.libraryndp.info

43. Normative Data Project Potential: –300+ library systems –2,500 library service outlets and branches –Over 1 billion annual circ transactions for up to three years Today –Already 30,000,000 items –Already 52 systems –Already almost 500 libraries –And more…

44. Normative Data Project Includes: Harvested, privacy-safe data on almost everything that is tracked in a library: –Circulation –Backroom: Technical services, cataloguing –Acquisitions and budgets –Web site traffic –Licensed content usage –Currently Unicorn and Horizon datasets but more will be considered Harvested semi-annually, reported quarterly

45. Normative Data Project Includes: Amazing extra features –NCES statistics –Budget and expenditure data –U.S. Census data –Detailed GIS Maps from FSU partnership All FULLY integrated Current focused on Public Libraries. Future Projects include Academic, College and Schools.

46. Change in Circulation by Format

47. Kids will be kids For example: 3 Branches in Fairfax County –Great Falls Community Library  52% college grads +, 2% no high school  87% white –Woodrow Wilson Community Library  27% college grads+, 18% no high school  53% white –Thomas Jefferson Community Library  29% college grads +, 13% no high school  62% white

48. Study Usage by Call Number Range

49. Over-used books by Dewey Class Dewey call number ranges Checkout and Renewals Turnover Rank (of 100) % of Titles Rank (of 100)Difference in ranks (450) Italian, Romanian, Rhaeto- Romantic19,1961391-78 (440) Romance languages French44,996984-75 (460) Spanish & Portuguese languages124,313373-70 (470) Italic Latin6,4543297-65 (410) Linguistics61,0371477-63 (560) Paleontology Paleozoology284,004461-57 (710) Civic & landscape art175,370864-56 (210) Natural theology13,4594192-51 (430) Germanic languages German24,3413585-50 (480) Hellenic languages Classical Greek3,9945198-47

50. Under-used books by Dewey Class Dewey call number ranges Checkout and Renewals Turnover Rank (of 100) % of Titles Rank (of 100)Difference in ranks (700) The arts175,914753144 (010) Bibliography18,924995445 (020) Library & information sciences70,6389648 (360) Social services; association875,808621250 (300) Social sciences764,617641351 (320) Political science307,733772354 (800) Literature & rhetoric423,057782454 (340) Law335,182812655 (970) General history of North America1,901,94883380 (920) Biography, genealogy, insignia234,234981583

51. Collections by Language

52. Examples Computer book circulation by publication year. Spanish language book circulation by region. Can I get data to support this grant I am writing? Journal titles comparison – electronic title to print title usage for rationalization project. What is our usage by branch by zip code? How am I faring in my cohort (geography or domain)? Are other libraries successful with graphic novels? How many would I need? What is the best opening day collection for this one? If I spent $10,000 on collections, where should I spend it? Is my consumer health collection too old? More, more, more.

53. Christie Koontz, Ph.D. Director, GeoLib Program Florida State University Normative Data Project Partnership

54. Geographic Segmentation Plotting Customer Addresses of Circulation Records

55. SirsiDynix Library Schools Program Normative Data Project Offers Charter Memberships to ALA-Accredited Library Schools June 25, 2005 Press Release http://www.libraryndp.info/release_20050625sc hools.html

56. Stephen Abram, MLS VP Innovation, SirsiDynix 416-669-4855 Stephen.abram@sirsidynix.com http://www.sirsidynix.com Stephen’s Lighthouse http://stephenslighthouse.sirsi.com Thanks SirsiDynix FSU Normative Data Project http://www.libraryndp.com SirsiDynix Director’s Station http://www.sirsi.com/Solutions/Prodserv/Products/directorsstation.html Stephen’s Lighthouse and the Library NDP Blogs Dr. Robert (Bob) Molyneux Chief Statistician, SirsiDynix 800-917-4774 bob.molyneux@sirsidynix.com http://www.sirsidynix.com NDP Blog http://www.libraryndp.info/blog/