SLO 4

The student designs services to meet the information needs of all users and communities.

Providing access to information is the role librarians are best known for, and therefore the role that we must strive to excel in if we are to maintain our users’ confidence and trust.

What is involved in providing “information services”? The ALA Core Competences of Librarianship lists seven competences under the heading of “Reference and User Services.”

​5A. The concepts, principles, and techniques of reference and user services that provide access to relevant and accurate recorded knowledge and information to individuals of all ages and groups.

5B. Techniques used to retrieve, evaluate, and synthesize information from diverse sources for use by individuals of all ages and groups.

5C. The methods used to interact successfully with individuals of all ages and groups to provide consultation, mediation, and guidance in their use of recorded knowledge and information.

5D. Information literacy/information competence techniques and methods, numerical literacy, and statistical literacy.

5E. The principles and methods of advocacy used to reach specific audiences to promote and explain concepts and services.

5F. The principles of assessment and response to diversity in user needs, user communities, and user preferences.

5G. The principles and methods used to assess the impact of current and emerging situations or circumstances on the design and implementation of appropriate services or resource development.

(ALA, 2011)

From this list of competences, we can infer that information services refers to anything the librarian does to provide access to information for library users, including but not limited to: collection development, reference interviews and consultation, development of resource lists, assessing user needs and demographics, and instruction in the use of information resources. We are tasked with provided access to information and the knowledge needed to access said information.

Before we can determine what services to provide to library users, we must identify the information needs and desires of our users. This will ensure that we are provided services and resources that will actually be used, and that we are not leaving any major gaps in what we provide. The best method for this is called a needs assessment, a process that is a crucial part of designing information services. A library needs assessment starts by identifying the current condition of and services provided by said library. Are there service or resources that are being used more frequently than others? Are some not used at all or only rarely? Next, determine who your users are. What are their backgrounds? How educated are they? Does your community of users contain large populations of minority groups? Ask your users what they want from the library. Is there something they want that you don’t offer? Use surveys, circulation data, and other usage statistics to determine what needs to change in your library to meet your users’ needs.

In LIS 650, we worked in groups to conduct a needs assessment of a particular library or library space. Although our group focused on the use of a certain space in the library, the process for conducting the needs assessment is the same. We began by examining the space and the users, determined our goal of increasing student use of the space, and then used several methods to determine what would be needed to meet our goal. Student surveys, observations of who was using the space, and interviews with willing survey takers helped us form a picture of what the students wanted and needed in that space, and how to achieve it. A similar process can lead design of services just as well as it did our redesign of the space, meaning that the library would better meet its users’ needs.

On a more individual basis, conducting reference interviews is a method frequently used by librarians to determine the actual information needs of a specific library user. This method uses a series of questions to turn the user’s often vague ideas of what they need into a specialized research question that can be met with specific resources, search terms, and other assistance from the librarian. Instead of a user coming to the library and saying “I need information on China,” followed by a lot of time being wasted hunting through general resources, the reference interview helps the librarian to understand that that user actually wants scholarly articles on economic change in China in the last 20 years. This results in greater satisfaction for the user because they receive the actual information they need, and less confusion for the librarian.

In LIS 620, we were required to do two mock reference interviews: one as partners with another classmate while the professor pretended to be a graduate student, and one with a person of our choice. This is an example of the librarian’s own skill set and expertise acting as a resource or service for the library user. The librarian improves access to information for the user by helping the user to identify their information need.

Designing information services for school libraries takes a number of skills and actions that might not be applicable in other libraries. Balancing information needs based on the curriculum with students' personal interests can be tricky. Not long after completing this capstone, I will be taking a position as a long-term substitute librarian at South Mecklenburg High School. For the first time, designing information services will no longer be a hypothetical exercise for me. I will need to work with teachers and students to determine the best ways to meet the needs of both, inside the classroom and out. Only providing what is needed to support the curriculum does the students a disservice and stifles their growth, so I must also take into consideration the information they express a personal interest in. It will be a challenge, but one that I am confident I can rise to after my experiences in this program.

REFERENCES

ALA. (2011, December 14). Core Competences of Librarianship. Retrieved October 26, 2017, from http://www.ala.org/educationcareers/careers/corecomp/corecompetences ​

ARTIFACTS

NEEDS ASSESSMENT

REFERENCE INTERVIEW