Getting to know our clients on 'wallwisher'

A few months ago we installed a 'wallwisher' suggestion board in our foyer for client comments and feedback. It replaced an antiquated system of pen on paper comments posted on a notice board. It's caused quite a stir among clients and staff and some of  the comments are hilarious. I particularly like the ongoing discussion about our Kenny G elevator music and the problem it's causing... clients ask our advice because they start to feel a bit romantic in the lift and they're worried one thing might lead to another... I've wanted to blog about this for a while but I've asked the wonderful Ashley to be my guest blogger for  this post because she's more involved than me and quite the comedian. I hope you enjoy.

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Serious Asks: Does the Library have plans for response on a wizard attack on Blake Library?
Library: The Library has plans for earthquakes, fire, wizard and zombie attacks. However no one can stop Godzilla; except maybe ninja. Please dial 6 in an emergency.

Anon asks: this wall is amazing, I bet the person who set this up is amazing too. And handsome.
Library: We suspect this was put up by a member of our IT Staff.
Library (aka PinkFairaeDust): If you think the IT guys are cute, you should see the Librarians who write on this wall ;)

I suppose you realise by now that this is not one of lovely Sophie’s clever posts. She has asked me to write something about our Brilliant Library Suggestion Board. I am not entirely sure she has picked the right person. I am generally known for doing silly things like naming my lemon tree Fredrick, or asking my boss’ boss’ boss if the new ASRS will be pretty. Ah well here goes!

Above you can see me in front of our gorgeous suggestion board. I am one of the people who respond to students comments and have fallen head over heels in love with the process. They have surprised and thrilled me with their comments and general Geekery.

I guess what I really enjoy are the cheeky comments designed to test our boundaries. Most of the time they are not testing our boundaries by being bad or rude. I guess I can only describe it was testing out how human we are and if we have a sense of humour. So far, we have only had to moderate them lightly, taking down one racist comment and another with a naughty word in it. Actually, we really wanted to leave the latter one up due to its pertinence to the student experience. Shall we play Blankety blanks? “Life is like a sometimes it gets hard for no reason.” True in oh so many ways. Alas we do have to draw a line somewhere. You can see some of the initial comments in our Facebook Photo Gallery.
 
Some of you might be wondering what this has to do with providing Library Services. Not everyone probably agrees with me, but I represent the silly 25-year-old new graduates and I think it is a crucial step in engaging with students. Sure some of the comments are silly; sure some of them have nothing to do with traditional Library business. That doesn’t bother me at all. Anything that engages students and makes library staff appear less stern and more approachable is fine by me. One bad Library experience will turn you away from Libraries and Librarians for good. Secretly, between you and me, Librarians still petrify me. I was far too scared to approach Librarians in both my degrees – even when I was studying to be one!
 
What matters to me is that our students (patrons? Researchers? Learners?) feel comfortable talking to us no matter how silly the question may seem and know that we are interested in helping them solve their problems. Even if it is only to suggest a game of rock, paper, scissors, lizard, spock to settle who gets to use the computers first (then point out our Online computer availability system). 



Yours, @pinkfairaedust

Into the real world: a day in the life of a new information professional

This is a presentation I did last week for a group of 'Communications - information and media' students. I was part of a 5 person panel and each of us presented a typical day as a recently graduated information professional. There was an interesting and diverse range of careers from librarians to, information architect, online presence consultant and senior knowledge manager.

Into The Real World

View more presentations from MissSophieMac.

The students asked us to explain the relevance of our studies to the 'real' world which is somewhat explained in the presentation from my point of view. We each explained different aspects of how theory relates to practice but we all agreed that being able to compare, critically analyse and synthesise theories into practice is a vital skill used on a daily basis. This understanding of theory provides the foundation for understanding our clients/users and the how/what/why of their information behaviour.

They also wanted to know what kind of jobs there will be for them in the future. A tricky one to answer. I suggested that future information professionals will have a lot of flexibility and freedom to pursue their interests and hone their skills in whichever 'job' they happen to have - which is already what I see happening in my own experience. Employers in this field seem to be very encouraging of staff developing skills and interests that can be of use to the organisation. We also suggested that the skills and experience gained at uni will put them in a position to land a future job that may not even exist yet.

My final piece of advice for future information professionals is: constant change means constant learning, continue to play and be curious.