In the face of rapid change and an ever-widening constellation of challenges, it’s crucial for library leaders to pull back to the question of “why?” Plotting a sustainable way forward depends upon recommitting ourselves to our underlying values, such as customer service and community-building, while fostering the improvements that change makes possible. With passion, patience, and fortitude, libraries can stride confidently into the future. In this book, noted speakers and consultants Bignoli and Stara speak directly to library directors, managers, administrators, and technology staff, offering concrete guidance on setting or resetting strategic priorities. Taking an interconnected and specific approach to planning for and strengthening the library environment as a whole, their book discusses why libraries should embrace change as a fundamental part of library life; explores how to harness rapid change to provide more responsive, user-centered library service; addresses the ways in which libraries straddle the physical and the digital, in areas such as service provision and collections, illuminating how they overlap and can be improved using similar philosophies; presents both a comprehensive overview of library technologies as well as related team and change management advice, all grounded in user experience principles; shows how the concepts of sustainability and flexibility apply to physical space planning and design, from furniture selection and arrangement to infrastructure; and provides sound guidance on project management, problem solving, preparing for future challenges, personal reflection and self-care, and other leadership topics.

"A comprehensive and practical handbook exploring the value and applicability of UX Research & Design to libraries. As well as detailed methodology, there are numerous case studies from around the world and insights from practitioner librarians. This volume takes you through all the stages of the UX Process, from research, to data mapping and analysis, to idea generation and finally prototyping and iteration. Written by former librarian and experienced UX trainer and consultant Andy Priestner, it is intended for use by all library staff regardless of previous experience and seeks to place the user at the heart of library service development and delivery."--

Modern library services can be incredibly complex. Much more so than their forebears, modern librarians must grapple daily with questions of how best to implement innovative new services, while also maintaining and updating the old. The efforts undertaken are immense, but how best to evaluate their success? In this groundbreaking new book from Routledge, library practitioners, anthropologists, and design experts combine to advocate a new focus on User Experience (or ‘UX’) research methods. Through a combination of theoretical discussion and applied case studies, they argue that this ethnographic and human-centred design approach enables library professionals to gather rich evidence-based insights into what is really going on in their libraries, allowing them to look beyond what library users say they do to what they actually do. Edited by the team behind the international UX in Libraries conference, User Experience in Libraries will ignite new interest in a rapidly emerging and game-changing area of research. Clearly written and passionately argued, it is essential reading for all library professionals and students of Library and Information Science. It will also be welcomed by anthropologists and design professionals working in related fields.

User experience (UX) characterizes how a person feels about using a product, system or service. UX design incorporates the practical aspects of utility, ease of use and efficiency to make your web design and functionality decisions with patrons in mind. This results in a better design, a more intuitive interface, and a more enjoyable experience. This book shows you how to get there by providing hands-on steps and best practices for UX design principles, practices, and tools to engage with patrons online and build the best web presence for your library. You ll find out how to conduct a usability test, perform a card sort, make decisions on how to build the architecture of your site, create personas as a cornerstone of your website planning process, create a content strategy, and perform an experience-based evaluation of your site.

This book shows you how to get there by providing hands-on steps and best practices for UX design principles, practices, and tools to engage with patrons online and build the best web presence for your library.

The ever-shifting landscape of electronic resources challenges even the most tech-savvy information professionals. Now, however, you can surmount those challenges, with the solid backing offered in this practical book. Despite their being visible, valuable, and expensive components of public and academic library collections, electronic resources remain somewhat mysterious to many librarians. How do you deal with vendors, how do you decide which e-resources to buy, how do you optimize access for remote users, and perhaps most importantly, how do you motivate your public to use them? Created by three front-line practitioners, this guide answers all of those questions and more, offering practical advice to information professionals involved in any aspect of electronic resource management—from selecting, acquiring, and activating to managing, promoting, and deselecting. It features clear instructions along with definitions, checklists, FAQs, and sidebars comprising sensible tips and anecdotal asides for the involved librarian. Written in a lively style and brimming with helpful information, this is the guide you'll wish you had in library school, and a resource you will refer to again and again.

This book will inform and inspire librarians, archivists, curators and technologists to make better use of data to help inform decision-making, the development of new services and the improvement of the user experience. With the wealth of data available to library and cultural heritage institutions, analytics are the key to understanding their users and improving the systems and services they offer. Using case studies to provide real-life examples of current developments and services, and packed full of practical advice and guidance for libraries looking to realize the value of their data, this will be an essential guide for librarians and information professionals. Library Analytics and Metrics brings together a group of internationally recognized experts to explore some of the key issues in the exploitation of data analytics and metrics in the library and cultural heritage sectors, including: The role of data in helping inform collections management and strategy Approaches to collecting, analyzing and utilizing data Using analytics to develop new services and improve the user experience Using ethnographic methodologies to better understand user behaviours The opportunities of library data as ‘big data’ The role of ‘small data’ in delivering meaningful interventions for users Practical advice on managing the risks and ethics of data analytics How analytics can help uncover new types of impact and value for institutions and organizations. Readership: This book will be an invaluable resource for librarians and library directors interested in developing a data-driven approach to their service provision and decision making; students on library and information science courses; and managers and practitioners in other cultural heritage sectors such as museums, archives and galleries.