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Remaining Relevant: Interior Design, Customer Service, and Digital Outreach in a Corporate Library
- 1. Remaining Relevant Interior Design, Customer Service, and Digital Outreach in a Corporate Library Abby Lindquist Condé Nast Research Library LIS 698 – Dean Tula Giannini Spring 2012
- 2. Condé Nast Corporation Credit: www.condenast.com/brands
- 3. Condé Nast Research Library • Condé Nast publications available from magazine’s launch or acquisition date • Non-Condé Nast publications date back a minimum of two years, often more Condé Nast current publications
- 4. Condé Nast Research Library • Over 4,000 fashion, photography, art, architecture, design, entertainment, and reference books Photography books
- 5. Condé Nast Research Library Condé Nast Library intranet page • 3 public access computers for personal use or access to digital resources • App Library with multiple tablets
- 6. Moving On 4 Times Square 1 World Trade Center Photo credit: wikipedia.org
- 7. Interior Design University of West Georgia Ingram Library, GA Fox, 2011 • Consider needs of users • Flexibility guarantees usage
- 8. Interior Design • Articulate and plan culture of the space • Unique fixtures, bold signage (Fox, 2011) Kirkwood Public Library, MO Fox, 2011
- 9. “Customer” Service • New hire tour only gives basic overview • Could offer instruction sessions because “a lower level employee may actually need more help” (Matheny, 2009, p. 136) Research tables
- 10. “Customer” Service • Monetization of time saved
- 11. “Customer” Service • External requests promote positive impression of Condé Nast Mademoiselle, January 1963, p. 50 House & Garden, April 1905, p. 189
- 12. “People don’t know the library exists. If everyone were more aware of its presence, I’m sure they’d use it more often.” – Managing Editor, Condé Nast publication
- 13. Digital Outreach QR Codes best practices • Contextual information with code • Place prominently near entrance, reference desk, special collection areas (Cordova, 2011) Connect flyer
- 14. • April 12: 613 • Now: 631 https://twitter.com/condelibrary/
- 15. • April 12: 105 • Now: 119 http://pinterest.com/cnlibrary/
- 16. Digital Outreach Shelf sign and Connect flyer Future uses of QR Codes • Instructional videos for new automation system • Connect to mobile catalog
- 17. References • Cordova, M. (2011). The Quick Response (QR) Code: Graphic Potential for Libraries. Idaho Librarian, 61(1), 1-6. • Fox, B. Year in Architecture 2011: Walk Right in, Sit Right Down. Library Journal. December 15, 2011. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from http://features.libraryjournal.com/architecture/library-buildings-2011/year- in-architecture-2011-walk-right-in-sit-right-down/ • Matheny, C. (2009). Earning Your Way: Customer Service in Special Libraries. Texas Library Journal, 85(4), 136-137.
Editor's Notes
- Publisher of 18 consumer magazines, 4 business-to-business publications, 27 websites, and over 50 mobile or tablet apps. Also the owners of Fairchild Fashion Media, which publishes Women’s Wear Daily.
- More recent issues are available loose and for circulation; older CN magazines are available in bound volumes.
- How the library is used: research questions are sent in via electronic form, and many users walk in to conduct their own research or check out materials. The library recently laid off one staff member, so the remaining three librarians need to focus on the research requests. Walk-in patrons are required to be more self-sufficient, so the library must consider that angle moving forward in their decisions on automation systems to self-service at check-out.
- International CN publications are available on MediaNet, and older articles are cited in Abstracts Search. The Digital Archive includes photos and articles from proprietary magazines, on the as-printed pages.As the publications have launched digital versions for tablets, the library provides multiple iPads, Nooks, and other tablets to search and view the digital content.
- The whole Condé Nast Corporation will be moving to One World Trade Center when the new building is ready, likely in late 2013. So this period of transition brings both a lot of work and the chance to innovate. My main project has been to help the library prepare for the move, with considerations for decreased staff numbers and the need to remain relevant in order to justify the continued existence of the library.
- At Conde Nast, users tend to grab a pile of large art books or massive bound volumes of magazines and spread them out on the tables, so the new space should accommodate that. The seating areas here, which can be rearranged as necessary, allow patrons to use the space as they want to, perhaps for meetings or research consultations.
- In order to encourage repeat visitors and increase usage, the library must offer a welcoming vibe that is easy to use by a variety of patrons. As a periodicals-centric library, they could utilize feature shelves, like these or on the end of the shelves, for the most recent issues of proprietary and competitor publications. During the planning stage, there should also be accommodations for materials being processed for the bindery or books waiting to be cataloged; in the current space, these items are stashed wherever space can be found.
- Conde Nast includes the library on the first day tour for new hires, but the guide only gives the highlights of the collection and a brief explanation of the research request. Many of the walk-in users are interns, with a high seasonal turnover, or editorial assistants. As they have not been with the corporation for a long time, these groups will naturally need frequent, basic instruction. If CN employees are comfortable and familiar with the library, they will use it more often.
- A major benefit of better awareness and utilization of the library’s services is the monetization of time saved for the corporation.The librarians have honed their research skills and familiarity with the appropriate databases, thus saving precious time in a deadline-centric environment like a magazine publisher. As these types of research requests are put through an electronic form, the reference interview is generally conducted over email, but the librarians will follow up over the phone or in person, if need be.
- Goodwill should extend outside of the corporation, so for instance, researchers from companies like Banana Republic or Ralph Lauren are welcome to use the resources, but for a fee. And occasionally the library will receive a request from an external patron: this is a 1905 House & Garden article about the Mason Estate Gardens in Rhode Island, for use at the historic home. And this is a 1963 issue of Mademoiselle sent to a patron who recalled that his girlfriend had been featured in a photo shoot for the University of Hawaii. Fulfilling these external requests makes the parent organization look good to the public.
- This quote really speaks for itself. I asked a managing editor how she used the library and her impression on its presence in the corporation as a whole, and this is what she said.
- In an effort to build awareness of the CN library, thus enforcing its relevancy, I created Quick Response (QR) codes to link patrons to the library’s existing social media pages. I then used this flyer to promote the codes throughout the library, and they will be posted on the library’s intranet page. On the “new hires” tour, one of the librarians now mentions that they can use their smart phones to scan and connect.
- In the 12 days since the signs went up, the followers on Twitter have increased by 18.
- Pinterest now has 14 more followers. As more patrons come into the library or visit the intranet page, and they see the QR codes and realize the library’s presence on these sites, they will feel more connected to the library, and thus more likely to use the resources.
- Here is one of the flyers on the book shelf, along with the signs I designed to outline what is located in each aisle. Introducing QR codes with social media made sense because it’s straightforward and already mobile-friendly.Based on the type of information management system they select, the library catalog may be available on mobile devices. QR codes can be automatically generated for individual catalog records, so the patron would have the full details with them.