Presented at GaCOMO15 by Pat Herndon, Elissa Checov, Pat Ziebart.

1. A panel sponsored by the Reference and Instruction
Services Interest Group
COMO, October 8, 2015
Athens, GA
Communication in
the Workplace

2. Challenges & Strategies in Diverse
Library Settings
 Elissa Checov – Librarian at Gwinnett Technical College,
a two year, career-based technical school with over fifty
program options which will expand to two campuses in
2016.
 Pat Herndon – Director of GLASS, Georgia's talking book
and braille library with an administrative office, regional
and subregional libraries, and three regional outreach
programs.
 Pat Ziebart – Reference and Instruction Librarian at
Georgia Perimeter College, a two year associate degree
school on five campus plus a robust online program.

3. Huh? What did you say?

4. Four Pillars of Industrial Relations
To aid me in my approach to managing
people
Internal and external customers

5. I. Everyone is the center of his or her own
universe

6. II. Every fire begins with a spark.

7. II. (continued)
Stamp out the sparks and a fire won’t occur.

8. III. As long as communication lines are open
there are no problems that can’t be solved

9. III. (continued)
A key to communication is the second line - the
person who represents labor to management
and management to labor.

10. IV. Talk.
Be aware of the sparks and what triggers
good behavior.

11. Our Communication Problem. We needed
to…
Enhance our presence
Reach distance education students
Present learning materials online

12. LibGuides, etc. An amazing toolbox!

13. Internal – Library Team
 LibGuides
 Centralized content
 Workflow management
 Permissions – Private / Public / Password Protection
 Customizing
 Creativity
 Addictive!
 Library Staff
 Sharing
 Student Assistants
 Training
 Instructional
 Everybody has same information and is clear about direction

14. Internal – Library Team
LibAnswers
Rolodex - efficiencies
Research assistance
LibSurveys
Vacation requests
Assessing – post instruction
LibAnalytics
Tracking / Counting

15. Internal Examples
Library Staff
Student Assistants
Commons
Collection Development
Program Review

16. Campus Connections
 Presentations
 Program Reviews
 Accreditation - SACS & College and Specific Programs
 QEP
 Research Services for Executive Leadership
 Partner with Distance Education Department
 Guides
 Queue
 Publicizing (e.g., MoveIt!)
 Partner with Dean of Academic Affairs
 Partner with Training Coordinator

17. Campus Connecting Examples
Online Learning
Faculty FAQs
QEP
Faculty Training

18. In a nutshell
Technology tools that serve the fundamentals
Hear
Be Heard
Work together

19. Our Communication Problem.
GLASS needed to…
• Aggregate statistics for activity in our
libraries
• Document problems and resolutions
• Track customer feedback

20. Problem:
Lots of people doing the same thing…
but reporting not streamlined

21. We all can appreciate free!

23. The BASIC plan is completely free. You can
create and send a survey in any language in a
matter of minutes and view survey results
instantly in your account. The BASIC plan
offers:
• 10 questions (including descriptive text or images)
per survey
• 100 responses per survey
• 3 collectors per survey
• 1 analyze rule (Filter, Compare, or Show) per
survey at a time

24. Advantages:
• Simple to design a form
• Drops answers into a collector that
you can download and manipulate in
spreadsheet software
• Provides its own reporting tools

27. Advantages:
• Integrated in our website
• Important in our setting for accessibility
• Sends alerts when comments are sent
• Keeps our communication channel with
our online customers open 24/7

29. Herding cats is hard…..but with the right
tools it can be done!

30. GPC Solutions

31. Doodle Polls

32. Google Drive

34. So many librarians, so little time
Situation: many part-time librarians who seldom
crossed paths with full-time staff.
Need: a means to communicate important
information about
Assignments
New Resources
Opportunities
Technology

35. Clarkston Reference

36. Dunwoody Reference

38. Sharing the wealth
Librarians on five campuses doing
professional development.
• Reports from conferences
• Notices of opportunities
• Sharing tips and ideas

39. Blogs for professional sharing

40. Questions or Comments?