Explores the public library collection as a discovery tool. Browsing as a primary human search practice; weeding; other collection maintenance and merchandising techniques that improve the reader's experience while in the library and at the shelf.

1. Designing Collection Experiences:
3. Discovery
Roy Kenagy
rjkenagy@netins.net
www.whatwouldranganathando.org
October 8, 2013
Waterloo Public Library

2. The Collection Conversation

4. Availability: Are the texts that the
reader would prefer to select
presented when the reader would
prefer to select them?

6. The collection as artifact
Frances Yates. The Art of Memory.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1966.

8. The collection as agent

9. Conversation Theory
R. David Lankes, Joanne Silverstein, Scott Nicholson,
and Todd Marshall. "Participatory Networks: The
Library As Conversation." Information Research 12, no.
4 (October 2007): available at:
http://informationr.net/ir/12-4/colis/colis05.html.

10. Lankes et. al.: “Roadmap to the participatory library”

11. The library as system
Dee Andy Michel. "A File Structure Model of
Library Search Behavior." Unpublished
doctoral dissertation, University of
California, Los Angeles, 1992.

13. What are some of the issues in thinking of Circ &
Reference as “the public library system”?

14. "A reference transaction is an information contact that involves the knowledge,
use, recommendation, interpretation, or instruction in the use of one or more
information sources by a member of the library staff. Information sources
include printed and non-printed materials, Internet, FirstSearch, or EBSCOhost,
machine-readable databases, catalogs, and other records. Also, count referrals
to other libraries, institutions, and persons both inside and outside the library.
The request may come in person, by phone, fax, mail, electronic mail, or
through live or networked electronic reference service from an adult, young
adult, or child. "
"Do not count directional transactions or questions of rules or policies.
Examples of directional transactions are "Where are the children's books?"
and "I'm looking for a book with call number 612.3." An example of a question
of rules or policies is 'Are you open until 9:00 tonight?'“
~Scott Dermont, quoting the rules on IOWALIB, Oct 4, 2013
“Reference” includes reader’s assistance.

15. For each reference transaction:
Checkouts Visits
Internet
uses
Mean, Iowa libraries 16 11 2
Charles City 23 15 4
Mean, Size E 23 21 4
Cedar Falls 13 8 2
Mean, Size G 18 11 2
Waterloo 6 3 2
Mean, Size H 12 6 1
Ratio of reference transactions to library activities
Calculated with data found in Iowa Public Library Statistics, FY12 (2011-2012), edited by
Scott Dermont. Des Moines, Iowa: Iowa Library Services, May 29, 2013.

16. For FY 2012 In Iowa,
the ratio of reference
transactions to library
visits was 1:11.

17. How do we communicate
with the hidden 90%?
Kathy Sierra. "Presentation Skills Considered
Harmful." Serious Pony (October 4, 2013):
[blog]; available at
http://seriouspony.com/blog/2013-
10/4/presentation-skills-considered-harmful.

18. “And if they’re my users, then this presentation is a user experience.
And if it's a user experience, then what am I?
Ah... now we’re at the place where stage fright starts to dissolve.
Because if the presentation is a user experience, than I am just a UI [User Interface].
That’s it.
I am a UI.
Nothing more.
And what’s a key attribute of a good UI?
It disappears.
It does not draw attention to itself.
It enables the user experience, but is not itself the experience.
And the moment I remember this is the moment I exhale and my pulse slows.
Because I am not important. What is important is the experience they have. My job
is to provide a context in which something happens for them.”
Kathy Sierra, "Presentation Skills Considered Harmful."

19. The Implied Author
Wayne C. Booth. The Rhetoric of
Fiction. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1983.

21. The implied librarian

22. • Eliminate dumb
contacts
• Create engaging self
service
• Be proactive
• Make yourself easy to
contact
• Own your actions
across the library
• Listen and act
• Deliver great customer
service experiences

23. The Story of The
Modern Library Lady,
as told by the late
Thelma Grover.
Jay Satterfield. The World's
Best Books: Taste, Culture,
and the Modern Library.
Amherst: University of
Massachusetts Press,
2002.

24. • Staff aren’t the problem
• Design systems so that
heroes aren’t required
• It’s difficult to find and pay
people with both technical
and people skills
Frances Frei and Anne
Morriss. Uncommon Service:
How to Win by Putting
Customers at the Core of Your
Business. Boston: Harvard
Business Review Press, 2012.

25. This browsing life
Why librarians need to take browsing
more seriously.

26. Ronald E. Rice,
Maureen McCreadie,
and Shan-Ju L. Chang.
Accessing and
Browsing Information
and Communication.
Cambridge, Mass.:
MIT Press, 2001.

27. Geoffrey O'Brien. The
Browser's Ecstasy: A
Meditation on
Reading. Washington,
D.C.: Counterpoint,
2000.

28. User [and librarian] experience
Jakob Nielsen. "User Expertise Stagnates at Low Levels."
NN/g Nielsen Norman Group: Evidence-Based User
Experience Research, Training, and Consulting
(September 28, 2013): [web site]; available at
http://www.nngroup.com/articles/stagnating-expertise/.

29. Summary: Learning is hard work, and
users don't want to do it; they don't
explore the user interface [i.e., catalog]
and don't know about most features.
Nielsen, Jakob. "User Expertise Stagnates at Low Levels."
NN/g Nielsen Norman Group: Evidence-Based User
Experience Research, Training, and Consulting
(September 28, 2013): [web site]; available at
http://www.nngroup.com/articles/stagnating-expertise/.

30. How to co-exist with browsers
(after Jakob Nielsen)
• Fewer features
• Visible features
• Visible signifiers
• Just-in-time learning
• Teachable moments
• Forgiveness
• Low-commitment previews
• Just plain usability

31. Brian C. O'Connor, Jud H.
Copeland, and Jodi L. Kearns.
Hunting and Gathering on the
Information Savanna:
Conversations on Modeling
Human Search Abilities.
Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow,
2003.

32. Peter Pirolli. Information
Foraging Theory: Adaptive
Interaction With
Information. New York:
Oxford University Press,
2009.

33. Language and representation

34. “Since most ordinary language is learned by
demonstration rather than definition, and
such demonstration requires immediate
feedback, Information Retrieval systems must
be built to facilitate the process of adaptive
communication which typifies ordinary
language usage.”
David C. Blair. Language and
Representation in Information
Retrieval. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1990.

35. Robert K. Merton and
Elinor G. Barber. Travels
and Adventures of
Serendipity: A Study in
Historical Semantics and
the Sociology of Science.
Princeton, N. J.: Princeton
University Press, 2004.

39. Weeding

42. From the reader’s point of view,
your collection consists of the texts
you don’t weed.
Minus the Collection in Use.

43. Weeding improves shelf
availability.

44. Weeding creates opportunities.

45. MAÎTRE D (John Cleese): And finally, monsieur,
a wafer-thin mint.
MR. CREOSOTE (Terry Jones): Nah.
MAÎTRE D: Oh, sir, it’s only a tiny, little, thin one.

46. The opportunity cost of just-in-case books
Annual retail rent per square foot $15.53 (national average; 2nd quarter 2013)
Volumes
per
Format sq. ft. 1 10 100 1,000
Adult hardback books 10 $1.55 $16 $155 $1,553
Paperbacks 20 $0.78 $8 $78 $777
Current periodicals (per issue) 1 $15.53 $155 $1,553 $15,530
Back periodicals (per volume) 10 $1.55 $16 $155 $1,553
Government documents 30 $0.52 $5 $52 $518
Audiotapes 30 $0.52 $5 $52 $518
Cake Pans 1 $15.53 $155 $1,553 $15,530
Compact discs 30 $0.52 $5 $52 $518
Children's books (42" shelving) 9 $1.73 $17 $173 $1,726
Children's books (66" shelving) 15 $1.04 $10 $104 $1,035
Children's picture books (42" shelving) 30 $0.52 $5 $52 $518
Annual cost by number of volumes

48. Volumes
per
Format sq. ft. 1,000 5,000 10,000 20,000
Adult hardback books 10 100 500 1,000 2,000
Paperbacks 20 50 250 500 1,000
Current periodicals (per issue) 1 1,000 5,000 10,000 20,000
Back periodicals (per volume) 10 100 500 1,000 2,000
Government documents 30 33 167 333 667
Audiotapes 30 33 167 333 667
Cake Pans 1 1,000 5,000 10,000 20,000
Compact discs 30 33 167 333 667
Children's books (42" shelving) 9 111 556 1,111 2,222
Children's books (66" shelving) 15 67 333 667 1,333
Children's picture books (42" shelving) 30 33 167 333 667
by Volumes Weeded
Square Feet Released
Space released by weeding

50. Benefits – space &
otherwise

51. Collection Depreciation

54. Weeding Practices
How do you weed? How would you like to weed?

55. Weed the entire collection
once a year.
That first year is a doozie.

57. Team Weeding

59. Determine rhizomes
Cutoff standards vary widely
among rhizomes.

60. Determine cutoff standards
Demand, Currency, Condition

61. Demand cutoff standards
Demand standards are based on the
same data as duplication standards.

62. Slote, Stanley J.
Weeding Library
Collections: Library
Weeding Methods. 4th
ed. Littleton, CO:
Libraries Unlimited,
1997.

63. Time Since Last Arrival
Days/Months since last arrival
Duplicate? Weed?

69. Shelf Time Studies
• Weeding cutoff dates • Size of active/inactive
collections

71. Shelf Time exercise: answers

73. Currency
CREW standards
and/or
1½ times median age of the
Collection in Use.

74. CREW: A Weeding
Manual for Modern
Libraries, ed. Jeanette
Larson. Revised and
updated ed. Austin,
Tex.: Texas State Library,
2012; available at
https://www.tsl.state.tx.
us/ld/pubs/crew/index.
html.

77. Rod Pierce. "Definition of Median" Math Is Fun. Ed. Rod
Pierce. Aug 23, 2013.
http://www.mathsisfun.com/definitions/median.html

80. Using median age to estimate
currency cutoff age
1 ½ times the median age of the
collection in use

81. Condition
Start with a sample of copies with 50 or
more circulations, and work in either
direction depending on the result.

82. Create pick list(s)

83. Pick list report(s)
• Copies that haven’t circulated in X number of
months [Demand cutoff]
• Copies that are older than X [Currency cutoff]
• Copies that have circulated more than X times
[Condition cutoff]
Create a combined list if possible

84. Assemble the worst-case
collection
Have an aide or volunteer pull the
pick list and shelve the copies in shelf
list order in a staff work area.

85. Selector Sort
The selector responsible for the rhizome
reviews and physically separates the
worst-case copies into 4 ranges.

86. • Withdraw
• Replacement
• Further research
• Free keepers

87. Team Review
Other staff review the selector’s
decisions and comment on titles they
would treat differently.

88. Selector Followup
Final disposition of the copies is
completed by the selector
responsible for the rhizome.

89. Evaluation
Review cutoff standards annually.
Summarize findings to help in
estimating replacement budgets and
selection decisions.

90. Annual-weeding-as-inventory

91. Missing Items Inventory
• Weeding
• Circulation
• Shelf checks
• Reference Inventory
• High-Loss Tracking

93. Warehouse or Savanna?

98. Classification

99. BISAC Subject
Classification
Book Industry
Standards and
Communication

100. anythink: Rangeview Library District,
Adams County, Colorado

102. Merchandising

103. Paco Underhill. Why We Buy:
The Science of Shopping—
Updated and Revised for the
Internet, the Global Consumer,
and Beyond. Rev. ed. New
York: Simon & Schuster, 2009.

105. ServiceScapes: The Concept
of Place in Contemporary
Markets, ed. John F. Sherry,
Jr. Lincolnwood, Ill.: NTC
Business Books, 1998.

106. Jeannette Woodward.
Creating the Customer-
Driven Library: Building
on the Bookstore Model.
Chicago: American Library
Association, 2004.

107. Stephanie Weaver.
Creating Great Visitor
Experiences: A Guide
for Museums, Parks,
Zoos, Gardens, and
Libraries. Walnut
Creek, Calif.: Left
Coast Press, 2007.

108. Mary Anne Nichols.
Merchandising Library
Materials to Young Adults.
Libraries Unlimited
Professional Guides for
Young Adult Librarians,
edited by C. Allen Nichols
and Mary Anne Nichols.
Greenwood Village, Colo.:
Libraries Unlimited, 2002.

109. Stack Management

110. William J. Hubbard. Stack
Management: A Practical
Guide to Shelving and
Maintaining Library
Collections. Chicago:
American Library
Association, 1981.

111. Richard Joseph Hyman.
Shelf Access in Libraries.
Chicago: American Library
Association, 1982.

113. Reader’s Assistance
A tale of three service desks.

114. Programming
Where implied librarians are
sometimes ambushed.

115. Electronic Discovery
In search of a secure recommender
system.

116. Ray Oldenburg. The Great Good
Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops,
Community Centers, Beauty
Parlors, General Stores, Bars,
Hangouts and How They Get You
Through the Day. 2nd ed. New
York: Marlowe, 1997.

117. The collection conversation