iGS is designed to be a movable information station in two parts; self service ”pumps” and a double-sided service unit. People can come to the station with their questions and problems or they can send questions to the station by email, SMS etc.

Project

Funded by the Access to Learning Award (Bill & Melinda Gates foundation, 2000)

total budget ~350 000 €

planning 10 %

device, furniture 20 %

staff 50 %

rents etc. 20%

Project Duration Time: 2001-2002

iGS: starting points

1. Promote information service

2. Modernize a public library’s image

3. Establish a place and premices for personal face to face service

4. Test mobility

1. Information service

Widen the range of ”librarish” information needs

Find new user groups– young– busy– others who normally cannot visit a library

Ask anything

2. Library’s image

A library without books– traditional image of a library: shelves, collections,

classifications– test: can we run a public library without books and

collections?

To advertise modern public libraries and make them visible– bright red design – ”silly” brand to be remembered

3. Personal Service [1]Self-service is the trend of today

– lending, payment etc.

Often self-service is better service– avoid queues by lending desk– not personal control: ”Don’t look what I read”– at produder’s point of view: cut the costs

Everybody can search information?– all information by Google?– ”intelligent” search services– we don’t need libraries in future?

3. Personal Service [2]

Still need for information professionals– oversupply of information– licenced resources and databases– peoples’ routine ways on their information behaviour– demand for knowledge on possibilities and effective or many-sided ways of search–- public libraries’ task: to promote information literacy

Personal Service [2]Traditional model:

– librarian is a gatekeeper

iGS model:– librarian is a consult– in learning and training

Customer have tos decide which information is relevant–->at every phase of search process (not only final results)

Side by side

Why ”iGS” brand?

At a good old gas station you get your windscreeen cleaned, and so in information Gas Station, if your screen is dusty

4. Mobility

Mobile service at virtual– customers information need arise ”on the road” and they

want to send questions from anywhere

Movable unit– we move along the road – to places we are needed

”The librarian with the portable computer” ?

Equipment and tools [1]

Personal service: ”gas station”– 2 worstations for a librarian and a

customer

Self-service ”pumps”– 2 workstations for a single

customer

”Gas stationlike” architecture designed by Talli Offices

Equipment and tools [2]

Virtual service– database software (SunPoint Oy)– email and SMS at the same application and interface– by the Internet-browser– answers can be given anywhere

Archive

All questions and answers -- email and SMS -- are automatically stored to an archive

60 subject categories– based on real questions of the first 3 months– as intuitive for the users as possible – not ”librarish” classifications

Browsing by the categories

Search by keyword

We have not yet studied the use of the archive

Media profiles

Visits

1. Internet and email 24%

2. Software 13%

3. iGS 10%

4. Computers 5%

5. Helsinki 4%

6. Tourism 4%

N= 991

Email

1. Music 7%

2. Transport 5%

3. Economy and business 4%

4. Writers, litterature 4%

5. Language and words 4%

6. Health, medicin 4 %

N=978

SMS

1. Music 6%

2. Transport 5%

3. Health 5%

4. Language and words 5%

5. Economy and business 4%

6. People 3%

N=623

Most popular categories in 2001

What have we done? [1]First year

– at Lasipalatsi Film and Media Centre– gallery-like space at the heart of the city (in the

neighbourhood of the Cable book library

Visits to fairs– Knowledge Management Days

for Professionals – Helsinki Book Fair

What have we done? [2]

Helsinki Central Railway Station– Media-happening, radio, newspapers– 30 visits / day, 20-25 virtual questions / day– Cold, windy, arctic and noicy circumstances , but very

rewarding and interesting– no troubles with customers

Second year– iGS needed larger space around– people don’t come in to small space– 2002 on tour

What have we done? [3]

Service House for Senior Citizens– we felt us wanted– seniors’ questions: computers, email, e-postcards, word-

processing, genealogy, war , euros, rehabilitations, own children, Helsinki Olympic games, Carelia before war etc, military archive, old comics etc.

Team

• team of 10 persons chosen from the staff of City Library• 2 persons work at same time • rest of time they work on their own libraries, but can answer to

virtual questions• in the begining we arranged special training for them to update

their skills with digital and networked information search• experiences transfer in a natural way to the everyday life and

enrich their home libraries

Staff’s view [1]Query in January 2002

– slogan ”ask anything” is good, but demanding– work without books: effective way to learn how to utilize

network resources– often a book is the only source or fastes way to valid

information– best way: ”a joint library” with all materials - both digital and

printed – I have fun in working by iGS -- but only if I can go back to my

own library with books after a week– ” book trap”: a librarian’s conventional solution is to see only

books and own collections - and forget other resources. It is good training to fall in reversed circumstances

Staff’s view [2]

– two-dimensional work (virtual / real) is a good combination: it could be frustrating to work alone with search results only and without real contact to customers

– at first I found SMS as best service -- later I feel the personal service as most rewarding

– guidance on Internet-search is the best we can do for the

customers – Railway station proved us that we are needed also as live -

not only at network– at railway station we did what was intended at the beginning

Conclusions [1]• Easy, quick ways for information services are needed • We did not know how people see library’s image and scope of

competence • Some questions could never have been made by the library desk• Some people send us jokes and tests -- we take all questions

seriously and sometimes with humour

Conclusions [2]

Ideal and reality: a gate-keeper or a consult?– short text-messages, as well as several email-messages force

us to give short information

– customers have different backgrounds• what kind of information is most valuable for the customer:

readymade facta or learning the ways how to mine and refine information?

• --> some need facta

• --> some don’t have time to learn how to search

What next?

• Continue the tour• on-line service by chat• on-line service on radio / TV

FutureHow may the next generation of iGS look like?

– mobility: more easy to move– security: more safe– more compact -- modular structure– wireless connections (today not stable enough)

SMS protocol replaced by new – in future other mobile, portable and light devices– from short messages to longer (MMS or something else)

Information Gas Station

http://igs.kirjastot.fi/ (finnish)

http://igs.kirjastot.fi/index3.html (english)