RA in the Catalogue
Laurel TarulliCollection Access LibrarianHalifax Public [email protected]://laureltarulli.wordpress.com
Ask yourself these questions…
Am I comfortable discussing my reading habits/preferences? Who am I comfortable discussing them with?
Do I use a computer/smartphone on a daily basis? Weekly?
What about physical visits to the library? Daily? Weekly?
Where do I go for book ideas and recommendations?
Theory behind RA in the Catalogue
For PatronsReading ideas and suggestions are
wherever you are (on a bus, on vacation, at home)
You can interact, suggest reading ideas or receive reading ideas without having to physically visit the library
Comfort level/TrustShyness and fear of judgment removedTrust of library, staff and expertise remains
Theory behind RA in the Catalogue
Readers’ AdvisorsReach readers remotely by bringing RA
services out of the branches and into the community
Fosters a community of readers and reading conversations
Strengthens Collection Development practices
Strengthens collaborative opportunities and new projects for promoting RA services
The “Traditional” Catalogue
Biases and dividesCatalogue is too hard to useCatalogue isn’t user friendlyCatalogue doesn’t have what I’m looking forCatalogue is just an inventory of books, not
a tool for finding reading suggestions
6 Faulty Assumptions of Traditional RA
Readers will initiate an RA interview or want to participate in one
RAs will be able to answer RA questions successfully, even if it isn’t their area of expertise
Short or long, the RA interview will provide enough information to make successful reading suggestions
6 Faulty Assumptions cont…
Despite time limitations, staffing shortages or inexperience, a quality RA interview is possible
Existing RA tools are easy to use in a face-to-face RA interview
Face-to-face RA encounters are well documented so that follow-up can occur
Hollands, Neil. Improving the model for interactive readers’ advisory service. Reference & User Services Quarterly. March 22, 2006.
New Challenges of RA Work
Patrons who don’t want to share their reading experience in person Embarrassment View staff as negative authority figures Feeling of disenfranchisement Feeling of being “outside” of the process (a need to
share their experience with peers) Patrons who are homebound and/or remote users The changing nature of a “personal” service and
the public’s view of access to all services electronically
New Expectations of RA Services
Physical library Expectations of remote access to services
Variety of access points to services – “Gateways” Mobile devices, Friends, Chat, Social networking sites
Relative autonomy to do it themselves Simple, immediate access Anytime, anywhere Same level of service Sharing with friends
Our “New” Catalogues
Interactive Patron and Staff Driven Discovery Spaces
Intuitive Interfaces Variety of ways to share information
User-generation Information Reviews, Tags, Lists, Ratings
Benefits of RA in the Catalogue
An extension of the experience readers have in the physical branch
Provides community’s perspective on appeal elements to bestselling books and authors.
The data we can collect is similar to listening to readers’ conversations in parks, on the bus or in the hair salon
Allows us to identify books that are popular within the community and provides a glimpse into our readers’ use of descriptions and their relations between books. We can use to enhance RA services in our libraries
RAs + Cataloguers = Great RA service!
Embedding reading lists and recommended titles in the catalogue
RSS feeds Personalized, annotated summaries within the
bibliographic record created by Readers’ Services team that addresses appeals and read-a-likes
Local genres, subject headings and appeals terminology as access points
Linking, linking, linking Live RA chat
Example of linkableRA lists in the
library catalogue
Facets draw from content within bibliographic records. RA
reading lists or appeal
terminology can be included in
searchable facets.
Sharing and contributing
Seamless integrationwith library website
Streaming book covers
Featured lists
Salt Lake County Library Serviceshttp://www.slcolibrary.org/
RA in the catalogue
NoveList Select
Every time you click a title--you
can get more content and
moresuggestions.
Thank you!
Laurel TarulliCollection Access LibrarianHalifax Public [email protected](902)490-2704
The Cataloguing Librarian Bloghttp://laureltarulli.wordpress.com