OCLC issued a report to the membership, Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources (2005). OCLC commissioned a survey of over 3,000 information consumers and gathered a great deal of information about their use and preferences of online and library resources. The NMRLS Reference Committee met recently and discussed the recommendations of members from the Annual Meeting and wondered how we would gather information from non-users. This OCLC report has done it for us. It promises to be a valuable tool as NMRLS embarks on expanding its efforts in the marketing of itself and the membership.
Jumping to Conclusions
We both read the conclusions section prior to reviewing the body of the document and found the findings compelling, such as, "Libraries, many of their resources and services, and the information experts who work in libraries appeared to be increasingly less visible to today's information consumer." Search engines were used by 84 percent of respondents to begin an information search while one percent begins an information search on a library Web site. How many hours have we spent building sites to assist our patrons and how can we spend this time wisely?
While the findings are not totally surprising, they do toss cold water in the face of librarians. This wake-up call can help guide us toward improved models of service to users. We need to capitalize on the hugely successful image of the provider of books which is described as the "library brand" and on the level of trust patrons have in libraries to meet the needs of "self service" users, many of whom are not aware of the online content libraries purchase for their use. How can we win over college students who have the highest rate of library use? The report concludes: "The library has not been successful in leveraging its brand to incorporate growing investments in electronic resources and library Web-based services." Yet it suggests that there is potential to "stretch" the brand beyond books that depends upon working together to redesign services so that our information resources are "available, accessible, and used."
Donna G. Maturi is Chair of NMRLS' Reference Committee and Head of Reference and Information Services at the Peabody Institute Library, Danvers
Greg Pronevitz is Regional Administrator at NMRLS
