How to Give Your Users the LIS Services They Want

In How to Give Your Users the LIS Services They Want, Sheila Pantry and Peter Griffiths remind us why understanding (and as far as is possible, accommodating) user expectations and needs is intrinsically linked to the success of any library and information service (LIS). Effectively a primer, or a “back to basics” guide, the book offers short, succinct explanations of how user requirements and behaviours can be elicited and reflected at policy and service level. LIS professionals must maintain a useful dialogue with both organisational managers and end‐users about the services being provided and developed, resisting the traps set by unfounded assumption or the following of trends – trends which in any case often originate in other sectors.

For example, while the authors suggest engaging with the recent CIBER “Google Generation” (CIBER, 2008) report (p. 4), they counsel organisations to investigate and explore rather than simply accept its findings. In seeking to understand users without bias, it is worth questioning the drive toward pure business logic that many commentators now appear to advocate. Are attempts to become “much more e‐consumer friendly and less stodgy and intellectual”, in order to “chime with people's experience of Facebook, YouTube, [and] Amazon” appropriate, even for academic and specialist libraries?[1] Ultimately, it depends on the needs of the user community.

A treatise on the basic principles of this topic might appear unnecessary – statements such as “without users there is no real reason for a library and information service to exist” (p. 1) are self‐evident. Yet, when we consider the shifting and challenging conditions confronting a sector which itself can suffer from the information overload it seeks to manage, what Pantry and Griffiths emphasise is important, and worth re‐stating.

An LIS “must be integrated into the vision of the community that supports it” (p. 17); it cannot have goals and ideals meaningful only to itself. It must understand the needs of prospective users as well as current ones. Behind every assertion that “users matter” must be a rigorous and iterative data gathering, feedback and assessment process, with emerging requirements accounted for and precision added at every stage of service development (p. 33).

The book proper begins with an overview of why and how to conduct an audit, then moves into more specific areas of the audit, subsequent actions and implications – what current knowledge of users does your LIS have? What (if anything) can it be used to predict? Which external sources of information can supplement data gathered directly? How can changes be kept track of? How can we make sure everyone understands the key objectives? Wider issues such as reputation management, marketing, conditions of use and information skills training are also considered.

The authors clearly have plenty of experience with this subject – something reiterated in several places by references to other texts which they have written. No doubt this is useful supplementary reading, although it does start to read a bit like self‐promotion. While nicely laid out, the apparently neat arrangement of chapters by adverb and pronoun groups is a little misleading, as subjects overlap more than might be supposed. For example, Chapter 2 is titled “Understanding users – the what, why, where, when, how and who”. Yet the “who” in question includes managers as well as customers. Chapter 3, “What is the current knowledge about your users”, then announces it will look at “who they are” and “where they are”.

This is only a minor complaint. The book is objective, balanced, easy to follow, and considers all important angles of its topic – even noting those which are out of scope. Worrying issues concerning ethics, standards, information management, quality assurance and business continuity, which may arise as the result of an audit, are outlined, as are legal and system constraints on service development.

A real strength of the book is that the methodological aspects are discussed without the tone straying into too academic a register. The relative merits of different survey instruments are explained; the importance of obtaining a representative sample is made clear; guidance on “asking the right questions first time” (p. 62) and not making questionnaires too proscriptive is provided. Many example questions are given, meaning there is much that is practical and useful for anyone designing their own audit or user evaluation process.

Although identifying the “particular requirements for potential components of an electronic information service” (p. 3) is inevitably key, another strength of the book is that the focus is not simply on digital services or the incorporation of new technologies. Clearly all types of user and service must be considered. The book aims only “to allow the LIS manager to begin to select or design a range of services that will meet the needs of the greatest number of users in the most cost‐effective way”.

A key point of the book is the importance of shared definitions – in relation both to service level agreements and evaluation processes. A common vocabulary is needed so that all stakeholders can understand one another and progress together. As is stated on page 17, Sometimes [library and information professionals] report to people who know nothing about our work and therefore do not understand the consequences of what we seek to do. Imagine the situation reversed: would you sanction a major re‐organisation of a financial or legal service if you had no idea what the service was providing because the description was ambiguous?

Concluding with a reminder of the role which networks (technical and social), competitors, publishers and suppliers can play in guiding and informing service development, and an overview of concepts and developments likely to influence developments in future, How to Give Your Users the LIS Services They Want will be a wonderful companion for LIS professionals seeking to undertake audits, understand users and develop services.

Note

1. 1.

   CIBER (2008), Quoted in Pantry and Griffiths, How to Give Your Users the LIS Services They Want, p. 5.