How Research and Community Inputs Fuel the Library On-Demand.

Editor's Notes

1. It is this global network of 18,000 libraries that is at the core of the value of OCLC and the services we provide. Together with OCLC, these libraries share data, infrastructure and expertise. Through that network, libraries can mobilize the activities of other members and the collective work that OCLC has done. When you join the OCLC cooperative, you become a member of the largest and most dynamic network in the library industry. This network strengthens all of products and services that OCLC offers.  Just think about it…​ ​ 9,000 cataloging institutions contributing to the collective creation of metadata…roughly 50 years’ of their intellectual investment, alongside OCLC staff, to create the unprecedented and unparalleled source of library metadata—WorldCat.​ And 10,000 plus resource sharing institutions sharing their collections broadly with each other to meet the needs of their users​ And the unique ability because of our collective scale to create partnerships with Google Scholar, Wikipedia, Goodreads, etc to make library collections more discoverable…not just within the library, and its local community, but on the web and around the world. ​ ​ …When we think about our vision for the future, we place this concept of the network at the center of our strategy and we build around it. We ask ourselves these questions. How can we improve the network?  How can we leverage the value in the network to create a better future for libraries?  At a high level, here is how we envision new opportunities for the future.
2. You must have the history/experience AND the technology to achieve success – the is the OCLC advantage Competitors face a high barrier to entry without having the experience and the established network OCLC has more than 40 years experience in ILL – harnessing this experience and network makes us ONE library! Between insights from our own Research division, the closeness/connectedness/engagement we have with our members and users, and our deep understanding of modern-day trends (both inside and outside of the library), we offer unmatched services that allow our members to best serve their students and patrons
3. Intro material: Focus of the delivery strategy is squarely on the end user and what we need to do to deliver a remarkable experience for them that rivals the smart, intuitive experiences they’re having elsewhere (retail, banking, food service, etc.). Being proactive is about more than just promotion. A study of a virtual research environment concluded that support staff needed to better anticipate the challenges it would encounter as the user community’s needs continued to grow and change (Faniel 2009). Drawing from the study, this approach requires librarians to be proactive providers of systems and services rather than reactive ones who wait for challenges to arise. Instead of waiting to follow prescribed plans (which may or may not come to fruition), librarians must sense and respond to challenges across user communities. This requires paying close attention to what currently is going on inside and outside of the library environment to determine what might happen next. (Reordering Ranganathan 18) Looking upstream is about more than proactively considering user communities’ current needs. It’s seeing those needs in a much larger context and thinking broadly within the information profession and other professions related to it. There are a number of factors that might be influencing people’s choices about the systems and services they use. Consider the development and delivery of research data services. Knowledge of funding agency mandates, the existence of disciplinary data repositories, supportive tools and researchers’ need for and confidence in their data management skills can help librarians better shape and advertise the library’s capabilities, systems and services in response (Faniel and Zimmerman 2011). (Reordering Ranganathan 18) Real-world use. Librarians should make sure real-world use of services is being examined  , rather than how librarians use it or think their communities use it. In focus group interviews with WorldCat.org users and librarians, Connaway and Wakeling (2012) found that librarians judge library services in light of their own interaction with the tools rather than considering actual users’ expectations and judgments. Librarians should make sure service improvements are being made in light of real, reported issues from users. (Reordering Ranganathan 96) Comment from Andy: Library services/solutions can only be universally effective if we know the true pathways that users are currently taking. Comment from Erin: This also backs up the need to do user research, and how OCLC Research has done/is doing that to help inform our strategy. I suggest this become part of the intro.
4. Intro material: Focus of the delivery strategy is squarely on the end user and what we need to do to deliver a remarkable experience for them that rivals the smart, intuitive experiences they’re having elsewhere (retail, banking, food service, etc.). Being proactive is about more than just promotion. A study of a virtual research environment concluded that support staff needed to better anticipate the challenges it would encounter as the user community’s needs continued to grow and change (Faniel 2009). Drawing from the study, this approach requires librarians to be proactive providers of systems and services rather than reactive ones who wait for challenges to arise. Instead of waiting to follow prescribed plans (which may or may not come to fruition), librarians must sense and respond to challenges across user communities. This requires paying close attention to what currently is going on inside and outside of the library environment to determine what might happen next. (Reordering Ranganathan 18) Looking upstream is about more than proactively considering user communities’ current needs. It’s seeing those needs in a much larger context and thinking broadly within the information profession and other professions related to it. There are a number of factors that might be influencing people’s choices about the systems and services they use. Consider the development and delivery of research data services. Knowledge of funding agency mandates, the existence of disciplinary data repositories, supportive tools and researchers’ need for and confidence in their data management skills can help librarians better shape and advertise the library’s capabilities, systems and services in response (Faniel and Zimmerman 2011). (Reordering Ranganathan 18) Real-world use. Librarians should make sure real-world use of services is being examined  , rather than how librarians use it or think their communities use it. In focus group interviews with WorldCat.org users and librarians, Connaway and Wakeling (2012) found that librarians judge library services in light of their own interaction with the tools rather than considering actual users’ expectations and judgments. Librarians should make sure service improvements are being made in light of real, reported issues from users. (Reordering Ranganathan 96) Comment from Andy: Library services/solutions can only be universally effective if we know the true pathways that users are currently taking. Comment from Erin: This also backs up the need to do user research, and how OCLC Research has done/is doing that to help inform our strategy. I suggest this become part of the intro.
5. Regardless of context, participants want to get information instantly and effortlessly , thereby reporting convenience as a priority. This finding supports results from prior research from OCLC, in which participants at all age groups report convenience as the primary motivator in performing information searches. (Many Faces 32) Intuitive discovery. Convenience is king, queen and the whole court. Over and over we see that. Using something “just good enough” (satisficing) that can be gotten very quickly, easily and for free will outweigh possible “better” options that are more expensive in terms of time, money or mastery requirements. Inconvenience as expressed in difficulty of access was a repeated complaint against library OPACs in both projects. Undergraduate students participating in the Sense-Making project offered specific criticisms of the library catalog as difficult to use, though they claimed they will use online reserves from the library—after the library closes, a clear convenience choice. They and graduate students both frequently commented on how easy the Web is to use, especially in comparison to library systems. (Seeking Synchronicity 64 )   Intuitive discovery. Non-intuitive is a major complain for current users of library systems. In all our work addressing how people engage with technology and get their information, we have learned that convenience is a top reason for making decisions. 30 This is not a simple concept, though, since convenience is dependent upon the situation the individual is in at the time, the context, and the information need. As we previously discussed, individuals sometimes want face-to-face interactions and physical sources, and in other instances want digital interactions and sources. How people access the digital sources also varies. (Many Faces 47-48)
6. Regardless of context, participants want to get information instantly and effortlessly , thereby reporting convenience as a priority. This finding supports results from prior research from OCLC, in which participants at all age groups report convenience as the primary motivator in performing information searches. (Many Faces 32) Intuitive discovery. Convenience is king, queen and the whole court. Over and over we see that. Using something “just good enough” (satisficing) that can be gotten very quickly, easily and for free will outweigh possible “better” options that are more expensive in terms of time, money or mastery requirements. Inconvenience as expressed in difficulty of access was a repeated complaint against library OPACs in both projects. Undergraduate students participating in the Sense-Making project offered specific criticisms of the library catalog as difficult to use, though they claimed they will use online reserves from the library—after the library closes, a clear convenience choice. They and graduate students both frequently commented on how easy the Web is to use, especially in comparison to library systems. (Seeking Synchronicity 64 )   Intuitive discovery. Non-intuitive is a major complain for current users of library systems. In all our work addressing how people engage with technology and get their information, we have learned that convenience is a top reason for making decisions. 30 This is not a simple concept, though, since convenience is dependent upon the situation the individual is in at the time, the context, and the information need. As we previously discussed, individuals sometimes want face-to-face interactions and physical sources, and in other instances want digital interactions and sources. How people access the digital sources also varies. (Many Faces 47-48)
7. Discovery and Access Interview CBU10, Female, 26-34 years old, Christian Brothers University, Undergraduate, Humanities S2 24:33 Okay. So going back to your survey, then. So you didn't know the exact item you wanted to borrow, read or download immediately. And then we had asked did you accomplish what you were hoping to do, and you said yes, you did accomplish what you were hoping to do. So I'd like to talk to you a little bit about how you felt about your search experience. And what are some words you might use? For instance, would you say you were delighted by your search experience? S3 25:23 Only because of [inaudible] paper research, I was really [inaudible] delighted. But the ease of using it was great. I didn't have to work too hard to find what I wanted. I just had to think about it, and make sure I was using the right word. It was really simple. I think that's the most important. So in that way, yes. It was very delightful to be able to not have to go through a lot of hoops to get to what I was looking for, because figuring out the topic is complicated enough.
8. New quote about unmediated access: library user. Full quote: MU03 Semi-Structured Interview (Fulfillment Project, MU03, Monash University, Female, Age 45-54, Faculty Member, Social Sciences) MU03: Yes. The system they've got at the moment if I want to request a physical item is that they've just got the form online on the library website, and I can do that. That's really good. I'd like to get an email reminder about a week before it's due because I won't have that written down anywhere, so just to remind me that I need to return the item. For things like the inter-library loans, say, with electronic copies, I'm very happy to request that online using their online form and then just have the correspondence after by email is the most convenient for me. 
9. ALIA Focus Group: (Fulfillment Project, ALIA Online Information Conference participant) Lynn: That's where I was going is, we're talking about some of the changes and you were saying you were going one way and then you were mediated then it became unmediated and now you're going back to mediated. My question is, how does this effect the faculty, the graduate students? Their expectations? You brought up another thing. The staff? Jim: I think there will always be a need for the unmediated for the difficult to find items. When there are 12 copies around the country in other libraries, that's a sort of thing with unmediated request works. It's the things that are difficult to find that then come through to the staff and they have to do the work from there to try and find the copy. There will always be a bit of each.
10. We have concentrated on identifying how people engage with technology and get their information  for both personal and academic situations. We have learned that the context and situation of the information need often dictate how people behave and engage with technology. These also influence how and why they select to use resources, usually discovered through a web browser and that include freely available resources, such as Wikipedia; human resources; and library resources. (Library in the Life of the User ii) Smart fulfillment. Library services should be able to understand and respond automatically to more elements of the context surrounding information seeking behaviors. An undergrad student looking for information about an author is going to need very different responses than a professor, even if the initial search parameters are the same.
11. We have concentrated on identifying how people engage with technology and get their information  for both personal and academic situations. We have learned that the context and situation of the information need often dictate how people behave and engage with technology. These also influence how and why they select to use resources, usually discovered through a web browser and that include freely available resources, such as Wikipedia; human resources; and library resources. (Library in the Life of the User ii) Smart fulfillment. Library services should be able to understand and respond automatically to more elements of the context surrounding information seeking behaviors. An undergrad student looking for information about an author is going to need very different responses than a professor, even if the initial search parameters are the same.
12. Participant Quote: ULG03, Female, 26-34 years old, Graduate/Post-Graduate Student , Humanities, University of Louisville We have concentrated on identifying how people engage with technology and get their information  for both personal and academic situations. We have learned that the context and situation of the information need often dictate how people behave and engage with technology. These also influence how and why they select to use resources, usually discovered through a web browser and that include freely available resources, such as Wikipedia; human resources; and library resources. (Library in the Life of the User ii) Smart fulfillment. Library services should be able to understand and respond automatically to more elements of the context surrounding information seeking behaviors. An undergrad student looking for information about an author is going to need very different responses than a professor, even if the initial search parameters are the same.
13. Tracking of request quote: librarian. Full quote: ACRL Focus Group: (Fulfillment Project, ACRL 2019 Conference participant) Peter: But I just wanted to circle back to ... There was talk about tracking. There's no reason why we can't integrate tracking into our ILL systems whether you want the user to view it or not. I can see arguing that either way, but UPS and FedEx all have apis that could be easily integrated into those more easily. It's not ... It doesn't take a magic wand.
14. MU01 Semi-Structured Interviews (Fulfillment Project, MU01, Female, Age 45-54, Faculty Member, Social Sciences) MU01: You mentioned other campuses, I have requested books from other campuses before, so I have done that here. [inaudible] library or when [inaudible] was open, so I did and it came. Just a little email, just like you would the modern way of shipping, you buy a product and then it's on its way, it's been shipped, it should be here this day. That'd be great. I'd be able to track it. I'd be like, oh, it's coming on Tuesday! To me that would be kinda fun, rather than you send it out there and you're like well, I don't know where they're sending it, I hope I get it.
15. Privacy of searches was not a concern for the majority of interviewees. Just two of the 14  interviewees mentioned a concern with the privacy of their searches. (Discovery and Access 12) Single account: While librarians often stress privacy issues, they aren’t always top of mind for users. Personalization means the ability to choose for users based on their preferences While all of the interviewees were satisfied with their search experience, not many agreed they were “delighted” by the experience. Eight of the 14 interviewees talked about being satisfied because they found what they were looking for, but they wouldn’t say that the search experience delighted them. Five of them were surprised that they actually found something. (Discovery and Access 12 ) Single account. There’s lots of room to delight users.
16. Privacy of searches was not a concern for the majority of interviewees. Just two of the 14  interviewees mentioned a concern with the privacy of their searches. (Discovery and Access 12) Single account: While librarians often stress privacy issues, they aren’t always top of mind for users. Personalization means the ability to choose for users based on their preferences While all of the interviewees were satisfied with their search experience, not many agreed they were “delighted” by the experience. Eight of the 14 interviewees talked about being satisfied because they found what they were looking for, but they wouldn’t say that the search experience delighted them. Five of them were surprised that they actually found something. (Discovery and Access 12 ) Single account. There’s lots of room to delight users.
17. Librarians are good at establishing partnerships within the communities they serve, whether  that means faculty and students at a university or citizens within a geographic area. Establishing partnerships further afield, however, can be tricky. This is not to say that librarians don’t work well with others. They work especially well with other librarians for services, such as interlibrary loan, whose scope predates many retail industries’ ability to service widely dispersed customers. The ability of a student in Quebec to be able to access materials in Mexico City well before the arrival of the Internet is a testament to the power of library cooperation. (Reordering Ranganathan 77) Universal inventory: The ability for libraries to be “neutral” partners can’t be underestimated. They aren’t seeking to sell products or specific ideologies. That’s super rare. That makes them an excellent candidate to be universal hubs.
18. Librarians are good at establishing partnerships within the communities they serve, whether  that means faculty and students at a university or citizens within a geographic area. Establishing partnerships further afield, however, can be tricky. This is not to say that librarians don’t work well with others. They work especially well with other librarians for services, such as interlibrary loan, whose scope predates many retail industries’ ability to service widely dispersed customers. The ability of a student in Quebec to be able to access materials in Mexico City well before the arrival of the Internet is a testament to the power of library cooperation. (Reordering Ranganathan 77) Universal inventory: The ability for libraries to be “neutral” partners can’t be underestimated. They aren’t seeking to sell products or specific ideologies. That’s super rare. That makes them an excellent candidate to be universal hubs.
19. Participant Quote: GCU18, Genderqueer, 19-25 years old, Undergraduate, Professions & Applied Sciences, Goshen College Librarians are good at establishing partnerships within the communities they serve, whether  that means faculty and students at a university or citizens within a geographic area. Establishing partnerships further afield, however, can be tricky. This is not to say that librarians don’t work well with others. They work especially well with other librarians for services, such as interlibrary loan, whose scope predates many retail industries’ ability to service widely dispersed customers. The ability of a student in Quebec to be able to access materials in Mexico City well before the arrival of the Internet is a testament to the power of library cooperation. (Reordering Ranganathan 77) Universal inventory: The ability for libraries to be “neutral” partners can’t be underestimated. They aren’t seeking to sell products or specific ideologies. That’s super rare. That makes them an excellent candidate to be universal hubs.
20. Jill is a postgraduate student conducting research for her dissertation topic.
21. Picture 1: Jill is writing her dissertation on (Romantic literature, Wordsworth, Tintern Abbey) and wants to ensure that she has found EVERYTHING she possibly can on this topic. She begins by searching keywords “wye valley" and "romantic” in WorldCat. Picture 2: The results are very limited. It looks like Nicholas Roe is the author and/or editor of most recent scholarship in this area. This particular item seems rare, and isn’t available at her local library, but she could request an interlibrary loan.  Picture 3:  In the search results, she notices a related article that her library doesn’t have access to, but she knows the library can get her electronic materials quickly. After placing the requests, she immediately receives a text message indicating her request is being processed. Picture 4:  The next day she gets an update message that her article is ready for viewing and is happy to see it’s a fully OCR searchable pdf. She also sees that her other request is en route.
22. Picture 1: Jill is writing her dissertation on (Romantic literature, Wordsworth, Tintern Abbey) and wants to ensure that she has found EVERYTHING she possibly can on this topic. She begins by searching keywords “wye valley" and "romantic” in WorldCat. Picture 2: The results are very limited. It looks like Nicholas Roe is the author and/or editor of most recent scholarship in this area. This particular item seems rare, and isn’t available at her local library, but she could request an interlibrary loan.  Picture 3:  In the search results, she notices a related article that her library doesn’t have access to, but she knows the library can get her electronic materials quickly. After placing the requests, she immediately receives a text message indicating her request is being processed. Picture 4:  The next day she gets an update message that her article is ready for viewing and is happy to see it’s a fully OCR searchable pdf. She also sees that her other request is en route.
23. Getting there together. Reinforce importance of openness and collaboration -- a team effort.
24. Help students make better fulfillment choices​ Access to the best edition from the fastest fulfillment option​ Continue to support users needing the fullest possible picture of all editions and formats​ ​ Promote the likely best option​ Show all availability ​ Place Open Content as the optimal fulfillment choice ​ ​ ISO 18626 to create open networks – piloting the new standard with Relais D2D and Tipasa ​ WorldShare ILL and Tipasa patron form informed by Licensed and Open links ​ Tipasa automation drives toward user expectation to get material reliably and timely​ ​ We aim to: ​ Help college students completing a project for which they might have limited time, contextual knowledge, or interest, while not hindering more advanced researchers or those wanting a fuller view​ Encourage users to access the best edition from the fastest fulfillment action, and invite them to access an alternative edition that is available even faster​ Support users who want to see the fullest possible picture by ensuring all formats and editions are visible (so advanced researchers can answer questions such as “What countries or languages was a work published in and when?” or “How frequently was this work published in various places or languages?”).​ ​ View the likely best fulfillment option on the search results and promote within the item details​ View availability for multiple locations and copies on search results ​ Designate special item pick-up locations ​ Prioritize open access links over other full text links ​ Place WMS group holds on any record within an edition cluster
25. Help students make better fulfillment choices​ Access to the best edition from the fastest fulfillment option​ Continue to support users needing the fullest possible picture of all editions and formats​ ​ Promote the likely best option​ Show all availability ​ Place Open Content as the optimal fulfillment choice ​ ​ ISO 18626 to create open networks – piloting the new standard with Relais D2D and Tipasa ​ WorldShare ILL and Tipasa patron form informed by Licensed and Open links ​ Tipasa automation drives toward user expectation to get material reliably and timely​ ​ We aim to: ​ Help college students completing a project for which they might have limited time, contextual knowledge, or interest, while not hindering more advanced researchers or those wanting a fuller view​ Encourage users to access the best edition from the fastest fulfillment action, and invite them to access an alternative edition that is available even faster​ Support users who want to see the fullest possible picture by ensuring all formats and editions are visible (so advanced researchers can answer questions such as “What countries or languages was a work published in and when?” or “How frequently was this work published in various places or languages?”).​ ​ View the likely best fulfillment option on the search results and promote within the item details​ View availability for multiple locations and copies on search results ​ Designate special item pick-up locations ​ Prioritize open access links over other full text links ​ Place WMS group holds on any record within an edition cluster
26. Help students make better fulfillment choices​ Access to the best edition from the fastest fulfillment option​ Continue to support users needing the fullest possible picture of all editions and formats​ ​ Promote the likely best option​ Show all availability ​ Place Open Content as the optimal fulfillment choice ​ ​ ISO 18626 to create open networks – piloting the new standard with Relais D2D and Tipasa ​ WorldShare ILL and Tipasa patron form informed by Licensed and Open links ​ Tipasa automation drives toward user expectation to get material reliably and timely​ ​ We aim to: ​ Help college students completing a project for which they might have limited time, contextual knowledge, or interest, while not hindering more advanced researchers or those wanting a fuller view​ Encourage users to access the best edition from the fastest fulfillment action, and invite them to access an alternative edition that is available even faster​ Support users who want to see the fullest possible picture by ensuring all formats and editions are visible (so advanced researchers can answer questions such as “What countries or languages was a work published in and when?” or “How frequently was this work published in various places or languages?”).​ ​ View the likely best fulfillment option on the search results and promote within the item details​ View availability for multiple locations and copies on search results ​ Designate special item pick-up locations ​ Prioritize open access links over other full text links ​ Place WMS group holds on any record within an edition cluster
27. Help students make better fulfillment choices​ Access to the best edition from the fastest fulfillment option​ Continue to support users needing the fullest possible picture of all editions and formats​ ​ Promote the likely best option​ Show all availability ​ Place Open Content as the optimal fulfillment choice ​ ​ ISO 18626 to create open networks – piloting the new standard with Relais D2D and Tipasa ​ WorldShare ILL and Tipasa patron form informed by Licensed and Open links ​ Tipasa automation drives toward user expectation to get material reliably and timely​ ​ We aim to: ​ Help college students completing a project for which they might have limited time, contextual knowledge, or interest, while not hindering more advanced researchers or those wanting a fuller view​ Encourage users to access the best edition from the fastest fulfillment action, and invite them to access an alternative edition that is available even faster​ Support users who want to see the fullest possible picture by ensuring all formats and editions are visible (so advanced researchers can answer questions such as “What countries or languages was a work published in and when?” or “How frequently was this work published in various places or languages?”).​ ​ View the likely best fulfillment option on the search results and promote within the item details​ View availability for multiple locations and copies on search results ​ Designate special item pick-up locations ​ Prioritize open access links over other full text links ​ Place WMS group holds on any record within an edition cluster
28. •As our products continue to evolve, we’ve re-evaluated what separates WorldShare ILL from Tipasa.  While we are adding additional patron experience features to WorldShare ILL, Tipasa will continue to be the most robust option for servicing patrons. •Tipasa will also be the choice for libraries that want integration with other ILL systems or API access. •Our first APIs will be available in February – with the Request Read and Request Search APIs, a library could create their own ILL request form and “my account” experience for patrons.  •We are implementing the new ISO protocol into Tipasa and RelaisILL.  Following a successful pilot, ISO 18626 will be fully available for Tipasa, RelaisILL, and D2D.  From there, we will seek outside vendors to partner with for testing the implementation externally.   •To aid in this, OCLC research has developed a toolkit that we intend to make available that will help others to implement the standard as well.  More to come on this… •Patron due date options: JIRA