Winter
2015
This
assignment will give you the opportunity to observe real information services
from the inside and outside and use those observations to articulate the value of
information services in a professional document.
In
preparation for this assignment, your group of 2 or 3 should undertake the
following:
The Professional Experience
You
each may choose any environment you like, provided that something that looks
like an information service, loosely defined, goes on. This might include libraries of any kind, a
software help desk, a customer service phone bank or information desk,
etc. [If in doubt, ask.] Contact a professional in that environment to
set up mutually agreeable times to observe their work for at least 3 hours, preferably over a couple of different days. Please share a copy of this assignment with
them, so they know what the expectations are.
Don’t pick somewhere you have
worked or are now working, but feel free to choose somewhere you’re otherwise
familiar with. I’d also prefer you each
work with a different person, so if your first choice has
already been approached by somebody else in the class, try another.
Watch
what goes on—who are the clientele, what kinds of questions people ask,
how they’re asked, the kinds and levels of service provided, and in particular, how the interaction
goes, how interviews are conducted, questions which aren’t asked or answered,
etc. Try to observe unobtrusively, but
feel free to ask questions of your professional colleague as circumstances
permit.
Your
group members should choose different kinds of organizations, but all these
observations should lead you towards the kinds of analyses described
below. At least one of these venues
should be a library or library-like setting, and at least one should not.
After
your observation, reflect on the areas above, what you believe the service is
doing well and any improvements you think could be made, and whatever else you
think important.
The User Experience
Again,
you may choose any environments you like, other than a place you are now
currently working or have worked in the recent past. You each are to approach information services
as a user, with a real question (something of genuine interest or importance to
you) that you want or need a response to.
You are to make at least 3 inquiries, in a mixture of library and
non-library settings: one in a
face-to-face, in person environment, and 2 in digitally-mediated
environments: one synchronous, one
asynchronous. These need not necessarily
be 3 separate services or institutions, but I’d prefer that you have a range of
experiences here. You may not use Suzzallo
or Odegaard libraries, or the IPL, for this part of
the assignment. You also should not use a service where you are known
or would be recognized.
After
your observation, reflect on the responses you received, the interfaces you
encountered, their ease of use and design, the quality of the information, if
any, you received, how you felt as a user, and whatever else you think
important. Again, a range of experiences
and venues will be helpful.
The Article
Finally,
using these experiences and observations, and your reflections on them, you
should compose a feature article
for Library Journal (Note their guidelines on length, style, etc). You should
also include an appendix, written to me, summarizing your observations and
reflections, as well as brief descriptions of the environments and services,
communities/clienteles served.
This
article should describe what you, as emerging professionals, would say to your
future colleagues in response to this question:
What is the value of information services?. As you can imagine, this question can be
interpreted in a number of ways. Whatever the nature of your answer and your
article, it must emerge, at least in part, from your observations and
experiences, as well as appropriate literature, professional documents, etc.
Your
submission will be evaluated based on the depth of observation, analysis and
thought, creativity, originality and interest, use of observations and
literature, appropriateness of your article to the form and audience, and the
overall quality of presentation of your report.
The
assignment is due at 5:30pm on February 19.