Week 1: Deciding the Topic

Hi!
I was wondering how to brief in on the work I've been doing for the past few weeks since day 1. Mainly, I have been doing interviews with librarians. At first I thought of showing my process by posting up each inteview I've done, but since I recorded those interviews through writing notes down (and it is fairly messy writing), I thought it would be too much work. Who would want to read through each word of these interviews? So I'll be brief instead (unless otherwise requested for a longer version) and catch up to speed here.

Week 1: Sept 3
Britannia branch library @ 10:40-10:55am :
Talked to Mary Duffy, a librarian working at the information service desk. Since I wasn't sure at that time yet on what my topic for the library will be yet, I asked her a few questions. Things like "What is the most frequent question/problem do patrons ask you for? Are there any ways you would like the libray to improve on? Do patrons ever find the library confusing to use? Do they know how to navigate it?" Answer: patrons ask for help on various little things, like finding things on the internet or filling out forms. More physical space for books and holding events would be nice. Patrons are self sufficient so they are able to use the library, especially b/c Britannia branch is in a school zone the teachers teach the kids on using the library. Then asked if she found kids were using the internet more than the library resources. I had briefly considered this topic the night before after reading an article about it. This she agreed on definitely. They encourage kids to utilize the library resources more b/c the internet ain't that reliable. Even if kids have to use the internet for research, the library has online article databases, catalogue, etc. So long as the kids are using reliable sources from the public library, she didn't mind that kids didn't have to step foot into the library.

Kensington branch library @ around 4:30 pm:
Talked to Marilyn MacPherson at my local branch. She's a Children's Librarian and just started working at Kensington. I asked her the same set of Q's I did with Mary. She would like to see improved communications between the community and library. To know what the community wants out of the library and how the library can serve its needs better. Also communication from library staff on what they think the library could be improved upon. On library use, people are self-sufficient in finding what they want generally. In a small library, its easier but a big branch like Central may be confusing because it's got more area. Not much relevant answers regarding teen use on libraries or FAQ from patrons, though. She talked long about issues like library administration and management and how I have to take that into consideration, community needs, and types of materials for those communities.

So I pooled down possible topic ideas and came up with:
- students rely on internet access more than computers
-wayfinding and signage system
-improve communications between community + library to find community needs
-improve website. perhaps an individual webpage/website for each branch library
-brand identity of all branches to reflect an friendlier face and community spirit
-brand identity for Kensington's new branch

Narrowed the ideas to 3 possibilities:
-identity system for library
-interface improvement of the website + catalogue
-getting user feedback about the VPL's material collection

Since I still couldn't decide between the 3 topics, the next part of my research was interviewing librarians regarding those 3 topics...