Examining the Library User Experience

Keynote Speaker: Amy Martin - San Francisco Digital and Data Services - amymlibrarian@gmail.com
Session Time: 10:00 am - 11:00 am CDT

Session Title: Opening Keynote - A Natural Pair: Civic Tech and Libraries

Session Description: Libraries have embraced user research, data analytics, and plain language in recent years, but we’ve had to learn as we go. Meanwhile, a parallel discipline has emerged in government: civic technology, the mashup of tech sector practices with government service. Library workers can get inspired by civic tech and borrow some best practices for the library world–and we have a great one to lend, too.

Speaker Bio: Amy Martin (she/her) is an advocate for human centered design and digital empowerment in libraries and government. She worked for 17 years as a public librarian in children's services, collection management, and web development. In 2022, she moved into civic tech as a project manager for San Francisco Digital and Data Services, where she helps government workers build human centered websites.

Speaker: Melissa Kash - Tulsa Community College - Melissa kash@ktulsacc.edu
Speaker: Josh Speer - Tulsa Community College - josh.speer@ktulsacc.edu

Session Time: 11:15 am - 12:00 pm CDT

Session Title: Integrating Customer Service Standards into Training and Assessment Practices

Session Description: The Circulation Team Leaders at Tulsa Community College (TCC) will provide an in-depth presentation on their role in guiding the TCC Library through the creation of comprehensive customer service standards. These standards were carefully designed to align with the broader strategic plan of Tulsa Community College. They will also discuss how these standards have been used to assess customer service in multiple stages to evaluate and reinforce effectiveness of the library’s customer service.

Speaker Bio: Melissa Kash is the Director of the Metro Campus Library at Tulsa Community College in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She holds a degree from the University of Oklahoma’s School of Library and Information Studies and has over 17 years of experience in library leadership. Throughout her career, Melissa has held various roles, including Librarian for Research and Resource Management at the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences Library, Research Center Librarian at the Tulsa City-County Library, and Medical Librarian at the Oklahoma State University Medical Center.

Speaker Bio: Josh Speer is the Circulation Team Leader and "Patron Whisperer" at the TCC Metro Campus Library. He also serves as the chair of the Circulation Team Leaders and leads the TCC Library’s Marketing Team. In 2009, Josh earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Tulsa. With over 15 years of experience working in libraries and museums, Josh is set to embark on his studies at the University of Oklahoma School of Library and Information Studies in the fall of 2024.

Speaker: Tricia Andrews - Metropolitan Library System - tricia.andrews@metrolibrary.org
Speaker: Devin McGhee - Metropolitan Library System - dmcghee@metrolibrary.org
Speaker: Megan Filipowski - Metropolitan Library System - megan.filipowski@metrolibrary.org

Session Time: 11:15 am - 12:00 pm CDT

Session Title: User Experience Testing 101

Session Description: In this session, attendees will receive a crash course on the User Experience testing the Metropolitan Library System completed with staff and patrons during implementation of the Aspen Discovery Catalog. Presenters will share an overview of User Experience testing, their methodology used, practical tips for getting started, and include examples and key takeaways for use in attendee's own user experience testing.

Speaker Bio: Tricia Andrews is the ILS Administrator at the Metropolitan Library System. She holds an MLS from Emporia State University and has over 15 years of experience in both academic and public libraries. Tricia has done everything from shelving books to managing the circulation desk and enjoys learning about the ILS and mastering SQL. When she is not working, Tricia can be found chasing after her kids, running a few miles, or hanging out with her dog, cats, goats, and chickens.

Speaker Bio: Devin McGhee has worked at Metropolitan Library System for the past 12 years as a library manager, cataloger and, currently, as Assistant Manager of Collection Services. She uses her knowledge of guest needs and searching habits to ensure materials are easily accessible to staff and guests. For the past few years, Devin has delved into the ethics surrounding cataloging, especially around accessibility, DEI-informed access points, and naming conventions. She received her MLIS from the University of Oklahoma.

Speaker Bio: Megan Filipowski joined the team at Metropolitan Library in January 2023 after a decade of working in professional sports. Before beginning her career in marketing, she received her bachelor's degree in professional writing and her master's degree in sports journalism. Megan's main responsibilities include managing the library's social media accounts, keeping the Metro website up-to-date, assisting with internal and external communication, and other major marketing efforts. She enjoys the fast-paced nature of digital marketing and always strives to keep up with latest trends while creating meaningful content for the communities that the Metropolitan Library System serves.

Speaker: Emma Olmstead-Rumsey - City of Irving, TX - erumsey@cityofirving.org

Session Time: 1:00 pm - 1:45 pm CDT

Session Title: An Online Catalog Usability Study from Start to Finish

Session Description: Earlier this year, Emma led a team that designed and conducted a usability study of the Irving Public Library’s online catalog. This session will cover the process from exercise design to participant recruitment to sharing study results. Emma will make the case for why a project like this is valuable and share recommendations for libraries considering similar projects, as well as highlight a few findings from the Irving study. Irving Public Library currently uses Polaris for its online catalog. This session is intended for attendees with little to no background in UI or experimental design.

Speaker Bio: Emma Olmstead-Rumsey is the Library Operations Supervisor for Business and Technology at the Irving Public Library, where she is co-administrator for the library's ILS and leads a team of technology and circulation specialists. She is interested in data-driven library services and has previously presented a conference presentation on using interlibrary loan statistical data to guide collection development decisions.

Speaker: Angela Black - Arkansas Tech University - annk@umass.edu

Session Time: 1:00 pm - 1:45 pm CDT

Session Title: The Finals Frontier: Study Spaces and Study Preferences In an Academic Library

Session Description: The Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center actively looks for ways to adapt their collections and spaces to meet the evolving needs of the Arkansas Tech University students. As staff sought to transform a large space occupied by an under-utilized reference collection, they wanted ample evidence to support furniture purchases and space renovation. While the library collects regular data such as gate counts and head counts, it does not collect data on where all of its visitors are going and how they are using the equipment and spaces within the library. To better identify the needs and study habits of students, the library conducted a heat map survey during the run-up before final exams to identify the furniture, spaces, and patterns of current library seating and usage. This presentation will summarize the results of the study and demonstrate how the library used the findings to make decisions regarding furniture and future space.

Speaker Bio: Angela Black is a Technical Services Librarian who has served the Ross Pendergraft Library & Technology Center at the Arkansas Tech University campus for nearly fourteen years. She has a master's degree in Library and Information Science from Florida State University and a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. At Arkansas Tech University, Angela manages cataloging & acquisitions, in addition to serving as a Reference librarian and subject liaison for the departments of Behavioral Sciences, English, and the School of Business.

Keynote Speaker: Steven Bell - Temple University - bells@temple.edu
Session Time: 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm CDT

Session Title: Everything, Everywhere... All At Your Library: A Design Thinker's Totality Mindset for UX

Session Description: Library user experience (UX) research and projects tend to focus on specific, discreet elements of library services and resources, such as the website or signage. While any of those projects can improve the library UX, shifting to a totality mindset for library UX development will help eliminate gaps that diminish the overall library experience. There’s a reason why library UX practice rarely adopts a more global approach to UX design. Designing an experience that encompasses all or most library touchpoints (e.g., service desks, website, virtual reference, etc.) is far more challenging and can seem like an overwhelming task for a single UX librarian or UX committee. To overcome this challenge, the presenter will recommend using a design thinking approach to better support a totality mindset, along with specific strategies to accomplish it. The goal is to make UX planning a more inclusive staff project better equipped to support UX totality.

Speaker Bio: Steven Bell is Associate University Librarian at Temple University Libraries. Steven’s research interests include academic library services and leadership, educational technology, open education and design thinking practices for librarianship. He currently teaches two online courses for the San Jose State University iSchool, Design Thinking for Librarianship or Open Education Librarianship. Steven is a regular contributor for the Charleston Hub Blog.