Library Technology and User Services: Planning, Integration, and Usability Engineering

Citation

Calvert, P. (2013), "Library Technology and User Services: Planning, Integration, and Usability Engineering", The Electronic Library, Vol. 31 No. 2, pp. 256-257. https://doi.org/10.1108/02640471311312438

The purpose of this book is to introduce current and future library technology and automation within the context of strategic planning, implementation, and continuous improvement. Here technology is assumed to be an essential resource for attaining both organisational and customer goals, therefore planning must emphasise the strategic alignment between the known goals of each. Objectives have to be set so that technology helps meet the desired outcomes in an efficient, cost‐effective manner. The concept of usability engineering is also explained, in which technology is planned, designed, and implemented in such a way as to maximize effectiveness and ease‐of‐use for both end‐users and library staff.

The key context of the book is established in chapter one, which traces the history of information delivery back to stone tablets and up to the Internet to show that the same objective of recording information, and the mechanisms needed to retrieve and deliver the information, have remained almost unchanged over centuries. This chapter also introduces concepts of systems thinking for planning services for the library customer.

The next chapter takes us into strategic planning, asking “what and for whom?”. It describes needs assessment and the development of key strategic goals. The third chapter explains that technology can help the librarian plan for and implement customised solutions using appropriate hardware and software.

The fourth chapter is primarily about the headache of budgeting. As every library manager knows, budgeting is all about keeping a balance, and here the authors show how to weigh up prevention versus reaction, quality versus quantity, replacement versus repair, and zero‐sum versus line‐item budgeting. There is also useful comment about trends in budgeting. After that come some ideas on how to take stock of what the library has achieved, covering formative and summative evaluation, and an unusual section on how to build a logic model for outcomes‐based evaluation (very much leading edge at present).

The final chapter on “Emerging technology trends in libraries” includes some that we have not seen much of, such as virtual worlds, but also several familiar ones such as e‐books and readers, cloud computing, and mobile devices. There is also discussion of practice, including the lending of devices, and pay per view. This is interesting stuff, but the problem for any book like this is that events overtake the reality faster than the authors can imagine.

It is hard to predict a readership for this book. Some enterprising library managers will find it stimulating, and it will be useful reading for postgraduate LIM students.