Where: SALS Training Room
RSVP: Jill Ryder
What DIY patrons want most isn’t traditional person-to-person reference services, but rather web- and mobile device-based resources so they can serve themselves through the library. In this first-of-its kind workshop, Farkas will explore the DIY mindset and ways to embed online instruction and live virtual reference help at patrons’ points of need, whether online, in the library, or out in the world. Among the topics to be explored:
• Characteristics of the DIY patron and changes in usage of reference services
• Designing instructional content for the DIY generation
• How to determine where users hit barriers in their information seeking
• Making instructional content findable at library users’ points of need
Meredith Farkas is the Head of Instructional Services at Portland State University in Oregon and a lecturer at San Jose State University’s School of Library and Information Science. Author of the book Social Software in Libraries: Building Collaboration, Communication and Community Online, she maintains the popular library blog Information Wants to be Free and also writes the monthly column Technology in Practice for American Libraries.