Discussion
Another problem with the aforementioned survey is that it didn't provide a comment box for people to describe specific pain points in library services.
For example, I just tried to submit a purchase request to Hamilton City Libraries via their website. I love the library, but this was a deeply shitty experience. To the point where I'm just going to to the library and do it in person.
(1/?)
First it made me login to do it. I guess this reduces frivolous requests, but still. It created some login confusion by using "PIN" and "password" interchangeably. Pick one!
It wouldn't accept either of the passphases I thought I might have used. So then I had to do a password recovery dance, which depended on running scripts from google.com 🤦♂️
(2/?)
Once I finally got logged in, I was faced with a request form that tried to be suitable for requesting purchase, interloans, etc. It failed. By making the "Pickup at" field compulsory, which makes sense for an interloan, but surely isn't critical when someone is just trying to suggest a new book for the collection.
When I didn't put anything into that field, it wiped everything I'd entered into the form, and expected me to try again. I didn't. FT.
(3/?)
@strypey
The assumption is that people who request a book want to borrow it. Therefore the system places a hold so they are first in line if/when the item is acquired. A pickup location is required for holds.
@RedRobyn
> The assumption is that people who request a book want to borrow it
As the old saying goes, to assume makes an ass out of u and me.
> It places a hold so they are first in line if/when it is acquired
That's helpful. Requiring people to want to be the first person to borrow it, less so. Blanking forms when the required field is blank, forms that ask for large amounts of info that needs to be researched, not at all helpful. Anti-helpful.
@strypey
That thing you said about frivolous requests?
Someone who wants the library to spend money on a book they don't want to take out? Seems pretty frivolous to me.
It's possible Hamilton Library system is different from my local, and that's not what's going on. But making a commitment to actually borrow an item you request seems a pretty low bar to me.
It's certainly true the old paper slips request process where you could fill out the blanks more creatively might suit you better.
Letting you know also that I'm not enjoying the tone of your reply. Seems more argumentative, superior and borderline insulting than constructive discussion. I guess I shouldn't have given your posts the benefit of any doubt. Just assumed a rant, muted and moved on. Oh well.
(1/3)
@RedRobyn
> Letting you know also that I'm not enjoying the tone of your reply
My apologies. But when someone shares a frustrating experience, and you chime in to explain why they shouldn't be frustrated, I'm not sure why you expected rainbows and unicorns 🤷♂️
As with my post about the decay of the public health system a few months back, I want to make it clear that I don't blame public librarians or other staff for this. You all do a fantastic job, on the smell of an oily rag, and I appreciate your work.
What you do is critically important to a society that claims it wants to continue to be literate. Like most public servants, you ought to have more resources, and much more autonomy over how you use them to do your work.
(4/?)
I don't even blame the coalface IT staff. If they're anything like most IT teams in the public sector, they're either working a) with tech mandated by technically illiterate managers vulnerable to corporate hard sell, or b) in under-resourced small businesses that chunks of library IT work has been contracted out to, at exploitative rates.
(5/?)
But honestly, it's the 21st century. If we want the majority of the public to believe that public libraries are still an important institution in the digital age - and they absolutely are - we need library IT that doesn't work like something a time traveller brought back from the late 1990s.
How can we help?
(6/6)
Code: Got a 'how did we do' boilerplate survey from Hamilton City Libraries. So I reported my failed attempt to suggest a book for their collections.
As usual they used a corporate survey tool. Usually it's ScurvyMonkey but this time it was cemplicity.com. So when they asked for my contact details I wasn't prepared to include them. Even thought I would have been happy for the library to contact me about the issues I reported if they'd used something community-hosted (eg @LimeSurvey).
A space for Bonfire maintainers and contributors to communicate
