Alison Mackenzie

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Alison Mackenzie Dean of Learning Services
SOLSTICE Director
'Does the consumer know best?' Immediate and
future challenges for the 'middle man'. NOWAL
conference

5th September 2008
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Edge Hill
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Our context

• The time has come for all the information
  professions to re-examine their core values and
  discipline boundaries Disintermediation
  (loosely defined and understood as cutting out
  the middle man) has left many professionals in a
  state of shock and denial
• Nicholas, D Rowlands, I (2008) Digital
  Consumers reshaping the Information profession

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Our context.2
Google has flattened expertise, creating
confusion between finding information and
possessing the literacy to judge and evaluate
information.
Brabazon, Tara. Boomers in thrall to a Wiki
Universe, THES, 6 November 2007
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Our Context3

• Recent publications..
• RIN Mind the skills Gap Information handling
  training for Researchers
• CIBER Beyond the Google Generation
• Recent launches
• The ink wont run, the pages wont tear will
  book worms get their teeth into this?
• Times September 2nd 2008, p.4

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Key messages.

• Collaboration by key bodies on training
  initiatives e.g. VITAE RIN RCUK SCONUL
• Evaluation of training provision and impact
  measures
• Strategic management of training at an
  institutional level co-ordinated and balanced
• New competencies required by information
  professionals to deliver research training
• Additional resources should be available to
  support these developments

RIN (2008) Mind the skills gap information
handling trining for researchers
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Key messages

• Information literacy has not improved with access
  to technology
• Find it difficult to develop effective search
  strategies
• Have poor understanding of their own information
  needs
• Like using natural language and not keywords
• Find it difficult to assess/sift through lots of
  information
• Speed of searching results in little time spent
  on evaluation
• Preference for Google/Yahoo
• Known brand
• Library sponsored resources non-intuitive

CIBER (2008) Beyond the Google Generation
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Embracing diversity offering choice ?
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A vision of Students today
a short video summarizing some of the most
important characteristics of students today - how
they learn, their goals, hopes, dreams, what
their lives will be like, and what the need..
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Part 2 Edge Hill

• Edge Hill University seeks to provide an
  innovative, high quality and inclusive learning
  experience underpinned by a commitment to the
  advancement, dissemination and application of
  knowledge.
• As a learning-led University, Edge Hill is
  dedicated to developing individuals as skilled
  and autonomous learners in challenging and
  supportive environments.
• Edge Hill University
• Mission statement

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Who has the power/influence?
_at_ Education Image Gallery
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Stakeholder power/interest matrix
Senior Managers
High Power/ Interest
Academic Staff Students
Researchers
Governors Government HEFCE QAA NHS TTA
Professional bodies e.g. Law society
Partnership Colleges
Regional HEIs Colleagues in other service
areas Visitors
P O W E R
Learning Services Staff

Disempowered
INTEREST
LOW
HIGH
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Inward facing..

• When we fail - and we do fail - very often you
  can trace that failure back to the fact that we
  became too focused on internal priorities. Weve
  been thinking too much about whats good for
  Carphone Warehouse and forgetting what its like
  to be a customer

Charles Dunstone, CEO Carphone Warehouse New
Business Spring 2005
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Being seen where it matters

• Visibility
• Key messages
• ConversationsDiscussionswhere are they taking
  place?

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Visibility outside the Service

• Engagement with academic planning processes
• Membership of validation panels
• Working with different groups of colleagues
• volunteering
• Collaborative working with different parts of
  the organisation
• Talk about what youre doing to a range of
  audiences
• Invest in public relations..
• Market market market

Dr Tanya Byron with Learning Services bag
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Multi professional working
The learning technologist
The researcher
The student
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What is our position?

• Learner focussed RESPONSIVE
• Student centred COLLABORATIVE
• Learner led
• BESPOKE
  PERSONALISED
• CUSTOMISED User orientated
• Customer care.. PROFESSIONAL
• Does the rhetoric reflect reality?

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Learner centred
IT skills
Information Literacy
Study Skills SpLD
Learner
Online Learning
Media facilities
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Focus on the individual.
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Into the Flow
Then the user built their workflow around the
library Now the library must build its service
around the user workflow
With thanks to Lorcan Dempsey
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Butdo we really know our customers?
_at_ Education Image Gallery
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Information seeking behaviour in the digital
environment

• Observations of behaviour from the CIBER report
• Horizontal information seeking
• c. 60 of e-journal users view no more than 3
  pages
• Navigation
• Finding your bearings
• Viewers
• On-line reading power browsing skim content
  pages and abstracts for quick wins
• Squirreling behaviour
• Download and keep..but read?
• Diverse information seekers
• One size does not fit all
• Checking information seekers
• Assess authority in seconds display brand
  loyalty

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The customers journey
Oxford Strategic Marketing
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Perceived Benefits of the Process

• Plan the most efficient and effective
• experience by reducing duplication
• and shortening the length of processes

Journey mapping helps
Journey mapping helps

• Target limited resource for maximum impact

• See things from the customers point of view

• Get it right when it really matters e.g. when
  emotions are highest or need greatest

• Deliver a seamless, streamlined experience that
  cuts across silos

• Identify cheapest cost to serve,

• Deliver information, messages and services at the
  most appropriate time

• Identify baton-change points where service or
  communication breakdown is most likely

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Messages for the profession

• Understand the information-seeking profiles/needs
  of your customers
• Target services abandon one stop shop/one
  size fits all
• Define (re-define) your role as a source of
  expertise
• Use impact studies to market your successes at
  the strategic level

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Good news
Not quite the headlines but Libraries
unleashed supplement More articles in
THES SCONUL/JISC SCONUL/HEA
_at_ Education Image Gallery
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Any questions?