Gathering meaningful statistics: using KnowAll Enquire by Laura Connaughton, National University of Ireland, Maynooth

GATHERING MEANINGFUL STATISTICS

Laura Connaughton

Assistant Librarian

Library Information Services

[email protected]

Using KnowAll Enquire at John Paul II Library NUI Maynooth

ARLG Conference June 24th 2014

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND, MAYNOOTH

While formally established as an autonomous university in 1997, NUI Maynooth traces its origins to the foundation of the Royal College of St. Patrick in 1795, drawing inspiration from a heritage that includes over 200 years of education and scholarship

The University community comprises over 9,000 students and 800 staff from more than 20 countries

Two Libraries

Russell Library, Special Collections and pre-1850 material

John Paul II Library

South Campus St. Patrick’s College

South Campus New Library

TODAY’S PRESENTATION

Discuss the shift in JPII Library from paper based enquiries to

online based enquiries

What KnowAll Enquire is and how it was adapted for practical

use in JPII Library

How KnowAll Enquire can improve the user experience

through the process of tracking the enquiry from origin

through each stage of the enquiry handling process

Challenges and opportunities presented by an online enquiry

management package

Advice for others considering a similar model

ENQUIRY MANAGEMENT @ NUI MAYNOOTH LIBRARY

Metrics are becoming more and more important in terms of demonstrating library work and value

NUI Maynooth Library – new building, new facilities, new resources – we want to be able to demonstrate our value and commitment to teaching, learning and research at NUI Maynooth

First academic library in Ireland to purchase KnowAll Enquire

KnowAll Enquire helps us monitor enquiries and generate meaningful statistics which means we can monitor and improve our service and prove our value

WHY INTRODUCE A ENQUIRY MANAGEMENT PACKAGE?

Opportunity to streamline all our enquiries into one central point

Ability to measure customer enquiries, for example, amount

of enquiries, time taken, busy/quiet times etc. Opportunity to improve the customer experience by having a

bank of knowledge/FAQs Provide clarity for library staff – ability to see if enquiries are

answered/resolved, what the answer is for future reference

With our new library, we expected library usage to increase and were being proactive in terms of gathering metrics

NEW LIBRARY NEW SERVICES AT NUI MAYNOOTH

NEW OPPORTUNITIES!

WHERE OUR LIBRARY ENQUIRIES COME FROM

Chat

Email

Walk Ins

Appointment

Online form

Phone

Enquiries by Type June 2014

Pre-2014 Paper Based Information Desk Statistics Sheet

Pre-2014 Paper Based Admission Desk Statistics Sheet

Where did these statistics go? ...

EXCEL

Cons:

Data Entry

Laborious

Time Consuming

Requires knowledge & ability to manipulate figures

How do we collate these figures in one go?

KnowAll Enquire

KnowAll Enquire

KNOWALL ENQUIRE KnowAll Enquire is an enquiry tracking software package which tracks all types of enquiries right through

from initial enquiry to meaningful statistics and reports with a view to improving the customer

experience and track the enquiry from origin through each stage of the enquiry handling process.

How does it work?

It captures initial enquiries made at the Information Desk, via walk-ins, online form, email or library chat

We can assign queries to people i.e. share the workload according to location, specialist subjects and availability

By monitoring the enquiries we can ensure that questions are answered

We can search answers thus sharing knowledge and see how similar enquiries were answered previously

The software is capable of providing very accurate statistics and reports which means we will be able to improve our service

We can publish FAQ’s meaning enquirers can help themselves with straightforward queries

TIMELINE

Autumn 2012 - Enquire purchased

Autumn/Winter 2012 - New library move

Spring 2013 Visit to University of Warwick, UK

Beginning initial design of NUIM Library prototype

Working closely with Bailey Solutions in setting up the technical spec of Enquire

Summer 2013 Dedicated staff member - Edel Cosgrove, Library Assistant

Software design & testing

Autumn/Winter 2013 Staff training and launch

Spring & Summer 2014 Continuing roll-out to all library staff

Software changes and updates

LIBRARY DEPARTMENTS

1. Information Desk (11 staff)

2. Admission Desk (11 staff)

3. General Collections & Finance (12 staff)

4. Special Collections & Russell Library (7 staff)

5. Digital & Electronic Collections (3 staff)

6. Information Literacy (3 staff)

7. Subject Librarians (7 staff)

8. Library IT Development (3 staff)

LET’S TAKE A LOOK

Admission Desk

Information Desk

Subject Librarian

INTERFACE – INFORMATION DESK

INTERFACE – ADMISSION DESK

INTERFACE – SUBJECT LIBRARIAN

SAMPLE FORM FOR AN ENGLISH ENQUIRY

Reporting

CUSTOM REPORTS

REPORTING – SOME EXAMPLES NUIM INFORMATION DESK (BY HOUR) SHOWS ENQUIRIES BY HOUR OF THE DAY AND GIVES PERCENTAGE

NUIM INFORMATION DESK (BY CONTACT METHOD) SHOWS ENQUIRIES BY CONTACT METHOD AND GIVES PERCENTAGE

NUIM ADMISSION DESK SHOWS ENQUIRY COUNT FOR ADMISSION DESK

NUIM SUBJECT LIBRARIANS (WORK IN PROGRESS) SHOWS COUNT BY TIME AND SUBJECT

How we share information with our library users

We let people know what we do and how busy we are year round

Libraries need to proactively show our value and KnowAll is key to us demonstrating this in a variety of

ways

Library Infograph

Challenges

Benefits

Advice

CHALLENGES BENEFITS

Cost

Time

Set Up

Testing

Rollout and Training

Change

Time

Easy to access and see previously answered queries

Demonstration of value and time

Clarity of workflows

BENEFITS FOR STUDENTS

Self-Directed Learning

When KnowAll Enquire is 100% customised, students and library users will be able to search FAQs for self-service answering of queries with instant answers

Students can be assured that enquires will not be ‘lost’ in the process of referrals from desk to department

Online Form – students don’t need to know exactly who should get their query, less time consuming

BENEFITS FOR STAFF

One dedicated system for receiving, tracking and answering enquiries

Do away with paper-based enquiries, all in a central location

Potential to enhance our customer service through consistent answering and knowledge bank

Each library team can monitor their own enquiries

BENEFITS FOR MANAGEMENT

Reporting of metrics and statistics an excellent feature

The level of detail in the reports has the ability to dig down to both quantitative and qualitative information

Ability to improve customer service, e.g., what is the most asked question re. databases, do we need to do more training/advertising?

Gives an overview of busy/quiet time data to inform of changes to opening hours etc.

ADVICE

Having a dedicated person to work on the software set-up side is not necessary but definitely an advantage

You need the time to learn the product and how you want to use it. The capability is huge, you need to be able to harness it

Emerging body of literature about development of statistical packages – we made our decision informed by practice and met Bailey Solutions at LILAC 2012

Visited site before purchase (A&L Goodbody) and after purchase (University of Warwick)

Remember it’s not an ‘overnight’ product. We still have lots of work to do on it including student import, diversion of emails into Enquire, more training and rollout. Be patient!

THANK YOU

Laura Connaughton

John Paul II Library, NUI Maynooth

[email protected]

00353 (0)1 708 3429

http://library.nuim.ie

CONTACT

KnowAll Enquiry Management from Bailey Solutions

www.knowallenquire.com

[email protected]

CREDITS

NUI Maynooth KnowAll Enquire

http://nuim.knowallenquire.co.uk/Home.aspx

J. Gabe Gossett, Elizabeth Stephan, Rebecca Marrall,

(2012) "Implementing reference statistics collection software at multiple library service points", New Library World, Vol. 113 Iss: 5/6, pp.235 - 248

All photos by kind permission of Alan Monahan, NUI Maynooth Library