ASK A LIBRARIAN

COLLABORATIVE PROJECT OF CROATIAN PUBLIC LIBRARIESPILOT STUDY

Martina Dragija Ivanović, Zadar City Librarymdragija@gkzd.hr

Gorana Tuškan, Rijeka City Librarygorana@gkri.hr

INTRO

15 Croatian public libraries joined their hands (and brains) and offered a new

service to the public:ASK A LIBRARIAN, online reference

inquiry service

Wonder how? Here’s the story…

TIMELINE

Things started to move during LIDA 2003

June 2003: the initial group of librarians started discussing relevant issues through a mailing list

TIMELINE

Fall and winter 2003: we worked hard defining the pilot project

September 2003: we applied for funding from Ministry of culture

December 2003: CARNET provided server for our website

January 2004: the new service started replying users’ inquiries

PILOT PROJECT

Project coordinator: Zdenka Sviben, Zagreb City Libraries

Webmaster: Boris Badurina, Faculty of Philosophy, Osijek

15 participating libraries 18 participating librarians

PARTICIPATING LIBRARIES

Dubrovačke knjižnice, Dubrovnik Gradska i sveučilišna knjižnica, Osijek Gradska knjižnica Ivana Gorana Kovačića, Karlovac Gradska knjižnica "Metel Ožegović", Varaždin Gradska knjižnica Slavonski Brod Gradska knjižnica, Rijeka Gradska knjižnica, Zadar Gradska knjižnica Marka Marulića, Split Knjižnice grada Zagreba (koordinator) Knjižnica Bogdana Ogrizovića, Zagreb Knjižnica i čitaonica "Fran Galović", Koprivnica Knjižnica Medveščak, Zagreb Knjižnica Marina Držića, Zagreb Knjižnica Vladimira Nazora, Zagreb Narodna knjižnica "Petar Preradović", Bjelovar

PILOT PROJECT - RATIONALE

Explore possibilities of implementing online reference services in public libraries in Croatia

Offer this type of service as regular public library service

Croatian public libraries become more present on the Internet and more often they receive inquiries by e-mail

WEBSITE AND DATABASE

Librarian section (administration) Web site directory Inbox Info

User section Info about the project Use policy Links to web directory and inquiry form

http://public.srce.hr/pitajte-knjiznicare

FIGURES… Number of questions received January

19 – May 5 2004: 92 Users were asking:

Factual questions (4) Relevant literature lists (various school papers,

reports…) (43) Questions directed to specific libraries (about

collections, opening hours…) (11) Factual questions about books (translations,

information on authors…) (23) Other (7)

USER PROFILE Female (68.1%) Age: up to 30

(75.8%)

Sex

68%

32%

F

M

Age Group

18,7 20,9

55

5,5

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

1949-1969 1970-1979 1980-1989 1990- ---

Skup1

USER PROFILE 2

Public Library Users

60%

40%Yes

No

Education

23%

45%

32%

OS

SS

VSS

•Has graduated from highschool (45.1%) or university (29.7%)

•A public library member (60.4%)

USER EVALUATION OF THE SERVICE

Mostly satisfied (71 %) Users expect answers to be more

concrete and elaborate They find promptness more than

satisfying Most users tried to search for an

answer through web site directory, but they didn’t find it helpful

PROBLEMS…YOU CAN’T GET AWAY FROM

Insufficient and inadequate information sources in Croatian language a language barrier

No available databases in Croatian National bibliography not up to date Not enough special bibliographies Magazines and proceedings not

analized and catalogued properly Lack of advanced features in OPACs

PLANS FOR THE (NEAR) FUTURE

Marketing Create a reliable directory of relevant

web sites Staff training User education (presentations in

schools, universities, libraries) Funding

The Crew

THANK YOU!