EDITOR'S NOTES
Meeting Users Where They Need It
by Dick Kaser
This issue is dedicated to users of various kinds and the systems, tools, and methods that can help them use technology and have excellent user experiences with your library and its information services. Among the users covered in this issue are senior citizens who are depending on public libraries as a lifeline, professional legal teams collaborating globally, students in academic institutions and public schools who are learning and researching, medical workers in clinical settings who need answers quickly, and librarians and info pros striving to use information technologies to better fulfill their outreach objectives and service missions. David Lee King (Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library) previews remarks he will be giving at the 2023 Computers in Libraries conference later this month. He considers recent developments at Twitter and what they may mean for libraries in assessing their overall social media strategy.
Eric Button (St. Louis County Library) discusses his library lending GrandPads—easy-to-use tablets—to seniors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tania Danielson (Shearman & Sterling) discusses how she was able to unify a global legal team (some, working from home) to achieve project goals via collaborative platforms from Microsoft. Jodi Pierre (University of Wisconsin–Green Bay) shares her experience in conducting usability testing to improve students’ ability to search and effectively discover library resources. Virginia Trow (North Country Hospital Library Service Program) deployed out-of-the-box commercial customer service platforms to automate and track workflows and document certain users’ history of interacting with the library in order to provide better service. Alyssa Taft (Cranston Public Library) shares how schools can engage students while they learn tech skills via hosting a blog that lets them express their opinions on the media they are reading, listening to, or viewing.
In the Online Searcher section, articles feature web search and research skills development for librarians and information professionals to support their own work or to teach others.
Please join me at the 2023 CIL conference in Arlington, Va., later this month, where all of these topics and more will be discussed in person.
Dick Kaser, Executive Editor
kaser@infotoday.com
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