Microassessments of Public Services Usability: Improving Holds at UMD Timothy Hackman Director of User Services & Resource Sharing University of Maryland Libraries Charts by Catherine Bloom, Graduate Assistant, UMD Libraries

The Problem & The Questions 1,238 unclaimed holds for 855 users in 7 weeks = 25/day Wasted staff time Longer queues, poor service The Questions: WHY don’t people pick up their holds? HOW can we reduce the number of unclaimed holds?

The Survey Collected “unclaimed hold” slips for 7 weeks, Feb 24 – May 7, 2014 Recorded name, email, hold expiration date, date deleted for each Qualtrics survey, 7 questions: Why didn’t you pick up your hold? (5 questions) Did you ask for help? Which of these email subject lines do you like best? 136 responses (15.9% response rate)

Suggest your own email subject line BOOK HOLD READY. Go for the all caps…it works. Book here! Still want it? The Book You Requested Is Ready! Your book, [book title], is here! Get your book or you will be expelled Pick up yo book, bro

What do we do with this information? Improved communication Clearer email language Catchier email subject line Reminder messages Improved turnaround time Consortial borrowing Recalls Paging Close the loop