The power of collective intelligence Improving customer service with social tools Karolien Selhorst Digital Library/Knowledge Manager Library Vlissingen IFLA, Milan 2009

“Libraries excel in managing information and knowledge captured in books and documents, but they fail in locating and managing the knowledge potential in the heads of their own people.”

The Public Library of Vlissingen Situated in Zeeland (The Netherlands) 45 staff members Apart from the main building, the library provides services in the local hospital, in several schools and in the nearby village.

The Public Library of Vlissingen The customer-focused physical and digital library: –Customer-focused: we want to provide a tailor- made service to our customers. –The digital library: we aim to be where our users are (library2.0).

Knowledge sharing and collaboration Library (reference) services are highly personal; the quality depends on the interaction between individual library staff members and customers. The Public Library of Vlissingen aims to improve customer service by making it less dependent on an individual’s expertise and knowledge. Customer service needs to be based on teamwork and shared knowledge.

From ambition to practice: KM2.0 Focus on: –Knowledge management: creating value for customers based on efficiently managing knowledge processes. –Facilitated by the use of social tools (‘Library2.0’) = Knowledge Management 2.0

KM2.0: internal & external dimensions Internal dimension: focus on facilitating internal knowledge management = the basis for external KM External dimension: focus on knowledge sharing with customers and other organisations (libraries, museums etc.)

KM2.0: internal dimension: the Library Wiki Official launch in March 2009 Replaced the static intranet. Goals: to facilitate knowledge processes in the library, to support collaboration and to make hidden knowledge visible. First phase in improving customer service Second phase: integration of the wiki with ‘Question Manager’.

The Library Wiki

KM2.0: external dimension: Question Manager Question Manager: a new software that supports and makes transparent the way customer enquiries are handled. Integrated in the wiki Customer enquiries are allocated to the librarian/expert (s) with the knowledge profile that matches the topic of the question. QM enables librarians to work together on a ‘richer’ answer for the customer. Improving customer service based on collective intelligence of librarians.

Question Manager

Collective work A customer enquiry enters the system. The enquiry is registered and encoded. The enquiry is allocated to library staff members whose knowledge profiles match the description of the question. The group of experts work together on a ‘rich’ answer to the enquiry. The front office employee sends the answer to the customer. The database with answers is indexed by Google, which makes the library more visible in Google search results.

Future and potential of the QM network Question manager offers the possibility to libraries and other knowledge-intensive organisations to work together on a rich answer to customer enquiries and to make use of the collective intelligence of the network. Goal: to provide a higher level of customer service. The public library becomes an important node in the knowledge economy.

Questions? Karolien Selhorst