Increasing Patron Monitoring in a Library Setting Matthew Thornton Brodhead BSAP Spring 2007 Allison Mueller

Special Collections and Rare Book Room Over 39,000 books including: –120 Medieval manuscripts –Fine press books –American Women’s Poetry Collection –Historical Children’s Collection –Pop-up books –Artist books

Participants Student employees of Western Michigan University Libraries –7 total employees Including me Manager: Susan Steuer Ph. D. of History and head of Special Collections and Rare Book Room

Reason to Intervene Library staff were not monitoring patrons while they used library materials Dr. Steuer wanted to increase monitoring behavior because materials housed at Special Collections are: Out of print Hard to come by One of a kind Expensive (some books cost over $15,000) Priceless –Abuse of materials is not acceptable

Baseline Library staff monitored patrons on an average of 18.5% of 90-second intervals

Baseline

Ineffective Natural Contingency Given level of book safety Staff member looks at patron Slightly higher level of book safety

Natural Competing Contingency Given amount of time to do homework Staff member looks at patron Less time to do homework

Nothing beats getting paid to do homework…

Performance Objectives The goal is for staff to monitor patrons 95% of 90-second intervals

But how… With Goal Directed Systems Design? Of course!

Input-Process-Output Model (Staff member who looks at patron once every 90-seconds) [Output] (Production: Training with job aid and monitoring materials) [Process] (Staff member who does not look at patron once every 90-seconds) [Input]

Goal Specification Form Output Staff member who looks at patron once every 90-seconds Standards Quality CurrentIdeal 18.5% of intervals95% of intervals Quantity All staff Timeliness Before patron leaves Cost None10 hours ProcessTraining with job aids and monitoring materials Production: XDistribution_R&D__ Input Staff member who does not look at patron once every 90- seconds

The Intervention 90-second interval timer –Beeps once every 90 seconds –Reminds staff to monitor patrons DING!

The Intervention Revised patron request form –Modified to facilitate self-recording –Used for data collection Observation no longer necessary

9:30 am9:36 am MB

The Intervention Patron Monitoring Job Aid –How to use 90-second interval timer –How to use self-recording materials

The Intervention Graphic Feedback –Graph updated on a weekly basis –Provided visual feedback on performance Placed within sight of staff I love graphic feedback!

Performance Management Contingency Will lose opportunity to see good graph next week Staff member looks at patron Will not lose opportunity to see good graph next week S D : Before end of 90-second interval

Will lose opportunity to see good graph next week Staff member looks at patron Will not lose opportunity to see good graph next week S D : Before end of 90-second interval Given level of book safety Staff member looks at patron Slightly higher level of book safety Fear of losing opportunity to see good graph Staff member looks at patron No fear of losing opportunity to see good graph Ineffective: PM: Inferred:

And guess what… Patron monitoring improved!

Useful information Performance was calculated using the following formula: R = Correct responses made by staff member Z = (minutes patron viewed materials)x(60) I = Z/90 (I = possible intervals) (R/I)x(100) = Percentage of correct responses Questions about this? 10 correct responses = R 30 minutes patron viewed materials X 60 = Z 1800/90 = 20 possible intervals (Z/90) 10/20x100 = 50% of correct responses

Recycle During the second week of the intervention, the patron request form was revised to facilitate longer stays A “Notes” section was also added so staff could note anything that may have affected their monitoring behavior

Recycle And that was all that needed to be done to save the lives of thousands of books… …and to help save the world with Behavior Analysis!

I.O.A. Jada-Rae helped me with I.O.A. –100% for three sessions –She basically checked my math

Social Validity Social Validity Surveys were given during the 4th week of the intervention Mixed results…

Good News! Dr. Steuer loved the results so much that she decided to make the intervention policy! Better yet… we will be co-writing an article for a library journal about the success that non-library students can bring to library systems –Not quite JOBM, but we’re getting there…

And for Staff… Staff members reported that patron monitoring needed to increase, and that I was on the right track with my design

However… That beeper is pretty damn annoying… It’s a small price to pay for the greater good of research… DING!

Conclusion Everyone is satisfied with the results Library materials will live another day And we didn’t even have to shock anyone! Oh dear… Dr. Steuer

Questions or Comments? Save the world with Behavior Analysis!