1. Clothes may disguise a fool, but his voice will give him away: The challenge of smart service delivery for off-campus clients
Deidre Lowe, A/Associate Librarian (Information Access)
Sandra Jeffries, Manager Client Services
September 2004

2. Overview Smart service model - components - application to USQ
DocEx implementation
Covering:
What constitutes smart service delivery
Characteristics of USQ client profile that make it such a challenge to deliver a smart service
Implementation of DocEx system and how that addressed some of the smart service challenges
SJ covering the first point; Deidre talking about DocEx

3. Environment – understanding of features
Smart Service?
Environment – understanding of features
Clients – understanding & meeting of needs
Resourcing – effective & sustainable in terms of staff/processes/systems
What does smart service mean? Particularly pertinent question for those of us living in Qld, the “Smart State”.
3 main components:
Environment – understanding of the features or characteristics of the environment in which you operate, in this case a remote learning & teaching environment
Clients – understanding of their needs, + their constraints, concerns, priorities, etc
Resourcing – cost-effective & sustainable

4. Environment - Remote Learning & Teaching
Increasing reliance on technology – content, access, delivery, interaction
Increasing competition
Client demands for more flexible approaches
Hybrid delivery
Remote learning & teaching has been USQ’s focus – won awards.
For many years now, an increasing reliance on technology – in terms of provision of content (online catalogues, databases, full-text electronic resources), access (24/7 access to uni systems, eg admin systems for online enrolments & client maintenance of personal details, LMSs, library systems), delivery (web delivery of requested docs), interaction ( with library & academic staff, live chat).
Increasing competition – corporate online unis, eg Uni of Phoenix Online
Client demands – more flexibility in choice of academic programs & the courses that make up those programs, timing of programs
Hybrid delivery

5. USQ Profile - 80% (20,000) off-campus students
Clients
USQ Profile - 80% (20,000) off-campus students
Off-campus segment:
30% (6,000) off-shore
75% over 25 years of age
> 50% rural/geographically isolated
Mentioned earlier the challenges of USQ’s client profile – who are our clients?

6. Client Surveys
2004
Library Services – focus groups & telephone interviews
Rodski
2003
USQ’s e-Systems – focus groups & telephone interviews
2002
Library Website – focus groups
What do they want? Regular surveys over last few years to find out.
Now running focus groups and telephone interviews every semester.

7. Simple interfaces to databases Everything in one place
Wish List
Clear web pages
Simple interfaces to databases
Everything in one place
eBooks for all texts & recommended readings
Fast response times
Human help
Quotes not just references
No real surprises.
Apart from technological issues, human help still important – Off-Campus Services role

8. Staff – Off-Campus Services Section Processes – Work process reviews
Resourcing
Staff – Off-Campus Services Section
Processes – Work process reviews
Systems - DocEx
3rd component of smart service model
Staff – Off-Campus Services + telephone roster + whole-of-Library approach at start of semesters
Processes – planning for reviews using process management approach
Systems -

9. Formerly known as “LIDDAS” Launched as “DocEx” at USQ
VDX software
Formerly known as “LIDDAS”
Launched as “DocEx” at USQ
USQ focussed on document delivery to off campus students – not ILL initially
Expansion will include ILL and federated searching
DocEx is our local brand for the software formerly known as “LIDDAS”, using the VDX software distributed by Fretwell-Downing Informatics.
As Sandra explained earlier, the majority of our users are off campus. It made a lot of sense for us to target those users and improve our services in that area with our implementation strategy.
The rollout to Off Campus users was stage 1 of this strategy. We are now well into stage 2, which is the expansion to ILL functionality. We have also just begun to investigate offering federated search capabilities to our off campus users as well.

10. Authentication is tied to USQ LDAP system
Key Benefits of DocEx
Authentication is tied to USQ LDAP system
User database is easily populated and updated from PeopleSoft
It searches across USQ catalogue for easy placement of pre-populated requests
Active links to catalogued electronic resources are displayed
Students can track progress of their requests
Scanned documents can be delivered online
We believe some of the key benefits this system provides include seamless authentication with LDAP, saving our users the need to manage an additional login or password.
The user database is easily populated from PeopleSoft and we can update the database at any time. We plan to regularly update the database weekly during the first month of each semester to ensure only valid users have access to the service.
Interoperability with the USQ catalogue means that requests can be pre-populated, saving users a lot of typing. It also means that links to full text, such as our e-book collections, can be accessed directly by our users.
Once a request has been placed, the user can easily track the status of their request online.
Users can elect postal delivery of photocopies or scanned delivery of documents online. We have been cautious in our rollout of this feature by initially setting all accounts to postal delivery which can be changed on request.
(??Find out how many have elected web delivery? – might get asked)
I would like to briefly demonstrate some of these features to you.

11. Demonstration

12. Turnaround time shortened
Preliminary Outcomes
Accessibility of library materials is dramatically improved for off-campus users
Turnaround time shortened
Look and feel of the system sits comfortably with other Library systems
Good uptake despite a “soft launch” approach
The main outcomes for us have been the improved accessibility and ordering process for users and a shortening of turn around times from up to 3 weeks for some international users to 2 working days for those who have reliable internet access and request web delivery.
Referring back to the “wish list” Sandra displayed, we believe that DocEx has fulfilled our users wishes for a clear and simple interface via the web and the end result is an excellent fit with our Library web site look and feel.

13. Resourcing Issues Significant learning curve for staff
Challenges such as:
differences between staff and student screens
system terminology
workflow changes
system problems
Highlights
automatic notifications
scanning
user feedback
The implementation and rollout of DocEx meant a learning curve for all levels of staff in Off Campus Services as well as for Systems staff. I think these challenges are common to any major system change and so were no surprise. As Sandra outlined earlier we had fairly specific user-centred goals to achieve and consequently one of the highlights of going live has been the feedback from users.

14. New system “wonderful” Eliminates many steps Saves time
User Feedback
New system “wonderful”
Eliminates many steps
Saves time
Working beautifully
Linking with catalogue “is beaut”
“Absolutely brilliant”
Scanned document received “immediately”
“User-friendly and saves much typing”
Most of these comments came from our first month of use. The full comments and contexts are reproduced in the paper. We are very pleased that the bulk of our feedback continues to be positive.

15. What We’ve Learned The Good: The Bad: The UGLY:
Sometimes a “leap of faith” pays dividends
Staff comfort levels evolve
The Bad:
No system is perfect
Dependent interoperability between systems can make life very interesting
The UGLY:
Thorough project planning and testing is paramount in reducing everyone’s stress levels
The steep part of the learning curve is behind us and I think the most important lesson is to “feel the fear and do it anyway”. Staff comfort levels do evolve and with thorough planning there’s no need for things to get ugly.
The most difficult challenge initially was system interoperability between VDX and our catalogue system, mainly in terms of performance which turned out to be an indexing issue on Virtua. I think this area will continue to be very challenging for Libraries as our systems become more complex in coming years.

16. Smart Service for our Clients
Future Plans
Rollout of ILL functionality (S1, 2005)
Expansion to include sub-set of significant electronic resources via federated search
Willing to explore all options that will enable us to work smarter and provide smarter systems with the ultimate goal of providing
I mentioned earlier that expansion to include ILL and federated searching is already under way.
Our goal in both of these, but particularly the latter, is to continue to evolve our services into smarter services for greater benefits to both our staff and, importantly, for our users.
Thanks for your time and attention and we will happily answer any questions.
Smart Service for our Clients