Confab HigherEd – Short, True, and Meaningful

I’m Suzanne Chapman UX Generalist / UX Dept. Manger!!University of Michigan Library 500 employees - 125 librarians - 50 IT staff - 4 UX staff !!!!!!@libraryux

I <3 Librarians

!Librarians are: !

Really smart Thoughtful Diligent Energetic Passionate Exhaustively thorough Compulsively helpful !

Being exhaustively thorough is a wonderful trait for: !researching in-depth bibliographies !creating detailed metadata about an ancient illuminated manuscript !

Being exhaustively thorough isn’t a wonderful trait for: !being concise

Reference Services for Alumni: As part of the University Library's mission to assist researchers with their questions regarding the collections, resources and services of the University of Michigan libraries, U-M alumni are encouraged to contact the various reference service desks for assistance, either in person, via phone, via email, or via instant message. University Library reference staff and subject specialists are happy to help you use our collections and resources. Just Ask a Librarian! If you need assistance with your research, please feel free to browse the library's subject-based guides.

Reference Services for Alumni: As part of the University Library's mission to assist researchers with their questions regarding the collections, resources and services of the University of Michigan libraries, U-M alumni are encouraged to contact the various reference service desks for assistance, either in person, via phone, via email, or via instant message. University Library reference staff and subject specialists are happy to help you use our collections and resources. Just Ask a Librarian! If you need assistance with your research, please feel free to browse the library's subject-based guides.

Can Alumni use Reference Services? -Yes. See Ask a Librarian service page for options.

Traditional Library Thinking: Being exhaustively thorough = helping users

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AUniversity_of_Michigan_4350629840_card_catalog.jpg

Traditional Library Thinking: Being exhaustively thorough = helping users

Digital Library: Being concise = helping users get their work done quickly

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AUniversity_of_Michigan_4350629840_card_catalog.jpg

CHEAP

FAST GOOD

pick 2

SHORT short &!concise

MEANINGFUL

TRUE

pick 2

TRUE

the whole truth!

(exhaustively thorough) SHORT

MEANINGFUL

pick 2

MEANINGFUL

users understand the meaning

(user-friendly)

TRUE SHORT

pick 2

Meaningful

ShortTrue

✓

✓✓

Nailed it!

Shakespeare Selected Plays Published 1914 Book Full Text

Shakespeare in Love Published 1998 CD Full Text

Shakespeare Selected Plays Published 1914 Book Full Text

Shakespeare in Love Published 1998 CD Full Text

Shakespeare Quarterly Published 1950-present Volumes 1-328 Journal Full Text

Shakespeare Selected Plays Published 1914 Book Full Text

Some online access may be available depending on copyright and licensing permissions

Some online access available

MEANINGFUL

SHORTTRUE

Some content fully available online

MEANINGFUL

SHORTTRUE

Full Text

Available online

This new strategy changed the whole conversation because as much as we want to be exhaustively thorough, we are also compulsively helpful – seeing the tradeoffs helped us shift a little away from “true” in favor of more “meaningful.”

THANKS! Suzanne Chapman

User Experience Manager University of Michigan Library

!suzchap@umich.edu

!@libraryux