Methods:
Information for the Root Cause Analysis was collected through a focus group with five Circulation Desk student workers. Two of the student workers were freshman who started working at the Circulation Desk the second week of September. The other three student workers have worked at the Circulation Desk for a year or more.
Following the focus group, one-on-one interviews were held with both a Circulation Desk staff member and a Reference Desk staff member.
Questions that were investigated included:
- Do Circulation Desk student workers know how to perform the required activities?
- Do Circulation Desk student workers see the benefits in performing the required activties?
- What resources are available to aid in proper performance?
- Is the workflow conducive to efficient performance?
- Have expectations for performance been clearly communicated?
- Why don't Circulation Desk student workers refer research questions to the Reference Desk?
- Why don't Circulation Desk student workers refer patrons to the Reference Desk when a book is not available in the catalog?
Factors Influencing Performance
Physical Resources:
Circulation Desk student workers have access to computers with Internet access. They can use the OPAC on the Circulation Desk computers to look up if a book is available. They can also access the library website to answer other library-related questions.
Their workspace is well lit and comfortably heated and cooled. In addition to computers, the students have access to office supplies and other materials that they might need to answer patron questions.
Structure and Process:
The student workers are given many tasks that they must complete while on the Circulation Desk. On a busy day, they might be responsible for answering the phones, checking out books for patrons, answering patron questions, and pulling books from Course Reserve all at the same time. While there is usually a Circulation Desk staff member working with the student workers, when the desk becomes busy it is quite possible that the student workers must complete these tasks without supervision.
Motivations and Expectations:
The student workers are highly motivated to answer patron questions. They want to help patrons and find the needed information for the patrons as quickly as possible.
They know that they should only answer some patron questions and refer others to the Reference Desk, but they are often unsure of which questions they can answer and which they should refer.
Also, they don't understand why they need to refer a patron to the Reference Desk when a book is not available in the catalog.
When they do refer patrons to the Reference Desk, they rarely find out if the patron was successful in finding more information.
Finally, student workers explain that they don't always refer a patron to the Reference Desk when a patron is in a rush or when the Reference Desk looks particularly busy.
Information and Feedback:
At the start of the new year, they are given an Employee Handbook. This handbook contains basic information about rules and policies for working the Circulation Desk. It does not contain detailed information regarding how to perform specific Circulation Desk tasks such as answering and referring patron questions.
Other than the Student Handbook, students are not provided with any additional materials that they can refer to when working the Circulation Desk such as a document listing the types of questions they should answer and the types of questions they should refer to the Reference Desk.
Student workers are given end-of-the-year evaluations, but otherwise receive little day-to-day feedback. There are times when they are unsure if they answered a patron's question correctly, but there is no one available at the Circulation Desk to ask.
Knowledge and Skills:
The student workers are trained by a member of the Circulation Desk staff the first week they begin working. Who does the training varies according to who is scheduled to work on the Circulation Desk that day. During this training, procedures for answering patron questions and referring questions are explained to the students, but they are not reinforced or reviewed later in the year.
Students are not offered follow-up training sessions at the start of a new semester or at the beginning of a new school year.
Students can ask for help from the Circulation Desk staff at any time, but given the busy nature of the desk, this is often not possible.
Wellness:
The student workers are overall happy with their job and their work environment.
They find the Circulation Staff friendly to work with and willing to answer questions.
