Front End Analysis

Front End Analysis 

The Loyola Notre Dame Library (LNDL) Circulation Department                      

Prepared by Julie Nanavati

Client
The LNDL serves both Notre Dame of Maryland University and Loyola University of Maryland students, faculty, and staff. This library, physically located between the two universities, is a non-profit library dedicated to the mission of:

Serving as an integral part of the Notre Dame of Maryland University and Loyola University by providing the information services and resources required to support the academic programs and educational concerns of the two institutions. 

http://www.loyola.edu/library/mission/index.htm

The circulation department is made up of one librarian, six full-time staff, and 17 student workers. Services performed by this department include book and media check-out, shelving of materials, processing book requests from members of our five-library consortium, and our Course Reserves program. Members of this department also fulfill Interlibrary Loan requests.


Background Information

The Circulation Desk: 
After the guards station, the Circulation Desk is the first desk patrons see when they enter the library. For this reason, it is often the first place that patrons come to ask for help. This desk is staffed with full-time circulation staff as well as student workers from 8am-2am Monday-Thursday, 8am-5pm Fridays, 8am-8pm Saturdays, and 12pm-2am on Sundays. Due to the busy nature of the Circulation Desk, student workers are often left alone to answer patron questions while the Circulation Staff is helping other patrons. 

Patron Questions: 
For training and data collection purposes, patron questions at the LNDL are categorized in one of four ways:

Technical: Involving computer software or technology. How do I print? How do I make a spreadsheet?
Directional: Involves pointing out a library location. Where is the bathroom? Where do I print?
Quick Reference: Quick questions that can answered in less than five minutes. Do you have this book in the library? How to I access my Course Reserves?
Research: More involved questions that require using the library databases, requests for help developing a research topic, or help finding in-depth resources.

Methods:

Information for the Performance Gap Analysis was collected through one-on-one interviews with both the library's Head of Circulation, Gail Breyer, and the Head of Research & Instruction, Joanne Helouvry. Follow-up questions were sent via email to both librarians prior to completing the analysis. Questions asked during interviews and follow-up emails focused on current problems revolving around the Circulation Desk student workers, how their performance impacts the library and the services it offers, and what ideal performance would look like from this group.

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 activities?
• What resources are available to aid in proper 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?

(Questions from: Franklin, M. (2006, May). Performance Gap Analysis. (InfoLine, No 0604). Alexandria, VA: American Society for Training & Development) 

Problem Statement:  
Circulation Desk student workers do not refer patrons to the Research and Instruction desk when patrons ask a research question or when a book is not readily available in the library catalog resulting in patrons who leave the library without having their information needs met.

Performance Gap Analysis

Current State: 
Currently, the Circulation Desk student workers refer patrons to the Research and Instruction Desk 50% of the time when a patron asks a research question or when a book in not available in the library catalog.

Future State:
Circulation Desk student workers will refer patrons to the Research and Instruction Desk 100% of the time when a patron asks a research question or when a book is not available in the library catalog.

Delta:
A 50% increase in referrals to the Research and Instruction Desk from Circulation Desk student workers.

Factors Influencing Performance

Physical Resources There are no factors in this category influencing the performance problem.	Structure/Process Student workers are often left alone at the Circulation Desk without supervision.
Information Student workers are not given training material or handouts regarding answering and referring patron questions. Different members of the Circulation Desk staff train students workers at the beginning of the semester. The information covered varies according to the staff member. Student workers do not receive additional training throughout the school year.	Knowledge Student workers do not understand why they need to refer a patron to the Reference Desk when a book is not available.  Student workers do not understand what additional information the Reference Desk can   provide for the patrons. Student workers often get confused as to which questions they can answer and which questions they should refer to the Reference Desk.
Motives   Students receive no incentive or acknowledgment for correctly referring patrons to Reference Desk for research questions and/or catalog searches where the book is not available.  Student workers receive no feedback from the reference librarians when they do refer a patron to the Reference Desk.	Wellness  There are no factors in this category influencing the performance problem.

Recommendations based on Findings

Finding (Structure/Process): Student workers are often left alone at the Circulation Desk without supervision.

Recommendation: During the first month of the year, schedule the Circulation Desk so that new student works are always on the desk working alongside at least one Circulation Desk staff member. The staff member should model referring patrons to the Reference Desk.

Finding (Information): Student workers are not given training material or handouts regarding answering and referring patron questions.

Recommendation: Create a document that student workers can refer back to that explains which patron questions should be referred and which should be answered. This document should also spell out the steps to take when a patron asks a reference question or for a book that is not available in the catalog. Post this document prominently at the Circulation Desk.

Finding (Information): Different members of the Circulation Desk staff train student workers at the beginning of the semester. The information covered varies according to the staff member.

Recommendation: Create a training checklist that Circulation Desk staff can use when training the student workers.

Finding (Information): Student workers do not receive additional training throughout the school year.

Recommendation: Arrange three workshops for student workers--one in the middle of each semester and one at the start of the Spring semester. These workshops can address different topics related to the student workers’ job tasks. A reference librarian should be encouraged to participate in designing the content for these workshops and attend the workshops. At least one of the workshops can address the importance of referring questions to the Reference Desk and can demonstrate what the Reference librarians do when a patron comes to their desk after being referred. The workshops should include time for student workers to ask questions and discuss problems that they have encountered while answering patron questions.

Finding (Knowledge): Student workers do not understand why they need to refer a patron to the Reference Desk when a book is not available. 

Recommendation: The Reference librarians should be involved in training the Circulation Desk student workers. If the reference librarians are unable to work with student workers in person, then the Circulation Desk staff should partner with a Reference librarian to create a tutorial that provides background information regarding how the Reference Desk works and how the Reference librarians go about answering referred questions. The tutorial can also show which strategies and additional resources the Reference librarians use to access books not available from the library catalog for patrons.

Finding: (Knowledge) Student workers do not understand what additional information the Reference Desk can provide for the patrons.

Recommendation: The Reference librarians should be involved in training the Circulation Desk student workers. If the Reference librarians are unable to work with student workers in person, then the Circulation Desk staff should partner with a Reference librarian to create a tutorial that provides background information regarding how the Reference Desk works and how the Reference librarians go about answering referred questions. The tutorial can also show which strategies and additional resources the Reference librarians use to access books not available from the library catalog for patrons.

Finding: (Knowledge) Student workers often get confused as to which questions they can answer and which questions they should refer to the Reference Desk.

Recommendation: Create a document that student workers can refer back to that explains which patron questions should be referred and which should be answer. This document should also spell out the steps to take when a patron asks a reference question or for a book that is not available in the catalog. Post this document prominently at the Circulation Desk.

Finding (Motives): Students receive no incentive or acknowledgment for correctly referring patrons to Reference Desk for research questions and/or catalog searches where the book is not available. 

Recommendation: Circulation Desk staff should provide positive reinforcement whenever they witness a student worker referring a patron to the Reference Desk. The student workers should also keep a daily tally of how many patrons they refer to the Reference Desk. These statistics can be compiled and shared with the student workers and staff throughout the year. They can also be discussed during the workshops throughout the year.

Finding (Motives): Student workers receive no feedback from the reference librarians when they do refer a patron to the Reference Desk.

Recommendation: Encourage Reference librarians to follow-up with the Circulation Desk whenever they answer a question from a referred patron so that the Circulation Desk student workers can see the end results of the referral.

Conclusions

Ideally Circulation Desk student workers should refer patrons to the Research and Instruction desk when patrons ask a research question or when a book is not readily available in the library catalog 100% of the time. A Performance Gap Analysis revealed that this would be an increase of referrals by the student workers of 50%.

A Root Cause Analysis revealed several factors related to structure/process, information, knowledge, and motives that could be leading to this performance gap. The above recommendations seek to provide solutions to these findings. Recommendations that will involve less time to institute include scheduling the Circulation Desk at the beginning of the year so that there are always Circulation Desk staff working alongside the new student workers modeling the process of referring patrons. Creating documents such as a training checklist for Circulation Staff to use and a handout for student workers to refer back to throughout the year will also ensure that student workers are being told the same information and have a resource to use as a reminder of which questions to answer and which to refer. Finally, additional training is recommended. Training such as regular workshops and a tutorial will provide needed information to the student workers on why it is important to refer questions to the Reference Desk and what steps the Reference librarians take to help patrons when they are referred. This training should be done in collaboration with the Reference department. To best design the training, it is recommended that a Training Needs Analysis be conducted.