Conference „Virtual Library“

In Brüssel 16th October 2002 Mr. Kari Lämsä

kari.lamsa@hel.fi

Cable Book LibraryHelsinki City Library, Finland

Lasipalatsi Film and Media Centre(Glass Palace)

• built in 1936• owned by the City of

Helsinki• renovated in 1998• funded by EU Urban

Pilot Project • about 1,5 million

visitors per year• 4500 m², about 20

leaseholders

•platform for new technological innovations

•meeting point of all kinds of people

• European cinema• Book on Demand• Helsinki Festival• TV studios• cafés, restaurants• multimedia shops

Culture and Entertainments

• cultural events• changing exhibitions

Information offices

• Youth Information Centre • Culture Info + tickets• Europe Information• Information for Swedish

speakers• Health and Social

Services Info• City Library• Information events like

”files open”

located in the heart of Helsinki, between railway and bus stations

lobby of the cinema

• there are many free touch screen Internet kiosks everywhere in the building

• kiosks are used always when the Glass Palace is open

• digital info-points• most information offices

have also public internet

Cable Book Library

• founded in 1994 at the old cable factory

• one of the 37 Helsinki City libraries

• specialized in Internet and IT services

• operated in Lasipalatsi since 1998

• 300 m² + lobby• opening hours Mon-Thu 10 -22,

Sat-Sun 12 – 18• staff 11 persons• customers over 1000 per day • selected collection• 120 magazines and

newspapers• 21 workstations for customers• furniture movable and easy to

convert• e-mail computers in the joint

lobby

when the library is closed, the lobby functions as the Glass Palace's joint common room

the lobby's furniture packed inside the library

• all furniture are equipped with wheels that can be locked• for two to three persons it takes about fifteen minutes to move

the furniture and start the computers

• the lobby ready, computer times will be given when the library opens• in magazine shelves of the lobby you will find newspapers and general

magazines

• the library is 60 metres long and five metres wide

• workstations are bounded by shelves to a separate area

• the use of mobile phones and noisy behaviour are forbidden at the workstations

• there is plenty of space for photos and other materials at the multimedia computers

• the building's conservation as a hindrance

Table elements can be connected in many ways, the elements are connected with quick latches

Staff

• Library Manager• IT Librarian• 3 IT Specialists• 3 Library Assistants• 2 Apprenticeship Students• 1 person undergoing non-

military service• students as covers

• the average age of the staff is about 35 years.

• work in three shifts• ”everybody does everything”• trains staff from other

libraries• participates in further

education and updating training plus various courses

• involved in many projects, e.g. internet

Collection

• non-fiction:– media– travel books– IT and Internet– film and photography– comics

• cd-rom• dvd• newspapers and

magazines• databases

Themes of the magazines:

• IT and internet• image processing and

publishing• media• film• photography• music• comics• travel• lifestyle magazines and

general magazines

Software and Equipments

• Windows, Macintosh and Linux

• Office• image processing• editing and publishing• slide scanners, photo

scanners and flatbed scanners

• greyscale and colour printers

• licenses for various databases, encyclopedias and dictionaries

• automatic deletion of temporary files and caches

• customers can also connect their own laptops to the library network

• the network is protected by a firewall and virus protection

• especially popular among students and freelancers

• wireless connection enables the use of internet even in the joint terrace of the library and the café

Customers

• 0ver 1000 customers per day• immigrants and foreigners 40 % • 16-30 age 60 % • percentage of females 40 %• percentage of students 40 % • groups learning to use Internet,

e.g. unemployed, adult students, immigrants

How often do you go to a library?

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

daily oralmostdaily

1 to 2days aweek

2 to 3times amonth

aboutonce in a

month

less often

%

How important is the help of the staff in the use of workstations and web services?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

I manage onmy own

] I need helpsometimes

I need a lotof help

%

What did you come to do at the workstation?

1. to use e-mail 68%

2. to search information by search engines 50%

3. . to use services of the public administration 30%

4 to use word processing or spreadsheets 25%

5. to surf for fun or to use entertainment services 23%

6. to use library services 21%

7. to chat or to follow some discussion group or newsgroup

20%

8. to use services of the institutes of higher education/schools

18%

9. to get software and files 15%

10. to scan/edit photos/images 13%

12. to pay bills or to use other bank services 10%

13. to shop in a web store 4%

11.] to do something else 11%

Do you also use a computer in some other place than libraries?

1. at school or a place of study 40%

2. at friends or relatives 30%

3.at home, I don't have Internet connection 30%

4. at home, I have Internet connection 22%

5. at work 28%

6. at a cybercafé or a cyber kiosk 15%

7. at communal service center 5%

19 per cent of the respondents use a computer only at libraries.

Why to come?

• location easy to come, easy to stay

• free of chargespend time, no money

• activities cafes, clubs, films...

• Informationprinted, virtual, personal

• facilitiescomfortable, safe, well equipped

• staffcommunicative, helpful, skilful

Co-operation

• leaseholders of the Glass Palace have a co-operative group of their own

• Commercial partners in various projects and events, inter alia Nokia, Sony, Cisco…

• most important partners– The Youth Department of

City of Helsinki

– The Cultural Office of City of Helsinki

– The International Cultural Centre Caisa

Multicultural alliance

Info Bank for immigrants

• International Cultural Centre Caisa • Cultural Office of Helsinki City• Cable Book Library• Central Multilingual Library• Youth Information Centre• immigration offices and societies carrying out immigration and

multicultural work

Funded by the European Social FundProject Duration Time: 2002-2003

How to find, decode and act?

• editorial staff direct questions to the right institutions• questions and answers are stored to a database• frequently asked question will automatically be found in

database• The service will be carried out in all most used immigrant

languages

iGS is designed to be a movable information station in two parts; self service ”pumps” and a double-sided service unit. People can come to the station with their questions and problems or they can send questions to the station by email, SMS and chat.

iGS - Information Gas Station

Project

Funded by the Access to Learning Award (Bill & Melinda Gates foundation, 2000)

• total budget ~350 000 €• planning 10 %• device, furniture 20 %• staff 50 %• rents etc. 20%

Project Duration Time: 2001-2002

iGS: starting points

1. Promote information service

2. Modernize a public library’s image

3. Establish a place and premices for personal face to face service

4. Test mobility

Information service

Widen the range of ”librarish” information needs

Find new user groups– young– busy– others who normally cannot visit a library

Ask anything

Library’s image

A library without books– traditional image of a library: shelves, collections,

classifications– test: can we run a public library without books and

collections?

To advertise modern public libraries and make them visible– bright red design – ”silly” brand to be remembered

Personal Service

Self-service is the trend of today– lending, payment etc.

Everybody can search information?– all information by Google?

– we don’t need libraries in future?

Still need for information professionals– oversupply of information– licenced resources and databases– peoples’ routine ways on their information behaviour– demand for knowledge on possibilities and effective or many-sided ways of search–- public libraries’ task: to promote information literacy

Traditional model:– librarian is a gatekeeper

iGS model:– librarian is a consult– in learning and training

Customer have tos decide which information is relevant–->at every phase of search process (not only final results)

Mobility

Mobile service at virtual– customers information need arise ”on the road” and they

want to send questions from anywhere

Movable unit– we move along the road – to places we are needed

iGS on tour:– Lasipalatsi Film and Media Centre– Service Houses for Senior Citizens– Railwaystations– Fairs and exhibitions– Next shopping centers

iGS arrivals by lorry

Construct of two identic elements

Model of neon ligth from old Gas Station

In one hour construction is ready

Connection via cable, ADSL, WLAN

Helsinki Central Railway Station

• Media-happening, radio, TV, newspapers

• 30 visits/day, 20-25 virtual questions/ day

• Cold, windy, arctic and noicy

• Very rewarding and interesting

• no troubles with customers

Media profiles

Visits

1. Internet and email 24%

2. Software 13%

3. iGS 10%

4. Computers 5%

5. Helsinki 4%

6. Tourism 4%

N= 991

Email

1. Music 7%

2. Transport 5%

3. Economy and business 4%

4. Writers, litterature 4%

5. Language and words 4%

6. Health, medicin 4 %

N=978

SMS

1. Music 6%

2. Transport 5%

3. Health 5%

4. Language and words 5%

5. Economy and business 4%

6. People 3%

N=623

Most popular categories in 2001

Conclusions

• Easy, quick ways for information services are needed • We did not know how people see library’s image and scope of

competence • Some questions could never have been made by the library desk• customers have different backgrounds

• what kind of information is most valuable for the customer: readymade facta or learning the ways how to mine and refine information?

• --> some need facta• --> some don’t have time to learn how to search

Team

• team of 10 persons chosen from the staff of City Library• 2 persons work at same time • rest of time they work on their own libraries, but can answer to

virtual questions• in the begining we arranged special training for them to update

their skills with digital and networked information search• experiences transfer in a natural way to the everyday life and

enrich their home libraries

Future

How may the next generation of iGS look like?– mobility: more easy to move– security: more safe– more compact -- modular structure– wireless connections (today not stable enough)

SMS protocol replaced by new – in future other mobile, portable and light devices– from short messages to multimedia messages

Useful links:

• Cable Book Libaryhttp://kirjakaapeli.lib.hel.fi/index-en.html

• Helsinki City Libraryhttp://www.lib.hel.fi/english/

• Lasipalatsi Media Centrehttp://www.lasipalatsi.fi/english/

• iGS – information Gas Stationhttp://igs.kirjastot.fi/index3.html

• Questionnaire Concerning the Use of Workstations http://www.lib.hel.fi/julkaisut/juna/english.htm