Innovation is no Sunday morning.

Sure the word “innovation” has been used over and over, and probably, you are rolling your eyes now. So, I am not going to patronise you yet again with a definition of innovation. I have found in recent years, overwhelmingly innovation is associated with technology. But that is not the case. Ever heard of the mop? It was an innovation in its heyday. It changed how people cleaned their home, their shops, and some disasters. The mop was the medium; the process of cleaning was the innovation. Innovation does not have be hardware specific, it can be a process, a non-tangible matter, and you do not have to own it. To date most of the innovation in the library industry has been initiated between vendors and library directors. For example, the electronic catalogue system, self-checkout machines, and so on. And yes, they all came from a third party. Sure, libraries are not manufacturers but they are good at utilising third party software to deliver services and programs.

Moving onto how can I be part of this moving feast in my line of work. I would suggest start by getting into mini projects. Share your passion and develop a clear understanding of the possible hurdles that may come your way. Knowing these helps you be a contributor or creator in the future.

1.1 Simple innovation

One of our practices is to attach stamp tags to badges for the Riley Collection. Some of those badges are just broken with no pins in the back. We give them an accession sticker. Good ones get a small tag. Often a mis-stamp tag ends up discarded, which is a waste of string, cardboard, and time. To reduce errors, I have assessed the various ways my colleague stamped the tags. Then created a stamp template. The template has an outline of the tag and two rings guiding the stamper in sequence. It can process six tags at once. The only addition was a small piece of Blutac used to hold the tag in place. As a result, this template has sped up the stamping process and greatly reduce wastage.

Only my team has ever used it. At a later point, we started getting larger tags and we no longer used the template. Was it created for nothing? No, but rather, it has fulfilled a purpose at the time of need. One must not feel disheartened, there is still plenty of work ahead of us.

1.1.1 The template

It is amazing what you can do with a piece of scrap paper, a pen, and a photocopier.

1.2 Complex innovation

When you will get an opportunity to join a working group you learn about order and the line of communication. My very first one involved implementing a mobile communications tool. It was a complex innovation because it involves changing how a group of staff operates on a daily basis. The project consists of a class set of iPad minis to compliment the service desk phones for roving staff.

1.2.1 Research

Researching for apps was fun — that is until we heard about the stipulations. No mobile phone numbers, no SIM card, and no VOIP credit. Must be absolutely FREE to use. Must be capable of sending messages and making calls. To our dismay many of the best messaging apps demanded a mobile telephone number to sign up and some only work on a smartphone. We decided to check if the environment had steady Wi-Fi. We ran a Wi-Fi strength test on the existing network around service desks and identified several minor black spots, which would not greatly hinder the app. With that confidence we continued our search. To our relief we had managed to find 11 apps that allowed people to sign up without a mobile telephone number. To narrow down the apps, I had decided to recruit some guinea pigs. I had them test the notification sounds, fonts, buttons, and icons. Secretly, building future champions among staff. With the tabled results, I reported back to the working group, who created a criteria of desired features and used it to cross examine remaining apps on the list. From there the working group set homework for everyone to pair up and test how the last two apps met our needs in a timely manner.

1.2.2 Designing the foundation and going live

After having chosen the app we have to strategize and setup the environment so that staff can start using the app. We had the IT department create 12 email accounts, in order to create 12 login accounts on the app’s platform. Then proceeded to create a chat room, take screenshots, create mock up cheat sheets, and draft user manuals. Discussed governance and etiquette. Once everything was sorted, we began running training sessions in two parts: using iPad mini and using the app. For reluctant staff we offered one-on-one training during their desk shift.

1.2.3 Polling user satisfaction

You cannot run such a huge change without checking on your citizens. We ran a survey asking the staff how they felt about the iPad mini and the app itself. Many of the staff owned a mobile phone, but sparingly used it, and some have never used a touch screen mobile device. This greatly impacted the results. Many preferred picking up a telephone than using the device. Some stated the app just adds to the many communication channels on desks causing staff headaches. So, having to log into the iPad mini every 15 minutes frustrated staff even more. To add insult to injury Wi-Fi would drop out from time to time denting people’s trust in the device.

We have since offered staff the opportunity to log into the app on the desktop via a web browser, only for service desks where staff are more likely to be stationary, while roving staff are still expected to use the device and the app as per normal. There are considerations of adding “do” buttons produced by IFTTT to make the device more useful to roving staff.

Hindsight

I learnt to help meet deadlines and progress faster, was to help staff in your working group to understand new concepts, before leaping forward. There are times when you will hit an obstacle. I found it easy to consult the working group about it and flesh it out, before escalating it to the leader to take it one step further. In truth, it never hurts to try new things. By participating in more projects will we refine our skills in planning and delivering innovations. Some innovation requires a group effort to design and implement it. There is much more at stake. You have to consider the stake holders, environment limits, security, staff comfort level with technology, learning platform availability, and training time allowance. Also, not all innovations end up in a conference paper.