Once Softlink IC’s customers decided it was well and truly time to implement Liberty as their new library management system (LMS) they identified 5 major tasks to ensure their users’ support. Picking their new system was the result of a lot of time, energy, and preparation so getting everyone in the organization involved with Liberty, not just the library staff, was crucial.

Consequently, our customers have had great success. The holy grail of increasing user engagement with the library is significantly increasing. Some of our Liberty users have kindly shared their top 5 actions that have resulted in a positive view of their new, functionally rich library system.

1. Management Buy-In

Our Liberty customers ensured the applicable management team of an organization was involved with Liberty by being included in the decision-making process. They felt it was critical management had a stake in the positive outcome resulting from the new library system. Management became advocates of the new system and even more convinced the library was an essential service.

From the decision-making process to the implementation, management teams have championed the opportunities, cost effectiveness and increased service provision the new LMS provided. This led to their encouraging of employees to learn about and use Liberty pre and post implementation.

2. Proactive Onboarding

Sending everyone in the organization a link to the library’s Home page with little introduction or explanation does not cut it!

Many of our Liberty customers delivered an in-depth introduction on Liberty to as many of the organization’s employees as possible, including department managers. This garnered even more enthusiasm for the library within the organization, as staff became more involved with Liberty. The introduction included:

• How Liberty integrates with systems familiar to the organization’s employees, such as SharePoint and their organization’s intranet.
• Ensuring users understand how easy it is to navigate the library’s Home page for information.
• Highlighting self-help functions available to logged in users.
• Providing a brief overview of the powerful search interface.
• Placing emphasis on the ease of access to the substantial online help for users.
• Reiterating the availability of library staff for any help users need.

Providing a series of demonstrations to groups of library users sets a positive tone for the library and their new Liberty LMS. In the same way that Softlnk IC believes in a comprehensive onboarding process for the library staff as part of a Liberty implementation, many of our customers did the same for all their potential users. They believe it has been critical to the support of the library and Liberty by their organization.

3. A Fostered Knowledge Sharing Culture

Our Liberty customers work in many different sectors, but they have one thing in common – a culture of knowledge sharing within their organization. The library’s knowledge management system must provide easy, secure access to their well curated collection of resources.

Softlink IC, like our customers, believes that if there is little importance placed on knowledge sharing in an organization, the best LMS in the world will be under-utilized and undervalued.

4. An Opportunity to Embrace Ownership

A lack of ownership can be a threat to the success of a new knowledge management system and the library.

Of course, our customers manage all new content and regularly review existing content on the system. Working with all department heads ensures the resources meet the needs of the organization. But that is not enough to ensure a successful uptake in library use.

Many of our customers are making use of the built-in analytics feature to easily monitor resource usage and user engagement. It means they can proactively work with disengaged users by providing more training, or increasing direct personalized contact to ask questions, or make suggestions.

A couple of our customers are even considering a reward system! An example is awarding a prize for the department and person that interacts most with the library.

Regular updates to the LMS mean there is always a new feature or enhancement that benefits everyone. Upgrades are completed automatically for our hosted customers. For those who are not, arranging to upgrade to the latest version quickly is of high importance.

Many customers found sending personalized notices to library users about new features that will benefit them always spurs interest. Staff ensure new features of interest and value to users are also promoted on the library’s Home page.

Library staff can take ownership of their Liberty system by:

• Ensuring the latest version is always available.
• Monitoring user issues and resolving them.
• Using features and functions available to enhance its appeal to users.
• Maximising the library users’ awareness level through personalized notifications.
• Personalizing a Home page for each user or group of users.
• Updating the look and feel of the Home page regularly from logos and corporate colours, to information displays and organization news.

5. Keeping the Library Front and Center of Users Minds

The best resourced library with a great LMS like Liberty is half the battle. Keeping the library at the forefront of the everyone’s mind is the master key. Many of our customers use both the library’s Home page and automated contact system since implementation to reinforce their presence and value. The Home page feature can be used to:

• Promote new resources.
• Promote new and existing services.
• Advise of upcoming events.
• Provide links to subject lists.
• Provide a request feature and a librarian contact option.

Our customers also use the automated notice feature to:

• Remind users of loaned resources due for return.
• Notify users of reservations available for collection.
• Send regular newsletters.
• Promote functions, competitions, and events.

Continued regular contact with their organization’s users is invaluable in building positive relationships.

Building and curating focussed collections is a major part of our customers’ role, but building them does not necessarily mean their users will come! Implementing a great LMS like Liberty, and getting the organization’s employees involved, ensures the library remains the center of the organization’s knowledge sharing culture!