As I was leaving for the day (bags over shoulder) and stopped at the ref desk to say goodbye to everyone during the shift change, a non-traditional student (about 30 years old) came up and asked where the copier was. One of the four librarians (sorry I don't remember who) directed her to the right place. (Yay!) But there was something about the student's voice, some anxiety or masked confusion, that compelled me to follow her to the print room. Sure enough, she didn't have a clue what to do. Did she have her Jcard? No, she was planning to pay cash. Did she have time to go to the B building and get her Jcard so she could use her technology fee money? No. Luckily she had the $2 necessary to get a Vcard and add value, but, as you know, the machine is less than intuitive, plus it was being temperamental and needed to be coaxed to take one of the bills. Finally with Vcard in hand, the student needed to learn that her card must be swiped before the copier screen would make sense and that her original needed to be oriented up and down to the top left corner of the glass. At last she had what she needed. A simple directional question had turned into a multi-step indoctrination to GPC print/copy.
Could she have figured all that out? Maybe, but not quickly or without frustration. She may have needed to go back to the desk and ask directly for help. As it turned out, she was very glad that I'd come back to shepherd her through the process. I was too, because I felt it was solid service "hit."
No doubt most of you have done the same thing many times. Important insights:
- The challenge of "listening" to unspoken needs of our users, often emotional
- The chance to be proactive with service, especially when the desk is slow
- The joy of seeing someone gain skills and confidence
- The anticipation of a good relationship with a student who knows we care
No comments:
Post a Comment