Tips to Inspire Library Innovation

I missed the first instalment of this 3-part article.

The ever inspiring Stephen Abram, SirsiDynix vice president of Innovation, has written 32 Tips to Inspire Innovation for You and Your Library in the September issue of SirsiDynix OneSource. The article includes 11 tips and has a link to the 11 tips in an earlier issue. The final list of tips will be published in the October issue.

The tips are:

• Get out of your box! (you need to understand the user’s context and needs and not project your own onto them)
• Productize (brand your service and tie your name and institution to the brand)
• You can’t step in the same river twice (you can never predict pitfalls or benefits of any new technology, everything changes)
• Remember FABS (there are differences between features, functions, and benefits; you need to sell the benefits to your users)
• Don’t assume - TEST
• Don’t just ask your clients what they do, will do, or want. OBSERVE them
• Have a vision and dream BIG! (or be forever doomed to an endless series of the present)
• Ask the three magic questions of your users: What keeps you awake at night? If you could solve only one problem at work, what would it be? If you could change one thing and one thing only, what would it be?
• Never underestimate the customer
• Seek the real customer (of all the stakeholders who have contact with the product or service, whose needs must absolutely be met, and whose needs take second seat?)
• Respect diversity of information literacy skills, learning styles, and multiple intelligences