NASIG 2013

Building user-centered discovery-and-access services to help users find their way through the information landscape is primarily a question of design. In 2010 the Technical Services at the University of Nevada Reno Libraries established its top strategic direction to understand users’ workflow and strive to build seamless information access services around their workflow. To advance this strategic direction, we implemented an innovative reorganization within Technical Services through creating a Knowledge Access and Discovery (KAD) Librarian from a vacant position and forming a new Design and Discovery (DD) department from existing staff. The KAD Librarian is responsible for leading library-wide efforts to optimize the power of the library’s suite of discovery and retrieval systems, and for leveraging relevant technologies to provide user-centric services for information access and discovery, with assistance from the staff in the DD department. This session will discuss the roles of the KAD Librarian and the new DD department, their projects and initiatives, and how they work with the library-wide cross-departmental Virtual User Experience Committee to advance Technical Services’ top strategic direction to meet the Internet-fueled do-it-yourself (DIY) mindset of today’s library users.