Customer Service Nomination for Team galileo for 2008 Background

GALILEO, Georgia’s Virtual Library is an award-winning initiative of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, serving the citizens of Georgia. GALILEO provides access to multiple information resources, including secured access to licensed products. Participating institutions may access over 100 databases indexing thousands of periodicals and scholarly journals. Over 5000 journal titles are provided in full-text. Other resources include encyclopedias, business directories, and government publications. In addition, GALILEO provides access through the Digital Library of Georgia to the digitized special collections (manuscripts, photographs, books, maps, etc.) of Georgia’s libraries and archives. Through collaboration and resource sharing, GALILEO seeks to provide equal access to information for all Georgia citizens. While individual libraries benefit from the cooperative sharing of resources - lower costs and increased access to a wider range of materials - the goal is to improve library services for all Georgia citizens.

In addition to the resources, Team GALILEO provides a central support staff that manages the electronic resources and handles support issues (IPs, passwords, content questions, search questions, etc.) from patrons and library staff. They provide training and materials as well.

Customers:

GALILEO serves all citizens of the state of Georgia through the communities of the more than 2000 libraries from the University System of Georgia, K-12 schools, public libraries, the adult technical colleges, and a group of private academic colleges and universities.

GALILEO has many customer groups: students, faculty and teachers, citizens, and the librarians who share in the provision of service as GALILEO is complementary to the services provided by the individual libraries and media centers.

Team GALILEO clearly meets user expectations in terms of the services they provide and how they deploy those services.

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  Professional and competent individuals
  
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  Friendly and responsive
  
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  Offer users a single point of contact – can talk to a person – you aren’t bounced around or put on hold forever.
  
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  Follow-up on problems – they own the issue even if it is something beyond GALILEO’s control.
  
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  Provide timely communication regarding GALILEO – updates, changes, problems,
  
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  Seek solutions that help the individual library save the library time and resources and improve access to Georgia’s library patrons.
  

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  Making it easier to search by deploying a federated search tool to more closely resemble Google – introduced January 2006
  
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  Adding linking services to integrate the resources and leverage the value of the existing resources. – introduced September 2006
  
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  Customizing the interface to reflect the needs of different users – beta version was introduced in September 2007 and officially rolled out in March 2008.
  
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  Conducted usability testing and currently conducting post roll-out user focus groups and usability test.
  
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  Introduced tools to help integrate GALILEO resources with resources purchased by the library making it easier for patrons and library staff
  

They also provided training on use of databases and in the technology used in the GALILEO Upgrade. GALILEO also employed Horizon Wimba for some of the training as well as for collaborative work in the upgrade projects. This made it easier for customers to receive the training. There were 1563 attendees (% increase over FY07) of which 315 were from USG Libraries and 474 were from public libraries.

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  Built a new GALILEO system which loads pages faster and provides more opportunities for customization and integration with other tools including courseware and faculty web pages and improved search capabilities.
  
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  Designed 4 new interfaces for the users. In keeping with listening to the customer, they are revisiting a fifth new interface for kids, because the prototype designed did not get positive feedback.
  

Director of Library Services

Agnes Scott College
Thank you for your prompt, courteous and thorough response. I want to respond to your questions and I have some questions for you. But before I begin that, I just want to say that you, Lauren, Karen, Dave, and of course, Merryll, are all saints for the wonderful job you and others do every day with GALILEO and your support to the GALILEO user community. It is greatly appreciated. I love the new interface and its intuitive usability. Kudos to everyone!

Director

training. I participated in a SIRS Researcher online training in the fall

and then redelivered to faculty members. Recent updates are really

assisting our students in conducting research, and teachers appreciate

being able to direct their students in locating information by lexile

levels. The Pro/Con format for current issues is also particularly

helpful.

Media Specialist, NBCT

Berrien High School
You are good :)

Did you know that I am GALILEO #1 fan?

Media specialist (in response to IP problem)

Barrow County Schools

demonstrates a high level of commitment to students by the staff there!

Have a great day!

School Counselor

Gaines Elementary School
. . .Because you copied me on

your response to Kim's email, I was able to pass on the info about the

problem to the professor. She in turn has invited me into her class to

work with the students on GALILEO and CINAHL. The problem turned into a

wonderful opportunity!

Thanks again,

Information Services Librarian

Trustee Library of Brenau University

entered a contest with Proquest using SIRS Researcher and we made 1st Place.

http://www.proquestk12.com/access/custom/sirspodcon_finals/sirspodcon_finalists.shtml

THANK YOU!

Barrow County Schools
Everything works great and you just made an old man happy. Sometimes the

brain just dont work as it should, nor as fast. Thank you for the

wonderful service you provide.

user regarding finding census information

It took only a quick email to Galileo and they had the

problem (with the IP address in their records) corrected

immediately. Grat service!

librarian

Colquitt County High School

We have worked closely with both Courtney and Katie. Both are very knowledgeable, and provide prompt, excellent service. They are thorough, even "above and beyond" in their responses. They are also extremely pleasant to work with.

Other comments regarding user expectations and satisfaction

Galileo is an amazing resource produced by some of the most brilliant and dedicated people I have been privileged to meet.  It is something the state of Georgia should be proud of and promote with vigor.  As I school librarian I can’t imagine how we could teach without the data bases that it supplies.

The problems my patrons have experienced with customer service have truly been a function of their lack of knowledge. The most common thing I hear is:

“I didn’t know you could do that!”

“I didn’t think to ask…

“I didn’t want to disturb you…

The physical system of passwords and connection has not given us any problems in the 5 years. I only wish my interaction with other Georgia Departments had been a trouble free.

--media specialist in small rural community

Over the last 10 years Georgia libraries and library patrons have come to rely on GALILEO as their main information provider. The following is a list of ways that GALILEO is meeting the information expectations of libraries and library users throughout Georgia. Specific examples are cited for our state university.
In the way of quality service –

For libraries, GALILEO

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  Provides over 100 electronic databases, some of which are full-text and provide access to thousands of journal articles. These full-text journals supplement the individual libraries’ journal holdings.
  
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  Offers cost-share savings toward the purchase of other databases. CSU saved thousands of dollars by purchasing many of its non-GALILEO databases through GALILEO group discounts.
  
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  Provides technology guidance and support in the operation of Voyager, the USG libraries’ integrated system.
  

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  Provides authoritative information (“GALILEO, not GOOGLE!”)
  
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  Conveniently and quickly provides full-text journal articles. In FY05, CSU students pulled up over 155,000 full-text articles from GALILEO databases.
  
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  Offers convenient remote access via a password – 24/7
  

As for the professionalism and competency of the GALILEO staff—

For libraries, the GALILEO staff

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  Provide leadership and guidance in the maintenance and upgrading of GALILEO (the current upgrade project—Webfeat, SFX, EZProxy, etc.—is a great example)
  
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  Share the ownership of GALILEO through the support of the GALILEO Steering Committee, which is comprised of librarians representing all sectors of Georgia’s library community
  

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  Provide excellent help screens
  
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  Offer users a way to ask questions or offer comments via email
  

In the way of communication –

For libraries, GALILEO staff

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  Maintain a listserv
  
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  Post the minutes of the GALILEO Steering Committee on the GALILEO web site; the minutes provide librarians with details of the current status of GALILEO projects and informs them of future plans
  
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  Publish the GALILEO Planet
  
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  Keep the GALILEO web page up-to-date; the “Announcements” link on this page contains all the changes librarians should be on the look-out for
  
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  Hold an annual meeting for all GALILEO users, usually in August
  

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  Publish the “GALILEO Planet”
  
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  Furnish PR items for general publication
  

As for user satisfaction –

For libraries, GALILEO

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  Is tops!—particularly in the university sector, which is where GALILEO had its beginnings
  
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  Is a valued collaborative venture; libraries appreciate having ownership in the GALILEO initiative through the GALILEO Steering Committee
  

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  Is a valuable tool. In a library-administered user survey at our state university, spring 2005, 75% of the respondents reported they were satisfied with GALILEO resources. Also in spring 2005, 81% of the respondents in a campus-wide Student Academic Support Services Survey rated their satisfaction with GALILEO as excellent/good.
  
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  Is only valued by patrons if the library staff sing its praise. Getting buy-in from librarians in all types of libraries is important for the continued success of GALILEO.
  

As for responsiveness –

For libraries, GALILEO staff

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  Provide quick response to email questions
  
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  Respond to concerns brought up in GALILEO Steering Committee meetings. A good example of this occurred last year, when the GALILEO staff scheduled a special meeting in Macon to inform libraries about the specifics of the proposed GALILEO upgrade. The meeting was called because concerns about the lack of information on the upgrade had been voiced at a Steering Committee meeting.
  

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  Respond promptly to email queries
  

In the matter of new technology to meet needs –

For libraries, GALILEO staff

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  Provide vision for new technology planning to assist libraries in making information accessible. Example: GALILEO upgrades
  
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  Implement new advanced technologies. The Digital Library of Georgia is a great example of a super technology initiative. GALILEO staff have also done a lot of work with WebCT; this has benefited USG institutions
  

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  Will be facilitating research through the GALILEO upgrade, which will provide cross-database searching (among other things) to library users.
  

--Director, state university library

1.GALILEO staff perform many services that free public library staff to accomplish local customer service objectives that might not be possible otherwise:  They attend national consortial conferences to monitor the latest technology trends and potential infrastructure improvements, they establish, maintain, and monitor vendor relationships, negotiate discounts based on aggregated pricing, handle the legal aspects of contracts, hold vendors accountable, keep the product up and running, work to improve customer access, etc., all the while keeping the membership informed.    All these things add up to better service to our customers and money saved in staff time and information purchases.

2.      Citizens have convenient, free and equal access to this vast array of online information that is GALILEO (or the databases as we like to call them) throughout the state making it possible to easily pursue distance education, check business facts or complete homework assignments 24 x 7 with the confidence that the information is not just posted at the whim of anyone in cyberspace, rather brokered reliable information.      (Granted, some may not have computers at home, but all have access at the public library.)    Having a consortium that covers K-12 all the way to higher education provides a level of expertise to database selection that would not be possible if each community or library pursued individually.

3.      The subject coverage in GALILEO is phenomenal as is the ease of searching.  Therefore, libraries with limited shelf space for print volumes can still provide customers with adequate subject coverage through GALILEO.  

4.      Finally, the excellent customer service rewards of GALILEO are recognized nationally.   This reputation opens doors for us as we enter into other vendor relationships and work with colleagues throughout the country.

-public library director

GALILEO is totally responsive to customer's needs. When I was a high

school library media specialist and had difficulty with a website or

database, I knew that help from the GALILEO staff was a phone call or email

away. When a student was having a problem or issue with GALILEO, they were

treated with the same courtesy and promptness that a faculty member was

given.
Now, as an employee of the Department of Education I still find that same

commitment and professionalism with the GALILEO staff. They work

tirelessly to provide the best information possible for our students and

continually look for upgrades and more and better databases for the

learning community. I also know that the GALILEO staff is committed to

saving money without compromising the integrity and vast resources of

GALILEO.

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  administrator
  

Thank you. And I want to add that Lauren’s role as project manager has been invaluable in this effort, as it was for the SFX implementation.

We went to a workshop at Athens Regional on Genealogy Resources. Very informative. Your Falke & McGough were the presenters. They did a great job.
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Just wanted to send you a compliment and thank you. The National Library Week link to historic photos was great. I think it would be great to continue to spotlight various parts of GALILEO in that way. There is so much material that many users never see or realize is available.

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I think yall web address is great for kids to go on to get info.

I want to thank yall for this website and helping me with my project.
Thanks,
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I found your site when looking for information about Georgia. Very nice and informative. I made a link

from my website, so everyone can enjoy it. When placing this link is a problem, please let me know and

i will remove it from my site.

You can find my webiste at: http://jkersten.topcities.com
Greetings from Holland
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This is a delightful website. Thank you for making Georgia information so available
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FYI -  We found the problem.  (See e-mail below)

 Your staff was very supportive.  Please extend our gratitude to each and everyone!

 Enjoy your weekend.

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 Best regards,

Media Specialist, Chattahoochee High School
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Hi,

Thank you for your help AND for teaching patiently--I didn't register the important line of info clearly labeled "availability." Thanks,.

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Southeastern Native American Documents: “What a thrill to see gr-gr-gr-grandfather's actual writing after almost 200 years!!  I am 77 yrs old, and I have of a picture of his daughter, Katy Grierson, who is my ancestor. She could not read nor write.  You have made an old lady very happy.”

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Vanishing Georgia: “How wonderful!  Thank you so very much for all your hard work putting this together!”

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“Can’t wait to use resources and share with other teachers.”

“Wow! The site looks amazing.  It's great to have all of those resources from across the state pulled together.  I look forward to pointing students and other researchers to the DLG.”

“One of my friends who gets the advance copy of my column was amazed at what he found on the DLG and he thought he knew it all before then.”

Ships for Victory: “We are over the moon !!! It is absolutely wonderful.”

E-Mail to Techlibs list:

Has anyone else dealt with the new GALILEO in a BI session yet? I had

my first experience this morning and IT WORKS. I had them go in to

Education, then Career and Technical Education, which searches the Ebsco

and Proquest technical ed. databases. I had students THINKING about

KEYWORDS!! Then, after doing their searches (which, for the most part,

/worked/), most of them actually /understood/ the articles that they

were reading.

We may be the Rodney Dangerfields of the educational world, (re:

orientation/information literacy thread) but when those light bulbs come

on in their heads, it's all worth it. Have a great weekend.

--Technical college librarian
Your presentation was great. We have already been using the Beta version, and the students are acclimating to it much more quickly than previously. The online training is very effective and allows those of us who have trouble getting away from our schools the opportunity for training.

- media specialist

Henry County Schools
i think galileo is a great website for kids like me.

------- (logged in as guest) on the Kids Page

When I do freshmen orientations and research orientations for other grades, I always introduce our students to GALILEO. I remind them that when I was in grad school I drove to different university libraries in different cities to find information and that they cannot fully appreciate the amount of information they have at their fingertips. I also let them know that all colleges and universities use GALILEO (we are a public fine arts college prep magnet school), so they might as well learn to use it now so they will be proficient users then. I demonstrate how it can save them time and tell them it will make their “career” here at CHS much easier. Having paid for SIRS, etc. in the past, we love GALILEO. I just wish we had access to JSTOR. Maybe eventually….

Media specialist, Muscogee County Schools
i love this websites home page!!! soooo cool!!!!

on the Kids Page

Cobb County School user
Holy Smokes! I have barely touched the surface of all the information available in Galileo...and it's links. What an awesome reference for my patrons also. Thanks for the wonderful class! I'm looking forward to tomorrow's session, which will deal with library interfaces.

(Wimba class) Technical College Librarian

Public librarian, Athens Clarke County (Wimba class)

Thanks so much!

Media specialist,Coweta School System (Response to Wimba class)
I like the new layout on the GALILEO homepage. I think having the page open up to browse by subject is much easier than the previous layout.

Public Librarian,

Statesboro Regional Library
Comments on the New Interface
Not positive:
The new way you guys or whoever you are have done your new website is completely gay.. I can't even find a darn thing!! The articles don't show up so how are we supposed to read them if we can't see them???? I'm not using this gay site anymore!

user

user

I hate this new GALILEO. Why can't we go back to the old one?

user

Valdosta State University

user

(User was directed to Databases A-Z tab; in beta, all databases were not listed there, but in production they were, based on demand)

librarian

DeKalb County Public Library System
What has happened to the Galileo platform? All of the features I needed for research and class are gone and now it's virtually useless.

Faculty member,

Kennesaw State University
Prior to the release of the new "GALILEO Scholar" user interface, it was fairly easy to get a complete list, in table format, of all the databases and Express Link URLs for resources that are accessible to Emory.

This may still be possible, but I'm having difficulty finding it in the new UI. If it is still possible, can you point me in the right direction?

librarian

Emory University

(Pagebuilder tool was made available soon after user’s comment)
When I clicked on K-12 on the old webpage, I used to see the databases broken down by grade levels (elementary, middle, and high). The elementary section had about 15 databases listed. On the Galileo kids page, there aren't as many resources. Can you change the Kids (grades K-5) page to include other databases as well? I think it would be helpful. It's not easy for young students to navigate by searing by database names. Thanks.

Connie Yearwood

Habersham County Schools
I am a college student at LaGrange College, and an English Major. As such, I am a frequent user of Galileo as a resource. As such, I feel obligated to inform you that the new changes made to the website are simply... not beneficial. It is more difficult to use, even as straightforward as it is. Further than this, with the increase in pages that I have to search through to arrive at my initial goal makes using Galileo rather a "pain in the rear," so to speak. I simply wanted to make this known to you, and to put this comment in shortest of terms, the older version/format of Galileo was much better. Thanks so much.

Your loyal user,

LaGrange College
I've found that the new Galileo page set up is NOT user friendly. Databases are difficult to find and take too much time trying to figure it out where to go. Our students are also complaining about the site not being user friendly and are "giving up" after not being able to find what they're searching for. Is there something that can be done to change this? The old site was much more effective and user friendly. Thanks

user

With the old system, the high school databases were listed first, and it was a snap to get to them. Now getting to them requires more clicks.

Search engines are limited at best, and they tend to bring up more than what is relevant. Many students aren't adept with search terms, so browsing can be more useful.

user

librarian

Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College

(After user was directed to the Search tab, she sent this message: I finally figured out how to use the search component. However, I feel this new format relies on to much previous understanding of Galileo?s search process..too many buttons to click?I think the older format was better for our users. Just my opinion.)

librarian

Flint River Regional Library System
I was just wondering why you changed galileo. I used it last week and it was a much easier program. The way it is now is confusing and complicated. Plus you cannot save articles in a folder as you could before. Could you please change it back? I have heard MANY complaints from students about this.

Thank you for your time,

user

Kennesaw State University

user

user

user

user

user

(Directed user to Browse by Type tab)

When you click on Databases A-Z, Magazines A-Z, or the Search tab, the cursor should be sitting in the Find Database/Find Magazine/Enter Search Keywords search box ready to accept an entry. The most likely thing for a user to do is enter text, and having that as a default would save a click. If the user wants to do soemthing else, he/she would have to click on the letter of the alphabet or radio button anyway. By having the page open with focus on the text entry box, you will have saved a step for most users and will not have penalized any users with an extra step.

This is a small thing, but I use software every day that has no default and requires that extra click to get the cursor where you want it 99% of the time. The more you use it, the more annoying it becomes.

user

user

(Numbers were added to database menus)

user

librararian

Gainesville State College
Recommended Change: Display "In the Spotlight" selections that are from the "Try these first" list for whichever subject the user is browsing.

librarian

University of West Georgia
In GALILEO Library, would it be possible to include Academic Search Complete in the list of databases that is presented when you click the Search tab and then click "more search options"? We are in a public library but many of our GALILEO users need peer reviewed journals and I think the EBSCO product is more complete than ProQuest. I realize we can go to that database directly, but it would be much easier for the user if it were included in a "ready-made" search list. Thanks and thank you for your previous quick responses!

librarian