Course: Placing the customer at the centre of the Irish academic library: a workshop informed by Customer Services Excellence (CSE)
Course Code: ANLTC 2017/03
Date: Wednesday 29th March 2017, 10:30 – 16:00 (Registration from 10:00)
Description: In higher education, the word ‘customer’ continue to provoke much discussion and debate around its relevance and appropriateness. For some, the idea of having students as customers is completely inappropriate whereas for others it fits in very well. The changes that are informing this more positive perspective are globalisation, more competitors and the importance attached to the student experience. University libraries have not escaped this environment and increasingly words and phrases like ‘engagement’, ‘student satisfaction’, ‘User Experience’ (UX) and ‘patron driven’ are being heard.
In the United Kingdom, many university libraries (including Queen’s University Belfast) have sought the Customer Services Excellence (CSE) award to demonstrate the high level customer care they deliver. CSE is owned by the UK Government Cabinet Office and involves organisations being assessed against 57 criteria relating to customer care. These are grouped into 5 broad areas: customer insight, culture of organisation, information and access, delivery and timeliness/quality. The purpose of this workshop will be to explore the relevance of CSE procedure and process for Irish university libraries.
Course Objectives:
The workshop’s objectives include:
- Gaining an insight and awareness of the customer in Irish university libraries
- Applying the CSE criteria to establish what makes up good customer care in the Irish university library
- Exploring evidence that can be used to demonstrate good university library customer care
- Demonstrating the linkages between customer care and continuous university library care delivery
- Establishing how CSE can fit into the Irish university library
Course Outline: The workshop will consist of a variety of activities which will include presentations, discussions, case studies and group work. The emphasis will very much focus on practicalities on enabling attendees to go away with an enhanced insight into the practicalities of customer care.
Dr Graham Walton will be the Facilitator for the workshop. He has 35+ years’ work in university libraries with his last post being Assistant Director (Academic & User Services) at Loughborough University Library. His experience includes overseeing the introduction of CSE and he is also Honorary Research Fellow at the University’s Business School. For the past 8 years, he has been Editor of the Taylor & Francis New Review of Academic Librarianship. Since 2014, he has been working as CSE Assessor and has over 15 clients including the UK Driving & Vehicle Licencing Agency (DVLA) and four UK universities.
Audience: This course is aimed at librarians and library managers who are involved with developing strategic direction and imperatives for the university library. They will also be considering how the User Experience (UX) is to be central in shaping current and future services.
Host Library: UCC Library
Course Location: The Creative Zone, Boole Library, University College Cork
Cost: €120.00