Information Architecture
- By Pujan S Mehta
Case study on Information Architecture on Prince George’s County Memorial Library System (PGCMLS)
Prince George’s County Memorial Library System (PGCMLS) is a public library system that serves Prince George’s County, Maryland. The system features 21 branch locations including Beltsville, Bowie, Greenbelt, Hyattsville and Largo. The libraries offer services such as on site and online access to books, movies and music, full reference services and materials supporting consumer information, independent learning and employment and career activities. The goal of PGCMLS is to promote and make available library resources that will fill the lifelong learning needs of individuals and groups in Prince George’s County. My case study will focus on the information architecture of the PGCMLS New Carrollton branch.
Information Architecture:
The location of the New Carrollton branch is very suitable for a public library. The neighborhood is very quiet and the library is easily accessible via public transportation. The library acts as a hub for information, and one would expect that the information architecture of a library should be very well organized. After visiting the New Carrollton branch and talking with its manager, Que Bronson, I found that the library is indeed well organized.
The information for the general public is delivered by the means of a large notice board at the entrance of the library. One can find flyers, information pointers, speaker announcements and a large and cooperative information desk. The notice board contains information like rules and policies, the library’s schedule, new announcements and forms. The information desk is located at the heart (center) of the library. The information desk consists of three to five staff members who deliver information to the public. The branch also has a map of the entire library with different sectors and directions. Please see Figure 1.
Information architecture for staff is highly computer based. There is not a lot of paper work conducted to share information among the staff. The main center of information for staff can be accessed via an Intranet Staff page provided by the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System. The Intranet Staff page is accessible to all the staff members of the PGCMLS. All staff members have access to the same information. According to Que Bronson, the Intranet Staff Page acts as the information map for the staff members because it lists expertise and most, if not at all staff information needs are fulfilled by the Intranet.
The Intranet gives access to most of the information, which is required by the staff. They have a section of their main Intranet Staff Page called “Where does it go & when it is due.” Please see Figure 2. This section acts as an Information Pointer for staff. The staff does not have to rely on any external source to gain information. For any other information that is not available on the Intranet page, the staff conducts face-to-face meetings or communicates via phone. Bronson leads a weekly meeting with staff where scheduling, weekly planning and general discussion take place. The primary means of communication between the staff is the Intranet. They also have staff blogs, which feature the facilities of postings and forums. The staff has a friendly working environment where information is shared via informal chatting between the colleagues.
The interviews with Bronson gave us a clear picture of the information architecture of the New Carrollton branch. In my first interview, Bronson gave a brief description about the information architecture of the site. The second interview gave us a more in depth picture of the information architecture. Bronson provided us a few of the snap shots of the library’s Intranet page to better understand how it operated in the context of the organization.
The following are some important factors of information architecture, which I gathered from my interview with Bronson and from the observation of the site.
• They have a computer oriented architectural effort where every employee is given formal training to use this system. Everyone has access to computers, as it is mandatory.
• The non-technical information is shared via memos and phone calls. These memos are for specific individuals and this concept is very decentralized. For example, employee A has no access to the memos of employee B. Catalogs, flyers, the notice board and the information desk all serve the role of an information map for the general public and the Intranet page acts as an information map for the staff members.
• They also have a feedback mechanism on forums where people give a lot of input as well as suggestions. The people who need information are government officials, home schooled students, the general public from children to senior citizens. The type of information that they require are how to get a driver’s license, how to learn English, how to learn computers and how to access information about the materials in the library. The 15 librarians provide this information. The librarians are very well trained to structure the queries of the people because many of the general public, such as children, do not exactly know what they want. All of the librarians should have a Master in Library Science degree to qualify for the job. Few of the staff members have the responsibility of visiting different countries for book fares, film festivals, and field trips to other libraries.
• Information sharing not only takes place between the staff members of the particular branch but also with other branches of the same organization. One typical example of information that is shared is regarding the staffing problems. Other branches try to help in this matter if they can on an informal basis. Information that they don’t share are some new policies that are implemented on a tentative bases. Some of the policies that the New Carrollton Branch has implemented are computers reserved for adults only. as many teenagers visit every day, 15-minute express computers where you can check emails and browse. These policies are not implemented elsewhere in the organization.
Analysis
To conclude my report on information architecture of the New Carrollton branch, there is not a lot of paper work to share information between the staff because most of the information is available via the Intranet.
The branch features two versions of information architectures. One is technology oriented accessed through the use of the Intranet. The other is the non-technology oriented aspect with the branch’s use of notice boards, memos and flyers. All of the staff members have the knowledge of the information architecture that exists in their organization.
The architecture also takes into consideration the human behavior of the staff. The human behavior is not neglected by the information architecture as Bronson holds weekly meetings, which help staff share their emotions with everyone in the organization. The Intranet is the backbone for information sharing between the staff and this act as the information map for them. It also has a section called “Where does it go & When it is due,” which serves as an information pointer for staff. All of the staff has access to the same information. There are no non-technical managers in the branch. Everyone has computer access and everyone is first trained to use the information system. The information desk, which is located at the center of the library, is the information hub for the general public. The librarians are well trained to structure the queries of the clients and they provide them with any needed information.
Prince George’s County Memorial Library System (PGCMLS) is a public library system that serves Prince George’s County, Maryland. The system features 21 branch locations including Beltsville, Bowie, Greenbelt, Hyattsville and Largo. The libraries offer services such as on site and online access to books, movies and music, full reference services and materials supporting consumer information, independent learning and employment and career activities. The goal of PGCMLS is to promote and make available library resources that will fill the lifelong learning needs of individuals and groups in Prince George’s County. My case study will focus on the information architecture of the PGCMLS New Carrollton branch.
Information Architecture:
The location of the New Carrollton branch is very suitable for a public library. The neighborhood is very quiet and the library is easily accessible via public transportation. The library acts as a hub for information, and one would expect that the information architecture of a library should be very well organized. After visiting the New Carrollton branch and talking with its manager, Que Bronson, I found that the library is indeed well organized.
The information for the general public is delivered by the means of a large notice board at the entrance of the library. One can find flyers, information pointers, speaker announcements and a large and cooperative information desk. The notice board contains information like rules and policies, the library’s schedule, new announcements and forms. The information desk is located at the heart (center) of the library. The information desk consists of three to five staff members who deliver information to the public. The branch also has a map of the entire library with different sectors and directions. Please see Figure 1.
Information architecture for staff is highly computer based. There is not a lot of paper work conducted to share information among the staff. The main center of information for staff can be accessed via an Intranet Staff page provided by the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System. The Intranet Staff page is accessible to all the staff members of the PGCMLS. All staff members have access to the same information. According to Que Bronson, the Intranet Staff Page acts as the information map for the staff members because it lists expertise and most, if not at all staff information needs are fulfilled by the Intranet.
The Intranet gives access to most of the information, which is required by the staff. They have a section of their main Intranet Staff Page called “Where does it go & when it is due.” Please see Figure 2. This section acts as an Information Pointer for staff. The staff does not have to rely on any external source to gain information. For any other information that is not available on the Intranet page, the staff conducts face-to-face meetings or communicates via phone. Bronson leads a weekly meeting with staff where scheduling, weekly planning and general discussion take place. The primary means of communication between the staff is the Intranet. They also have staff blogs, which feature the facilities of postings and forums. The staff has a friendly working environment where information is shared via informal chatting between the colleagues.
The interviews with Bronson gave us a clear picture of the information architecture of the New Carrollton branch. In my first interview, Bronson gave a brief description about the information architecture of the site. The second interview gave us a more in depth picture of the information architecture. Bronson provided us a few of the snap shots of the library’s Intranet page to better understand how it operated in the context of the organization.
The following are some important factors of information architecture, which I gathered from my interview with Bronson and from the observation of the site.
• They have a computer oriented architectural effort where every employee is given formal training to use this system. Everyone has access to computers, as it is mandatory.
• The non-technical information is shared via memos and phone calls. These memos are for specific individuals and this concept is very decentralized. For example, employee A has no access to the memos of employee B. Catalogs, flyers, the notice board and the information desk all serve the role of an information map for the general public and the Intranet page acts as an information map for the staff members.
• They also have a feedback mechanism on forums where people give a lot of input as well as suggestions. The people who need information are government officials, home schooled students, the general public from children to senior citizens. The type of information that they require are how to get a driver’s license, how to learn English, how to learn computers and how to access information about the materials in the library. The 15 librarians provide this information. The librarians are very well trained to structure the queries of the people because many of the general public, such as children, do not exactly know what they want. All of the librarians should have a Master in Library Science degree to qualify for the job. Few of the staff members have the responsibility of visiting different countries for book fares, film festivals, and field trips to other libraries.
• Information sharing not only takes place between the staff members of the particular branch but also with other branches of the same organization. One typical example of information that is shared is regarding the staffing problems. Other branches try to help in this matter if they can on an informal basis. Information that they don’t share are some new policies that are implemented on a tentative bases. Some of the policies that the New Carrollton Branch has implemented are computers reserved for adults only. as many teenagers visit every day, 15-minute express computers where you can check emails and browse. These policies are not implemented elsewhere in the organization.
Analysis
To conclude my report on information architecture of the New Carrollton branch, there is not a lot of paper work to share information between the staff because most of the information is available via the Intranet.
The branch features two versions of information architectures. One is technology oriented accessed through the use of the Intranet. The other is the non-technology oriented aspect with the branch’s use of notice boards, memos and flyers. All of the staff members have the knowledge of the information architecture that exists in their organization.
The architecture also takes into consideration the human behavior of the staff. The human behavior is not neglected by the information architecture as Bronson holds weekly meetings, which help staff share their emotions with everyone in the organization. The Intranet is the backbone for information sharing between the staff and this act as the information map for them. It also has a section called “Where does it go & When it is due,” which serves as an information pointer for staff. All of the staff has access to the same information. There are no non-technical managers in the branch. Everyone has computer access and everyone is first trained to use the information system. The information desk, which is located at the center of the library, is the information hub for the general public. The librarians are well trained to structure the queries of the clients and they provide them with any needed information.
Figure 1. A picture of the map of the library taken with the staff’s permission.
Figure 2. A snap shot of the Intranet page of the library
