I’ve been following updates on the NYPL Labs page and am really intrigued with the changes they are discussing and implementing.  Today’s post examined preconceptions librarians have about their users and what is popular in the library.  Reviewing top search terms at the NYPL, librarians were suprised to discover “Tumblebooks” at the top of the list.  I was suprised as well since I have never heard of them (if I was focused on children’s librarianship, I’m sure I would have).

It makes sense that people are so interested in Tumblebooks–it is a wonderful resource for children’s books, games, etc!  They provide flash animated books, games and puzzles, audio books, and even a section for language learning (which is great for me because I can’t read anything more advanced than children’s french–and even it is difficult).

Another worthwhile announcement from the Labs blog is their development of an open source web usability survey (which they are calling Infomaki).  They survey only asks users to answer one question at a time, instead of committing to a long 20- 50 question survey that can take up quite a bit of time.  After a user has answered a question, they are asked if they want to answer another or get on with their business.  Most choose to continue answering questions–in much larger numbers than other traditional suveys.  The survey appears at the top of the library webpage and is simply designed and non-intrusive.  This open source gem could also be used by other libraries in the future.  Keep your eyes on the NYPL Labs blog.  Some good ideas are originating there that may be a benefit to all libraries.