Chisholm and Harper | Creating businesses of the future

Helping to create library services of the future.

Challenge

Even with its vast collection and prestigious history, the State Library of Victoria must continuously adapt and evolve in order to stay relevant to the citizens of Victoria. The Internet offers the opportunity to reach new and diverse audiences and as a result the Library has invested in a number of online initiatives. However, the true ongoing cost of particular initiatives was poorly understood and a long-term strategy for their operation and growth was needed. The Library asked Chisholm & Harper to assist their internal experts to create a clear future vision for three of their websites; two of which targeted younger readers.

Approach

Chisholm & Harper assisted the Library to get back in touch with its audiences by asking them face-to-face what they wanted.

Working within the established culture of the Library was critical to the success of this project. The Library values internal consultation and supports a collegiate, process driven approach to everyday activity. Chisholm & Harper designed a project approach that fitted with this way of working, ensuring that organisational stakeholders were fully engaged with the process and the project deliverables. Chisholm & Harper also assisted the Library to get back in touch with its audiences by asking them face-to-face what they wanted. In the case of the ‘Inside a Dog’ website (www.insideadog.com.au) the key audience was 12-16 year olds. Talking to this audience meant handling the short attention spans of adolescents while sitting on the floor on lumpy school-library cushions. Understanding the concerns (homework and dating) and interests (Twilight and skateboarding) of this group shed valuable light on how the Library could better meet their needs.

Outcome

Talking directly to the Library’s audience combined with meaningful internal consultation helped to create a clear online direction for the sites analysed. The personas, created by Chisholm & Harper to describe the key site audiences, quickly became an invaluable decision making tool which could be used going forward. Ultimately, an options paper with time and resource investment requirements was developed to assist the board with its decision making processes and enable them to move forward.