Here’s something for those of you who are introducing Roving for the first time or perhaps want to refresh Roving with your staff, but haven’t been able to have one of our full workshops. I am pleased to provide this link for you to access a free web seminar about Roving which I presented through the auspices of the SirsiDynix Institute. In this 1 hour web seminar, entitled “Guide to Roving, an Essential Service for Library 2.0″, I shared some of the key tips and successful approaches I have found in my experiences with Library implementations of Roving over the past 5 years. 
Follow this link: 
http://www.sirsidynixinstitute.com/seminar_page.php?sid=97 
(or go to http://www.sirsidynixinstitute.com and click on event archives) 
The date of the webinar was Dec. 11th, 2007 

Over the past 6 and 1/2 years, in Roving workshops with over 1200 Library managers and staff, I have found that  people commonly need clear answers about some important questions before they can successfully implement Roving. Our Pro-active Service and roving Workshops address all these questions, and much more.

I have summarized the most common of these “frequently asked questions” for you in the following list.

“10 FAQ’s To Answer For Smoother Roving implementation” 

1. Why is this important? (What is the objective? How does it link to our Vision, Mission, Goals?)

2. Who will be Roving? (which roles, positions, departments, branches, F/T/ P/T) 

3. When should I rove?                                                                                                                     • Will there be a schedule, or will it be just a percentage of my shift, or will it be just at                  my discretion?                                                                                                                                 • If there are to be shifts…how long will a roving shift be? 

4. Where do I rove? 
     • Just in my department? 
     • On this floor only? Other floors? 
     • Beyond the Library walls? 

5. How do I rove? 
     • What if there is no one else staffing the desk? Can I leave the desk empty?
     • Do I have to do my roving time in one “chunk”? 
     • What if there are no patrons in the department? 
     • How do I deal with multiple customers or answering phone calls? 
     • How do I deal with questions outside of my departmental or role related expertise? 

6. What tools or support will be provided to help me rove? 
     a. INFORMATION 
         i. Trends affecting libraries 
         ii. Other libraries’ approaches 
     b. TECHNOLOGY AND OTHER TOOLS 
         i.  Computer Technology (i.e. Notebook computers, PDA’s etc.)
         ii. Communication devices (i.e. Vocera, Walkie-Talkies, or portable phone headsets etc.)
         iii. Clipboards, “Tick sheets”
         iv. Identification (i.e. badges)                                                                                                     c. TRAINING                                                                                                                                    i. Roving Training                                                                                                                          ii. Pro-active Service (at a desk; in stacks(pages/shelvers), at Ciric. desk)                                        iii. Cross training                                                                                                                         d. COACHING                                                                                                                                  i. Managers participating and/ or demonstrating roving                                                                      ii. Dialogue, Feedback (i.e. from Co-workers, Managers and/or from Patrons?)

     e. REINFORCMENT / SUPPORT 
         i.  What follow-up will there be?
         ii. Practice sessions 
         iii. Other support (i.e. Reminders, posters, newsletters, staff meetings) 

      f. TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION 
         i. Committees of representatives of supervisors and staff 
         ii. Dialogue, what’s working, what’s not, solutions. Make it part of every staff meeting agenda 

7. How can I get my other work done? Will Managers help by scheduling off-desk work or automating,     eliminating or re-assigning other tasks/priorities 

8. What if there is no one else staffing the desk?

9. What if there are no patrons in the department?

10. Do I have to do my roving time in one chunk??