A Nordstrom Experience--Jennifer Duvernay
By Staff -- Library Journal, 3/15/2005
Jennifer Duvernay Arizona State University, Tempe
A devoted shopper, Jennifer Duvernay loves Nordstrom because of its outstanding customer service. As science reference librarian at Arizona State University (ASU), she wants to make the information shopping experience just as satisfying. "I'd like our students to choose to come to us because they have good experiences with us, trust us, and like us, despite [the availability of] plenty of other places on the Internet they can get their information."
That's already happening. Vicki Coleman, ASU associate dean of library services, says Duvernay "truly understands what a library transaction is like from the customer's perspective." Certainly the initiatives she's eagerly volunteered to work on—24/7 reference chat, the freshman and sophomore Learning Communities, and usability of library web sites—are all about connecting with students and faculty and making sure the library adapts to their changing needs.
The most rewarding project she's worked on is the Learning Communities, in which students simultaneously take a cluster of liberal arts courses. Librarians work with the faculty to incorporate appropriate resources, skills, and individualized research assistance. According to Linda Shackle, her supervisor, when the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences came up with this idea, "there was no doubt in my mind whom I would nominate. It had to be Jennie. Not just because of her interest in undergraduates but because she was begging me to pick her!"
Shackle says that when they evaluated the job librarians had done in their Learning Communities, "it was obvious that Jennie was the librarian who had fully integrated herself into her community." Not only were many students demanding her assistance, but faculty praised her dedication to students.
Once in a while, the students even tell her what a difference she makes. A student she helped in a chat reference interview said that the service was so great, it almost justified the tuition increase.
Now that's a Nordstrom experience.
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