How Librarians Helped to Design ICA

PC Reservation® was born as a queue-based product. There were some great features that included pagers for notification and some great graphical displays. But the unveiling of a prototype at Midwinter ALA in 1999 helped us to discover the many flaws with a queue.

First it's important to understand why we first think of using a queue. If you had a manual system for PC management, then you used a clipboard or similar low tech approach to manage a list or queue. Your borrowers would sign up and then wait to be called. If a user left and later returned, smaller libraries might remember the face and make adjustments. Of course others that arrived later would need justification for a suddent shift in the list. We tend to think of automation in the context of a manual process. Twenty years ago, we designed ILS systems with a subject, title, and author search, just like our catalog cards in the drawers. But with today's technology, a limited approach like this would forego key word search, book jackets and reviews, and a host of other OPAC enhancements that have become commonplace and expected. But librarians probably didn't say, add a keyword search, or link a jpeg image of the cover, they said, "we need to use the same concepts when searching the catalog that Internet users utilize to find information on the Internet."

So when we unveiled that first beta, proud creators of an innovative approach to a queue, we made the mistake of asking libraries what they REALLY wanted. Within two days we realized that everything we had written was a waste, and our prospective customers had 'designed' an entirely different approach. (That wasn't a mistake by today's standards, after all, more libraries use PC Reservation than all competitive solutions combined.)

As users came to us in those early PC management days, they explained the drawbacks of their manual system:

  • Idle borrowers must wait around in chairs or stand near the desk until a computer is ready
  • While waiting, users tend to be noisy and often look over user's shoulders in an attempt to stay busy
  • People continually come back to the desk to ask how long before their turn.
  • Every time we estimate the wait time, and the next user goes outside to get a cup of coffee, the PC user ends his or her session early, and I must call the next person on the list because the REAL next person stepped away. Boy, do I hear grief when he or she returns, because I gave away his or her computer.
  • Not every computer user that comes to our library wants to use a PC for 60 minutes. Some people just want to check email, but we can't possibly manage that kind of randomness.
  • Our computer utilization isn't as high as we would like, because there is a lot of wasted time associated with finding the next person, shuffling priorities, and helping people understand the erratic behavior of our manual system.
  • Our staff spends most of the day managing computers instead of helping people explore our resources,
  • We have fights frequently, as people argue about who is really next, or why someone used more than an hour when our policy is one hour, or why going to the bathroom should cause me to lose my turn and wait another 20 minutes for the next computer.
  • This list goes on and on, but what you see here is not as much a limitation of a manual system, as it is the inherent flaws of a queue (which is what a manual system really is.)

To continue the story, click on "What Others Did to Mitigate Queue Problems" or "How EnvisionWare Customers Defined the Ultimate Solution"

What Others Did to Mitigate Queue Problem

While EnvisionWare developers were starting over, with input from hundreds of librarians and a clean slate to build a solution using creative technology, the competitors developed some interesting solutions.

Displaying the Queue

With a queue, people need to know their place in line, the approximate wait time, and how they are progressing. Keep in mind that an idle user is a clock watcher - what else is there to do while watching a clock or screen to see how many minutes remain in the estimated wait time? Some companies made the sign-up station show a list, others flashed some names on a screen in a marquee, and others adopted LED displays or large LCD monitors.

In an era of emphasis on patron privacy, companies are really showing borrower names, library card numbers, or a combination of both? Yes. But some actually allowed users to type an alias. Enter the era of stop word control on a queue station.

Estimating Wait Time

A queue must analyze the number of computers, the length of a session, and guess at the time the next computer will be available. If a library has five PCs with 60-minute sessions, and five people start at 9:00am, it's pretty easy to give an estimated wait time of 60 minutes, suggesting the next use will be around 10:00am. (With appropriate cautionary notices). So, knowing that it will be about an hour, and now wanting to sit and watch a screen for 60 minutes, a user decides to leave for 10-12 minutes to check the parking meter. And the inconsiderate PC user that just wants to check email leaves early. The queue flashes, nobody responds, the second in line gets excited, the queue flashes, and finally after 10 minutes, the second person in line is assigned and starts a session. Guess who comes back a minute later and starts screaming about unfair use! So the user signs up again but is now behind two other people that came after him but are ahead because he was removed from the queue as a no-show.

The Shuffle

Some screaming and grumbling time passes, and the staff manager shuffles the person back to the top of the queue. So now that person is at least on the top of the list, but everyone else on the list is angry because they just moved down a notch. Now it's time for staff to have a meeting with people in the queue, to explain how the system works and why it is necessary and fair that a person leaving the area would be moved back to the top of the list.

The fewer the PCs, the more dramatic the shifting of the queue, but regardless of the numbers, erratic (and expected) user behavior can play havoc on predictions.

Maximizing Utilization

Meanwhile, at EnvisionWare, PC Reservation has been released and offers a neat automatic time extension feature. When no one is waiting for a PC, time is extended in an existing session, keeping the computers busy and eliminating arbitrary ends of sessions when computer seats are empty. Queue competitors must respond and some do with a new system that allocates a fixed percentage of available computers for automatic extension. All computers can't be in the pool, because that would leave no ability to create a prediction for use and provide access for others.

Lost turns, shuffling names, visible lists of user names or barcodes, and inappropriate language aside, the queue still seems a bit unfair and it requires a fair amount of staff intervention. It still keeps idle users waiting in front of a screen, makes people painfully aware of the clock, and keeps the idle chatter at a moderately disruptive level. And, the waiting area is good for just one thing, giving idle users a place to sit and watch a computer monitor. There are some libraries where that much idle space is just too expensive to waste.

Continue to read how EnvisionWare customers defined the ultimate solution...

How EnvisionWare Customers Defined the Ultimate Solution

Based on the feedback from literally hundreds of librarians, and using the list on the preceding page, our team began to develop a comprehensive approach to solving the REAL needs of libraries....with a little help from the Mouse.  The word queue means "a file or line, esp. of people waiting their turn."  Family funlovers often see the word queue at Six Flags or other amusement parks.  Disney, however, avoids the use of the word because it has negative connotation and emphasizes the concept of WAIT.  But, the Magic Kingdom has queues.  Many say that the most successful crowd control company in the world is The Disney Company.  One of EnvisionWare's founders worked for Disney, the other goes there more than once per year.  People wait in lines (queues) for hours and, like libraries, there are signs that predict the wait time.  The management at Disney is VERY accurate in their predictions, and you can bet that the wait time is at least as long as the sign indicates. 

But Disney 'solved' the wait problem for one kind of park-goer, the one that really values his or her wait time and would prefer to do something else while waiting - the Fast Pass.  Fast Pass permits sign up for one attraction at a time.  You obtain a Fast Pass, and then explore the world of Disney burgers, Disney dogs, er Hot Dogs, and other consumables and artifacts.  At the assigned time, you return to the front of the line (queue) and without wasting time, you enter the attraction and enjoy the ride.   Sometimes, you get a Fast Pass for Space Mountain, and then use the wait time for the Tea Cups (becuase nobody waits in line for an hour to ride the Cups).

Together with the inspiration of the world's leading authority in queue management, and a list of requirements from hundreds of librarians, EnvisionWare developers set out to create the solution, the one that is more widely used than any other product, PC Reservation®.

  • Idle borrowers must wait around in chairs or stand near the desk until a computer is ready
    • PC Reservation will have NO IDLE WAITING, and nothing unpredictable.  The product will serve the diversity of library users by providing a system that manages resources for people who highly value their wait time, and equally serving those that would prefer to wait around and get an earlier use.  Users will be free to leave the library and return at or before the assigned time, and log in for their use without being affected by the random behavior of others

  • While waiting, users tend to be noisy and often look over user's shoulders in an attempt to stay busy
    • PC Reservation users will not need to wait, there will be no clock watching, and no display to track.  Some libraries will use a receipt printer to help users remember their reservation details, allowing freedom to roam the collection and check out the latest Harry Potter Book.

  • People continually come back to the desk to ask how long before their turn.
  • Every time we estimate the wait time, and the next user goes outside to get a cup of coffee, the PC user ends his or her session early, and I must call the next person on the list because the REAL next person stepped away.  Boy, do I hear grief when he or she returns, because I gave away his or her computer.
  • Not every computer user that comes to our library wants to use a PC for 60 minutes.  Some people just want to check email, but we can't possibly manage that kind of randomness.
    • PC Reservation will provide options.  Everyone will receive the option to use a computer for the designated Area interval (i.e. 60 minute Internet area).  Thus if the library policy is 60 minute use, the system will allocate the FIRST AVAILABLE 60-minute computer.  The system will automatically create other options of shorter intervals, based on the fact that people have random behavior and some will inevitably leave before the end of their turn.  (Statistics from 5,000 libraries indicate that the average use of 60-minute computers is 47 minutes.)
    • Options will be provided when users sign up at a Reservation Station, so that a user will always receive the option for a full session and may also receive an option for a more immediate turn of less than 60 minutes.
    • Options will be provided so that users assigned a 60-minute turn, may utilize a system that is currenly idle and available, by permitting an automated swap when the user sits at the empty PC and logs in with the library card number.  The options will vary depending on policy.
  • Our computer utilization isn't as high as we would like, because there is a lot of wasted time associated with finding the next person, shuffling priorities, and helping people understand the erratic behavior of our manual system.
    • PC Reservation will be predictable, it will MAXIMIZE the user of computers (1,000 libraries that have converted from other automated queue systems.  Many report an increase in total utilization of computers with PC Reservation.)
    • We will eliminate the need for staff involvment, so that staff will only deal with special exceptions, and may focus more on public services.
    • Shuffling will not exist, because the inherent unfairness of the process and the hassle of explaing it should be non-existant and managed more effectively so that users and staff do not face these kinds of aggravations.
  • Our staff spends most of the day managing computers instead of helping people explore our resources,
    • The system will provide everything from a hands-off model to one that gives staff enough flexibility to manage special needs and offer exceptional services where warranted.

  • We have fights frequently, as people argue about who is really next, or why someone used more than an hour when our policy is one hour, or why going to the bathroom should cause me to lose my turn and wait another 20 minutes for the next computer.
    • Users will not lose their turn because the system will be predictable.  The experience will be so intuitive that borrowrs will clearly understand the system and appreciate the value it brings to library services.

  • This list goes on and on, but what you see here is not as much a limitation of a manual system, as it is the inherent flaws of a queue (which is what a manual system really is.)

There is one final component that is important to review.  The concept of FAIRNESS is often cited as the compelling reason for using a queue.  Is it fair to:

Make a user waste time watching a screen for a turn?

Permit loss of a turn because a user trusted the system prediction which failed as a result of early sign off by another user?

Shuffle the list of people so that the person that left is moved to the top of a list of people that patiently waited?

Treat all users as though their usage patterns must be identical?

PC Reservation is a product committed to the concept of fair and equitable access to computer resources in your library.  It is not arbitrary, it is understanding of varying needs, it does not require waiting and watching and it serves those that wait by offering choices for earlier use without breaking the commitment to those that left during a wait interval.  It offers choices and freedom.  The system grants extra time to anyone and everyone when resources are not needed for others (based on your policy settings).  The system does not depend on the top of the hour or the bottom, but considers every number on a clock dial as equal.  PC Reservation is fair to borrowers and staff because it is easy to understand, and requires little attention.

4,000 libraries moved from a manual (queue) system to PC Reservation.  1,000 libraries moved from competitive queue-based systems to PC Reservation.  Who better to ask than our users, all of whom are listed for your easy access by clicking on the Customers Tab at the top of this page.

Thank you for considering EnvisionWare.