Service Request: What Happens When I Call 311?
One of my favorite podcasts is 99% Invisible. They recently posted an episode for a new series called Service Request. This premier episode was on the 311 information line in New York City. Although they never mentioned reference Librarians, I thought this would be a natural fit for information / knowledge workers.
Fascinating to think of creating a knowledge base built for NYC, and responsive to the needs of the citizens and their burning questions, answered by real people -- real New Yorkers, invested in the game. I'm glad they didn't push that off to AI or a call center halfway across the world!
"By mapping millions of individual service requests, the city can pinpoint systemic issues and even solve regional mysteries, like the time 311 data and wind patterns were overlaid to trace a phantom maple syrup scent back to a New Jersey fenugreek factory."
They talked about the importance of the reference interview -- although they never called it that, I knew exactly what they were talking about--and you will too!
They also mentioned some of the questions that come in -- Everything from
- complaints about noise (and the various classifications of said noises)
- where to recycle electronics
- what to do with insulin in a power outage
- ghosts in your apartment
- or even bad vibes from the neighbor downstairs.
Could we create something like this within our own institutions, going beyond the medical and health sciences to internal company knowledge? I think some of our institutions have become too big and disjointed to make that work, but maybe it's still possible in some institutions? Maybe you already have something like this? If so, consider telling WHSLA Members about it. Were Librarians involved in the making or implementation?
I'm amazed that NYC was able to do it at all!
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