Debunking Misconceptions About StackMap
StackMap can’t integrate with my catalog
We can integrate with any type of catalog, no matter how unique. If you have doubts about your library’s particular catalog, just ask a StackMap team member about it; we have a variety of technical integration strategies at our disposal.
My library is too small for StackMap
StackMap is for every size library. A good rule of thumb? If you have people asking you where items are, you need StackMap. As much as StackMap helps people navigate confusing physical spaces, it is just as much, if not more, about making the process of using a call number less intimidating to the many library patrons who do not understand what call numbers are or what they mean. StackMap allows libraries to provide the best customer service in a small library with a smaller staff and less time for one-on-one contact with your customers. Walking people around the library takes away quality time you could be spending on high-touch interactions (such as readers’ advisory or research help) that create lifelong library-users.
StackMap won’t work with our bookstore style library displays
If items are in the bookstore style—displayed on tables and/or organized by genre or subject—StackMap can handle the mapping and solve for the common issue of patrons not knowing a specific item has been pulled and is being displayed.
I can’t use StackMap because my library has multiple branches
If your library is part of a shared catalog and not every branch is on board to get StackMap, that’s fine! We are able to map and connect a single library branch, whether the other branches get StackMap or not. Even in a rotating collection, items will map, seamlessly, as they are checked into the branch locations that subscribe to StackMap.
I shouldn’t get StackMap right now because we’re renovating
Renovation time is a great time to get StackMap for two reasons. One: it’s so easy to upload different floor plans for each level, that the StackMap dashboard can serve as a great spatial planning tool for what the collection layout on a given floor could look like, at the end of the renovation. Two: at the end of the renovation, some or all of the space will be unfamiliar to users; StackMap can help them navigate the newly renovated areas.
We don’t have the staff or resources to manage setup and maintenance
Do you have an emergency exit floor plan for each of your library’s floors? Do you have end cap signs on your shelving? If you answered yes, to both of those questions, that’s all the information that we need to get you started with StackMap. During the four-week set up period, a dedicated StackMap employee does it all for you. Long term maintenance is also simple—when items move you just update the dashboard, and StackMap automatically updates the range signs. The time that StackMap saves you and your patrons is far greater than the time it takes to set up or maintain.
We don’t need StackMap because our physical collection is shrinking
Lack of use is almost always the reason that collections are shrinking. When circulation statistics are down and people aren’t checking out books enough, funding for libraries dries up! But StackMap can help. Our service allows you to market your collection, improve discoverability, and can prevent your collection from continuing to shrink. StackMap improves the usability of the collection which can lead to an increase in circulation statistics which is usually followed by an increase in budget.
Our IT staff is too busy to implement StackMap
IT professionals do not need to be involved in the StackMap setup process. The only remotely technical part of the process is the catalog integration, but if you know how to copy/paste three lines of text from one document to another, you are more than qualified to have one of our Implementation Specialists walk you through that final step.