Subscription resources offer a wealth of information, but getting patrons to use them can be problematic. Remote authentication is a barrier, often dropping patrons off on an unfamiliar landing page that requires them to make hard choices about how to move forward with their search. The question is how to make what we already have attractive to patrons? The answer we came up with was to re-imagine a very traditional library resource. The Pathfinder! The best pathfinders are useful and attractive. We took this a step further, by creating a web-based, responsive, pathfinder that links directly to the listed resources, instead of requiring the patron to recreate the search in our subscription databases or online catalog.

The first, and most important, element we needed to implement was a remote authentication system that allowed for easy deep linking into databases. Once authentication was in place, we moved onto designing a standard layout that is easy to use, flexible, and creates a sense of continuity between our personas that patrons can become familiar with. Our librarians are key to two very important ongoing elements. First, creating new Personas that present topical information in an interesting way. Second, keeping existing Personas that we have created up to date.

One aspect of measuring success can be done though analytics and database usage reports. It is still early, so we don’t have much in the way of historical statistics. In general our Personas have been averaging about 40 hits per month, with our most popular persona, Job Seeker, receiving over 300 hits in March 2015. Database usage statistics are also important, and we've seen an uptick in usage, but it’s still too early to gauge the impact of Personas. Another measure of success we hope to gather over time is anecdotal evidence from patrons and staff regarding the usefulness of Personas. Finally, creating Personas requires careful exploration and use of our subscription resources, and has resulted in a greater understanding of what they offer.