INTERNATIONAL PE

RSPECTIVES· Librarian as Commodity: Outsourcing

in Japanese Academic Librariesby Nobue Matsuoka-MotleyAvailable online 30 March 2011

INTRODUCTIONWhen a library is faced with a gloomy budget outlook, outsourcingstaff functions may appear to be an attractive solution. In the U.S. thistendency is common enough among public and special libraries,which has given rise to companies such as Library Systems & ServicesLLC, the nation's largest operator of public libraries.1 The use of privatecontractors to the same degree is not as widespread in academiclibraries in the U.S. and elsewhere in the West. Although technicalservices such as binding, cataloging and processing are partially orfully outsourced in many educational institutions, it is less common touse commercial vendors for public service units closely related to alibrary's institutional identity. Outsourcing a reference department,for example, would entail surrendering the library's primary functionto another entity.2 In order to foster a robust teaching and learningenvironment and high caliber research capabilities, services such asreference services, user education, collection development and liaisonpositions are generally still staffed by qualified librarians employeddirectly by the university.

But, what if academic libraries started outsourcing libraryservices in these areas? Distinctly different from practices in the U.S., the prevailing tendency in Japanese academic libraries is to turnmany services over to commercial vendors: public services opera-tions, reference desks, circulation desks and user education. In thelate 1990s these institutions, in the face of desperate budgetshortfalls, turned to outsourcing as a way to cut costs. In thesubsequent years, as library users' expectations have adjusted to thiskind of staffing, the practice solidified into the new status quo.Today, the labor force in most Japanese academic libraries consistspredominantly of contract librarians who have earned librarycertification (not an academic degree) from the Ministry ofEducation, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and whosework experiences come from being hired by commercial vendors.Contract librarians are considered to be suitably qualified to work inacademic libraries because of their expertise in the field, but they arenot employees of the universities.

In Japan librarianship is neither regarded as a profession nor doesit require an academic degree. Academic institutions commonlyassign library staff from a pool of lower-level university adminis-trators.3 As a result, library administrators, although they typicallylack expertise in information science, are given decision makingauthority. For purposes of clarity, these university employees will bereferred to as “library administrators” throughout this paper. Thisarticle: (1) analyzes the long-term effects on professional librarian-

Nobue Matsuoka-Motley is Music/Performing Arts Librarian,American University Library, Washington, DC, USA<nobue@american.edu>.

a Unless otherwise noted, all translations are by the author of thispaper.

The Journal of Academic Librarianship, Volume 37, Number 3, pages

273–2

ship and academic libraries since outsourcing became predominant,(2) explores the factors that contribute to the growth of outsourcing,(3) discusses the benefits and potential problems, and (4) suggestssome means of improvement for academic libraries in Japan.

A HISTORY OF OUTSOURCING

Outsourcing describes a company's purchase of products or servicesfrom an outside supplier rather than having the samework performedby its own employees. The growth in outsourcing in the United Statesin recent years is partly the result of a general shift in businessphilosophy. Prior to themid-1980smany companies sought to acquireother companies and diversify their business interests in order toreduce risk. As more companies discovered that there were limitedadvantages to running a large group of unrelated businesses, manybegan to divest subsidiaries and refocus their efforts on essential areasof business by identifying or developing a “core competence,” aunique combination of experience and expertise that would provide asource of competitive advantage in a given industry. All aspects of thecompany's operations were aligned with the core competence, andany activities or functions that were not considered necessary topreserve it were then outsourced. The reasons for outsourcing at thattime varied. It may have been instituted to achieve cost savings byreducing staff salaries and benefits, or to take advantage of externalexpertise that the company could not efficiently provide. Companiesalso outsourced in order to reduce the workload on their employeesand to provide more development opportunities for their employeesby freeing them from tedious tasks.4

In the early 1990s, following an economic downturn, Japanesecompanies started restructuring in order to make an immediateimprovement of management effectiveness by laying off theiremployees. At the same time, restructuring began to replacetraditional Japanese-style management (that almost guaranteedlifetime employment) with a U.S. business model of hiring peoplewith necessary skills for contracted periods.18,a Following a period ofreform intended to improve the quality of Japanese education in theearly 2000s, universities increasingly started adding staff in the areasof public relations, admissions and fundraising to get more students asthey sought to become more competitive. The library, whichgenerates very little income, was considered almost non-essential tothe university, and many library administrator positions wereeliminated. As a result, outsourcing library services became common-place in universities.13 In Japan, the word “outsourcing” is usually freeof the negative connotation it carries in the U.S. It usually impliesexpertise or specialism. The Japanese dictionary, Basic Knowledge ofContemporary Terms, indicates that it has a rather positive implication.

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Outsourcing enables cost reduction and enhancement of internal resources byincorporating new skills and resources not available internally. Outsourcing isnot an alternative employment, but it is a system which provides accumulatedexpertise and management practice that have the capacity to supply highlyintelligent knowledge base services (KPO Knowledge Process Outsourcing)…As a common tendency, the notion of traditional outsourcing is changing to amore collaborative form of outsourcing.5

In the case of librarianship, outsourcing initially became essentialbecause of a lack of funding; however, the notion of using experts toget maximum benefits from smaller budgets has become thestandard model of managing libraries in Japan.6,18 As Hiraoka6

emphasizes, it is important to focus on what is gained rather thanwhat is lost in terms of outsourcing. For instance, contract librariansare typically more experienced and better trained in library practices,and so are better suited to library operations than universityadministrators. Broadly, the purpose of outsourcing is shifting fromcost-saving to improving business efficiency. Outsourcing companiesare becoming strategic business partners rather than just beingexternal contractors.

Services Available for HireThis style of outsourcing is not the same as that which became

popular in the 1980s in Japan, which was hiring contract or short-termworkers from temp agencies. It is more common now to contractout entire on-site service desk operations based upon an operationalagreement with commercial vendors.19 These services are offered bymajor book vendors such as Maruzen Co. Ltd. and Kinokuniya Co. Ltd.7

which employ a number of contract librarians. The services thatMaruzen offer include selecting, ordering and receiving books,managing e-journals and databases, cataloging, creating digitalcontent, generating acquisition data, IT services and temporarystorage, as well as supplying certified librarians to the various servicedesks. According to Maruzen's website:

To satisfy the various needs of library services, we offer the best operationalsupport to meet customers' needs. We strive to enhance service quality, userguidance and education, oversight of various operations and library staff training inorder to achieve high efficiency in operation. Our services meet the diverse needsof the library including management of the after-hours operation.28

As of April 2009, Maruzen employs 1060 staff members who areserving in 83 university libraries, 27 public libraries and 7 speciallibraries.20

Kinokuniya offers total coordination of the education and researchenvironment including management of libraries, designing andinstallation of turnkey systems for audio visual labs, buildinginformation network systems, and assisting in the process of physicalexpansion of educational institutions. For libraries they provide notonly acquisition of office and classroom furniture, supplies, fixtures,and audiovisual equipment, but also the implementation of RFID,digital archives and digital repository systems, in addition to theprovision of contract librarians.8

In 1995, Ritsumeikan University, a multi-campus institution inKyoto serving 30,000 undergraduates, and 1,300 graduates,9 out-sourced their library reception desk. After the initial implementation,they gradually increased outsourcing to their circulation desk,periodical binding/processing, stack maintenance and interlibraryloan service. Since 2001 receiving, cataloging, processing andreference operations have also been outsourced. In conjunction withthe reorganization of the library this policy was extended to otherunits. Below are the outsourced areas by unit.3

Ritsumeikan University LibraryOutsourced Areas by Units

1) Reading Room: holiday and after-hours operations, ILL, stackmaintenance

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2) Monograph Unit: cataloging, data entry for ordering⁎, receiving,processing

3) Periodical Unit: cataloging, receiving, processing, delivery (toother units), binding

4) Reference Unit: all reference services (since 2001)

5) Systems Unit: computer maintenance, homepage maintenance

6) Miscellaneous: paying bills, maintenance of supplies, preparation formeetings

(⁎Underlined tasks have been outsourced since 2005)

In 2008, 72% of academic libraries implemented at least a partialoutsourcing system and 3.2% implemented comprehensive outsourcingthat contracts out all library operations to private vendors.21 NihonFukushi University located on the south side of Tokyo is a representativeexample of partial outsourcing. Nihon Fukushi University is a medium-sized institution whose programs emphasize health science and socialwelfare, serving 12,000 undergraduates and 300 graduate students.10

Their library is staffed by four library administrators and 38 contractlibrarians. The library administrators are responsible for managerialduties, including university-wide projects, strategic planning, selectingand weeding collections, supervising daily operations, external business,advanced user education, and new projects. The contract librarians areresponsible for all other operations including introductory-level usereducation and reference services.22

Unlike Nihon Fukushi University, there are no library adminis-trators onsite at Edogawa University, a small undergraduate institu-tion located in the Greater Tokyo Area serving 2,000 students. Inresponse to indicators suggesting a decline in service quality (lowerbuilding use and item circulation falling despite a rising studentpopulation), comprehensive outsourcing was implemented. Theformer staff structure comprised university library staff, templibrarians, and part-time staff who did not have library certificationor expertise. Outsourcing made it possible for the whole staff to beknowledgeable contract employees with library certification. Anotherbenefit of outsourcing was that continuing education was expected ofthe contract employees. This ongoing improvement of skills andknowledge was funded by the outsourcing vendor and it exceededanything previously provided by the University for its temporary andpart-time staff. The ongoing training of the contract librarians resultedin raising quality standards uniformly.6

At Edogawa University library operations executed by contractlibrarians are performed according to procedure manuals. Thesemanuals are created and maintained by contract librarians. Theyaddress routine operational work such as circulation procedures,cataloging, emergency response, and disaster recovery. Any changesmade to the manuals must be approved by the Library andInformation Center managers at the end of the year. The manualsare the property of the University and are used to ensure continuityshould they decide to change their outsourcing provider.6

Purpose of OutsourcingBesides covering staff shortages on leaner budgets, several

common reasons for outsourcing stand out. First, outsourcing thosedaily operations which directly influence the quality and efficiency ofservice is a way to stabilize the level of service quality. Most contractlibrarians are certified and are therefore expected to possess theexperience, skills and expertise the library administrators may nothave. Having knowledgeable contract librarians available on site tohandle various library tasks provides a higher degree of reliability.

The lack of expertise among the library administrators is explainedby the hiring process.

Table 1Overview of Library Services in Nihon Fukushi

University

Service 1996 2003

Days open 262 274

Days openduring holidays

8 14

Library hours 9:20–21:20 9:20–22:00

Delivery of books(within campus)

10817 31948

ILL article borrowing 131 2296

ILL article lending 478 2747

Mailing books service not offered 311

Mailing articles service not offered 487

New services article delivery, reference,outreach, events,mailing service

b No credit hours are specified in this article.

To be employed as a library staff member by an academicinstitution, individuals must apply for general administrative staffjob openings. In contrast to common practice in the West, it iscommon for universities to employ a pool of lower-level administra-tive staff without job specifications. Once they are recruited the newhires may be assigned to individual units which suit their back-grounds. In other words, if a new hire happens to possess librarycertification, this person may be assigned to work in the universitylibrary (but may not be). However, even if such a person is assigned towork in the library, it is likely the individual will be transferred toanother unit after about 5 years.3 Unlike library administrators,contract librarians are immune to unexpected transfers to other units.This creates the ironical situation in which staff from the outsourcingcompanies aremore likely to develop expertise in their chosen careersthan staff working for a university. For libraries to ensure consistenthigh-quality service, they choose to rely upon contract librariansrather than staff appointed by the university.

The data in Table 1 show improvement of library services in NihonFukushi University after comprehensive outsourcing was implemen-ted in 2002. The number of the university employees was reducedfrom 11 to 4 although the total number of library staff increased to 43from 38. As a result of their staffing overhaul, they saved 20% in thebudget for human resources while achieving considerable success inimproving library services.22

The hiring process currently used by most universities does nottreat librarianship as a specialized profession. Low- to mid-levelgeneral university administrators, including library administrators,are expected to develop managerial skills by familiarizing themselveswith the university's organizational structures. In the case ofRitsumeikan University, the staff gain knowledge of the universityoperations mainly through business meetings but also throughparticipation in university-wide events.3 University staff are requiredto exhibit broad but extensive knowledge, expertise andmanagementcapacity.23 Therefore, it is not necessary for library administrators tohave library certification. It is possible for any staff member withvision and insight to shape the mission of the university and tobecome capable of managing the library strategically.6 The libraryadministrators perform various library duties when they are assignedto work within the library, however, it is believed that relieving themfrom daily library tasks as much as possible clarifies their primaryresponsibilities and enables them to become more effective admin-

istrative assistants for the university as a whole. Staff fromoutsourcing companies are under no such obligations.

Flexibility is another benefit of outsourcing. Because of frequentuniversity reorganizations, it is important for the library to be flexibleand accommodate any changes in the economic climate. If more orfewer personnel are needed to adapt to such reorganization, it iscomparatively easy to make arrangements with vendors rather thanhiring or terminating university employees.23

Finally, outsourcing streamlines the hiring process. Universitylibraries do not have to invest resources in candidate searches. Theymay simply specify to a vendor their personnel requirements by skillset, experience level and specialization. In Japan, employers may evenspecify a preferred age range for their new hires, a practice illegal inthe United States. Kenji Hiraoka,6 who was involved in implementingthe outsourcing of entire library operations, defended this discrim-inatory hiring process:

“We requested the vendor to supply mostly librarians in their 30s with officework experience in addition to the inexperienced librarians in their 20s. Weasked the vendor not to supply any librarians in their 40s based on ourconcerns about operational efficiency in an advanced information technologyenvironment. Having some inexperienced librarians in their 20s mixed withthe experienced librarians saves the overall cost, and also we benefit from theexperienced librarians training the younger librarians who are eager to learn.As a result, we see an increase in their motivation and professional growth.”

Employment OpportunitiesA significant problem for individuals entering the field of

librarianship in Japan is that there is an overabundance of individualswith library certification. Although about 10,000 people are awardedlibrary certification annually, less than 5% gain employment inlibraries.24 There are several reasons contributing to this surplus.While librarians in the U.S. possess Masters degrees in Library Science(MLS) or Library and Information Science (MLIS), the standardqualification for librarians in Japan is a much more easily obtainedcertificate issued by the Ministry of Education Culture, Sports, Scienceand Technology (MEXT). The certification is not an academic degree,and is not comparable with MLS or MLIS degrees. Officially it is aqualification designated for public librarians, however in practice it isaccepted for employment in all branches of librarianship.25

Universities that offer training courses for librarians must complywith the requirements of the Minister of Education, Science, Sportsand Culture. The following is a summary of qualifications for librariansbased on Library Law Articles 5 and 6 and the 1996 Amendmentestablishing minimum credit hours:11

• Completion of a university or technical college training program ofa minimum of 20 credit hours

• Graduation from a university with studies in library scienceb

• Experience as an assistant librarian for more than 3 years

The training program is offered between July and Septemberand lasts approximately 2 months.12 This relatively easy to obtainlibrary certificate not only creates an over-population of qualifiedlibrary workers but also limits the prospective librarian's opportunityto gain sufficient knowledge of the field to become a competentpractitioner.

As there is no formal educational system or certificationdesignated for academic librarianship,26 most Japanese universitiesdo not recognize librarianship as a specialized career. As stated earlier,library administrators are hired as general university administrators,with the benefit that opportunities to work in multiple units willenable the individual to have a well-rounded background to visualize

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the holistic picture of university administration.6 As long asuniversities do not recognize librarianship as a profession requiringspecialization the library administrators remain vulnerable to transferto other administrative units, and it is probable they will not be giventhe opportunity to acquire expertise in librarianship. For thesereasons, library outsourcing firms are becoming the first career choiceof individuals who sincerely want to pursue academic librarianship,for they are more likely to remain in library work and have theopportunity to develop expertise.

Current and Future IssuesAlthough the majority of academic libraries in Japan take

advantage of outsourcing, there are significant challenges associatedwith it. As Ushizaki points out, the following are some of the adverseeffects on three different constituencies.13

1) University Libraries

• Loss of knowledge/skills for the outsourced work areas

• Loss of on-the-job training for university staff

• Poor information sharing

• Difficulty of dividing tasks among contract librarians from severaldifferent vendors

• Increasing number of contract librarians who do not exhibit anysense of belonging to the university

2) Vendors

• Increasing number of competitors

• Increasing number of purchase orders in which decisions aremadestrictly based on costs of books

• Low profitability

• Difficulty recruiting personnel

• Difficulty retaining staff without offering guaranteed contractrenewals

3) Contract Librarians

• Unable to advance their careers

• Low wages

• Irregular working patterns

• Uncertainty about the future

• Sense of division between contract librarians and libraryadministrators

Among the issues already mentioned, poor information sharingand communication probably have the most impact on daily libraryoperations. Contract librarians may not have access to the sameinformation that the library administrators have. For example, thecontract librarians may not have access to the budgetary or certainbusiness transaction information of the divisions for which they areresponsible. Additionally, the contract librarians are often subject to acumbersome reporting system. The university library has delegatedthe authority to give administrative orders to the outsourcingproviders. Operational duties and managerial standards are conveyedto the vendor by way of written manuals and procedures by whichcontract librarians must abide.27

276 The Journal of Academic Librarianship

Another significant issue is the challenge of building cooperativepartnerships between institutions. There are several library consortiain the Tokyo area, but they encounter difficulties in expandingmembership due to a high rate of turnover on consortium planningcommittees.13 The growing dependence on contract workers leavesfew library administrators available to participate in strategicplanning. It is also not uncommon for committee members to betransferred to other units of their universities within the planningcycle. Sometimes even contract librarians are assigned to serve onplanning committees, despite having little awareness of the strategicgoals of their institutions. This loss of an identifiable “face” of auniversity hampers the building of stable business relationships withother institutions.

Discussion of Possible SolutionsThere are no easy solutions to the problems caused by the

outsourcing system in Japanese libraries. There are, however, threeareas of focus which could bring future improvement. First, high-leveluniversity administrators must recognize librarianship as a professionin order to create a more supportive environment for research,teaching and learning, and show their commitment by hiring qualifiedlibrarians for their library administrator positions. Since the advent ofthe Internet and ready availability of rich and diverse electronicresources, the importance of information literacy should not beignored by institutions trying to achieve high educational standards.Although library user education can be provided by outsourcingcompanies, having experienced librarians to cultivate relationshipswith teaching faculty and students makes it possible to offer a higherquality of service and ensure effective collection development tosupport university curricula. The institutions also need to assess theeffectiveness of routine staff rotation. The question of whether thismanagement policy is a benefit to either the transferred individuals orthe university as a whole needs to be asked.

To be competitive in the international market, Japanese academiclibraries need strong leadership. A dean of libraries ought to beexperienced and knowledgeable in the field of librarianship. Becauseof the National School Establishment Act, national universities musthave a teaching faculty assigned to be the dean of the library.14 It is alsocommon for private universities to follow this practice. While theposition is often treated as an honorary one, the dean is responsible forsupervising library administrators and overall management of theunit, and also has ultimate decision-making authority for the library.Assigning this position to a rotating series of teaching faculty seems todismiss the library as inessential to the teaching and researchmissionsof the institution. While facing difficult situations such as budget cutsand organizational restructuring, the unit leader must be capable ofstrategic planning that is informed by an understanding of theuniversity's mission and strengths coupled with best practices inlibrary services and knowledge of information technologies. The lackof leadership in academic librarianship throughout Japan is troubling.The majority of the most experienced and best trained academiclibrarians are employed by commercial vendors and career advance-ment in the field of contract librarianship is limited. In order for futureleaders to emerge, a suitable environment for them to advanceprofessionally must exist.

Another area needing attention is the educational system forlibrarianship. Programs such as summer training courses provided byuniversities and colleges are designed according to the Library Law of1950. The law was passed to foster the growth of public libraries andmakes no mention of academic institutions.15 Therefore, it isquestionable whether students gain sufficient knowledge to workeffectively in academic libraries. Although its curriculum has beenrevised several times by MEXT, there has been no basic structuralchange since the Library Law was enacted. The programs must befrequently updated to meet contemporary needs of library and

information service operations in an online environment, anddesigned for future librarians to become competent in working forall types of libraries. In a promising development, the Japan Society ofLibrary and Information Science conducted a large-scale researchproject called LIPER (Library and Information Professions andEducational Renewal) between 2003 and 2005 on the Library andInformation Science (LIS) programs, both in Japan and abroad, inorder to assess the need for a possible reform of the Japanese LISeducation system in the future.25 Based upon their research findings,they proposed a new standard curriculum to emphasize core areas ofinformation organization, information resources and services, infor-mation systems and retrieval, management and IT, and a betterunderstanding of user behavior.16

CONCLUSION

The wide use of outsourcing has been beneficial to many libraryoperations in Japanese academic libraries. Findings from a comprehen-sive survey conducted in 2007 confirm library outsourcing is expandingnot only into areas which define institutional identity but also librarymanagement.17 Contract librarians provide the library with manyadvantages such as expertise, quality of services and flexibility and arefiscally advantageous to the libraries. However, the long-term effect onthe profession of librarianship raises concerns. Limited budgets, acumbersome management system, legacy organizational structures,narrow employment opportunity, lack of strong leadership andinadequate LIS education programs all combine to make the future ofthe profession vulnerable. Since library outsourcing has becomewidespread, the majority of certified librarians who desire to becomeacademic librarians are compelled to look for job vacancies amongcommercial vendors. The current library outsourcing environment isbuilding the foundation of a system in which librarians find it almostimpossible to further their careers in Japan. Universities may prefer notto commit to investments in librarianship, but the ever-expandingimplementation of outsourcing service is a short-sighted solution.

NOTES AND REFERENCES

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3. Ishii, Nahoko, “RitsumeikanDaigaku Ni OkeruAutosōshingu NoDounyū” Jyōhō no kagaku to gijyutsu, no. 7 (2007).

4.Maurer, John G. Encyclopedia of Business. Detroit, MI: GaleResearch, 1995.

5. “Autosōshingu”. In Gendaiyōgo no kisochishiki 276. Tōkyō: JiyūKo-kuminsha, 2008.

6. Hiraoka, Kenji, “Edogawa Daigaku No ToshokanZenmenGyōmui-takuKono1nen” Daigakutosyokankenkyū 75, no. 12 (2005).

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16.Miwa, Makiko, et al. “Final Results of the Liper Project in Japan.”IFLA (2006), http://archive.ifla.org/IV/ifla72/papers/107-Miwa-en.pdf (accessed October 12, 2010).

17. Sato, Sho and Hiroshi Itsumura, “A Survey of Outsourcing inAcademic Libraries in Japan.” Library and Information Science 60(2008): 1–27.

18. Iizawa, Fumio, “Meiji DaigakuToshokan Ni OkeruAutosōshingu.”Jyōhō no kagaku to gijyutsu 57, no. 7 (2007).

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20.Maruzen Co. Ltd. “Library Solution: Library Management Out-sourcing Services.” http://www.maruzen.co.jp/business/edu/solution_library.html (accessed September 23, 2010).

21.Ministry of Internal Affairs. Statistics Bureau. National StatisticsCenter. “Outsourcing Library Operations.” http://www.e-stat.go.jp/SG1/estat/eStatTopPortalE.do (accessed October 23, 2010).

22. Okazaki, Keiko “Nihon FukushiDaigakuFuzokuTosyokan NiOkeruAutosōshingu No GenjyōniTsuite” In Tōkaichikudaigaku-toshokankyōgikaikenkyūkajireihoukoku 2005.

23. Tanaka, Yasuo “Autosōshingu O KatsuyōshitaDaigakutoshokanUnei.”In Tōkaichikudaigakutoshokankyōgikaikenkyūkajireihoukoku 2005.

24. Koizumi, Toru, et al., “Librarianship in Japan.” In Encyclopedia ofLibrary and Information Science. New York: Dekker, 2003.

25. Cullen, Rowena and Haruki Nagata, “Academic Libraries in Japan.”The Journal of Academic Librarianship 34, no. 2 (2008): 163–167.

26. Tsuji, Keita, et al., “Library and Information Science Education inJapan: Results of a 2005 Survey of Shisho Certification.” Journal ofEducation for Library and Information Science 47, no. 3 (2006):238–255.

27. Tsukimoto, Masayuki, “ChūshōkigyōDaigakuToshokan Ni Okeru-Hakensutaffu No Katsuyō” Jyōhō no kagaku to gijyutsu 57, no. 7(2007).

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