rethinking our jobs: toward a new kind of academic library
DESCRIPTION
Invited presentation for Library Staff Day at Duquesne University, 3 January 2012. Makes a case for change in academic libraries; recommends changes and a process for enabling change. Cites a 2011 Education Advisory Board report and other evidence to support new strategies and new types of jobs for librarians and staff.TRANSCRIPT
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 1
Rethinking Our Jobs
Karen Calhoun
Prepared for Library Staff Day
Duquesne University
January 3, 2012
Overview
The traditional service model for
academic libraries is broken
Change is necessary if the library is to
continue to be relevant and funded
Changes that have been successful at
other academic libraries
A process for enabling change in library
services and jobs
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 2
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 3
http://www.educationadvisoryboard.com/pdf/23634-EAB-
Redefining-the-Academic-Library.pdf
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 4
The Well “They come and go and draw
from the well”
•The Library as a center
of collections
•The Library as a center
of experts and tools to
guide users to
appropriate resources
The Way We Worked
Books
Journals
Newspapers
Gov docs
Maps
Scores
AV
Dissertations
Special
collections
Manuscripts
Papers
Univ records
Journal
articles
Conference
proceedings
Etc.
Library catalogs
Special Coll/Archives
Abstracting &
Indexing services
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 5
The Way We Worked
Books
Journals
Newspapers
Gov docs
Maps
Scores
AV
Dissertations
Special
collections
Manuscripts
Papers
Univ records
Journal
articles
Conference
proceedings
Etc.
Library catalogs
Special Coll/Archives
Abstracting &
Indexing services
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 6
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 7
Where Do You Begin a Search for
Information on a Topic? (2005)
Starting an Information Search
89
2
0
20
40
60
80
100
Search engine Library Web site
Where Search Begins
Pe
rce
nt
College Students’ Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources: a Report
to the OCLC Membership: http://www.oclc.org/reports/perceptionscollege.htm
Where does search begin? (2009-)
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 8
Slide from EAB report p. 11
Print Collections Rarely Used
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 9
EAB Report p. 49
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 10
The Catalog in Context
•Online catalogs
represent one node in
the student’s and
scholar’s information
universe
•As information
systems, catalogs are
hard to use http://www.loc.gov/catdir/calhoun-report-final.pdf
Calhoun, Karen. 2006. The changing nature of the catalog and its
integration with other discovery tools.
An Eroding Role for Library-Created Metadata:
2003-2009
Schonfeld, Roger C., and Ross Housewright. 2010. Faculty survey 2009 :key strategic insights
for libraries, publishers, and societies. [United States]: Ithaka S + R, p. 5
Available: http://www.ithaka.org/ithaka-s-r/research/faculty-surveys-2000-2009/faculty-survey-2009
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 11
Median Circulation and Reference Transactions in ARL
Libraries 1991-2008, With Five Year Forecast
0
50000
100000
150000
200000
250000
300000
350000
400000
Circulation
Reference Transactions
Linear (Circulation)
Linear (Reference Transactions)
Data source: ARL Statistics 2007-2008
http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/arlstat08.pdf
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 12
Circulation and reference trends at
Duquesne
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 13
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 14
What Did Users Say They Want? (2002)
•Faculty and students do more work
and study away from campus
•Loyal to the library, but library is
only one element in complex
information structure
•Print still important, but almost
half of undergraduates say they rely
exclusively or almost exclusively on
electronic materials
•Seamless linking from one
information object to another is
expected
•Fast forward to 2012: these
trends many times stronger!
Do you use electronic sources all of the time,
most of the time, some of the time, or none of the
time?
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
All of the
time/most of
the time
Some of the
time
None of the
time
Responses
Perc
en
t
Faculty/Graduate
Undergrad
http://www.clir.org/PUBS/reports/pub110/contents.html
Expenditure on E-Resources: 2008
ARL Average
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 15
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 16
Networked E-Resources at Cornell (2005)
About 10% of the collection
36% of the materials budget (2005)
About 50% of the use
Size and Usage of Physical and E-Resources at
Duquesne (2007-2011)
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 17
Circulation
of Materials 84,945 83,077 81,154 77,544 73,265
Volumes 710,571 700,245 715,518 721,569 728,587
E-Journal
Titles 30,525 30,980 31,060 77,747 87,441
E-Articles
Accessed 1,049,728 1,287,560 2,109,457 4,853,275 4,164,211
Some recent news items: Higher education
funding declines are long-term issues
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 18
The Washington Post, December 22, 2011.
Guest post: 8 thoughts on higher education in 2012:
“Many of our current challenges are long-term and will,
if anything, become more serious”—
• Funding cuts
• Practical cap on tuition hikes
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 17, 2011.
“Duquesne University has offered voluntary buyouts to
nearly a fifth of its faculty and staff in the face of expected
revenue declines from decreasing enrollment.”
There is ample reason to expect HE funding shortfalls
to affect library budgets unfavorably.
Change is necessary
Less money to support the library
Search starts elsewhere; many substitutes for
what the library offers
Of what does get used:
Seemingly unquenchable demand for e-resources
Physical collections rarely used
Use of traditional collection-based services in
decline (the catalog, reference services)
Traditional academic library service model is
less relevant every day and has a dim future
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 19
Meanwhile …
People are still doing the jobs called for
by the traditional service model
The service model needs to change
The jobs need to change
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 20
At the Crossroads
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 21
Alice:
'Would you tell me,
please, which way I
ought to go from
here?‘
'That depends a
good deal on where
you want to get to,'
said the Cat.
Illustration: John Tenniel, Alice in Wonderland. Public domain.
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 22
Net Geners and Library Services: A
Disconnect They like
Multimedia
environments
Figuring things out for
themselves
Working in groups
Multitasking
Learning directly
related to courses
We offer
Text-based
environments
Systems that require
prior understanding (or
librarian help)
Services for individual
use
Focus, logical
sequence
Catalogs, databases,
subject guides and
pathfinders
Joan Lippincott, Coalition for Networked Information. In Educating the Net Generation
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 23
Michael Habib’s Library 2.0
“Academic Library 2.0 Concept Model,” p. 35.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/habibmi/318027173/in/set-72157594247454511
A multidimensional framework for academic support: a final report submitted to the
Mellon Foundation from the University of Minnesota Libraries, June 2006, p. 47.
http://www.lib.umn.edu/about/mellon/docs.phtml
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 24
Everywhere, the library: Reaching out with
its people AND its data
Gumberg Library
Photo: Public domain
Library as Place Place as Library
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 25
Exposing Your Collections Where Your Users
Live and Work on the Web
Find in a library
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 26
Linking systems together to increase
discoverability and use
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 27
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 28
A New Kind of Library
Build a vision of a new kind of library
Be more involved with research and learning materials and systems
Be more engaged with
campus communities
Make library collections and librarians more visible
Move to next generation systems and services
Embedding the library in the
knowledge community
Changes that have been successful
elsewhere
Library space redesign
Liaison librarian model (the “embedded
librarian”)
Streamlining operations
Combining public service points
Technical services workflow redesign
Collaboration and partnerships
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 29
Library Space Redesign
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 30
EAB report p. 48
“Box of books” to “learning commons”
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 31
EAB report p. 63
Liaison librarian model
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 32
EAB report p. 66
Position Description Framework
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 33
http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/rli-265-williams.pdf
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 34
EAB report p. 71
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 35
EAB report p. 75
Streamlining operations
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 36
EAB report p. 67
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 37
Some Technical Services Workflow
Redesign Principles
Look at the whole process (e.g., selection to ordering to receipt to cataloging to shelf-ready)
To the greatest extent possible, handle items and records only once
Capture bibliographic data as far upstream as possible (at point of selection/ordering if you can)
Perform work where it makes the most sense
Maximize acquisitions/cataloging collaboration
Maximize use of support staff and students
Wholly manual processes do not scale; integrate automated and manual operations
Collaboration and Consolidating
Systems
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 38
Orbis Cascade: 37 academic libraries in
Oregon, Washington and Idaho
Strategies:
• Combined collections
• Shared library system, shared discovery
system
• Cooperative collection development
• Collaborative technical services
• Combined digital archives
• Shared expertise
• Professional development
Cooperatively Managing Print Collections
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 39
EAB report p. 59
A Process for Enabling Change
Inclusive planning process
Design team
Environmental scan
Stakeholder analysis
Recommendations
Review; build support
Implement
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 40
What is a design team and what do
they do?
• A group of people responsible for translating a vision into operational (actionable) terms
• They articulate a clear picture of a desired future state – what it is really going to look like – by providing a blueprint for the organization
• Members are selected for their expertise, ability to influence and work with others, knowledge of the organization and its processes
• Concerned with (1) getting from ideas to actual, specific activities and (2) questions like:
• What new services should be delivered?
• What will changed processes look like?
• What will our new organizational structures look like?
• How will technology be used?
• What roles or responsibilities with people have?
• How will people relate to the communities that we serve?
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 41
A process for developing strategic
recommendations
1. Review your long range plan, vision, mission
2. Consider: What are the most important problems to be solved or barriers to be removed at your library?
3. Conduct environmental scan – what are your peers doing? What is the current professional thinking? What are best practices?
4. Review any local constraints or ‘givens’
5. Conduct a stakeholder analysis
6. Conduct something like a “Future Search” conference
7. Define an ideal future state by asking (for example): What new or changed services need to be provided?
What should renovated spaces look like?
What will new or changed organizational structures look like?
What types of key roles or responsibilities will people have?
How will people relate to the communities that the library serves?
What new or changed technologies will be used?
8. Re-evaluate constraints, givens, stakeholder analysis
9. Recommend strategic actions for making progress toward the ideal future state in operational, executable terms
Throughout the process: COMMUNICATE COMMUNICATE COMMUNICATE
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 42
To get started, consider a possible
scenario, for example:
What would you do if the library was
asked to reduce staffing levels by 20% in
two years?
In four years?
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 43
January 2012 Duquesne Gumberg Library 44
Thank You!
Karen Calhoun
AUL Organizational Development and
Strategic Initiatives
ULS, University of Pittsburgh