Every Step You Change: A Process of Change and Ongoing Management

ABSTRACT

Established services have the benefit of experienced and knowledgeable staff, confirmed money streams, designated space and resources, and recognized links to users and stakeholders. So when change needs to happen, it requires a great deal of patience, skill, and an unwavering belief in a better future. After more than 30 years operating in a large academic institution, a distance education (DE) library service needed change. Services needed to be added, resources needed to be improved, and overall processes needed to be streamlined and upgraded. This article will reveal the dramatic changes that occurred over the span of 6 months to change this service from an office literally drowning in paper with a “this-is-the-way-we've-always-done-things” orientation to a new paperless service with a Web-based request, monitoring, and statistical tracking system. Screen shots demonstrate how staff track requests and keep separate records for library and distance education departmental reporting purposes.     

Public Libraries by Design: Embracing Change at Low Cost

ABSTRACT. Creating new public programming that showcases new technology is an idea that has great appeal for most public libraries. This article summarizes ideas that emerged from a library planning charrette that was hosted by the Louisville Free Public Library, with the M.I.T. Design Laboratory facilitating. The article also suggests ways in which innovation and experimentation can be implemented at low cost within the bounds of an existing public library infrastructure. The use of open source Internet content resources is recommended as a source of inspiration.     

Implementing Cost Effective Electronic Course Reserves in an Academic Library

ABSTRACT

This paper describes how one academic library implemented electronic course reserves while keeping costs to a minimum. The system was implemented using a web page to provide links to electronic files in PDF format mounted on a Unix web server. Copyright restrictions and user access are issues that need to be addressed by any library considering e-reserves. In the face of positive faculty and student reaction to this new library service, one challenge that remains is raising public awareness so that more members of our university community may take advantage of this technology.     

E-Mail Reference: Improving Service by Working Cooperatively

SUMMARY

E-mail reference service provides complex challenges, but the service can be planned effectively and improved through cooperative work among reference staff and various library departments. Staff members from the Michigan State University Libraries have engaged in extensive cooperative work to evaluate, improve, and maintain effective e-mail reference services. Two library committees and an e-mail reference team have developed new service procedures, and have worked with other library departments to improve e-mail reference service. This article explores the collaborative work of the MSU committees, and discusses how e-mail reference has improved through cooperative work.     

Electronic Document Delivery of Journal Articles

Abstract

In 2001-02, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) Library tested and implemented secure Web ordering and delivery of journal articles, using Prospero for interlibrary loan, photocopy service, Circuit Librarian service, and document delivery between library branches. The goal was to deliver photocopied and interlibrary loan journal articles faster than campus mail, U.S. mail, or the courier service. In December 2001, eight staff began delivering articles electronically to one remote site as part of the Library Electronic Article Delivery (LEAD) pilot project. Electronic desktop delivery has since expanded to serve two branch libraries and UTHSCSA, San Antonio, and South Texas healthcare professionals. By reviewing the basis and describing the three phase pilot project, the author hopes to articulate the implementation of a new electronic service in a medical library.     

Our Experience with Two Virtual Reference Services at IUPUI University Library

Summary

Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) University Library first introduced virtual reference in May 2001 after four months of preparation. In the summer of 2002, University Library decided to reconsider the virtual reference software and provider and implemented a new service during the fall 2002 semester. A Reference Team Working Group was formed to review replacement options for the virtual reference software the library had been using for about a year. The decision to find a new virtual reference service was prompted by the connectivity and electronic resource compatibility problems experienced with the first virtual reference software the library chose. This article compares and contrasts the two virtual reference services used at IUPUI University Library and describes the two virtual reference projects. Following the article is a checklist of “Seven Questions to Ask When Choosing a Virtual Reference Service.”     

Change Management in Public Libraries: Seven Recommendations from Copenhagen Libraries

Abstract

Shifts in the media landscape and user behavior mean that changes are made rapidly today. Taking a proactive stance on changes, new solutions and service design is therefore central to libraries of the 21st century. The development pushes the need for sharing knowledge about change management in libraries. This article details the experiences of the library system of Copenhagen, Denmark as a case study for change and change management. How did the libraries effect change? What was the process for determining the necessary changes and implementing them? This article distills the experiences of Copenhagen Libraries into seven recommendations for all practitioners of change management in public libraries.     

Implementing a Library Liaison Program

Abstract

A pilot library liaison program was initiated with the College of Liberal Arts at Southern Illinois University at Carbon-dale. The goals were to facilitate communication with academic faculties, enhance collection development, and improve services. A uniform training program was implemented. Budgets were allocated, and negotiations for new moneys were held in a group setting. Following training, meetings were held with academic department chairs, library liaisons, and the library's Director of Reference Services and Collection Management to activate the program. The pilot program was assessed and then expanded to all sixty teaching departments on campus, using guidelines that had evolved during the pilot program. The centrality of the library as a service unit is affirmed in increased understanding and cooperation between librarians and teaching faculty. The program is continually monitored in an effort to keep the program flexible and responsive to changing needs.     

Connecting to Students

Abstract

Binghamton University Libraries implemented an IM reference service using the Trillian client to monitor multiple IM accounts at two distinct reference service points. This paper addresses the process and practical considerations of implementing the service including selection of the appropriate software, creation of IM accounts for each service, development of a staffing schedule, and training of reference staff. Also included is an outline of future plans for improving IM services for students and academic library users.     

Improving Reference Services Through a Library Website: Strategies for Collaborative Change

SUMMARY

Websites are virtual front doors to the university library for many distance education students and for those simply choosing to access the numerous resources available to them through the library from off-campus. A driving force behind the redesign of the library website was to provide a user-friendly, content-rich website that offers assistance at the point of need, wherever the student is located. The University of Oklahoma Libraries' Web Committee's research and development focus combined with a collaborative environment provided a positive impetus for change to the library website and improved reference services to the University community.     

Interactive Reference at a Distance: A Corporate Model for Academic Libraries

Summary

Distance education's steady evolution from correspondence courses to virtual classrooms poses a significant challenge to the delivery of library services. Success in achieving widespread electronic access to library catalogs and online databases serves only as the foundation for meeting this challenge. Full evolution to virtual library services demands the addition of dynamic and interactive electronic reference services. The Telebase Help Desk service is one model of an Internet-based interactive reference service.     

Collaborative Leadership at Ripon College

ABSTRACT

Lane Library's director left in 2002 during a time of financial uncertainty and administrative change at Ripon College. A temporary recommendation to utilize the talents of the remaining librarians to oversee the library until a new administration was in place was accepted by the librarians and the interim administration. After a great deal of research and discussion, the library implemented a permanent rotating chair model based on collaborative leadership to replace the position of Library Director.     

The Necessity of Measurement

ABSTRACT

Measurement of library systems and services is a multidimensional management task. New paradigms of library service and the context in which libraries operate have made it necessary for librarians to find new measures while at the same time keeping the old. Factors that can be measured, such as needs, inputs, quality processes, outputs, quality of service, outcomes, and impacts, are described. This bibliographic essay covers the current trends while leading readers to resources where they can learn more.     

Beyond Consultation: A New Model for Librarian's Office Hours

ABSTRACT

Given the many changes in our students and their study and research practices, libraries are finding it necessary to seek new ways to reach these students. The Undergraduate Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign created a new model to do so. Librarian's Office Hours are a hybrid of reference and instructional services that fulfill the dual purposes of meeting the needs of term paper research counseling and library workshops. This article discusses the strategies involved in the creation and implementation of this service and examines suggestions for the future of such a service.     

Calculating Present Value of Use

ABSTRACT

Inter-Library Loan (ILL) service is one of the services provided by libraries that offers users a way to access library resources beyond their affiliated libraries. Additionally, it allows participating libraries to share and maximize their resources. This work examines the ILL process used by libraries in Singapore and proposes that the existing paper-based manual system be replaced by a Web-based ILL system. Such a Web-based system has been successfully designed and implemented at the Nanyang Technological University. The paper presents an overview of the system requirements and architecture, implementation details and demonstrates the feasibility and advantages of the new system.     

Assessment of Service Desk Quality at an Academic Health Sciences Library

ABSTRACT

Due to an identified need for formal assessment, a small team of librarians designed and administered a survey to gauge the quality of customer service at their academic health sciences library. Though results did not drive major changes to services, several important improvements were implemented and a process was established to serve as a foundation for future use. This article details the assessment process used and lessons learned during the project.     

Aligning Assessment to Organizational Performance in Distance Education Service Delivery

ABSTRACT

This article seeks to provide an understanding of the issues in and possible steps of aligning the library's assessment processes to distance education service delivery. Through a review of the literature and current practices, the researcher sought to identify the need and value of aligned performance assessment processes for libraries, the primary contributing alignment factors affecting the library assessment process, and potential benefits of improved alignment of the assessment process for libraries in aligning assessment to the distance education services provided to customers. The results of the review suggest that libraries can improve the reporting and value of their assessment processes by improving the alignment of their assessment processes to distance education service delivery in 2 ways: internally through the use of consistent and innovative processes, metrics, and culture within the library and externally by embracing the alignment factors and available technologies of the library's service environment. The library must progressively elevate the alignment of the library's assessment processes from the traditional internal nonalignment of assessment to the total internally–externally integrated aligned assessment. This article concludes with a conceptual model of aligning library performance assessment to distance education service delivery for the effective reporting of library value and performance to stakeholders.     

E-Mail Reference Evaluation

Abstract

E-mail reference has been utilized as a reference tool in academic libraries since the early 1980s. Today it is one of the most common media for providing digital reference service. An important aspect of providing any service is evaluating users' satisfaction levels with that service. Users of the Ask-A-Librarian e-mail reference service at a large academic library over a ten-month period voluntarily completed a seven item web-based questionnaire. The results indicated that the majority of respondents were satisfied with Ask-A-Librarian overall. This paper discusses how the library used the survey results to improve the existing service, and to implement a new one-chat reference. Reference service providers should not only ask users for feedback on existing services, but also should include them in the planning and design phase of new services. In doing so, they demonstrate their commitment to providing adequate and appropriate services to their patron community, and ultimately can save their institutions time and expense.