Product Owners at Hesburgh Libraries: Increasing Stakeholder Engagement and Accountability through Continuous Organizational Enhancement

Abstract

The hierarchical decision making structure of academic libraries and consequently established cultural norms can affect the implementation of project management, hindering effective stakeholder engagement and ongoing ownership of and accountability for library products and services. The Hesburgh Libraries at the University of Notre Dame offers a strategy for navigating structural issues which emphasizes making incremental organizational changes that empower agile decision making responsive to stakeholder demands at appropriate levels. This study, a discussion of the Libraries’ experience, focuses on the implementation of one specific role designed to improve the development and maintenance of library products and services, the product owner.     

Training,Supervising, and Evaluating Student Information Assistants

Abstract

Training, supervision, and evaluation of student assistants is not a topic covered in most library school curricula; it is a skill that it is assumed one will have or acquire through on-the-job experience. This article focuses on the hiring, supervision, training, and evaluation of student information assistants in the reference/electronic resource setting. Student Information Assistants are known by many names-reference assistants, peer counselors, research assistants, and database assistants, to name a few-but within this article I will use the name Student Information Assistants (SIAs).     

Integrated Reference à la Carte: Evaluating,Selecting, and Implementing the Best Features for your Library

Integrated reference systems, such as SpringShare's LibAnswers, operate on a single, easy-to-use platform for providing virtual reference services and recording transactions. This article discusses the evidence-based decision-making carried out by librarians at Auburn University's main library and a branch library when deciding which aspects of the LibAnswers platform to incorporate at the two separate locations. Evaluating, selecting, and implementing appropriate components of LibAnswers resulted in complementary but separate systems that met the needs of both patrons and staff. This article adds to the body of literature on integrated reference systems by expanding the focus to include a branch library and its unique considerations and reasons for implementing LibAnswers.     

Planning for Diversity:

The Auraria Library, a multi-institutional urban academic library in Denver, Colorado, approached the strategic planning process with the assumption that urban academic institutions and their libraries differ from their traditional counterparts. This paper defines urbanism and examines the organization values audit and the environmental scan as crucial elements of the strategic planning process in an urban context.     

基于公共文化服务体系的地方图书馆联盟的构建和评估

探讨了公共文化服务体系中公共图书馆和高校图书馆如何通过构建图书馆联盟,更大程度地发挥自身的作用,如何对联盟进行有效评估。     

Connecting with Community: The Importance of Community Engagement in Rural Public Library Systems

While the topic of community engagement in public libraries has been researched in urban public library systems, little research explores community engagement in rural library systems. The Canadian province of Nova Scotia is largely rural and sparsely populated, with a dwindling and aging rural population. This report examines how community engagement can connect Nova Scotia’s rural public libraries with their communities. Librarians from eight predominantly rural library systems across the province were interviewed regarding the community engagement practices currently being used within their libraries and how their patrons (particularly youth) were reacting and responding to these practices. This article synthesizes the information derived from these interviews and provides a summary of the community engagement efforts being made throughout Nova Scotia. This study ultimately determines that while librarians in rural communities face a number of challenges when attempting to implement community engagement (e.g., small budgets and low staffing numbers), they remain extremely passionate about the topic and dedicated to serving their communities in the most meaningful and relevant way possible.     

Aiding Faculty Research Through Convenience in the Interlibrary Loan Department

The Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Department at Murray State University has developed convenient methods to aid faculty members in their research. Various means of communication and programs, such as Campus Delivery, Document Delivery, and “Free ILL,” have allowed faculty members to see the wide variety of research resources that are available through interlibrary loan. These methods have been used as key public relations tools to promote library resources and services, and have strengthened the relationship between faculty members and the Interlibrary Loan Department at Murray State University.