Organizing a Local History Collection in a Small Public Library

When attempted on a modest scale, local history col- lections can offer a unique component to the library's repertoire of reference services. Establishing a local history collection has both short- and long-term implications concerning library policies, space allocation, staff time, staff training, and budgets. Because of this, -. the small public library should clearly and realistically establish a collection policy which will not place an undue burden on its re- sources. Assessing community needs is a critical part of this pro- cess. Small public libraries should not attempt to duplicate or com- pete with other institutions for local material. Rather, the library should seek to fill the void in public service in cases where there is no extant collection available to the public.     

Book Selection Services

Abstract

Book selection services are just one of the resources used by law libraries for collection development purposes. They function as a new title pre-selection service, saving collection development staff hours of time sifting through thousands of new publisher offerings to access those materials which meet their specific collection needs, resulting in far more efficient use of library staff time. They also serve as a one-stop shopping center, providing materials without the hassle of dealing with individual publishers and staff. This article is based on a yearlong study comparing just two services used by the Law Library at the James E. Rogers College of Law, University of Arizona, and examines a few specific areas of concern to that institution. It is not meant to be a comprehensive review or comparison of either service.     

Reorganizing collection development and acquisitions in a medium-sized academic library

The University of Dayton Roesch Library reorganized the collection development and acquisitions departments during 1995 and 1996 in order to improve the collection and make the process of acquiring materials more responsive to the needs of students and faculty. The old organization was department-based, with teaching faculty controlling most of the materials budget. The Associate Director for Technical Services coordinated the funds and supervised acquisitions staff. Perceived imbalances in the collection, student and faculty dissatisfaction with the process, and the desire for public services librarians to have greater influence in collection decisions led to a major reorganization. The new model distributes budget authority among all librarians based on subjects rather than academic departments. It empowers librarians to make purchasing and weeding decisions within their subject areas. Book and periodical acquisitions are combined into a single support unit that reports to the Coordinator and Head of Collection Management. The new organization has streamlined acquisitions processes to make ordering simpler, and the time between ordering and receipt has been shortened. The new model shifts the emphasis from process to service.     

How to Build a High-Quality Library Collection in a Multi-Format Environment: Centralized Selection at University of Wyoming Libraries

ABSTRACT

In recent decades, the composition of academic library collections has shifted toward electronic formats, resulting in a more complicated publication landscape to be navigated by selectors. Additionally, the workload of public services librarians has become more weighted toward instruction and research support, putting more pressure on the time of liaison librarians tasked with collection development responsibilities. These shifts have prompted academic institutions, including University of Wyoming Libraries, to consider a restructuring of collection development responsibilities. This article describes the evolution and implementation of a centralized model of selection at UW Libraries.     

Collections and systems: a new organizational paradigm for collection development

Collection development and the management of access to electronic resources in large academic libraries increasingly requires close cooperation between collection development librarians, public service librarians, and systems librarians and staff. Many libraries, both public and academic, have created new positions or converted existing ones with titles such as ‘electronic resources librarian’ or ‘electronic information coordinator.’ Two years ago, the Washington State University (WSU) Libraries decided to take a different approach to managing these two vital library functions by creating the new position of Assistant Director for Collections and Systems. This paper explores the convergence of collection development and systems in a research library. It sets forth the philosophical underpinnings of that convergence, and it discusses issues encountered in the integration of the two services in the WSU Libraries. Finally, it explores strategic issues for future collection development and management from the perspective of this new organizational paradigm. [1]     

Status of Public Libraries in Rawalpindi District,Pakistan

The purpose of this study is to assess the status of public libraries located in Rawalpindi District, Pakistan, in terms of administrative setup, collection, staff, resources, and services. The article is derived from evidence obtained through a questionnaire-based survey carried out in December 2013. This survey was conducted for the preparation of “Directory of Public Library Project” a joint venture of Punjab Library Foundation and Department of Library and Information Science, University of the Punjab. The survey found eleven public libraries in the District of Rawalpindi. Only three of these have professional staff. Overall, libraries have poor and outdated book collections that are not properly classified and cataloged. Information Communication Technology infrastructure exists in libraries with some exceptions. Most of the libraries are facing constraints (e.g., low number of hours, too small in size, and too many users for size of collections) that result in inadequate services. Most of the libraries are facing similar problems, which are being faced by other public libraries of Pakistan (e.g., shortage of professional staff, lack of modern facilities, and insufficient funds). Practical recommendations are made at the end of study.     

Collection Development Resources and Procedures in Nigerian Public Libraries

By means of a mailed questionnaire, a study was undertaken to assess the collection development resources and procedures of public libraries in a developing country, Nigeria. Usable responses were received from nine of the nineteen public (state) library services in the country. The results show that Nigerian public libraries receive grossly inadequate funds, especially for acquisition of library materials. Consequently the libraries' collections are small. There is no uniform pattern of allocating staff to the acquisitions departments, which are over-staffed in relation to their workloads. It was found also that slightly differing acquisitions procedures are adopted by the various public libraries.     

Public Services Satellite Cataloging Operations and Non-Print Backlogs

Abstract

Satellite cataloging operations using public services staff trained specifically to complete non-book cataloging are almost nonexistent or are very rarely written about in traditional library literature. A search of the literature provides little or no evidence of their existence. On the surface, they would appear to take more time, effort, and budget outlay to bring up and maintain. There are real advantages as well as some disadvantages to maintaining these operations. There is a risk as public services staff have a primary responsibility to provide public and reference services and very little time to catalog as well as eep up with the changes in cataloging rules and practice. But it can work with planning, organization, and cooperation between the departments and staff involved.     

分报告三：耶鲁大学图书馆考察报告

文章从战略规划、信息服务和员工发展三个角度剖析耶鲁大学图书馆在运行管理方面的实践经验。在战略规划方面,指出耶鲁大学图书馆强调参与教学和学习、注意加强对特殊材料和特殊藏品的收藏、激发研究和学习的环境;在信息服务方面,阐述耶鲁大学图书馆重视学科化服务、开展个性化服务、注重将新技术嵌入到图书馆的信息服务、注意挖掘基于特色资源的服务;在员工发展方面,概括出耶鲁大学图书馆具有明确的在岗人员基本素质要求、合理的等级岗位聘任制度、清晰的图书馆岗位绩效考核制度以及多方位的人才引进策略。在此基础上,指出耶鲁大学图书馆的运行管理可为我国图书馆的发展带来三方面的启示：合理可行的战略规划是图书馆可持续发展的行动指南;服务至上的理念是图书馆体现自身核心价值的亮点;馆员及馆内相关工作人员的科学管理和职业发展空间的可预期是图书馆发展的重要保障。     

香港城市大学图书馆服务转型蓝图——从图书馆RFID项目开始

图书馆在信息与传播科技飞速发展的环境下,要从传统的馆员服务为主的模式转型至自助服务、网上服务、高附加价值信息服务为主的多渠道相结合的服务模式.香港城市大学图书馆从总分馆空间战略规划、电子资源配置、空间布局、组织变革、新服务开展等方面构建图书馆服务转型蓝图.RFID技术可以显著提升服务品质,是服务转型的重要内容.目前图书馆已进行了超高频RFID与高频RFID两个试验性子项目.在导入RFID过程中除技术因素外,图书馆在时间因素、空间资源、经费资源、人力资源、组织变革等方面均作了相应的配置,从而保证RFID项目获取最大的投资效益.表4.参考文献26.     

Narrowing the Gap:

The traditional library organization for over forty years has been divided into technical services and public services. The age of automation, however, is bringing these two areas much closer together, and in some large academic libraries, the technical services librarian and the public services librarian are the same person. The work done in serials acquisitions and collection development is now available online in many libraries. Several libraries also have automated serials control and cataloging capabilities. With the advent of online access to serials, reference, interlibrary loan and library instruction services have simplified the work demands for the reference librarian. This conclusion suggests that cooperation between technical services and public services is the logical solution to provide the best possible service to the library patron.     

Surviving to Thriving: Advancing the Institutional Mission

ABSTRACT

Academic research libraries can employ several approaches to advance the institutional mission. First, libraries can shift from goals focused on collections and traditional library services and instead align with their campus academic plan and an emphasis on supporting the institution's strategic initiatives. A second approach is for libraries to modify their organizational structures from being function-based on the tasks that traditional libraries performed (e.g., public services, technical services, collection development) and move instead toward organizational units that directly support their university's missions (e.g., undergraduate education; graduate and professional education; research, scholarship, and creative activity; and public engagement). The key is to have library staff engaged in work that contributes to vital institutional outcomes such as student success and faculty research productivity. Academic research libraries should also continue to work towards an assessment program that demonstrates the value of the academic research library in providing quality services that advance the institutional mission.     

Developing an Interdepartmental Training Program for E-Resources Troubleshooting

The purpose of this article is to show how analysis of historical data from reported e-resources access problems at the Georgia State University Library was employed to improve the format and quality of future access problem identification and reportage and to create training for public services staff. The goal of the training was to provide front line staff at public service points with an appropriate level of knowledge, enabling them to either resolve basic issues with patrons in real time, or to report critical information effectively to others, thereby ensuring faster and more accurate problem resolution. The authors discuss the development, delivery, and impact of this ongoing training.     

Information and Research Support Services:

Organizing reference services to use paraprofessionals as information providers can help academic libraries adapt to new technology, provide staff support for resource sharing, and assist reference librarians in developing new and enhanced roles on campus. It is a staffing alternative that can facilitate the integration and use of electronic reference resources, such as Online Catalogs, CD-ROM databases and end user searching by providing more assistance to users. Placing responsibility for teaching library clients how to use document delivery with the same staff who help users identify needed materials makes access easier for requestors, and resource sharing more readily accepted by students and faculty. And by separating Information and Research Support activities and sharing the workload between staff at different levels, reference librarians can provide an advanced level of research assistance, spend more time on support for faculty research collection development, classroom instruction, and the development and improvement of programs. Training of the paraprofessional staff and practice of the referral process are essential to the librarian-paraprofessional partnership this model requires. This article describes how paraprofessionals have been used in reference at a new academic library, and how the role of the reference librarian has been redefined as a result.     

The Evolution of Law Library Support to Law School Administrative and Staff Offices: What We are Doing and Why

SUMMARY

This article looks at what law librarians are doing to support law school administrative and staff offices. The history of academic law libraries explains why this area of public services has been slow to develop. The article then discusses the type of services currently provided, including researching alumni for the alumni development staff, developing content for law school Websites, and serving on/assisting law school committees. The article concludes with a discussion of the costs and benefits of expanding services to these offices.     

论教学型本科院校图书馆的办馆特色

根据教学型本科院校的办学特点，结合淮海工学院图书馆实际，重点从图书馆管理、文献资源布局、文献资源建设、读者服务、队伍建设等方面讨论了教学型本科院校图书馆的办馆特色问题。     

我国公共图书馆专题图书馆建设与发展简述

专题图书馆是一种依托于专题文献资源的收藏开展专题服务的图书馆。专题图书馆不同于专门图书馆,两者在组织结构、服务对象、馆藏特征和服务特征等方面存在很大差异。经济的发展激活了公共图书馆发展的潜力,公共图书馆灵活的服务方式和求变的思路又为专题图书馆的发展提供了舞台。目前我国已经有很多成功的专题图书馆建设范例,随着全民阅读事业的推进和图书馆事业的不断发展,专题图书馆将会获得更大的发展空间。     

美国加州大学伯克利分校图书馆服务转型的新动向与思考

基于笔者在美国加州大学伯克利分校图书馆的学习考察,认为该馆有应对馆藏转型发展、馆舍空间变化和组织结构调整的积极行动;重视新形势下研究型图书馆任务的重新定位;注重以绩效工资改革与人员评价体系为基础的激励机制;强调图书馆在本科生研究中的作用;突出院系联络重点与全方位嵌入服务一线。据此,对我国高校图书馆提出以下建议:强化图书馆的战略规划与发展定位,不断完善馆员激励机制,加大馆藏资源建设力度,拓展嵌入式学科服务层面,持续加强馆舍空间建设,尝试推出本科生研究项目,探索开展数据研究和分析工作。     

Applying participatory design and collaboration in digital public services for discovering and re-designing e-Government services

E-Government projects are currently service oriented, focusing on the implementation and diffusion of digital public services through one-stop points of access for citizens. E-Government strategic plans are political, directed at cost and time minimization during the execution of public services, and they do not take into account citizen needs or public administration operating procedures. Although these plans have led to the development of projects that have succeeded in cost and time savings for both citizens and public administration, surveys conducted around the world show that users evaluate digital public services and do not hesitate to return to traditional methods rather than using digital channels to transact with the public administration again; neither would they recommend the use of digital services to others. This article presents collaborative and participatory tools and methods designed to exploit the knowledge and experience of public servants in the improvement and execution of custom and non-automated public services. Collaborative tools can succeed in the development of real one-stop shops for e-Government, while on the other hand they can encourage both citizens and civil servants to participate in the e-Government era.     

A social media strategy for academic libraries

This study was carried out to analyse strategies regarding the use of social media for academic library services in Ghana. The research design was quantitative and adopted the survey approach. Questionnaires served as the main data collection instrument. The study population comprised of one hundred and ten library staff from public and private universities in Ghana. As indicated by the study results, the library staff agreed that there was a need for a well-formulated social media strategy to help academic libraries identify the most appropriate social media tools, establish contact with targeted audience, and increase engagement rates to enable an effective and efficient distribution of its resources and services. The results also indicated that the academic libraries, however, seem to neglect these strategies which could drive patrons' use of such platforms. Recommendations therefore suggest the need to implement social media plans and policies, user engagement, social media update, and dedicated staff with the requisite skills in the use of social media platforms for library services delivery.