One part theory (borrowed from business world), one part practice (including detailed case studies of the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Arizona), one part inspiration: Beyond Survival offers ideas about how academic libraries can not only survive in the short term, but take advantage of emergent opportunities by judiciously adopting the same organizational development tools and concepts espoused by the business world.
While there is a great deal of anecdotal evidence that significant organizational changes are taking place in academic libraries, the literature suggests that most of these changes take the form of evolutionary, or incremental improvement. But what happens when libraries find themselves in a society characterized by increased information availability compression of time and space, and growing turbulence and unpredictability?
These are conditions with which the business world has been grappling for years, conditions that require not an evolutionary approach, but nimbleness and rapid response. One part theory (borrowed from business world), one part practice (including detailed case studies of the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Arizona), one part inspiration, Beyond Survival shows you how the transition tactics and strategies developed by businesses can be adapted to academic libraries. By judiciously adopting the same organizational development tools and concepts espoused by the business world, academic libraries can not only survive in the short term, but can take advantage of emergent opportunities to ensure long-term excellence.
Author(s): Elizabeth J. Wood, Rush Miller, Amy Knapp
Publisher: Libraries Unlimited
Year: 2006
Language: English
Pages: 243
Contents......Page 8
Foreword......Page 18
Acknowledgments......Page 20
Introduction......Page 22
Change All Around Us......Page 24
Universities under Siege......Page 25
No Longer the Heart of the University......Page 26
Slow, Steady Decline......Page 27
Customer Service/User-Centeredness and New Pedagogies......Page 29
Changes in Academics......Page 30
Changes in the Communication Infrastructure......Page 31
Student Learning Outcomes Assessment......Page 32
Outsourcing of Non-Core Functions......Page 33
Public Services Restructuring......Page 34
The Role of Organizational Development in Academic Libraries......Page 35
No Passing Fad......Page 38
Precursors to Marketing......Page 40
The Product Orientation......Page 41
The Selling Orientation......Page 42
Marketing Orientation......Page 43
Product Features......Page 44
Price......Page 45
Promotion......Page 46
Place......Page 49
The Basics......Page 50
What Is Unique about Hoshin Planning?......Page 52
Balanced Scorecard......Page 53
Four Critical Balanced Scorecard Perspectives......Page 54
Components of University of Virginia’s Balanced Scorecard......Page 56
Analysis of Successes and Failures......Page 57
Benefits Accruing to the University of Virginia Library......Page 58
Senge in Context......Page 59
The Five Disciplines......Page 60
Star Model Essentials......Page 61
Elaboration of Star Model Concepts......Page 62
Necessity: The Mother of Innovation......Page 63
Managing Change Avoiders......Page 64
Teams in Tandem with Existing Structures......Page 65
Top Management’s Role......Page 67
To Team or Not to Team?......Page 69
Myth #3: Operational Expertise Should Be the Primary Criterion for Selecting Team Members......Page 70
Myth #6: The More Members, the Stronger the Team......Page 71
Myth #10: Consensus Is the Only Acceptable Decision-Making Mode for Teams......Page 72
Myth #12: All Right-Thinking People Enjoy Working Closely with Others......Page 73
Myth #16: Team-Building Exercises Carry Over to the Workplace......Page 74
What Teams Need......Page 75
Readiness for Change......Page 76
Leadership......Page 77
Are Sufficient Resources Available?......Page 78
A Moving Target......Page 79
The Case for Waves of Change......Page 80
Fitting New Strategies to an Existing Organizational Structure......Page 81
That’s Not Just Ancient History......Page 82
Testing the Options......Page 83
Assessing Outcomes......Page 84
Change Implementation: The Process Scorecard......Page 85
Recruitment and Retention......Page 86
Measuring Performance......Page 87
Two Exemplars of Organizational Change in Academic Libraries......Page 88
An Organizational Development Pioneer......Page 90
University Support......Page 92
Library Budget Allocation......Page 93
It Takes Resources......Page 91
Overload and Competing Priorities......Page 94
Unrealistic Attendance Expectations......Page 95
Acquiring New Skills and New Behaviors Takes Time......Page 96
Size......Page 97
Unclear Expectations......Page 98
Training Is a Process—Not an Event......Page 99
Three Categories of Need for Ongoing Training......Page 100
Involve Staff......Page 101
Set Attainable Goals......Page 102
Provide a Supportive Environment......Page 103
Additional Components......Page 104
Articulation of Competencies......Page 105
Cautionary Advice for Change Makers......Page 106
The University Library System in Context......Page 108
A Legacy of Problems Becomes Critical......Page 109
Mixed Attitudes about Change and Operational Priorities......Page 110
Performance Problems......Page 112
A Budgetary Black Hole......Page 113
Twenty-First Century Expectations......Page 114
Preparing for Change Initiatives within the ULS......Page 115
University of Pittsburgh’s Vision for Change......Page 116
First Steps......Page 117
The Context for Re-Engineering......Page 118
Recommendation: Consider Outsourcing or Adopting a Team- Like Structure......Page 119
Approaches to Downsizing......Page 120
The HR Consultant’s Role......Page 121
All-Staff Workshop......Page 122
Short-Term Personnel Actions......Page 123
The Management Workshop......Page 124
Formulating the Technical Services Reorganization Plan......Page 125
Implementing Technical Services Reorganization......Page 126
First Steps toward Outsourcing......Page 127
A Positive Verdict on Outsourcing......Page 128
Rebuilding Phase......Page 129
Short-Term Gains......Page 130
Long-Term Gains......Page 131
Making Change the Norm......Page 134
Organizing the Foot Soldiers......Page 135
Foundation Documents......Page 136
Planning Assumptions......Page 137
Specific Task Force Responsibilities......Page 138
The Implementation Document......Page 143
Assigning Responsibility......Page 144
Library Storage Facility......Page 145
The Digital Research Library......Page 146
Preserving Threatened Print Materials......Page 147
Adding Value through Special Collections and Partnerships......Page 148
An Invaluable Lesson......Page 149
The Second Cycle Begins: Rethinking Public Services......Page 150
The Rationale for Change......Page 151
Review and Evaluation of Local Data......Page 152
QSS: An Early Benchmark......Page 153
Council on Library and Information Resources Report......Page 154
OCLC White Paper......Page 155
LibQUAL+™ Findings......Page 156
Aggregate Ratings across All LibQUAL+™ Groups......Page 158
Responses to User Data......Page 159
Staff Input from Open Meetings......Page 160
Using Focus Groups to Gather Data......Page 161
Following Through on RPST’s Work......Page 163
Institutional Change......Page 164
Web Usability......Page 165
Wireless Access......Page 166
HelpHub......Page 167
Enhancing Physical Access......Page 168
Additional New Initiatives......Page 169
Scholarly Publishing......Page 170
Extending Diversity within Academic Libraries......Page 171
Positioned for Ongoing Change......Page 175
The “Good Old Days”......Page 176
Documenting the Effectiveness of Organizational Changes......Page 177
Portfolio Method of Evaluation......Page 178
Quality......Page 179
Centrality......Page 180
Library Use: Complex Motivations......Page 182
Fight Barriers with Benefits......Page 183
Craftinging Strategies from Portfolio Analysis Results......Page 184
Tougher Decisions......Page 185
The Biggest “Bang for Your Buck”......Page 186
Assessment and Evaluation Issues......Page 187
Better Data Gathering and Analysis......Page 188
Using Multiple Measures......Page 189
Texas A & M......Page 190
University of Arizona......Page 191
Successful Data Users......Page 192
Traditional Evaluation Methods: Focus on the Library’s Perspective......Page 194
Libraries and Social Exchange Theory......Page 195
Analysis from the User Perspective......Page 197
Not an Add-On......Page 198
Organizational Implications of CRM......Page 199
Four Stages of Coordinating Customer Relationship Information......Page 200
Evaluation versus Assessment......Page 202
Good Assessment: A Mix of Objective and Subjective Measures......Page 203
Performance Evaluation: Institutional Outcomes......Page 204
No More Free Passes......Page 205
How Do We Cope?......Page 206
Assess and Report Progress......Page 208
Reach Out......Page 209
Emphasize Recruitment and Training......Page 210
Maximize Planning Outcomes......Page 211
Darker View......Page 213
Changing Nature of the Internet......Page 215
Volatility of Academic Library Environment......Page 216
Appendix......Page 218
Reference List......Page 230
Index......Page 238
