How Libraries Make Tough Choices in Difficult Times. Purposeful Abandonment

213 Pages·2013·1.11 MB·English

by  David Stern (Auth.)

How Libraries Make Tough Choices
in Diffi cult Times
C HANDOS
I NFORMATION PR OFESSIONAL S ERIES
Series Editor: Ruth Rikowski
(Email: [email protected])
Chandos’ new series of books is aimed at the busy information professional. They have
been specially commissioned to provide the reader with an authoritative view of current
thinking. They are designed to provide easy-t o-read and (most importantly) practical
coverage of topics that are of interest to librarians and other information professionals.
If you would like a full listing of current and forthcoming titles, please visit our
website, www.chandospublishing.com , email [email protected] or telephone
[phone].
New authors: we are always pleased to receive ideas for new titles; if you would like to
write a book for Chandos, please contact Dr Glyn Jones on g [email protected]
or telephone [phone].
Bulk orders: some organisations buy a number of copies of our books. If you are
interested in doing this, we would be pleased to discuss a discount. Please email
wp@ woodheadpublishing.com or telephone [phone].
How Libraries Make

Tough Choices in
Diffi cult Times
Purposeful abandonment
D S
AVID TERN
Chandos Publishing
Hexagon House
Avenue 4
Station Lane
Witney
Oxford OX28 4BN
UK
Tel: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
www.chandospublishing.com
www.chandospublishingonline.com
Chandos Publishing is an imprint of Woodhead Publishing Limited
Woodhead Publishing Limited
80 High Street
Sawston
Cambridge CB22 3HJ
UK
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
www.woodheadpublishing.com
First published in 2013
ISBN: 978-1-84334-701-9 (print)
ISBN: 978-1-78063-367-1 (online)
© D. Stern, 2013
British Library Cataloguing- in-Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or
introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means
(electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior
written permission of the publisher. This publication may not be lent, resold, hired
out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form of binding or cover other
than that in which it is published without the prior consent of the publisher. Any
person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to
criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The publisher makes no representation, express or implies, with regard to the accuracy
of the information contained in this publication and cannot accept any legal
responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions.
The material contained in this publication constitutes general guidelines only and does
not represent to be advice on any particular matter. No reader or purchaser should act
on the basis of material contained in this publication without fi rst taking professional
advice appropriate to their particular circumstances. All screenshots in this publication
are the copyright of the website owner(s), unless indicated otherwise.
Typeset by Refi neCatch Ltd, Bungay, Suffolk
Printed in the UK and USA.
List of fi gures
3.1 Process fl owchart 58
3.2 Process fl owchart with interests overlayed 58
3.3 Gantt chart demonstrating dependencies and
time projections 67
ix
List of case studies
1 Vision versus Mission 17
2 Share and assimilate Mission/objectives in
relation to resources 20
3 Binding program plan creation 26
4 Feedback methods important for
enhancements and testimonials 31
5 E-book explorations lead to new processes
and policies 41
6 Union and administration grievances –
IBPS reductions 60
7 Creating a budget aligned to functions
rather than personnel 91
8 Understanding and meeting user expectations:
internal reports 99
9 Evidence-b ased decision making: journal
profi le modifi cation 120
10 Best practices for analytics and web interfaces 150
11 Shared governance 179
xi
Acknowledgements
There are many people who deserve recognition for the
content within this short monograph.
First, I wish to thank all those who have attempted to
mentor me. To those who have willingly and generously
given their time and their perspective I will always remain
grateful. To those who have provided unsolicited advice, I
will forever remember those concepts and the feelings they
generated in me. Those who have served as mentors through
intentionally or unwittingly demonstrating the good and the
bad, the powers and dangers, and the obvious and the subtle
aspects of management, I thank you for the lessons. It is better
to learn from the management mistakes of others whenever
possible, rather than to experience them yourself. But some
lessons must be learned through fi rst-h and experience.
Secondly, I wish to thank all those colleagues who have
suffered through my learning experiences. I offer my deepest
respects to those who have trusted me (or perhaps not) and
who have provided important feedback in many ways and
with great patience. Just as I was once helpful to others in
their development, I owe a great deal to those who I have
experimented upon. I hope my lessons were not too painful
for you. I thank my colleagues all along the way for the
support that has made this book possible. I also recognize all
those who have made this book necessary.
Special thanks must be given to my fellow Special Libraries
Association colleagues who provided a risk-f ree environment
xiii
How Libraries Make Tough Choices in Diffi cult Times
in which to discover and explore both the traditional and
newest forms of communication, collaboration, programming,
and decision- making. Your enthusiasm, patience, and
knowledge are only surpassed by your kindness and your
professionalism.
Finally, I cannot imagine completing this effort without
the support of my better half, my dear wife Susan, who has
nursed me through the failures and stood beside me (and is
more than partly responsible) for many of my successes. I
could never hope to fi nd a better partner, collaborator, and
conspirator.
xiv
About the author
David Stern is Associate Dean for Public Services at Illinois
State University.
Responsible for administering a $7 million resources
budget with oversight for the work of 23 librarians
and support staff, as a member of the Library’s senior
administrative team he plays a lead role in library- wide
planning and evaluation and in setting the Library’s strategic
directions.
David Stern was the founder and principal of
Maximize Information , a fi rm specializing in advanced
information discovery techniques, enhancing organizational
communication, collaboration and knowledge management,
and leading organizational reviews and project management
initiatives to fi nd service quality improvements. He was the
Associate University Librarian for Scholarly Resources at
Brown University, the Director of Science Libraries at Yale
University and he has also worked as a general librarian, a
medical librarian, and a science librarian in centralized and
departmental libraries. In addition, he has taught library
science graduate courses (University of Illinois and Southern
Connecticut State University) and serves as a consultant and
advisor to a number of professional societies and commercial
publishers and online services. He has degrees in Biological
Sciences (University of Connecticut), History & Philosophy
of Science (Indiana University), and Library Science (Indiana
University).
xv
How Libraries Make Tough Choices in Diffi cult Times
David served on the Board of Directors (2000–2003)
and as the Chair of the Knowledge Management Division
(2007–2008) of the Special Libraries Association, the leading
international library association of over 9,000 librarians
serving specialized populations of researchers. He is currently
the Chair of the Virtual Worlds Advisory Council.
David also served as Editor of the journal Science
and Technology Libraries from 2005–2007. His research
involves electronic retrieval and transmission of data,
focused primarily upon scholars’ workstations. He was
recently involved in the development of end- user search
systems for both local and remote hosts, including a
web- based expert systems librarian emulator and linking of
paleobotany fulltext material with related museum and
researcher databases. He is also working on the development
of standards and cost models for federated full- text search
and retrieval systems.
His publications include over a dozen journal articles,
several book chapters, two edited special issues of Science
and Technology Libraries , and the book Guide to Information
Sources in the Physical Sciences (Colorado: Libraries
Unlimited, 2000).
He has been a speaker at conferences of ALA, SLA,
AAAS, SSP, ASIS, NASIG, Online, InfoToday, Computers in
Libraries, Charleston Conference, CESSE, NFAIS, and the
Library of Congress.
The author may be contacted at:
email: [email protected]

xvi