1. Technical Services
Best Practices
Or,
What I Learned in 26 Workflow Projects
Jane Richard
Wisconsin Library Association Conference, October 26, 2012
2. WiLS Tech Services projects
Madison Public Library (beta)
Nicolet Technical College
UW-Milwaukee (beta)
Portage County Public Library
Alverno
Rhinelander Public Library
Beloit College
Saint Norbert College
Brown County
Southwest Wisconsin Library System
Cardinal Stritch
UW-Baraboo/Sauk
Carroll University
UW-Green Bay
Fond du Lac Public Library
UW-La Crosse
Lakeshores Library System
UW-Marinette
Lawrence University
UW-Oshkosh
Manitowoc Public Library
UW-Stevens Point
Menasha Public Library
Viterbo University
Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design
Winnefox Library System
Wisconsin Valley Library System
October 25, 2012
3. Reasons for looking at workflow
Retirements and other staffing changes
Implementing RDA or other standards
New collection formats (often backlogged)
New physical space, rearrangements
Striving for efficiency (money or time)
New ILSes or other discovery tools
Curiosity
October 25, 2012
4. Cataloging has changed
MARC data users
Patron Computer Librarian
-Great for known items -Has a terrible time -Great for inventory
reading the text
-Less great for
strings - Less great for
discovery maintenance, like
- Divergent from authority control
current metadata
- Viewed as an
practice: hard to map
obstacle to getting
what they want to other schema
October 25, 2012
5. WiLS technical services workflow
project process
1. Get overview of library through annual reports,
organizational charts, statistics
2. Site visit
Observe main workflow(s)
Interview staff for insight to improving systems
1. Write and send report
2. Edit with corrections and re-submit
3. Ask for feedback
October 25, 2012
6. Report structure:
Put the library in context
Librarytrends and challenges
Sub-group (academic or public) trends and challenges
Technical services trends and challenges
Specific observations and recommendations for
library, with time frame and costs/benefits;
example:
Recommendations (2) (Immediate): Stop printing order forms. Stop printing OCLC records. The
book always has a representative record in ILS and is easily found in the acquisitions module. A small
sticky note could be attached to the book on receiving with the order and/or OCLC number.
Benefit: This will save time, and it’s greener and cheaper than using so much paper.
Cost: More staff may need access to and training in Acquisitions module.
October 25, 2012
7. What was learned: improve the process
More planning discussions about what can realistically
be addressed
Present the report in person; it part of a discussion
What was unclear?
What didn’t apply?
Is there resistance?
Is there a different interpretation of outcome from each
recommendation?
Better follow-up: what has changed? Why?
October 25, 2012
8. Successful workflow projects
“Outside eyes” can help identify anomalies
Include all staff
Have a high goal, but focus on just a few
specific topics, snags
Clearly detail how changes can be achieved, with
cause and effect, to stimulate a useful discussion
Follow-upRevisionsFollow-up
October 25, 2012
9. What was learned: library trends
Collection size is de-emphasized as an assessment marker:
turnaround time is more important
New formats challenge workflows and staff skills
Students expect perpetual electronic access to materials
The physical library is a locale for the meeting of minds (and
friends), no longer primarily a place for the browsing of books
Many processes are offered outside the library by vendors or
consortia (e.g., selection and ordering tools, shelf-ready processing
and e-resources management)
October 25, 2012
10. Tech services trends
Merging acquisitions and cataloging departments: bypass cataloging as
much as possible
Integrate selection and ordering processes; eliminate pre-order searching
Integrate receipt and cataloging processes
Budget shifts from one-time to ongoing expenditures
Extension of acquisitions tools into selection (GOBI, Collection Manager,
OASIS, ITSO)
Interfaces between ILS acquisitions module and institutional accounting systems
Changing role of the ILS
A-Z lists
Link resolvers
Proxy servers
ERMS
October 25, 2012
11. Tech services trends
Evaluating patron driven acquisitions (PDA)
Growth of media orders/activity
Increasing need for non-MARC metadata
Define “good enough” bibliographic records
Receive vendor records
Increasing use of cataloging and shelf-prep
service, aka Outsourcing
October 25, 2012
12. Tech services trends
Focus on hidden collections: More time spent cataloging original
and archival material (academics)
Print-on-Demand
Massive weeding projects: serials, reference
Collaborative collections across consortia or other institutions
Traditional spaces are being re-purposed as learning spaces
Expanded roles working with students, or developing services
(like mobile apps)
Data management for repositories (academics)
New measures of accountability and assessment
October 25, 2012
13. Some tips
Stop printing order forms
Stop printing and/or keeping OCLC records
Download the OCLC record to ILS during pre-order search
Add OCLC holdings on receipt of books: ILL embargo on very new
Stop creating unique call numbers
Stop adding date to book
Receive shelf-ready material from vendors
Defer original cataloging for new books until off New Book Shelf
Subscribe to WorldCat Cataloging Partners and OCLC’s Bibliographic
Notification service to maximize OCLC subscription
Add supplemental content to bibliographic records to assist users in
evaluating resources
Re-consider metrics to measure quantity and quality: dock-to-shelf time
Seek out more training opportunities
October 25, 2012
14. A checklist for Interlibrary loan assessment:
Ease of identifying materials:
The library….
is a member of a consortium with a shared circulation system
promotes use of plug-ins/widgets for identifying and locating library materials
utilizes Open URL
provides links to digitaized collections in ILS
utilizes federated search tool for cross-collection searching by users
electronic collections holdings are up-to-date in the ILS
holdings are discoverable in WorldCat
Lending holdings are up-to-date in resource sharing programs
Lending serials holdings are up-to-date within a year
October 25, 2012
15. Finding inspiration
ALCTS forums: archive: http://www.ala.org/alcts/confevents/past/e-forum
OCLC training portal: http://training.oclc.org/1
October 25, 2012
16. Typical principles of workflow analyses
Evaluate tasks through these filters:
Should it be enhanced? (example: add links to more content to bib
records)
Can it be automated? (example: macros)
Can it be eliminated?
Outsource it (example: processing)
Send up or down stream (example: set WorldCat holdings in
Acquisitions)
Stop doing it (example: writing date on books)
October 25, 2012
17. Strategies for implementing change
Get ideas from all staff
Empower staff to make decisions
Start small, have success, and then do more
Agree to address corrections as needed (for example,
don’t check all call numbers for uniqueness, but address
duplicates reported)
“Pilot” change
Get input from external source
Cross training can be invigorating, if not too stressful
October 25, 2012
18. Transformation of workflow projects
Started with cataloging issues: MARC fields,
formats, etc.: Cataloger identity crisis; RDA, new
ILS models; patrons want content, not records
Staffing issues were more urgent
What’s the next big thing?
Bigdata?
Assessment?
What is “library scale”?
October 25, 2012
19. Susan Gibbons, University of Rochester,
commentator on the future of academic libraries:
"...the emphasis of technical services will change from the acquisition of
content to the user’s discovery of content. A library’s success will be
qualitatively and locally defined by whether its users are finding the best
materials easily and quickly, rather than by quantitative metrics of its
collections. A myriad of services, customized to the library’s local needs,
will emerge that will sit on top of a library’s broad print and electronic
collections."
October 25, 2012
Editor's Notes
Between 2009-2012
Curiosity mostly about how you compare with another library
Patrons want to know: where is it? is it checked out? Extends to electronic resources, too Obstacle to getting what they want is also restrictions to database access (e.g subscription needed) Just a tip of the iceberg of different needs
48 hours is often the goal
Checklist for acquisitions staff to complete physical check of books and processing Increasing number of workflow redesign projects