alison o'connor & mary muscara

Repositioning the Library - sink or swim?Alison O'ConnorNATIONAL LIBRARY MANAGER

651290702

25 August 2011

Mary MuscaraMELBOURNE LIBRARY MANAGER

A vision of the Library – making a splash

REPOSITIONING THE LIBRARY - SINK OR SWIM? 25 AUGUST 2011

Law libraries

Rising costs &

outsourcingChallenges

facing law libraries

Lateral recruitsLib

rary s

taff

skills

Invisib

le to

decis

ion

makers

Invisible to users

REPOSITIONING THE LIBRARY - SINK OR SWIM? 25 AUGUST 2011

Environment changes

Information overload

Techno-savvy clients

Collection Technology

Changing client expectations

Law libraries

REPOSITIONING THE LIBRARY - SINK OR SWIM? 25 AUGUST 2011

Knowledge team

IT

National

Managing risk

Collection Research Information literacy

eLibrary

Library & Research Services

REPOSITIONING THE LIBRARY - SINK OR SWIM? 25 AUGUST 2011

Strengths Weaknesses

• Experienced library team

• Organisation knowledge

• Search and evaluation skills of staff

• A lot of 'good will' exists for the library

• Increasing invisibility of library

• Reduced face-to-face contact with clients

• Long way from influencers/decision makers

• Separate to business / lack of integration with legal teams

• Library staff legal knowledge

• Library staff understanding of business and commerciality issues

SWOT analysis

Opportunities Threats

• Increasing information overload

• Decreasing information literacy skills

• Focus in the firm on risk management

• Focus in the firm on excellence

• Focus in the firm on expertise development and expertise profiling

• Emerging technologies

• Increasing costs of resources and the perception that online is free or cheaper

• Commercial publishers seeking to bypass libraries

• Techno-savvy clients who don't see the relevance of libraries

• Legal process outsourcing

REPOSITIONING THE LIBRARY - SINK OR SWIM? 25 AUGUST 2011

- what would you add?

Law librariesSWOT

analysis

How do we address

invisibility?

How do we become more commercial?

How do we demonstrate

value?

Where to from here?

How do we partner with

clients?

REPOSITIONING THE LIBRARY - SINK OR SWIM? 25 AUGUST 2011

Blake Dawson focusProactive

Building Relationships

Learn

ing Cult

ure

Trusted Advisor

REPOSITIONING THE LIBRARY - SINK OR SWIM? 25 AUGUST 2011

Excellent client service

CommercialityFostering team relationships

Understanding the business

Commitment to personal development

Technical expertise

Building client relationships

Case study 1: Key Performance Indicators

Case study 2: Collaboration

Clients & strategyCorporate pilot

Graduate assessment

Expertise audit

Collaboration

REPOSITIONING THE LIBRARY - SINK OR SWIM? 25 AUGUST 2011

Case study 3: Library spaces

REPOSITIONING THE LIBRARY - SINK OR SWIM? 25 AUGUST 2011

Case study 4: eBooks & iPads

REPOSITIONING THE LIBRARY - SINK OR SWIM? 25 AUGUST 2011

Strategic networking

REPOSITIONING THE LIBRARY - SINK OR SWIM? 25 AUGUST 2011

Questions?