Two Libraries, One Plan:Combining and Refining Technical Services

Across Two Campuses

Living the Future 6: Wow! Where Next?April 5-8, 2006

Representing the Library Technical Services Denison-Kenyon Work Redesign

Team

Andrea PeakovicLibrary and Information

ServicesKenyon CollegeGambier, OH

Ellen P. ConradWilliam Howard Doane

LibraryDenison UniversityGranville, OH

Our Context

Both are members of the Five Colleges of Ohio consortium (plus Oberlin, Ohio Wesleyan, & College of Wooster)

Share an online catalog & joint storage facility All are members of OhioLINK

Statewide union catalog Direct, patron-initiated borrowing from any institution

Consortial purchase of 100+ databases Denison and Kenyon are similar in size, acquisitions

and technical service staffing

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Grant

January 1, 2004 – August 15, 2005

Goal of the Project

“To improve access to information resources and create value-added services for our patrons through the cooperative efforts of the libraries of Denison University and Kenyon College”

Planning Groups

Pre-planning committee Study and brainstorm

Reengineering the Corporation (Hammer & Champy)

Planning task force Charge: To create a robust system for combined

library technical services in which the focus in on constantly evolving patron information needs, research patterns, and desires. The system must be flexible, transferable, malleable, and adaptable.

And so they did! Implementation team

Objectives of the Project

Apply dramatic efficiencies to 80% of what we currently purchase

Streamline receipt and delivery Reallocate resources to enhance our

collections so they better serve our users Empower our technical services division to

create new services and manage information in all formats

Enable our users to fully realize the liberal arts in an age of electronic information

Key Planning Processes

Vision Statement

Planning Assumptions and Principles

Workflow Model

Final Plan

Significant Task Force Activities

Task force retreat All-staff retreat Workflow evaluation by outside Consultants Background information

Reading plans Web searches Conferences

Living the Future 5 Information exchange

All-staff meetings Minutes & monthly reports Email distribution list

Drafting final plan

Task Force Retreat

Two-day retreat, Roscoe Village Task Force, Directors, and Consultant

Key Outcomes Work redesign principles Planning assumptions List of questions Environmental assessment Vision—the ideal Development of initial work redesign What we need to know and learn Group agreements Timeline

Evolution of a Vision…

"The organizational restructuring of the four libraries was discussed to allow for the consolidating of technical services functions. Monographs could be purchased and cataloged through a single monographic department for the four colleges. Serials might be acquired and processed through a single department. Standards for cataloging would need to be accepted by each of the four colleges, however, membership in OhioLINK would bring about this standardization."

May 31, 1994Paul Gherman, Kenyon College

Evolution of a Vision…

Grant Proposal: “A single collection management unit…responsible for:” [paraphrased] Acquiring resources in all formats; Managing resources to maximize usefulness; Improving users’ access to resources—both physical and

virtual; Leading the Ohio5 consortial collection development

initiatives; Managing the Ohio5 off-site storage facility; Continuously adopting, adapting and innovating ways to

make research more comprehensive & efficient to use. “This unit will organize its work process around the

current and future needs of our patrons, making no assumptions about existing processes, while fully embracing technological and managerial innovations in our field.”

Vision Points from All-Staff Retreat

Categories we identified: Staff and staffing issues CONSORT Catalog Service User needs/desires Use of space Technical resources (vis-à-vis use of

systems) Miscellaneous

Final Vision Statement

BE COURAGEOUS! Act as a collaborative unit to best serve users at

multiple locations Provide intellectual representation of collection as a

whole Foster a culture of staff empowerment that

effectively utilizes and rewards individual strengths Enable research and development capacity for

entire organization Appreciate that as we combine our processes, there

may be activities best implemented separately

Developing Key Processes

Process Map Grant proposal

Key Work Activities Map Retreat

Work Process Model Task force

Staffing Model Implementation team

The Workflow Model

Implementation

Three member implementation team began January, 2005

Workflows refined Staff involvement integral part of workflow

refinement Frequent meetings with staff to encourage

involvement and participation in the process Combined approval plan initiated Daily delivery between Denison and Kenyon Staffing allocations and recommendations

made

Combining Workflows

Implement workflows in phases, beginning with books Largest portion of our workflow Easiest to begin with

Use YBP for major vendor Use of GOBI for all ordering Utilize PromptCat records Materials arrive shelf-ready Received and cataloged at Denison All non-YBP materials are ordered and cataloged

at Kenyon Online electronic order form developed

YBP work processes

Electronic invoicing Shelf-ready materials Change PromptCat profiles Design new property stamps Transition orders to GOBI Change shipping addresses Develop mechanisms for quality

control

Non-YBP work processes

Develop online order form Create and modify vendor accounts Train staff in invoicing and Millennium Materials non-mainstream

Foreign language and/or publishers Scores Art

Identify local cataloging practices

Lessons Learned

Details, details, details! The devil is in the details!

Property stamp Spine labels PromptCat profiles CatDate field in order records

Trial and Error Communicating while testing new processes

Time-consuming process Expect work imbalances

Staffing Model

SelectionYankee/Non-Yankee books & CD’s

A-V Media

Ordering/Receiving/FastCatYBP books, Approvals—1.5 FTE

Non-YBP books, Approvals—1 FTECD’s—0.5 FTE

A-V Media—0.5 FTEGov Docs—0.5 FTE

Gov Doc Maps—0.5 FTESerials—2 FTE

Total: 6.5 FTE

Approval Plan

CatalogingBooks & CD’s—1 FTE

A-V Media—1 FTEElectronic—1 FTE

CONStor Prep—0.5 FTEGifts & Other Projects—1 FTE

Total: 4.5 FTE

Electronic, gifts, deselection, remote storage materials

User AccessCatalog Enrichments & Enhancements—1 FTE

Coordination of Training—0.5 FTE

Total: 1.5 FTE

20%

DRAFT Staffing Model

*Please note—the FTE’s represented above are preliminary projected estimates!

Rev. 8/4/05

Total: 12.5 FTE

Staffing Recommendations

Collected staff preferences in new workflow Job positions/FTEs were not defined Staff expressed interest in multiples

areas Comparison of staff preferences and

staffing allocations in model Loose assignment of job duties

Full job descriptions forthcoming

Team Structure

Two-tiered team structure Each staff assigned to two teams

Process teams: based on the staffing model Ordering/Receiving/FastCat Cataloging User Access

Material Type Teams: based on materials streams defined in the plan Books/CDs/Gifts Electronic/Gov Docs/Serials A-V Media

Professional Staff Roles

Professional staff structured differently at Denison and Kenyon Denison: Head of Cataloging, Head of Acquisitions,

Deputy Director Kenyon: Head of Technical Services

Title change to: Head of Collection Development Focus on work processes

Professional staff positions were not included in allocations

Some direct involvement in work processes Electronic resources and original cataloging

Managing the New Combined Unit

Associate Director of Collection Services Newly created Kenyon position Manages combined unit

½ time at Denison and Kenyon Supervises Kenyon support staff

Words to the Wise (from the Weary :)

Define and study concept of redesign Develop group agreements for task force

and working criteria Use consensus for decision-making Balance size of task force with good

subject/work area coverage Open and frequent sharing of information Hire professional consultants Realize change brings about conflict and

hurdles

Reflections from Staff Retreat

Develop communication system first Keep momentum moving

Don’t sacrifice doing it right Expect things won’t go smoothly

Plan for surprises Outcomes not immediate It takes time and iterations Retreat for all TS staff early in process

More reflections…

Hire or appoint a project leader early in the process

Keep selectors and other staff apprised of changes and contacts

Be upfront about real goals, even if it means downsizing

Remember and revisit your inspiration Be courageous!

“Radical redesign means getting to the root of things: not making superficial changes or fiddling with what is already in place, but throwing away the old...inventing completely new ways of accomplishing work.”

Hammer and Champy, p. 36

Stay Tuned for Updates

www.denison.edu/collaborations/ohio5/libres/lwrtf/lwrtf.html

Bibliography

Application to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation: Library Technical Services Work Redesign. [Grant proposal] 2003. http://www.denison.edu/collaborations/ohio5/libres/lwrtf/proposal.html

Cochrane, Lynn Scott and Christopher D. Barth. “Cooperative Work Redesign in Library Technical Services.” submitted in October 2005 for publication in Library Administration & Management.

Conrad, Ellen P. and Andrea Peakovic. “Denison University & Kenyon College Library Technical Services Work Redesign.” OVGTSL 2005 Annual Conference. 12 May 2005. http://www.denison.edu/collaborations/ohio5/libres/lwrtf/2libraries_1plan.ppt

Greever, Karen E. and Debra K. Andreadis. “Technical Services Work Redesign Across Two College Libraries.” Technical Services Quarterly. 24.2 forthcoming 2006.

Hammer, Michael. “Reengineering Work: Don’t Automate, Obliterate.” Harvard Business Review. 68.4 (1990): 104-112.

Hammer, Michael and James Champy. Reengineering the Corporation. New York: HarperCollins, 2001.

Hayes, Jan and Maureen Sullivan. Mapping the Process: Engaging Staff in Redesigning Work. [Wheeling, IL: North Suburban Library System], 2002.

Plan for Library Technical Services Work Redesign. [Final plan] 2004. http://www.denison.edu/collaborations/ohio5/libres/lwrtf/planning_report.pdf

Snyder, Monteze M. et al. Building Consensus: Conflict and Unity. Richmond, IN: Earlham Quaker Foundations of Leadership Program, 2001.

“Radical redesign means getting to the root of things: not making superficial changes or fiddling with what is already in place, but throwing away the old...inventing completely new ways of accomplishing work.”

Hammer and Champy, p. 36