Samantha Schmehl Hines - Technical Services in the 21st Century

CONTENTS

Samantha Schmehl Hines

Abigail Bibee, Erin Gallagher and David Isaak

Whitney A. Buccicone and Kristin Browning Leaman

Nina Servizzi

Kristy White

Aime deChambeau, Ian McCullough, Melanie McGurr and Mike Monaco

Beth Ashmore, Maria Collins, Christenna Hutchins and Lynn Whittenberger

Colleen W. Barrett, Whitney A. Buccicone and Joseph J. Shankweiler

Sarah Theimer

Misu Kim, Mingyu Chen and Debbie Montgomery

Jessica Urick Oberlin

Jo Williams

Angela Maranville and Karen Diaz

Lindsey Reno

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2021

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-80043-829-3 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-80043-828-6 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-80043-830-9 (Epub)

ISSN: 0732-0671

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

Samantha Schmehl Hines

While librarianship in general has had constant revolutionary change, technical services have nearly been completely reimagined in the twenty-first century. When looking to answer our broader question as a book series, How have libraries been managed and how should they be managed? the work of technical services and these groundbreaking changes provide many interesting opportunities and challenges for library administration. This volume collects 13 chapters from a variety of libraries that examine several aspects of technical services work in the twenty-first century. Our thoughtful authors offer applied theoretical solutions to practical problems encountered by library administrators and managers, in four broad categories.

Bibee, Gallagher, and Isaak investigate how technical services show up in ARL libraries' strategic plans and suggest guiding principles for tech services professionals, sourced in professional organizations. They chose to focus on strategic plans vs mission or vision statements due to the action orientation of these plans and their frequent update cycle. Their chapter highlights the valuable role of assessment, advocacy, collections and user experience in technical services, and the need for connection with the rest of the library's work.

Buccicone and Leaman ask us to consider technical services as outreach, by framing technical services work as work on behalf of users. They also examine the supportive nature of the technical services community and how this is another form of outreach. This framing can help advocates make the work of technical services more visible and appreciated. The chapter offers actionable ideas for library managers to develop this perspective.

Servizzi uses Complex Adaptive Systems (CASs) to uncover the various dependencies that show up in technical services that affect costs of services, performance assessment, and connections to larger library goals. Larger library-wide shifts toward user-centered services alongside with fiscal challenges are destabilizing the networks that make up the systems involved in technical services.

White tackles workflow process mapping in technical services, linking it to Deming's high-performance style of organizational management and illustrating how it can build strong teams. Based on a case study, she shows several positive managerial outcomes around the use of workflow process mapping.

deChambeau, McCullough, McGurr, and Monaco examine the differences in workload for technical services librarians with faculty status in academic environments compared to their public services' peers. They highlight the difficulty with assessing technical services work, particularly around benchmarks and metrics, and point out the challenges in evaluating faculty librarian workloads generally compared with a more traditional faculty workload in the university. However, the workload guidelines produced by the authors helped situate technical services better within the library and the university.

Ashmore, Collins, Hutchins, and Whittenberger discussed a merger of acquisitions, cataloging and electronic resources that resulted in a life cycle approach toward print and electronic resources. This chapter outlines the implementation of the package management model for serials and for monographs, describes the tools and technologies used for support, and shares what the authors learned for managers and administrators of libraries. Special attention is paid to workflows.