2014 Charleston Library Conference

Slides from Stacey Marien
Slides from Corey Seeman

These short "pecha kucha-like" sessions will feature 4 PowerPoint presentations of 6 minutes and 40 seconds each. We will have approximately 15 minutes at the end of the session intended for Q&A for all 4 sessions. Come for a lively, rapid-fire group of talks.

1) Performance Appraisal in Collection Development
Steve Alleman, Head of Collections, University of Missouri-Kansas City

Annual personnel evaluations are always difficult, but they are especially problematical in collection development, because the librarians doing the basic work of selection and liaising with faculty and students often do not report to the librarian responsible for collection development and assessment. In this session we will discuss bridging the gap between public and technical services, explore the ways that different organizational structures will affect the performance appraisal process, and also examine a set of competencies that can be used in that process irrespective of individual variables. Attendees will have the opportunity to share appraisal strategies used at their libraries and to propose new approaches to the problem.

2) Using Libguides to Corral Your Workflows
Stacey Marien, Acquisitions Librarian, American University

Starting up the E-preferred approval plan was the last straw. What kind of ebook was this? What account code did we use? Did we have to set up a profile with OCLC? Who would load the records? What would the email say from Coutts Ingrams? Is my head attached to my body?

Ebooks are primarily handled by the Acquisitions Department in the library of American University. We realized that we had too many ebook programs going on to keep straight (never mind all the print book programs too such as the newly launched purchase-on-demand service). There had to be a way to document these workflows and make them available in an easily accessible manner to everyone in Acquisitions and beyond. The reference librarians have created many libguides to help users, why not create a libguide to help the internal users in Technical Services as well as other areas of the library? The Ebook confusion was just the start and as the LibGuide took shape, we brainstormed all the other workflows that could be included. The end result was the following: rethinking each workflow; consulting with several departments in the library, including outside technical services; and revising existing documentation as well as creating new workflows for existing procedures. Our ultimate goal was to make sure we had all the workflow documentation we needed and to make it easy for everyone in the library to find that information.

3) Here we go again!: Reorganization for the change weary
Annette Day, Director, Logistics and Resource Distribution Services Distribution, University of Nevada-Las Vegas

This shotgun session will provide a brief overview of the planning needed to enact a successful reorganization of a technical services department using the experience of the reorganization of the Logistics and Resource Distribution Services (LRDS) Division at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas(UNLV) Libraries.

LRDS is a large division with diverse functions including collection management, acquisitions, discovery, ILL, stacks management and digital scholarship. This session will describe the steps undertaken at UNLV and will provide attendees with guidance on planning, information gathering and communication needs when undertaking a review of department/division workflows, roles and structure. The session will also emphasize pitfalls to avoid based on the experiences of staff in the UNLV LRDS Division who have experienced continual change in structure, roles and personnel over the past several years.

4) The Ethereal Library: Thinking Creatively When You Have No Space To Think
Corey Seeman, Kresge Library Services Director, University of Michigan

Today’s library operates in two distinct spaces. First, there is the physical space, where we provide our community a place to work, where we provide access to print materials, and where we can provide a place to provide service. Second, there is the ethereal space, where we connect with users, provide outreach, and where our value is revealed. And in the best case scenario, a library has these two spaces to operate from. However, over the past few years, many academic libraries (especially departmental ones) have seen their footprint erode.

Despite being well regarded as a service unit and essential for student study space, the Kresge Business Library at the Ross School of Business will cease being a full-service library in the traditional sense. This year, we are transitioning into a service unit with little more space than is needed to house the librarians and staff. Using these challenges, the presenter will share accounts of how the reduction and elimination of library space did not also lead to the elimination of core library services coming from that group.

Among the topics to be discussed are measuring outcomes and student satisfaction, providing expanded reference services and embedded librarian programs, as well as the adoption of new services that saved positions at Kresge. The presenter will showcase how you can move from a physical library to an ethereal one, while retaining services, people and your connection to the school.