Streamlining Library Services: What We Do, how Much Time it Takes, what it Costs, how We Can Do it BetterLibrarianship is a service profession and not a bottom-line oriented business. As such, librarians don't normally assign a high priority to efficiency of operations; however, opportunities to improve daily jobs and enhance services are being overlooked every day. Advances in technology drive change at a rapid pace and keeping up is both expensive and time consuming. Tight budgets have made keeping up with technology especially difficult. And while some activities in libraries, such as in-person ready reference and circulation of books and journals have declined, many libraries continue to report increases in the demand for services and resources. The rapid transformation from paper to digital documents is also driving changes in libraries. Today the incentive for examining and streamlining library workflows and the processes and procedures that comprise them should be compelling, but that doesn't seem to be the case for many librarians. Streamlining Library Services presents library managers and staff with the tools necessary to analyze and streamline their library's services. It presents a variety of tools and techniques that can be applied to improve library operations and assist library staff in their efforts to identify what work is done, how much time it takes, and what it costs. These efforts can be used to streamline library processes and, where appropriate, help to free dollar resources to initiate or enhance services that merit higher priority. |
Contents
The Impact of Technology Environments | 7 |
Identifying Targets of Opportunity | 15 |
Identifying the Problem Diagnostic Tools | 25 |
Copyright | |
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acquisitions activities administration analysis analyze automated barcode benefits Bretford cataloging Chapter chat reference check sheet circulation conducted control chart cost studies create data collected database depreciation designed developed diary studies DOVD eliminated environment ergonomics errors evaluate example faculty flow chart flow process chart forms handling identify illustrations important improve integrated library systems integrated system introduced involved keep in mind librarians library's Line Graph located MBTI objectives observed occur OCLC operations organization organizational outsourcing Pareto chart patrons percent performed person possible problem processes and procedures productivity programs questions record reference desk reference services requests RFID sampling scanning scientific management searching shelves shown in Figure staff members staff workers steps streamlined tasks technical services technical services staff techniques tion unit usability testing vendor work-flow diagram workflows workstation