Charge for Technical Services Coordination and Consolidation Team

Background and Problem Statement:


Central Technical Services units, including Content Access Management (CAM) and Acquisitions, manage the acquisition and processing of materials for the majority of Library units. Enhancing access to Library collections and resources is one of the priorities identified in the University Library's strategic plan. Over the past five years, central units have resulted in significant enhancements to technical service functions that have improved access to the Library's collections and in more effective support for units across the Library. Examples of these enhancements include the adoption of the Voyager acquisitions module, the improvement of catalog records through vendor record purchases and automated processing routines, the establishment of an e-resource management program, consistent communication channels that strive to address technical services issues across the Library, new approaches to staff training and development, and a focus on digitization and metadata creation. As the Library continues to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its central technical services functions, it is critical to include all formats, languages, and intended audiences in this service mission.

Responses to the New Service Models initiative have produced a number of recommendations to further coordinate and consolidate activities relating to the acquisition and provision of intellectual access to Library materials, either physically or functionally. Despite the corresponding issues that are raised by these proposals, there is widespread agreement that closer working relationships among the faculty and staff that perform these functions across the Library is a highly desirable outcome to improve access to Library collections and resources.

Charge:


The Technical Services Coordination and Consolidation Team is charged with identifying technical services functions (e.g., acquisitions, serials check-in, electronic resource management, cataloging, and metadata creation) that can be successfully coordinated across the Library, and that can benefit from the opportunity to bring decentralized technical service functions into alignment with central technical services practices and procedures, especially in units that currently manage separate acquisitions and cataloging functions, including the Asian, Slavic, Music, Government Documents, and Undergraduate libraries. The group's focus should be on issues relating to increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of technical services functions across the Library in a two-step process: improving coordination and training, and physical or virtual centralization.  

By August 15, 2008 the group should produce a report for the University Librarian that identifies:

  • Programs that will promote open discussion among Library faculty and staff about new initiatives taking root in our professional community to enhance technical services programs and provide better access to library resources.
  • Opportunities for more effective coordination of technical service efforts across the Library through staff training, increased communication and collaboration (physical and virtual), shared standards and best practices.
  • Workable approaches to coordinating and consolidating technical services functions.
  • Opportunities and recommended approaches for consolidation and coordination of technical services functions.


This report should provide a long-term view of the future of technical services programs in the University Library, as well as an action plan outlining how to adopt a phased approach to coordinating and/or consolidating technical service programs currently housed in units including, but not limited to, the Asian, Slavic, Music, Government Documents, and Undergraduate libraries.

 

Membership:

  • Michael Norman, Content Access Management (Team Leader)
  • Shuyong Jiang, Asian Library
  • Marek Sroka, Slavic and East European Library
  • Richard Burbank, Music Library
  • Lynn Wiley, Acquisitions
  • Mary Laskowski, Content Access Management
  • David Griffiths, Government Documents Library
  • Scott Walter, Associate University Librarian for Services (ex officio)

 

See, for example: Robert Wolven, “In Search of a New Model, Library Journal,1/15/08 http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6514925.html?q=wolven%2C+robert; Final Report of the Bibliographic Services Task Force: Re-thinking how we provide bibliographic services to the University of California.  http://libraries.universityofcalifornia.edu/sopag/BSTF/Final.pdf; On the Record: Report of The Library of Congress Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control (January 9, 2008)  http://www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future/news/lcwg-ontherecord-jan08-final.pdf.