UT Libraries Idea Hopper

This is a centralized place for our staff to share and discuss ideas aimed at improving and evolving our organization. Feel free to review and rate others’ ideas as well.

This website is moderated by Meredith Taylor, Assessment Coordinator. Your comments will be routed for response/action. Thanks for your participation and come back often!

GUIDELINES:
- Please make your contributions constructive
- The moderator reserves the right to remove any idea or comment deemed inappropriate or inflammatory

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Hopper_Moderator
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36 votes Vote

Can we stop printing library hours calendars?

Every semester we see reams and reams of paper and a lot of staff time spent in printing and dispensing library semester hours calendars. Why not put this information online? Maybe have larger, poster size calendars mounted on foam board and...
Response from the site administrator
Hopper_Moderator, 07.12.2010
Forwarded to Catherine Hamer for review.
anonymous, 02.12.2010, 20:12
2 comments
29 votes Vote

More aggressively cross train staff who will be stepping in when imminent retirements take place.

This may be taking place in other units, but in mine I see no planned attempt to make sure those leaving in January have passed on as much as possible of their routines and knowledge. Any of this which happens seems to be ad hoc and dependent on...
Response from the site administrator
Hopper_Moderator, 07.12.2010
Forwarded to the Strategic Planning Task Force for review.
h0llyj0lly, 02.12.2010, 17:53
2 comments
27 votes Vote

Digital future and encouraging innovation

- TIS needs more people if we want to keep up, let alone do interesting digital projects. - More people in the organization should be trained/allowed/encouraged to get this skill set, even outside of TIS and DLS, so that we can do more...
Response from the site administrator
Hopper_Moderator, 14.12.2010
Forwarded to Chris Carter & the Strategic Planning Task Force for review.
Hopper_Moderator, 09.12.2010, 02:12
2 comments
23 votes Vote

Discovery

- We need to do something to enhance discovery for our users. Issues and solutions include: 1. Redesign the web site, since this is the main portal to our libraries for most of our users. It should be less compartmentalized. The web site needs...
Response from the site administrator
Hopper_Moderator, 14.12.2010
Forwarded to the Strategic Planning Task Force for review.
Hopper_Moderator, 09.12.2010, 01:57
5 comments
21 votes Vote

As people leave, replace some open LA positions with GRA positions.

GRA's have proven themselves to be intelligent, motivated, capable people. GRA's are perfectly capable of doing reference, copy cataloging, checking in serials, etc. The turnover is healthy for our organization and allows us to stay flexible....
Response from the site administrator
Hopper_Moderator, 07.12.2010
Forwarded to the Strategic Planning Task Force for review.
anonymous, 07.12.2010, 14:26
5 comments
21 votes Vote

Redesign the staff website

The staff website lacks coherence and organization. Evaluate what’s on it, what’s missing, figure out our strategy for conveying staff info. If that strategy includes having a staff website, redesign it.
Response from the site administrator
Hopper_Moderator, 14.12.2010
Forwarded to the Strategic Planning Task Force for review.
rudolph, 10.12.2010, 17:29
3 comments
20 votes Vote

Reference

- Collapse EIC and Reference so that students can get all sorts of help at the same desk. - In order to ensure students in the reference room have access to staff, put in a call system so they can page the desk from a workstation. Post the IM...
Response from the site administrator
Hopper_Moderator, 14.12.2010
Forwarded to Catherine Hamer & the Strategic Planning Task Force for review.
Hopper_Moderator, 09.12.2010, 02:18
2 comments
19 votes Vote

Student Workers

The way we make student workers apply for jobs now should be updated. We should either create an online form they can fill out and any supervisor can then go in and look at the bank of applications, or just use something that already exists like...
Response from the site administrator
Hopper_Moderator, 17.12.2010
There are definite pros and cons to creating a “pool of student applications” to have on hand for supervisors to review and we can certainly look at how this could work for the Libraries. To get more feedback on this idea, this topic will be added to the agenda that Lib-HR is creating for the next Supervisors Meeting, which will be scheduled for early January 2011.

-Carol Johnson, Lib HR
Hopper_Moderator, 08.12.2010, 17:41
1 comment
19 votes Vote

Create short term staff share opportunities

Some staff have workloads that ebb and flow. Often they’re incredibly busy but sometimes they don’t have enough to do. We could start documenting smaller one-off projects that would require minimal training. Staff whose workloads are in a...
Response from the site administrator
Hopper_Moderator, 14.12.2010
Forwarded to the Strategic Planning Task Force for review.
rudolph, 10.12.2010, 17:27
0 comments
19 votes Vote

A Library Presence at Tail Gating Parties

The old nerd/jock dichotomy is dead. We know that Texans love their football. Why isn't the Library out there promoting itself during football games when thousands of potential donors wash across campus many in a beer fueled haze? We could give...
Response from the site administrator
Hopper_Moderator, 18.06.2012
Forwarded to Gregory Perrin for review.

Please note, although this posting is under the name "hopper-moderator," it has not been posted by the moderator of the site, Hopper Moderator.

hopper-moderator, 10.12.2010, 18:52
2 comments
18 votes Vote

Cross-campus paging of materials

- We need to provide this service for more than just AV materials, and should also expand the scanning service so it is for article outside of LSF as well. To staff a service like this, which would definitely raise our worth on campus and is...
Response from the site administrator
Hopper_Moderator, 18.06.2012
Forwarded to the Strategic Planning Task Force for review.

Please note, there is a comment to this posting under the name "hopper-moderator," it has not been posted by the moderator of the site, Hopper Moderator.
Hopper_Moderator, 08.12.2010, 17:40
7 comments
18 votes Vote

Reduce number of webpages

Radically reduce the number of library web pages as we no longer have the staff to keep all that information current. (Submitted via AD Comment Card)
Response from the site administrator
Hopper_Moderator, 26.01.2011
Forwarded to the Strategic Planning Task Force for review.
Hopper_Moderator, 14.12.2010, 20:00
1 comment
16 votes Vote

Have fewer divisions.

DLSD and Research Services are both small divisions that could easily be folded into technical services and administrative/facility services. This could help find efficiencies. And we would need fewer, high-paid administrators.
Response from the site administrator
Hopper_Moderator, 07.12.2010
Forwarded to the Strategic Planning Task Force for review.
anonymous, 07.12.2010, 14:31
2 comments
16 votes Vote

iSchool Collaborations

We should take better advantage of the fact that we have an iSchool on campus that does a lot of techie stuff. We should try to build relationships so that tech projects, not just traditional library projects, are undertaken in the libraries for...
Response from the site administrator
Hopper_Moderator, 14.12.2010
Forwarded to Joe Dobbs & the Strategic Planning Task Force for review.
Hopper_Moderator, 08.12.2010, 17:42
3 comments
16 votes Vote

Consolidate libraries

Consolidate libraries. (Submitted via AD Comment Card)
Response from the site administrator
Hopper_Moderator, 26.01.2011
Forwarded to the Strategic Planning Task Force for review.
Hopper_Moderator, 14.12.2010, 19:54
1 comment
16 votes Vote

Job Sharing

Some employees with young children or older parents to care for may be interested in job sharing where they share their job with another library employee. The two employees can elect to share one full-time job. Job sharing is different than...
jdl, 16.12.2010, 13:01
0 comments
15 votes Vote

Web presence as One Library?

What savings could be achieved by present ourselves online as one library, with one coherent set of services and discovery tools? We currently present ourselves as eleven different libraries, based on building locations, each with a somewhat...
Response from the site administrator
Hopper_Moderator, 26.01.2011
Forwarded to the Strategic Planning Task Force for review.
Hopper_Moderator, 14.12.2010, 20:13
6 comments
14 votes Vote

Bibliographer review of Approval Books needed?

Seems to me there is a lot of staff time and effort involved in the approval plan bibliographer review process. Given our growing acquisition of eBooks, which are not individual reviewed, and our publisher-based approval profile, is this process...
Response from the site administrator
Hopper_Moderator, 26.01.2011
Forwarded to the Strategic Planning Task Force for review.
Hopper_Moderator, 14.12.2010, 19:37
3 comments
14 votes Vote

Thanks to the custodians

who handled this exam cycle - it took everything you could do to keep the place as clean as you did. thank you.
wayfarer, 15.12.2010, 02:34
1 comment
14 votes Vote

A cost-benefit analysis of TDL is in order.

If we need to cut and trim, the Texas Digital Library is something from which we derive little benefit. Yet it costs a lot in terms of staff and fees. Online theses and dissertations are important, but those are being served up by UT’s own...
Response from the site administrator
Hopper_Moderator, 26.01.2011
Forwarded to the Strategic Planning Task Force for review.
Hopper_Moderator, 15.12.2010, 13:19
1 comment
13 votes Vote

Suggest we stop providing food at meetings.

Meetings that run over breakfast or lunch can be brown bag. Folks can get coffee/tea/water from the break room, but if all other food services cease there should be some savings. Even breakfast tacos add up over a year.
Response from the site administrator
Hopper_Moderator, 18.06.2012
Thank you for the suggestion. Food and drink at occasional meetings, however restrained, has been scrutinized and managed carefully. Yet we can anticipate further cutbacks in this area over the coming budget cycle. We do appreciate the support of all of you in moving our holiday event on-site in the interest of economies. I do hope we do not have to move to VP Coffee-less in the coming biennium.

-Fred Heath

Please note, there is a comment to this posting made under the name "hopper-moderator," it has not been posted by the moderator of the site, Hopper Moderator.
Linda Abbey, 02.12.2010, 16:13
6 comments
13 votes Vote

Re-direction of expertise

While times are tight but while our materials acquisition numbers remain high, should we release staff from the bibliography or selection role, relying more on user driven collection development for now. In return we could redirect that subject...
Response from the site administrator
Hopper_Moderator, 14.12.2010
Forwarded to the Strategic Planning Task Force for review.
fheath, 10.12.2010, 21:19
6 comments
13 votes Vote

Continue to streamline workflows

Continue to streamline workflows, and to eliminate holdovers of the 20th century library processes and thinking- particularly in those areas dealing with physical resources that have numerous staff and present the best opportunities to gain...
Response from the site administrator
Hopper_Moderator, 26.01.2011
Forwarded to the Strategic Planning Task Force for review.
Hopper_Moderator, 14.12.2010, 19:56
1 comment
12 votes Vote

Reduce our physical footprint

Reduce our physical footprint and the need for stack maintenance by moving seldom used materials to storage. (Submitted via AD Comment Card)
Response from the site administrator
Hopper_Moderator, 26.01.2011
Forwarded to the Strategic Planning Task Force for review.
Hopper_Moderator, 14.12.2010, 19:52
0 comments
11 votes Vote

Staff furloughs

Has the University considered staff furloughs as an alternative to layoffs?
Response from the site administrator
Hopper_Moderator, 14.12.2010
Until the legislature meets, it is unlikely we will hear of any centrally mandated measures for confronting the budget deficits, and for now furloughs are not an option actively being employed. Using the web browsers, it is possible to access sites that treat the legal aspects for furloughs for different types of state employees (there may be legal distinctions as to exempt and nonexempt state employee status), and you can find those with relative ease. My advise is, simply, to continue to monitor your favorite media outlets. As we get closer to the legislative session the options favored by lawmakers will become more apparent. Should furloughs become part of UT policy, i will let all of you know the moment I hear.

-Fred Heath
Anonymous, 30.11.2010, 14:54
1 comment
11 votes Vote

Re-Structuring of the Advisory Groups to the Vice- Provost

The Vice Provost employs several advisory groups in order to promote communication across the organization: CSAC, PSAC, Personnel Committee, Quality Circle. How can we re-conceptualize the advisory role to provide more effective exchange?...
Response from the site administrator
Hopper_Moderator, 26.01.2011
Forwarded to the Strategic Planning Task Force for review.
Hopper_Moderator, 14.12.2010, 19:32
0 comments
11 votes Vote

Ask a Librarian

Are we leveraging this service to our maximum advantage? Is there software that might serve us better? Can we extend Ask a Librarian in creative ways and discontinue staffing reference and information points? Even an audit of how many regularly...
Response from the site administrator
Hopper_Moderator, 26.01.2011
Forwarded to the Strategic Planning Task Force for review.
Hopper_Moderator, 14.12.2010, 19:36
0 comments
11 votes Vote

Outsource more cataloging activities

Outsource more cataloging activities and make greater use of shelf-ready materials. (Submitted via AD Comment Card)
Hopper_Moderator, 14.12.2010, 19:55
0 comments
10 votes Vote

Transparency and Accountability

Annual reports and unit operating statements, which include break downs of how much it costs to run a unit, should be done every year and made available to all staff to ensure we continually plan, are accountable and think strategically. (Idea...
Response from the site administrator
Hopper_Moderator, 14.12.2010
Forwarded to the Strategic Planning Task Force for review.
Hopper_Moderator, 08.12.2010, 17:37
1 comment
10 votes Vote

Digitization/Preservation/Access

- We need a plan for digitization and preservation and it should include user access. Why preserve if nobody knows it exists? - Could be part of Institutional Repository but all digitized materials should be discoverable and not just...
Response from the site administrator
Hopper_Moderator, 14.12.2010
Forwarded to the Strategic Planning Task Force for review.
Hopper_Moderator, 09.12.2010, 01:49
2 comments

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