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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 expertise to the metadata and processing side of workflow and shore up an area badly eroded by the current round of staff cuts.

fheath, 10.12.2010, 21:19
Response from the site administrator
Hopper_Moderator, 14.12.2010
Forwarded to the Strategic Planning Task Force for review.
Idea status: under consideration

Comments

onehopper, 10.12.2010, 22:07
A big resounding NO to this idea!
We are a research library for a top tier research institution. If we want to continue to have strong collections, we need to continue building them in depth. That requires collection development expertise and should not be left to our users.
It is said that in a good research collection 80% of the materials only represent 20% of the circulation, this is not a weakness or waste, it is the strength of a deep collection.
Yes, lets find ways to involve our users but lets not get them to become our bibliographers.
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whodat, 15.12.2010, 00:44
faculty and graduate students know their disciplines well, this idea could work, IF there is sufficient expertise to deflect other areas where backlogs may be developing. the library can always go back to a librarian helping to select books if the fiscal climate every improves.
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MichiganJFrog, 16.12.2010, 18:18
Many of our bibliographers are multi-taskers. Selection informs expertise, which in turn provides the quality of services expected at a research library. Users expect "librarians" to be experts in subject areas. Reliance on user-driven collection development will reflect in haphazard collections of record and frustrated users. It seems counter intuitive and most likely out weighs any cost savings.
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putmeincoach, 16.12.2010, 19:17
of course this is the rewarding part of being a librarian, but it would free up time to be re-directed to areas where there are gaps, plugging holes while the library reorganizes. if it were for a year or two, there would probably be no harm, and the faculty and the graduate students probably know better than the libraries what is need in their courses of study. when the holes are filled the librarians could go back to what they enjoy most.
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fheath, 17.12.2010, 19:38
Thank you MJF for the comment. Our bibliographers are indeed multi-taskers and skilled in each area. of their duties. "Back of the envelope" calculations suggest we have about 700,000 hours to direct toward our service to the university. Projections are we may have to trim a many as 140,000 of those through budget reductions. With luck our planning process will identify some things we can discontinue or make more efficient, in effect "saving" some of those hours. Sometimes we may have redirect hours from valuable services to areas where there are large identified deficits. You speak eloquently for maintaining the status quo in bibliography. Continue to use this forum and together we can craft the best solutions possible under the circumstances.
Fred
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barnettde, 27.07.2012, 20:11
Dear dystopianavenger - Thank you for your recent post; we appreciate the suggestion that we might have staff resources available to assist the Libraries’ bibliographers and will consult with the bibliographers on that. Keep the ideas coming.

Doug


Doug Barnett
Chief of Staff
University of Texas Libraries
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