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Yale University Library
Service Quality
Improvement Council
Yale University Library
Service Quality Improvement Council
August 19
1-2:30 pm
SML Room 409
Attending: David Stern, Danuta Nitecki, Pam Mouzon, Robert Killheffer,
Mark Gentry, Ellen Hammond, Alan Solomon, Fred Martz, Sue Crockford-Peters,
Diane Turner
Absent: Carol Jones
ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. June 16th Public Session: "Selection to Acquisitions QI analysis:
summary of learning and creativity tips"
A summary of the lessons learned has been placed on the Local Initiatives
page as
"Lessons Learned from the FROG".
http://www.library.yale.edu/Administration/SQIC/SQICloc.html
With the completion of this initiative, all follow-up activities will
be administered by the appropriate supervisors in the individual units.
2. RefWorks ad hoc task force report and recommendations presented
to LMC
The proposal was adopted, the software will be funded, and Katie Bauer
will design the roll-out and report back after one year on the implications
and lessons learned during the implementation.
3. update on the two improvement initiatives (Danuta Nitecki)
Two areas were immediately obvious candidates for improvement and
work has begun:
(1) VRC services to respond to faculty requests for images, and
(2) Collection Space Management discard processing workflow (CCL weeding).
The common thread for these is a learning task of process improvement
and project management skills focusing on the SQI analysis of a particular
process. Danuta updated us on her conversations with the local stakeholders,
her training for the initiatives, the assistance of a campus colleague
for a portion of the training, and the inclusion of a few repeat particpants
from earlier initiatives (Robert Killhefer, Sue Roberts, Mike DiMassa,
and Alan Solomon).
The intention of these two quick initiatives was to achieve actual
improvements by the end of September, to increase in-house SQI knowledge
and skills, and to test shared training by two different improvement
groups. There were 3 sessions; 5, 3, and 2.5 hours in length. These
sessions focused on the important principles in SQI, with particular
emphasis on creating measurable objectives, understanding existing procedures,
contacting relevant stakeholders, and learning project management techniques.
There was good feedback from the participants, and a belief that we
should roll these approaches out to a larger audience.
Lessons learned:
SQIC determined that the expansion of future projects would be facilitated
through the creation of templates for the common SQI methods which can
be adapted for specific projects. These templates could be the basis
for future public sessions. One additional consideration was a reasonable
timeframe for developing skills and expertise of repeat participants
as leaders of future processes. Without a dedicated SQI Director, it
is the belief of the participants that after repeated participation
they may serve as facilitators, but not all will be able to act as leaders
of large-scale initiatives. Without the efficienct and effective use
of a trained SQI consultant, the library's ability to undertake large
initiatives is seriously limited.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Selecting next SQIC funded initiatives (continued from last meeting)
In addition to our two new local initiatives, we need to formalize
our selection of next projects beginning in October.
SQIC reviewed the processes for identifying candidates for our next
focus. There were two methods: generating a call for future topics and
identifying needs through existing unit-level or library-wide service
reviews.
A. Generating a call for future topics
Our timeline is: send call to YULIB-L in late August, review of proposals
in September, presentation to LMC in October, begin initiatives in November.
The draft call announcement:
SQIC Call: New areas for our next Improvement Demonstration Projects
SQIC is continuing to develop a broader organizational understanding
of the Quality Improvement Process through successful demonstration
and improvement projects. Following up on our recent Selector to Acquisitions
and ELI Express projects, we are now beginning the process of identifying
candidates for our next library-wide demonstration projects. There are,
of course, many ongoing local SQI initiatives underway within various
library units … see http://www.library.yale.edu/Administration/SQIC/SQICloc.html
We will be using two methods to identify candidates: (1) this call for
future targets, and (2) unit-level or library-wide service reviews.
As our intention is to improve services and learn more about the SQI
process, our criteria for the selection of topics should emphasize:
(I) cross-departmental projects,
(II) those interactions representing improvements for readers [whether
directly or indirectly], and
(III) those with links to the Strategic Plan
Major Strategic Plan areas not yet included in our previous improvement
projects are Unlocking Collections and International Scholars support
- plus the recognized need to create an agile/flexible organization;
however, any target for improvement supporting the Strategic Plan can
be suggested.
SQIC will review all proposals and suggest to LMC one or two projects
that will benefit the library's process to implement the Strategic Plan.
Initiatives will be selected for further review based upon available
time and resources.
To submit a proposal go to URL _______________________.
(return copy will be sent to email address)
***********************************************************************
The form content (form to be create shortly)
1. Identify a target area which you think could benefit from a process
improvement initiative.
2. What units in the library are involved?
3. How does this relate to the Strategic Plan?
4. How does it affect customers - either readers and/or library staff?
Optional:
Name
Dept
Contact Info
********************************************************************
B. Identified through existing reviews
One new project was identified as a possibility for quick action
Humans Interacting with Humans
We will be reviewing appropriate service expectation levels for library
contact points, via telephone and other media. We will review and discuss
reasonable service levels and the possible staffing options required
to provide adequate human-based phone contact. Example issues might
include: always starting with a person at one designated library phone
number, reviewing existing looped messaging without options to leave
voice messages, appropriate levels of voice mail for all staff, determining
acceptable response times, and using personal vs departmental accounts.
The review will address answering messages from both users and from
internal library staff. More at a our next meeting. Timeline: September
charge creation, October and November report creation, November LMC
discussion.
2. Support revenue for new SQIC initiatives (POSTPONED)
Support for previous initiatives was reviewed. Previous initiatives
were funded with seed money and one-time discretionary funds, plus salary
savings. Future initiatives likely will rely upon discretionary funds,
SQIC requests to LMT, and the use of local knowledge developed through
these previous projects. The continuation and maturity of our local
participants is seen as an excellent professional development opportunity
and a wise use of institutional resources.
FORUMS (for Culture Development) --- (POSTPONED)
1. Public meetings - topics and schedule
The next phase of these sessions should continue to restate the larger
SQI goals, but should address particular components of the process such
as vocabulary, assessment and measurement, project management, bench
marking, user feedback, deliverables, and best practices and application.
The next sessions should explore turning aspirations into measurable
goals, such as moving from the generalities in the Strategic Plan to
priorities and deliverables.
Two sessions -- session one would lay out a strategy for defining measurable
objectives, and session two would be a report back on actually developed
goals after a period of reflection and investigation.
Another session might be a report from the Divinity Library on their
current acquisitions processing SQI initiative.
David will invite recommendations from the Q-Tip [Customer Service
Quality Improvement Initiative] ad hoc group.
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
1. review group (by Ann Okerson) of the International Researcher support
system
2. Annual Report 2003 to be prepared. New committee appointments to
be made.
3. Katie Bauer will visit to discuss library-wide communication networks
and to provide an update on her SQIC-related tasks.
4. SQIC will explore the SurveyMonkey online tool. Danuta proposed
we use this tool to obtain targeted user opinions, and will demo this
at our Sept 16th meeting, and in a future public session in order to
promote the tool for other measurement and analysis purposes.
©
2004 Yale University Library.
Last modified June 25, 2004..
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