YUL MOVING FORWARD:  QUESTIONS and ANSWERS

 

Listed below are questions posed at the last large group staff meeting (Moving Forward 11/4/03).  These questions have been categorized and sent to appropriate staff members for response.  Before each answer is the name of the staff member(s) who responded.  This document will continue to be updated, as answers are submitted (in varying colors so that readers may quickly identify new answers).  Please continue checking in for new answers over the coming weeks.

 

Answers: December 1, 2003 are in blue

Answers: December 10, 2003 are in purple

Answers: December 23, 2003 are in green

Answers: January 7, 2004 are in red

Go Directly to:
A. Access Services
B. Acquisitions
C. Communications
D. Flexibility and Agility
E. Integrated Access
F. InterLibrary Loan/Borrow Direct
H. International Programs
I. Library Shelving Facility
J. Orbis
K. Preservation
L. Service Quality
M. Staff Training and Development
N. Unlocking Collections/Cataloging

Access Services 

 

[Danuta Nitecki] A major result of an inventory is to account for the items in the collection.  We expect to identify lost items in the catalog, have items shelved where they belong, and thereby make it easier for readers to access materials needed.

 

[Danuta Nitecki] Not in every way.   There are common types of loan periods across the libraries, though variations in the length of loans, for example, dependent on the borrowing needs of different constituents served.  Best practices for procedures are shared among circulation staffs, but the variation in the circulation activity levels may call for different workflows. 

 

[Danuta Nitecki] Yes, the Collection Space Management program aims to reach a point when on-campus shelving will be occupied at about 80% capacity to provide for comfortable browsing and effective stack management.  

 

[Danuta Nitecki] Not known if we ever did a complete inventory of the YUL collections. 

 

 

 

 

 

·        Collection management – would you elaborate on the pilot project of no more than 250,000 volumes?

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Acquisitions

 

 

 

Communications

 

[Mary Caldera/Communications Committee] This is admittedly one of the most difficult parts of our job.  The CC is a broad communication vehicle.  Our communications tend to be directed to the Library as a whole and in our opinion are relevant to all staff members.  The only way to ensure that we are doing a good job is for individuals to let us know.

 

It is important to recognize that communication is not the responsibility of just one group or select individuals.  In addition to communicating ourselves, we make recommendations to others on how they may improve and encourage the exchange of ideas and information.   For instance, we have encouraged the establishment of feedback mechanisms and have made recommendations to LMC regarding departmental meeting agendas.  Each individual in the library is an integral part of the communication network, and the more we listen and talk to each the more-- the more we are actively engaged with the seeking and imparting of relevant information, the more we will be satisfied with the flow of communication.

 

[Mary Caldera/Communications Committee] One measure we are using is the High Performing Organization (HPO) Survey.  As you may recall the library-wide survey was taken by staff in November of last year.  In the area of communications (Shared Information and Open Communication), the library score was 4.3, which is slightly above neutral.  The survey will be taken again early next year.  We will compare the score from the next survey and with the November benchmark.

 

A Communications Committee sub-group lead by Dana Peterman is studying the question of measures and will recommend additional measures.  If you have any suggestions regarding measuring our progress in this area, please let me know, and I will forward them to Dana.

 

[Alice Prochaska and Diane Young Turner] The Communications Committee is seriously working on this issue as well as other areas of library-wide communications. Additionally, I believe that communications will have to become a higher priority of LMT and LMC. Some improvements have been made but more work is needed.  Based upon the feedback from staff at prior Large Group sessions, staff meetings have been the single most important vehicle for communicating.  Guidelines for running a meeting have already been developed and other tools will be suggested in order to help to facilitate these meetings.  It is also important for staff to help to promote open communication with middle managers by making suggestions on specific topics that you would like to have discussed.  Training in management (which includes good communications) is available to all managers in the Library, and they are encouraged to take advantage of this.  Accountability is also fostered in an environment of commonly decided goals and targets; and part of the work of Moving Forward was to help define some of these goals.

 

[Alice Prochaska and Diane Young Turner] Based upon the work of the two SQI Redesign Teams (formed by Danuta Nitecki) some progress has already been made in improving communications across departments.  For example, the ELI Express redesign team, consisting of people in all the departments involved, has come up with some real improvements to the service; and improvements are in progress for the more complex acquisitions process, involving numerous people in several departments. I am optimistic that cross training, more joint departmental meetings and other initiatives will assist in solving this issue as well.

 

 

 

 

Flexibility and Agility

 

[Alice Prochaska, Kate Reynolds, Diane Young Turner] Keep in mind that all staff members who work in the library play a part in achieving the strategic goals as set forth by the Library. Your supervisor should be able to help you clearly understand exactly what role your department or unit plays as well as outline the objectives that your unit must accomplish in order to help achieve the strategic planning goals. The most immediate source of information is your supervisor or department head. Ask your supervisor or department head to hold a staff meeting to explain your department’s role and report progress about what is being accomplished in other areas of the Library.

 

[Alice Prochaska, Kate Reynolds, Diane Young Turner] First, let us bring you up to date on what has already been put in place.  Most significantly, has been the inclusion of C&T staff members on various Library standing committee and project teams.  The former staff association M&PSA has been renamed LiSA (Library Staff Association) and brings together all levels of staff members around various projects.    The University Librarian’s Teas are an invitation to all library staff members to gather and exchange ideas with one another in an informal atmosphere.

 

On behalf of the university, the Library is hosting a pilot program, “Creating A Shared Future”, which will encourage and sustain 2-way dialogue amongst all levels of staff on ways Yale can become a more civil, effective and innovative place to work.  Members of our Library staff will be randomly selected to participate. The sessions will be co-facilitated by Laura Freebairn-Smith and Kate Reynolds.

Library Humans Resources will continue to develop vehicles, such as the Communications Committee and tools like the Learning Plan that enhance 2-way dialogue amongst all levels of staff.  Most importantly, we will seek your input and recommendations as we develop new initiatives.

 

[Alice Prochaska] School and departmental libraries are crucial in all parts of the Strategic Plan.  Each action plan applies to all departments in one way or another.  As one example, the Unlocking Collections action plan lists collections all over the library system that need attention; and I know several departmental libraries are turning their attention now to some of these collections.  To take another example, the International Program focuses not just on parts of the library which concentrate on international collections.  Some great work in the international arena is being done at the Medical Library, Social Sciences Library, Beinecke, and Divinity Library, as well as in RSC and the area studies collections, and I know that does not complete the list.  More generally, the committees and councils that are being set up to carry forward our strategy in particular areas of activity (e.g. the multi-departmental international council and the Integrated Access Council) will draw membership from all parts of the Library.  I hope all parts of the Library system, wherever they are based, will give thought to how they can contribute to each of the action plans.  Much good thinking along these lines came out of the Spring Forward meeting in particular, and we are using these ideas as we move forward with the action plans.

 

[Alice Prochaska] I think there was a specific question behind this one, and I can’t say whether one particular department’s changes will be reviewed or not.  But we certainly will look at organizational change, within LMT and LMC, as one way of meeting strategic priorities effectively.  There is no presumption that a recent change has to be maintained if it really is not working.

 

- How will the recent announcement of Yale’s budget crunch affect strategic planning and subsumed activities? 

- With the University plan to reduce staffing in order to handle the deficit, how is the library planning to meet the goals of the Strategic Plan including the staffing expansion predicted in the planning documents? 

- Given the recent article in the New Haven Register about the 5-10% cut in University staffing, how is the library planning to accomplish the strategic plan?

- Despite budget constraints, we need a way to bring new challenges and opportunities unto the strategic plan—what will be the mechanism for doing so?

[Alice Prochaska] Let me try to answer these questions together. The Library Management Team will be looking at all vacancies to determine which are the most important to fill, either to continue core operations, or to fulfill high priorities in the Strategic Plan.  Where any vacant position is not filled, the supervisors concerned are asked to specify the consequences of doing without it, so that necessary adjustments in their department’s work can be made.  In addition, we will be redoubling our efforts to win grants and endowments for some Library activities, bringing in externally-funded positions to replace some that were formerly funded from the university’s general allocation.

 

The Provost’s Office has approved a basic plan for our share of budget reductions that I submitted last week. It shows the Library can achieve the 5% cuts without any need for layoffs, and without biting into our basic provision for implementing the strategic plan. Some of the reductions will come from expenditure on equipment and other non-staff costs.  Some will come from keeping open some positions that are currently vacant (where they are not essential to the strategic plan immediately).  We also project a certain number of vacancies arising naturally; based on the record of turnover in staff positions in recent years, only a small proportion of those vacancies will need to be held open.

 

Across the university, teams of managers are taking a close look at redundant activities and areas where work can be shared between units.  This will help achieve the necessary savings for the university as a whole and, I hope, may also reduce some of the administrative burdens placed on the Library.  It is never easy to face budgetary cuts, but with a well articulated Strategic Plan and the action plans flowing from it, we are in a strong position to do so with clear understanding of the impact on our core services and staff, and to plan how best to fit our priorities for the future to these reduced resources. 

 

[Alice Prochaska] See in part, my answer above.  It is vitally important for us to continue with our plans, and to look outside the Library for partnerships that will help all concerned to achieve their aims in a cost-effective way.  I personally do not see a ‘circle of wagons’ thinking developing in the Library.  I agree it can be a danger in any organization that faces cuts. 

 

[Alice Prochaska] The feedback forms submitted after the meeting (mounted separately on this site) show that the great majority of those attending found it well worthwhile.  One further measure of success will be in the responses to the second staff survey, to be carried out in January. Beyond those, an enduring value of this meeting and the Focus Forward and Spring Forward meetings will come from the large number of ideas and proposals made during the meetings, on which the Library acts.  The Strategic Plan as published contains the work of the Focus Forward meeting, and the wording adopted there.  Both Focus Forward and Spring Forward produced large numbers of proposals which have been and are being carried forward.  The same will be true of Moving Forward, as we process the proposals for measurement and the many other comments that came from it. 

 

- Why isn’t there a union rep on today’s panel?

[Maureen Malone Jones and Diane Young Turner] Panel members were selected based upon areas of the strategic planning process that needed to be addressed.  Those individuals selected had specific responsibilities for past and/or ongoing responsibilities for implementation.

 

[Maureen Malone Jones and Diane Young Turner] I do hope that there is accountability between staff and supervisors.  The library expects no less.  If there isn’t, it should be brought to the attention of the department head, AUL, Library Human Resources or the University Librarian.  A number of venues have been established to encourage this sort of communication.  Concerning the question about the accountability within the Union, I am not in a position to answer.   Questions about internal Union affairs should be directed to a Union steward or Union staff.

 

[Maureen Malone Jones and Diane Young Turner] Since this is not a question, it is difficult to respond.  I do know that President Levin, other University Officers and the library administration, headed by Alice, are keenly interested in creating a cooperative work environment, where we all work together and freely communicate our opinions and differences respectfully and with civility.  Certainly if we can’t agree, there are mechanisms in place to resolve the disagreement.

 

[Alice Prochaska and Diane Young Turner] Committee members are sometimes selected from volunteers and nominations and at times are selected based upon the knowledge and expertise that staff will lend to the Committee.  Selections are sometimes made by the Committee, the Committee’s Sponsor, Library Administration, or the chair of the Committee.  It is now regarded as the norm that committee membership should be drawn from all levels of staff.  People are invited on the basis of the contribution they can make to the particular work of the committee. I am pleased that most Committees now make an attempt to have cross representation from all levels of staff. 

 

[Alice Prochaska and Diane Young Turner] We believe that this series of meeting, of which Moving Forward was the last, has been vitally important to advancing the overall work of the library and providing a sense of direction for the library administration and staff.  Additionally, the feedback that we have received from the four meetings confirms that staff are eager to be engaged in discussions about the library’s future and to obtain a sense of their role in the process.  We have further learned from staff, the importance of communication at all levels, is critically important. Having each staff member be involved once in such a meeting is not frivolous.  On the contrary, it is important to the health of the organization to involve all staff, and to derive form them the many excellent ideas that have come forward in these meetings. Some extremely valuable contributions have resulted from each of the series of large group meetings that we have held.  The views expressed by staff, and the good thinking they have put into designing the different elements in the Library’s strategic plan, are being incorporated into the plan and are highly valued.

 

[Alice Prochaska and Diane Young Turner] We have gained so much value from the process, it is hard to place a price tag on the overall cost. It is an important part of the business that we conduct on behalf of the Yale University library system.

 

[Alice Prochaska and Diane Young Turner] Some of our strategic initiatives may take longer to achieve, but they are important to the life and work of the Library, and we will continue to move them forward. As I recently stated in the December issue of Library Links, “expectations will have to be reexamined in every sphere, and where it is not possible to reach earlier targets with streamlined resources, that will have to be made clear, and targets will need to be reexamined and if necessary, adjusted. The good news is that we have a period of eighteen months in which to achieve the full 5% reductions that the university expects of us. During that time, reductions will be achieved both by reducing expenditure on equipment, subscriptions and other non-staff items, and by choosing not to fill just a small number of the vacancies that will arise naturally from resignations and retirements. Nobody expects to see any layoffs in the Library's ranks as a result of these budget reductions.”  Strategic initiatives need to have goals and targets, against which they will be measured.  These goals may have longer timescales than they otherwise would, if the initiatives are in areas where positions may be lost owing to vacancies not being filled.

 

[Diane Young Turner] The Service Quality Awards are available to all levels of staff.  Nominations have been sought from staff as well as supervisors.  I do believe that we should do more.  A professional development plan for all levels of staff is one of my goals for the 2004 year.

 

[Diane Young Turner] I agree that we do want to take advantage of recognizing staff throughout their library/university career.  Through focus groups (and other means of input) that we will be conducting in early 2004, I will be keenly interested in hearing other suggestions from staff on ways that we can recognize staff.  For those completing training classes, I’d like to see us go beyond a presentation of certificate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Integrated Access

 

[Ann Okerson] The Media Task Force of the Collection Development Council has been working hard, under the leadership of Tobin Nellhaus, to make media materials much more straightforward to manage for the Library staff, and particularly much more accessible for our patrons.  The recommendations of the group have been accepted by the Library Management Council and an implementation group is being formed.  The Media Report makes for very interesting reading, covering the various topics of security, integration, organization, and much more.

 

URL:                http://www.library.yale.edu/CDC/public/subcommittees/Media/index.html

 

[Ann Okerson] In at least 3 or more ways:  (1) Under the leadership of Kimberly Parker, Head of Electronic Collections, and other colleagues, the Library Web Site offers database, ejournal, and ebook listings which are very much kept up to date.  For example, the ejournals pages list about 30,000 journals by title.  (2) In addition, Catalog Department staff, along with Library Systems, are now regularly loading MARC records for electronic books, journals, databases, and other resources into Orbis.  (3) The Library Web is rich in departmental library and subject specialist's pages, and these inform readers about new and existing resources in areas of particular interest (see, for example, the pages of the Medical Library, or Social Sciences, and many many more).  Finally, library staff throughout the system teach many classes in how to use resources, and these instructional efforts strive to include the most current resources and enhancements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

InterLibrary Loan/Borrow Direct

 


 

 

International Programs

 

- International Programs – Where is the library-initiated expansion and strengthen in areas? or is the library following the University/student body’s leading?

[Ann Okerson] The Yale Library collects geographically in order to support teaching, research, and learning programs of the University.  The current area studies programs (Africa, East Asia, Judaica, Latin America, Near East, Slavic and East Europe, and South East Asia) have been developed over a relatively long period of time, as they represent long-standing areas of University interest.  Now the University is consciously expanding into both entirely new areas (such as South Asia and Hellenic Studies) and new subsets of existing ones (such as Korea and Persia).  Accordingly, the Library is beginning to support those areas as well.  Startup happens through partnerships with the Yale Center for International and Area Studies (YCIAS) and its Councils, and their working with the Library in order to raise seed money for staff.  After 2-3 years of such seeding, the Library is expected to naturalize the new programs into its ongoing activities.

 

URL:                http://www.library.yale.edu/area_studies/

 

[Ann Okerson] See above.  The choice of nations and cultures is related to University teaching and research programs, rather than the Library's choice of countries and cultures that might be interesting for their own sakes.  Unfortunately, no library, not even Yale's, is resourced to cover all the many fascinating possibilities that the world offers.

 

[Ann Okerson] One of the most important sources for Federal funding for the Yale University is the U.S. Department of Education, under its Title VI program, which has been in existence since the late 1950s, when it was established as the National Defense Education Act (NDEA).  At that time of competition such as the cold war and space travel (Sputnik) the United States determined that it needed to raise awareness and interest in other nations, in order to strengthen this country.  The Title VI programs allow universities to strengthen existing already strong programs, as well as to create new ones in the national interest.  They are hugely successful, funding diverse activities such as fellowships, visiting scholars, library resources, colloquia, language teaching, and much more.  Title VI grants are given typically for 3-year periods, and YCIAS and the Library invest a fair amount of time in developing strong applications.  Currently Yale is the proud holder of several substantial Title VI grants in areas such as Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Europe.  Each of these has a small but important library component.  Additionally, the Library applied for and successfully won a Title VI grant to build a database of Middle Eastern periodicals, a grant just beginning its second year.

 

Various foundations support international programs.  Currently the YCIAS and the Library are recipients of funds from the Niarchos Foundation, which supports Hellenic Studies.  Ford and Rockefeller have also given funding to the University, and other organizations are being tapped for future support.

 

URLs:              http://www.library.yale.edu/oacis

 

[Ann Okerson] The position will support all of these programs, by working with different areas to identify opportunities (such as internships and fellowships, grants, exchanges, and much more) and to realize them.  The Library also needs to show its international programs in a much more integrated, coherent way than we currently do.  While the Library is doing all many, many things in the international arena, it is not resourced to expand beyond current activities, and we need badly to do that.  Bringing focus and resource to international activities will be enhanced in its being someone's assignment to do just that.

 

[Ann Okerson] Voyager is developing capacities for representing non-Roman scripts, which, when we implement them, will enable users of our catalog to search and retrieve books in their natural language, rather than relying on transliteration.  This will improve the likelihood of successful interactions with Orbis in languages such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, and Hebrew.  Orbis is available not only to our own users, of course, but also globally through the Web.  We don't yet have an idea of what impact this kind of functionality will have beyond our institution, but no doubt we can expect many rewards -- and demands -- as a result.

 

- How can visiting scholars receive specific orientations to branch libraries?

[Ann Okerson] Not all; more than one might think (all the area curators and many subject specialists attend a number of orientations for their fields, and the Library provides an orientation for the President's World Fellows Program early every academic year).  But we need to identify more such opportunities and provide support for our visitors.  This is another area that the Program Manager can be most helpful with.

 

[Ann Okerson] The YCIAS is interested in expanding into "Central Asia" and is applying for grants to do so.  If funding can be secured, the University and the Library will add resources for this region.  However, the University has many priorities; this may not be at the top of the list at this time.

 

[Ann Okerson] While its shape and size hasn't been fully determined, the plan is that the Council will have representation from staff working on different geographical programs and will also attempt to be representative of various school and departmental libraries, as well as different levels of staff.

 

[Ann Okerson] It is a conceptual draft only and does not exist as a specific site that can be accessed at this time.  This is definitely another assignment for the International Program Manager!

 

[Joan Swanekamp] A number of the collections listed in the Unlocking Collections report support the Library’s international programs.

 

 

Library Shelving Facility

 

[Danuta Nitecki] I am not sure if I understand this question and so welcome a direct query to me [danuta.nitecki@yale.edu or 2-1818] if the person posing it had something else in mind.  The time it takes to move items to LSF is dependent on several factors.  At the beginning of each fiscal year, the fund amount available to the project is translated into a figure of how many items we project we are capable of moving.  The LMC agrees to an allocation of this capacity among the libraries and collection units requesting to transfer materials to the LSF.   The process of transferring materials to the LSF involves selections made by subject specialists responsible for the collections throughout the Library, retrieval from the shelves, confirmation [sometimes correction] that the bibliographic record in Orbis is correct for each item, physical movement to Hamden, and accessioning the piece at the LSF.  Time may vary to accomplish each of these steps.  When the LSF opened five years ago, the Provost funded the operation with an expectation of moving 250,000 items each year.  Since then, the University Librarians have increased the funds available and the staff have streamlined routines and work hard to improve their productivity.  As a result we now are moving close to 400,000 items in a year.   

 

[Danuta Nitecki] Before transferring a material format to the LSF, its Advisory Group in close collaboration with Preservation staff, establish appropriate methods to handle items of the format.    These specifications are posted among the pages of the LSF web site, see: http://www.library.yale.edu/lsf/transfers.html.  In addition, the LSF staff receive training in how to handle materials to and from the facility.

 

- Is there a plan for new LSF facilities?

      [Danuta Nitecki] Not in the foreseeable future.  Last summer construction was completed of all modules planned for the LSF facility in Hamden, which should give the Library growth capacity for many years to come.

 

[Joan Swanekamp] I am a bit unsure of what you are getting at.  Materials sent to LSF only have their location changed so there is no reclassification or recataloging.  For materials that are truly withdrawn from the Yale University Library there is a message in the OPAC that acknowledges that the Library once owned the item, but it is no longer available.  The staff who perform this work should be trained in the set of appropriate procedures …

 

[Danuta Nitecki] Our workflow is currently designed to strive for efficient productivity and the LSF staff don't correct any problems.  Instead, members of the staff are trained to recognize problems and are then instructed either to avoid them (by not picking the items in the first place) or to forward them elsewhere for resolution.  Examples of the first strategy (preventative) would be sorting pickslips prior to retrieval at the shelf and pulling out those which appear to identify analytics, bound-withs, or pamphlets. Examples of the second method of dealing with problems would be sending items picked (but subsequently found to have encoding level problems, re-linking issues, or call number typos) to Cataloging for problem resolution.

       

 LSF staff work in the circulation module.  They do not have permissions to either re-link items or to delete item records.  They do not have access to the Cataloging module and therefore do not work on the holdings level.  Given these restrictions, I'm not quite sure what problems they could be trained to solve without having a different staffing model.

 

 

Orbis

 

- Where is one integrated search by Endeavor to meet all needs?

[Fred Martz] Since May 2003, a group of library staff led by Audrey Novak has been comparing the features of the MetaLib and ENCompass federated searching products.  Both systems have been installed at Yale for the purposes of this pilot investigation and members of the group have configured a selected set of resources for cross-database searching.  The evaluation is nearing completion and the group will deliver a report / recommendation to LMC in January.  At that point the library will decide whether to proceed with production implementation of one of these portal products.

 

[Fred Martz] Built in to the Voyager system is an item-less request process and form.  When a reader requests material that does not have an item record, the request is linked to the title and not to a particular library’s holdings.  The request goes to the first ELI Express library that owns the material in alphabetical order.

 

[Fred Martz] It’s difficult to answer this question without some additional information.  In answering, we are assuming that the question refers to item status displays in the OPAC (and not patron, vendor, order, invoice, etc. status values). 

 

The reinstatement of NOTIS-like pseudo-patron messages in the OPAC was completed with the implementation of release 2001.2 this past summer.  This implementation corrected the status problem we had since going live with Voyager for in-process, frontlog, at the bindery, etc. materials.  Otherwise, the item status messages in Orbis reflect the accurate, current status of materials to the extent that processing was completed.  If manual processing has not been completed or if it was done incorrectly, the status in Orbis will not be accurate, but the only way to resolve this kin