Good Practices

Efficiencies in acquiring, describing and providing access: "The right expertise at the right time"

2011-12-22T17:54:21Z

I'm delighted that the recordings from the Ohio "Cataloging Efficiencies that Make a Difference" member event are now available on the OCLC website! This event took place on 21 October at OCLC's very own headquarters. OCLC Vice President Bruce Crocco joined me at the podium to welcome our participants, and then Ted Fons, Executive Director for WorldCat Global Metadata Network, described in some detail how WorldCat is helping libraries work at "webscale." David Whitehair updated us on tech services trends and good practices with emphasis on how the OCLC cataloging subscription can facilitate workflow efficiencies.

The highlight of this day was our exceptional panel of member librarians:

Susan Banoun, Head of the Electronic Resources Department at the University of Cincinnati, described the challenge of acquiring, describing and maintaining access to the 1.2 million records with URLs in the UC catalog (35% of their catalog records). Records originate from vendors; from WorldCat through Collection Sets or through the WorldCat Cataloging Partners program; or via item-by-item cataloging from WorldCat. Her team manipulates records in large batches using specially-created loaders, MarcEdit, and other programming tools like SED and Python. Susan describes her approach as, "minimal edits to ensure access!"
Morag Boyd, Head of Special Collections Cataloging at The Ohio State University Libraries, introduced one of several catch phrases of the day: referring to the eight special collections under her purview, Morag says, "you're all special, but you're special in the same way.". Partly in response to a dramatic reduction in staffing a couple of years ago, Morag has been introducing workflow tools to standardize how special collections are processed through her team, like a checklist for adding commonly-requested notes to records. She aims to bring "the right expertise at the right time" to unique and special materials: both within the OSU libraries, and more widely, by collaborating with other libraries in OhioLINK.
Pam Matthews, Acquisitions Manager at Cuyahoga County Public Library, lead us through an impressive tale of increased productivity and cost efficiency, in the context of declining budgets, reduced staffing and a stringent union environment. Her advice? Work with your vendors to get maximum value for your library: press them to offer you their very best discounts, and then scrutinize invoices to make sure they are applying your negotiated terms. Ask for more helpful labeling of boxes, e.g., color-coding, or prefixing order numbers and invoice numbers so you know the format and can route the items directly to the right person or team for processing into the collection. Finally, Pam ascribes some of her dramatic success to luck: though reduced in number, her staff have skills that enable them to work smarter.

Group discussions focused on how to do more with less: how to streamline workflows, re-deploy staff, and cross-train both within tech services, and with other functional areas of the library, to cover more bases, expand our opportunities and promote our visibility in the library. The challenges we face are serious: a consensus began emerging that library work is changing and we, as library staff and supporters, need to change with it.

We were honored to welcome Beverly Cain, Ohio's State Librarian, whose closing remarks really articulated how the library landscape has been changing; and how libraries in Ohio are responding. She focused on collaboration as a key to library sustainability in the future - with other libraries, and with other partners such as community centers. She sees shared library systems and consortia as a growing trend; combined with evolving technologies and user expectations, the future looks bright for Ohio's libraries.

RDA in 2012: Get Prepared

2011-12-12T22:42:23Z

During two OCLC "Cataloging Efficiencies that Make a Difference" member meetings held on consecutive days at the Gutman Library, Harvard University and the Boston Public Library, two excellent RDA presentations were delivered. The presenters had been RDA testers in 2010 and brought a wealth of practical experience to the audience. The talks focused on where they had been but, more importantly, what all catalogers can do in 2012 to prepare for the RDA adoption in January, 2013.

Here are a few of their ideas to get started. First is to get out of the holding pattern. RDA is here to stay. Don't know where to turn? As one speaker advised, check out the list of RDA testers, select one that is comparable to your institution and contact them for questions or advice.

Second, training or overviews can be found for free on the Library of Congress website, including the training at Georgia Public Library Cataloging Summit last August. Also, OCLC's Good Practices for Great Outcomes portal has several free RDA presentations; check out Jeanne Piascik's RDA presentation from last February or Chris Cronin's presentation. And, the OCLC website has RDA-related resources in print and recordings, including a great starting point on the topic of FRBR.

Third, read up on the subject in the latest professional literature. An article on the experiences of RDA testers was recently published in a special issue of Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 49(7/8).

Fourth, as one speaker suggested, you don't need to jump into RDA all at once. Create an implementation plan that emphasizes testing it out for three months as a pilot.

After hearing the speakers talk about RDA in a common sense approach, most participants felt better about making the change. So start now to prepare for RDA.

The "fuzzy" library

2011-12-12T20:41:32Z

At OCLC's "Cataloging Efficiencies That Make a Difference" event held recently at the Gutman Library, Harvard University, Eric Childress commented during his keynote that today's libraries have "fuzzy boundaries." One librarian later commented that he found the concept "thought provoking," but wondered if Eric considered this a "positive thing" for libraries. I decided to follow up to find out his thoughts about this comment.

Eric confirmed that the "fuzzy" library affects both the collection and the staffing within a library. Collections now consist of a variety of resources: licensed content, free resources on the web, electronic devices, etc. Therefore, what libraries own is not nearly as clean as it used to be. The "fuzzy" library can also move beyond the boundaries of one institution. For one example of collaboration between libraries, visit the 2CUL website of Cornell and Columbia, an effort to combine library resources of both institutions. For more "fuzziness," would their collection count as one or two collections after they are combined? Also, in the past, staff could rely on their duties to remain steady with not much fluctuation in job expectations. Today change is the one thing staff can rely on. Staff is being asked to do more with less, and take on additional responsibilities not previously outlined in job descriptions, which sometimes blurs the lines within organizational structures. With more fluid roles, this is a probably a good thing for staff, but in many cases there are no clearly defined expectations, which can be unsettling. With change, there is more fuzziness for the future, but more opportunity for all.

E-book pilot project: one academic library's perspective

2011-12-06T23:03:08Z

Diane Baden, Head of Monographic Services at Boston College's O'Neill Library,spoke recently at the "Cataloging Efficiencies that Make a Difference" event at Harvard University's Gutman Library. Her presentation titled, Piloting E-Books Why, How, Who, and other Questions, hinted that her presentation would leave participants with more questions than answers. Diane covered the O'Neil Library's pilot e-book project that was strategically funded to study the effects of incorporating e-books into their collection. What they eventually tested during the pilot included purchasing individual titles through GOBI and packages with some major publishers, using trials to assess e-books, using patron-driven acquisition (PDA) through ebrary, and digital-driven acquisition (DDA) through YBP. As the pilot progressed, they learned that this is a market in the state of flux, and libraries and vendors are learning from each other as the market develops. And, libraries owe it to vendors to offer guidance on good practices for this developing market.

At the end of the pilot, several issues hadn't been resolved including a collection development policy, budget allocations, and digital rights management. In the next year assessment will be a key goal for the task force. At this point, it's not clear who's using their e-book collections and why and, like with serials packages, whether a package is a good value versus one-off purchasing.

As for cataloging staff, the long-term implications of purchasing fewer materials could bode well for them, allowing them time to perform functions that have been neglected in the past. At the same time, new job functions may require continuing education/training.

More Product, Less Process: Moving from Artisan to Production Cataloging

2011-11-07T22:28:35Z

When Dennis Meissner of the Minnesota Historical Society spoke to some 150 attendees at the Good Practices for Great Outcomes: Cataloging Efficiencies that Make a Difference event hosted with DePaul University Libraries he did so as a relative outsider: as an archivist who focuses on making archival collections available, speaking to a room focused primarily on cataloging traditionally published materials.

As is often the case, however, his outside perspective provided spot-on insights into cataloging efficiencies and the future of cataloging workflows. Dennis' insights revolve around a practice he began (in an article for American Archivist) called "More Process Less Product" (MPLP). MPLP addresses a fundamental problem in the archival world: collection growth is outpacing processing, resulting in increasing backlogs and preventing the public from seeing many treasures. The problem also exists in traditional libraries although in a different manifestation when collections have also grown, it's been largely through large sets of electronic content.

The solutions Dennis invokes apply to both communities:

User access is paramount. We need to be audience driven.

Risk is unavoidable. We need to determine the minimal acceptable level of cataloging and make that the benchmark.

In his presentation, Dennis used these pictures. We need to move:

from this:

We need to go from artisan-level cataloging to production level cataloging. Dennis refers to this as meaningful scale. In Dennis' archival world, where he has many items that are part of distinct collections, a key aspect to his strategy is in focusing on the collection rather than the individual items. He bundles multiple items into a collection (in practice, often a single PDF) and focuses on metadata at the collection-level. His goal is to use his minimal acceptable benchmarks to push the material into user discovery as quickly as possible.

While the possibilities for cataloging and processing archival materials are different than for traditional library materials, his principle of using minimal acceptable benchmarks to push the material into user discovery as quickly as possible can be applied. For instance, we can quickly catalog large sets of electronic content by using sets of cataloging records (such as those available via WorldCat Collection Sets). And we can employ minimum-level benchmarks to traditional copy cataloging, by abandoning most or all local practices to edit or improve a single copy catalog record in the local system, and instead, rely on services such as Bibliographic Record Notification and WorldCat Cataloging Partners to catalog at a collection-scale and push the records into discovery at quickly as possible.

More Product, Less Process. It's catchy, and can be applied to any technical services workflow to achieve cataloging efficiencies that make a difference.

Less is the New More

2011-08-16T20:43:33Z

When Houston Public Library Cataloging and Metadata Services Manager Amber Seely took the podium at OCLC's latest Good Practices for Great Outcomes: Cataloging Efficiencies that Make a Difference event, she did so as one of the many cataloging managers forced to make dramatic changes to her operations to respond to a severe budget reduction (see the Library Journal article). Her talk, "Less is the New More," detailed how she realigned priorities and workflows to continue to run her cataloging operation with 30% fewer staff, but at the same volume of materials to catalog.

How did she adapt to the new reality? She focused on three areas: workflow, outsourcing, and batch/automation. She began with workflows, especially the familiar tasks that occur when moving an item from selection to the shelf. Staff were de-specialized and cross-trained. New standards were implemented to reduce time. Next up was determining where outsourcing could increase efficiency. Results included finding a provider for government documents cataloging and for other resource-intense materials(AV and foreign-language). Finally, Amber turned to automation, and maximized everything from the use of macros and constant data to initiating new batch processes.

If the budget ever improves, new money is not likely to go to support increases in traditional technical services functions. For Amber and catalogers around the country, less is the new more.

It's not all about RDA!

2011-07-12T14:13:50Z

At member events, I like to engage the participants early on by having them complete an activity first thing in the morning. Each participant introduces herself/himself to one person they don't know, and tells that person what they hope to get out of the day. They write their expectations on an index card, which I collect and share, a few at a time, throughout the morning. This activity serves a couple of different purposes. One is to encourage meeting new colleagues from area libraries. There's always a high level of energy during this activity and I can see the group coalescing while sharing their ideas and challenges. The other purpose is to find out what their expectations are early on in the day, and map those expectations to various parts of the program.

At our Detroit meeting, which took place at the Wayne State University Undergraduate Library on June 17th, RDA was on everyone's mind. A few days earlier, the three national libraries had announced in favor of adopting RDA (with provisions) by January 2013. While none of the presenters talked in depth about RDA, the round table discussions in the afternoon provided a forum for this topic. Other topics of interest for the day were learning about workflow efficiencies undertaken by other libraries, alternatives to MARC, and doing more (or less) with less (staff and/or money).

At the end of the event I do a similar activity and ask the audience to write down the best idea they heard during the day. Index cards are passed to the front and read. The two best ideas in Detroit focused on doing things differently when creating cataloging records and when presenting the catalog to users. Many librarians are ready to embrace a change with MARC, citing the inadequacies of the standard. One person even quipped "death to MARC." And, participants were fascinated by the concept of integrating external data into online catalogs, including music tracks, samples of music, social media sites, and movie trailers.

During that morning's activity, one person wrote that she wanted to come away with at least two things to share with her library. Given the wealth of information that was delivered from the keynote presenters and panelists, as well as the ideas discussed during the round tables and via the afternoon's feedback activity, I'd say we met that goal.

There are two sides to every story

2011-06-29T18:05:45Z

The concept of the "good enough" catalog record was debated at the "Cataloging Efficiencies that Make a Difference" meeting at the University of Hartford. As a panel presenter, Sally Grucan of Wesleyan University made her case for the "good enough" record. Staff reductions, budget restrictions, and other more pressing initiatives, especially those driven by administration, are just a few of the factors driving this movement. But what is "good enough" in the eyes of a cataloger? That depends on what fields a cataloger considers as necessary to meet a patron's need for discoverability. Catalogers aren't in agreement on what fields would make a "good enough" record. Some would say only ten or so fields are necessary for the majority of patrons to be satisfied with what they find.

Here's what made this meeting different. The librarians on the other side of the debate made their presence known, and made a persuasive case for continuing current cataloging practices. The idea of the "good enough" record really means not "good enough" in some people's mind. Sloppy scholarship today shouldn't be the driving factor for changing traditional practices, as one person put it. The argument is that what we do today may not serve the patron 100 years from now, who may be more thorough in their research and need obscure metadata.

Both sides made their case passionately and with much thought. Yes, there are two sides to every story, and from my perspective, there is no right or wrong. What is the compromise or the middle of the road? Only time and much more discussion will tell.

Want to Enact Successful Change? Use the Five Magic Words

2011-05-20T23:18:00Z

As Head of Cataloging at the University of Texas at Austin, Jee Davis has been forced to react to many pressures on her department, such as declining budgets, next-generation/user-centered catalogs, increasing digital resources and non-MARC metadata, and outsourcing. Adjusting to these pressures requires collaboration, cooperation, communication..... and change.

While change can be scary and difficult, Jee laid out a path for successful change to attendees of OCLC's Good Practices for Great Outcomes: Cataloging Efficiencies that Make a Difference event in San Marcos, Texas, in partnership with the library of Texas State University.

She revealed her Five Magic Words for successful change.

Prioritize: what are your library's priorities, what do your local users want, why do we do what we do now, and what should we do differently?
Balance, as in the balance between perfect and practical metadata, and between doing things in-house and outsourcing.
Train, from the core (MARC, AACR2, FRBR, FRAD, etc.), the routine (cataloging processes), and the special (for unique items and projects).
Be Positive/ Open (this one especially resonated with attendees), by building trust, providing positive and open communication, giving recognition and credit, encouraging staff to take responsibility, and being approachable.
Document. Document local policies, procedures, and workflows, and make them openly available.

Jee's talk capped a program of practical good practices and innovative efficiencies to foster cataloging efficiencies that make a difference.

Will You Change Seats?

2011-05-20T19:07:40Z

On May 5th at the University of Texas at Dallas Library's beautiful McDermott Suite, cataloging staff from across north Texas gathered at OCLC's Good Practices for Great Outcomes: Cataloging Efficiencies that Make a Difference event. As we settled into our seats and began to enjoy Stefanie Wittenbach's keynote presentation, "Extreme Makeover: Reengineering Technical Services for the 21st Century", Stefanie paused and asked us:

"Will you change seats?"

We didn't really want to change seats. First, there was the simple hassle of the change: we would have to pick up our stuff, get up, and find a new seat. We might no longer be next to our friends; we might no longer have the same view that'd we'd grown accustomed to. We were comfortable where we were.

But we pretty quickly picked up on Stefanie's change metaphor and thought about how to apply it to technical services. Many of us couldn't tell you exactly why we'd chosen the seat we did. It was open, or it was the first one available. The choice was generally not the result of any detailed planning. Likewise, Stefanie challenged each if us to consider each action we took at work - each item we touched, each keystroke we entered, each record we looked at - and explain exactly why we did that action. If the answer is "I don't know" or "That's the way we do it", then it might be time to look more closely. It might be time to change seats.

Stefanie's perspective is perfect for analyzing such workflows, as she is building library services from the ground up for the brand new Texas A&M - San Antonio campus. No one is even in a seat yet; in fact, her seats aren't even set up.

And how is she setting up seats for 21st century technical services? She is inspired by universal principles, such as those expounded in the recent University of California System Libraries Next Generation Technical Services Initiative:

speed processing throughout technical services
eliminate redundant work
focus cataloging and metadata description on unique resources
define success as the user's ability to easily find and use relevant content.

Stefanie and the other excellent presenters detailed specific actions to accommodate these goals. She instructed us to find people in your organization to accept key roles in change:

the change leader who takes on overall project management and communication;
the change junkie who seeks out new ideas and thinking;
the eager beaver who is ready to try new things as suggested by the leader and the junkie;
the scribe, who documents the changes;
and the teacher, who shows the rest of the staff how to implement the change.

By filling those roles, we can all change seats, and we can all find cataloging efficiencies that make a difference.

Three themes: communicate, collaborate, cross-train

2011-05-14T16:41:06Z

At the Tuesday 29 March iteration of "Good Practices for Great Outcomes: Cataloging Efficiencies that Make a Difference" at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in San Jose, librarians in small-group discussions tackled the tough questions in tech services today:

How should I go about changing the workflow in my department?

Who needs what skills?

What IT/systems skills do we need to be effective metadata managers in the 21^st century?

What do users want, and what does that mean for me?

And finally, ultimately, and for the very last time, what is good enough cataloging?

The discussions of our good practices coalesced around three themes: communication, collaboration and cross-training.

Communication: In revising a workflow, managers need to solicit input from all staff. Conversely, managers should be open to learning a bit more about what their staff do, and crucially, should be knowledgeable about operations in other departments. And of course, regular communication with our users helps us maintain our focus on enhancing access to our collections, and keeps the debate about "good enough" cataloging alive.

Collaboration: Within the library, we all need to take the time to comprehensively document our procedures, and keep them current and accessible. Beyond the library, we need to develop effective working partnerships with our vendors; documenting procedures and requirements is likewise key here. Among libraries, we should build our consortial activities to maximize our buying power, and, as catalogers, to make best use of our expertise and effort.

Cross-training: Skills development came up in almost all the group discussions: from staying up-to-date on cataloging new formats, to making sure someone in tech services has a solid understanding of the library's automation system. Skills transfer among staff is no mean feat in many cases, and one group advises us to "start small" when it comes to cross-training, and take it from there.

A common premise across all these themes was the need to reformulate our notion of cataloging quality in order to secure our relevance in the library. One of our participants pulled a great quote from Roy Tennant's keynote, which says it all:

"Quality begins with user needs and ends with user perceptions".

Thanks to everyone who contributed their experience, expertise and willingness to learn to this inspiring day!

Managing Positive Change in Technical Services

2011-05-12T15:01:40Z

The Big Lebowski and beer. If you want to know what they have to do with managing change in technical services, you'll have to watch Karen Schneider's closing remarks at OCLC's Good Practices for Great Outcomes" event on Cataloging Efficiencies that Make a Difference (held March 29^th at the Martin Luther King Jr. Library of San Jose Public and San Jose State). Regardless of references, a recurring theme of the event was the call to manage change.

For it's a 21^st century cataloger's lament: "My budget has been slashed. I've lost multiple positions in technical services. I'm under pressure to catalog exponentially faster, and with fewer resources. My users seem to want items before I can even acquire them, much less finish cataloging them. Oh, and some of my staff doesn't want to change at all!"

The lament was answered, however, by speakers and participants alike. For instance, Armanda Barone (UC Berkeley) outlined many of the principles behind effecting such change: automating metadata creation; enriching metadata selectively; leveraging collaboration; and rebuilding workflows to focus on expert tasks. Lai-Ying Hsuing of UC Santa Cruz further elaborated with details such as: increase IT skills of tech services staff; cross train and collaborate among tech services units; keep staff challenged and empowered to make changes; adjust priorities for "good enough" records. Finally, Sally Lancaster of the Alameda County Library looked to batch processes centered around using "upstream" vendor records, such as in the WorldCat Cataloging Partners Program, to free local expertise to focus on unique local needs and materials.

The speakers did a wonderful job of providing attendees with both inspiration and concrete actions to return to their libraries and create cataloging efficiencies that make a difference. And just as the Lebowski's Dude abides, so does cataloging in the 21^st century!

Answering each others' questions

2011-05-10T16:04:35Z

"Good Practices for Great Outcomes: Cataloging Efficiencies that Make a Difference" drew 117 tech services librarians from across southern California to the Huntington Library on 23 March. Participants had high expectations for exchanging ideas and learning from each other. They came to learn about:

"...how others are managing cataloging workflows with very small staff sizes."

"...what other libraries are doing: challenges they are facing, solutions they are implementing."

"... a new way of framing issues."

"...strategies for addressing backlogs."

"...one new process in cataloging that will help me do it 'faster better cheaper'."

The hoped-for efficiencies were as diverse as the libraries represented: from research universities, school and public libraries, to corporations, cultural heritage institutions and every kind of learning community in between.

Participants split into multiple discussion groups to tackle their most pressing issues. The most popular topic was about how to go about redesigning workflows in tech services. Five discussion groups addressed this topic, and came away with some common thoughts:

Communications are crucial; have strategic initiative discussions, allow venting and get buy-in

Set objectives and review how other libraries do things

Take a close look at technology on-hand

Undertake a procedures audit and comprehensively revise written policies and procedures

Consider skills development for affected staff, with attention to new tasks they may become responsible for

Evaluations and subsequent comments confirm that participants found both the presentations and roundtable discussions very helpful. Read about the presentations on this blog, or watch recordings; see also the discussion groups' transcribed and summarized flipcharts. "I can't remember the last time I came away from a program feeling so fired up and brimming with new ideas!" wrote one participant. Others were equally enthusiastic, and many offered us useful suggestions that we can integrate into the program as we bring it to more regions across the US.

Cataloging is a Public Service

2011-05-06T12:00:00Z

On March 23, keynote speaker Roy Tennant looked out at 117 catalogers, administrators, and technical services staff from around the Los Angeles area gathered at the beautiful Huntington Library, and his eye immediately caught sight of a button on the shirt of an attendee. He read it out loud for all to hear:

"Cataloging is a Public Service."

The phrase immediately resonated with members. But like other areas of the library, cataloging is experiencing fundamental change. Roy described the progression of contemporary users' search for information as "The Hierarchy of Desire," after Maslow's "Hierarchy of Needs" suggesting that the modern user craves immediate access over all else, and that 21^st century metadata must meet this need.

For libraries and technical services in particular, reacting to a hierarchy of desire requires real changes for cataloging as a public service. Add in our extreme resource pressures -- budget crunches and staffing cuts -- and the need to find new cataloging efficiencies becomes doubly important.

The event looked to four local speakers to show us methods and strategies for effecting real, impactful improvements in (efficient) cataloging as a public service:

Helen Heinrich, Cataloging Coordinator at Cal State Northridge, shared some factors in resistance to change, including staff job insecurity, lack of trust, and "coasters" (those who have done their jobs the same way for many years). Helen found a wealth of new cataloging efficiency initiatives including: eliminating duplicate processes, "one touch" handling, adjusting quality standards (abandoning perfectionism) and instituting a culture of trust for one's colleagues.

Caltech's Laura Smart shifted her library's culture from "outside-in" to "inside-out" in order to focus cataloging expertise on exposing unique, local materials.

UCLA's Sharon Benamou worked with selectors to reassess how "full" their users needed a catalog record to be, and leveraged technology to automate and streamline processes.

Holly Tomren of UC-Irvine summarized many key trends, among them: be driven by the user, use batch processes, eliminate redundant work, use "good enough" records, cooperate with other libraries, and use reactive (patron driven) catalog maintenance.

By the end of the day, speakers and participants left with numerous strategies to create 21^st century metadata, gain efficiencies in their workflows, and maximize the value of cataloging as a public service.

Let it go!

2011-05-05T15:16:00Z

The panel discussion during our "Cataloging Efficiencies that Make a Difference" events has proved to be a popular segment, and provides a chance for participants to hear from area colleagues. The panel and Q&A format were recently voted as the top format with another library group I work with on a regular basis, reinforcing the idea that this is the learning model enjoyed by many librarians.

At the recent "Good Practices for Great Outcomes" event at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida, panelist Debbi Dinkins (Stetson University) challenged her colleagues to "Let it go!" Put into context, Debbi outlined the challenges in cataloging ebooks. Faced with thousands of ebooks to catalog and a history of cataloging perfection, it had come time to "let it go!" The "good enough" records meant less stress for staff, and surprisingly didn't stop patrons from finding and borrowing ebooks in record numbers.

"Let it go!" became the day's mantra, transforming cataloging backlogs in the participants' minds from a heavy weight to a manageable workload. Faced with staff reductions and huge backlogs, participants came to the meeting with feelings of being overwhelmed. Throughout the day networking opportunities brought solidarity to the group, and the "good enough" philosophy was embraced by many. You could almost hear the sigh of relief!

Despite challenging times in Florida, we were all impressed with the continuing commitment to serve users, identify improvements and most importantly, a genuine interest in learning from each other.

The Power of the OCLC Cooperative: Learning and Changing Together

2011-04-26T14:35:00Z

When I joined OCLC to lead the new Member Services team two years ago, I knew I wanted to focus the team's energies on connecting with as many member librarians as possible. During this time of significant change, our team of regionally-based librarians has visited with over 2,000 member staff and has learned much about the challenges you face. But we also discovered something along the way. You are finding new ways of working.

Some of the changes you're putting in place has come from new technologies. Most of the change, though, is born of necessity (reduced staffing, budget cuts) and has come from an examination of workflows with a focus on streamlining processes.

In October, 2010, OCLC Member Services kicked off its new event series, Good Practices for Great Outcomes: Cataloging Efficiencies that Make a Difference. Designed to highlight practical approaches and ideas that increase efficiency, these in-person meetings feature member librarians who talk about how they are working differently. They share workflow changes, discuss tools like WorldCat Cataloging Partners, and talk about how their approach to getting work done has changed. Numerous member panelists and keynote speakers have already provided a significant array of ideas, tips, and advice.

One of the highlights of each meeting for me is the roundtable discussion segment. Participants talk in small groups about what they've heard, what they're thinking about at their library, and what resonates most for them from the discussion. Watching the OCLC cooperative in action is heartening; we're all learning from each other and identifying ideas and processes that will improve efficiency at our own institutions.

We face many challenges as a profession, but if we explore solutions together, we will succeed in effecting positive change. I hope you find a best idea for your library from the wealth of good practices presented at both past and future meetings we'll highlight in this blog.

If we all engage together, you'll achieve a great outcome for your library.