Electronic Resources and Metadata (ERM) work can be time sensitive and constantly changing. It is difficult to keep track of tasks, projects, and what staff are working on. Communication, leadership, flexibility, and clear workflows are essential to successfully track and manage ERM tasks. However, workflows can easily become outdated, causing inefficiency and roadblocks. In December 2019, the University of Guelph Library will be migrating to a Library Services Platform as part of OCUL Collaborative Futures project. This migration, combined with staffing changes and outdated workflows, inspired the Electronic Resources & Metadata team to begin revising many of their workflows, focusing on prioritization, clean-up, and streamlining. This session describes their workflow revision process, including local context, change management strategies for this process, and guiding principles for the revision. Emphasis will be placed on the NASIG Core Competencies for Electronic Resources Librarians, including communication, leadership, and flexibility, and their impact on workflows. Kailey Brisbin, Electronic Resources & Metadata Librarian, University of Guelph Hana Storova, E-resources & Metadata Librarian, University of Guelph

1. Out with the old, in
with the new
Revising ERM workflows in a
time of change
NASIG 2019 | June 6, 2019
Photo by Constellateon Unsplash

2. Who are we?
Hana Storova
Electronic Resources &
Metadata Librarian​
hstorova@uoguelph.ca
Kailey Brisbin
Electronic Resources &
Metadata Librarian
kbrisbin@uoguelph.ca

3. What we are talking about today?
context
motivations
guiding principles
goals
what we've done so far
future plans
Photo by Elliot Sloman on Unsplash

4. Our Context

5. Our context
• University of Guelph
• Guelph, Ontario, Canada
• 29,500 FTE and 1,500 staff and faculty
• University of Guelph Library
• McLaughlin Library
• Team-based environment

6. E-Resources
& Metadata
Acquisitions
Collections
E-Learning &
reserves
Annex
Collections &
Content Team
Photo by Samuel Zeller on Unsplash

7. ERM Team
• Two Electronic Resources & Metadata Librarians, three staff (ERM Library
Associates), and student staff
• Manage access and discovery of Library's electronic resources
• Current systems:
• Voyager (integrated library system)
• Primo discovery layer
• SFX link resolver/A-Z E-journal List
• SpringShare LibGuides A-Z Database List
• Footprints ticketing system
• TUG – TriUniversity Group of Libraries

8. motivation
Photo by Lucas Davies on Unsplash

9. Collaborative
Futures
OCUL Collaborative Futures Project
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

10. Staffing
changes
Photo by Sonny Ravesteijnon Unsplash

11. Outdated
workflows
Photo by Florencia Viadana on Unsplash

12. unclear
responsibilities &
communication
Photo by MakariosTang on Unsplash

13. guiding principles
Photo by Luiz Centenaro on Unsplash

14. • Techniques for Electronic Resource Management (TERMS)
• Life cycle of electronic resources and the management of e-
resources through this life cycle
• Helped us understand what parts of the life cycle are handled by
the ERM Team and how they relate to other parts handled
by Acquisitions and Collections
• Great framework for discussions about e-resources workflows for
the Collections & Content Strategic Team
TERMS

15. • NASIG Core Competencies for E-Resources Librarians
• Broad areas of competencies for ERM librarians
• Helped us highlight skills we have and can leverage specific
skills to manage the change.
• 1. Communication
• 2. Leadership
• 3. Flexibility
NASIG Core Competencies

16. • Team goals help provide guidance on what the ERM team
should be prioritizing
• Main priority for ERM team is implementing Alma as part of
Collaborative Futures
Collections & Content Team Goals

17. • People don't like change
• For change to be successful, the people impacted by the
change need to be a part of it
• You are not just changing systems or workflows, but also
people
Change Management Theories

18. E-resources work is:
• complex (lots of different systems)
• dependent on many different people (library staff in collections
& technical services, consortia partners, vendors, users)
• cyclical, inter-connected and quickly changing both in terms of
content, and technical solutions supporting that content
E-resources workflows and staffing models need to
correspond to this changing environment and changing needs
• User experience should always be the main guiding principle
What did we take from this?

19. • Strong leadership and
communication skills
• Flexibility & adaptability
• Technical skills
What skills helped us redesign our
workflows?
identify the need and
communicate with staff throughout
the process of change
revise the workflows in iterative
process
implement solutions

20. Goals
Photo by matthew Feeney on Unsplash

21. goals
1. We wanted to get a good sense of what we were spending our
time on as a team
2. We also wanted to set expectations around:
• how tasks get prioritized
• how long it approximately takes to accomplish a task
• how tasks are assigned to staff
• how we keep track of tasks
3. Create policies and procedures based off these expectations

22. What have we done so far?
Photo by felipe lopez on Unsplash

23. Created an inventory of all
ERM work tasks and
projects
Photo by JOSHUA COLEMAN on Unsplash

24. 1. Footprints & a-z database list link checking
1. Messages directlyfrom users
2. EZProxy issues
2. Troubleshooting
1. Off-campus accessissues
2. Broken URLs
1. Priority if user is directly involved
3. Managing ERM team email
1. Vendorcommunication/troubleshooting
2. Acquisitions information
3. New/renewed/cancelled products/ subscriptions
4. Creating/Updating AccessPoints
1. Adding an entry to the a-z database list / Voyager
2. Fixing an individual link in SFX/Voyager/Databaselist
5. Collaborative Futures Projects
1. SFX Link ResolverClean-Up Projectand related tasks
2. Investigating individual targets/packages and doing clean-up work when necessary
6. Bulk-editing of e-bookand streaming media packages
1. New products take priority over ongoing subscriptions.
7. Projects
1. License inventory work
2. Usage statistics
3. Admin site/vendor/IP address/Logoinformation clean-up

25. Changed the way we
track and assign tasks
Photo by Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash

26. Changed the way we track and
assign tasks
• Created a schedule using Outlook calendar for regular tasks
• Scheduled bi-weekly ERM Team meetings
• Cleaned-up the SharePoint task list
• Changed the way bulk editing and loading work is assigned and
maintained

27. Cleaned up and
streamlined
information
Photo by pan xiaozhen on Unsplash

28. Cleaned up and streamlined information
• Motivations:
• Training new staff created a need for organized documentation and
information
• Migration to a new version of SharePoint
• Preparation for the upcoming migration to Alma
• Created a new central folder for all information
• Removed outdated information and consolidated duplicate
information

29. Created policies
and procedures
Photo by ron dyar on Unsplash

30. Future Plans
Photo by Tomasz Frankowski on Unsplash

31. • Consultation & communication with key stakeholders
• Cancellation workflows
What next?

32. • Workflow revision & redesign 2.0 - after Alma go live
• Governed by the policies & recommendations of the new
consortium
• Informed by our experience working in the previous system and
consortium
• Aimed to be sustainable, collaborative, and focus on the user
experience
Future plans

33. What we learned
• Leadership is needed
• Be flexible
• Communication is key
• Change management is important

34. Photo by "My Life Through A Lens" on Unsplash

35. Questions?
Hana Storova
Electronic Resources & Metadata Librarian
hstorova@uoguelph.ca
Kailey Brisbin
Electronic Resources & Metadata Librarian
kbrisbin@uoguelph.ca

36. Citations
• "Diving Into ElectronicResources Management (ERM) Work: The Stories of Two
Early Career Professionals" by Kailey Brisbin and Hana Storova, OLA 2019
Super Conference, January 31, 2019, Toronto, Ontario.
• "Shifting Priorities: Preparing to Migrate to Alma/Primo" by Kailey Brisbin, Randy
Oldham & Hana Storova, ELUNA 2019 Annual Meeting, May 1, 2019, Atlanta, Georgia.
• Change management ELUNA
• "Project and Change Managementfor a Successful LSP Migration" by Janetta
Waterhouse, ELUNA 2018 Annual Meeting, May 4, 2018, Spokane, Washington.
• Cote, C., & Ostergaard, K. (2017). Master of “Complex and Ambiguous Phenomena”: The
ERL’s Role in a Library Service Platform Migration. The Serials Librarian, 72(1-4), 223-229.
• Core Competenciesfor ElectronicResources Librarians by NASIG Core
Competencies Task Force (last revision January 2, 2019)
• TERMS: Techniques for Electronic Resource Management by Jill Emery, Graham
Stone, Peter McCracken
• OCUL CollaborativeFutures website by Ontario Council of University Libraries.