Ursula Georgy Continuing Education Certification in LIS: ISO 9001 and ISO 29990 Paper at BOBCATSSS 2017

1. Prof. Dr. Ursula Georgy
TH Köln
Continuing Education Certification in LIS:
ISO 9001 and ISO 29990
Prof. Dr. Ursula Georgy
TH Koeln – Technology Arts Sciences
Tampere, January 2017

2. Prof. Dr. Ursula Georgy
TH Köln
Further education and training in LIS
Aims of scientific further education and training in LIS:
§ Maintaining the competitiveness of libraries and information
facilities
§ Furthering individual careers
§ Making further education and training available that is tailored to
meet current needs and future requirements
§ Expanding skills and expertise
§ Transferring knowledge in practice, and
§ Being future proof and of strategic import.
ZBIW 2012

3. Prof. Dr. Ursula Georgy
TH Köln
Further education – benefits for employers / libraries (I)
§ Employee loyalty
Further education and training measures in which the employer is
involved can prevent good staff educating and training
themselves and then moving on to a new job.
§ Personnel development and motivation
Expert knowledge and behavioural competence are improved.
Employees also feel more appreciated and will display greater
motivation in their future work.
§ Recruiting
Offering applicants support in studying for certificates while
working can be beneficial to recruiting.

4. Prof. Dr. Ursula Georgy
TH Köln
Further education – benefits for employers / libraries (II)
§ Stimulating library development
Participants bring fresh ideas into a library and thus act as
innovators in their field or department.
§ Linkage to a university
Students act as links between library and university. The library
thus has access to the latest developments and research results.
Georgy, 2016

5. Prof. Dr. Ursula Georgy
TH Köln
Accreditation of study degrees in Germany
§ As an operative instrument of quality assurance all structured study
programmes have to be accredited in Germany.
§ The accreditation procedure is based on the European Standard
and Guidelines (ESG). The “Foundation for the Accreditation of
Study Programmes in Germany“ is responsible for comparable
quality standards in the frame of a decentralized German
accreditation system.
§ Every study programme (Bachelor / Master) normally must be
accredited before starting and reaccredited after five or seven
years.
§ There is no German accreditation by a LIS society like the German
library association (Deutscher Bibliotheksverband). That´s a main
difference to other countries where a voluntary, nongovernmental
accreditation by ALA or CILIP is possible and plays an important
role.

6. Prof. Dr. Ursula Georgy
TH Köln
Certification – ISO 9001 and ISO 29990
https://www.certqua.de/web/we-bilder/egnlish/start/puzzle-header_960x335_EN.jpg

7. Prof. Dr. Ursula Georgy
TH Köln
Certification – ISO 9001 and ISO 29990
In Germany, in August 2016, the first institution in further education
in LIS has obtained the ISO 9001and ISO 29990:2010 certification:
ZBIW - Center of Library and Information Science Further Education
and Training, TH Koeln, Institute of Information Science.
§ ISO 9001 is the most comprehensive ISO norm in scope.
It focuses on confirming process conformance from the initial
development of a product / service. ISO, 2015
§ The ISO 29990 standard aims to improve quality of learning
services for non-formal education and training.
The basic requirements for service providers, will enhance
transparency and allow comparison on a worldwide basis of
learning / continuing education services. ISO, 2010

8. Prof. Dr. Ursula Georgy
TH Köln
Certification – ISO 9001
§ ISO 9001 sets out the criteria for a worldwide
quality management system. It can be used by any
organization / company, regardless of its field of
activity and size.
§ Actually, over one million companies and
organizations in over 170 countries are certified to
ISO 9001. It is based on the following quality
management principles:
§ a strong customer focus,
§ the motivation and implication of top management,
§ the process approach and continual improvement. ISO,
2015
➠ ISO 9001 helps to ensure that customers and
stakeholder get consistent, good quality products
and services.
https://www.certqua.de/web/we-bilder/
zertifizierungen/ISO-9001.png

9. Prof. Dr. Ursula Georgy
TH Köln
Certification – ISO 29990
“The purpose […] is to create a suitable
framework for preparing standards in the field
of non-formal learning services.
Core elements are ensuring the quality and
effectiveness of the education or training and
improvement of knowledge transfer, whilst also
enhancing the transparency and comparability
of the range of learning services provided.
ISO 29990 will help learning service providers
improve their ability to consistently provide
quality services, improve organizational
effectiveness, and reduce overall business
costs.” Rau, ISO, 2010
https://www.certqua.de/web/we-bilder/
zertifizierungen/zert-ISO-29990.png

10. Prof. Dr. Ursula Georgy
TH Köln
Certification – ISO 29990
§ “Learning services for non-formal education and training – Basic
requirements for service providers”, also enhances transparency
and allows the comparison on a worldwide basis of learning
services.
§ Knowledge and knowledge management are becoming a key
factor in successful corporate management and education is
increasingly being regarded as a business-oriented service.
§ In the meanwhile you find a lot of for-profit learning services in
further education. Enterprises establish their own (private)
universities or are in a direct contact to universities. ISO, 2010

11. Prof. Dr. Ursula Georgy
TH Köln
Fundamental Principle of Quality Management
Von Karn-b - Karn G. Bulsuk (http://www.bulsuk.com). Originally published at
http://www.bulsuk.com/2009/02/taking-first-step-with-pdca.html - Eigenes
Werk. Originally developed for Taking the First Step with PDCA, CC-BY 4.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5236801
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:PDCA_Cycle.svg

12. Prof. Dr. Ursula Georgy
TH Köln
Benefits / success factors in the context of LIS further education (I)
§ Enhanced customer satisfaction and improved customer loyalty
leading to repeat business
In Germany most of the universities in LIS offer further education.
In times of e- and distance learning satisfaction and loyalty of
customers become relevant.
§ Increased revenue and market share obtained through flexible and
fast responses to market opportunities
In LIS further education becomes relevant to be a driver in
innovation – on types of courses (e-learning etc.) as well as on
topics and technologies like virtual reality, devices.

13. Prof. Dr. Ursula Georgy
TH Köln
Benefits / success factors in the context of LIS further education (II)
§ Integration and alignment of internal processes which will lead to
increased productivity and results
Further education at universities becomes an attractive source of
revenue of external funding. An effective and efficient process
management is therefore essential.
The definition of processes makes work easier for all employees
and they can focus on key contents like programme content of
seminars.

14. Prof. Dr. Ursula Georgy
TH Köln
Benefits / success factors in the context of LIS further education (III)
§ Enhanced business performance and better cost management
The pricing of non-public services and products in the EC must be
based on market terms and must be made in accordance with the
market economy investor principle. To remain competitive with
private seminar providers you have to lower costs and focus on
enhanced transparency and attention to value maximization to
customers and stakeholder.
§ Providing confidence to interested parties as to the consistency,
effectiveness and efficiency of the organisation
A certification is providing confidence on the conformity of the
products / services to the customers, the marketplace and all other
stakeholder like university administration, executive board and
ministry.

15. Prof. Dr. Ursula Georgy
TH Köln
Benefits / success factors in the context of LIS further education (IV)
§ Consistency in the delivery of your product or service
A good quality management ensures that the courses always are of
the same quality. All lecturers and speakers are part of the quality
management. They have to prove their know-how and expertise in
didactics.
§ Improved communication, planning and administration processes
Special attention will be paid to improve the internal communication
and building up a methodical knowledge management. Knowledge
maps of all employees e.g. can be of benefit. Certification Europe 2012

16. Prof. Dr. Ursula Georgy
TH Köln
Benefits / success factors in the context of LIS further education (V)
ISO 29990 brings some more advantages:
§ Evaluating criteria for education
It is compulsory to build up a systematic evaluation management.
The evaluation must be adapted to the type of course / seminar.
E.g. sometimes the trainer may conduct additionally an oral
evaluation as a way to get supplementing information.
§ Globally comparable benchmarks for existence of quality
Cooperation and networks become important in order to realize e-
learning and possibilities in distance learning (MOOCs etc.) If you
can confirm the ISO certification you are a reliable partner in these
cooperation projects.
Quality Control (QC) Certification, 2013

17. Prof. Dr. Ursula Georgy
TH Köln
Disadvantages in the context of LIS further education
§ Extremely high expenditure of time
Normally institutions of further education at universities have a
relatively small core staff. So the certification means an
extraordinarily great additional effort for every person in the
institution without neglecting the daily business. And you need a
year or more to prepare the certification.
§ Requirement of a lot of persuasion
If you will start the process of ISO certification it requires a lot of
persuasion to convince staff and stakeholders of the long-term
concept´s advantages. In fact, you can see the advantages and
benefits in two years at the earliest.
§ High expense
The university does not pay the costs and there are annual costs
every year for a reaudit.

18. Prof. Dr. Ursula Georgy
TH Köln
Conclusion
§ An ISO certification in further education in LIS and at universities in
Germany is rare.
§ There are a lot of benefits to meet the challenges of a certification.
But it is important to integrate all employees, stakeholders and
teachers.
§ And it is a greater need in persuasion to all of them. But at the
moment, in Germany it is the only way to prove quality in further
education at universities.
§ The ZBIW hopes to find cooperation partners in future outside of
Germany to exchange about quality management in LIS further
education.

19. Prof. Dr. Ursula Georgy
TH Köln
Thank you very much!
Prof. Dr. Ursula Georgy
ursula.georgy (at) th-koeln.de

20. Prof. Dr. Ursula Georgy
TH Köln
Bibliography
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§ ACQUIN (2009). Guidelines for System Accreditation Procedures. Bayreuth. http://www.acquin.org/doku_serv/
Guide_System_EN_ACQUIN.pdf (26.12.2016)
§ ASIIN (2016). Criteria for Institutional Accreditation in Germany. http://www.asiin-ev.de/pages/en/asiin-e.-v/
institutional-accreditation/institutional-accreditation-in-germany.php?lang=EN (26.12.2016)
§ Certification Europe (2012). Benefits of ISO 9001. http://certificationeurope.com/benefits-of-iso-9001/
(26.12.2016)
§ Georgy, Ursula (2016). Trends in Librarianship Training in Germany. In: Educating the Profession – 40 Years
of the IFLA Section on Education and Training. IFLA Publications Bd. 170. Seadle, M.; Chu, C.; Stöckel, U.;
Crumpton, B. (Hrsg.). Berlin: De Gruyter Saur, p. 391-404.
§ ISO (2015). ISO 9001:2015(en). Quality management systems Requirements. https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/
#iso:std:iso:9001:ed-5:v1:en (26.12.2016)
§ ISO (2010). ISO 29990:2010(en). Learning services for non-formal education and training - Basic
requirements for service providers. https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso:29990:ed-1:v1:en (26.12.2016)
§ Quality Control (QC) Certification (2013). Benefits of ISO 29990:2010. http://qccertification.com/
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§ ZBIW (2012). Mission Statement. https://www.th-koeln.de/weiterbildung/wir-ueber-uns_5869.php
(26.12.2016)