A significant portion of all NASIG core competencies call for effective communication skills, project management, people management, and personal qualities such as tolerance for change, complexity, and ambiguity. But these competencies don’t come easy and may not be shared. So what can you do when called upon to lead your colleagues through a high-impact, stressful project like a systems migration?
Armacost Library at the University of Redlands recently completed a three-year migration project from Millennium to Primo/Alma that included three phases: strategic planning; vendor selection; and implementation of an ILS, discovery service, knowledge base and proxy server. Recognizing the challenges this posed for library employees, leaders of this smaller academic library structured the migration project to encourage collective ownership. Teams were carefully constructed to span departments and cross staff-librarian lines, recognizing individual strengths, weaknesses, power, position, and experience. Everyone was assigned to at least one implementation team, and often had a designated role (e.g., insider, outsider, communicator, etc.)
The resulting experience pushed employees (presenters included) well out of our comfort zones as we took risks and were vulnerable in front of each other. We experimented with new technologies, rebuilt our workflows and reimagined our roles, weathering unexpected challenges along the way.
This presentation will walk attendees through our library’s evolving efforts to build collective ownership into our migration infrastructure. Through purposeful decisions we managed multiple projects, supported colleagues, facilitated effective communication, and increased tolerance for change, complexity, and ambiguity.
Sanjeet Mann is Interim Assistant Director and Arts and Systems Librarian at Armacost Library, University of Redlands, where he coordinates library systems and technology and works with the Art, Creative Writing, Music and Theatre departments.
Paige Mann (pronouns: she, her, hers, they, their) is the Scholarly Communications Librarian and the STEM Librarian at the University of Redlands. Paige advocates for anti-colonial practices in scholarly communication, academic self-determination, and open practices in order to promote socially just ways to value people.
Embedding Collective Ownership Into a Systems MigrationTreasa Bane
A significant portion of all NASIG core competencies call for effective communication skills, project management, people management, and personal qualities such as tolerance for change, complexity, and ambiguity. But these competencies don’t come easy and may not be shared. So what can you do when called upon to lead your colleagues through a high-impact, stressful project like a systems migration?
Armacost Library at the University of Redlands recently completed a three-year migration project from Millennium to Primo/Alma that included three phases: strategic planning; vendor selection; and implementation of an ILS, discovery service, knowledge base and proxy server. Recognizing the challenges this posed for library employees, leaders of this smaller academic library structured the migration project to encourage collective ownership. Teams were carefully constructed to span departments and cross staff-librarian lines, recognizing individual strengths, weaknesses, power, position, and experience. Everyone was assigned to at least one implementation team, and often had a designated role (e.g., insider, outsider, communicator, etc.)
The resulting experience pushed employees (presenters included) well out of our comfort zones as we took risks and were vulnerable in front of each other. We experimented with new technologies, rebuilt our workflows and reimagined our roles, weathering unexpected challenges along the way.
This presentation will walk attendees through our library’s evolving efforts to build collective ownership into our migration infrastructure. Through purposeful decisions we managed multiple projects, supported colleagues, facilitated effective communication, and increased tolerance for change, complexity, and ambiguity.
Sanjeet Mann is Interim Assistant Director and Arts and Systems Librarian at Armacost Library, University of Redlands, where he coordinates library systems and technology and works with the Art, Creative Writing, Music and Theatre departments.
Paige Mann (pronouns: she, her, hers, they, their) is the Scholarly Communications Librarian and the STEM Librarian at the University of Redlands. Paige advocates for anti-colonial practices in scholarly communication, academic self-determination, and open practices in order to promote socially just ways to value people.
This is the sixth segment in the NISO training series, Assessment Practices and Metrics in the 21st Century. The presentation was provided by guest lecturer, Nancy Turner of Temple University on November 30, 2018.
Is what's 'trending' what¹s worth purchasing?NASIG
Presenters:
Stacy Konkiel, Outreach & Engagement Manager, Altmetric
Rachel Miles, Kansas State University Libraries
Sarah Sutton, Assistant Professor in the School of Library and Information Management at Emporia State University
New forms of usage data like altmetrics are helping librarians to make smarter decisions about their collections. A recent nationwide study administered to 13,000+ librarians at R1 universities shines light on exactly how these metrics are being applied in academia. This presentation will share survey results, including as-yet-unknown rates of technology and metrics uptake among collection development librarians, the most popular citation databases and altmetrics services being used to make decisions, and surprising factors that affect attitudes toward the use of metrics. This presentation will also offer actionable insights on how altmetrics are being paired with bibliometrics and usage statistics to form a more complete picture of “trending” scholarship that’s worth purchasing. Through sharing the survey results and opening up a discussion about the potential altmetrics hold for informing collection development, the presenters aim to provide a learning opportunity for attendees which will enhance their competencies for e-resource management, specifically, core competence for e-resource librarians 3.5, use of bibliometrics for collection assessment, and 3.7, identity and analyze emerging technologies.
This presentation was provided by Scott Young and Doralyn Rossman of Montana State University during the NISO Training Series, Assessment Practices and Metrics for the 21st Century, held on December 14, 2018.
This presentation was provided by Elliot Felix of Brightspot, during the NISO training series "Assessment Practices and Metrics for the 21st Century (Session One)," held on October 25, 2019.
Embedding Collective Ownership Into a Systems MigrationTreasa Bane
A significant portion of all NASIG core competencies call for effective communication skills, project management, people management, and personal qualities such as tolerance for change, complexity, and ambiguity. But these competencies don’t come easy and may not be shared. So what can you do when called upon to lead your colleagues through a high-impact, stressful project like a systems migration?
Armacost Library at the University of Redlands recently completed a three-year migration project from Millennium to Primo/Alma that included three phases: strategic planning; vendor selection; and implementation of an ILS, discovery service, knowledge base and proxy server. Recognizing the challenges this posed for library employees, leaders of this smaller academic library structured the migration project to encourage collective ownership. Teams were carefully constructed to span departments and cross staff-librarian lines, recognizing individual strengths, weaknesses, power, position, and experience. Everyone was assigned to at least one implementation team, and often had a designated role (e.g., insider, outsider, communicator, etc.)
The resulting experience pushed employees (presenters included) well out of our comfort zones as we took risks and were vulnerable in front of each other. We experimented with new technologies, rebuilt our workflows and reimagined our roles, weathering unexpected challenges along the way.
This presentation will walk attendees through our library’s evolving efforts to build collective ownership into our migration infrastructure. Through purposeful decisions we managed multiple projects, supported colleagues, facilitated effective communication, and increased tolerance for change, complexity, and ambiguity.
Sanjeet Mann is Interim Assistant Director and Arts and Systems Librarian at Armacost Library, University of Redlands, where he coordinates library systems and technology and works with the Art, Creative Writing, Music and Theatre departments.
Paige Mann (pronouns: she, her, hers, they, their) is the Scholarly Communications Librarian and the STEM Librarian at the University of Redlands. Paige advocates for anti-colonial practices in scholarly communication, academic self-determination, and open practices in order to promote socially just ways to value people.
This is the sixth segment in the NISO training series, Assessment Practices and Metrics in the 21st Century. The presentation was provided by guest lecturer, Nancy Turner of Temple University on November 30, 2018.
Is what's 'trending' what¹s worth purchasing?NASIG
Presenters:
Stacy Konkiel, Outreach & Engagement Manager, Altmetric
Rachel Miles, Kansas State University Libraries
Sarah Sutton, Assistant Professor in the School of Library and Information Management at Emporia State University
New forms of usage data like altmetrics are helping librarians to make smarter decisions about their collections. A recent nationwide study administered to 13,000+ librarians at R1 universities shines light on exactly how these metrics are being applied in academia. This presentation will share survey results, including as-yet-unknown rates of technology and metrics uptake among collection development librarians, the most popular citation databases and altmetrics services being used to make decisions, and surprising factors that affect attitudes toward the use of metrics. This presentation will also offer actionable insights on how altmetrics are being paired with bibliometrics and usage statistics to form a more complete picture of “trending” scholarship that’s worth purchasing. Through sharing the survey results and opening up a discussion about the potential altmetrics hold for informing collection development, the presenters aim to provide a learning opportunity for attendees which will enhance their competencies for e-resource management, specifically, core competence for e-resource librarians 3.5, use of bibliometrics for collection assessment, and 3.7, identity and analyze emerging technologies.
This presentation was provided by Scott Young and Doralyn Rossman of Montana State University during the NISO Training Series, Assessment Practices and Metrics for the 21st Century, held on December 14, 2018.
This presentation was provided by Elliot Felix of Brightspot, during the NISO training series "Assessment Practices and Metrics for the 21st Century (Session One)," held on October 25, 2019.
This presentation was provided by Charles Watkinson of the University of Michigan during the NISO Training Series, Assessment Practices and Metrics for the 21st Century. The session was held on Thursday, December 20, 2018.
Academic Library Impact: Improving Practice and Essential Areas to ResearchLynn Connaway
Connaway, Lynn Silipigni, William Harvey, Vanessa Kitzie, and Stephanie Mikitish. 2017. “Academic Library Impact: Improving Practice and Essential Areas to Research.” Presented at the Update on Value of Academic Libraries Initiative (ACRL) at the ALA Annual Conference, Chicago, Illinois, June 25.
Librarians are increasingly being asked to engage with
bibliometrics to help with institutional decision making.
However, few have professional qualifications in this area and
there is an onus on universities to do metrics responsibly. A
small project supported by the Lis-Bibliometrics forum and
Elsevier Research Intelligence Division is developing a set of
bibliometric competency statements to ensure practitioners are
equipped to do their work responsibly and well. This workshop
will report on progress to date and invite input into the project.
Redesigning the Open Access Institutional RepositoryEdward Luca
This lecture presents a redesign project of UTS's institutional repository, OPUS. It explains some of the challenges faced by libraries in ensuring eRepository participation, and investigates three user groups - academics, librarians, and information seekers. User experience principles are used to address issues around navigation, terminology, and visual identity.
Presented as a guest lecture to Designing for the Web (Spring 2016) students.
Presentation given at SCONUL 2014, the summer conference of The Society of College, National and University Libraries, Glasgow, June 2014. The presentation focuses on frequently asked questions (FAQs) about learning analytics, with the emphasis on the role and perspective of libraries in this area.
NITLE Shared Academics: Examining IT and Library Service ConvergenceNITLE
Colleges and universities face a variety of pressures. Two pressure points are adjusting to the evolving landscape of higher education and using finite resources efficiently and effectively. Technology-enhanced “flipped” classrooms, the rise of digital scholarship, and a keener focus on assessment are examples of the former. Space, time, money, and staff expertise are examples of the latter. These pressures become even more pointed at smaller institutions. How have academic library and information technology organizations been contributing toward effective solutions? Some have embraced a path toward greater convergence of IT and library services. Has doing so enabled institutions to adjust sooner and more quickly to shifts in our higher education environment? Has it stimulated innovation? Has it helped eliminate duplicative effort?
NITLE Shared Academics seminar leader Terry Metz delves into these questions, explores why and how the work of technologists and librarians is growing more and more similar, and highlights some colleges that have aligned technology and library talent in more integrated ways. Examine the benefits and challenges of converging IT and library services and consider future implications.
Where Cognitive Science, Interaction Design and Data Dwells: The Competencies...Aaron Silvers
Web technology standards emerged in the early 2000s that reinforced the use of the desktop web browser. After 15 years, we all are part of a new revolution in what it means “to be online” thanks to APIs and connected devices. The Experience API (xAPI) is a new standard, encouraging a new type of practitioner who helps people learn and improve through cognitive science, interaction design and data. In this session, we'll talk about xAPI and highlight the new competencies needed to work with it.
Function follows form: the paradigmatic potentialities of recommender systems and the role of paradata in effective user engagement with open education
Presentation for ECSU Staff Retreat - July 2014sbclapp
Libraries, er, Librarians in the Digital Age: Disruptions, Digital Thinking & Transformation - a presentation I gave at Eastern Connecticut State University (ECSU) Library's Staff Retreat on Wed., July 23, 2014
This presentation was provided by Charles Watkinson of the University of Michigan during the NISO Training Series, Assessment Practices and Metrics for the 21st Century. The session was held on Thursday, December 20, 2018.
Academic Library Impact: Improving Practice and Essential Areas to ResearchLynn Connaway
Connaway, Lynn Silipigni, William Harvey, Vanessa Kitzie, and Stephanie Mikitish. 2017. “Academic Library Impact: Improving Practice and Essential Areas to Research.” Presented at the Update on Value of Academic Libraries Initiative (ACRL) at the ALA Annual Conference, Chicago, Illinois, June 25.
Librarians are increasingly being asked to engage with
bibliometrics to help with institutional decision making.
However, few have professional qualifications in this area and
there is an onus on universities to do metrics responsibly. A
small project supported by the Lis-Bibliometrics forum and
Elsevier Research Intelligence Division is developing a set of
bibliometric competency statements to ensure practitioners are
equipped to do their work responsibly and well. This workshop
will report on progress to date and invite input into the project.
Redesigning the Open Access Institutional RepositoryEdward Luca
This lecture presents a redesign project of UTS's institutional repository, OPUS. It explains some of the challenges faced by libraries in ensuring eRepository participation, and investigates three user groups - academics, librarians, and information seekers. User experience principles are used to address issues around navigation, terminology, and visual identity.
Presented as a guest lecture to Designing for the Web (Spring 2016) students.
Presentation given at SCONUL 2014, the summer conference of The Society of College, National and University Libraries, Glasgow, June 2014. The presentation focuses on frequently asked questions (FAQs) about learning analytics, with the emphasis on the role and perspective of libraries in this area.
NITLE Shared Academics: Examining IT and Library Service ConvergenceNITLE
Colleges and universities face a variety of pressures. Two pressure points are adjusting to the evolving landscape of higher education and using finite resources efficiently and effectively. Technology-enhanced “flipped” classrooms, the rise of digital scholarship, and a keener focus on assessment are examples of the former. Space, time, money, and staff expertise are examples of the latter. These pressures become even more pointed at smaller institutions. How have academic library and information technology organizations been contributing toward effective solutions? Some have embraced a path toward greater convergence of IT and library services. Has doing so enabled institutions to adjust sooner and more quickly to shifts in our higher education environment? Has it stimulated innovation? Has it helped eliminate duplicative effort?
NITLE Shared Academics seminar leader Terry Metz delves into these questions, explores why and how the work of technologists and librarians is growing more and more similar, and highlights some colleges that have aligned technology and library talent in more integrated ways. Examine the benefits and challenges of converging IT and library services and consider future implications.
Where Cognitive Science, Interaction Design and Data Dwells: The Competencies...Aaron Silvers
Web technology standards emerged in the early 2000s that reinforced the use of the desktop web browser. After 15 years, we all are part of a new revolution in what it means “to be online” thanks to APIs and connected devices. The Experience API (xAPI) is a new standard, encouraging a new type of practitioner who helps people learn and improve through cognitive science, interaction design and data. In this session, we'll talk about xAPI and highlight the new competencies needed to work with it.
Function follows form: the paradigmatic potentialities of recommender systems and the role of paradata in effective user engagement with open education
Presentation for ECSU Staff Retreat - July 2014sbclapp
Libraries, er, Librarians in the Digital Age: Disruptions, Digital Thinking & Transformation - a presentation I gave at Eastern Connecticut State University (ECSU) Library's Staff Retreat on Wed., July 23, 2014
Opening/Framing Comments: John Behrens, Vice President, Center for Digital Data, Analytics, & Adaptive Learning Pearson
Discussion of how the field of educational measurement is changing; how long held assumptions may no longer be taken for granted and that new terminology and language are coming into the.
Panel 1: Beyond the Construct: New Forms of Measurement
This panel presents new views of what assessment can be and new species of big data that push our understanding for what can be used in evidentiary arguments.
Marcia Linn, Lydia Liu from UC Berkeley and ETS discuss continuous assessment of science and new kinds of constructs that relate to collaboration and student reasoning.
John Byrnes from SRI International discusses text and other semi-structured data sources and different methods of analysis.
Kristin Dicerbo from Pearson discusses hidden assessments and the different student interactions and events that can be used in inferential processes.
Panel 2: The Test is Just the Beginning: Assessments Meet Systems Context
This panel looks at how assessments are not the end game, but often the first step in larger big-data practices at districts/state/national levels.
Gerald Tindal from the University of Oregon discusses State data systems and special education, including curriculum-based measurement across geographic settings.
Jack Buckley Commissioner of the National Center for Educational Statistics discussing national datasets where tests and other data connect.
Lindsay Page, Will Marinell from the Strategic Data Project at Harvard discussing state and district datasets used for evaluating teachers, colleges of education, and student progress.
Panel 3: Connecting the Dots: Research Agendas to Integrate Different Worlds
This panel will look at how research organizations are viewing the connections between the perspectives presented in Panels 1 and 2; what is known, what is still yet to be discovered in order to achieve the promised of big connected data in education.
Andrea Conklin Bueschel Program Director at the Spencer Foundation
Ed Dieterle Senior Program Officer at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Edith Gummer Program Manager at National Science Foundation
Next Practices for OER Quality Evaluation | Lisa Petrideslpetrides
Keynote at the Learning Analytics and Knowledge conference (LAK 2013), Leuven, Belgium - for the Learning Object Analytics for Collections, Repositories & Federations workshop, by Lisa Petrides, entitled "Next Practices for OER Quality Evaluation: Using Analytics to Support Continuous Improvement"
Ctrl + Alt + Repeat: Strategies for Regaining Authority Control after a Migra...NASIG
Speaker: Jamie Carlstone
This presentation is on how to regain authority control in a large research library catalog: first, dealing with a backlog of problems from years without authority control and second, creating a process for ongoing workflows to realistically maintain authority control when new records are added to the collection.
The Serial Cohort: A Confederacy of CatalogersNASIG
Speaker: Mandy Hurt
In 2018, at a time when our department was shrinking through attrition, the decision was made to further leverage the particular skill sets of a select group of monographic catalogers by training them to also undertake the complex copy cataloging of serials.
This presentation concerns the assumptions underlying how this decision was originally made, the initial plan for how this would be accomplished by CONSER Bridge Training, the eventual formation of the Serials Cohort with a view to creating an iterative process I would design and manage, and the problems, obstacles and time constraints faced and addressed along the way.
Calculating how much your University spends on Open Access and what to do abo...NASIG
Librarians are working hard to understand how much money their university is spending on open access article processing fees (APCs), and how much of what they subscribe to is available as OA. This information is useful when making subscription decisions, considering Read and Publish agreements, rethinking library open access budgets, and designing Institution-wide OA policies.
This session will talk concretely about how to calculate the impact of Open Access on *your* university. It will provide an overview on how to estimate the amount of money spent across a university on Open Access fees: we will discuss underlying concepts behind calculating OA article-processing fee (APC) spend and give an overview of useful data sources, including:
FlourishOA
Microsoft Academic Graph
PLOS API
Unpaywall Journals
We will also talk about Open Access on the subscription side, including how much of what you subscribe to is available as open access and how you can use that in your subscription decisions and negotiations.
The presenters are the cofounders of Our Research, the nonprofit company behind Unpaywall, the primary source of Open Access data worldwide.
Heather Piwowar, Co-founder, Our Research
Jason Priem, Co-founder, Our Research
Measure Twice and Cut Once: How a Budget Cut Impacted Subscription Renewals f...NASIG
Speakers: Ilda Cardenas, Keri Prelitz, Greg Yorba
The process of looking at subscriptions with the goal of proactively downsizing revealed that the library’s existing renewal workflows were outdated and in need of regular analysis to identify underused resources. Additionally, this project uncovered shortcomings of analysis that is reliant on usage data, the unexpected ramifications of large-scale subscription cancellations, as well as the need for improved communication within and between the many library departments affected by subscription cancellations.
Analyzing workflows and improving communication across departments NASIG
Presented by Jharina Pascual and Sarah Wallbank.
The presentation provides people with simple techniques for analyzing their local workflow and information-sharing practices, some ideas for interrogating and improving intra-technical services communication, and ideas for simple changes that can improve communication and build a sense of community/joint purpose within or across departments.
Supporting Students: OER and Textbook Affordability Initiatives at a Mid-Size...NASIG
Presented by Jennifer L. Pate.
With support from the president and provost of the university, Collier Library adopted strategic purchasing initiatives, including database purchases to support specific courses as well as purchasing reserve copies of textbooks for high-enrollment, required classes. In addition, the scholarly communications librarian became a founding member of the OER workgroup on campus. This group’s mission is to direct efforts for increasing faculty awareness and adoption of OER. This presentation discusses the structure of the each of these programs from initial idea to implementation. Included will be discussions of assessment of faculty and student awareness, development of an OER grant program, starting a textbook purchasing program, promotion of efforts, funding, and future goals.
Access to Supplemental Journal Article Materials NASIG
Presented by Electra Enslow, Suzanne Fricke, Susan Shipman
The use of supplemental journal article materials is increasing in all disciplines. These materials may be datasets, source code, tables/figures, multimedia or other materials that previously went unpublished, were attached as appendices, or were included within the body of the work. Current emphasis on critical appraisal and reproducibility demands that researchers have access to the complete shared life cycle in order to fully evaluate research. As more libraries become dependent on secondary aggregators and interlibrary loan, we questioned if access to these materials is equitable and sustainable.
Communications and context: strategies for onboarding new e-resources librari...NASIG
Presented by Bonnie Thornton.
This presentation details onboarding strategies institutions can utilize to help acclimate new e-resources librarians with an emphasis on strategies for effectively establishing and perpetuating communications with stakeholders.
Full Text Coverage Ratios: A Simple Method of Article-Level Collections Analy...NASIG
Presented by Matthew Goddard.
his presentation describes a simple and efficient method of using a discovery layer to evaluate periodicals holdings at the article level, and suggest a variety of applications.
Web accessibility in the institutional repository crafting user centered sub...NASIG
Presented by Jenny Hoops and Margaret McLaughlin.
As web accessibility initiatives increase across institutions, it is important not only to reframe and rethink policies, but also to develop sustainable and tenable methods for enforcing accessibility efforts. For institutional repositories, it is imperative to determine the extent to which both the repository manager and the user are responsible for depositing accessible content. This presentation allows us to share our accessibility framework and help repository and content managers craft sustainable, long-term goals for accessible content in institutional repositories, while also providing openly available resources for short-term benefit.
Linked Data is exploding in the library world, but the biggest problems libraries have are coming up with the time or money involved in converting their records, looking into Linked Data programs, finding community support, and all the various other issues that arise as part of developing new methods. Likewise, one of the biggest hurdles for libraries and linked data is that they do not know what to do to get involved. As we have fewer people available and smaller budgets each year, we would like to explore ways in which libraries can get involved in the process without expending an undue amount of their already dwindling resources. To see how linked data can be applied, we will look at the example of the Smithsonian Libraries (SIL). Over the past 18 months, SIL has been preparing for the transition from MARC to linked open data. This session will talk about various SIL projects and initiatives (such as the FAST headings project and the introduction of Wikidata and WikiBase); how to incorporate linked data elements into MARC records; and how to develop staff and give them proficiency with new tools and workflows.
Heidy Berthoud, Head, Resource Description, Smithsonian Libraries
Walk this way: Online content platform migration experiences and collaboration NASIG
In this session, a librarian and a publisher share their perspectives on content platform migrations, and the Working Group Co-chairs will describe the group’s efforts to-date and expected outcomes. Our publisher-side speaker will describe issues they must consider when their content migrates, such as providing continuous access, persistent linking, communicating with stakeholders, and working with vendors. Our librarian speaker will describe their experience and steps they take during migrations, such as receiving notifications about migrations, identifying affected e-resources, updating local systems to ensure continuous access, and communicating with their front-line staff and patrons.
Read & Publish – What It Takes to Implement a Seamless Model?NASIG
PANELISTS
Adam Chesler
Director of Global Sales
AIP Publishing
Sara Rotjan
Assistant Marketing Director, AIP Publishing
Keith Webster
Dean of Libraries and Director of Emerging and Integrative Media Initiatives
Carnegie Mellon University
Andre Anders
Director, Leibniz Institute of Surface Engineering (IOM)
Editor in Chief of Journal of Applied Physics
Professor of Applied Physics, Leipzig University
“Read & Publish” agreements continue to gain global attention. What’s rarely discussed when these new access and article processing models are introduced is the paperwork, back-end technology and overall management required to implement the new program that works for all involved. This panel, comprised of a librarian, publisher, and researcher, will focus on the complexities of developing, implementing and using the infrastructures of different Read & Publish models and the challenges of developing a seamless experience for everyone.
From article submission to publication to final reporting, the panel will discuss the “hidden” impact that new workflows will have on stakeholders in scholarly communications. Time will be allotted for Q&A and attendee participation is encouraged.
When to hold them when to fold them: reassessing big deals in 2020NASIG
This presentation goes into details for each of the publishers’ big deals that we examined and present reasons as to why we cancelled them, with concrete examples from our experiences (four cancellations and two restructurings).
Getting on the Same Page: Aligning ERM and LIbGuides ContentNASIG
This presentation gives background on the development of the initial processes, the review and revision of the processes,and the issues encountered in developing a workflow for importing data from one system to the other.
A multi-institutional model for advancing open access journals and reclaiming...NASIG
The presenters will provide brief overviews of CIL and PDXScholar, and they will detail the challenges and ultimate successes of this multi-institutional model for advancing open access journals and reclaiming control of the scholarly record.
Knowledge Bases: The Heart of Resource ManagementNASIG
This session will discuss the knowledge base metadata lifecycle, current and upcoming metadata standards, and the effect that knowledge bases have on discovery and e-resource management. The presenters will look at ways knowledge bases can be leveraged to create downstream tools for resource management and discovery. The session will also provide different perspectives on knowledge bases, including from librarians and product managers, as well as a discussion of the NISO's KBART Automation recommended practice and what this could mean for knowledge bases in the future. The session will also include a conversation regarding how leveraging knowledge bases can aid librarians in improving resource discovery within their own libraries and ultimately decrease the amount of time spent on metadata workflows. Through this presentation, we also aim to improve communication between the library community and metadata providers and creators.
Elizabeth Levkoff Derouchie, Metadata Librarian for Serials & Electronic Resources, Samford University Library
Beth Ashmore, Associate Head, Acquisitions & Discovery (Serials), North Carolina State University
Eric Van Gorden, Product Manager, EBSCO
This session will talk about various SIL projects and initiatives (such as the FAST headings project and the introduction of Wikidata and WikiBase); how to incorporate linked data elements into MARC records; and how to develop staff and give them proficiency with new tools and workflows.
A workshop hosted by the South African Journal of Science aimed at postgraduate students and early career researchers with little or no experience in writing and publishing journal articles.
Francesca Gottschalk - How can education support child empowerment.pptxEduSkills OECD
Francesca Gottschalk from the OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation presents at the Ask an Expert Webinar: How can education support child empowerment?
Synthetic Fiber Construction in lab .pptxPavel ( NSTU)
Synthetic fiber production is a fascinating and complex field that blends chemistry, engineering, and environmental science. By understanding these aspects, students can gain a comprehensive view of synthetic fiber production, its impact on society and the environment, and the potential for future innovations. Synthetic fibers play a crucial role in modern society, impacting various aspects of daily life, industry, and the environment. ynthetic fibers are integral to modern life, offering a range of benefits from cost-effectiveness and versatility to innovative applications and performance characteristics. While they pose environmental challenges, ongoing research and development aim to create more sustainable and eco-friendly alternatives. Understanding the importance of synthetic fibers helps in appreciating their role in the economy, industry, and daily life, while also emphasizing the need for sustainable practices and innovation.
June 3, 2024 Anti-Semitism Letter Sent to MIT President Kornbluth and MIT Cor...Levi Shapiro
Letter from the Congress of the United States regarding Anti-Semitism sent June 3rd to MIT President Sally Kornbluth, MIT Corp Chair, Mark Gorenberg
Dear Dr. Kornbluth and Mr. Gorenberg,
The US House of Representatives is deeply concerned by ongoing and pervasive acts of antisemitic
harassment and intimidation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Failing to act decisively to ensure a safe learning environment for all students would be a grave dereliction of your responsibilities as President of MIT and Chair of the MIT Corporation.
This Congress will not stand idly by and allow an environment hostile to Jewish students to persist. The House believes that your institution is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and the inability or
unwillingness to rectify this violation through action requires accountability.
Postsecondary education is a unique opportunity for students to learn and have their ideas and beliefs challenged. However, universities receiving hundreds of millions of federal funds annually have denied
students that opportunity and have been hijacked to become venues for the promotion of terrorism, antisemitic harassment and intimidation, unlawful encampments, and in some cases, assaults and riots.
The House of Representatives will not countenance the use of federal funds to indoctrinate students into hateful, antisemitic, anti-American supporters of terrorism. Investigations into campus antisemitism by the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Ways and Means have been expanded into a Congress-wide probe across all relevant jurisdictions to address this national crisis. The undersigned Committees will conduct oversight into the use of federal funds at MIT and its learning environment under authorities granted to each Committee.
• The Committee on Education and the Workforce has been investigating your institution since December 7, 2023. The Committee has broad jurisdiction over postsecondary education, including its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, campus safety concerns over disruptions to the learning environment, and the awarding of federal student aid under the Higher Education Act.
• The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating the sources of funding and other support flowing to groups espousing pro-Hamas propaganda and engaged in antisemitic harassment and intimidation of students. The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is the principal oversight committee of the US House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” under House Rule X.
• The Committee on Ways and Means has been investigating several universities since November 15, 2023, when the Committee held a hearing entitled From Ivory Towers to Dark Corners: Investigating the Nexus Between Antisemitism, Tax-Exempt Universities, and Terror Financing. The Committee followed the hearing with letters to those institutions on January 10, 202
Exploiting Artificial Intelligence for Empowering Researchers and Faculty, In...Dr. Vinod Kumar Kanvaria
Exploiting Artificial Intelligence for Empowering Researchers and Faculty,
International FDP on Fundamentals of Research in Social Sciences
at Integral University, Lucknow, 06.06.2024
By Dr. Vinod Kumar Kanvaria
2024.06.01 Introducing a competency framework for languag learning materials ...Sandy Millin
http://sandymillin.wordpress.com/iateflwebinar2024
Published classroom materials form the basis of syllabuses, drive teacher professional development, and have a potentially huge influence on learners, teachers and education systems. All teachers also create their own materials, whether a few sentences on a blackboard, a highly-structured fully-realised online course, or anything in between. Despite this, the knowledge and skills needed to create effective language learning materials are rarely part of teacher training, and are mostly learnt by trial and error.
Knowledge and skills frameworks, generally called competency frameworks, for ELT teachers, trainers and managers have existed for a few years now. However, until I created one for my MA dissertation, there wasn’t one drawing together what we need to know and do to be able to effectively produce language learning materials.
This webinar will introduce you to my framework, highlighting the key competencies I identified from my research. It will also show how anybody involved in language teaching (any language, not just English!), teacher training, managing schools or developing language learning materials can benefit from using the framework.
Introduction to AI for Nonprofits with Tapp NetworkTechSoup
Dive into the world of AI! Experts Jon Hill and Tareq Monaur will guide you through AI's role in enhancing nonprofit websites and basic marketing strategies, making it easy to understand and apply.
Operation “Blue Star” is the only event in the history of Independent India where the state went into war with its own people. Even after about 40 years it is not clear if it was culmination of states anger over people of the region, a political game of power or start of dictatorial chapter in the democratic setup.
The people of Punjab felt alienated from main stream due to denial of their just demands during a long democratic struggle since independence. As it happen all over the word, it led to militant struggle with great loss of lives of military, police and civilian personnel. Killing of Indira Gandhi and massacre of innocent Sikhs in Delhi and other India cities was also associated with this movement.
How to Make a Field invisible in Odoo 17Celine George
It is possible to hide or invisible some fields in odoo. Commonly using “invisible” attribute in the field definition to invisible the fields. This slide will show how to make a field invisible in odoo 17.
TESDA TM1 REVIEWER FOR NATIONAL ASSESSMENT WRITTEN AND ORAL QUESTIONS WITH A...
Embedding Collective Ownership in a Systems Migration
1. Embedding Collective Ownership
Into a Systems Migration
Paige Mann
Scholarly Communications Librarian
Sanjeet Mann
Systems Librarian
33rd Annual NASIG Conference • Atlanta, GA • June 10, 2018
4. BEFORE AFTER
ILS Millennium Alma
Resolver 360 Link Alma
ERMS SharePoint Alma
Proxy WAM EZproxy
Discovery N/A Primo
Consortial Borrowing Link+ N/A
ILL ILLIAD
Repository BePress
Website, FAQ, Guides, Chat Springshare
5. Strategic
Planning
Jul 2015 – Aug 2016
Vendor
Selection
May - Dec 2016
Migration January - June 2017
Post-
Migration
Jul 2017 – Jun 2018
Four
Phases of
Migration
8. Inside the Directors’ Meeting Room
What kind of library
do we want to be?
personnel
How do we
pay for this?
Let’s
negotiate
How will this
affect library
users?
11. • Threatened by the unknown
• Loss of status, authority, expertise
• Uncertain role and future
• Self-esteem
• Dissatisfied or unsafe socially
• Opportunities?!*%#^&
(Baronas, A. M. K., & Louis, M. R, 1988; Day, A., & Ou., C., 2017; Dula, Jacobsen, Ferguson, & Ross, 2012; Jost, 2016)
12. "When end users are involved
in decisions relating to system
selection and implementation,
they are more invested in and
concerned with the success of
the system."
(Yeh & Walter, 2016, p. 33)
Baronas and Louis (1988)
suggest
• Give people choices to make
meaningful decisions
• Make things predictable by
providing a complete
and accurate picture of the
entire process
• Empower people to be
responsible for specific tasks
23. Foundations
We each have something to contribute
Fear and anxiety are normal
Change is difficult
Support one another
Make room for mistakes
Make the hidden visible
28. Sharing&
Supporting
Opening
I feel ____ because ______
I’d like to be a better team member by _____
today
I hope to learn more about _____
I could use some help with _____
Closing
Today I’d like to recognize ____ for contributing
_____ to our team
29. Confidence
Scales
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
PROCESSING REQUESTS
ADDING INTERNAL NOTES
MARKING ITEMS AS MISSING
SEARCHING AND FILTERING
RESULTS
CHECK ITEMS IN AND OUT
Poor Fair Satisfactory Good Excellent
35. Management
and Migrations
Library managers … have a high level of visibility.
And we have the opportunity to set policy and
influence organizational culture. By moving toward
a more just management practice we will move
toward more just libraries and hopefully will
contribute to the creation of more just
communities.
(Branum and Masland 2017)
36. Anti-Oppressive Resource & Training Alliance. (2017, June). Anti-oppressive facilitation for democratic process: Making
meetings awesome for everyone. In Anti-Oppression Resource and Training Alliance. Retrieved
from http://aorta.coop/portfolio_page/anti-oppressive-facilitation/
Baronas, A. M. K., & Louis, M. R. (1988). Restoring a sense of control during implementation: How user involvement leads
to a system acceptance. MIS Quarterly, 12(1), 111-124.
Branum, C., & Masland, T. (2017). Critical library management: Administrating for equity. Critical Librarianship, 23(2), 28-
36.
Day, A., & Ou, C. (2017). Determining organizational readiness for an ILS migration—A strategic approach. College &
Undergraduate Libraries, 24(1), 103-116.
Dula, M., Jacobsen, L., Ferguson, T., & Ross, R. (2012, January/February). Implementing a new cloud computing library
management service: A symbiotic approach. Computers in Libraries, 32, 6-11.
Jost, R. M. (2016). Selecting and implementing an integrated library system: The most important decision you will ever
make. Waltham, MA: Amsterdam: Chandos Publishing.
Toshalis, E. (2015). Make me!: Understanding and engaging student resistance in school. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
Education Press.
Yeh, S. T., & Walter, Z. (2016). Critical success factors for integrated library system implementation in academic libraries: A
qualitative study. Information Technology and Libraries, 35(3), 27-42. http://doi.org/10.6017/ital.v35i2.9255.
References
37. Bregman, E., & Kappler, A. (2007). New supervisors in technical services: A management guide using checklists. Chicago:
American Library Association.
Gray, D., Brown, S., & Macanufo, J. (2010). Gamestorming: A playbook for innovators, rulebreakers, and changemakers.
Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Media, Inc.
Mitchell, R., Agle, B., & Wood, D. (1997). Toward a theory of stakeholder identification and salience: Defining the principle
of who and what really counts. The Academy of Management Review, 22(4), 853-886.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (2010). Introduction to planning and facilitating effective meetings.
Retrieved from https://coast.noaa.gov/data/digitalcoast/pdf/effective-meetings.pdf
Richardson, M. (2006). The people management clinic: Answers to your most frequently asked questions. London:
Thorogood Publishing Ltd.
Schreiber, B., & Shannon, J. (2011). Leading from Any Position: Improving library effectiveness and responsiveness.
Infopeople workshop held December 5-6, 2011, Pomona, CA.
Sibbet, D. (2010). Visual meetings: How graphics, sticky notes & idea mapping can transform group productivity. Hoboken,
NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Additional Resources
Introduce ourselves…
Our Powerpoint is on Sched/Slideshare with references and recommended readings.
In our time together, we’ll spend some time going over what we did in our migration, how we did it, and why. We hope to do this somewhat quickly because what we’d really like to do is talk amongst you about how we can use system migrations to shape our libraries’ organizational culture toward deeper collaboration, team learning and taking initiative from the ground up.
We are calling this “collective ownership” and we’re interested in how you can pursue collective ownership in a huge, complex project like a system migration.
Here is our agenda for this session.
We’ll begin with some background about our library and our migration project. This shaped our perspective on what a system migration means for a library.
Then we’ll go into more detail about how we built collective ownership into our processes.
We’ll end with takeaways including discussion of the NASIG Core Competencies and supporting learning at the individual and organizational level. .
University of Redlands is in Redlands, a city of 70,000 in southern California between Pasadena and Palm Springs.
It’s a private, teaching-intensive liberal arts university with a College of Arts & Sciences and Schools of Music, Business and Education. Johnston Center allows students to create their own interdisciplinary concentrations. Spatial and GIS focus with ESRI (maker of mapping software) the largest employer in the area.
Armacost Library’s mission emphasizes self-directed learning and critical pedagogy. We have 7 librarians, 6 FT and 2 PT staff supporting nearly 5,000 FTE on the main Redlands campus and regional centers.
Our migration included moving from Innovative Millennium to Ex Libris Alma and Primo (our first ever discovery service) and OCLC ezproxy. We cancelled Link+ consortial borrowing. Other systems remained the same.
Our migration experience included four phases:
Strategic planning (making the decision to migrate and building partnerships with administration and campus IT)
Vendor selection (cycles of progressively more formal research ended in a formal RFP, site visits and contract negotiation)
Migration (all library employees assigned to project teams to implement the systems, working with Ex Libris, OCLC and campus IT). Went live June 2017.
Post-migration (one year to set up reserves, e-resources, acquisitions, and analytics. Clean data and assessment)
I coordinated each phase of the project and Paige was on the team involved with strategic planning and vendor selection. She also facilitated one of our migration project teams (more on that later)
Many presentations and articles on system migrations focus on only one or two of these phases, most commonly migration. Since we were at a smaller library we had the opportunity to be actively involved in all four phases of the project and this has shaped our perspective on how system migrations affect a library.
Migrations change a library in at least three dimensions.
Technology changes (this is what we talk about most commonly at NASIG). System architecture (e.g. client-server to cloud computing), support for new protocols and standards (e.g. SUSHI) and staff adapt their skill sets to take advantage of the new functionality. Much of the ER Core Competencies is devoted to understanding change in this area.
Migrations also change the library as a workplace or organizational culture. People need to learn to work together in different ways or take on new roles; this changes their professional identity. People have been known to retire or leave because of a system migration, and new people may come in to fill new or re-defined positions. As staff come and go, traditions are disrupted and re-formed. The migration fits into the organization’s existing narrative and also extends that story.
And migrations affect the way that patrons see the library, and its impact on their lives. A system migration might bring a new user interface. It might allow the library to offer new services or might mean the end of a popular existing service. How libraries communicate with patrons about these changes sends signals about their willingness to be user-centered and support their needs. System design also impacts information literacy because it communicates expectations about how library users are supposed to interact with information (e.g. discovery services normalize a single search box and support running a particular strategy: run your search first, refine results later via facets)
Shared values guided us in responding to each of these dimensions of change.
We wanted to maintain the agency of our staff and faculty librarians throughout the migration process, rather than having the change be driven by technology, an ILS vendor or upper administration. As we prepared to migrate, we attended conference presentations and heard about directors who had made unilateral decisions about whether to migrate or which system to choose, leaving staff feeling powerless. Or libraries who were frazzled by the relentless pace of the migration, or felt disappointed that the system they got didn’t meet their requirements. We read articles by instruction librarians who resented having to teach through a discovery service that they believed was actively undermining their work. We took these concerns seriously and planned for how to address them. We saw the role of library leadership as marshalling the resources needed to support decisions by front-line library employees. The role of the vendor was to be a true partner with us (e.g. Ex Libris proposed the migration plan but we modified it heavily to fit our needs)
The new system was an opportunity to build collaboration with other units on campus and solve problems (IT, business office, student financial services [fines]). Also an opportunity to build capacity within the library. Despite being a small library where we each wear multiple hats, there hasn’t always been consistent understanding of how our work is interconnected, or willingness to cross-train and back each other up to provide seamless services for library users when key staff are out of the office . We wanted staff to know that decisions about configuration and data migration have library-wide impact and they need to take their colleagues’ needs into consideration when filling out the migration forms.
We also tried to consider the needs of library users and particularly how the new system would support teaching and learning – our library’s bottom line. We focused on the user experience and information literacy. Would the system make it easier to accomplish ACRL Framework tasks (evaluate authority, search strategically, recognize the value of information, etc.)? Would we have flexibility to customize the interface? How is kb exposed in the discovery layer?
These values were voiced in many conversations over time, and particularly in library leadership meetings.
In 2016 our director retired unexpectedly due to health reasons and our Provost asked several of our librarians to serve as interim library leadership in a matrix structure. Currently our team is our instruction coordinator as Interim Director, myself as systems librarian and Interim Assistant Director, and collection development coordinator contributing advise (he served as interim director for several years in the 2000s). When we started we agreed that we wanted a weekly standing meeting and recurring agenda topics helped us develop our values for the migration project:
We discussed what the library operations and materials budget is for and monitored progress on spending it down. We negotiated with the Provost, ITS and other units on campus for resources that we needed to support our staff and operations. >> Prepared us to make compromises and seek collaborations to pay for the ILS we wanted, building agency for our library. >> We paid for the one-time migration fee by shifting money around in the library budget and convincing the Provost to tap a development fund. We reached an agreement with ITS to pay part of our annual maintenance.
Discussed staff evaluations and dealt with personnel issues – addressing negative behavior and filling staffing gaps because of turnover before our migration. >> Prepared us to think strategically about who would do what on our migration project teams and build collaboration and cross training into the structure of the project. >> Came up with groundrules for how teams will work together (Paige will say more about this)
Talked about big picture of how we support library users and what kind of workplace we want to be. Our interim director articulated the philosophy: “I want to work in a place where my colleagues support my work and we help each other succeed.”
Next, I'll share a bit more about our values and how we embedded them into our process.
Chances are that if you're attending this session, you are either a decision-maker or exert some degree of influence with systems-related decisions. If you want to embed collective ownership into a system migration, it helps to remind ourselves and empathize with what it’s like to be on the receiving end of systems decisions.
In my next slide you'll find that many of these feelings and experiences relate to each other like a set of dominoes in that, one thing will affect another. Given our positions, it's important that we proactively seek to stop or otherwise prevent a negative domino effect.
In a systems migration colleagues will face unknowns. As they lose status and authority with the outgoing system, they may struggle to find their place in the library. This can affect self-esteem, and how satisfied or safe people feel around their co-workers. As a result, it's easy to see why colleagues may struggle to see this change as a positive thing.
In their research, Yeh & Walter state that one of the most critical factors for success is involving colleagues in decision-making processes. Baronas and Louis back that up, and underscore the value of making things predictable by outlining what will happen and when. They also encourage us to empower people with meaningful tasks.
It’s useful to keep this in mind when evaluating vendors. A vendor's ability to provide updated and well-organized documentation, will make it easier for colleagues and your leaders to learn, engage in decision-making, anticipate next steps, and develop expertise in parts of the system.
The ability for colleagues to do these things was especially important given our vision to use our systems migration to increase agency, collaboration, and user-centeredness.
This vision can also be conceived as spanning across being more self-oriented and being more other-oriented.
As an extension of this vision, a lot of work went into addressing challenges to realize opportunities. One book that that helped me comprehend how we might move from one column to the other was Eric Toshalis’s 2015 book "Make Me! Understanding and Engaging Student Resistance in School." In his book, Toshalis advises teacher to maintain high expectations of students even when encountering resistance; and that one way to meet that resistance is to provide more support. The point being that if you increase the challenges that your colleagues must face, you must also increase the amount of support you provide to your colleagues.
One of the first things our library did was to assign everyone to at least one team. Considerations like workload, strengths, and time commitments were taken into account, but everyone participated in the migration.
Each team had insiders and outsiders so that, those with day-to-day expertise were balanced with fresh ideas, questions, and perspectives.
Teams were facilitated by an outsider who served to facilitate, rather than lead, meetings. Without voting rights, these facilitators helped teams figure out what they wanted, and lead themselves.
For this to work, everyone had to come to table, and come to the table as learners. Facilitators and leadership emphasized that no one knew more or knew better than anybody else, and that we were all learning together, at the same time. The leadership and librarians understood this clearly, but I think it took a while for the staff to believe this. Once they did, I think it helped them take their rightful place at the table.
Looking again at team structure, individuals were carefully chosen to serve on at least one team. Those that did serve on multiple teams or liaised with the vendor, acted as bridges of communication between these groups. You might notice that even here, people had others to help them carry the load, and no single person had to work alone.
In addition to all this support, teams worked transparently and were held accountable to themselves and each other. Meeting agendas and minutes were regularly uploaded to the cloud where anyone in the library could easily access them at any time. This also helped migration leaders stay abreast of team activities.
Next, we'll look at how things worked at the team level.
I facilitated the Access Services team, and while I had never worked closely with this department, there were a few things I knew from having worked there for several years.
For example, I knew that this group was more extroverted as a whole, and could appreciate laughter and fun, perhaps more so than other teams within a meeting setting. Knowing that the room we were to meet in was 3-4 times larger than it needed to be, I knew that people would disperse like the they do in a movie theater. To counter this without explicitly requiring that everyone sit together at the table, I used a deck of cards and had us play a quick game at the start of our first meeting.
Knowing my team and knowing what the research says about system migrations and resistance, I underscored as often as I could and as much as I could that we each have something to contribute, that fear and anxiety are normal, change is difficult, so we all need to support one another and give each other room to make mistakes. Furthermore we worked to make visible what would otherwise be hidden.
For example, one way I made the hidden visible was by visually sharing everyone's weekly time commitments related to migration. This made it easy for team members to see how commitments compared between part-timers and full-timers, insiders and outsiders, and supervisors and supervisees.
I also had everyone (1) think about how much power they had within the context of our university, (2) think about how frequently they'd be working with the new system, then (3) plot themselves on this graph. Once everyone plotted themselves on the graph, we all took a moment to see where everyone was located on the graph, observe where we were in relation to others, then added other groups like technical services, student workers, and IT to the graph. We then discussed how to rearrange ourselves and others in ways that made sense to us.
This helped us to have a shared understanding (1) that those who worked most often with the system, related policies, and were part of this team were well-positioned to inform team discussions; (2) that those who didn't work as closely with the system and policies but had some degree of power (like the Access Services Supervisor and Library Director) were well-positioned to support the first group; (3) that the team had to consider those who had enforce systems configurations and policies (like student workers); and (4) that those most impacted by team decisions would be students.
This helped clarify who was responsible for what, and the reasons behind this.
To increase predictability, meeting agendas which were purposely consistent and predictable. This consistency and predictability became especially important because I had each team member develop expertise in a certain area and later facilitate a meeting on that area. Each agenda was provided one-week ahead of time, focused on one topic, listed where and when to meet, who was responsible for taking minutes, where our time would be spent, and related homework. We also followed a rhythm beginning with an opening activity, reporting out from other teams, suggesting changes to team ground rules, and ending on a positive note.
These opening and closing activities were scripts I had everyone follow no matter how uncomfortable it made them. For example,
I feel distracted because I have a deadline.
I'd like to be a better team be being present and not thinking about my deadline.
I hope to learn more about handling requests.
I could use some help with focusing on requests rather than my deadline.
Sharing challenges, asking for help, and encouraging one another was not something our team normally did. But knowing how hard things were going to be we needed to push past our discomfort and find ways to support one another. My hope was that these scripts would give people some of the words to do this.
Before I hand things back to Sanjeet, I wanted to share one more activity. Periodically, after learning a number of tasks, I had everyone rate how confident they felt completing certain tasks. At the next meeting, I’d share what I’d received which helped them see that they weren’t alone, or that there were a range of responses.
We’ve been talking about how system migrations bring change to libraries in multiple dimensions and how we tried to structure our project to encourage collective ownership of this change. Willingness to learn continuously and collaboratively is perhaps the single greatest attribute needed for collective ownership to succeed. So I’d like to conclude by thinking about collective ownership in light of individual and organizational learning, and particularly the NASIG Core Competencies for E-Resource Librarians. These remarks will be aimed primarily at e-resource librarians and those in positions of leadership.
A common reaction to the Core Competencies is to feel overwhelmed by their breadth. There is a sense that you have to know all these things in order to get hired (perhaps because we created the competencies by examining job ads)
I think it’s important to remember that we aren’t born with these knowledge, skills and attributes and we all acquire them over time, whether through formal professional development, learning informally from colleagues, or gaining firsthand experience on work projects.
I wanted to focus on several competencies that I see as related to increasing collective ownership during a system migration. I grouped them into categories according to the values that I mentioned earlier.
To support your library’s agency:
Project management (5.2) and time management (7.4)
Evaluate vendor products (3.6), system administration (5.6 ), understand technology (2)
Persuasive communication including selection of evidence (3.8) and framing (4.5)
To build a culture of collaboration:
Effective working relationships (4.4, 5.5)
Supervision, training, motivation (5.1)
Broad communication encompassing internal and external stakeholders (4.1)
To promote user-centeredness:
“Dogged persistence in support of users” (7.3)
Flexibility and open-mindedness (7.1)
“Rises above personal frustrations to provide the best possible services” ( 4.3)
Developing these competencies takes time, we can’t expect to be good at everything right away and we may need multiple attempts. For example, one area that I have struggled with is organizing meetings that make good use of participants’ time and have clear outcomes.
Early career experiences leading teams in web redesign – didn’t prepare teams to contribute, uncertain roles.
2011 LFAP cohort: meeting structure enables participation (agendas, minutes, to-do lists, groundrules)
Practiced leading ER workflows and chairing 2 faculty committees
Systems team vendor research posed new challenges: putting a cross-functional team to different purpose, tighter deadline. Worked with colleague to develop sequenced agendas.
Learning is not efficient. Unsuccessful experiences may help people contribute later. When an entire team commits to this kind of learning it scales up to organizational learning and contributes to collective ownership.
So what ideas can we leave you with? Encouraging to recognize that when something doesn’t turn out well, it’s not the end of the story, but part of a longer narrative of learning that ultimately strengthens us. Can we build safe places to fail and learn into our processes and workflows?
We had some instances of using smaller, low stakes situations to put together the pieces for the bigger project. E.g. during the time we were researching vendors, we used the replacement of an expiring Innovative server to learn how to free up money and work with IT on a time sensitive project. This helped us when we needed to set up Ezproxy and Alma external integrations during our actual migration.
At each step along the way big decisions were not made alone. A systems team evaluated vendors and chose our #1 choice. Our matrix of directors developed the team structure and agreed on concessions to offer during contract negotiation. Our project teams decided together how to fill out migration and configuration forms. This resulted not just in stronger buy-in but also better quality decisions.
For those in leadership: be aware of your own limitations and find colleagues who have complementary strengths. You can’t and don’t have to do this alone.
Quote from Candise Branum and Turner Maslund’s article on management from a critical librarianship perspective. Collective ownership is not just an effective means to the end of getting a migration done. Putting our colleagues in position to participate equitably in the project contributes to just libraries and just society. This sounds good, so how do we get there? Let’s open a discussion: what experiences do you have with migrations that we can learn from?