NASIG Newsletter

TACTICS SESSION
Navigating a Course for Serials Staffing into the New Millennium
Lynda Fuller Clendenning, Head of Acquisitions and Lori Duggan, Head of Electronic Resources, Indiana University
Reported by Amy Carlson

Lynda Fuller Clendenning and Lori Duggan presented on the process of assessing and implementing an electronic resources workflow at Indiana University.  One year following a consulting firm’s recommendations, the changes to personnel, skill sets, and workflow has increased service response to library users and other library constituents, while giving them greater opportunities for future collaborations.

With the increasing number of and reliance on electronic resources, the Acquisitions Department at Indiana University altered their approach to their workflow.  The previous organization created independent units, unable to respond easily to increased demand.  Fifty percent of their materials budget purchased an increasing number of electronic resources, while print resources decreased.  Centralization of activities and increased response to users’ or library constituents’ electronic access emerged as key motivations for modifying the workflow.  Recommendations for change included many opportunities to coordinate and standardize processes.  They reduced duplicating activities between the different units, standardized procedures, coordinated more effectively with the Electronic Resources Management System, and increased the range of staff knowledge.  R2, the consulting firm, presented their recommendation in the fall of 2007, which Indiana implemented by July 2008.  Their new organization reflects increased coordination, increased communication, and integrated staff from each of their units to trouble shoot electronic access issues.

Duggan highlighted gains through the reorganization.  They developed an Electronic Resources staff skill set to add to position descriptions and to prepare the staff for changes in work.  They organized staff into the Serials and Electronic Resources Acquisitions administrative team or SERA, to increase cross training, coordination and response time to problems.  In addition, they streamlined communication and coordination of processing between the Technical Services, Collections, and Library Information Technology sections of the library and Electronic Resources.  Fully implementing their ERMS is underway.

Enhancing access and streamlining process gave them greater flexibility for the problems at hand as well as to plan for the future.  This new flexibility may allow them to weather any staff shortages or budget problems, but also allows them to repurpose staff or look for new collaborations.  Future roles may include a support role in Indiana University’s Scholarworks, the institutional repository, or processing and adapting to new formats.  After one year with the new organization, Duggan reflected that the transition had been smooth and had given them opportunities to share ideas focused on the future.

Many of the questions from the audience concentrated on the Electronic Resources staff skill set, training and reorganization issues.