Return to Collaboration

Future of Technical Services Retreat

June 9-12, 2004

Responses to Future Search questions:

Q1

Looking ahead 2 to 3 years in the future, what would you like people inside and outside your library to be saying about your department/team?  In addition, what would you like them to be saying about how your library adds to and organizes its collections?  (For this second question, consider all kinds of library-acquired materials--print, non-print, electronic and digital, and both for-fee and "free.")

Jobs more routine

Library is one team

Easy to get things

Change is everywhere

Joy to work with

Web well organized

All voices heard

This is a great place to work

Strong appreciation of TS.

In touch with faculty trends

Up to speed

Think of us first when there is an info need

Use technology to be efficient

Larger role on campus

Technically skilled

Library is an exciting place

Users can always find what they need

Innovative

Efficient

Quick

One interface to all info

Responsive

Collaborative

Put patrons needs first

Q2

What do you expect will be the dominant changes affecting your library in the next few years?  Which ones might affect technical services the most and how?

Expanding e-resources

New formats

Budget changes

New metadata formats

Shared catalog

Space changes

Additions

New buildings

New use of buildings

Staffing

              Recruitment

              Retirement

              Generational changes

Print on demand

Single record technique

Quality vs. quantity

New ways of working

              Teams

              Consortia

              Collaboration

Searching is confusing

New services in libraries

IT services

New tools (OpenURL, XML…)

Q3

What are some of the skills and competencies that MnObe library staff will need to help their libraries continue to thrive in the coming few years?  Which skills and competencies will be most important for technical services staff?  (For a general list of work-related competencies, please see the chart at the end of these questions)

New knowledge / new technologies

Not passing familiarity but working knowledge

Need to raise level of understanding  - so you can explain issues to someone else

Communication (inter/intra)

Teamwork

Group problem solving

Innovation

              Attitudinal (accepting change)

              Developing new ideas

              Flexibility

              Willingness to explore new ways of doing things

              Learning from each other

More knowledge about user needs

More skills to study users

More skills in managing complex/multiple processes

Managing stress

Ability to see the big picture

Pre-training        

              Preparation for changes that are coming soon

              Familiarize people with what is going to happen

              Reduce stress

Integration of TS areas that have not been well integrated in the past

More skills in presentation of data

We collect a lot of data but don’t know how to use it

More involvement in projects

Skills in coaching and mentoring

Q4

Looking back over the last couple of years, what technical services accomplishments are you most proud of?  How might you, your library, and the MnObe group build on those achievements in the coming years?

Proud of system changes

New technologies

Personnel changes

              Adapting to new people

              New people adapting

Teamwork and collaboration

Networking

Can handle new challenges

Doing project work in addition to daily work

              CJK

              Statistics projects

              Journal classification

              Journal barcoding

              SFX

              Etc…

Build on accomplishments

              Find what we are efficient at

              Share skills with others

              Cross training in team and elsewhere

              Staff development

              Advance things we can do together (e-resources)

Let Public Services know what Technical Services does

Have TS work on reference desk

Staff recognition

Cooperative collection development

Joint reference + IT station

Q5

What are some of the things that the MnObe libraries’ technical services staff will need to do differently in the future to continue successfully serving their user communities?  

Communication with Public Services to get better understanding of users needs

Do a user survey, led/developed by or with Technical Services

Involve users in planning and learning what we could do for them

Visit with other libraries and TS departments

It is okay to make mistakes

Prepare for change

Practice, learn and try things

Permission to develop new knowledge

Balance work with personal lives

Do away with redundancies

Focus on e-resources and serials

Trust each other and trust management

Establish expert knowledge

Try a pilot project and see how it goes (i.e. digitizing & metadata)

Create cross functional teams / skills

Free up time for new work, skills, learning

Lean on students more, and explore new work flows

Let go, move forward

Instant ILL

Make decisions faster

IT expertise in TS to help be more proactive

Q6

What are the four or five most important things for MnObe libraries’ technical services staff to accomplish in the next year or two?

Keep current on IT

Proactive not reactive

Staff development

More and better exchange of ideas

              Meetings

              Web sites

              Site visits

Cooperative collection development

Cooperative purchases

Develop digital projects together

Merge catalogs

Create and merge portals

Become more user-focuses

More openness to change

Enjoy it!

Best solutions for presenting materials

More intuitive interface

Coordinate e-resources evaluations

Look at ITSO

More storage

Next steps:

Next 3-4 weeks:

• Get a listserv up to foster communication between MnObe TS
• Evaluate this retreat to see what we learned
• Go back to our libraries and talk to those who couldn’t be here (make our own timelines)
• Summarize & share what happened here
• Take a step towards getting this group to gel
• Talk to PS staff about what it means to focus on the user
• Look at MnObe web site and post retreat minutes, etc.
• Evaluate creative thinking ideas and distribute them to staff
• Go to ref desk and ask for research help on what we learned in the retreat (metadata, xml, next generation library systems, portals)
• Celebrate what we have already accomplished!

Next 6 months:

• Document patron feedback
• Purse training opportunities
• Use Web site to develop a list of expertise within MnObe
• Identify what knowledge sets already exists in the libraries and explore how to share expertise
• Have another meeting to socialize, have fun, brainstorm heading towards the development of a common project
• Bring more TS people to the table than could be at the retreat
• Bring in PS staff
• Decide together to create a structure (so it comes from us, not just from the directors)
• Get volunteers to take this forward
• Michael Dermody (St. Johns / St. Bens)
• Carole Thunem (Carleton)
• Katy Gabrio (Macalester)
• Sushila Shah (Macalester)
• Jane Bethel (St. Olaf)
• Anna Hulseberg (Gustavus)
• Tess Kassling (St. Johns / St. Bens)
• (Mollie Frier offered to be a liaison from Public Services as needed)
• Prepare a user/usability study
• Research
• Assess
• Collaborate with PS

Next 1-2 years:

• Investigate possibilities of group purchases (cost savings & collaborative collection development)
• Work toward digitizing projects
• Produce / Learn more about metadata standards, including state standards
• Explore grant opportunities for digitization or other joining MnObe projects
• Work together to develop series of training / professional development opportunities or program for key skills
• Explore a common catalog
• Make a schedule for visiting each other

Next 3-4 years:

• Look for opportunities to present at regional & national forums (events / publications)
• Implement the shared catalog or other cooperative projects
• Look at common repository for MnObe faculty scholarship
• Positive attitude, excitement, joy in our work.
• Implements something like ITSO,
• Visit other libraries to learn more about various TS depts. / functions
• Invite Karen to come back for a review of our progress
• Shared strategy for managing print journals duplicated in e-resources
• Create a shared portal for all MnObe libraries