I am pleased to announce we will immediately initiate our
strategic priority of implementing a tiered reference service model. Based on
what we have heard from Karen Williams, other Library Futures speakers, and the
discussions in the follow-up to Karen’s presentation, I’m convinced this is the
right step for us at this time. My thanks to all of you who contributed the
ideas and suggestions that are incorporated in the tiered model described below.
Circulation and
Information Services
The first tier will be the service desk on the first floor,
which will become the Circulation
and Information Services Desk. The
term Information Services is used to signal a change in our reference model and
uses language that is more familiar to today’s users.
The next tier will be librarians who have in-depth training
and knowledge to assist users with reference and research level queries. The
Circulation and Information Services staff will follow protocols (to be
determined) for moving a query up to the second tier in the most effective and
efficient manner.
Organizationally, Circulation and Information Services will
be part of Access Services, within the Library Operations division. Staff will perform
all of the following:
- Serve as the first point of in-person and telephone queries.
- Answer directional and basic informational questions.
- Direct research questions to librarians via Skype or chat links or make appointments for research consultations with appropriate librarians via their Outlook calendars
- Each staff member will be able to respond to questions, check-out books, handle study room reservations and respond to questions.
- Provide basic technology support for effective use of the equipment in the Commons area.
- Maintain paper and toner in printers in the Commons area.
Referrals
We will develop well-defined guidelines for referral of
research-level and curricular issues to appropriate librarians (subject
librarians, functional specialists, etc.) including a proactive follow-up protocol
to ensure questions are answered in a timely manner.
Staffing
Access Services will provide administrative oversight of the
Circulation and Information Services Desk. They will:
- Create a team of staff, Graduate Assistants, and undergraduate information assistants who will be cross-trained in a variety of functions appropriate to their roles.
- The number of staff needed to achieve all of the functions of this service point will be studied and determined based on variables such as peak hours of service demand.
- One senior staff member will coordinate scheduling and collaboration and communication with other departments throughout the Library.
- A second librarian will be added to Access Services to guide the overall implementation of the new Information Service model and will have an ongoing role in training, mentoring and monitoring to ensure continuous improvement and overall success.
We expect there will be some opportunities for existing
staff to consider contributing to this new service area. I invite you to think
about your interest in a possible reassignment to a new role and responsibilities.
H/SS, SED, Government Documents, DLS, Special Collections and Oral
History Librarians
- Librarians currently scheduled at the first floor Reference Desk will no longer have regular desk assignments. Instead they will develop means to respond quickly to referrals from the Circulation and Information Services Desk.
- Librarians and Staff in H/SS, SED, Government Documents, DLS, Special Collections and Oral History will contribute to the success of the new design in many significant ways—from initial and ongoing training to responding in a seamless way to referrals of research-level queries. This change will provide more opportunity for librarians to focus on our priority to become fully embedded—or engaged—with academic departments and research programs.
- · Rich Paustenbaugh will work with the subject librarians, and with partners in Special Collections, DLS, Government Documents and Oral History to develop more ways to integrate the Library into the workflow of faculty and graduate students. We’ll announce more specifics about this priority later this year.
Planning and
Implementation
To accomplish the detailed planning and initial
implementation of the new Information Service model, Robin Leech will lead a task
force to:
- Determine the mix of staffing needed for the service, considering all service hours.
- Outline the basic competencies for this mix of staff and design, organize and where necessary conduct the training essential to the success of the service.
- Prepare guidelines for referral of appropriate research-level and curricular needs.
- Set up a simple system to monitor overall implementation and schedule opportunities for communication between Information Services and Research and Learning and Special Collections during the first year of the new service.
Members of the task force will be announced shortly.
Timetable
This initiative is on a fast-track. Initial implementation
will occur during July with a goal of full implementation by the start of the
academic year on August 18. This is an aggressive timetable; but, we’ve been in
the study-and-discussion phase since July 2012, and we are all anxious for some
action, to get something moving. We will move quickly with the understanding
that we will tweak things as we learn, support each other even when we make
inevitable “mistakes” and celebrate as we go.
