Welcome Back! Spring 2008

It's always hard to put that exclamation point on the "welcome back" because lots of people are happy to be off/on vacation, but - obviously - lots of people don't necessarily want to spend their time by going back to work…that being said…

General Announcements/Reminders

I always look at the winter holidays as the academic year's ½ way mark and looking at the Spring 2008 schedule, we have even more holidays coming up: Martin Luther King, Spring Break, etc. Although many of you are longtime employees, many of us are new. That being said here are some reminders or basic information all LS employees need to be aware of:

• Take a look at the spring and summer holidays and class and college schedule. If you are a part-time employee, you typically don't work between semesters. Also if you are a student, don't forget to schedule in your study and work time so that you are still available to work your complete schedule for us during your exams and finals time. We need you to work then as well! As you already know, we don't always let people make up their time missed. Head Librarians decide what time can be made up/worked at a later time and any scheduling issues that go along with that decision.
  
  
• Adjunct librarians should check their schedules ASAP to see if their spring and/or summer hours need to vary on a weekly or overall basis. Although this seems premature, managers begin to schedule in contract times and vacation times immediately after the new year. Please begin to work with your managers immediately. Obviously, fulltime employees (classified and Head Librarians) should also look at the spring and summer schedule to determine when time off will be requested and submit - as quickly as possible - paperwork for any time off.
  
  
• All employees who are part-time or who manage part-time people need to continue to watch the 900-hour cap closely in the second half of this academic year. As we all know, we cannot go over that number of hours worked by any one employee in an academic year. If an hourly employee reaches that number of hours, they must cease work until the new academic year begins.
  
  
• All managers/employees should keep in mind that in August we always have at least one week in August when we are IN the new school year/fall2008, but on our old budget dollars. So our fiscal year ends on August 31st, but school starts the third week of August.
  
  
• Reference librarians working their 10.5 and 1.5 should note when the semesters begin and end. Time between semesters varies greatly and sometimes you have a few days off and sometimes only a day or two off.
  
  
• Reference librarians who are working their 10.5 only should be finalizing (with their HL's) the six weeks that they will be off contract and away from the college as soon as possible so that managers can identify gaps in the schedules. In addition, librarians should work with their Head Librarians to ensure that all 2008 (academic year '09) activities are completed before they complete their 10.5 contract/leave the college. These activities include but are not limited to campus-specific location work and all-LS and ACC committee work as well as weeding, collection development (of course,) and updating web information. Librarians should begin now as we have many schedules to coordinate. Timelines to be taken in to account should include:
  
  
  
  • Team member schedules
    
  • Team goals to be completed
    
  • Schedules of those "receiving" work such as weeded material information going to Technical Services…if everyone waits until the summer to weed, Technical Services cannot process work in a timely fashion
    
  • Head Librarian schedules (HL's work 12 months but they take vacation as well.)
    
  • Schedules of other critical staff such as Administrative Assistants who assist with activities on campuses.
    

Spring 2008 Activities…Issues…Announcements

Time to Rethink?

Six or seven years ago (I've lost count…it's all a blur) I became Dean of Library Services. Almost a year later I brought the librarians together to discuss "how we did business" in order to focus in on ourselves, how we were organized, how we created work product, etc. but especially to create a document that answered some of our new supervisor's (Ron Brey) questions at how we saw ourselves and how we were looking ahead. We met and made some changes that included:

• Some renaming (Teams, not committees)
  
• Some downsizing (fewer groups working; fewer people working on groups formed)
  
• Continued but expanded communication (threaded discussions)
  
• Service delivery discussion (librarians reviewed their job responsibilities to review what everyone needed to continue doing, what they could give us/do less of, etc.)
  

To summarize this process we created a document that we called (forever and ever) the "confetti" document. We updated this a few years later and I have referred to it many times in my work. I also still use parts of it as foundation for other discussions. (If anyone new (or nostalgic) wants to see it, just let me know and I'll send it to you.)

MP Note: This can be found online at

Ron Brey Document Information on Decision Making.doc

Anyhow, my point with all of this "thinking" is, it's always good to rethink processes and this last fall the Texas library community decided it wanted to think and possibly rethink Texas libraries. We planned for unique speakers as well as a participant list that included 65% of attendees to have been in the field for less than five years. Our thoughts were (and still are) that it is THEIR future and we need to have our newest professionals thinking about their future.

Visit this page

http://www.txla.org/temp/Transform.html and get the basic idea, then link to the blog link in the upper left-hand corner. (Our very own Ellie Collier!) Linked from the blog is:

• A website "viewing" list of transforming websites we asked all attendees to review prior to attending
  
  
• A link to presenter PPT and a stream of presentations (VERY interesting)
  
• Individual participant notes/thoughts
  
• Group process content
  
• Large group recommendations
  

Post conference I asked the Visioning/Transforming Steering Committee members to come up with a list of their thoughts about the ideas we heard and create a list of changes we each thought we would make in our own institutions. A fair number of individuals began to post immediately talking about how they felt event content changed their views, thoughts, minds and a few even discussed "revelations" they had. I called mine "Made me think" moments...

1. It's important to renew our commitment to assessment. Please see the "Commitment to assessment" attachment that assists us in answering questions about what we do/how we spend time and - of course - ultimately - why do we need the money we ask for.



2. As part of the overall move to assessment, I don't think we think enough about the customers and what they want. Yes, I'm in an academic library where we meet a variety of expectations, and 'yes' we have user and non-user surveys, BUT I'm interested in more assessment based on constituents...I don't know how this will take place (standardized 'commercial' surveys programs?, general surveys?) but I would like to know if we are meeting (at least!) a range of needs and expectations and maybe some extra/unanticipated needs. There are a number of commercial packages out there, LibQual, among them but it is primarily a customer service assessment. We have had that in the college annually for some time. I don't want to reinvent the wheel, but we'll take a look around and see how we might assess interests and needs realistically.



3. Our speakers wanted us to consider not using patron or customer as a term but instead using constituent. I love the 'constituent' term for customer/patron/user, etc. To me, it signals an obligation on our part...or better said...a responsibility to serve someone.



4. I would like to open the discussion with my librarians on front line reference and information seeking behaviors of our constituents... AND this discussion will have to include our other public service desks (circulation services staff) as well as a review of our administrative rule on our librarian/faculty obligations for student contact. SO...after all those "ifs, ands, and buts" and trying to work within the confines of our facilities, we can begin a dialog.



5. I am currently looking at the Transforming blog I referenced above to see how I might replicate at least the presentation of the content, in order to both educate and enthuse us/ACC Library Services staff. It's not enough to simply open a discussion on "a few of us heard about this and we think its a good idea," we will have to take the long/big picture view. And clearly I am NOT saying "we're going to make these changes this spring, so get on board!" I have this on the agenda of the first LLT meeting and we will discuss how this might work for LS. I will ask managers to speak with staff on their campus prior to this meeting and bring ideas to LLT. SO that being said - think about these things…





--What causes you to change your mind about how something is done? Specifically - at work? Data? Someone else says you should and you trust him or her? Opinion of many? Boredom? Review of a best practice?

--What do you need in order to think about the future? A few good ideas? Speakers to inspire you? Quiet moments away from work? Guided discussion with co-workers?

--How long do you think it should take to think and then - if appropriate - change? A few semesters/doesn't matter which ones? Spring and summer, then start something new in the fall of a new year?




6. We gathered data on our physical facilities several times within the last two years. In addition, we have extensive risk management spreadsheets that have incredible detail on "what we have where." I have long wanted to complete a physical space audit of our libraries to determine if there were additional/better ways to arrange our space to meet constituent needs. Although we don't have a great deal of money, I interested in seeing how we might assess in order to see if we might rearrange. We'll see what we can do.
   
   
7. AND...Along that same line.... last year I started the signage discussion. I really need to step that up and build in constituent survey questions to an assessment to determine the best signage for meeting needs at each campus location.
   
   
8. You'd think I never stop talking but even with my dean's blog last year (which I don't contribute to that much!) I have the tools to communicate...but I don't communicate as I need to. I have to find a way to move what I know/what the managers are doing - down to everyone in Library Services. I will share my PPT of "pictures of new library areas to inspire people" with everyone this spring - I'm collecting images for the new RR campus.
   
   
9. We need to capture firm results...that is...if - inspired and motivated - and if we then make major changes, where can we share this? How can we find out what others are doing? A blog...a Wiki? Our Visioning/Transforming steering committee talked about infusing this content into TLA conference programming and identification...but I am really interested in finding out what other libraries in Texas - and elsewhere - are doing differently or just doing ….I will talk to PR and Staff Development about how we might capture "new."
   

SO - HL's will be discussing these issues with campus staff and then bringing information to LLT in the early spring.

ACC Round Rock Campus

I will be working with other IRT/LS managers this spring to finalize basic specifications on IRT/Library Services plans for the ACC Round Rock Campus. Right now we don't know more than we know…

• We know it will be the largest acreage - around 60 acres - but we don't know if we will develop all of it in the first phase.



• I know IRT is asking for MUCH more space in this IRT/Library Services environment but don't know how many yet and - obviously - don't know how many square feet we will get.



• I'm not sure, but it is my understanding that the campus will be both a full general education campus and will also be a full health sciences campus. What "full" health sciences campus means is not clear…that is...I don't know how many programs will be offered there. I do know that we aren't moving programs from other campuses, RR campus programs will be in addition to the programs we have at other locations in terms of health sciences.

Weekend Colleges/Cypress Hours

Weekend Colleges begin for the South Austin Campus and for the Eastview Campus. IRT/Library Services staffing is complete for these additional hours and basically entail adding Friday evening hours, Saturday afternoon hours and a few hours on Sunday. Cypress Campus will continue to be the 4.5 days per week open they are now. Pinnacle will also remain at 4.5 days per week.

Employees - Replacement/New

We have a few positions open that we will be actively recruiting for this spring. They include:

• Pinnacle Head Librarian (replacement)
  
• South Austin Library Assistant (new, converted from the .5 position vacated by retirement)
  
• Eastview Library Assistant (replacement)
  
• Northridge Senior Library Assistant (replacement)
  

In addition, we have two reference librarians "coming" in our allotment. We should post those this spring, by March…and the Library Leadership Team will announce locations. The expectation is that they will begin in the fall of '08.

Hourly Employees

As with any new semester, we lose and gain hourly employees. If Head Librarians have hired hourly employees who will be staffing public service desks, please introduce them to LS_all and let people know who they are and what hours (in the ballpark) they will be working. I'll go first:

Wayne Decker is a new adjunct reference librarian who will be working daytime hours at Pinnacle reference. When we have finalized the hours, we will post them to the Pinnacle ICAL.

Trish Reichle LeBlanc is a returning adjunct who will be working at the Pinnacle and possibly more places. When we have finalized the hours, we will post them to the Pinnacle ICAL.

New and Exciting

RGC Environment

RGC LS is pleased to announce the continuation of its Library makeover project. Over break, they replaced our well-worn double-sided study carrels (25+ years old and located in the library's main work area) with new, more inviting furnishings. A combination of round and rectangular tables and chairs now occupy that area. Additionally, they opened up the Reference stacks a bit by replacing a tall stack with a half stack (that they already had). Much more daylight moves through these two areas now! This also improved traffic patterns because it allowed staff to improve aisles among collections and tables. Leigh Kilman states "my continued thanks to Julie and Dr. Smith for their support (as well as to RGC LS staff for all the hard work)!"

LS Wiki (acclswiki.austincc.edu)

Margaret Peloquin says:

'Re-Imagining Staff Collaboration and Communication through A Dedicated Wiki'

A simple idea for making the LS Reference Manual available to all campuses by using Wiki software has blossomed into a way for all LS staff to better communicate and collaborate. Although we began with the Reference Manual, the Wiki has now become an easier way to find and disseminate information about all LS operations. Certain projects are open to everyone for viewing and others are reserved for intra-team/group communications (exchanges). You can now find information for the following areas/functions:

ACC LS Wiki Basics Assessment and Effectiveness CDT CDT Exchange Circulation Manual Circulation Staff Exchange Collection Development - Bibliographer's Guide Community Outreach - PR Info - Tips Content Management Group Distance Learning, Extension Embedded Librarians Group Emergency Preparedness Plan HL Exchange ILS Committee Information Literacy Clearinghouse Journal Club

Library Leadership Team LLT Exchange LS Administrative Assistants LS Technology LS Web Pages Policies Procedures Help Reference Collection Reference Group Exchange Reference Manual Reserves Staff Development Staff Development Exchange Technical Services and Library Automation Technical Services - Reports TSLA - Exchange

Some projects are dynamic and fully operational, while others are just beginning to gather information and will be available soon. If you cannot get into a project that you need, please be sure to let the project administrator know. You can see a list of the projects and administrators at

http://acclswiki.austincc.edu/cm/wiki/?id=45504

LS Catalog (alicat.austincc.edu)

The ACC Library Catalog has undergone an upgrade and has a new look. Among the new features to look for

• Relevancy ranking of search results
  
• Ability to sort results easily by relevancy/date/title
  
• Book covers for individual items when available
  
• Tabbed search options
  
• New catalog searching help
  

Still to come are the updated Spanish language pages. Look for them soon.

Electronic Message Boards

Cary Sowell says "Over the Christmas break, the College installed electronic scrolling message boards, emergency public address systems and outdoor speakers district wide. Check out where they are installed in your library, so that you can become familiar with their location. The message boards will normally just display time and date. Only in an emergency will the public address system be used and a message explaining any emergency will be displayed on the message board at the same time."

Have a great spring semester!