CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

NY3Rs Statewide Project,

Supported in part by the Federal Library Services and Technology Act funds, awarded to The New York State Library by the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services.

SESSION 4

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS – Albany

1. Improve staff training and development.
2. Improve response to customer issues
3. Improve communication.
4. Increase awareness to key stakeholders
5. Increase community participation in a YA reading program.
6. Provide continual staff training to reduce resistance to change.
7. Improve channels of communication to, from, and among staff.
8. Provide services to users wherever they are.

LIST OF PROCESS SERVICE PRODUCTS – Albany

1. Provide reference service

2. Acquire materials

3. Prepare materials for circ.

4. Circulate materials

5. Offer ws and info sessions

6. Answer direct. and res. questions

7. Provide desktop delivery of library articles

8. Assist people in finding materials.

9. Keep statistics

10. Teach classes

11. Maintain physical plant

12. Promote library

13. Identify users

14. Train staff

15. Borrow from other libraries

16. Lend to other libraries

17. Create exhibits

18. License databases

19. Catalog materials

20. Preserve materials

21. Shelve materials

22. Maintain accurate. patron records

23. Organize meetings

24. Research and write history

25. Prevent misuse of library materials

List of Process Service Products, Rochester, April 13, 2004

1. Deal with budget issue.
2. Create an environment that meets our customer’s needs.
3. Strengthen awareness of library services to users.
4. Reallocate staff resources to reflect current situation.
5. Improve staff development.
6. Improve public perception.
7. Improve staff development
8. Develop assessment policies and measures to meet SUNY’s Mid-states.

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS AND KEY PROCESS CONTINUUM, Albany #4

1	2	3	4	5
4	10	5	1

ALBANY: DEVELOPING COMMON THEMES (Affinity Groups)

Input from Suppliers

Communication

-increase cost (4)

-instability of journal archive (2)

-lowest bidder (5)

-bundling (1)

-late fees

-late delivery

-can’t deliver what promised (2)

-paperwork(2)

-phone scams

-instability of companies

-consolidation/mergers (1)

-bankrupticies (1)

-good service (1)

-new vendors/better negotiations

-new products (1)

-influence of faculty (1)

-variety of interface for users (1)

-competing vendors

-overlap of databases – instability of companies (1)

-pricing changes (1)

Capabilities (strengths, weaknesses, skills, knowledge, etc.)

-knowledge transfer (mentoring, aging staff) (3)

-resistance to skill updating (tenured staff) (5)

-younger staff – technologically savvy (2)

-work ethic (3)

-energy levels

-continuous prof. Development

-lack $$ for training (2)

-team management (2)

-changing values (2)

-staff size (2)

-orienting new staff – including student workers (2)

-change in technology (2)

-supervisory training (2)

-staff vs admin. values (2)

-ego (2)

-union problems

-turnover (2)

-student skills higher than some staff

-limited professional (2)

-development opportunities (4)

-expenses (2)

Future Environment (Assumptions, Projections, Opportunities)

-more electronic resources (3)

-more technical expertise

-wireless (4)

-no new staff

-zero budgeting

-diminishing benefits

-economy stinks

-more remote patrons/distance (4)

-increasing cost (3)

-aging population and staff (4)

-influence of young people on tech. etc.

-rapid pace of change (2)

-uncertainty (esp. of economy) (1)

-security issue (local/national) (2)

-lack of space

-partnering (3)

-consortiums (2)

-essential to the community

-involvement of facility/students

-develop external fundraising (1)

-value of library within institution/community (2)

-library as a physical place

Linkages Inside and Outside Library

-computing center (4)

-collaboration among library units (2)

-academic dept. liaisons (5)

-campus wide committees (1)

-city government (3)

-consortiums (5)

-college administration (4)

-students (2)

-patrons (2)

-FIGs (1)

-business (1)

-grant agencies (1)

-friends (2)

-state gov’t (2)

-foundations (2)

-schools (1)

-other non-profits (1)

-county govt. (1)

-professional orgs.

-remote access users (worldwide) (2)

-public library

-alumni

-parents

-web page (1)

-marketing

-cross-training

-local media

-local community members

Worries and Concerns

- budget (9)

- understaffed (6)

- -bookstores

- -internet - infrastructure restrictions

- union (2)

- administrative support (1)

- physical bldg. (7)

- bureaucracy (2)

- image of library (2)

- impending retirements (3)

- salaries/retention (4)

- training (4)

- time (5)

- information literacy/evaluation (1)

- assessment (1)

- skill updating (2)

- -copyright (2)

- intellectual freedom (2)

- privacy (1)

- relevancy of libraries (1)

- digitized records

- staff burnout (1)

- technostress

- staff relationships (team building)

Customer Research – Students, Faculty, Community

How - surveys (6) - statistical reports (5) - conversations (3) - partnerships (1) - feedback from friends - census information - “ask a librarian” – email - demographics (1) - suggestion box (4) - lists - customer comments (3) - comment log - focus groups (4) - phone survey (1) - programming - LibQual - Staff - Benchmarking - KSFs

What **what is your research showing** -need for more hours -need for more staff -need for more materials -need for more computers -need for more space -satisfaction service -quality

Politics

-State budget (6)

-libraries seen as middle class thing

-agencies (state, county, city)

-campus politics – competition for resources (6)

-tenure

-local budget (3)

-unions (4)

-board micromanaging and administrative (1)

-administrative turnover

-traditions – always done it this way (6)

-professional vs support issues

-provincialism (2)

-town and city politics (1)

-mayor hates us. (we don’t like him/her either)

-imbalance of power (1)

-department rivalry (1)

-bureaucracy (2)

-classism (1)

-individual rivalry

New Technology

-implementation of new

-anticipation

-user friendly (1)

-not working

-rapid changes/upgrades

-virtual reference services (2)

-linking technologies

-virtual 24/7 librarians (1)

-training needs (5)

-expertise

-expense (4)

-consortial planning and decisions (1)

-staff fears (3)

-alliances (dependence on others) with other groups on campus

-how to promote

-keeping up – “technostress”(4)

-maintenance (2)

-identify potential resources

-reliability (1)

New and Existing Regulations

-program with state regs

-unfunded mandates (4)

-open access to meeting rooms

-finance law = bids, contracts (2)

-support for distance learning (1)

-information literacy mandates (3)

-freedom of information

-continuous assessment (1)

-Gen Ed requirements (2)

-Patriot Act (6)

-Copyright (4)

-SSN regulations

-TEACH Act (1)

-“no child left behind” act

-how to stay motivated to keep up?

-Middle States (1)

-union contract

-accounting red tape

-CIPA

-paperwork(2)

-Civil Service regs.

Input from Employees

-cataloging (2)

-everyone participates (3)

-not valued

-diversity of ideas

-can student employees be included effectively?

-staff meetings (6)

-emails – similar communications (2)

-committees (3)

-conversation (4)

-evaluation process (2)

-promoting library awareness (2)

-whining (2)

-absentee and lateness (1)

-egos (2)

-resistance to changes (4)

-finger pointing (3)

-in general communication

-anonymity

-gossip (1)

-kibbitzing (1)

-non productive meetings

-bosses (1)

-jobs not careers (1)

-marking time

-professional literature (1)

ROCHESTER #4 – DEVELOPING COMMON THEMES (Affinity Groups)

Strengths

-great staff (9)

-strong commitment to service (8)

-nice building (2)

-good budget (1)

-nimbleness (1)

-ability to collaborate (5)

-good collection (2)

-relationship with faculty/public (3)

-flexibility of staff (3)

-retirements (1)

-technology

-expertise

-stepping out of box

Weaknesses

-flat budget (8)

-money (4)

-declining number of staff (7)

-building (8)

-interdepartmental communication (4)

-traditional, unyielding (1)

-losing leaders (2)

-not stepping out of box

-inertia

-overworked

-territoriality

New and Existing Regulations

-HIPAA (5)

-Patriot Act (6)

-Privacy Act (4)

-Copyright (8)

-Child Internet Protection (2)

-Civil Service Rules (4)

-Middle States Standards (4)

-ADA (3)

-unfunded mandates (3)

-state regulations (3)

-local gov’t oversight (1)

-safety (1)

-general ed.

-cash handling

-justifying positions

-SUNY regs

Input from Suppliers

-prices going up (7)

-products changing (e.g. FirstSearch, etc.) (9)

-furniture price increases (1)

-equipment price increases (1)

-journals moving to new publishers (2)

-requirements for site licenses (3)

-students have fewer library skills (3)

-vendor harassment

-Science Direct (will we have it next year?!)

-changing search interfaces (5)

-vendor churning – who owns what today? (2)

-changing services

-collapse of vendors

-licenses changing (4)

Competitors - Strengths

-new glitzy facility

-ease of use

-Google – popularity(5)

-different collections (1)

-Amazon (search capability) (2)

-Barnes & Noble (atmosphere, coffee) (2)

-Google partnering with OCLC (WorldCat)

-students can search anywhere/anytime

-name recognition (Google)

-dollars for resources

-more publicity

Competitors - Weaknesses

-poor customer service

-not comprehensive

-poor quality

-different collections (2)

-other city and county departments

-technology services

Input from Employees

-understaffed (6)

-work load (5)

-union issues

-team players or not (6)

-loan rangers (solitary, independent) (4)

-inadequate space (4)

-atrocious bathrooms (8)

-committed to improvement

-clutter (1)

-employee relationships

-great members/patrons

-great co-workers (2)

-fun atmosphere, not boring

-noisy discourteous students

-salary problems (2)

-fearful of change(4)

-desire for more communication (3)

-cell phones

-need flex work schedules (1)

Politics

-librarians vs. library assistants

-multiple funding sources (1)

-library vs. comp. services

-system needs vs. branches (1)

-relationships with grant writers

-inadequate funding for SUNY (3)

-New York State – budget (6)

-Changes in grant requirements

-academic side vs. everything else (3)

-SUNY – Bd. of Trustees

-internal/campus/interpersonal politics (4)

-admin. does not want to hear bad news(1)

-increasing demands (1)

-electronic reserves vs. course mgt. software

-power plays (2)

-entrenched employees (3)

-increasing accountability

-union vs. public good

-consortial competition

New Technology

-no money to get or support (5)

-students expect it (1)/public as well (7)

-no staff to implement (4)

-relationship with campus IT staff – good (5), bad (2), ugly (2)

-access to competitively priced stuff

-prices going down

-need money to migrate and implement (2)

-no room for inhouse training

-need more yesterday (1)

-increased competition (i.e. with Google) – also other institutions

-$ to maintain and upgrade existing technology

-tech mgmt. increasing in cost (1)

-access to training (2)

-not reliable (1)

-non-adapters

-new tech – meta lib – potential

-handheld computers

-wireless access\-blithering array of choices

-demand for online only resources

Linkages with Others

-SUNY (7)

-3Rs (6)

-NYS Regents (3)

-Board of Trustees (5)

-Nylink (8)

-NYSHEI (5)

-county legislatures (3)

-vendors

-WALDO

-faculty (6)

-students (6)

-patrons (3)

-community (4)

-professional associations (4)

-city/state legislators (2)

-administrators (4)

-museums (1)

-members (1)

-library science university communities

-OCLC

-NERL

-National Library of Medicine

-main campus library

-prof. list serves

-Internet

-the world (internet)

Worries and Concerns

-ALEPH – LMS (system migration) (7)

-assessment (4)

-getting and filling positions (4)

-Gen Ed/Middle States accreditation (5)

-shrinking budgets (7)

-aging library staff (5)

-losing expertise (3)

-changing learning styles of students (6)

-huge gap in thinking between generations (5)

-layoffs/retirements

-shrinking space (1)

-staff technophobia (2)

-copyright (3)

-privacy (1)

-digital divide

-growing workload (4)

-info overload (5)

-difficult to find quality staff (2)

-aging building

-accountability

-archival access to online resources

Customer Research – What are students, faculty, administration, community saying?

-faster access (6)

-more computers (7)

-more electronic everything (7)

-laptops! And wireless (7)

-instant research (4)

-want more, more, more (6)

-trend to more, instant, electronic media (4)

-self help (3)

-home/off campus access (4)

-still want personal help (3)

-library as a community center (4)

-group space (4)

-quiet space (7)

-job search help (1)

-café/food, vending machines (3)

-“teen space”

-“we love google” (4)

-continued free service (3)

-no fees/fines (1)

-borrow bound periodicals (2)

-easy to use (1)

-scared of remote mtgs/training

-catalog hard to use (1)

-comfy chairs (1)

-light (2)

-coffee (2)

-24 hour reference/library

-different technology (fax, color copier)

-cell phones pro and con

AFFINITY GROUPING OF COMMON THEMES, Rochester, April 13, 2004

Group 1
Staff	Technology	Building/Physical Space	Competition	Legal/Accountability
Workload (3)	Technology expectations	Building falling apart and ugly	Google	Middle States
Understaffed (3)	Laptops and wireless	More customer friendly space in library	Google/Amazon (2)	SUNY Board and Trustees
Losing expertise	Stress of continuous new technology	Quiet space	Faculty and Students satisfied with Google search	Accountability
Keeping staff technological skills up to date	Keeping up with new technology	Nice building		Copyright
	More computers	Group space Study/quiet area		Copyright law used to restrict access
	Student expectations for technology			Legal requirements Patriot Act/Copyright Middle States
	Keeping up with demand for online resources.

Sddg E-Resources	Service	Money/Budgets
Efficient & effective mgt. of online resources	Commitment to service	Vendor costs increasing
Publishers restrictions on access – site licenses, no cancellation clauses	Strong commitment to service	Money to pay for more highly skilled staff
Database products change on short notice	Linkages with faculty	Money for technologies (2)
Archival access to online resources rent vs own		Money to pay for online resources customers demand
		Campus competition for funding
		Money (flat/decreasing budget)
		Sharply increasing prices for electronic resources (2)
Group 2		Salary problems
Customer Expectations	Money/Budget	Environment	Technology	Access
Google competition	No $$ for new staff or staff promotions	Patrons wanting more atmosphere (coffee shop)	Desire to be cutting edge/current with technology	24/7
Unrealistic patron expectation with internet	Lack of money	Space configuration needed	Good technology - improvements	24 hr. virtual reference
Changing face of library instruction - how to reach them	Money problems	Insufficient building space needs	Lack of $ & skills to handle new technology
	Nylink	Cell phones	Changing technology
	Vendor pricing	Barnes & Noble atmosphere	PDA Support
	Money and time	Identify crisis library vs. computer lab. rsources vs internet	Demands of site licenses
	Tech. resources changing too quickly/costing too much

Assessment	External	Staffing Issues
Assessment (of everything!)	Linkages with community	Staff resisting change
Gen. Ed. Assessment	Administrators	Workload issues
		Lack of qualified staff
		Team players
		Shrinking staff
		Collaborative approach
		Workload

Group 3
Marketing	Assessment	Resources	Staff	Technology
Promote positive image of library	Info Lit Instruction, staffing assessing	Faster/Instant Service	Fear of change	Technology expectations
Faculty	Gen. Ed Assessment