Clinton Macomb Public Library Technical Services Analysis

Transcription

1 Clinton Macomb Public Library Technical Services Analysis Written For: Juleane Morian Associate Director Prepared By: CMAAT Melissa Brockington Ashleigh Donaldson Casey Hoeve Ayoung Yoon December 11, 2008 Contact Information Melissa Brockington

2 Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 Background Information 4 Methodology Data Collection 5 Analysis 5 Key Findings and Recommendation Physical Space 6 Training 7 Collaboration 8 Vendor Accounts 9 Conclusion 10 Appendices Appendix A: Interview List 11 Appendix B: Physical Model 12 2

3 Executive Summary The Clinton Macomb Public Library runs three branches, serving a population of over 150,000. Our team investigated the processing and cataloging division of the Clinton Macomb Public Library's acquisition process, run by the Technical Services department. Recommendations were designed, 1) to help the library minimize the turnaround time for the processing and cataloging of materials; 2) to free upper level staff for alternative library tasks; and 3) to effectively use all staff members and their skill sets. Through our interviews and analysis of data, we generated the following list of the findings and recommendations to improve efficiency. Finding 1. Physical Space: Our first finding addressed spatial constraints in the Technical Services department. Congestion occurs when several people are working in the same vicinity, and the partition of the workspace, caused by the circulation book repair, divides the processing and cataloging areas. To alleviate this problem and improve efficiency, we recommend the creation of a mobile book repair, to remove the circulation repair from the technical services area. Additionally, we also recommend scheduling staff outside of the normal 9 5 business hours. Finding 2. Training: The technical services division is currently in a transition period, focusing on the training of new staff members. This has highlighted several key issues in the training process. One long term recommendation is the creation of a senior or higher level page position; this person would assume more responsibility, including basic cataloging duties, with the intention of eventually transitioning into the cataloger role. Finding 3. Collaboration: Our third finding revolves around collaboration within the department and the larger library system: Communication within the department is limited, and each cataloger has her own personal set of notes, that are not usually shared across the department. To increase communication between members of the department, we recommend having a set monthly meeting. We also recommend creating a consolidated note system that would benefit all catalogers. Finally, instituting an interdepartmental education program would help to increase understanding across departments. Finding 4. Vendor Accounts: The primary vendor of the library, Baker and Taylor, provides spine labels to books for a fee. However, there are discrepancy between what Baker and Taylor print on the spine labels, compared to what the library needs to have printed on the spine labels. This effectively reduces job efficiency, and requires the library to bear the monetary cost for replacing the spine labels. To solve this problem, we recommend creating updated genre accounts with Baker and Taylor. 3

4 Background The Clinton Macomb Public Library is a three branch system, comprised of the North, South, and Main Branch. It is one of the largest libraries in Michigan, serving a population of over 150,000 people. The mission of the Clinton Macomb Public Library is to connect people of all ages to resources that inform, educate, entertain and inspire. They do this through their wide collection, comprised of books, CDs, audio books, DVDs, and other materials as well as free access to computers and the Internet. Our project is an analysis of the Technical Service Department where physical processing and cataloging are performed. We were to initially examine the acquisition process in general but after a discussion with our client we realized it was too broad, and opted for a narrower scope, which focused on the processing and cataloging of materials. Twenty department librarians each have a budget from which to order materials for their collection. The Technical Service receives these items and readies them for the public to use. On average, they handle 3,000 items a month, totaling to nearly 40,000 a year. The Technical Service Department is located at the Main Branch of the Clinton Macomb Public Library and is comprised of seven employees. The Technical Service Manager oversees the physical processing and cataloging of library materials, does original cataloging for library items with no previous records, and performs managerial tasks. The three catalogers are responsible for inputting the newly acquired library materials into the catalog database, checking for or correct spine labels, and making sure the materials are sent to the proper locations. Pages are required to physically process the library material, which involves opening packages, stamping the material, and placing an RFID (radio frequency identification device) tag on each individual item. There is a certain amount of flexibility in the jobs catalogers, pages, and the Department Head perform outside of their defined roles. The catalogers and the Department Head spend time each week performing page duties, often as a break from cataloging and skilled pages are occasionally asked to perform basic cataloging. Most jobs are completed independently, requiring little interaction among the Technical Service team, or within the library at large. 4

5 Methodology Data Collection To being our project, we started collecting data through a combination of interviews and observation. We carried out a series of seven interviews, four with members of the Technical Service Department, two department librarians, and the Associate Director (for full list see appendix). In teams of two, we carried out our interviews, with the exception of the Associate Director, where all team members were present, and dedicated time to observing the actual day to day activities performed within Technical Service. Analysis After proper dissection of the interviews through interpretation sessions, as well as conducting a scrutinizing analysis of pictures and diagrams, it was determined that a cultural, sequence, communication, and a representative physical model would best serve our formulation of recommendations. The cultural and communication models showed a distinct hierarchical structure within the Technical Service Department. It was found that pages answered to the department manager, catalogers were held accountable to the department manager, and the department manager was accountable to the library directors. The sequence model aided us in determining that the procedures, which facilitate physical processing and cataloging, did not need any alterations. Over time the department manager had streamlined the process to be very efficient. The physical model was perhaps the most pertinent in the examination of the processing and cataloging procedures. It was found that each area is well organized and provided with the same standard equipment, consisting of a computer and spine label scanner. The information used to construct the model was collected through a series of observational notes and sketches of the Technical Services department, along with digital photographs of key landmarks, and the main hallways linking the processing and cataloging divisions. The raw data was then compiled within Microsoft Office Visio, to develop a fully functional model, depicting the spatial organization, employee work paths, and breakdowns that may be causing inefficiency in the output of materials (see appendix...for physical work model). Our team then consolidated the models and created an affinity diagram. The affinity diagram revealed to us the aspects of physical processing and cataloging, which could be improved to be more efficient and increase productivity. We separated the areas into physical space, training, communication and collaboration and vendor accounts. 5

6 Key Findings and Recommendations Physical Space Findings Our first finding involved the nature of the work space in the technical services department. Interviews, interpretation sessions, and the physical model, concluded that the technical services division is undersized for the volume of materials and employee traffic that currently pass through it. The work space is limited, and the term "cramped" is a defining characteristic used among employees, to describe the congestion that arises when several people are working in the same vicinity. With the current arrangement and staffing schedule, it would be difficult to hire another person to work in the technical services area, because there simply is not enough room for another body. Additionally, the work space is also divided by the book repair area, which is part of the circulation department. The physical model 1 depicts the separation of the processing and cataloging areas created by the book repair, and illustrates the movement of staff members, who are often receiving and unpacking materials in two different locations. Multiple processing and receiving workstations are used at opposite ends of the department because the primary workstation cannot handle the current incoming volume of books. The physical model also exposes the reduction of hallway space caused by idle book carts; these carts are filled with books awaiting repair, by the circulation repair, and are left in the main hallway, impeding the movement of the technical services staff. Frequent movement between this narrow hallway, causes bottlenecks of congestion, and may reduce efficiency during processing and cataloging procedure. Recommendations Because space is limited, and the removal of cubicle walls is not a feasible option, we have developed a list of simple solutions to address the problem of congestion, which can be easily implemented by the library. The first recommendation is to move the book repair out of the technical services area. Ideally, the book repair would be transferred to a different location in the library, but as the situation currently stands, no permanent location is immediately available. However, any readily available, temporary space in the library could accommodate a mobile book repair cart, and would serve as a feasible, short term solution. 1 See Appendix B 6

7 Materials required for book repair would be stored on cart with books needing repair. This cart could then be moved to a temporarily available work space, where employees or volunteers could then complete the task of fixing the materials. One such space we suggest using is the library s conference rooms. Currently the library has several conference rooms available for scheduled use by patrons or staff. The mobile book repair would allow library staff to work in these conference rooms periodically, without compromising the original purpose of the room. The second recommendation to reduce congestion and maximize the physical space is to schedule staff outside of the normal 9 5 business hours. Currently, most of the technical services staff is scheduled to work during standard business hours, and the number of employees working on a given day is limited by space constraints. This prevents all staff members from being fully utilized during seasons of high volume orders. Benefits The benefit of the mobile book repair is that it would free up much needed space in the technical services area, allowing for an additional workstation. This would eliminate the inefficient practice of travelling between distanced processing workstations. It would also help to alleviate congestion in the narrow corridor, and free up storage space that can be utilized by the technical services department. If staff scheduling is extended to all hours that the library is open, including evenings and weekends, it would reduce congestion in the work space, and potentially allow for the hiring additional staff. Training Findings The second finding we addressed is the process of training. The technical services division is currently in a transition period, focusing on training a number of new staff members. This has highlighted several key issues in the training process. Training catalogers is a difficult and time consuming process. The library often hires catalogers that have no formal library training, and have never seen the inner workings of a library. When new catalogers arrive, and lack familiarity with library procedures or MARC formatting, the training process is more difficult. We observed that the Head of Technical Services bore the majority of the responsibility for training both catalogers and pages. It has been noted that when a page is promoted to the cataloging position, the training process has been much smoother. This was the case with U04 who worked two years as a page 7

8 before transitioning into the cataloging position. She felt her training was quicker and less frustrating due to her previous experience in Technical Services. Recommendations One long term recommendation involves the creation of a senior or higher level page position. This position would assume more responsibility, including basic cataloging duties, and would eventually transition into the cataloger role. A senior level page would be able to gradually learn cataloging procedures by assisting the catalogers in basic cataloging tasks. If senior pages were able to take on some basic cataloging duties, this would free up catalogers to work on more of the original cataloging or rare materials, which is currently being completed by the Head of Technical Services. Additionally, a senior level page could also assist in training new pages. A senior level page would be ideal for training other pages, as that person is actively involved in the work, and would be able to share her own personal experiences, such as tips or tricks learned to simply the process. By taking on some of the training responsibilities for new pages, a senior level page would provide the departmental manager with more time to complete other managerial tasks. Benefits This recommendation would work with the current practices of the technical services division, because pages currently do some of these higher level tasks. Furthermore, training for the cataloging position is much easier when an employee is familiar with the operations of tech services and the intricacies of a catalog record; therefore, the process of shifting pages to senior pages, and senior pages to catalogers, would be much more efficient practice, providing a much more smooth transition when filling vacant positions. Collaboration Findings Our third finding revolves around the concept of collaboration, both within the department, as well as within the larger library system. Initially, we found that communication within the department was limited, resulting primarily form the individual nature of the job. Departmental staff meetings are infrequent, and not regularly scheduled. We also noted that each cataloger has their own personal set of notes, reminders, and cheat sheets; these were often disorganized or recorded on sticky notes, and not usually shared across the department. Along with these specific breakdowns in intra department collaboration, we believe that there could be a greater understanding between all departments in the Library. Recommendations 8

9 Based on our findings, one recommendation to increase both professional, and social communication between members of the department, would be the implementation of a set monthly meeting. To save time in a busy department, these could possibly be conducted over lunch. Because the work is largely individual, these meetings would be beneficial, in that it would allow members to share problems and ideas, as well as integrate newer members of the team Secondly, a consolidated note system would stand to benefit all catalogers. A shared electronic document could be established, so all members of team could view or edit information. A consolidated note system would not only allow for greater organization of information, but also increase employee accessibility. Knowledge of expert catalogers would be easily available to less experienced members of the cataloging team, while also ensuring that all members were adhering to the same cataloging standards. Finally, instituting an interdepartmental education program would help to increase understanding across departments. One librarian who was interviewed, mentioned that the idea of job sharing, or swapping had been considered, where staff would spend time working in other branches or departments. However, most staff found this idea both intimidating and impractical. A program that more closely resembled job shadowing would help to increase understanding across departments. In this program, staff from other departments would spend a day observing and learning the responsibilities of other divisions in the library. An example of this would be a librarian spending a day with a cataloger, and learning exactly what her job entails. By gaining an understanding for what a cataloger does, and how she completes her work process, the librarian would not only become more knowledgeable about the cataloging process, but would recognize how her own work impacts that of the cataloging department. Benefits Increased communication and collaboration both within the department and across the library will help to improve efficiency. Regularly scheduled meetings as well as a consolidated note systems would allow members of the Technical Services team to benefit from the knowledge of their co workers. By witnessing how different departments work through an interdepartmental education program, staff will be able to understand their role in the larger library system, and this will facilitate a greater level of communication and cooperation across departments, therefore, improving efficiency of the Technical Services department, and the library as a whole. Vendor Accounts Findings The Clinton Macomb Public Library presently orders approximately ninety percent of its materials through the vendor Baker and Taylor. With their agreement through Baker and Taylor, 9

10 the library has set up general accounts to match literary genre, in which, Baker and Taylor provides spine labels to books, for a fee, which match the designated genre. However, the increasing variety of materials ordered by the library has consequently caused the cataloging system, within the technical services department, to become more detailed and specific with regard to genre. This has subsequently produced a discrepancy between what Baker and Taylor prints on the spine labels, compared to what the library needs to have printed on the spine labels, rendering Baker and Taylor labels to be incorrect one third of the time. This forces the technical services division to remove and recreate new spine labels, which effectively reduces job efficiency, and requires the library to bear the monetary cost for replacing the spine labels. Recommendations The recommendation to solve this problem is to create updated genre accounts with Baker and Taylor. The renegotiation of accounts will positively benefit the library in the short and the long term. As accounts become more accurate, the number of bad spine labels will be continuously reduced, yielding a minimal rate of error in the long term view. Benefits The reduction of errors will save the library money. If we posit (the maximum situation) that the library conducts ninety percent of its business through Baker and Taylor, and the spine labels are incorrect one third of the time, this means that approximately 13,300 of 40,000 materials acquired by the library each year, are incorrectly labeled. If the library pays Baker and Taylor ten cents per label, approximately $1,300 is initially lost from incorrect labels, plus the cost to library for replacing those labels, and the cost of paying employees to fix the error. From the short term to the long term, the library will see a reduction in unnecessary budgetary expenditures, and an increase in available resources, which can be used to hire additional staff, or purchase equipment for a new workstation. Conclusion The project goal was to generate recommendations for the technical services division of the Clinton Macomb public library, to improve the turnaround time for the processing and cataloging of materials; consequently, this will free up upper level staff for alternate library tasks, and enable the department to more effectively utilize all staff members and their individual skills. Through the collection of data by interview, , and observation, we discovered that the overall processing and cataloging procedure runs smoothly. However, certain areas could be strengthened to improve efficiency, involving the concepts of physical space, training, collaboration, and vendor accounts. We believe that the implementation of a mobile book repair, a senior level page position, scheduling staff members outside standard business hours, increasing the number of department meetings and job shadow opportunities, the standardization of cataloging manuals, and the reorganization of vendor accounts will reduce spatial constraints, save money, and improve efficiency within the Clinton Macomb Public Library. 10

11 Appendix A Interview List Title of Job Date Attended members for interview Associate Director 08 Oct All of the members Head of Technical 01 Oct Services Full time Library Assistant 01 Oct in Technical Services Part time Library Assistant in Technical 01 Oct Services Melissa and Casey Melissa and Casey Ayoung and Ashleigh Technical Services Page 01 Oct Ayoung and Ashleigh North branch manager 08 Oct Ayoung and Ashleigh Head of Adult Nonfiction 08 Oct Melissa and Casey 11

12 Appendix B Physical Model 12

13 [Staff Offices] Technical Services Division Clinton-Macomb Public Library (Main Library) U03, U04, and U05 bring books to and from the North Shelf for processing and cataloging. U05 uses alt. station for processing U04 Hold Shelf South Shelf Head of Circulation (Main Branch) U02 Head of Circulation North Shelf Alternative Cataloging/ processing stations Table Cataloging Cataloging Shelf U03 Cabinet All employees pass through the main hallway, which is narrow because boxes, book carts and filing cabinets take up hallway space Circulation Repair Book Carts Cabinet Receiving/ processing U05 U03, U04, U05 bring books to and from the main shelf to process and catalog Main Shelf U03, U04, and U05 bring books to and from the North Shelf for processing and cataloging. South Distrib. North Distrib. Book Carts Book Return (The Beast)