SPEC Kit 349: Evolution of Library Liaisons · 189
UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
Organizational Review Team Report |Organizational Recommendations |Research and Learning Division
KU Libraries: Organizational Review Team Report
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A user-focused Research and Learning division organized around these four user groups will be a bold break
from a (very) traditional organizational structure that has “focused largely on capturing the end products of
scholarship and a bibliographer model designed to fulfill that goal” (Williams, 2009). This traditional structure
has also made us less agile and less responsive to evolving student learning outcomes, student and faculty
research processes, and scholarly communication practices (Hahn, 2009). A user-based focus will bring users
to the fore of our attention and may lead to critical strategic opportunities to participate in and influence a
variety of campus decisions. It will emphasize our interest in building relationships, explicitly requiring agility and
responsiveness, and will best situate us to demonstrate the value and contribution we make to the research,
teaching, and learning experiences of our users.
Building strong relationships with faculty and other campus professionals, and establishing collaborative
partnerships within and across institutions will be necessary building blocks to our success. Subject knowledge,
such as liaisons possess, can be used to inform much more than the selection of books and journals, and
teaching the occasional guest lecture. Knowing how scholars in particular disciplines communicate and share
information with one another can inform the design and development of repository and new model publishing
services. Understanding the curriculum of a degree program and pedagogical norms of a discipline can help
shape the development of scalable models that integrate 21st century literacies into a learner’s universe.
Knowing that many scholars are generating untold quantities of digital data while others are producing
multimedia works and all are struggling with data management and preservation plans positions us to help
craft solutions to these large-scale problems (Williams and Jaguscewski, 2012).
We also believe an organization based around user needs and cross-functional teams will make the most
effective use of our expert human resources and eliminate several areas of duplication of effort. Given a sure
future of limited resources, this is a model in which we can be very effective. A team-based approach to our
functional work means we can take advantage of the natural strengths and interests of our staff while not
expecting that each individual librarian acquire new specialized skills or expertise in specific areas.
[Librarians] cannot be experts themselves in each new capability, but knowing when to call in a colleague, or
how to describe appropriate expert capabilities to faculty, will be key…Just as researchers are often working
in teams to leverage compatible expertise,…librarians will need to be team builders among library experts
[where this supports and enhances the research, teaching, and learning on our campus] (Hahn, 2009).
Cross-functional teams also reflect the true nature of our work. While this kind of collaboration currently
happens in an ad hoc way (with varying degrees of success), a user-focused structure that utilizes cross-
functional teams would provide a structure clearly and explicitly intended to break down our current ‘silos’ or
tribal tendencies and support the kind of ongoing and in-depth collaboration our work requires.
This kind of realignment is also a strategic response to economic realities and pressures. In realigning the
libraries’ priorities and structuring our focus on the changing needs of faculty and students, we will better
equip ourselves to meet current and future needs, and will be best situated to demonstrate direct value and
contribution to the research, teaching, and learning experiences of our users.
ORGANIZATIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS
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