SPEC Kit 349: Evolution of Library Liaisons · 65
Addition of collection development responsibilities. Reduced emphasis on one-shot instruction. Increased emphasis on
consulting with faculty to create library-focused assignments.
All liaison work is now the sole responsibility of library faculty. We no longer have non-library faculty (professional
staff) handling any liaison work. And all library faculty are now expected to be liaisons, in theory. Previously, only some
librarians were liaisons.
Closing the reference desk freed up some time to focus on more concentrated marketing of liaison efforts. We are also
trying to get more up to speed on IP/copyright and open access issues. This fall we will be promoting our new IR.
Cutting back on reference desk hours, establishing undergrad services unit to handle most undergrad instruction,
encouraging stronger relationship development with academic departments, scholarly communication
Data management has been added to liaison responsibilities. There is an increasing emphasis on outreach. We are
planning to lessen reference responsibilities to focus more on instruction, consultation, and online interactions.
Data management has recently been incorporated.
Data management tools, open access education and support, increased marketing of services through the E-Research
and Digital Scholarship Services unit.
Development of Subject Librarian Framework in 2010
Due to a total overhaul of our organization, our subject librarian structure has been rethought and re-imagined this
past year. We are only beginning to implement the new structure in the fall where collections duties are separated from
research and instruction duties. Instead of one person handling all assigned duties for an academic department, a team
of librarians will be taking on different aspects while staying in close communication with each other.
Expanded with evolving scholarly communication roles.
Expanding standardized efforts, collaboration on course and assignment development
I think these things are changing, but I have not yet seen evidence of organization-wide conversations about this.
I’m not sure what you mean by recent. Yes and no. Liaison roles have not changed significantly in the past several
years. At HSL, as our users’ needs evolve, liaison roles are changed. For example, with 2008 NIH public access
policy implementation, all liaisons began to help researchers and others comply. As global health emerged as a
university priority, liaisons developed their knowledge of users’ needs and resources available to support them,
whether library-based or otherwise. As data management has emerged as a need, liaisons develop their knowledge
base to enable them to meet those needs. As researchers used the library facility less, liaisons became increasingly
present in the locations that researchers and their students are working. Liaison roles, services, and knowledge are
continuously evolving.
In 2014, the Libraries developed a set of core competencies for liaisons and guidelines for completing annual work-
plans and year-end assessments. Self-assessment is a big part of this evaluation process that concentrates on impact of
each activity.
In the last year we’ve reorganized our reference department in order to provide more focus and support. We are still
working on clarifying the roles and expectations of liaisons and more actively promoting our services.
Increased emphasis on collaborative relationships and engaged services over one-shots and collection development
Liaisons are distributed among three different library divisions. We’re dividing some duties by functional expertise or
subject expertise. Liaisons were not distributed among different departments prior to 2014.
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