Liaison Services · 49
Additional Comments
17. Please enter any additional information regarding liaison services at your library that may assist
the authors in accurately analyzing the results of this survey. N=20
Selected Comments from Respondents
“Question 4 Participation levels: some variation between faculties/departments: depends to some extent on
faculty members’ interest/awareness and, in the case of science/engineering, distance from library (physically)
and the nature of the science research (often done from office/lab, rather than on library site). Increased
activity: depends on sufficient staff resources.”
“At one time selection responsibilities were considered the highest calling any librarian could have. That has,
fortunately, changed in recent years, but the left over assumptions about the centrality of selection is still a
barrier. In some areas it clearly is the center, but in the liaison-served departments it is not necessarily the most
important element of library services.”
“Currently experimenting with a team-based approach to organizing liaison activities and projects. This may
lead to a different model of doing the work, one that would complement a self-managed or centrally managed
approach.”
“Each liaison arrangement with a faculty or department varies according to the librarian and the culture of the
department. We have found that there is no one proscribed method to ensure effective liaison activity. I have
noticed that with the increase in access to electronic resources, faculty are more ‘in tune’ with what the liaison
librarian can do and see them more as partners in the process. Why this should be is beyond me!”
“Establishing and maintaining a liaison program is challenging but rewarding when the work pays off. The
work of individual librarians may be acknowledged in published works or acknowledged by speakers at
meetings and public events or in communications to the Director of Libraries from those who have benefited
from liaison services.”
“For some of our librarians liaison responsibilities are their primary responsibilities and these individuals
typically have numerous assigned subject areas. Other librarians have only one assigned subject area and for
these individuals liaison work is a secondary responsibility.”
“Liaison (the process of advising researchers about choosing and using information resources) becomes more
important in bibliographers’ use of their time, as package subscription offers and approval plans take over
more collection development decisions, and more freely available materials appear on the Web.”
“Liaison service is a major part of most librarian’s responsibilities. There is a Liaison Advisory Team that helps
promote liaison service and support liaisons in their work, but actual management of the service is largely an
individual professional task. The aim is to provide customized services tailored to the individual department/
instructor.”
“Library Instruction is a separate department here in addition to the reference operations at six different
libraries. Some of the LI librarians have academic department liaison duties, but all have liaison responsibilities
for various groups, such as transfer students, athletics, or the grad student association. Also, LI is the place
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