41 Association of Research Libraries Research Library Issues 294 2018 deputy university librarian Ann Frenkel initiated discussions with the reference librarians about how to meet the goals and objectives on research and teaching outlined in the Strategic Plan. The same external consultant from the planning process was engaged to help facilitate these meetings. Initially we held a working session where we posed the following questions to ourselves: 1. What structures and processes would enable the organization/ group to get to the work that can’t yet be done? 2. What is the best way to structure ourselves to best provide services and partner with faculty and students? These discussions resulted in the identification of specific initiatives and expertise needed, including instructional design, learning assessments, a scalable instructional program, digital scholarship, geospatial information, data management, copyright consultations, and maker services. The librarians then discussed a variety of different structures and reviewed the pros and cons of the discipline-based model and the functional model, as well as a variety of hybrid and matrix structures. The librarians came to consensus around specific values within any structure that were important, including the ability to focus on user groups, to coordinate efforts, to set priorities, and to communicate value to external stakeholders. Determining a Functional Structure While the librarian discussions themselves did not result in consensus or a decision regarding an appropriate structural model, the content of the discussions (including the pros and the cons) were communicated ...the functional structure would best address the need to focus on areas of new expertise and services in a reality of constrained staffing.
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