Making Change, Increasing Value: Reorganizing Your Access Services Department

Presented at the 2016 Access Services Conference, Georgia Tech Global Learning Center and the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center, November 16-18, 2016, Atlanta, Georgia.Paula Greenwell holds a bachelor’s in English, Language & Literature from the University of Maryland. She has worked in the main library at the University of Maryland since 1998. Paula works with periodicals and now, as Coordinator for Logistics & Periodicals, works with items that are to be packed or unpacked, sorted, and transferred to other units or other libraries.Timothy Hackman has been the department head for User Services & Resource Sharing (formerly Access Services) at the University of Maryland since 2012. Previously he was a subject liaison and branch librarian at the same university for ten years. He holds masters degrees in English and library science from the University of Maryland.James Spring holds a masters in library and information science from the University of South Florida. He worked in Resource Sharing at both USF and the University of Maryland, College Park before accepting his current position coordinating Library Services (formerly separate circulation and information desks).Hilary Thompson holds masters degrees in art history and library science from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. As Head of Resource Sharing & Reserves at the University of Maryland College Park, she works diligently to refine operations and implement new services related to interlibrary loan, document delivery, and course reserves.In 2015 the department of Resource Sharing & Access Services at the University of Maryland Libraries undertook a major reorganization with the goals of increasing efficiency, staff engagement, and user satisfaction. Seeking to realign tasks and staff according to function, the year-long project resulted in a new organizational chart and new job descriptions for the majority of the department's thirty-two staff. This presentation will provide an overview of the theory and methods used to plan the reorganization, and will discuss implementation by focusing on integrations of four once-separate operations: scanning for interlibrary loan and reserves; book retrieval for holds, reserves and interlibrary loan; shipping and receiving for circulation and interlibrary loan; and scheduling for a merged service desk. One year after the reorganization was completed, we will assess the effectiveness of the new model in meeting our goals and share lessons learned for undertaking reorganization at your library

Behind the Seniors

HR can give chief executives some invaluable prompts from the wings as they take to the stage with a new top team, Harvard researchers have found.Psycholog

Paperless construction: How contractors can adjust to change in the industry

Paperless construction, in a nut shell, is the use of online or electronic programs for managing contracts, changes, drawings, submittals, RFis, correspondence, lab data, and inspection reports (Construction). The paperless construction movement is making its way through all types of construction, including residential, commercial, and heavy highway. It affects the whole project, from pre-bid, to project management, to closeout, and as the industry constantly becomes more paperless, contractors are forced to make changes in their processes to keep up with the trend. Peters Construction Corporation in Waterloo, Iowa, is an example a company committed to keeping on the leading edge. Peters already uses some advanced software and hardware in the office to effectively handle their business, but they realize constant change is a must to remain competitive. Currently, PCC uses Timberline Estimating, Accounting, and Project Management software. The estimating software electronically automates the estimating process to maximize accuracy and efficiency, thus saving the estimating department much time and effort. The accounting software works with the estimating and project management software to quickly and accurately manage the books. The program makes it easy to show a breakdown of job costs, as each process is coded into the accounting records accurately. Timberline Project Management stores all the project documentation, including RFis, change orders, submittals, and transmittals in one central database, allowing the easy generation of reports and inquiries. The estimating department also uses a Digitizer, which quickly and accurately generate linear, area, and counted takeoff, reducing manual spreadsheet and paper calculations (Timberline). Even though the staff at PCC has access to this valuable software, none of the programs are used to their full potential, and constant updates of hardware and software are a must. The main question this paper focuses on is What steps do contractors need to take to transition into and maintain a competitive edge through the paperless construction movement? The answer may not be the same for every organization, but our goal is to present Peters Construction Corporation three options they can implement into their operation to effectively move toward paperless construction. The three options are a wide-format printer/copier/scanner combination machine, iSqFt, and Electronic Construction Closeout

How Supervisors Influence Performance: A Multilevel Study of Coaching and Group Management in Technology-Mediated Services

This multilevel study examines the role of supervisors in improving employee performance through the use of coaching and group management practices. It examines the individual and synergistic effects of these management practices. The research subjects are call center agents in highly standardized jobs, and the organizational context is one in which calls, or task assignments, are randomly distributed via automated technology, providing a quasi-experimental approach in a real-world context. Results show that the amount of coaching that an employee received each month predicted objective performance improvements over time. Moreover, workers exhibited higher performance where their supervisor emphasized group assignments and group incentives and where technology was more automated. Finally, the positive relationship between coaching and performance was stronger where supervisors made greater use of group incentives, where technology was less automated, and where technological changes were less frequent. Implications and potential limitations of the present study are discussed

Transoral laser microsurgery for oral squamous cell carcinoma: Oncologic outcomes and prognostic factors

BACKGROUND: Modest survival rates are published for treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) using conventional approaches. Few cohort studies are available for transoral resection of OSCC. METHODS: Analysis for recurrence, survival, and prognosis of patients with OSCC treated with transoral laser microsurgery (TLM) ± neck dissection was obtained from a prospective database. RESULTS: Ninety-five patients (71 patients had stages T1–T2 and 24 had stages T3–T4 disease) with minimum follow-up of 24 months met criteria and demonstrated negative margins in 95%. Five-year local control (LC) and disease-specific survival (DSS) were 78% and 76%, respectively. Surgical salvage achieved an absolute final locoregional control of 92%. Immune compromise and final margins were prognostic for LC, whereas T classification, N classification, TNM stage, comorbidity, and perineural invasion were also significant for DSS. CONCLUSION: We document a large series of patients with OSCC treated with TLM, incorporating T1 to T4 primaries. A significant proportion of stage III/IV cases demonstrates feasibility of TLM in higher stages, with final margin positivity of 5%, LC greater than 90%, and comparable survival outcomes

The Psychosocial Work Environment, Employee Mental Health and Organizational Interventions: Improving Research and Practice by Taking a Multilevel Approach

Although there have been several calls for incorporating multiple levels of analysis in employee health and wellbeing research, studies examining the interplay between individual, workgroup, organizational and broader societal factors in relation to employee mental health outcomes remain an exception rather than the norm. At the same time, organizational intervention research and practice also tends to be limited by a single-level focus, omitting potentially important influences at multiple levels of analysis. The aims of this conceptual paper are to help progress our understanding of work-related determinants of employee mental health by: (i) providing a rationale for routine multilevel assessment of the psychosocial work environment; (ii) discussing how a multilevel perspective can improve related organizational interventions and (iii) highlighting key theoretical and methodological considerations relevant to these aims. We present five recommendations for future research, relating to using appropriate multilevel research designs, justifying group level constructs, developing group-level measures, expanding investigations to the organizational level, and developing multilevel approaches to intervention design, implementation and evaluation

Results of the Calibration of the Delays of Earth Stations for TWSTFT Using the VSL Satellite Simulator Method

Two-way satellite time and frequency transfer (TWSTFT) is the most accurate and precise method of comparing two remote clocks or time scales. The accuracy obtained is dependent on the accuracy of the determination of the non-reciprocal delays of the transmit and the receive paths. When the same transponders in the satellite at the same frequencies are used, then the non-reciprocity in the Earth stations is the limiting factor for absolute time transfer

Task workflow design and its impact on performance and volunteers' subjective preference in virtual citizen science

Virtual citizen science platforms allow non-scientists to take part in scientific research across a range of disciplines. What they ask of volunteers varies considerably in terms of task type, variety, user judgement required and user freedom, which has received little direct investigation. A study was performed with the Planet Four: Craters project to investigate the effect of task workflow design on both volunteer experience and the scientific results they produce. Participants' feedback through questionnaire responses indicated a preference for interfaces providing greater autonomy and variety, with free-text responses suggesting that autonomy was the more important. This did not translate into improved performance however, with the most autonomous interface not resulting in significantly better performance in data volume, agreement or accuracy compared to other less autonomous interfaces. The interface with the least number of task types, variety and autonomy resulted in the greatest data coverage. Agreement, both between participants and with the expert equivalent, was significantly improved when the interface most directly afforded tasks that captured the required underlying data (i.e. crater position or diameter). The implications for the designers of virtual citizen science platforms is that they have a balancing act to perform, weighing up the importance of user satisfaction, the data needs of the science case and the resources that can be committed both in terms of time and data reduction

Aha! Vivat Homo Sapiens

Program for the twelfth and final annual RISD Cabaret held in the Cellar at the top of the Waterman Building.https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/liberalarts_cabaret_programs/1011/thumbnail.jp