Training Library Assistants for New Roles

The Lamar Soutter Library (LSL) at UMass Medical School responded to budget cuts, technology advances, and the changing needs of its patrons by creating an innovative staff development program. This presentation describes the development of the cross-training, which included specific job function training as well as Microsoft skills and basic library skills. The training required to eliminate the reference desk and move to a single service desk staffed only by support staff is also explained. All training was developed and conducted by existing library staff. Presented at The October Conference: Biomedical Libraries at Dartmouth College, Dartmouth, NH, October 9, 2009. Staff Development on a Shoestring

Building the Future: Rejuvenating Librarianship

There is often a gap between what new library school graduates know and what is needed to navigate the first professional job. Additionally, the field of librarianship in general is growing and changing rapidly, requiring a diverse set of complex skills in new roles. It is essential to rethink how we train the next generation of librarians, while accepting and incorporating the unique insights new graduates may have. How can institutions help shape the next generation, while building skills that will be beneficial to all? These challenges are being faced and addressed by an innovative library fellows program at the Lamar Soutter Library at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. This program is designed to foster the next generation of medical librarians by providing a 2-year experience for newly graduated library science students, emphasizing hands-on learning and research into topics of information management and the various complex roles within librarianship. An original curriculum has been developed incorporating training, professional development, mentorship, and research with the library as the learning laboratory. Curriculum components focus on librarianship foundations as well as rotations within core library functional areas. Creating a culture of research within the library as a whole has also become a priority. Library fellows will conduct research designed to provide a self-directed course of study and investigation, ultimately with the goal of publishing the results. The research experience will expose the fellows to the research process and interpretation of results for decision-making in a library environment, as well as encouraging continued contribution to the field. This is facilitated by a research project database to which all staff can contribute and from which all can draw for ongoing academic discussion. This presentation will provide a description and evaluation of the project to date, with successes, challenges, suggestions, and lessons learned discussed. It will look at the organizational changes that necessitated and facilitated the structural changes surrounding this program and the resulting effect on staff and operations. Administrators and creators of the program, as well as the first cohort of fellows, will present their perspectives. Dramatic changes in how we structure libraries and librarianship are necessary to sustain and grow. These changes require rejecting old service models, rethinking our roles, redoing our professional identity and rejuvenating ourselves and our libraries. By changing the way we develop the knowledge and skills of new professionals, those who will be driving librarianship in the future, we strengthen all members of the profession and create a better, stronger foundation for librarianship

One Model for Creating a Career Ladder for Library Support Staff

This article describes a unique career ladder model for library support staff. Major components include a promotion in place opportunity based on specified achievement levels, competencies, cross training, and measurable evaluation. The authors discuss the background, development, and program description of the career ladder model

Choosing the International Standards Organization\u27s Interlibrary Loan Protocol (ISO) or Preserving the Status Quo?

This paper chronicles an analysis of (1) interlibrary loan workflow and data and (2) how management used this information to make a decision on the ISO question. The National Library of Medicine adopted portions of the ISO Protocol for DOCLINE 2004 as a response to the medical interlibrary loan community. ILLiad, which is already ISO com¬pliant, has responded by announcing an upcoming release of an ISO compatible version of their management system in 2005. If libraries choose to convert to ISO, one DOCLINE function, Loansome Doc, will no longer be available. The question: Is the enhanced functionality with seamless DOCLINE and ILLiad interaction worth the effort that it will take to create and run a new Loansome Doc workflow

Open Forum (on strategies for advocacy) NAHSL 2013: UMass Medical School’s Experience

Discusses some of the challenges libraries are facing and how the Lamar Soutter Library at the University of Massachusetts Medical School is addressing them with an innovative library fellows program

Journals, Journals Everywhere and Not a Shelf to Spare

Objective: Identify storage and shelving options for the growing print journal collection. Options could include additional shelving in the library, offsite storage, and improvements to the current library remote storage location. Cost, space, and potential impact on patrons and library staff should all be identified. One option will be chosen, and an implementation plan developed and executed. Methods:A project team worked to identify the extent of the shelving crisis. Inventorying, estimating, and extrapolating were the primary tools used to determine that the library would run out of space in the main journal collection in early 2004. An offsite storage facility was identified for library use and all costs associated with transforming the space into a viable storage solution were identified. The team also evaluated the current shelving layout in the library and developed a plan to add additional shelving in stages. Finally, the costs associated with improving and maximizing the library’s current remote storage location were calculated. This included improved safety, cleaning, painting, and compact shelving. The costs and service ramifications of each solution were compared, along with logistics of moving and merging a portion of the collection. Results:After careful evaluation, library management determined that improving the current remote storage was cost effective and provided the best option for access and service. Working from our data, we calculated the number of volumes that the storage facility would hold. The project was divided into three phases. The first phase included physically preparing the storage space, installing a third of the compact shelving, writing, and testing move/merge procedures, as well as hiring temporary employees to complete the actual merge. Phases two and three called for additional compact shelving to be installed. Conclusion:Moving and merging of a collection requires careful plan¬ning, detailed data analysis, and hard physical work. Ideally, you will only do this once. In our case, we knew this option would only be a temporary solution to our space crisis that will take us through the year 2012, at which time we hope to have a new library building with com¬pact shelving throughout. Presented at the Medical Library Association Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX, May 17, 2005

Building the Future: Rejecting, Rethinking, Redoing, Rejuvenating

Objectives: Traditional library work is spiraling downward. Health sciences librarians are taking on new roles such as embedded librarians or research data informationists. Simultaneously, institutionally mandated budget cuts force the question, How do we maintain mission-critical work within our budget? Survival means rejecting old service models, rethinking our roles, redoing our professional identity, and rejuvenating ourselves and our libraries. Methods: The Library Fellows Program at the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Medical School is one response to the challenges we are facing. The fellows program, designed to foster the next generation of medical librarians, provides a two-year experience for newly graduated library science students, emphasizing hands-on learning and research into topics of information management and medical librarianship. This innovative curriculum incorporates training, professional development, mentorship, and research with the library as the learning laboratory. Curriculum components focus on medical librarianship foundations as well as rotations within core library functional areas. This paper serves as a project description and evaluation. It discusses organizational changes that necessitated and facilitated the structural changes surrounding this program and the resulting effect on staff and operations. The midpoint success of the program is determined and reported, with recommendations and future considerations. Results/Conclusions: In early 2013, management at Lamar Soutter Library (LSL) planned organizational changes necessary to meet strategic initiatives and continue supporting the medical school\u27s mission in the face of severe budget constraints. The final plan resulted in discontinuation of many traditional library activities, elimination of staff that supported those activities, and, ultimately, the development of the FELLOWS PROGRAM. In September 2013, three task forces were created to develop an implementation plan. A search committee was formed to begin the process of hiring three fellows. The Curriculum Task Force was charged with structuring the two-year fellowship program. The curriculum developed includes rotations through library departments, in-depth reference experience, expert searching training, structured projects, and performing research. The Reference Services Task Force was charged with developing a new reference model to replace the current triage and pager model. The Research Task Force was charged with laying the groundwork for creating a research environment in the library. With outside consultation, LSL developed a detailed evaluation plan. The program is in its eighth month. Modifications and refinements are being made as the first cohort experiences the program. The program has led to a redefinition of librarianship and a new professional identity based on a culture of achievement, research, and reflection

The Outreach Continuum: Expanding the Medical Librarian’s Role

Objective: With the closing of the reference desk and implementation of a single service point, librarians have more time to engage in outreach. However, questions remain. What does management mean by outreach? What skills are needed to conduct outreach? The objectives of this study are to: (1) reach a common definition of outreach; (2) identify skills needed to perform outreach. Methods: Focus groups were conducted with librarians from three departments (clinical services, research, and technology initiatives) to gain an understanding of initial perceptions of the outreach function and work currently perceived as outreach. Findings from a cross-group analysis were validated with participants and used to inform a definition of outreach and a continuum of outreach activities requiring increasing skill levels. The skills and tools needed to perform outreach activities at each stage of the continuum were identified and cross-group collaboration will be used to develop tools and acquire needed skills. Results: Using a working definition of outreach detailed in the continuum (basic, relationship building, and partnering), librarians tracked outreach activities and mapped them to the continuum for three months. Through discussion, it became clear to librarians where current activities fell, where they needed to concentrate future efforts, and what strategies to use to move from basic interactions to relationship building and then to partnering. The continuum and tracking logs served as a data source for strategic planning and to assist staff with individual goal setting. Librarians found the tracking log to be cumbersome, but the benefits to management were evident. Conclusion: Tracking and categorizing the defined outreach activities is useful to raise awareness of the different types of outreach activity and identify areas for skill development. In the future tracking logs will be streamlined and automated. Presented at the Medical Library Association Annual Meeting on May 23, 2010, in Washington, DC

Levels Program: A Career Ladder for Support Staff

ObjectiveHow do we manage support staff development in the modern health sciences library? Increasingly, the need for more highly skilled staff is evident. This poster describes a three phase project encompassing the development, approval, and implementation processes necessary to make a career ladder a reality in a medium-sized academic health sciences library. MethodsThe Management Team gathered information from library literature and business and government sources as a starting point. In the development phase, the team posed questions as the foundation for developing a competency-based program to manage support staff development. e.g., What will support staff be doing in the future? Can we define the competencies staff will need? How do we create a flexible system that keeps us poised to respond to change? How do we build a skilled work force and prepare current staff to take on new tasks? How do we develop a measurement framework for objective employee evaluation? In the approval phase, the emphasis was on educating the university’s administration, HR, and the union about the library’s strategic direction and the benefits of the plan to staff. The implementation phase focused on staff buy-in, roll-out timing, and developing training to ensure success for current and future staff. Results and ConclusionsCompetencies, education, and years of service formed the promotion plan’s basis. Managers identified task-based areas of responsibility, divided into achievement stages with frameworks detailed for objective employee evaluation. A policy for advancement, based on performance in multiple areas of responsibility, was developed. The plan allows for growth and promotion, and encourages staff to build a knowledge base across library departments. Throughout the planning process the team met with human resources, the union, and administration to explain program goals, as well as to address their concerns and incorporate their input as we developed the program details, resulting in a smooth approval process. For implementation, one manager assumed responsibility for coordinating orientation and training development. The team was surprised by initial negative staff reaction to increased responsibility and the certification/testing requirements. The team continues to face implementation challenges and issues. Presented at the Medical Library Association Annual Meeting on May 18, 2008, in Chicago, IL