Librarians and Compensation Negotiation in the Library Workplace

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to report on survey results from a study about librarians’ experience with compensation (salary and benefits) negotiation in the library workplace in order to provide data that will inform professional discourse and practice. Design/methodology/approach - A primarily quantitative survey instrument was administered via Qualtrics Survey Software and distributed through listservs and social media channels representing a range of library types and sub-disciplines. The survey was explicitly addressed to librarians for participation and asked them questions related to their work history and experience with negotiating for salary and benefits. Findings - A total of 1,541 librarians completed the survey. More than half of survey respondents reported not negotiating for their current library position. The majority of those who did negotiate reported positive outcomes, including an increase in salary or total compensation package. Only a very small number of respondents reported threats to rescind or rescinded offers when negotiating for their current positions. Respondents cited prior salary and prior work experience and/or education as the top information sources informing negotiation strategy. Originality/value - There is minimal discussion of salary and benefits negotiation by individuals in the library literature and prior surveys of librarians’ experience with compensation negotiation do not exist. This is the first paper that tracks negotiating practices and outcomes of librarians in library workplaces of all types

Embracing INTO: Library Plans and Campus Collaboration to Serve an Increased International Student Population

Universities are using private recruitment agencies to fast-track internationalization initiatives and realize tuition-based revenue increases. Colorado State University (CSU), with this dual aim of increasing the proportion of international students on campus and generating income via out-of-state tuition, signed a contract with INTO, a British organization that works to recruit international students to attend partner institutions from countries across five continents. International students, although not a homogenous population, as a whole do bring unique challenges. Our study examined how both campus and the library could prepare for the expected large influx of international students. Seeking to understand the INTO model and the effect it would have on campus, particularly in terms of resource planning, we conducted a series of interviews with INTO staff, librarians at other U.S. INTO institutions, and CSU faculty and staff who would interact most substantially with the INTO population. Various campus departments have made significant preparations to prepare for the growing INTO population, and we identified several steps that the CSU Libraries could take to better serve these students, including enhancing existing services and fostering new campus collaborations

SPEC Kit 361: Outreach and Engagement

ARL SPEC KitLibrary outreach is experiencing a renaissance. Librarians have been reaching out to their communities and developing programming for decades, but libraries are increasingly being asked to demonstrate their value to the communities that they serve. In response, outreach positions are becoming more commonplace and communities of practice are emerging around measuring the impact of library outreach activities. This SPEC Kit was born out of the authors’ struggles and successes in providing academic library outreach services at their local institutions. The survey questions were designed to gather information from ARL institutions to create a picture of library outreach that spans across institutions; a professional baseline. Questions of organizational priorities, vision, goals, resource allocation, staffing models, and assessment come together to paint the picture of how libraries are approaching outreach programs. The survey was sent to the 125 ARL member institutions in July 2018, with 57 (46%) responding by the August 6 deadline. The data gathered suggests that systematic outreach programs are still very much in their infancy and highly dependent on local organizational culture. This SPEC Kit highlights the areas where libraries share approaches to outreach programs while also shining a spotlight on issues that warrant continued research and attention by outreach librarians and library administrators

Beyond Butts in Seats: Creating campus and community partnerships through meaningful outreach

Poster presentation for 2015 Minnesota Library Association annual conference.In order to stay relevant and meet the needs of our existing and potential users, libraries are forming partnerships and engaging users in numerous ways outside of the classroom. How do we measure the impact of our outreach programming? High attendance numbers may show that we had excellent swag and food at an event, but is counting heads a meaningful assessment measure? This poster will share examples of various kinds of outreach, discuss opportunities for forging partnerships, consider the impact of different outreach activities, and examine new assessment strategies to move beyond simple head counts

Internationalizing a Campus: Opening Doors for Collaboration and Creating Better Services for All

Poster presentation at Internationalizing the Curriculum & Campus Conference 2014. April 11, 2014.In 2011, Colorado State University (CSU) developed a relationship with INTO UK, a recruitment agency, to increase the number of enrolled international students on campus and further internationalize the campus and curriculum. To ensure that library service and resource quality would not be negatively affected, the CSU Libraries decided to explore potential impacts. We approached library personnel, numerous CSU campus units, and the two previous US INTO campuses (Oregon State University and University of South Florida) for focused interviews asking, 'How can the Libraries contribute to the INTO partnership to ensure overall student success?' It became clear that continued outreach and collaboration are necessary given the complex university environment to support student success and that addressing service gaps with the increased international student population would benefit the campus overall

Resurfacing Historical Scientific Data: A Case Study Involving Fruit Breeding Data

Objective: The objective of this paper is to illustrate the importance and complexities of working with historical analog data that exists on university campuses. Using a case study of fruit breeding data, we highlight issues and opportunities for librarians to help preserve and increase access to potentially valuable data sets. Methods: We worked in conjunction with researchers to inventory, describe, and increase access to a large, 100-year-old data set of analog fruit breeding data. This involved creating a spreadsheet to capture metadata about each data set, identifying data sets at risk for loss, and digitizing select items for deposit in our institutional repository. Results/Discussion: We illustrate that large amounts of data exist within biological and agricultural sciences departments and labs, and how past practices of data collection, record keeping, storage, and management have hindered data reuse. We demonstrate that librarians have a role in collaborating with researchers and providing direction in how to preserve analog data and make it available for reuse. This work may provide guidance for other science librarians pursing similar projects. Conclusions: This case study demonstrates how science librarians can build or strengthen their role in managing and providing access to analog data by combining their data management skills with researchers’ needs to recover and reuse data. The substance of this article is based upon a panel presentation at RDAP Summit 2019