1. FROM PRINT TO ONLINE: Revamping Technical Services with a Distributed Workflow Model Christine K. Dulaney Assoc. Law Librarian for Technical & Metadata Services Pence Law Library American University

2. Three parts: 1.The pressures of change 2.The process of reorganizing 3.What we learned

3. “You go to war with the army you have—not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.” Donald Rumsfeld

4. Lifecycle of print resources AcquireDescribeShelve

5. Linear organizational structure Library Director Head of Technical Services Head of Acquisitions/Serials Head of Cataloging/Serials Head of Library Systems/ILS/Automation

6. Characteristics Groupings by specialty Stability Controlled Handles routine activities Handles repetitive activities Goal: EFFICIENCY

7. Lifecycle of electronic resources Acquire Describe AccessMaintain Evaluate

9. Disruptions at all levels Collection Users Expectations Library mission

10. Challenges for Technical Services Work flow Policies and procedures Quantity or work Changes in technology New tasks and responsibilities New skills

11. Questions to ask ourselves Do we understand all the tasks involved with managing electronic resources? Do we have the necessary skills? How do we discover what we don’t know? Are we ready to face the next new change?

12. New relationships

13. The goals Revise workflows Define new e-resource tasks Redistribute work evenly

14. Project Management A project is a temporary endeavor with a defined beginning and end. Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing, motivating, and controlling resources to achieve specific goals.

15. Project stages Project initiation Planning and design of the project Executing the work Monitoring and controlling the process Completion

16. Phase 1: PROJECT INITIATION Established a task force Define problem Set goals Involve staff

17. Phase 2: PROJECT PLANNING AND DESIGN Outcomes Limitations Timeline Assessment of success

18. Phase 3: PROJECT EXECUTION Staff involvement via brainstorming: – What works well? – What doesn’t work well? – What do you need? Understand the current work – Who does what?

19. Phase 3: PROJECT EXECUTION What’s the new work? Monthly themes – What’s the issue? – What do we do already? – What are new tasks? – Who should do it? – Did test case work? – Do we have documentation?

20. Phase 4: MONITORING AND CONTROLLING Assessing success: New position descriptions New procedures manual New skills and training New relationships

21. Phase 5: COMPLETION Lessons learned: Breaking the mental model Change of focus from efficiency to learning Teaming New leadership model

22. 1. THE MENTAL MODEL

23. Breaking the mental model Re-envision who we were and how we worked Learning as we were working Move away from a linear model of organization

24. 2. Changing from efficiency to learning EFFICIENCYLEARNING WORK PROCESSStable, routineTentative, changing CHANGEOverwhelmingConstant FEEDBACKOne- wayTwo- way EMPLOYEE JUDGMENTDiscouragedEncouraged FEARCommonAvoided LEADERSAnswerProvide direction

25. 3. Teaming Speaking up Collaborating Experimentation Reflection

27. 4. New leadership model Identify shared goals Model good communication Failures are learning opportunities Make it safe to speak up Encourage difficult conversations Expect conflict and learn how to moderate it

28. The Future

29. QUESTIONS? Kari Schmidt schmidt@american.edu Christine Dulaney cdulaney@wcl.american.edu