collaborative activities between the library and it – creating value beyond the cost april 27,...
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Collaborative Activities Between the Library and IT – Creating Value Beyond the Cost
April 27, 2011AMICAL ConferenceBeirut, Lebanon
Gene SpencerGene Spencer Consulting
Copyright
Copyright Gene Spencer, 2011. This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.
An Introduction• Consulting for Higher
Education IT and Library Communities▫ Assessments▫ Organizational development▫ Leadership development▫ Service alignment▫ Facility renovation▫ Change management
• Former Chief Information Officer at Bucknell University
How Our 4 Sessions Fit Together:
•Today’s Keynote – Collaborative Activities between the Library and IT
•Sabrina’s Keynote on Thursday – Embracing 21st Century Challenges for College Libraries
•Thursday’s Workshop(s) – Building IT/Library Collaboration within the Changing Institutional Landscape
•Friday’s Keynote – The Collaboration Imperative (What We Learned and Next Steps)
How Our 4 Sessions Fit Together:
•Today’s Keynote – Collaborative Activities between the Library and IT
•Sabrina’s Keynote on Thursday – Embracing 21st Century Challenges for College Libraries
•Thursday’s Workshop(s) – Building IT/Library Collaboration within the Changing Institutional Landscape
•Friday’s Keynote – The Collaboration Imperative (What We Learned and Next Steps)
How Our 4 Sessions Fit Together:
•Today’s Keynote – Collaborative Activities between the Library and IT
•Sabrina’s Keynote on Thursday – Embracing 21st Century Challenges for College Libraries
•Thursday’s Workshop(s) – Building IT/Library Collaboration within the Changing Institutional Landscape
•Friday’s Keynote – The Collaboration Imperative (What We Learned and Next Steps)
Our Goals Today, Thursday & Friday
•Consider our joint challenges•Highlight the need for greater Library/IT
collaboration•Encourage collaborative activities•Identify potential barriers to collaboration•Describe conditions conducive to
collaboration•Undercover opportunities for collaboration•Consider organizational commitments
Challenges of Our “Business”
•Our Library & IT organizations face extreme challenges
•Our Institutions themselves face extreme challenges
•Resources will not keep up with demand
•We (IT & Library) will still be expected to meet and exceed expectations
“The future ain’t what it used to be…” Yogi Berra
These are Difficult Times…
When times are tough, human nature leads us to…
•Stay within our comfort zones•Turn inward to our strengths•Work on the things we can control
Where does this keep us?
More of the Same…
But Difficult Times…
Require us to
do different
things and do
them
Differently…
What’s Changing?Financial Crisis
Changing Student Demographics
High Cost of Education
EverythingDigital
Access vs. Ownership
Changing PoliticalLandscape
ClimateChange
New Disciplinesof Study
Greeningof HE
Peer-to-Peer Sharing
Remote Learning
MobileDevices/Apps
DigitalScholarship
Expectations and Demands on US
Student Habits RemainingRelevant?
Security
Retention
GlobalCompetition
Commercial Competition
What’s Changing?
On New Frontier for Archives, British Library Purchases Poet’s 40,000 E-Mails… Wendy Cope’s archive is a contemporary hybrid containing both digital components and good old-fashioned literary material, such as school reports and notebooks.
25 April 2011
To Be Sure•The disciplines of the Library and IT have
changed drastically over the past 10 years•So have the needs, wants, and expectations
of…▫Prospective students and parents▫Students▫Faculty▫Administration▫Accrediting bodies
•Our disciplines provide us with strong visions of who we are and how/what we contribute!
To Be Sure•The disciplines of the Library and IT have
changed drastically over the past 10 years•So have the needs, wants, and expectations
of…▫Prospective students and parents▫Students▫Faculty▫Administration▫Accrediting bodies
•Our disciplines provide us with strong visions of who we are and how/what we contribute!
As our w
orlds s
hift,
please co
nsider
3 Underly
ing
Themes
Our Vision of our Mission/Role…
See our Mission/Role through an institutional
lens.
Our Vision for Our Services…
See Our Services through their eyes.
Our Historical Roles…
See them with
respect…
while we plan for a very different
Future!
A Greater Good?Transform
Liberal Education
Transform Institution
Better Serve
Students
Improve Recruitment/ Retention
Make IT Relevant
Make the Library
Relevant
Support Distant
Learners
Solve Basic Service
Problems
Make Learning Visible
Samples of “motivating factors” from the Institution’s Highest Levels
Change Efforts: 5 Stories1. The Learning Commons2. Organizational Realignment3. Supporting Digital Learning and
Research4. Re-Thinking the Library5. Realigning Services and their Provision
1. The LearningCommons
2. Organizational Realignment
President
Provost
Library
CFO
IT
President
Provost
Associate Provost/CI
O
Library IT
3. Supporting Digital Learning & Research
4. Re-Thinking the Library
5. Realigning Services & Their Provision
Change Efforts: Each Situation
• Appropriate for the institution• Seen as an “institutional transformation”• Managed in a very different way
• Required significant collaboration between the Library and IT
Barriers to Collaboration
NoCollaboration
Barriers to Collaboration•Lack of Time/Energy•Perceived Lack of
Need•Service Differences•Division of
Responsibilities•Cultural Differences•Pride No
Collaboration
•Indifference•Old Wounds•Lack of Respect•Poor Relationships•Tenuous
Commitment
A Truly Collaborative Environment
A Truly Collaborative Environment
Project Variables•Defined goals and
objectives•Leadership
agreement•Allocated resources•Communication•Problem
identification and resolution
A Truly Collaborative Environment
Project Variables•Defined goals and
objectives•Leadership
agreement•Allocated resources•Problem
identification and resolution
•Communication
Org/Personal Variables•Join as full partners•Mutual commitment•Trust and respect•Understanding other
commitments•Assuming the best•Bi-directional support•Letting go of the past
Possible Collaborative Ventures1. Leveraging use of the Learning
Management System2. Creating complementary Library/IT services3. Maximizing the use of technology by the
Library4. Building effective digital repositories5. Supporting multi-media projects6. Curating research data7. Supporting faculty development using IT
and digital sources of information8. Campus-wide identity management project
Possible Collaborative Ventures9. Supporting digital literacy and data
visualization10.Expanding the use of Geographic Information
Systems across the curriculum11.Supporting a capstone experience or other
curricular priorities12.Creating/managing a platform for ePortfolios13.Planning for the shift from print to digital
resources14.Considering the impact of eBooks and
eTextBooks15. Jointly sponsoring events for faculty and/or
students16.Developing a campus-wide portal
Why Library/IT Collaboration?Parallels?
Why Library/IT Collaboration?Many natural parallels:• Visibly contributing to the campus;• Both are service-oriented organizations;• Serving largely the same audience;• Enhancing teaching, learning, and research;• Providing secure access to protected information;• Servicing significant transaction volumes;• Engaging many student employees;• Having a major impact across the institution; and• At a significant overall cost.• And their organizations are both being transformed
by the digital revolution!
Furthermore
•Both IT and the Library have a unique perspective…
•That could naturally enrich the other!
Typical Benefits of the Library• Service-driven mentality• Concerned with providing access (often of protected
information)• Sharing resources between institutions• Providing access to resources from outside vendors• Outsourcing key functions• Creating great relationships with faculty and
students• Communicating well• Using the “reference interview” to determine needs
Typical Benefits of IT• Service-driven mentality (although different)• Concerned with protecting information (that
is accessible to many)• Quickly adopting new tools and resources• Managing robust production systems• Taking advantage of open-source tools• Leveraging campus-wide standards• Contributing to multiple aspects of student
life• Actively wrestling with issues of mobility• Considering issues of identity management
Viewing these Organizations…
From the positive frame:•There are many
opportunities to leverage each others’ strengths; and
•Many possibilities for beneficial collaboration, and;
•The institution will be better for it!
So How?
It only takes 2:•Interaction between 2 invested
individuals or•Commitment of 2 leaders or•Understanding of 2 organizations…•And the definition of relationship and a
reason!JOINT COVENANT FOR SUCCESS
Questions and Discussion?
Let’s Talk about Tomorrow
•Together with some Presidents and CAOs•Sabrina’s Keynote will focus on 21st
Century Challenges for the Library•I will add some challenges for IT orgs•During the workshop (9-noon, and 1-3pm)
we will have an opportunity:▫Understand where they are leading the
institution▫Reflect on how our work (and
collaboration) fits in•Together, separate (10:30-noon), and
together
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Program – Keynote on Wednesday
Collaborative Activities Between the Library and IT – Creating Value Beyond the CostGene Spencer offers an overview of the state of IT-Library cooperation, collaboration, and interaction during times of dramatic change at our institutions and within higher education. We will discuss reasons we might collaborate, the value of working together, and what it will take to become effective partners in efforts with real campus impact. The conversation will also help set the stage for our workshop on Thursday, and also prepare us for what we might hear about real institutional needs from our Presidents and Chief Academic Officers who will join in that conversation.
Program - Workshop on Thursday
Building IT-Library CollaborationYour Library is providing important collections, tools and support to help students and faculty find, create, manage, and use the information they need -- information that is increasingly digital in form. Your IT department provides critical infrastructure, tools and support that allow students and faculty to create and work with digital information in the ways they need -- ways that increasingly require critical thinking and intellectual structure. When these two organizations recognize that they are working in parallel toward shared educational goals, they can leverage their talents and accomplish great things. This workshop will help Presidents, Chief Academic Officers, IT staff, and Librarians identify common Library-IT goals under the university's mission, as well as explore concrete ways in which they can help their groups work more effectively together.
Program – Session on Friday
The Collaboration Imperative - What We Learned & Next StepsOur discussions about the many challenges faced by Library and IT organizations and the opportunities for these critical organizations to work together in accomplishing important work for the institution require us to do more than talk. Desires must be turned into commitments, and words must be turned into actions. This keynote will allow the presenters to highlight ideas and concepts from the conference's other conversations, as well as our rare opportunity to hear from Presidents and chief academic officers, to find a means of collaboration that can be meaningful to your institutions and beneficial to your organizations.