Change In Libraries And Information Services

In times of rapid change, it is easy for managers to become so absorbed by daily demands and decisions that they lose perspective on the change process as a whole. A practical approach to managing the change process.

"Institutions of higher education and academic libraries are not the traditional organizations they once were. They are subject to a variety of forces, including shifting and changing populations, technological changes, public demands for affordability and accountability, and changing approaches to research and learning. Academic libraries can no longer establish their excellence and ground their missions, visions, and strategic directions using the old means and methods. Leading Change in Academic Libraries is a collection of 20 change stories authored by academic librarians from different types of four-year institutions. Librarians tell the story firsthand of how they managed major change in processes, functions, services, programs, or overall organizations using John Kotter's Eight-Stage Process of Creating Major Change as a framework for examining change at their institutions, measuring their successes and areas for improvement, and determining progress. In five sections--strategic planning, reorganization, culture change, new roles, and technological change--chapters discuss tackling common challenges such as fear, anxiety, change fatigue, complacency, unexpected changes of leadership, vacancies, and resistance; look at the results of their tactics; and provide effective practices they found. Each section ends with a thorough analysis of the stories within and the most effective tips for leading that kind of change. Leading Change in Academic Libraries can help you establish flexible, nimble, and collaborative decision-making processes, and facilitate the transition from legacy collections-based libraries to forward-looking service-based libraries"--from the ALA website.

Information in today’s modernized world has become much more attainable with the use of technology. A resource that has fallen victim to this are library services. What was once a staple of knowledge and communication has failed to keep pace with recent advancements in information service providers. Library practitioners need to learn how to manage change, build influence, and adapt their services to remain relevant within local communities. Libraries can continue to play a key role in future aspects of information provision, but proper research is a necessity. Managing and Adapting Library Information Services for Future Users is a collection of innovative research that encapsulates practices, concepts, ideas, and proposals that would chart pathways for libraries of all types to envision and understand how to thrive and remain relevant in the competitive information provision environment. It is expected to motivate librarians and information scientists to probe further into how libraries would better serve user communities of the 21st century who have options of accessing information from sources other than from libraries. While highlighting topics including artificial intelligence, human design thinking, and alternative finance, this book is ideally designed for librarians, information specialists, architects, data scientists, researchers, community development practitioners, policymakers, faculty members, and students seeking current research on emerging advancements in library optimization.

Massive technological change has been impacting universities and university libraries in recent years. Such change has manifested in technological developments impacting all areas of academic library activity, including systems, services, collections, the physical library environment, marketing, and support for university teaching, learning, research, and administration. Many books and papers have examined these changes from a technical perspective. However, there is little substantive reflection on what technological change means, and how best to get out in front of it, for the academic library. Technology, Change and the Academic Library systematically reflects on technological innovation, the successes, failures and lessons learned, the nature, process and culture of change, and key aspects including impacts on library staff and users, roles and responsibilities, and skills and capabilities. The book takes an international perspective on the massive change currently affecting academic libraries. The title gives an overview and literature review, considers technological innovation and change management, future technologies and future change, and provides information on further reading. Case studies describe the rationale, aims, and objectives for particular technological innovations, and consider methods, outcomes, and recommendations for the future. Finally, the book reflects back on how technological change can best be wrought in academic libraries. Gives library managers and librarians insight into how best to identify, plan, and implement technological innovation Provides a wide-ranging overview, literature review, and a series of reflective case studies on technological innovation in libraries Emphasises current trends, lessons, and critical issues for putting technological innovation into place Offers an international perspective on technological innovation in the academic library Uses a critical methodology to reflect on what works, what does not, and how managers can apply lessons from real cases worldwide

In the face of rapid change and an ever-widening constellation of challenges, it’s crucial for library leaders to pull back to the question of “why?” Plotting a sustainable way forward depends upon recommitting ourselves to our underlying values, such as customer service and community-building, while fostering the improvements that change makes possible. With passion, patience, and fortitude, libraries can stride confidently into the future. In this book, noted speakers and consultants Bignoli and Stara speak directly to library directors, managers, administrators, and technology staff, offering concrete guidance on setting or resetting strategic priorities. Taking an interconnected and specific approach to planning for and strengthening the library environment as a whole, their book discusses why libraries should embrace change as a fundamental part of library life; explores how to harness rapid change to provide more responsive, user-centered library service; addresses the ways in which libraries straddle the physical and the digital, in areas such as service provision and collections, illuminating how they overlap and can be improved using similar philosophies; presents both a comprehensive overview of library technologies as well as related team and change management advice, all grounded in user experience principles; shows how the concepts of sustainability and flexibility apply to physical space planning and design, from furniture selection and arrangement to infrastructure; and provides sound guidance on project management, problem solving, preparing for future challenges, personal reflection and self-care, and other leadership topics.

COVID-19 is profoundly affecting the ways in which we live, learn, plan, and develop. What does COVID-19 mean for the future of digital information use and delivery, and for more traditional forms of library provision? Libraries, Digital Information, and COVID gives immediate and long-term solutions for librarians responding to the challenge of COVID-19. The book helps library leaders prepare for a post-COVID-19 world, giving guidance on developing sustainable solutions. The need for sustainable digital access has now become acute, and while offering a physical space will remain important, current events are likely to trigger a shift toward off-site working and study, making online access to information more crucial. Libraries have already been providing access to digital information as a premium service. New forms and use of materials all serve to eliminate the need for direct contact in a physical space. Such spaces will come to be predicated on evolving systems of digital information, as critical needs are met by remote delivery of goods and services. Intensified financial pressure will also shape the future, with a reassessment of information and its commercial value. In response, there will be a massification of provision through increased cooperation and collaboration. These significant transitions are driving professionals to rethink and question their identities, values, and purpose. This book responds to these issues by examining the practicalities of running a library during and after the pandemic, answering questions such as: What do we know so far? How are institutions coping? Where are providers placing themselves on the digital/print and the remote/face-to-face continuums? This edited volume gives analysis and examples from around the globe on how libraries are managing to deliver access and services during COVID-19. This practical and thoughtful book provides a framework within which library directors and their staff can plan sustainable services and collections for an uncertain future. Focuses on the immediate practicalities of service provision under COVID-19 Considers longer-term strategic responses to emerging challenges Identifies key concerns and problems for librarians and library leaders Analyzes approaches to COVID-19 planning Presents and examines exemplars of best practice from around the world Offers practical models and a useful framework for the future

Managing Cultural Change in Public Libraries argues that changes to library Strategies and Systems can lead to transformations in library Structures that can, in turn, shape and determine Organisational Culture. Drawing on Management theories, as well as the ideas of Marx and Maslow, the authors present an ambitious Analytical Framework that can be used to better understand, support and enable cultural change in public libraries. The volume argues for radical – but sustainable – transformations in public libraries that require significant changes to Strategies, Structures, Systems and, most importantly, Organisational Culture. These changes will enable Traditional Libraries to reach out beyond their current active patrons to engage with new customer groups and will also enable Traditional Libraries to evolve into Community-Led Libraries, and Community-Led Libraries to become Needs-Based Libraries. Public libraries must be meaningful and relevant to the communities they serve. For this to happen, the authors argue, all sections of the local community must be actively involved in the planning, design, delivery and evaluation of library services. This book demonstrates how to make these changes happen, acting as a blueprint and road map for organisational change and putting ideas into action through a series of case studies. Managing Cultural Change in Public Libraries will be of particular interest to academics and advanced students engaged in the study of library and information science. It should also be essential reading for practitioners and policymakers and all those who believe that communities should be involved and engaged in the planning, design, delivery, and evaluation of library services.