ACQNET v10n015 (July 5, 2000) URL = http://www.infomotions.com/serials/serials/acqnet/acqnet-v10n015.txt ISSN: 1057-5308 *************** ACQNET, Vol. 10., No. 15, July 5, 2000 ========================================== (1) FROM: M. Kunkel SUBJECT: Timberline Report, Part 1 of 2 (215 lines) (1)---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2000 09:39:17 -0700 From: Marita Kunkel (Oregon Institute of Technology) Subject: Timberline Report, Part 1 of 2 The Acquisitions Institute At Timberline Lodge (Part 1 of 2) May 20-23, 2000 This year witnessed a new incarnation of the former Feather River Institute on Acquisitions, which was operated by the University of the Pacific and held annually in the northern Sierra Mountains of California from 1991-1998. The institute has moved to Oregon, to the majestic setting of Mt. Hood in the Cascade Mountain Range, just an hour east of Portland, and assumed a new name: The Acquisitions Institute at Timberline Lodge. Held May 20-23, 2000, the institute attracted a sell-out crowd of over 80 librarians and vendor representatives. At 6000 feet, Timberline Lodge is nestled midway to the summit of Mt. Hood with dramatic views in every direction. The hotel is a National Historic Landmark, built as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project under the Roosevelt Administration during the Great Depression and opened in 1937. The theme of the Institute was "Acquisitions and Collection Development in the 21st Century." Purposefully kept small, the Institute offered 13 presentations, which everyone could attend without conflict. In addition to these sessions, described below, plenty of time was allowed for networking and friendly interaction, which the setting encourages as well. The high mountain weather shifted between warm and cold and attendees hiked, snow-shoed, rode the ski lift, and enjoyed poetry readings and a showing of The Shining, which was filmed in part at Timberline. A couple of attendees even participated in an early morning mountain rescue the opening day of the conference! At the opening reception Richard Brumley traced the history of the Acquisitions Institute from its creation by Tom Leonhardt in 1990. Tom's unofficial title as the Father of Feather River is aptly deserved. The Institute's debt of gratitude to Meta Nissley was acknowledged. During the "mid-years" Meta was the Institute's inspiration and driving force. Without her energy and creativity there would be no Acquisitions Institute at Timberline Lodge. With Meta's recent and premature passing our profession has lost an esteemed colleague and a very dear friend. The planning committee: Nancy Slight-Gibney (University of Oregon), Richard Brumley (Oregon State University), and Scott Smith (Blackwell's Book Service) are to be commended for taking up the challenge of keeping the institute alive. Their efforts resulted in an outstanding conference, which will be held next year May 19-22, 2001 at the same spectacular location. Sunday, May 21 Core Competencies for the Acquisitions Librarian (Bill Fisher, San Jose State University) Growth in the interest of the concept of core competencies is reflected in the amount of professional literature on the topic that has appeared in the past decade, particularly in the latter half. This interest exists among library professionals as well. An analysis of 161 position announcements for librarians who would be doing acquisitions work was done at three points in time, each twelve years apart: 1975, 1987, and 1999. The results of this analysis were shared in a list of the 25 most cited functions or competencies. Each competency included the following information: the year it was mentioned and the number of times in that year; type of library; whether the function was listed as a duty, qualification or both; and the type of position: acquisitions, collection development, serials, technical services or other. "Acquisitions work" appeared at the top of the list, although if "experience with automated library systems" both non-system specific and system specific were combined, this would have been the most cited competency. Others near the top included employee supervision, communication skills, interpersonal skills, unit management, collection development, budgeting/fiscal management and serials experience. At the very bottom were "materials selection" and "professional contributions." Some competencies reflect the change in the information environment. For example, "electronic publishing" appears low on the list, but would rank much higher among competencies for 1999 job ads. Vision was never mentioned; creativity was mentioned only once; and innovation or initiative appeared only twice. Aiming for Continuous Improvement: Performance Measurement in a Re-engineered Technical Services (Glenda Smith, Griffith University, Australia) In 1996 Griffith University Library undertook a major re-engineering of its Technical Services Section. Features of this re-engineering included automation of repetitive processes, vendor supply of MARC records, and a partnership with the Blackwells group for supply of shelf ready books and consolidation of serials. The outcome of this process was a reduction in staff numbers in the section from 34 to 17. The new section was organized into two self-managing teams, with each team responsible for all its own functions from acquisitions through cataloging. The change in Technical Services was as much cultural as structural. Team members were actively encouraged to take responsibility for their own work areas and to participate in all decision making processes. The concept of "continuous improvement" of work processes was highly important, and became a regular agenda item at team meetings. In order to track continuous improvement in a specific and quantifiable way it was decided to measure the processes and report on them regularly. Unit costs (i.e. the average cost of adding a book or serial issue to the collection) as well as labor productivity are now monitored on a quarterly basis. Turnaround time is measured annually. These statistics have become a valuable management tool, provide evidence and justification for change and help in developing performance targets. Physical Setting and Organizational Success (Mary Ellen Kenreich, Portland State University) The Technical Services departments of Portland State University, University of Portland and University of Oregon were used to explore why physical settings are important to the success of an organization. A physical setting always does one of three things: it contributes positively to the work being done, is irrelevant to that work or is completely inappropriate to it. In _Physical Settings and Organization Development_, author Fred Steele describes six dimensions of evaluation, which serves as the basis for this presentation. Security and shelter, in the context of the workplace, refers to the comfort, privacy and safety of the environment, including protection from workplace violence and theft. While privacy is important, social contact also is: for how much contact does the setting allow? Does the arrangement bring people together or separate them? Symbolic identification refers to the relationship of a department to the rest of the organization as identified by its location and setting. Within the department, what status symbols define the staff's relationship, i.e. who gets the window? How does staff personalize individual workspaces? A fourth dimension of evaluation is task instrumentality. Can the work -- be it physical activities, mental activities or interactive activities -- be done in the setting provided? Pleasure is an important aspect of our physical setting. Colors, arrangement of objects, amount and quality of light, smells and sounds, and general upkeep all enhance or limit our feeling of pleasure. Growth is the final dimension of evaluation. Does the setting promote learning new skills, the development of self-esteem and sense of competence? Is there diverse stimulation? Does the setting allow staff to see how things work and can the setting be changed? These six dimensions offer a means to evaluate a physical setting for its positive effects, irrelevancy or detrimental effects. Consortial Purchases: Are they really worth it? (Deborah Carver, University of Oregon) The growth of library consortia is one of the most dramatic developments in collection development and acquisitions. Today's model, with its emphasis on the purchase of electronic resources, boasts impressive results in terms of savings and access. There have been costs associated with the new model as well. An "unscientific" survey of the members of one consortium, Orbis, and specifically of the members of Orbis' Committee on Electronic Resources (CER), tried to answer the question: What are the costs and benefits of a library's participation in a consortium and is it worthwhile? In the early days of this new model - CER organized as a task force in the spring of 1997 - the benefits were clear and dramatic. There were great opportunities and great deals. There was high participation among consortium members because the databases being purchased tended to be "have to have" resources. Small libraries made huge gains in access. Libraries gained leverage, learned to negotiate better licenses and used their collective clout to influence vendors. There were initial costs, but the benefits far outweighed them. Vendors, too, experienced certain costs and benefits in dealing with consortia. In the "teen years," there were changes in the costs and benefits for libraries. Price savings have become far more moderate and consensus more difficult as the resources under consideration are more specialized. Competing providers of one resource further complicate review and decision-making. Finding workable cost distributions models is harder when cost savings are smaller. In a snapshot of cost savings for the Orbis consortium, 7 databases purchased by varying members totaled a list price of $275,570. Orbis paid $182,092 for a savings of $93,478 or 44%. Estimates of the cost of Orbis staff and CER members' time cut that savings by about half, although that assumes the CER members would not otherwise be involved in electronic resource acquisition, which is obviously not the case. When asked if the costs were worth the benefits of consortial purchases, CER members answered with an overwhelming "yes!" Along with price saving and expanded access, shared knowledge was listed as an important benefit. Be Careful what You Wish For: or, All for Nothing - Nothing for All (Julia Gammon, University of Akron, Rick Lugg, R2 Consulting) A "tactile" presentation of how the formation of consortia affects the relationship between libraries and vendors took the Timberline attendees out of the warmth of their conference room into the cold wind at the foot of Mt. Hood. Vendors joined forces on one side of a large patio and librarians took the other. A simulated tug-of-war demonstrated some of the realities of the vendor/librarian relationship. As libraries form consortia, they can demand a larger discount in pricing, but they may also lose some aspects of service and customization. As vendors try to respond to a consortium's demands, they may find their economic viability threatened. Vendor mergers may result, leaving the consortium without the choices among vendors expected for good service and product development. An answer to this dilemma may be that vendors and consortia need to get on the same end of the rope and pull together. The effects of icy winds on vendors and librarians underscored another area of common interest and opportunity for collaborative action (let's go inside!) between the two groups. Making One Size Fit All (Diane Richards, Minnesota State University, Mankato) In 1998 the Minnesota State legislature allocated $3,000,000 annually in new funding to the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MNSCU) libraries' materials budgets. This increased materials budgets by almost 50% and came with the mandate that the funds should be used cooperatively. The libraries needed these funds for core purchases and since the similarity in MNSCU institutions results in few unique programs, there were concerns about purchasing unique, and therefore little used resources. Additionally, the community and technical college libraries were inadequately staffed to handle this sudden increase in funding. Given these challenges, the libraries developed a plan for cooperative collection development. This plan identified two major areas of emphasis: research collections and regional collections, both with a focus on print materials the first year. The importance of continuing local campus support was stressed. The plan addressed the roles of the state universities as major resource providers and the community/technical colleges as less active members, who would participate as they were able. It was agreed that all materials must be available for interlibrary loan. A committee was established to implement the plan and to develop an assessment tool. The outcomes of this ongoing project were that areas of specialization were named by each library, allowing for the development of some unique collections; each library's collections became more available outside its local campus; communication among libraries increased; and library users were happier. As the project continues, serials and electronic resources are being added and collection specialization is being refined. (For project documents, see www.winona.msus.edu/library/coop2.htm.) ****** END OF FILE ****** ACQNET, Vol. 10, No. 15 ****** END OF FILE ******