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Re-Creating the Academic Library: The CHANGED Organization

By Sandra Yee, Dean, Wayne State University Library System, aj0533@wayne.edu.

Presented at Symposium for Academic Librarians 2004 at Eastern Michigan University, Friday, April 30, 2004.

Several reports appeared not long after we had seen the deserted library on the front page of the Chronicle of Higher Education (Carlson, 2001). These entreat us to ask the question, “are libraries dispensable?” If not, then why not? Reports such as The Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) study found that students are using the physical library less, and Google more (Friedlander, 2002). These help to inform our views of how we need to be thinking about the academic library of today and the future.

Reading and studying these and several other recent publications leads to an interesting conclusion. Academic libraries must be CHANGED organizations, and they must do this now. What is meant by CHANGED? This is an acronym for the way in which we can transform ourselves for the college and university of today and tomorrow.

The CHANGED organization is:

• Client-centered: We have gone from being collection centered, to focusing all of our efforts on the success of our faculty and students.
• Humane: We treat each other and our clients with respect and dignity at all times.
• Accountable: We use data to make decisions; we close service gaps based on the data and we continue to make assessments.
• Necessary: We strive to be the first place our clients go for information. We are their GOOGLE.
• Growing: We are a learning organization, growing and learning is our way of life.
• Exceeding Expectations: We practice continuous improvement and as we become better, we continue to go the extra mile.
• Dependable: We follow through on commitments; we provide reliable service and a consistent message to our clients.

Nothing about these concepts is new; we have been doing most of these things for some time now. But by putting them all together we can have visible success.

I would like to talk about each of these and define the ways in which we might get to the CHANGED organization.

Clent Centered: Everything we do is focused on a commitment to promoting the success of our faculty and students. As we go forward with this commitment, we need to become more familiar with today’s teaching and learning enterprise, and work within that to promote success. By understanding how to design libraries for learning, we can contribute to and promote successful teaching and learning. This means we need to study how faculty are teaching, and how students today are learning. In a 2003 issue of the EDUCAUSE Review, Carol Barone provides us with interesting insight into the changing methods of teaching and learning in her article, “The Changing Landscape and the New Academy.” Understanding the changing landscape will inform us as we re-create our client-centered services. Several of her points are very important for us.

(1) Learning and teaching have changed, as has cognition. In this point she references an earlier EDUCAUSE Review article by Jason Frand (2003) called “The Information Age Mindset.” If you’re not familiar with it, and you’re currently working in a college or university library, you need to be. Frand describes the “information age mindset like this:

• Computers are not technology
• The internet is better than TV
• Reality is no longer real
• Doing is more important than knowing
• Learning resembles Nintendo more than logic
• Multitasking is a way of life
• Typing is preferred to handwriting
• Staying connected is essential
• There is zero tolerance for delays
• Consumer and creator are blurring

Barone says that students expect to try things rather than hear about them and tend to learn visually and socially (2003).

(2) The course is not the container, teaching space is not physical space and “personal” does not mean in person. Learning environments are boundless, and we can be a part of those boundless (and space-less) environments. M-learning (mobile learning) is evident as students arrive on campus having always had a cell phone and instant messaging to stay online.

(3) Community matters. Students are more comfortable in social learning situations such as group work. They often form their own learning communities, and often take the internet for granted as their access to community.

What are some of the important implications for libraries? In the 2003 article, “Boomers, Gen-Xers, Millenials: Understanding the New Students,” Diane Oblinger, Executive Director of Higher Education for Microsoft, explains that for today’s learners, excellent customer service is an expectation, not an exception. Understanding how we respond to our customers and what our service goals are also important issues. At Athabasca University in Canada, service expectations are clearly posted on their website at www.athabascau.ca/misc/expect/ (2004). As we think about where we have been and where we are going, it makes sense to think of past and present in these terms:

In the past, we were “Just in case.”
In the present, we’re pretty much still “Just in time.”
In the future (today), we need to go to “Just for you.”

Humane: We treat each other, our internal customers, and our clients, as external customers, with dignity and respect, always. Our service principles and philosophies emphasize our commitment to good, humane service. There is no place or excuse for rudeness, sarcasm or ridicule.

Accountable: Being accountable, as we look at being client-centered, means that we use data to make decisions and then follow up on our commitment through assessment and continuous improvement. It is important that we listen to our clients, really listen. In order to do that we have to find out what our students and faculty are telling us they want and need, and then deliver it. Use LIBQUAL and other data to make decisions, and seriously follow up on the findings. Here is an analogy we use that helps us understand that being accountable means listening to what our clients tell us they want:

We used to make some darn good shoes, and we convinced our clients that when they came to our place, we’d give them just what we knew they needed, these great shoes with metal plates in the toes. To our amazement, though, our surveys tell us we’re failing in the shoe provision category. Not because we make bad shoes, because they win awards for great construction. It’s because our clients no longer want or need shoes with metal toes. They’re now all wearing sandals and sling-backs, and we’re not in a position to deliver them because we weren’t paying attention to the data that described what kind of shoes our clients wanted.

The North Central Association (NCA) Higher Learning Commission has redefined its evaluative criteria to include outcomes assessment as an important measure of a university’s ability to provide a quality education environment. They no longer ask for the snapshot statistics they once wanted. We do not provide volume counts, numbers of staff, circulation, or gate counts. These do not measure what NCA has defined as important. They want learning outcomes and the library must be positioned to demonstrate that we are contributing to the success of our students through our programs and services. Have we identified service gaps? What have we done to close those gaps? How have we evaluated the results?

We must also be fiscally accountable. Trust of university officials is gained by a track record of overall competence, success, and ability to make hard choices. Using the statistics and other data we collect, we can make informed decisions on where resources must go. Being fiscally accountable also means that our resources follow our priorities. Those priorities address our goals and objectives which also relate to the university’s strategic goals.

Fiscal accountability also means that we need to think in an entrepreneurial manner. Given the state of higher education finances, it is no longer acceptable to expect that the university can provide all the funding libraries need. Grant writing and fund raising are not just additional opportunities, they are expected and necessary.

Necessary: Some of us wonder if this is possible. In a recent article from the Chronicle of Higher Education, Jeffrey Cole, Director of the Center for Communication Policy at UCLA, describes what researchers at the Center already know about the internet’s political, economical, and social impact on America and the world. For libraries, their findings are chilling:

• The internet is an important part of American’s lives. Over 70% use the internet at least once a month, and the average user is online for nearly 12 hours a week.
• For users, the internet is now the most important source of information. Almost all users report that the Net is the first place they go for information whether to settle a bet, contemplate a purchase or answer a complex question.
• Users watch less television than non-users. In 2002 the subjects of this ongoing study began to report less time with newspapers and magazines.
• Internet users have healthy social lives, but they get about one hour less sleep a week than non-users.
• Use of the internet increases productivity. Users report that technology has made them much more productive at work. And while e-mail is one of the most appealing elements of the internet and the single biggest reason people go online in the first place, it’s becoming a burden as boxes fill up with communications demanding answers.
• E-commerce is becoming more common. It is expanding rapidly. However, both purchasers and non-purchasers report extraordinarily high levels of concern about online security and privacy (Cole, 2004).

Based on four years of this ongoing study, researchers predict:

• More Americans will go online. In 10 years 80 to 85% of Americans will have access to the internet. But it may take 25 years before 90% of Americans are internet users.
• Wireless connections will become standard. By 2014 the notion of an internet connection permanently anchored in one spot will seem archaic.
• Education will make greater use of the internet. Over the next 10 years, as children who grew up with the internet become teachers and administrators they will begin to apply the internet to the foundations of learning.
• Entertainment will not dominate the internet. Television will always be a better medium. The real future of the internet is in information.
• It will be hard to do some tasks offline. In 2014 most Americans will use the Internet to send letters, file tax returns, pay bills, etc. Not doing so online may actually present bigger challenges and be more difficult.

Allow me to repeat that the real future of the Internet is in information. Will we be there? I think so. There is still time for libraries to (again) be the first place our users go for information—even if they continue to use Google or similar search engine.

As a result of OCLC’s Resource Sharing Interest Group’s three-year strategy document, the concept of weaving libraries into the Web became a major OCLC theme. Although we did not know it then, this would become a concept that may give us back our edge. As Steven Bell said in a February 20, 2004 article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, “the academic library has clearly lost its monopoly as the campus information gateway, but we can return it to its proper place of pre-eminence at the information smorgasbord.” He goes on to say that students want our resources to be retrievable using an interface like Google’s. In the 2003 Environmental Scan, OCLC identified three major trends in what they termed the “Social Landscape”: self-service moving to self-sufficiency, satisfaction and seamlessness. Several reports tell us that consumers believe that what they find on the Web using Google is “good enough.” Ease of use and convenience trumps quality. Steven Bell goes on to ask, and recommends, that libraries and vendors who produce the databases figure out a way to be more like Google, or as OCLC is doing, team up with Google to give our clients access to the wide array of resources we make available to them through a fast, easy search tool.

The faculty, our allies, are the ones who will help us convince students to use the resources of the deep Web, those materials we provide at exorbitant cost, and which are truly quality resources. However, this will only happen if we continue to work toward that seamless, “find it-get it” interface. Information literacy teamed up with redesign of our search interfaces will make us the Necessary information place.

Growing: Learning organizations are defined as ones who provide opportunities for continuous improvement for their staff. They also, however, are those that keep looking five to 10 years out and strive to understand how to deal wit those future trends. “Growth” does not mean bigger. It means we grow in knowledge, skills and abilities.

In addition to monitoring new trends and embracing new technology, the growing and learning organization understands that the staff is their most important asset, and provides for them. A staff development program, with skill training as well as personal training opportunities, is extremely important and helps assure that the organization can meet the future needs of the organization.

Exceeding Expectations: At the October, 2003 OCLC Members Council meeting, Joan Frye Williams entertained the delegates with a lively talk, “Innovation and Risk-Taking Today.” From my perspective, her remarks were right on target for that topic, and she can help us understand why it is important that we never settle for good enough but continue to strive for the next rung on the ladder. Ms. Williams, who consults nationally with all types of information service providers, offers a reality check. She says, “the library is part of an open infosystem, through which the people we serve move as hunters and gatherers, choosing what they want from a wide variety of sources. We are not the sole arbiters of the value of what we provide. We have serious competition.”

Competition is not a concept I learned about in library school, mainly because there basically was none. Bookstores were pretty normal places, stocked with books you couldn’t read until you bought them and took them home, and there were not all that many of them. You certainly did not go there to socialize and drink gourmet coffee, and there was no internet. Times have changed. Ms. Williams reminded the OCLC attendees that the people we serve now think our competitors are more:

• Convenient
• Welcoming/comfortable
• Energetic
• Technologically savvy
• In tune with their needs
• Up to date
• Fun!

We are in an enterprise environment that gives us the opportunity to respond by entrepreneurial standards. A successful enterprise:

• Knows, listens to and respects its audience
• Builds strong, lasting customer relationships
• Creates and maintains a brand identity
• Hires for attitude
• Is alert to the opportunities for improvement
• “Owns” the change management process
• Builds capacity to handle success!

In order to exceed expectations we must be willing to take some risks. We can no longer fail to advertise a service because we are afraid we cannot handle the response. Build in capacity for success and be willing to re-allocate when necessary. If the service is that popular, it must be just what the clients need and want. How better to identify that than with success!

Dependable: Finally, we are dependable. We follow through on our commitments; we provide reliable service and a consistent message to our clients. In addition to posting our service standards, we live by them. Regardless of what staff member is available, the same quality service is always delivered. This requires: (1) a system wide commitment to service quality; (2) well defined procedures; and (3) a staff training program for all staff, including students.

In addition to consistency in service, a consistent message to our clients is equally important. We must speak with one voice and know what that message is. Libraries can learn a great deal by reviewing marketing principles and developing a marketing and communication plan that helps brand our service. Not only do we remain dependable, but those who have control of the finances are also aware of our services.

As CHANGED organizations, we represent vital components of our colleges and universities, providing the very important link between information and our clients!

References

Association of Research Libraries Collections and Access Task Force. (2002, December). Collections and Access for the 21st Century Scholar: Changing Roles of Research Libraries (ARL Bimonthly Report 225). Washington, D.C.: ARL. Retrieved on June 3, 2004 from www.arl.org/newsltr/225.

Athabasca University. (2004). Expect the best – Service Standards. Retrieved on June 3, 2004 from www.athabascau.ca/misc/expect/.

Barone, C. A. (2003, September/October). The changing landscape and the New Academy. Educause Review, 38 (5), 41-47. Retrieved on June 3, 2004 from http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM0353.pdf/

Bell, S. J. (2004, February 20). The Infodiet: How libraries can offer an appetizing alternative to Google. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 50 (30), B15.

Carlson, S. (2001, November 16). As students work online, reading rooms empty out –Leading some campuses to add Starbucks (Cover story). The Chronicle of Higher Education, 48 (12), A.35.

Cole, J. (2004). Now is the time to start studying the internet age. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 50 (30), B18.

Frand, J. L. (2000, September/October). The information age mindset: Changes in students and implications for higher education. Educause Review 35 (5), 15-24. Retrieved June 3, 2004 from www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM0051.pdf.

Friedlander, A. (2002, November). Dimensions and use of the scholarly information environment: Introduction to a data set assembled by the Digital Library Federation and Outsell, Inc., Washington, D.C.: Digital Library Federation, Council on Library and Information Resources (pp. 1-21). Retrieved on June 3, 2004 from www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub110/contents.html.

Jones, S. (with Madden, M). (2002, September 15). The internet goes to college: How students are living in the future with today’s technology [Report]. Washington, D.C.: Pew Internet and American Life Project (pp. 1-22). Available at http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=71.

Lougee, W. P. (2002, August). Diffuse libraries: Emergent roles for the research library in the digital age [Report]. Washington, D.C.: Council on Library and Information Resources. Retrieved from www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub108/pub108.pdf.

Oblingor, D. (2003, July/August). Boomers, Gen-Xers, and Millennials: Understanding the “New Students.” Educause Review, 38 (4), 37-47. Retrieved June 3, 2004 from
http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM0051.pdf.

Online Computer Library Center, Resource Sharing Interest Group. (2000, October 23). Extending the OCLC Cooperative: A Three-Year Strategy (pp. 1-37). Retrieved from June 3, 2004 from http://www.sabinet.co.za/sabicatweb/OCLC_worldcat_strategy_document.pdf.

Tenopir, C. (with Hitchcock, B. & Pillow, A.). (2003). Use and users of electronic library resources: An overview and analysis of recent research studies. Washington, D.C.: Council on Library and Information Resources (pp. 1-66). Available June 3, 2004 from http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub120/pub120.pdf.

Williams, J. F. (2003, October 26). Innovation and risk-taking today. Keynote address presented at the Members Council Meeting of the Online Computer Library Center, Dublin, OH.

Wilson, A. (Ed.). (2003). The 2003 Online Computer Library Center environmental scan: Pattern recognition. Dublin, OH: OCLC (pp. 1-72). Retrieved June 3, 2004 from http://www.oclc.org/membership/escan/default.htm

Notes

Bennett, S. (2003, November). Libraries designed for learning [Report]. Washington, D.C.: Council on Library and Information Resources (Pub. 122). Retrieved June 3, 2004 from http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub122/pub122web.pdf

MacLean, N., Sander, H., Albanese (Pitkin), P., Baker, B., Cohen, D., Dempsey, L., Henderson, S., et al. (Eds.), Online Computer Library Center E-Learning Task Force. (2003, October). Libraries and the enhancement of e-learning. Dublin, OH: OCLC (pp. 1-19). Retrieved June 3, 2004 from www5.oclc.org/downloads/community/elearning.pdf.

Online Computer Library Center. (2002, June). How academic libraries can influence students’ web-based information choice [white paper on the information habits of college students]. Dublin, OH: OCLC (pp. 1-12). Retrieved June 3, 2004 from http://www5.oclc.org/downloads/community/informationhabits.pdf.

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