ALA: Stacks Management

Innovations in Library Stacks Management: See presentations in ALA Connect

Nancy Kress, UNLV
Shelve more with less - with Lean

Started the Lean concepts at U. Chicago, but works with large or small libraries.
Problem: Books circulate and are returned at the very same time when students are unavailable to shelve them. YOu can introduce rolling due dates and take other measures, but it is the user that detemines our processes.

Lean (pioneered by Toyota) to create efficiency and add value for the customer.
Value is defined as anything the customer is willing to pay for.

Do more with less, but less what? Less:
correction: any form of mistakes or errors
waiting: work process has stopped (i.e. email messages piling up while we're here)
inventory: again email example.
excessive motion: excess people
transportation: excess supplies.

How is lean applicable to libraries. See the supermarket analogy. Just-in-time marketing. What are all the steps involved in getting the watermelon to you from the time the seed was planted? But what is important to you as the customer is that the

Lean:

• Specify value by specific service or product. Service provided for which the customer is willing to pay. Product - book. Right time: now, on the shelf where the catalog says it is: Right Price: Free.
  Wasteful Shelving Activities: correction (checking for errors). Shelve it right the first time. Spend more energy shelving the item up front. and sample the items to see if they are shelved correctly.
  
• Identify value stream: activities required to provide the product or service. use process mapping to identify all the steps in the process.
  Wasteful shelving activity: Sorting the books. These don't help get the books to the shelves in order. UNLV cut shelving time by 20 hours
  Wasteful shelving activity:
  
• make value flow: completion of tasks along the value stream with no delays or stoppage. Objective is to get the book back to the shelf. As the book travels to truck to sorting, etc., it goes to places where there is no oversight.
  Wasteful shelving activity: moving carts. Get an assembly line. Is the department laid out in such a way that they can get from return to shelf with minimal traffic. Do a spaghetti map: use a string to see how long that distance is. How can you shorten the distance?
  
• Let customer pull value: The customer identifies the product or service they need and gets it when they need it. Don't produce something until the customer asks for it. Customer is the trigger for movement (when they ask for the book you get it, as is reserve, paging, remote storage - move away from browsing)
  Wasteful Shelving Activity: inventory - any form of batch processing. A full book cart is considered a batch. Determine how many items can be shelved in an hour and only put that many items on the cart. Reduce doubling efforts as books won't have to be returned to "sorting"
  
• Perfection: the complete elimination of any activity along the value stream that don't add value.

Simple, yet counter-intuitive (to libraries) ideas can help save a lot of time. Started only with a stop-watch. Did five runs to test process and saw changes to be made immediately.


Donna Resetar, Valparaiso University
Automatic Storage and Stack Arrangement at Valparaiso University
Largest university chapel in the country?

Students wanted periodicals shelved together. Christopher Center opened in 1997.
300,000 volumes in the ASRS; 300,000 volumes in open stacks.
ASRS server links barcode with bin number. Item can go back to differnet bin when returned.
Bound periodicals prior to 2003 are in ASRS; serial sets, census publications, older reference sets.
Keep monographs on open shelves.
Doubled capacity with relatively same footprint as older building.
Current and bound periodicals on the shelves together in call number order.
Now half-height shelving in reference; photos of liaison librarian in the relevant section of the reference collection.
ASRS items reshelved once overnight.


Johnny Weyand, Widener Library, Harvard University
Wayfinding Assessment

Wayfinding should includePleasant interactions, be efficient, natural, and empowering.

Maps are good, but not enough. Neither are signs.

Signs should be:
concise
clear: full sentences take longer to process; use simple language and avoid jargon
color: naturally captivating
consistent: use similar patterns everywhere
current: change at least annually
contrasting: font size will help process information
cost-effective

design matters: get feedback. someone with empathy should be involved in the design process.

Listen to feedback.
Watch patrons navigate, especially at major decision points.
ask patrons questions.

ALA: Stacks Management

ACRL Conference, day 2 - Is the MLS Relevant?

Panel Session - Resolved: The Master's Degree in Library Science is Not Relevant to the Future of the Academic Library.
Liz Bishoff (BCR)
Arnold Hirshon (NELINET)
James Neal (Columbia University), moderator

Trend in some libraries to hire individuals with varied academic background
Is this trend undermining the MLS?

For the affirmative (the MLS is not relevant): Arnold Hirshon
Three reasons:

• Devoid of content unique to librarianship.
  The things that are unique to the profession are no longer being taught and are not required. Even when required they are chaotic
  
• Lack criteria to admit good students
  LIS programs lack skills to measure future success in school and on the job.
  Skills that should be required: risk taking, questioning, openness, creative agile, energetic, ability to synthesize; possess confidence; leaders.
  Learning agility is needed.
  Graduates who ask, "why" a requirement for a job is needed, it is clear they don't have the skill.
  
• Schools provide graduate level vocational training.
  LIS programs don't teach things like principles of effective management or statistics.
  

The system is our acceptance of mediocrity. We need not accept it anymore. There are many others who can bring a diverse background and experience to our workplace.
New model: Syracuse's i-school program on cyber-infrastructure. This is a good start.

For the negative (the MLS IS relevant): Liz Bishoff
No two academic libraries are the same; each library must operate in context. preparing the next generation through education.

• Focus on education, rather than training; develop team-building and problem-solving skills
• Research is the foundation of the academic library. LIS programs develop research skills - personal and those to pass on to users
• Advance the digital library. LIS program lays the foundation for continuous learning for the future.
  

Comments from audience:

• There is no MLS standard and until that happens, the question is moot. The Standards for Accreditation do not address uniformity among programs.
• We need the MLS, but we need to overhaul the curriculum
  

Hirshon:
You can't teach research; you have to do it. LIS students who learn research learn library research, but not research for their patrons. Those who earn other advanced degrees learn how to research in their fields in ways LIS students don't.

We need to educate students for the real world. Internships and apprentices are key.

There should be normative tracks. People should lean skills to make them successful in their chosen area, but also have the flexibility to transfer the skills to other areas.

Neal:
Who gets evaluated, the person or the school?
Is librarian a default profession?
Can we have a standard of practice, or are there many successful paths?
Are LIS programs out of touch?
Can information science, informatics and other programs be successfully integrated?
Will the absence of the MLS lead to "non-professionals?"

Questions and Comments from the audience:
What is your definition of a librarian? enables people's creativity and success.

ACRL Conference, day 2 - Is the MLS Relevant?

Rutgers to change name of library school

In 2008 the School of Communication, Information, and Library Studies (SCILS) at Rutgers University celebrated its 25th anniversary. In 2009 (or perhaps late in 2008), the faculty members at the school vote, 30 to 10, to remove "library" from the name of the school, making it the School of Communication and Information (SCI).

SCILS Dean, Jorge Reina Schement, writes:

Recently, the faculty of the School of Communication, Information and Library Studies voted to change the name of the School to the School of Communication and Information. I understand there has been some discussion on listservs of the proposed name change, so I want to clarify our collective rationale.

First and foremost, the proposed change of name for the school offers a cohesive identity to the diverse faculty and student groups who make up our community. In the 26 years since the founding of the School, much has changed in the profiles of its faculty, students, and alumni - the new nomenclature reflects the breadth of intellectual emphasis of the research and teaching offered by the faculty. By changing the name, we do not - nor will we - eliminate any focus areas; but, rather, broaden the context of those areas we embrace and include in our research and teaching agendas.

In conversations with colleagues, alumni, and friends across the country, it is clear that the name "School of Communication, Information and Library Studies" is not well understood. For example, how many of our friends know that we have six degree programs? How many know that we graduate about 1,360 undergraduate majors who make up almost 9% of the University's total undergraduate majors? How many know the actual names of our degrees?

• Undergraduate program in Communication: about 760 students.
• Undergraduate program in Journalism and Media Studies: about 450 students.
• Undergraduate program in Information Technology and Informatics: about 150 students.
• Masters in Communication and Information Studies: about 60 students.
• Masters in Library and Information Science: about 560 students.
• Doctoral Program in Communication and Information Studies: about 120 students.
  

Indeed, we are a unique school with a unique story to tell, but the SCILS name has not been effective in helping us tell it. We serve professions ranging from librarianship to public relations, to advertising, to journalism, and scholarly communities and are at the forefront of their foci - a spectrum that embraces the practical and the theoretical. Our community champions librarianship - and we intend to remain that way.

Prior to the vote, I consulted with a number of library leaders, including the MLIS Program Associates, president and executive director of NJLA, past ALA presidents, and others. I believe I have their support, because they understand that success in the 21st century requires us to reposition ourselves within the university and across the country. Our MLIS program will continue to be a keystone of the school. To do so shares our pride and keeps faith with our proud heritage in areas such as librarianship and media, as well as to engage the changing world in which we all work, learn, and live.

With your support, we can contribute, serve, and lead.

Sincerely, Jorge Reina Schement

There are MANY points to be addressed in this message and I'll try to cover some of them.
First, Mr. Schement describes the process as a consultative one. I must admit I was absent from the December MLIS Program Associates (an advisory group) meeting, but there was NO mention of the school's name change in the minutes that have been distributed. It could be that we had a fairly inefficient note-taker.

Heidi Lynn Cramer, president of NJLA writes:

I am alarmed that there is reference to the president and executive director of NJLA in this notification with an implied endorsement of this change. As a New Jersey librarian and SCILS alumni, I personally do not support the change. More importantly, as the president of NJLA, I will bring this issue to the executive board for their response. I can assure you that [NJLA Executive Director] Pat Tumulty and I were not consulted in any way about this proposal.
Heidi Cramer, President
New Jersey Library Association
February 09, 2009

Perhaps Mr. Schement had this on his list of things to do, but never actually got around to doing them.

I'm no statistician but there are, by Mr. Schement's numbers, 2100 total students in the school of which 1360 are undergraduates. Of the 740 grad students, 560 are in the MLIS program. So even though they make up only 27% of the total program (and that is more than a quarter of the school) they account for 75% of the graduate student population.

Those who have been paying attention to the school at Rutgers would have seen this coming for a while though. The undergraduate program in Information Technology and Informatics was added in 2000. It was in that year the school decided they would no longer offer MLS degrees and would offer MLIS degrees. I am a member of the last graduating class to earn an MLS from Rutgers. Earlier last year, there was a hotly debated issue to drop the "library" from the name of the doctoral degree earned by students in the program - even if their specialization was in library science. They would have a PhD in Information Studies or some such. That proposal was defeated after much debate nationally in the library education field and especially in the NJ library community.

This new move, which appears to have support from even some of the library faculty at the school (it would be interesting to see who the 40 faculty members who voted are and how they voted), will generate probably as much debate as did the proposal last year to change the name of the doctoral program. One such library faculty supporter is Claire McInerney, the chair of the LIS Department. She writes, on the school listserv:

Dear Student Colleagues and Valued SCILS Alumni,

I'm writing today as the chair of the Department of Library and Information Science to address some of your concerns regarding the name change to the School of Communication and Information. Let me assure you that the Department of Library and Information Science
is as strong or stronger than ever. We plan to keep moving forward in quality, to maintain our number one status in the school library/media field, and our goal is to maintain our high standards in all areas. We have one of the largest MLIS student cohorts among the ALA accredited schools in North America, so the name change is not about numbers.

The LIS faculty voted for the name change -- nothing is being forced on us. Why did we vote for it? As SCILS has grown, we now have many program areas -- some of the areas like journalism and media studies would like to be included in the name as well. We have an undergraduate degree in Information Technology and Informatics, helping students who are interested in technology learn about the human/user perspective. As a professional school we prepare people to work in public relations and advertising. All these programs could not be included in the name, or it would be a cumbersome string of program names.

SCILS functions like a college -- in some universities it would be a college. We wanted a name that would reflect all of our disciplines within a growing college or school context. Library service, I would contend, is about communicating with library patrons, learning what they need, and helping them fulfill those information, cultural, learning, and entertainment needs. If you attended a communication or media studies conference today, you would see that those fields have many of the same issues and needs that librarians have. We're all about building knowledge through communication and information. Granted, librarians have the additional mission of preserving the culture and other concerns, but you could say journalists have the additional mission of developing the information that is published or broadcast.

I worked as a librarian -- in a high school, in a university, and in public libraries in Michigan and Minnesota... and then did my doctoral research with librarians and executives in industry. Personally, I like the designation "Communication and Information" -- it is elegant but much
more descriptive than the simple "Information" designation that many universities have adopted (Syracuse, Michigan, Washington, etc.). Some Library and Information Science Departments are in Schools of Education. In our school we work in an interdisciplinary environment, so the name is reflective of our colleagues' disciplines too. In fact, we as librarians have expanded our sphere of influence by joining with journalists, public relations people, advertising experts in our school to pursue the ideals of freedom of speech and intellectual freedom -- we share those values across the disciplines.

I'm glad we're able to discuss the name change in a civil way through our discussion list. And it is very encouraging to see the heartfelt loyalty expressed by students we as faculty have been associated with in courses. Although I'm away from the campus today and tomorrow, please feel free to contact me about this issue or others. As we move forward in examining our
curriculum, please know that we will be calling on all who are willing to advise the LIS faculty about the skills and issues that you believe new librarians need in the workplace.
My kindest regards,

Claire McInerney
Associate Professor, Department Chair
Department of Library and Information Science
School of Communication, Information & Library Studies
February 10, 2009

Surely the debate and discussions will continue. Here are a few places where you may follow the conversation: a Facebook group to keep the "library" in the school name; a Library Journal article on the proposed name change; comments on a story in the Daily Targum; and the NJ-SLA blog.

Personally, I'm proud to be a librarian, and am happy to have attended Library School and earned a Masters in Library Science. I have often referred current and future colleagues to the Library School at Rutgers because I always believed it was a quality program that valued libraries, librarians, and librarianship. It seems that value is diminishing. I will now have to think of alternate places to make those referrals, I'm not sure I'll refer anyone to SCI - unless they'll be doing so in the Alps!

Rutgers to change name of library school