Core Technical Services Workflow Efficiency Interest Group

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Purpose: Provides a forum to discuss and analyze techniques, new developments, problems and technological advances in the workflows associated with the evaluation, selection, acquisition, and discovery of library materials and resources.

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This interest group is part of Core's Metadata and Collections Section.

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ALA Midwinter Meeting Presentations

  • 1.  ALA Midwinter Meeting Presentations

    Posted Feb 05, 2015 06:04 PM

    Hello All,


    The presentations from our meeting at ALA Midwinter 2015 have been posted. Below are the summaries and their corresponding filenames. 


    Just let me know if you have any trouble accessing these PDFs.


    Annie Glerum, co-chair


     


    Filename: TSWEIG_MW15_Moreno


    Taking the First Step towards Change; A Workflow Analysis of the Cataloging Functions at the University of Houston Libraries,” presented by Heylicken "Hayley" Moreno.


    Institutional practices are sometimes put in place for historical reasons. Sometimes libraries do not even know why certain procedures are performed in a specific manner. With this in mind, it is important that librarians review current practices at their institutions. One of the first steps a librarian should take when analyzing their department’s functions is to perform a workflow analysis. A workflow analysis reviews procedures, identifies inefficiencies, and recommends the adoption of new practices. Performing such analysis can help streamline processes by making them more efficient and cohesive. In this presentation, participants will learn the various steps in workflow analysis and how these steps were applied to the Resource Description Unit’s workflow at the University of Houston Libraries.


     


    Filename: TSWEIG_MW15_BartonMak


    “Who Catalogs What?: A Virtual Workflow for Cataloging Electronic Theses & Dissertations,” presented by Joshua Barton & Lucas Mak.


    Managing in-house cataloging of electronic resources requires procedures different from existing print-based workflows. A particular challenge is the absence of any physical queue to drive the work. MSU Libraries has devised a workflow for the institution’s electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) that is independent of any workflows for the ETDs’ print counterparts, leveraging automation and cataloger expertise. We will review challenges and efficiencies in the steps, which include repurposing ETD metadata supplied by ETD authors and ProQuest, programmatically creating brief records via XML/XSLT in a local Fedora repository and the local ILS, enhancing brief records in the ILS by original catalogers using Google Sheets as a real-time, virtual workflow management tool, and the uptake of cataloger-enhanced metadata into the Fedora repository.


     


    Filename: TSWEIG_MW15_Chen


    “Linking E-Resources Management and Metadata Works,” presented by Sherab Chen


    In a recent Librarians conference focusing on E-Resources management, I heard the buzz words of “ERM replacing cataloging.” This raised my question of what exactly an E-Resources Metadata Librarian’s role is in providing access and enhancing discovery of e-resources provided in today’s academic libraries. In my presentation, I would like to share some of our experiments in designing a more effective workflow that chains up with Acquisition and Collection Management, and strategies on transfer staff expertise from senior to new members. I will talk how to motivate staff for stewardship in day to day works and projects. And I would be most interested in exchange ideas with colleagues from other institutes in their undertakings and thinking.


     


    Filename: TSWEIG_MW15_Landesman


    “Expanding Technicians’ Work Within and Beyond the ILS: ‘Whoever Has the Item/Information Completes the Work’,” presented by Betty Landesman.


    Silos are not limited to big departments.  When I started at UB in July 2012, the two technical services technicians did either acquisitions or copy cataloging/physical processing of new materials, but not both.  Their work was limited by system – if it wasn’t done in the ILS [for example, electronic resources management in Serials Solutions], someone else did it.  Following the principle of “whoever has the item/information completes the work”, technicians now add items to WorldCat Lists and create invoices for gifts as part of cataloging; do physical processing of materials as part of acquisitions; and maintain journal holdings in Serials Solutions and ebooks in SFX.  In addition, when the acquisitions technician left in July, the check-in and maintenance of our print journals and the entering and receiving of orders in the ILS passed to the other technician.  We are now advertising for a library technician, without functional distinction.