The evolution from print to electronic resources and services continues to pose significant challenges for academic libraries. This article presents a systematic, evidence-based approach to guide this transition, which resulted in an exhaustive reorganization of library staffing and services. The approach begins with the necessity of accumulating and then evaluating data on staff workloads and responsibilities. At the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas Library, this evaluation revealed that a preponderant amount of time was still spent on print-related activities that were no longer considered to be library priorities. The corrective actions taken to remedy this misalignment are then discussed.
A sharp decline in the number of reference queries prompted the library administration at Indiana State University to begin a project to combine the circulation, reference, and IT desks to reduce staffing at a new consolidated service point. All faculty and staff in the reference/instruction and circulation units participated in the project. The new arrangement and subsequent removal of librarians from routine desk duties have expanded instructional opportunities, consistent with the university's goals. Project participants plan further assessments to better determine the impacts of the new service arrangements.
The National Library of Medicine/Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (NLM/AAHSL) Leadership Fellows Program was created to provide training and mentorship to potential library directors. The program's constituent parts, site visits, mentoring, online classes, and Capstone events, are described. The program has been successful in imparting these skills to its participants-18 of the first 35 fellows have been promoted since they completed the program, 11 of whom have been named directors at AAHSL libraries. The NLM/AAHSL program ensures that the impending retirement of many members of the current cadre of academic health sciences library directors will not result in a leadership vacuum.
In a lively point/counterpoint format, the authors discuss issues of library technology from two perspectives: that of a library administrator and that of an Emerging Technologies Librarian. Rather than providing an artificial sense of closure, this article is designed to highlight differing positions on these issues, inviting libraries to use these conflicting viewpoints as tools to aid them in finding the solutions that best fit their unique situation.
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