Being Earnest With Collections-The Importance of Reviewing Technical Services Operations to Promote Efficient Access and Enhanced Discoverability of Resources
| dc.contributor.author | Arthur, Michael A. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-02-28T17:36:31Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-02-28T17:36:31Z | |
| dc.date.copyright | © 2016 the author | |
| dc.date.issued | 2016-04 | |
| dc.description.abstract | I was recently reflecting back on the first six months of my new role at The University of Alabama. I was charged during the first year to undertake a complete review of work processes within the newly formed Resource Acquisition & Discovery Department. The previously separate functional areas of acquisitions, cataloging, and electronic resources were brought together just prior to my start in August of 2015. The analysis began within the first couple of months as I began to meet with everyone in the department. We discussed the usual things including what was going well and what could be improved. I learned about the transition period after the loss of department and unit heads over the previous year or two, and understood how the staff now had to face the uncertainty of a new manager. It became apparent that bringing the units together in proximity did not necessarily mean that there would be a logical move toward integration of workflow. Being Earnest with Collections focuses this month on raising awareness of the importance of workflow analysis. Hopefully I will provide some best practices for others who plan to take a good hard look at just where technical services is going. There is a new emphasis on moving away from traditional models of collection building and toward a focus on collection strategy, in line with providing content when and where it is needed rather than building collections across all disciplines. There is an opportunity to be more efficient while we transition spending and staffing from a traditional print based operation to one that will be able to address selection, procurement and access in the electronic environment. | |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Arthur, Michael (2018) "Being Earnest With Collections--The Importance of Reviewing Technical Services Operations to Promote Efficient Access and Enhanced Discoverabilty of Resources," Against the Grain: Vol. 28: Iss. 2, Article 41. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7771/2380-176X.7340 | |
| dc.identifier.doi | 10.7771/2380-176X.7340 | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 1043-2094 | |
| dc.identifier.orcid | https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7996-4915 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://ir.ua.edu/handle/123456789/15707 | |
| dc.language | English | |
| dc.language.iso | en_US | |
| dc.publisher | Against the Grain | |
| dc.subject | workflow | |
| dc.subject | technical services | |
| dc.subject | discoverability | |
| dc.subject | e-resource management | |
| dc.title | Being Earnest With Collections-The Importance of Reviewing Technical Services Operations to Promote Efficient Access and Enhanced Discoverability of Resources | |
| dc.type | Article |