Library Faculty/Staff Scholarship and Research

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/11

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    It’s 10pm, do you know what’s happening in the library? An Exploration of Hourly Library Usage Data
    (2023-06) Thompson, Hilary; Spring, James
    The COVID-19 pandemic and rising minimum wage prompted access services managers to delve deeper into data we were already collecting in order to better understand when and how the main library at the University of Maryland is used. This exploratory project involved gathering, reconciling, and identifying trends in hourly usage data from different systems, with the goal of maximizing what the library can offer with its current resources and to advocate for more funding, if needed. We will share our experience undertaking this work, discuss how we have and will apply this data, and offer suggestions for others interested in doing something similar at their library. The poster will feature data visualizations and summarize highlights, which the presenters will expand upon when presenting in person based on the audience’s particular needs/interests. We hope this poster presentation will both aid and inspire other library managers to undertake similar work related to optimizing library hours, employee scheduling, and front-line staffing levels.
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    Making Change, Increasing Value: Reorganizing Your Access Services Department
    (2016-11-18) Hackman, Timothy; Greenwell, Paula; Spring, James; Thompson, Hilary
    In 2015 the department of Resource Sharing & Access Services at the University of Maryland Libraries undertook a major reorganization with the goals of increasing efficiency, staff engagement, and user satisfaction. Seeking to realign tasks and staff according to function, the year-long project resulted in a new organizational chart and new job descriptions for the majority of the department’s thirty-two staff. This presentation will provide an overview of the theory and methods used to plan the reorganization, and will discuss implementation by focusing on integrations of four once-separate operations: scanning for interlibrary loan and reserves; book retrieval for holds, reserves and interlibrary loan; shipping and receiving for circulation and interlibrary loan; and scheduling for a merged service desk. One year after the reorganization was completed, we will assess the effectiveness of the new model in meeting our goals and share lessons learned for undertaking reorganization at your library.
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    Making Change, Increasing Value: Reorganizing Your Access Services Department
    (2016-08-16) Hackman, Timothy; Greenwell, Paula; Spring, James; Thompson, Hilary
    In 2015 the department of Resource Sharing & Access Services at the University of Maryland Libraries undertook a major reorganization with the goals of increasing efficiency, staff engagement, and user satisfaction. Seeking to realign tasks and staff according to function, the year-long project resulted in a new organizational chart and new job descriptions for the majority of the department’s thirty-two staff. This presentation will provide an overview of the theory and methods used to plan the reorganization, and will discuss implementation by focusing on integrations of four once-separate operations: scanning for interlibrary loan and reserves; book retrieval for holds, reserves and interlibrary loan; shipping and receiving for circulation and interlibrary loan; and scheduling for a merged service desk. One year after the reorganization was completed, we will assess the effectiveness of the new model in meeting our goals and share lessons learned for undertaking reorganization at your library.