Deconstructing the UT Arlington Libraries: Re-engineering our Subject Librarians

1. Deconstructing the UT Arlington Libraries: Re-engineering our Subject Librarians Texas STEM Librarians Conference July 17, 2014 College Station, TX Presented by Antoinette Nelson & Sylvia George-Williams

2. Introduction • July 2012 New Dean of Libraries • August 2012 Talk of reorganization

3. Old libraries set-up - Dean, Associate Director -2 Asst.s to Dean – Planning & Assessment, Marketing & External Relations (librarians) - 10 Depts. (Dept. Heads) -42 librarians ~120 staff

4. Departments • Access Services • Digital Library Services • Information Literacy • Information Resources • Information Services • Library Systems • Metadata Services • Special Collections • Architecture Library • Science and Engineering Library

5. Planning for Re-org – (talk about making data-driven decisions) • Guided by “Good to Great” (by Jim Collins) • Task forces • Brainstorming sessions • Several workshops

6. Main Task Forces • Benchmarking • Hiring Practices • Library Use • Population Studies • Professional Development/travel • Subject Specialists/Liaison Program Redesign • Deadline – December 2012 • - others – Discovery tool, Self assessment, Support Staff

7. Subject Librarians/Liaison Program Redesign TF • Membership • 7 (6 librarians, 1 support staff) • Access services, IL, IR, IS, SEL

8. Charge • Develop new integrated model or models for liaison services • Ignore “current departmental structures” & focus on a model that offers “full range of services and collection support to all in a seamless manner” • include: Research assistance, mgmt of libguides, consultations, instruction, collection development • Address: duties, size of college/dept. for single liaisons, qualifications, role to non-academic depts., accountability, communication.

9. University Libraries Dean’s Council’s Desires: • DO • every librarian to have a liaison role • every dept. on campus to have a liaison • Don’t • no recommendation of specific librarians for specific assignments (just create framework for new roles)

10. Getting to Work • Lit review • Analyze current structure • Survey sent to current subject specialists and Information Resources specialists • Workload - stats on instruction, collection development • Interviews with other libs • Lots of discussions

11. Recommendations • Not everyone - 20-24 librarians as liaisons • 4 Collaboratives (team-based) • Based on subject/disciplinary affinity • STEM (8) • Social Sciences I (6) • Social Sciences II (6) • Arts & Humanities (4) • 4 Coordinators

12. Recommendations (cont.d) • Advisory Groups • Teaching & Learning • Research Services • Knowledge Management • Membership: all members of collaboratives • Functions: decision-making; cross-group sharing of new interdisciplinary work; eliminate silos in disciplinary/functional groups • Role of members: ambassadors/resource to their collaboratives; provide feedback

13. Governance & Structure Figure 1. Recommended organization of the liaison program.

14. Figure 2. Reporting structure for the Liaison Program.

15. Other Recommendations • Each Collaborative - expert in Instructional design; knowledge management; subject expertise/reference • STEM & Social Sciences – data expert • Arts & Humanities – Digital Humanities expert • Teams with multiple liaisons – one main point of contact • Campus centers (e.g. CAAS)– served by liaison in discipline most closely associated • Others not specifically aligned with a discipline (e.g. Ctr. for Distance Ed., served by other depts in library

16. Recommendations • Reporting • Duties • Qualifications • Sent report to Dean in November

17. What We Got • A lot of position reassignments • Some former subject librarians were re-assigned • Survey sent to librarians to list their preferred subject areas for possible liaison assignments • Team-based set up • 3 departments – STEM, Social Sciences, A & H • New name for program – Outreach & Scholarship • Almost everyone was given liaison assignments • Some had dual liaisons assignments -e.g. Archivist became co-liaison to Aerospace, Philosophy & Humanities

18. STEM Outreach & Scholarship • 1 Dept. Head • 3 full-time liaisons: • Engineering, Nursing, Govt. Data • Engineering: +4 co-liaisons • Aerospace, Bioeng, Civil, Compu Sci. • Nursing: +3 co-liaisons • Science: no full-time; all dual assignments, except Chemistry

19. What’s Working, What’s Good • More help in disciplines that were heavy library users - .e.g. Nursing, English • More flexibility with scheduling • Opportunities for some to work with public • More interaction among librarians • Cross-training of librarians

20. What’s Not Quite Working • Too many liaisons in some areas that are not very heavy library users – e.g. Engineering • Inefficient use of time – too many meetings, training, etc. • Not enough time for dual liaisons to carry out their secondary liaison duties • Too many liaisons – not everyone on Advisory groups • Not everyone wants to be a liaison • Confusing performance evaluation process

21. What Next? • Re-evaluating current liaison program • Might go back to original recommendations made