+1 Brooke We're a medium-sized library for a consortium of private colleges. No Library IT group, instead a technology working group with reps from each department. Organizational structure is somewhat matrixed. We encourage & facilitate skillshares, professional development, etc. We have started an annual workflow analysis meeting that includes *everyone*. It's fun to find optimizations between departments.
We work closely with the campus' (7) IT departments and central IT. That's all a lot of work and communication is sometimes challenging, but necessary for smooth-ish operations. Cheers, Sam ________________________________________ From: Code for Libraries [CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] on behalf of Carol Bean [beanwo...@gmail.com] Sent: Saturday, March 26, 2016 3:14 AM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] reearch project about feeling stupid in professional communication Um, yeah. I gotta side with Brooke's point here about our tendency to forget about the smaller, especially rural, libraries. And I would extend it to include special libraries, which are usually also smaller with less resources. Carol Carol Bean beanwo...@gmail.com On Tue, Mar 22, 2016 at 6:22 AM, BWS Johnson <abesottedphoe...@yahoo.com> wrote: > Salvete! > > *lights match, positions gin based cocktail, and preps for incoming hate > mail* > > > > With all due respect Mr. Morgan, I wholeheartedly disagree. > > Most Public Libraries are Rural Public Libraries. [IMLS 2013] Most > Academics are also small by FTE enrolment [ies of NCES 2012] So "we are the > little folk we". We might not actually have different fancy pants > departments. I will cede the gentleman his perception amongst those > Academic Ivory Behemoths that possess battleship turning or are eligible > for ASERL membership. > > I would also further venture that anecdotally, folks in settings > similar to the ones I've chosen are less likely to have a Master's degree > period, much less a Master's degree from a prestigious Institution. > (Please, not in the face! I hate the paper standard, but it is there.) This > lack of paper could well lead to someone being made to feel inferior. How > many times have we heard in passing that so and so is not a "real" > Librarian since they do not possess their $50k+ piece of paper? > > Your most humble and obedient servant, > Brooke > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: Eric Lease Morgan <emor...@nd.edu> > > To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU > > Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2016 6:54 AM > > Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] reearch project about feeling stupid in > professional communication > > > > In my humble opinion, what we have here is a failure to communicate. [1] > > > > Libraries, especially larger libraries, are increasingly made up of many > > different departments, including but not limited to departments such as: > > cataloging, public services, collections, preservation, archives, and > now-a-days > > departments of computer staff. From my point of view, these various > departments > > fail to see the similarities between themselves, and instead focus on > their > > differences. This focus on the differences is amplified by the use of > dissimilar > > vocabularies and subdiscipline-specific jargon. This use of dissimilar > > vocabularies causes a communications gap and left unresolved ultimately > creates > > animosity between groups. I believe this is especially true between the > more > > traditional library departments and the computer staff. This > communications gap > > is an impediment to when it comes to achieving the goals of > librarianship, and > > any library — whether it be big or small — needs to address these issues > lest it > > wastes both its time and money. > > > > For example, the definitions of things like MARC, databases & indexes, > > collections, and services are not shared across (especially larger) > library > > departments. > > > > What is the solution to these problems? In my opinion, there are many > > possibilities, but the solution ultimately rests with individuals > willing to > > take the time to learn from their co-workers. It rests in the ability to > respect > > — not merely tolerate — another point of view. It requires time, > listening, > > discussion, reflection, and repetition. It requires getting to know > other people > > on a personal level. It requires learning what others like and dislike. > It > > requires comparing & contrasting points of view. It demands “walking a > mile > > in the other person’s shoes”, and can be accomplished by things such as > the > > physical intermingling of departments, cross-training, and simply by > going to > > coffee on a regular basis. > > > > Again, all of us working in libraries have more similarities than > differences. > > Learn to appreciate the similarities, and the differences will become > > insignificant. The consequence will be a more holistic set of library > > collections and services. > > > > [1] I have elaborated on these ideas in a blog posting - > http://bit.ly/1LDpXkc > > > > — > > Eric Lease Morgan > > >
