Library/IT Relations: Down the Hatch

Fuente: ERIC Institute of Education Sciences
Salvato in:
Dettagli Bibliografici
Autore principale: Schaffhauser, Dian
Natura: Recurso educativo Open Access
Lingua:en
Pubblicazione: 2010
Soggetti:
Accesso online:
Tags: Aggiungi Tag
Nessun Tag, puoi essere il primo ad aggiungerne!!
_version_ 1867180923920842752
author Schaffhauser, Dian
author_facet Schaffhauser, Dian
Schaffhauser, Dian
collection Education Resources Information Center
contents Library/IT Relations: Down the Hatch Schaffhauser, Dian Library Automation Technical Support Shared Resources and Services Library Administration Performance Factors Information Technology Agency Cooperation Small and midsize institutions have proven the success of a blended library/IT organization, a hybrid model in which both librarians and IT professionals report to the same senior leader. What hasn't been proven is how well such a blend works for larger universities. There the challenge has become part of the larger institutional budget debate: Who is best positioned to deliver the services needed? Should a library--or any department for that matter--maintain its own technology staff? Or is it possible for library technology needs to be addressed by a larger IT division on campus in the hopes of reaping operational savings and efficiencies? Campus reorganizations are part and parcel of this era when every department is trying to wring out savings. That includes IT, which often finds itself in the unenviable position of defending changes to reporting lines in order to help preserve jobs: An IT person is brought over from enrollment management in order to handle the work formerly done in the data center by somebody who was lost to retirement. With each adjustment, IT has to step into somebody else's fiefdom and tell the folks living there how computing work will be done in the future. But there's something about IT stepping into library business specifically that brings into focus the cultural differences that can exist between information organizations working in the same institution. Those differences make it tougher for the two groups to work together in formulating an IT/library strategy that can adapt to constant change and economic strain.
format Recurso educativo Open Access
id eric_EJ918540
institution ERIC Institute of Education Sciences
language en
publishDate 2010
record_format eric
spellingShingle Library/IT Relations: Down the Hatch
Schaffhauser, Dian
Library Automation
Technical Support
Shared Resources and Services
Library Administration
Performance Factors
Information Technology
Agency Cooperation
Library/IT Relations: Down the Hatch Schaffhauser, Dian Library Automation Technical Support Shared Resources and Services Library Administration Performance Factors Information Technology Agency Cooperation Small and midsize institutions have proven the success of a blended library/IT organization, a hybrid model in which both librarians and IT professionals report to the same senior leader. What hasn't been proven is how well such a blend works for larger universities. There the challenge has become part of the larger institutional budget debate: Who is best positioned to deliver the services needed? Should a library--or any department for that matter--maintain its own technology staff? Or is it possible for library technology needs to be addressed by a larger IT division on campus in the hopes of reaping operational savings and efficiencies? Campus reorganizations are part and parcel of this era when every department is trying to wring out savings. That includes IT, which often finds itself in the unenviable position of defending changes to reporting lines in order to help preserve jobs: An IT person is brought over from enrollment management in order to handle the work formerly done in the data center by somebody who was lost to retirement. With each adjustment, IT has to step into somebody else's fiefdom and tell the folks living there how computing work will be done in the future. But there's something about IT stepping into library business specifically that brings into focus the cultural differences that can exist between information organizations working in the same institution. Those differences make it tougher for the two groups to work together in formulating an IT/library strategy that can adapt to constant change and economic strain.
title Library/IT Relations: Down the Hatch
topic Library Automation
Technical Support
Shared Resources and Services
Library Administration
Performance Factors
Information Technology
Agency Cooperation
url https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ918540