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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Recurso educativo Open Access |
| Language: | en |
| Published: |
2010
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ918540 |
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Table of 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.