One Director’s Vision for

Academic Liaison

Stephen TownUniversity of York

5th July 2012

What’s the problem here?

• Change?• Structure?• You?• The University?

A HISTORIC DEBATE … OR A HISTORY OF LISTS?

Academic Liaison

A recent list… who are subject librarians and what do they do? Subject librarians work with academic departments to identify and address the library and information needs of staff and students in particular discipline areas. They are typically providing user education sessions tailored to the needs of departments, manage the library’s collections to keep them effective and relevant and help users at all levels to make best use of library resources. In some institutions the subject librarian may be a ’one-stop-shop’ for the academic on any library and possibly IT-related matter; in others they may refer you to another member of library or computer centre staff …

HEA English Subject Centre, 2012

Lancour, 1948

Three phases of academic library development:

•Storehouse•Service•Education

Subject librarians, or bibliographers, as they are sometimes referred, emerged during the 1950s to late 1970s … when university expansion, academic diversification, print-based scholarship, collection-centred libraries and limited alternatives to local holdings formed the environment of libraries in higher education

Hazen, 2000

Thompson, 1974

A subject specialist is … appointed to develop one or more aspects of a library’s technical or reference service in a particular subject field

Humphreys, 1967

… functional specialisation heads the list of those ‘bureaucratic phenomena’ which are barriers to change and innovation in libraries

Haro, 1972

Pinfield, 2001A list of skills around a ‘significant role’:

•Subject expertise•People skills•Communication skills•Technical/IT skills•Presentation & teaching skills

• Financial management skills

• Analytic and evaluative skills

• Team working and building skills

• Project management skills

One comes away from the literature thinking that the academic library of the future will be run exclusively by tech staff and MBAs …

Subject specialists are a valuable resource, regardless of the changes occurring in academic libraries

Feldmann, 2006

THE VALUE PROPOSITIONAcademic Liaison

Value as capital creation

Petros A. Kostagiolas & Stefanos Asonitis. (2009). Intangible assets for academic libraries. Library Management. 30 (6/7), p425.

A Value Scorecard

• Relationship capital• Tangible & Intangible organisational assets– Collections and meta-collections

• Library virtue (~ impact)• Library momentum (~ ‘need’ projects)

Relationship dynamic• Relationships are made first– This has capital value in itself

• Activities follow relationships– These add value, but the gains are often

intangible, but need to be described

• Your development creates a human capital asset (and the opposite)

THE VISION?Academic Liaison

The Short List (What)

• Relationship & need (Liaison)• Collections and subjects• Information Literacy• Marketing & development• Quality & projects• Something else (a functional specialism?)• Personal, professional & external development

Transformation at York

• Metrics, mechanics, structure– Investment (and some loss)

• Culture “shift”– change from the “inside out”– “become the change”

• Transcendent contribution– Focus on outcomes outside ‘the black box’

Perspective changesFrom• External change• Control from “them”• Fuel for change from

external resources• The penalties of

bureaucracy• Individual reliance• Precedent

To:• Internal change• To “us”• Draw on internal resources• The rewards of adding value• To teamwork• To benchmarked exemplars

The A-Z Long list (How)

• Anticipates future need• Builds evidence of need• Champions and creates

information literacy• A Discipline advocate:

for the library and the department

• Effective in committee• Forms and builds

relationships• A Guardian of

collections interests• A Host(ess) of resources

and events• An Intelligent agent and

integrator

J-R

• Judicious in balancing conflicting demands

• A “Knowledge Animal”• Learning oriented• A Mindset changer to

the value of information• Not a handmaid

• An Outreach worker• A Professional equal

rather than support worker

• Quality and user focused• Research oriented

S-Z

• Sensitive to all levels of need

• Technology savvy• Understands and enters

the clients context• Values colleagues in

other parts of the Library

• Works in projects and teams

• Exemplifies excellence• York distinctive style• Zealous for your subject

and for the Library

An Elephant?

Convergence and collaboration enable an academic library to be more fully engaged with its campus ..[in] joint activities to further their shared mission

Hernon & Powell, 2008

Thanks!

stephen.town@york.ac.uk