Helen Heinrich, California State University, Northridge
Chair, Technical Services, Oviatt Library

Campus
 36,000 students (undergraduate and graduate)
 4,000 Faculty and Staff

Oviatt Library





1.4 million volumes
350,000 e-books
62,000 e-journals
120 A&I and full-text databases
Technical Services Staff




Acquisitions/Materials Processing/Bindery (6 f/t staff)
Cataloging/Database Maintenance (1.5 librarians, 9 staff)
E-Resources (1 librarian, 1 staff)
5 p/t student assistants

Changing User Expectations (for Collections):
 Single gateway
 Findability and availability of materials
 Rich metadata (TOC, book previews, etc.)
 Online access (text and media)
 Seamless citation-to-full-text transfer
 Mobile interface
 Tablets

Before
 Acquisitions:
▪ orders
▪ payments
 Cataloging:
▪ title-by-title cataloging
▪ “gold standard”
 Materials processing / bindery

Now:
 All of the above +
 Provision of big (meta)data for discovery:
 Batch records for owned/licensed materials
 PDA administration
 Access to e-resources
 ERM implementation and maintenance
 Maintenance of knowledgebase(s):
 Link resolver (SFX)
 SerialsSolutions: discovery layer, MARC service, e-packages
 Cataloging:
▪ Apps
▪ Ereaders
▪ Content of ereaders
 Collection shifts:
▪ De-accessioning
▪ Location changes
▪ Circ changes
 Skills
 Shrinking resources
▪ fiscal
▪ human
 Promptness of service
 Morale
 Respect!
cognitivedesigner.com
Mandate from library administration
Staff interviews
 Internal workflow audit
 External audit: regulations, new technology
 Cost analysis:


▪ Money and/or time savings in outsourcing?



Streamline and simplify procedures
Eliminate duplication
Eliminate unnecessary tasks:
 “Less work, not more people!”





Adjust quality standards to reality
Principle of “low hanging fruit”
Maximize use of staff expertise
Aim for “one-touch” handling; provide crosstraining
Trust and leverage technology




Consolidate functions
Reinforce communication
Eliminate fragmentation within the department
Trust your colleagues’ expertise
 From the expectation of mistake to expectation
of correctness


Abandon perfectionism
Ensure continuity of efficiencies throughout the cycle

Batch records:
 SerialsSolutions ejournals and ebooks,








Paced spending evenly throughout the year
Consolidated vendors
Implemented electronic ordering and invoicing
Discontinued outdated auditing trail practices
Implemented automated copy-cataloging with WCP
Reduced claiming & filing
Simplified physical processing
Implemented shelf-ready services
Vendor authority control





Manual transactions eliminated: 12,000 /year
Bibliographic searches eliminated: 7,000 /year
Overall savings : 3 months of FTE / year
No backlog
2 positions in DBM and Authority Control reassigned to:
 New electronic resources unit (1 librarian, 1 staff)
 Cataloging

1 position in Cataloging reassigned to digital collections

Freed four positions (through attrition)
 One reassigned to digital materials (new)
 Others absorbed into existing ones




Reduction in student employee budget: 50%
Reduction in turnaround time from receipt to shelving:
75%
2009 CSUN Team award
2 Digital Services positions granted (IR, digital
collections)


ETD workflow
Archon implementation, EDA to MARC metadata

Walk the talk: keep the changes current
Take responsibility for continuing innovation
Make annual/bi-annual evaluations
Leverage vendors’ knowledge
Keep enthusiasm high




Thank you!
Helen Heinrich
helen.heinrich@csun.edu