Primary tabs
You don't need to be an ALA Member to purchase from the ALA Store, but you'll be asked to create an online account/profile during the checkout to proceed. This Web Account is for both Members and non-Members. Note that your ALA Member discount will be applied at the final step of the checkout process.
If you are Tax-Exempt, please verify that your account is currently set up as exempt before placing your order, as our new fulfillment center will need current documentation. Learn how to verify here.
- Description
- Table of Contents
- About the authors
- Reviews
Read an interview with the editors now!
Busy technical services managers looking for reliable, theoretically-sound methods to incorporate formal and informal staff development into the everyday work of their employees will find them in this practical guide from Core: Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures.
Technical services departments are increasingly expected to do more with less, which means that finding a balance between meeting service demands and developing staff knowledge and skills is more challenging than ever. Today's next gen catalogs, changing cataloging rules, and diverse formats and delivery models demand that technical services professionals and paraprofessionals keep up with evolving best practices for the work they do. Fortunately, libraries can adopt methods such as Training Within Industry (TWI), lean management, and instructional design methodologies to develop a learning culture that continuously improves service delivery. Using case studies, this collection showcases a variety of creative and practical training development and organizational strategies that libraries and consortia have used to tackle issues related to skills gaps, remote work, student worker turnover, reorganizations, technology migrations, and more. You will learn about
- techniques for establishing a positive training and learning culture;
- project management tools and business methodologies such as a Deming approach and just-in-time training for continuous improvement and staff skill development;
- reactive and proactive approaches in the training program for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Acquisitions Unit;
- how the University of Toronto Libraries (UTL) harnessed the power of remote work to undertake a library services platform migration during the pandemic;
- applying concepts from information literacy instruction to e-resources training;
- reinventing student worker training;
- collaborative initiatives such as cross-organizational learning through Community of Practice (CoP);
- assessing metadata competencies by transforming records for a multi-system migration in an academic library at a R1 research university; and
- how staff training and documentation eased a library system’s transition from Voyager to Alma.
Introduction
Chapter 1 Growing a Technical Services Learning Culture at NC State University Libraries
by Beth Ashmore, Maria Collins, Xiaoyan Song, and Lynn Whittenberger
Chapter 2 Establishing a Positive Training Culture
by Hyun Chu Kim and Ariel Turner
Chapter 3 A Deming Approach to Training in Technical Services
by Kristy White and John White
Chapter 4 Just-in-Time Training for Continuous Improvement within a Consortium
by Rachel K. Fischer
Chapter 5 Practicing Partnerships
A Case Study on How Realizing an In-House Cataloging Course Set the Stage for a Collaborative Future
by Juliya Borie, May Chan, Elisa Sze, and Polina Vendrova
Chapter 6 Cross-Organizational Learning through a Community of Practice
by Laura Sill
Chapter 7 Mind the (Training) Gap
A Case Study in Assessing Metadata Competencies by Transforming Records for a Multi-System Migration
by Dana Reijerkerk and Kristen J. Nyitray
Chapter 8 Looking Back to Move Forward
Future-Proofing Staff through Skill Development
by Tammie Busch and Marlee Graser
Chapter 9 Circulation Services Training in a Remote Work Environment
A Case Study of UTM Library’s Library Services Platform Migration during a Pandemic
by Mai Lu
Chapter 10 Reinvention of Student Worker Training
A Positive Response and Outcome to Disruption
by Leslie A. Engelson
Chapter 11 Training Tech Services Using Concepts from Information Literacy Instruction
by Jharina Pascual
Chapter 12 Reactive and Proactive Approaches in the Training Program for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Acquisitions Unit
by Jennifer R. Culley
Chapter 13 Technical Services Staff Training and Documentation during and after a Transition from Voyager to Alma
by Daricus Larry
About the Editors and Contributors
Index
Have you read this book? Leave a review!
"The authors concisely and clearly provide both practical case studies and philosophical arguments illustrating the many ways in which training can be successfully planned and implemented. Topics include student training, project management, just-in-time training and continued staff development, information literacy instruction, eresources training, and more. Although the majority of the 13 brief chapters are written by academic librarians, the problems and solutions discussed are applicable in any technical services setting ... Well-researched and written."
— Library Journal
"The strength of this collection is in the diversity of methods and experiences shared by the authors. While all of the chapters represent the perspective of academic libraries or consortia, the organizational structures and staffing concerns are unique to each institution, resulting in a wide variety of approaches to technical services staff training ... There is something in this book to interest almost any technical services manager or administrator.”
— Technicalities
"Presents several training methodologies, examples, and case studies from academic and public libraries ... The underpinning principles and concepts presented throughout the book are applicable to any library area. In fact, the re-envisioning of libraries as learning organizations where change is expected and anticipated demands a supportive framework for training librarywide. Creating a culture of continuous learning enables staff to adapt and make changes quickly, in technical services and every other area of the library.”
— Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship